Moving On!

This time last year, the center of my universe was finished with his first round of chemotherapy and radiation awaiting his first surgery which was December 3. Here we are a year later looking for an all clear since the second round of chemotherapy and a second surgery.  His next tests are scheduled for December 5. His platelets are down, we are not sure he will have the procedure. Cancer is not fun and I am relieved the year is over and we can look forward to more Thanksgivings and Christmases. I ban the thought of what could have been....
 
Eighty HSTs and 100 broken dishes blocks, done and dusted! The first clue of Grand Illusion was pretty quick and easy. I am uber happy I finished. I believe this is the first time in my history of doing Bonnie's quilts to be ready for the next step! I will not stay sitting this pretty though, next Friday is test day at Mayo.
 

I also had time to work on this big guy. I finished cutting a couple pieces, then it got fray stopped. I will be in the process of stitching this afternoon in between morning and evening services at church. I also need to find a place for the teddy bears that are sitting here watching me. They are on the end of the ironing board and I am afraid I am going to burn their bums with the iron.
 
This teddy bear is being made from cream string mohair. I haven't used this fabric in quite some time. It is adorable and very easy to work with. I have the ears completed and they are nice and soft. This one is going to be gorgeous. Still not telling the paw pad color!

I hope you enjoy your day. I also hope your Thanksgiving was nice and you were surrounded by friends and family. Time to dig in and finish those Christmas gifts! Don't forget to post your progress on our Facebook page, The Crafter's Thread. Thanks for stopping by, I appreciate you.

happy crafting,

Debi

Grand Illusion

Well, I didn't get as far as I wanted, but I made tons of progress.  We were out for the morning and the early afternoon, and I did five loads of washing, ugh! BUT, I did get all of clue one cut and all the half square triangles (HSTs) sewn. This is everything cut, 100 of the HSTs sewn and pressed, and ready to go into the finished block. We have lots of blocks to make and we have eighty HSTs set aside for later in the process. I have tons of these still to press. At least I am finished sewing them all. My pile of pressing is larger than my pile of finished...sigh. We have a week to finish this step. I will for sure be finished by next Friday, I hope to finish this clue by this evening so I can get back to the wedding ring and this TEDDY BEAR!!!!!



 

Here is the finished block (I got two complete yesterday) for this clue. Interesting, we will see how this "broken dish" block gets used in the quilt. Hmmm, what are those remaining eighty HSTs for??? (This is Bonnie Hunter's design, her yearly mystery!)






Have a wonderful weekend. I hope you get the opportunity to do something you love and a lot of it. Most have a four day weekend, I almost thought it was Sunday.... I get an extra day to play! YAY! Thanks for stopping by, I truly appreciate you.

Can't wait to see what you're working on!

Debi

Ready, Set, Sew...

As I drew the teddy bear yesterday afternoon, I was mentally checking off everything that I needed to do for today. And, NO!!!! I am not going black Friday shopping, my list isn't full of stores I want to hit. I really dislike the crowds and fighting for things.... I will be sewing ALL day!  But, I digress.

Here were my choices for the paws. I had five different ones, Shane narrowed it down to these two (black and rust). I decided on......well, I guess you will just have to wait to see!!

After I finished cutting out the teddy bear, I cleared my cutting table. I am all ready for Bonnie Hunter's mystery quilt that started at 7:00 EST this morning. It is called Grand Illusion and is on quiltville.blogspot.com. She also has a Facebook page, Quiltville Open Studio. It will be very fun and I am anxious to start. I have several bobbins wound, a new needle in my recently cleaned and oiled machine, a new blade in the rotary cutter, and I have the fabric all nicely stacked here on the side of my cutting table. Bonnie's quilts are scrappy and controlled all at the same time. It's going to be fun!

 

 

Have you ever bent a needle while you were hand-stitching? This is the needle I threw away yesterday. I was shocked I could do that (didn't think I was strong enough). I was having trouble with my needle not coming through the fabric where I wanted it to and stopped to look and this is what I found. I bought a pack of this particular brand, hope they all don't bend! Is this the brand or content of the needle?? I am not sure I have ever bent one before. Wrong gauge for the job? wrong material?... I am bamboozled.

We have had a great response to our Facebook page, The Crafter's Thread. It seems to be growing and I love the inspiration I find there. You all encourage me with your beautiful work on various crafts. I LOVE IT!! Whatever you are doing today, I hope you enjoy yourself and stay safe out there. Thanks for stopping by, I appreciate you.

happy crafting,

Debi

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

And that is all for today!

We all have so much to be thankful for everyday of the year. Let's take time to thank God for our trials and blessings.

Hope your day is fantastic. Enjoy your family and friends.

Happy Thanksgiving,

Debi

Outfit or Eyes??

I had a little bit more of a productive day today.  I posted a pic of the teddy bear on the Facebook page yesterday with a nose dilemma. While I waited for everyone to weigh in with their votes, I finished several arcs for the double wedding ring quilt. I love to multi-task and I accomplished just that. 

Without further adieu, I would like to introduce the newest bear in the sloth. She is definitely a she, but is yet unnamed. That's ok, we'll get there! For those of you who wanted her to match her paw pads, I apologize, I tried really hard to do it. I started and had the nose half done and pulled it out, for some reason, it just wasn't the right color.  The black was a bit dull, so we spiced it up a little with some stripes!! Now, all she needs is for me to get my act together and put a different bow on her, this one really DOES NOT match! She can stand all by herself and has lovely swirly creamy white fur. She is 10 inches standing.

What a pretty girl! Thank you all so much for all of the encouraging words along the way, she wouldn't be complete if you hadn't helped. I would still be staring at her wondering what color to use. 

I am sure all our United States friends are preparing for Thanksgiving, as am I. I stopped at the florist today and bought an autumn centerpiece for the table....that's about as far as I can go with the decorating, I am really horrible at it!  I have so much to be thankful for. The past year has been the worst year of our lives, but thank you LORD, it is in the past and we can move on and serve Him.

Have a wonderful day. I hope your thanksgiving holiday is fantastic. See you tomorrow.

happy crafting,

Debi

One of Those Days

Have you ever had one of those days where you set out to accomplish several things and your day went to mush? Well, that was my day.  Yesterday was church, I don't expect to accomplish much crafty-like. It is all good, I would rather go to church than make a teddy bear or work on my quilts. Today, however was a day not to be repeated soon.

We spent the day at Mayo Clinic today. Shane is on the other side of colon/rectal cancer and we were going up for a follow-up. The follow up in August found he had two fractured vertebrae (T7 and T10) and osteoporosis. We came to terms with that and are following "procedure" for this. He has blood work before every oncology appointment. Today, they found his platelets to be pretty low.  He shows no signs of sickness, virus, or has not had any medication changes so they are not sure why. He has a colonoscopy scheduled for Dec. 5. He cannot go into the procedure with his count being this low for fear of bleeding. We have a couple more tests before then to determine the plan of attack. They will probably transfuse platelets before the procedure just in case. 

Our youngest grandson (10 months) will be in surgery in December as well. He has some issues from his circumcision. There are adhesions that need to be taken care of. Our sweet little man...  He's had enough and is calling Nana!

Happy little fella!

I hope your day was better than mine and continues to be all you want it to be.  Thanks for stopping by, I appreciate you.  I hope to finish this new bear this evening and have pics up tomorrow. Have a great evening.

happy crafting,

Debi

Piles

When the time comes to draw a new bear, I am ever so thankful for my "light box". It is like a flat screen tv, it hooks via USB to my computer, and is very bright. It is called an LED light pad. I love to be able to see through the paper when I am drawing legs and arms. It is very handy. Since it is USB, I can take it anywhere I can take my laptop. I love the mobility and  bright light!!

I have a pile of teddy bear parts drying from the fray stopping step. I don't think I will ever skip this step again. This fabric is thick and has a high thread count, so I don't expect it to fray, but I stopped it anyway! This swirly fur is creamy and very dense. I can't wait to see it made up. The finished bear will be about 9-10 inches tall when standing.

I also have a pile of melons laying here to be ironed and another pile of arcs ready to be sewn on one side of the remaining few melons. I have still more arcs also laying here to be ironed. Can you tell the ironing is my least favorite part. I guess I don't mind so much now that the weather has cooled off, I use the heat of the iron to warm me up! In the summer, it is just a HOT job. My goals for today are to get the ironing done and get sewing on this bear. 

Bonnie Hunter's new mystery comes out one week from today. I am very pleased I am ready to go. I will be trying to keep up this year. In the past, I found it a bit overwhelming, maybe because I didn't like my fabric choices or I didn't realize just what a scrap quilt was. Bonnie says this one is easier, AND I have tons of scraps in the colors she chose!  I can't wait to get started.

I have a friend doing a 5-Minute Purge.  She works for five minutes each day, cleaning and sorting one area, such as her pantry, bathroom closet, or kitchen drawers. I admire her as I can't stop myself at the five minute mark....I just want the job done! And my job for right now is for me to make these piles disappear. I am sure I will create new ones in the process, but at least I will meet my goals. 

I hope you have a great weekend and are able to worship at the church of your choice. I also hope you have time to do something you love. Thanks for stopping by, I appreciate you.

happy crafting,

Debi

Introducing....

Walter III, weighing in at 50grams (1.75oz.) and measuring 10.5cm (4.25in). Walter III is officially the smallest teddy bear I have made. He comes in a close second behind Molly. She lays down and kicks her feet behind her and is about 4.5in long. When Walter III is sitting on the table, he barely makes 3 inches tall (7.5cm). I had to put garnet sand in his belly to make him weigh anything. I was amazed at how LITTLE poly-fil it took to fill his wee arms and legs.  He is so cute. But for all his cuteness, he was a challenge. The pieces are so tiny. It wasn't that I had a hard time sewing it, that was easy. The challenge was turning it and then the joints. I had to find the tiniest method of jointing, using the thinnest joint discs I could find and t-head cotter pins to keep it all together.

 

Putting the filling in  became an art form, kind of like surgery! I used my hemostats and a chopstick. Even my skinny fingers were too big to push the stuffing in to the ends of the arms, legs, and body. Where there is a will, there is a way! (You should have seen me trying to take this picture, my nose is big for a reason!!)  His joints are 15mm (5/8") in the head and arms and 20mm (3/4") in his legs, that's pretty small. I think next time I will use washers as the depth of the plastic is too much for the arms. The inside of the body has mostly joint discs in it, making it require very little poly-fil. 

This morning, Walter III wanted to share my cuppa tea. He sneakily stood beside it for a while, showing me he was a big boy for standing on his own. But alas, the aroma of nice warm tea got the better of him and he took a nose dive. Fortunately, I caught him before he could get wet and drown! 

Hope you enjoy your day. I will be making Walter Jr. and working on melons and the double wedding ring. I also have some Christmas presents that I would like to finish and get some others going. We did some grocery shopping yesterday for Thanksgiving, we have a reasonably small "family" this year, I'm only cooking for 8.  I love to cook! 

Thanks for stopping by, I appreciate you. Please post pics to The Crafter's Thread on Facebook or here. I love seeing what you do. So many talented crafters out there.

happy crafting,

Debi 

The Sloth

The sloth (trust me, I looked it up!) is growing. These are the newest ones in the collection. The three in the second row from the top were repaired, then the others were made from scratch. The first three were the reason I began making them again. I forgot how fun they are and how much I loved and missed the entire process. I have designed and made bears since 1998 and probably have over 25 of my own designs.

It took me most of the day to get these tiny pieces sewn together, but I did it. He already has a name and a lineage. I reduced the last one I drew down by 70% and this little guy was born. Next, I will reduce the large one by forty or so percent and hopefully have one right in the middle. This one is going to be cute, I can feel it.



Today I will assemble Walter III and give him some personality. I thought the picture made him look big, but then I saw my little needle in there and decided he isn't so big after all. Shane told me the title to yesterday's blog post (Wee Tiny Fella) was redundant...wee and tiny mean the same thing!! Oh well, he is wee tiny!!

I am working on the pictures today for a couple of tutorials as well. I also have a list of things I would like to share, like free tutorials, sites that help with getting started or questions about certain crafts, and free BOMs or mystery quilts or projects. There is no need to re-invent the wheel. Like dad says, "If it ain't broke, why fix it?". I won't make new tutorials, I'll just show you where to find good ones (in my opinion).

I am still proof-reading the thesis. This is hard work for one who hasn't taught in a few years. The grammar and punctuation rules are all different and I am having to do some research on the today's rules to accurately proof-read. I am learning a lot!

Hope your day is great and you have time to do something you love. Thanks for stopping by, I appreciate you. Thanks for making my day.

happy crafting,

Debi

Wee Tiny Fella

I knew this one was going to be tiny, that's why it got "painted" with Alene's Stop Fraying. I did the edges of the bigger pieces, ie body and legs, totally covering the head parts, ears, arms, and where the joint pins will go through. This wee head was tricky, but fast because it is sooo small. And he already has a name! We will have a Walter Sr., Walter Jr., and Walter III when I am finished. I am currently putting Walter III together. I will do the Jr. next.

Since my hands and fingers are so small, I can sew these tiny pieces quite easily. I think if it were different, I may try to come up with an alternate method. I do sew all the "straights" on the larger bears on my machine, it is faster that way. Although, I find I give up some of my perfectionist ways when the machine does the work for me. I like to finish the bindings on my quilts by hand as well. No better feeling than to pull that last stitch through and know you did it all!

I got some arcs and more melons done for the wedding ring, hence the reward of sewing on the teddy bear. I am working on hand stitching the bindings in the evenings when we have tv or other shared time after Shane is finished with his work day. It is coming along, nearly finished with the first one.

We've made our plans and have our invites out there for Thanksgiving. I just need some good dessert recipes to try. I know of the usual ones and my dearly beloved wants a pecan pie, so I will be doing those, but if you have a favorite sweet recipe, please let me know. I still need to get my turkey and a couple other things to boost up the table. Would like to get this runner done to decorate with, we will see.

Thanks for stopping by, I appreciate you. Remember, if you have a favorite dessert recipe, please post it here or on The Crafter's Thread Facebook page. Thank you so much.

happy crafting,

Debi

Not So Wasted After All

Yesterday seemed to be a wasted day until I sat down and started to think about what I did.  Sometimes we just need to look back and realize when God changes our plans for the day, we need to run with it. Our trip to Mayo got sabotaged and the thought of coming home to reschedule and get some unexpected time to play was nice....if it had worked that way. But, it didn't and I didn't get to play. I did, however, get the HSTs finished and the arcs started. No time for the teddy bear though, I think I will only work on him today.

Our son is finishing his BS at ASU (Arizona State University) and I am proof-reading his final paper. That was my wrench in the day...a 40 page thesis. While I am uber happy that he is finishing, I hate correcting his work (only because I hate hurting his feelings for commas!!). AND, I don't want him to flunk the paper because I missed a pronoun :-(

 
SO just to make me happy, I am posting pics of some teddy bears I made a few years ago that sit on my hutch. Sweet little darlings....I love this pattern so much, I made two! They are perfectly proportioned and have been weighted to stand on their own. I love these guys, Nehemiah the First and Nehemiah the Second! 
 

And just look at those adorable faces!

I hope you smiled when you saw them, I accomplished my task if you did. I also hope you have a great day and have some time to do something you love. Our weather is cooling off, for others it is very cold. Still others find themselves headed for warmer weather....I envy you.


Thanks for stopping by, I appreciate you.

happy stitching....

Debi 




 

Thankful...

Had a friend post on her Facebook page Sunday that she was too sore to stitch and her eyes were blurry, I felt so bad. What would I do if I couldn't stitch????? I am here to tell you, I prayed hard for her. What would you do if you woke up one day and couldn't do the things you love? I complain if I can't sew for a couple of hours..... Makes me thankful I can get out of bed most days and come to my studio and play.

 

Speaking of playing, Bonnie Hunter's new mystery is coming up quickly with the first clue coming out Friday, November 28, less than two weeks now.  I decided to get busy and find some scraps in her color palette.  I usually don't use the given colorway, but I am intrigued by this year's choices. Here's what I came up with, paint chips are at the bottom. Come join in, dig through your scraps and sew along! Yellow, grass green, turquoise, and bright pink....along with black and neutrals, should be interesting. Nothing bigger than 3 yards, and I made it up of several different pieces. The title is Grand Illusion, just adding to the intrigue!

I also got the rest of the arc pieces cut for the melons. I had 25 more sets of 18 pieces to cut. Phew, now to get them sewn together. The arcs are the easy part, short straight seams. After the arc is sewn, the rest of the seams are curved...I love curved seams. The are intimidating to some, but if I use a lot of pins, I rarely get a pucker. I was going to say I have never gotten one, but I have....bummer. 

I am thinking that my goal setting has been good. I don't let things sit too long before I get to them. The UFO stack is going down and the scrap pile is going up. The teddy bear reward system is hard to do, but I am being strong...so far :-)   Maybe we should have some sort of a group challenge to get things finished and cleared from our to do lists.

I hope you are having a great day and that you get some time to do those things you love and meeting your goals as well. Thanks for stopping by, I appreciate you. I love seeing what your projects are on The Crafter's Thread. Keep those pics coming.

Thanks again!

Debi

 

 

Excited!!!

First, I am so excited to see the number of likes we have on The Crafter's Thread on Facebook. We have only had our page for three days and we have over 25 likes already. We had friends post on the wall yesterday with their projects. I am amazed by your work. I don't think I could crochet or needle turn applique to save my life, and yet those of you who can, make beautiful things. AMAZING! Thanks for posting. I am encouraged.....

I didn't make it to the joint bin sort out, but I have a good reason.  I have nothing to sort them into except the same ziplock and box storage system I am currently using. But, I did get my other goals done and dusted!!! I started the day wanting to finish two table runners and the melons for the double wedding ring quilt. I did the melons first as they were easy to accomplish.  I did all I had cut, one more set of cutting and I will be finished with the arcs, I can't wait. AND, I machine quilted and put the bindings on both table runners.  Phew, those runners have been laying here haunting me for at least a year! They are gifts, at least I made it by Christmas! Now to hand stitch the binding and some snowflakes on the snowmen.

It was garage sale weekend in our community and I manned that Friday and Saturday morning as we had a few things we wanted to get out of the garage! Fortunately, it was a very warm nice couple of  days! (And EVERYTHING sold!) We made enough to go to lunch, that's all we wanted!! 

Today, I would like to meet my goal on the melons again and start on this wee little bear. It is all painted with fray stopper and ready. I decided to hold on to it and make it my reward for getting the job done, I think I earned it yesterday. I organized so much, my husband was amazed. I am really motoring here.

Well, I need to get off here and get ready for church. I hope you have a fantastic day and get to worship in the church of your choice. Also, that you get some time to do something you love. Thank you so much for stopping by, I am loving sharing with you. You make my day.

quilt piece-fully,

Debi

  

Getting There!

Here is the mini all painted and ready to be sewn. I am really looking forward to starting this one. I did the big one and then did something I have only ever done once before....I scanned and reduced the exact pattern to get the mini. I always just sit and draw the pattern, I feel like I cheated somehow!

 

One thing I have never done is use my mohair scraps to make another bear. I saved the bigger version's scraps to do exactly that. I must be crazy! I moaned and complained about how it kept fraying and here I am using the same fabric again! One change: this little wee thing is "painted" with Alene's Stop Fraying!! I am pretty sure it's not going anywhere! I put an extra layer in the vulnerable areas (where I stuff it and where the joint pins go through). It will need to dry for a bit longer. I'll keep you posted, I'm sure, on the continuing saga. Hopefully, there won't be any further issues.

I can't believe I got it all out of scraps, I love saving money!

I also started to organize all the bits and pieces it takes to make the bears. I had a box full of eyes. Some are German glass eyes, some plastic safety eyes...all in ziplock bags in a cardboard box that has so many corners torn, I have no idea how the bags stayed in there. I now know exactly what I have and where to find it, thanks to this nice little storage set. I have the boot buttons separated from the glass eyes and the safety eyes are all organized by size in the bottom row of drawers. Every drawer is labeled with what is inside, if the drawer has a divider, both are clearly labeled on the front. Smallest eyes are on the top left and largest on the bottom right. I'm loving it! I think today I will tackle the joint bin.....

I got the cutting and sewing tables organized as well.  Just need to finish filing the "I want to make this some day" patterns in the filing box.

Well, this teddy bear is dry and needing to be sewn.  I better get to it. I am also working on the pictures for the tutorials and finishing up the melons for the double wedding ring quilt. Can't wait to get the tutorials posted and going. 

Hope your day and weekend are fantastic. I appreciate you stopping by, see you tomorrow.

hoping you have time to do something you love,

Debi

P.S. Here's the only girl puppy in the litter....little "Bobbin" is so adorable!! Her brothers all have their eyes open now too. I can't believe they are two weeks old already!

 

New to Old or Vise Versa!

While I love the teddy bear, I REALLY don't like the fur I used.  It definitely wasn't the best quality and even with fray stopping glue stuff, it is still coming apart at the seams. I wanted an old, worn, loved looking bear and I am getting one without any additional work! I plan to use some coffee here and there and add a patch and stitches for that loved look. Those patches may have to be strategically put over the fraying seams! Live and learn they say! (Just who are THEY anyway??)

This is what the bear looked like when I had it all put together. The ears are pinned on for eye placement.  I love, love, love this part. To some it is the most intimidating, but for me, this is where the bear really gets cute, or mad, or sad, or whatever!!

I am going to shrink this pattern and make a mini. I think the exaggerated legs and arms together with the big ears will prove to be an adorable mini. I WILL NOT be using the same mohair unless I paint the entire backing with fray stop!

My goals for the day....

• garage sales for a piece of furniture I can re-purpose
• finish melons for double wedding ring
• patch this cutie patootie
• enjoy the day with my husband!

Hope you have a great day and accomplish your goals. Come on over to The Crafter's Thread community on Facebook and share what you're doing. Just a bunch of crafters getting and giving good ideas. Why not share yours?

quilt piece-fully,

Debi

Bursting at the Seams

WOW! I bought a 5 pound (2.27kgs) box of poly-fil for my bears and cloth dolls. I was amazed by the size of the box at first, it was pretty small.  I opened the box and when the air hit the bag, the poly-fil started to expand. I still haven't opened the bag and it is already too big to fit back in the box...what do I do now???

I sprained my ankle last Saturday and have been trying to keep it up.  Yesterday I was "unstuffing" this pillow to fill a bear and I decided to use it under my ankle as well. It pulled double duty. The resulting teddy bear is lumpy which is what I wanted. The pillow is from a quilt and pillow set I made for our bed a few years ago. Two puppies later, the corners have been chewed off and it has been de-stuffed and re-stuffed too many times to count! Now it is in my teddy bear. Waste not, want not so they say! A penny saved is a penny earned!

And, here is the lumpy guy. His body is not filled yet, so he's very squishy! I hope to get him finished today. His ears are laying here waiting to be put on. Then my favorite part...the face. I am always amazed how their character comes out when I do their faces. If I were to do the face today, he would be doing a happy dance as my iPhone 6 Plus shipped yesterday....I can't wait to have it!!!

I created a new page on Facebook called The Crafter's Thread. Come join the fun and post your projects there. It's meant to be an encouraging community of crafters across the spectrum...from knitting to wood burning, it should be fun and interesting. Anyone can post to it and you can post patterns you've found or your projects. I hope we can connect with others around the globe with our common interests.

Have a fantastic day! Thanks for stopping by, I truly appreciate you.

quilt piece-fully,

Debi 

 

Blah....

Have you ever had one of those days where everything you touched turned to gold and then one of those days where everything you touched turned to mush? Not that everything I touch ever turns to gold, I wish it did!! But, yesterday I had one of those days where every time I tried to work on something, it did not work.  I started on the teddy bear, I had finished most of the pieces on Sunday, all I had to do was sew in the foot pads which I quite easily finished. Then I began turning everything after testing to make sure I had sewn everything. I use a bodkin and "feel" around all the seams, the bodkin should stay in the piece and not poke through. Well, it did NOT, the fabric was already beginning to fray.  I chose a sparse mohair for this one and the weave on the backing is not 600 thread count, that's for sure! I thought with the size of the pieces I could use my sewing machine, so I did. Using the machine usually means I can skip the fray stop step. I put NEVER SKIP THE FRAY STOP step in my patterns, and I didn't abide my my own rules....... you can picture the rest of the story. I had to go back and lay a bead of fray stop in one hand and then sew the "glue" together as it had frayed that bad. I wanted this one to look old and loved......I GOT IT!! It is falling apart before it even has a complete body!

I then decided to put it down and do something else, "out of sight..." the old adage says, right???  Well, it's NOT true. It just kept haunting me. I tried to work on a quilt....thread kept breaking. I tried to organize in my studio, the dogs kept "UN-organizing". I finally decided to just give up and watch TV.  Fortunately, I didn't touch that or who knows what might have happened!!

I am hoping you had a better day than me and that today is even better! I am ready for a good day! How about you?

Thanks for stopping by, I appreciate you more than you know!

quilt piece-fully,

Debi

Worn and Loved

Before anything else, I would like to thank all those who serve in the military everyday of the year and in times past served as well. Many include my dad, father in law, son, daughter in law, son in law, brother, brother in law, nephew, and many friends covering all branches of the United States military. THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE, not just today, but everyday. For without you we would not have the freedoms we do. I am humbled by your selfless service. I appreciate your sacrifice. Thank you.

 

Yesterday I asked for your help on how to make fabric look old and loved. I tried several things. I used scraps from the ted I cut out so I would be using the exact fabric. I wanted to see how each method looked finished. First, I tried tea staining. It didn't look like I did anything. The tea color was too close to the color of my fur, therefore...no affect. Here are two tiny scraps and the selvedge edge tea stained, I cannot see where I soaked it.

The coffee, however did a good job. I used wet grounds on the back first and rubbed it around. This gave the effect of a darker backing fabric and lighter fur, more like the fur missed out on the love.  I rubbed the coffee into the right side and got this.  I am liking it better than the tea.  The only problem is that we don't like coffee, so I have to brew a pot and throw it away for the grounds!!

I also got good ideas from you for other ways to make this one look loved and worn. I am trying all of them. Come back tomorrow to see how each one fared. I may also try wood wool shavings (say that fast ten times!! I couldn't even type it correctly!) for the filling.  I played with it today and it breaks down pretty easily, so I am not sure it will work.

I am also going to try to sandpaper the fur side to "shave" it, trying to make it look like it had been drug across the floor for a child's life. Some of the methods, I cannot try until the teddy bear is finished as it requires stitching after the fact. I am looking forward to seeing the end result. It is all traced on the the fur and cut.  I have a few pieces sewn together, but don't want to finish before I decide on how to distress.  I hate froggin!! (rip it, rip it)

 

If you come up with any other ideas, please let me know. I am trying everything. I may not use it this time, but there are several more quilts and teddy bears to be made! I love trying new things as well. I am going to try the coffee and tea and burning on a quilt I have an idea for. I think it will do the trick quite nicely.

I hope you have a great day and have some time to do something you enjoy.  Thanks for stopping by, I truly appreciate you.

quilt piece-fully,

Debi

P. S. The puppies opened their eyes today!!!!!!!!! Here is our granddaughter with the only girl pup of the liter! Sooooo sweet.

 

Garage Sale Day

Well he is all done now and I am pretty happy with him.  I made his bow tie, but after I took his pictures, I realized it is crooked!! Oh well!  He is a shaggy ole boy. I need to find my teddy bear glasses and perch some on his nose! He's hanging out on the antique ironing board I scored Saturday at a garage sale! 

I also got some frames for two cross-stitch projects I finished years ago! Not bad for a couple of hours of my day.  I am not much of a garage sale type of girl...unless I am on the hunt for something. I am wanting to learn how to "re-purpose" some furniture, so I would like to find some inexpensive pieces to practice on.

I was hoping to find someone selling their old sewing machine or maybe even some fabric, but I wasn't so fortunate. Our neighborhood is having a community garage sale next weekend, I guess I should clean out this house and sell some of the clutter! It doesn't matter how many times I try to clean out, I can always find more.

 

I am having so much fun. I really enjoy spending time in my studio. I continue to work on the quilts I have going and starting new ones, I enjoy having more than one project going at a time. If we are out of the house, I like taking a project with me. I am always amazed by how much I can get done while waiting at a doctor on driving. I take small projects I can hand piece. Too much fun!

I hope you have a fantastic day and your weekend was everything you wanted it to be. It's church day here, so we will be spending our day there. Looking forward to our potluck today....

Thanks for stopping by, I truly appreciate you.

quilt piece-fully,

Debi