Headed to the Beach!

I tried to get a little sewing done today because tomorrow we are headed for the beach!!! Woo-hoo! Last week we spent some time at the lake (they have a little "beach" area which was totally deserted the day we went except for our kids).

Oh, and the geese. I didn't get them all in this shot but there was a gaggle of 45 of them!
Then we played with some sparklers on July 4th.

Thanks to my sis for providing those!

I got one piece drawn out for embroidering during my beach trip. Here's a little peek.

And here are my sewing pieces! Some quilting on my flag...

(yes, I know, still not done but it will be by Memorial Day!!), and a new project with some Simply Color.

I can't wait to see how this one comes together! What did you do for the 4th?

New Notions

I ran by Hobby Lobby to pick up a new blade for my rotary cutter and came across this little jewel while I was there.

Very cool! It's just a go to guide for a bunch of embroidery stitches. I like being able to pull them up on the internet when I need them, but this will be cool to put in my project bag while I'm working on a specific piece. I really enjoyed doing the Embroidery 101 quilt from Clover and Violet; it motivated me to try more so I thought it would be nice to have something to quickly get an idea of how to do different stitches.

When you open it out, you get these stitches on one side...

and these on the other. I'm excited. Now I can put some embroidery ideas into action. Well, when I finish up some other things. I'm working hard on the back of Embroidery 101. Hope to have that one done soon!

I Officially GIVE UP!

{If you are looking for my giveaway, go here.}
I have tried to use this crappy embroidery thread that I thought looked more like the kind that Clover and Violet recommended for their quilt along, but I give up! It just looks crappy. I fussed about it last week because it seemed a bit thick and bumpy, but I finally decided to just go with it. Not anymore. For those 'tighter quarters' areas in a very small butterfly, the thread is just too thick and I was very unhappy with how it looked.

You can't even tell that those are french knots inside circles on the top half of the butterfly unless you are right on top of it. And unless you're really looking you can't tell the bottom ones are french knots either. It all looks clumpy and bumpy in person. I should have known better since this is that thread that comes with those friendship bracelet kits. So the heck with it. I'm pulling it out. I've decided to go with my original plan for the quilt and just do what i had planned all along.

I went through my DMC thread I acquired over 20 years of cross-stitching and matched up my threads. I'm just going to use it. It's what I'm used to anyway. Hopefully it will match up enough that you won't notice one square is using a different kind of thread. We'll see. Maybe I'll just make sure to put that square right in the middle of the quilt. That way it will look like it's supposed to be a bit differerent. I just refuse to go buy more when I have a ton of thread here. Now, off to become friends with my seam ripper.

On a brighter note, last night I started something for me that I hope to finish before going to my sister's Saturday. Jennifer knows what it is because I responded to one of her comments quickly last night and mentioned I was in my sewing room. She got curious as to what I was working on because I told her I'm using an online tutorial. I'm excited because I'm actually using some fabric from my stash that I picked up back during the Atlanta Quilt Shop Hop. Always nice to make a dent in the stash! I'll hopefully have some pictures to show of it tomorrow (if I can convince my children to make a Hobby Lobby run today so I can pick up some interfacing!). Have a great day!

Second Thoughts...

So I started my Embroidery 101 blocks yesterday. I'm just not sure what I think. It's not the design or the block or anything Clara and Jennie suggested. It's the thread I'm using. See, I initially was going to use DMC floss because I have a ton of it. Then I read their suggestions for floss. They suggested this different type of floss that has a tighter weave and the strands don't come apart. I didn't have any so I was still using my DMC. I went to pull my colors together and remembered some floss my daughter had from kits to make friendship bracelets. Low and behold, the floss looked exactly like what they were talking about. It's not the same, but it looked like the floss to which they referred. So I made up a color strip like they had for their kits.

Now keep in mind I have no way of knowing if mine is the same size they suggest or anything.

I started sewing last night and, unfortunately I chose to sew in front of the TV with very little light because I wasn't really seeing what it looked like. It's okay, but it gives the impression of being bumpy. It kind of looks like bumpy, flat, bumpy, flat. Even if my stitches are exactly the same length, it looks like shorter, longer, shorter, longer. I don't think it's responding well to the backstitch.

It's kind of hard to get a picture of.  I don't know if it bothers me enough to pick it all out. The only thing I have left is the grass. I hate frustration.

My Mind is Racing...

Where do you guys get your ideas for projects? I never cease to be amazed where ideas originate for me. After seeing the cute embroidery ideas out there I got to wondering where people get their drawing ideas, and wishing I was a better drawer? artist. Then I took the kids to Burger King of all places. Have you seen the crowns lately? They have the BK kids on them.

They're actually kind of cute. In fact, that's sort of where I got the idea for the little embroidery drawings I did of Thing 1 and Thing 2. Not exactly, but close. There are also animals...

And monsters.

I was thinking it might be cute to come up with some kind of Halloween quilt from the monster characters (plus more).  Just an idea.

Also, my Japanese fabric finally came in and it's perfect! I put it with the Hideaway and the colors just all blend together perfectly. I think it would be great for either gender so I'm in the clear.

These are the fabrics I am meshing together for the Japanese/Austrian baby quilt. I love how the colors all seem to blend together. The Japanese fairy tale fabrics seem to go perfectly with the Bavarian village look of the Hideaway fabric. I can almost see Hansel and Gretel living in a home like that. Funny how the fairy tale fabrics are supposed to be Japanese but they depict German stories (Hansel and Gretel), French stories (Puss in Boots and Red Riding Hood), and there's a princess in there as well! So we're just going to depict several cultures.

I'm still waiting (impatiently) for the return of my sewing machine. I'm ready to finish my sister's quilt. I want to be able to report some finished projects next week! Arrggh!

I Will Be Prepared...

I have been a little excited about attempting embroidery with quilting using Clover and Violet's quiltalong. Plus I have two small children who think they are going to spend the summer in front of the TV and the computer. So we got a little head start on embroidery yesterday. First I had them draw pictures of whatever they wanted.

Thing 1 (DD) drew a girl (head only), I drew my kids, and Thing 2 (DS) drew a monster truck. Look hard. It'll come to you. Maybe.

Anyway, our next step was to transfer it from the paper to the fabric. I just bought two yards of Kona White just to have because I seem to run out (imagine that!) so we used a little of that and a Marker Be Gone pen. I had them place the picture under the fabric where they wanted it and pin it together. Then we traced. Well, I traced. Thing 1 did hers but Thing 2 couldn't sit still so we sent him outside to rid himself of excess energy.

Now, here's where it gets interesting. I had a lot of embroidery hoops. I used to cross-stitch so I had several sizes. My MIL gave me some a few months ago as well. And where are said hoops? Um, well, I gave them away to the quilting guild for our Christmas raffle. Not a good move. I just had no idea at the time that I would use them again. I hadn't picked on up in YEARS so I figured it was safe to get rid of them. Obviously not. I had to go buy one to do the quiltalong, and that is the one you see in the picture.

One thing I've never been able to part with from my earlier years of cross-stitching; thread. I have a little bit. Well, maybe a lotta bit.

Yeah, okay, a lotta bit. But that means I don't have to buy more and I have my choice of what I want to use, right? Don't look at the white legs. Too much time in the craft room, not enough in the sun.
Thing 1 has been working on hers so I may take hers out, and quickly do mine so you have a finished project to see. My plan is to quilt around the pictures, maybe in hexie form. Ooh, wouldn't that be cute? To let the picture be the center and hex around block like Lee around it? How cute! I told them we'd make pillows for their beds. Here's her progress thus far. I thought she was doing pretty well.

I'll have to hit my little sister up with this activity. She has two scary artists for children. Her youngest is the same age as Thing 2 (we were pregnant at the same time). Last year we were at a little festival and they had places set up for the kids to do crafts. One was a drawing table. So the unsuspecting adults manning the table gave us supplies. I just remember one of the ladies staring at what my niece was drawing and finally being able to utter, "How old is she?" We said, "Four" to her complete shock. I think they could make some cool embroidery pictures.
Oh, and I forgot to mention that Thing 1 was the photographer for this lovely posting! I had to delete about 25 other pictures from my camera but I finally found these.

I will update on this as we finish. Happy summer projects!