More Patchwork and Embrodiery

Before Christmas I decided to do some more patchwork for some gifts.  I love the book by Gail Pan called Patchwork Loves Embroidery.  

It's a book that I've had for a while but I love to transfer the patterns to embroider.  She also has several nice projects to make in her book.  Each time that I take it out, I want to make more of her items.  

After I made the bag which has a nice enclosure at the top, I stitched up some more birds to match the bag.  I made some bitsy yo-yo's for embellishments along with some buttons.

Then I decided that I wanted to put another piece with embroidery on it with this gift, I stitched up the sweet little heart and made it into a pin cushion.  You can also use it for decorating, putting on a shelf or in a basket.  

I had fun putting this all together.  I gave it to my friend for her gift but now I want to make more of these!  The fabrics come together and coordinate so nicely.  How can I even stop?

 

Patchwork Tote Bag & Christmas Miniature in a Mug

One of my craft-loving friends, Cindy, is going to be moving to TN in a few weeks.  Cindy and I have gotten together to make crafts for several years now.  She is the Crafting Queen and knows how to make all kinds of crafts.  

For her going-away party, I wanted to give her something handmade.  So I did some embroidery and made her this sweet little tote bag with a gathered top.  The bag will make a nice little carrier for taking a small craft project along with you when you are out and about with some time to spare.  I got the pattern from an older book that I have called Patchwork Love Embroidery by Gail Pan.  

Cindy just loved her tote bag. She likes vintage items and muted country colors in her projects and in her home.

 I gave it to her at one of her crafting days that she holds at her church once a month.  

This month we made a sweet festive decoration using a mug and some greenery items.  Here is a photo of the one that I made.  

I added a little house that I painted and a small white picket fence.  I love how it came out.  It only makes me want to make like 20 more of these.  

Although the mugs came out lovely, we made a lot of mess while we were working on them!  There is styrofoam in the cup to hold the twigs and moss.  The rest of the items are glued in using a glue gun.  Depending on the mug that you choose and what you have to put in them, the projects can come out quite differently from the one that I made.

It would be fun to collect some new miniature items from thrift stores to put in my next mug.  :)

Here is another photo of my project. I already have it out on display with my Christmas decorations.  I just love how it turned out.  

Thanks for the idea, Cindy.  Next trip, off to TN to visit Cindy and what sort of thrift and craft shops she will have in her new town.  

Patchwork Loves Embroidery

Last weekend I sprained my ankle and couldn't do any walking or fun things.  So I looked through my project books and decided to work on some embroidery while resting my foot.

I wanted to make a little bag that I can bring with me to work on small projects, so I chose this bag from the book, Patchwork Loves Embroidery. I've had the book for a while, but just haven't made anything out of it yet.  It's a sweet design by Gail Pan, and I had fun working on it.

The embroidery portion took me about 3 1/2 hours to finish.  I was watching the new season of Heartland on Netflix and stitched it while watching 4 episodes.  :)

I had purchased some fat quarters at a recent quilt show in Vermont called Winter Wonderland by Anni Downs for Henry Glass fabrics.  Although the images are wintery, I liked the colors and didn't think that it would matter.

I didn't use the snowman or the Santa fabric in this projects, but I did use the little penguins.  I love how the colors of the fabric work so well together.  I can't wait to make more projects with this fabric collection.

I picked through my assortment of DMC floss and pulled out the colors that I thought would match or coordinate with the fabrics.  Then I added some matching buttons to complete the look.

All in all, I think it came out pretty cute!

Now I need to make a needle and scissors holder to match the bag. :)

What about you, have you combined some embroidery with your patchwork lately?