Sunday, February 25, 2007

Teddy Bear Pouch - Stitching Complete

I apologize for not posting yesterday. It was a busy day for us.

I think I've mentioned this before, but in case I didn't, we're in the middle of remodeling our Living room. We started this project last February. There was a drop-ceiling in that room which we decided to rip out only to find yet another drop-ceiling above it. So we ripped that out and then put a real drywall ceiling in and a gorgeous ceiling fan. Ripping all that stuff off of the ceiling made the ceiling 9 inches higher!

We then ripped the carpeting out. I've always hated carpeting. Once we got the carpet out, we discovered old linoleum from 1960 underneath. The reason we know it's from 1960 is because beneath the linoleum, was sheets of newspaper, all dated 1960. Why that was there, we have no clue! And, it was the ugliest linoleum I've ever seen!

Knowing that it would be awhile before we would get to installing new flooring, I painted the subfloor white. This house was built in 1937 and that old subfloor was dark and it smelled terrible. Painting it made it liveable for awhile.

Ok, so the next thing we did was to have the 6 windows replaced with nice, big new Pella windows and then we had 2 extra windows put in. It's a really bright room now! We also have an interior door going out to an entry room so we had that replaced with a door that has all the little glass panes in it. Even more light!

By this point, we had both enough for awhile so we put the project on hold for the Summer and started back on it in November.

I'm very happy to say that we are finally getting ready to put the hardwood flooring in. Yesterday, after running some errands, stopping at Hobby Lobby and Michaels (yes I had coupons) and having lunch, we went to Home Depot and bought 19 boxes of prefinished solid oak flooring. It has to sit in the house for a week before installation but Scott will be putting that in next weekend.

We've had this house for almost 15 years now. We've done so much from gutting and remodeling the bathroom, updating the kitchen, replacing all of the windows, putting wood floors in throughout the house and I have to say, this living room project has been the biggest nightmare of all. It has been so much work, so much debris, so time consuming and expensive but finally I know, there will be a light at the end of the tunnel very soon!

Now that I've told you way more than you probably wanted to know, I will get on with the really fun stuff!

I finished up the stitching on the Teddy Bear Cellphone Pouch last night:

Teddy With Hat Cellphone Pouch

Isn't this just too cute?!! As I told you the other day, I had to dye the feather myself and I had to cut it into several small pieces to make it work. I sewed that down, added the Silk Ribbon Embroidery and then the beads.

I will assemble it on my sewing machine during the week and have it ready to ship to it's new owner on Friday. In case you're new to my blog, the cat in the top right-hand corner is my signature. He appears somewhere on every crazyquilt piece I do. If you'd like to see a larger version of the image, just click it to go to my Flickr site.

My next project will be this:

Blue Cellphone Pouch

I had a request for a cellphone pouch without an image on it. Something with either a piece of vintage jewelry, or some embroidery or an applique. Just no pictures. I haven't decided yet where this is going so stop by tomorrow for an update.

My plan for today is to do the hand-finishing on my Red Hat Society Lady Purse and the Spring cellphone pouch. Once those are complete, I'll start on the blue piece.

I hope I didn't bore you too much with my Living room project! I just thought I'd mention this as it's been a big focus for me for a year now! I try to stay on topic here but since I work at home, my house is a big part of my life!

More tomorrow.....

Friday, February 23, 2007

Teddy Bear Cellphone Pouch Update

I only had about 2 hours of stitching time yesterday. I went for groceries in the morning and then did the machine finishing on my Red Hat Lady purse and the Spring Chick cellphone pouch. I still have the handwork to do on those which I have scheduled for over the weekend.

In only two hours, I did manage to get some beads on this:

Teddy With Hat Cellphone Pouch

I went through my package of feathers but no purple. So guess what I did? Yes, I soaked a white feather in purple dye and what came of that is the loveliest shade of lavender! I used my blow dryer to fluff it up and now it's ready for attaching to the hat. I'll have to cut it up a bit as it's way too big for the little bear but I'm sure I can make that work. If all goes well, I expect to have that attached for tomorrow's update.

I've been hearing that some of you were quite amused by my "duh" moment! Thinking about it, I'm still rather amused myself. I really wonder where my brain is sometimes!!!

Thursday, February 22, 2007

Teddy Bear Cellphone Pouch

As I mentioned yesterday, I have received several orders for custom cellphone pouches. The first, is for one in purple and yellow with a teddy bear theme.

I searched through my bits of vintage jewelry but I knew I didn't have a bear. I looked through my copyright free clipart and vintage photo images but again, nothing with a teddy bear. I pondered this for a bit, trying to figure out what to do for a bear as a focal point and then suddenly, I remembered that I am a professional pattern designer that I've designed tons of teddy bears! Insert a great big DUH here!

The first design that popped into my head was Hatbox Teddies:

Hat Box Teddies Cover

These little teddy bears having a tea party has always been a favorite of mine. The bear to the left with the Victorian hat was a perfect focal point! I simply changed the colors from pink & blue to purple & yellow, printed him up on commercial inkject fabric and pieced my block:

Teddy With Hat Cellphone Pouch

I embroidered the seams last night so this is what it looks like at the moment:

Teddy With Hat Cellphone Pouch 2

I want to go through some of my do-dads and see if I have a real purple feather to sew onto the hat. I then plan to do some Silk Ribbon Embroidery on the hat as well. I'll start beading it later today so stop by tomorrow for an update.

And in case anyone is wondering about the Hatbox Teddies design, it is currently retired.

At Home With Needlework Magazine February 2007 Issue

Zweigart has just released the February issue of their At Home With Needlework Magazine:

Zweigart Mag

Here is the list of my designs which appear in this issue:

Butterfly & Berries Tabletopper - page 9
Summer Nap - page 12
Hummingbird In Flight - page 36
Touch Of Spring (Cover Designs) - page 45
Christmas Kittens - page 62

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

A Pattern For Your Crazyquilting

Well, I worked later yesterday than I normally do. I was so close to finishing up my design work, that I decided to just keep going until it was completed. By the time I was done, my eyes were hurting from staring at the computer all day so I didn't manage any stitching time. Instead, I parked myself in the chair, looked at a catalog and watched Star Wars on HBO!

Since I don't have any stitching to share with you today, I worked up a nice little pattern for you to use on your crazyquilts:

Lazy Daisy Flower Spray

Click on the image to go to my Flickr site where you can download a larger version of the pattern.

Pin your Waste Canvas to the area on which you like to stitch this design on your crazyquilt piece. You can use #5 or #8 Perle cotton to stitch this or several strands of embroidery floss. Stitch the design, following the chart and then carefully remove the waste canvas. If you prefer not to use Waste Canvas, you can trace this onto tissue paper, pin that to your piece, stitch and then remove the tissue.

I received several orders this week for custom cellphone pouches and one for a custom CQ kit. So I'll be making some changes to my stitching schedule. I'll be doing foundation piecing today on my sewing machine and will have to start work on these projects right away.

Stay tuned because I do expect to have some stitching to share with you tomorrow.

Enjoy the pattern!

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