Embroidered Door Hangers

I've been busy working on the Spring issue of Crazy Quilt Quarterly magazine.  I'm running late on it due to the holidays.  So please forgive me for not posting much lately.  As soon as I'm done with it, I'll get back to the Never Ending Sampler Stitch-Along and all the other things that I usually post about.

I've been doing some stitching and enjoying my collection of vintage iron-on embroidery patterns:

These are Crayon Tinted and then embroidered.  I sewed them together over the weekend.  My husband was kind enough to stuff them for me!!!

I have more pieces to sew together and will post them when I have them done.

For now, I have to get back to the magazine so I have it ready for everyone on February 1st!

Embroidering On The Deck

Yesterday was gorgeous!  Sunny and warm.  I have things growing in my yard and there are Robin's everywhere!  I spent some time yesterday afternoon, sitting out on my deck with a little embroidery design:

This is a basket filled with flowers.  I crayon tinted it.  The stitching lines are a little hard to see due to the camera flash.  I'm sure I'll have this finished up today.  It's a design from my vintage iron-on transfer collection.

I also spent a little time with my sewing machine yesterday.  Something I really enjoy!  What is it about the sound of that machine running?  And it doesn't matter if it's my electric machine or my treadle machine.  I love both of them.  The sound is so soothing on my nerves!

Anyway, I sewed up my little basket door pillows:

I just have to stuff these and do the hand finishing.  I think I'll do that before I run up to WalMart for a few things.

We have another nice day ahead so I plan to spend some more time out on my deck with my stitching.

Irish Lady Pillow

After running a few errands yesterday, I finished up my Irish Lady Pillow:

I've already listed this in the Boutique in case anyone would like to take her home.

It didn't take me too long to do the finishing on this.  The biggest setback is that my cats just love to lay on my sewing machine while I try to sew!  And they love to lay on the cutting board too!  My husband knows that if he needs to find Nightmare, just look under my feet or in my face!  LOL!

Anyway, when I finished that up, I started this sweet little embroidered Pot Of Gold:

The design is from my collection of vintage embroidery iron on transfer patterns.  I've been collecting them for years and years and I still enjoy using them.  As you can see, I crayon tinted it before stitching.  All it needs now is just a few beads.  This will be a hanging pillow and since I only have about 5 more minutes of working on it, I'll sew it together today.

Yes, today will be a much needed "stay at home day"!  I will be running my treadle machine and sewing up a few new crazy quilt blocks.  And then I'll be stitching.  Here's is my next crazy quilt project.  This will be a purse:

Before I head out to stitch, I wanted to mention that I stopped in the new Hobby Lobby here in McHenry Illinois today.  What a beautiful store!  Slightly smaller than the Hobby Lobby in Crystal Lake but nice and bright, so neat and clean and lots of great craft supplies!  If you live in the McHenry area, do stop in and check it out!  It's on Rt. 31 next to the Hallmark store!

Easter Basket Vintage Embroidery Transfer Pattern

As you know, I am so looking forward to Spring. Driving home from WalMart this morning, all I could think about was how I've so had enough of looking at the filthy, sloppy, mess outside. I'm so much wanting to sit outside on my deck with some iced tea and having green grass, flowers and leaves on the trees to look at. I pulled out my little Robin bird Beanie Baby this morning and set him by the birdhouse that my neighbor made for me. I have it sitting on my thread cabinet. It's too pretty of a birdhouse to put outside:



Anyway, since my thoughts are very much on Spring, I stitched up this little do-dad yesterday:



As you can see, I crayon tinted it. If you would like to have the directions for doing that, you can find them in the sidebar.

And if you would like to stitch this sweet little Easter design, here is the pattern:



Click on the image to go to my Flickr site where you can download the large version. This is a vintage Artex pattern.

Directions For Crayon Tinting

I've been asked many times about Crayon Tinting and how to do it so I thought I'd give you a quick tutorial on it.

It's actually quite easy and the results are beautiful!

I recommend using 100% cotton fabric such as Muslin, Quilter's Cotton or Kona Cotton. The fabric should be washed beforehand to remove the sizing.

Trace or transfer your pattern onto your fabric.

Before coloring, make a pad of several layers of extra muslin. Lay the piece that you want to color on top of the pad. This will give that soft tinted look that you see in my pieces.

Then simply color as desired. I usually start out very light and then build up my color closer to the edges. I also use several shades of the same color in my pieces. This gives it a little more dimension.

When you're satisfied with your tinting, place your piece between 2 sheets of paper or paper towels and heat set with your iron.

Then stitch as desired.

If you have any questions about Crayon Tinting or anything that I've discussed here at my blog, please don't hesitate to leave a message for me here or you're welcome to send me an email.

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