Kitties Do It For Themselves

In my book, Kaleidoscope, I wrote,
The cats gave me a seriously disdainful look, as only cats know how to do.   Tucking their heads back up their bums, shielding their eyes from the light with their tails, they cuddled up once again between my knees.   Which, if you must know, were spread apart in a very, very unladylike fashion.   But we do what we must for the kitties.

And how true - we do what we must for the kitties.

Which is why I found myself packing away the applique work I was doing because my darling white furry baby, Ponchielli, decided my scrap box was just too good to pass up on!

She spent the entire day sleeping on scraps I'd saved from projects such as the Sewing Mat and Caddy I made to pop under my Bernina and the Halloween Mug Rugs which you can see in the photo at left.

So I'm working on a bell pull for Christmas.  I've never made one before, but I've always admired the one my Mom-in-Law made years ago.  It will have angels and wise men and the baby Jesus in the manger.  I'm thinking of embroidering some words like Noel and Peace on it too, but we'll see as I get stitching this weekend.

Here's a sneak preview of the Angel block - what do you think?  I'd love to have you post comments (good and bad) as constructive criticism is exactly what makes digitizers like myself do better work for our customers.

I do hope you all have a great weekend sewing and embroidering, quilting and crafting!

Speak to you all soon!

SPOOKTACULAR and BOOTIFUL

It's HALLOWEEN!

Like I wrote before, we're only just getting into the Halloween thing here in South Africa - and for me, it's just another good excuse to have a party!

There are some fun Halloweeny things on Sew 'n Sew which you just need to make for the kids this holiday (or for yourself too nudge nudge!)

I hung this doorhanger on my sewing studio last year.  The family were left in no doubt as to who was BOSS!  Take a look here at the project.

The Ghostly Fright Spooks were a great hit with the neighborhood kids too.

I popped snap light sticks into balloons under the funky faces and they really were scary!

There are four ghostly faces which you can embroider along with a scary text message!

Go look at them here

Then, just for fun, all the HalloweenDoorhangers are at an unbelievable price because there is a BOOtiful discount running at Sew 'n Sew until the end of October 2012.

Come take a look at them here




Well, that's if for today.  Hope to hear you're all having a witchfully fun stitching day!
Whooo's there?  Arrrrrrgh!  Shriek shriek!
Trisch

Collette's Dinosaur

What a proud granny Peg must be.  She has a little artist in her midst!  Collette drew a dinosaur just after she turned 3 years old and Peg asked me to digitize it into applique so that she can preserve it.

Now I don't know much about dinosaurs, but this one certainly is a new species!  So I decided to name it Embroiderapplisaurus Kiddicreatous.

I suggested to Peg that she gets Collette to draw more of them so that she could make a fabulous quilt.

This dinosaur is a one-off and will not be for sale on www.sewnsew.co.za  but if you would like me to digitize your own creations, please email me!

Have a fabulous Wednesday!

Halloween Hotties

I generally procrastinate about doing anything until I really really have to!  It's not that I'm lazy, it's that I spend hours and hours deliberating about how I'm going to create something, and then, before I know it, it's time to get my A into G.  And that is really when the creative juices get flowing!

Which is where I found myself this week.  Sorta procrastinating, but feeling creatively witchy.

It's only 20 days to Halloween and I still haven't got anything done that I wanted to do this year.  So, I'm putting a bunch of mug rugs together with a spooky flavour and I'll use these on the table outside with some orange candles and a plastic pumpkin or two.

In South Africa, we don't really do the Trick or Treat thing.  This has only become popular over the last couple of years, but where I live we don't have many children knocking on the door.  So, instead, we will have a party where our friends will be asked to dress up.

Here's a pic of what I looked like dressed up as a witch a couple of years ago!  Even Mozart, my darling 19 year old boy (who is now in kitty heaven), obliged to being a witches cat for the day.

The end of October is soooooo hot in South Africa that, instead of pumpkin soup, I will make a gazpacho.

Back to the mug rug thing...


Mug rugs are all the rave at the moment and they are ideal to use up bits of fabric tucked away in your stash.  There is some debate on the right size a mug rug should be.  I've made them to fit the hoop on my embroidery machine, so these ones end up at 6"x8".  I figure any bigger, the cookies and cakes will get bigger too and I'll just get fatter!

I embroidered a couple of Halloweeny Things some years ago and decided they needed resurrecting (ha ha, that's funny)I converted them into in the hoop embroidered and appliqued mug rugs which you can get the designs for here.

The only thing not done in the hoop is the final binding.  I still like a finished edge, so I made up some constrasting binding with my snazzy automatic I-don't-have-stress Simplicity Bias Binding Maker and stitched it on with my sewing machine.

There are four designs in the set.  Each one is made differently to the other so that they are quite unique and no one will argue about which belongs to whom!  I can't decide which is my favorite.

So if you would like to see the In The Hoop Halloweeny Things Mug Rugs, please click here and then, once you've made them, send me a pic to share please!

Hope you have a great week stitching!
Love from Sunny South Africa,
Trisch

Let's Spring into Fall!

While down here in the South Hemisphere we have skipped Spring completely and headed straight into summer, our Northern Hemisphere embroiderers are gearing up for Fall and Halloween.
This means hot soups and stews, pumpkin pie and candy, so what better than to embroider and applique this fabulous table runner in preparation for Thanksgiving?

The warm autumn colors are sure to add to the inviting taste sensations you will prepare as you sit down to dinner with your family gathered close.

The table runner is completed in sections in the hoop, with just a wee bit of traditional stitching to make it up.  Then finish it off with a tassle on each end and a lovely binded edge.

Take a look at www.sewnsew.co.za and become a member of the Monthly Project Club to download this great project and create a family heirloom.

Giving thanks is good!

Have a wonderful weekend.

Trisch

PS: Kelly Medina, the graphic designer, whose artwork inspired this fall runner, posted a lovely message showing her customers what I'd made.  Take a look at it here.   Thank you Kelly for sharing!