Embroidered Pillow Lilacs and Roses

March came in like a lion and it looks like it's going out like a lamb.  The lion didn't stay very long!  It's been exceptionally warm up until a few days ago.  Spring came early and I'm okay with that!  Right now, I'm looking out my window at the woods across the street and all the trees and bushes have that green haze on them.  The tiny leaves have popped through and it's quite lovely to see!

I finished up my little embroidered pillow with the lilacs and roses:

Speaking of Spring, this is very Springy!  A perfect gift for mom for Mothers Day!

I was poking around on Etsy yesterday and found a cool little shop that has all sorts of things that would great to sew on crazy quilts.  TWPMango has tons of little crocheted flowers, buttons, appliques and other fun and unique little craft supplies. I ordered some little satin flowers and some sequined butterflies.  Do check that shop out!  I've found some other fun Etsy shops too so I'll share links to them periodically.

New Door Hanging Pillows

Although getting to stitch is pretty much what gets me out of my bed everyday, I do try to keep up with finishing my pieces into useable items.  The finishing is not my favorite part of the process but if we don't finish what we make into something useful, it doesn't do us or anyone else any good! 

I usually wait until I have 3 or 4 projects all ready to sew together and then I take a day and do them all at once. Here are 2 of my latest crazy patchwork quilt door hanging pillows:

I love both of these but that pink and yellow one is so bright and cheerful!  Just looking at it boosts my mood!

ORTS And Birds Nests

I spent my day yesterday finishing up on my latest projects.  Here is my Bunny Pillow all finished:

I'm so pleased with this!  The little basket was a pin that I had in my stash.  I don't know where I got it.  Maybe at a flea market in a bag of bits and pieces!

My other projects are all sewed up too.  I stuffed them last night after dinner and just have to sew the little butts shut on them.  I'll have photos of those soon!

In the meantime, my ORTS jar was full!  If you're not familiar with ORTS, it stands for "Old Raggedy Threads".  Basically, I toss my short pieces of thread into a jar rather than just throwing them away. 

I actually save all sorts of my cutoffs in my ORTS jar.  Bits of satin ribbon, silk ribbon, tiny pieces of lace and some of the scraps of sheer and fancy fabrics that are too small to do anything else with.

So what do I do with these little scraps? 

Well, this time of year, I put them out for the Robin's to use in their nests!  Using my cutting board and my rotary cutter, I chop them up into teeny, tiny pieces:

I do mean teeny, tiny!  I don't want the birds feet to get all tangled up in threads and fabrics that are too long.  I try to cut them so that everything is 1 inch or less.  It's a lot of chopping! 

I put everything back in the jar when I'm done:

And then I sprinkle it around the lawn in my backyard and I wait for the Robin's to come and take it for their nests!

In previous years, I've seen the Robin's take my little scraps.  Imagine baby birds, all soft and warm in their nests made with these tiny throw away pieces of fabrics and threads!

I think I'll use my next jarful to make some fabric sheets for my crazy quilts.

Helpful Hint:  to clean your cutting board, use a lint roller or some making tape.  That'll take those "left behind" pieces right off!

Pink and Yellow Embroidery

I didn't have much on my "to do" list for yesterday.  Yes, I have a list a mile long but other than updating a few things on my computer, I pretty much took it easy and stitched most of the day.  Here is my latest crazy quilt piece:

Pink and yellow embroidery is so cheerful, isn't it?  Very happy looking!

This piece started with the embroidered motif from a vintage hankie.  Then I had an "s" shaped beaded applique that I took off of a flea market wedding dress I bought last Summer.  (A wedding dress loaded with beaded appliques for only $5.00!)   I cut it in half and used it to create a heart shape around the floral hankie piece.

There was a little flat area on the top right of the heart.  The perfect space for a little bird.  Using my waste canvas technique, I cross stitched one of my own little bird designs on to fill that space.  I used 8.5 count waste canvas and DMC #5 Perle Cotton. 

Yes, this will be another little hanging pillow.

In other news, Betty Pillsbury, an absolutely incredible crazy quilter and herbalist, has put together several YouTube Videos on working with embroidery floss and how to avoid knots and kanoodles!  Please hop over to Betty's YouTube page for these "working with embroidery floss helpful hints"!

Easter Pillow

Yesterday was not as warm as it has been.  But that's okay.  I sat on my deck for a little while but the wind was quite chilly so I focused on getting my Easter Pillow finished:

A very Springy garden, isn't it?

I have 4 projects now that need finishing so I'm planning on doing some sewing either later today or tomorrow.

Whenever I finish a crazy quilt project, Scott always asks me if it reached "weight requirements".  LOL!!!  Yes, I use a lot of embellishments so my cq pieces are quite heavy!