thelongthread – Page 254 – the long thread

January 16, 2008March 21, 2008

Patchwork and Quilted Pillows

I made these pillows last week in my patchwork frenzy and just finished them last night. I embroidered the flowers and lines and sewed them in with the cotton prints. I used upholstery fabric for the border and backing so I’ll need to have them dry cleaned after the inevitable jelly hands get to them.

After I made these, I found this totally amazing pillow from A Stitch in Dye which is giving my pillows an inferiority complex. You can see her beautiful work on her Flickr page here and more for sale in her Etsy shop. She also has a blog here. Wow, I’m a fan! I am really in love with the hand dyed look, inspired color choices and beautiful free form quilting. These must have taken hours to make and they are really inexpensive ($40 and $42 each).

Here are a couple of other nice quilted pillows:

This one is from Raeburn Ink, $70.

And this one by Neressa Bennett, $95.

All of these modern quilt designs make me think of the Quilts of Gee’s Bend. I felt inspired when I saw this exhibition and I urge you to take a look at the patterns, color and design for inspiration even if you are not a quilter.

January 15, 2008January 15, 2008

Felt Fairies & Flowers

We made these quick little flower fairies over the weekend. It was hard for the kids to keep their hands off them just for me to snap a photo. My five-year-old tells me that baby fairies do not have their wings yet. Interesting.

I saw the photo of these felt flowers in a pot over at b.delicious and wanted to share since it would be a great spring project. I would probably use a real pot, but I love the use of buttons.

January 13, 2008January 22, 2008

Make it Monday!

I’m adding a new feature to the blog called Make it Monday. I’ll be offering free craft and sewing patterns every other Monday (maybe every week, but I’m not promising). This week I’m posting a pattern for my Superhero Cape. This can be made with the fabrics of your choice and used for a superhero, princess, magician, sorcerer, or anything else you can imagine. The cape is lined with a contrasting fabric, appliquéd with a design, and fastened by Velcro so the wee ones can take care of themselves. I used matte satin and a shiny cotton print for this cape. It seems to fit sizes 2-6, but is easily adjustable. It was tough to get a good picture of the cape because Supergirl is always on the run!

Below is the pattern file and the shape templates. I have included a star, lightning bolt, crown and heart. If anyone makes this I would love to see some pictures. I have set up a flickr group here.

superhero-cape.pdf

applique-shapes.pdf

Of course with any of these patterns, they are intended for personal use and not for sale!

January 13, 2008March 21, 2008

Works on Paper

Works on paper and a couple made from paper. Here’s a quick post about some artists who have caught my attention lately.

Simone sent me the link to the lovely paper dolls by Portuguese artist Ana Ventura. You can purchase her postcards as seen above here (don’t trust me on the euro conversion, but I think you can purchase these for under $7).

Another paper artist, Patricia Zapato of A Little Hut creates wonderful cut paper images like Hiding, above (8″x10″, $35).

Just added the Etsy shop of Creative Thursday to my new Etsy Favorites page. A print of buttercup (8.5″x11″), above, is available in her Etsy shop for $35.

January 11, 2008January 15, 2008

Embroidery Hoop Frames

Since finding the photo of Liberty of London fabrics framed in embroidery hoops at Purl (see post here), I’ve been meaning to try the idea. Here’s my interpretation with some embroidered birds on linen. I painted the hoops matte black. But I think that these would be great unpainted or painted with different bright colors and used in a child’s room.

I simply hooped the fabric and cut the excess, so this was a quick and easy project. I plan to add more to this grouping, mix in some plates or find some flea-market style small round mirrors. I embroidered the birds myself, but I think that vintage handkerchiefs would make a great display. You can find lots of vintage handkerchiefs online here and here.