Pocket T Shirt and a Hand Towel

I recently purchased the Fun Stitch Interlocking Ribbon Monogram from Designs By JuJu. I have stitched it out twice and I love it. It is simple yet elegant and a very sturdy stitch. I made a pocket t-shirt for a friend as a birthday gift using this monogram.

Here is the same design on a t-shirt for myself.

I stitched out this monogrammed hand towel for an Etsy customer. I love the navy blue chevron fabric.

Pocket Tees and Monogramming

Yesterday I monogrammed the white sweatshirt for my friend Angie. I had to hoop it three times to use the big letters. I used the Chevron Font from Hang to Dry. I also made my first pocket tees yesterday. The coral colored t-shirt is for me. I used a Thirty One fabric swatch from my kit. It has cute flip flops on it. The second pocket tee is also for Angie. It is a surprise. She didn’t know I was making it for her. She loves lime green. The pocket is a gray denim fabric that was also from the Thirty One fabric swatches. The pot holder hand towel set is for a customer. She requested two sets. The other set has a Y on them with the same fabric. I made the pot holder. There is 5 layers. Fabric, Insul Bright, fusible fleece, Insul Bright, and then fabric. They are pretty thick. I used the La De Da applique frame from Planet Applique on the hand towel. The font on the pot hold and hand towel is the Elizabeth Font from Applique Corner.

Christmas Hand Towels and Stockings

Just a sample of a few things that I have been working on this week. I had a few Etsy orders for some Christmas hand towels.

I embroidered names on the stockings for a lady using the A Pure Heart Font from Applique Corner. I also attempted my first in the hoop coaster. I bought the ITH design from Five Star Fonts Embroidery. The Monogram Coaster turned out pretty good and wasn’t all that scary to make. (Big Smiles). I get nervous trying new patterns. I don’t know why. It took me a few months just to get my embroidery machine out of the box. I was so nervous that I was going to screw something up. And I know those babies aren’t cheap. My next new project is an ITH eye glasses case that is an owl. I need to get a certain stabilizer first. It should be interesting. Wish me luck!

The bottom right hand photo is a hand towel I made for my kitchen. The Christmas Light Alpha Font is from Applique Corner. The Frame 8 Applique Design is from Applique Momma. The bottom left photo is also a hand towel using Applique Momma’s Frame 2 Applique Design.

Chevron Fabric Oh My

I love love love getting goodies in the mailbox. I used to participate in a lot of swaps so I was frequently getting little surprises. Not so much any more. I had to sale way back when Andrew came along. This picture is my latest purchase from Etsy. I am trying to build up a small stash of Chevron Fabric.

The yellow polka dot and purple chevron fabric are for a t-shirt dress that I am working on.

These are pictures of a few of the items I have stitched out recently. My Janome is getting lots of love.

 

Sew Crazy

Thanks to picmonkey I created a collage of the projects I have made since the kids started back to school. Andrew started kindergarten, Josh started 5th grade, and drum roll please Timmy started college. I know crazy right. People give us crazy looks when we tell them this. We get told that we don’t look old enough to have a boy in college. Which I always say Thank you to. Timmy came home last weekend for a visit. Tim, Timmy and I went out to eat lunch and then to a local store. The lady behind the counter asked if my hubby and son were brothers. Imagine the surprise on my hubbies face. That is a new one. It made his day for sure. The house has been so quite. I love it. I am not a mushy momma. I didn’t tear up when the boys started kindergarten. I embraced it. The first week the silence took some getting used to. Now I get up and look forward to uninterrupted sewing or working. I haven’t been able to use my embroidery machine much since I got it. I have used it more in the past three weeks than I have in the 1 1/2 years that I have had it. I have also meet with some ladies at church and we have managed to sew around 25 dresses. The dresses are going to an orphanage in Haiti. One of the ladies from church is going with a group in November for a week. Our goal is 50 dresses. The other ladies are buying some shirts for the boys. It brings a smile to my face thinking about beautiful little tan babies wearing these dresses. It feels great to do something like this. God is so good. The pictures of some of the dresses we made are a little blurry.

Any who. That is what I have been doing. Going Sew Crazy.

Everything Applique Conference 2012

I am a complete newbie when it comes to using an embroidery machine. I haven’t attempted any applique with my Janome 350e. Why? I am nervous as can be and two I am completely lost when it comes to the process.

My good friend and coworker Rachel Powers from Seasons Embroidery & Gifts mentioned an applique conference was in the works and wanted to know if I would be interested in going with her. Well Yeah! It was a no brainer for me. Not only did I want to go I needed to go to learn more about the whole applique process using an embroidery machine. Rachel is an experienced pro when it comes to applique. She creates amazing products and works full time at Ken’s Sewing Center.

I have to tell you that the Everything Applique Conference was a huge success. It was yesterday in Birmingham, AL at the BJCC. What an outstanding experience. 750 people registered for the conference. The digitizers were very informative and great about sharing their knowledge. The Everything Applique Conference is the brain child of Kathy Garrett from Applique Corner. With the help from her husband Jefferey, the digitizers, and a lot of volunteers they pulled off an amazing event in just four months. FOUR months! There were a few hiccups but they were handled with grace and the conference went pretty smoothly.

This a picture of the ladies who made this conference happen. Karen Norman of Applique Market, Rosemary Gulledge of Applique Cafe, Emily Horn of Applique Alley, Rachel Pryor of Embroidery Boutique, Kathy Garrett of Applique Corner, Brandy Rolison of Applique Momma, Cristy Hageman of The Itch 2 Stitch, and Holly Clay of Applique Junkie.

Rachel and I sat with a fabulously talented group of ladies from all over the south. We were the table of gigglers and wise cracks. We had so much fun.

I am the third from the left in the first row and Rachel is the second from the left in the back row.

This is a picture of the conference room during the morning registration. Not quite everyone was in the room yet and there were a lot of people behind me. The break out seasons were great. There were four sessions on various topics. A ton of great questions were asked by the attendies. The vendors had great products for sale and for demonstration. Over all it was was a huge success. I can’t wait for next year.

 

 

Appliqued Lilies

I started this project 2 years ago. It is a UFO that I have been wanting to working on and just haven’t had the time. I appliqued the lilies on to super muslin using wonder under. I decided that I wanted to hand embroider the stitching. Whew. That is part of the reason it took me so long to do it. There are 8 flower blocks. 2 orange, 2 yellow, 2 red, and 2 dark red. I have some Lily material that I had bought at hobby lobby that has the same color flowers in it. I am going to use it for the sashing and border.

Here is picture of Andrew from last night. He was sitting with Tim on the couch watching The Office. He was getting sleepy. They looked so cute. Tim drinks coffee almost constantly. Andrew has discovered the cup and wants to drink it too. He will put both little hands on the cup and bring it up to his mouth. He knows what to do. It is so amazing how quickly they learn how to do things.