Come to Gather Fall Cards

For my cards this week I used the Come to Gather designer paper from Stampin Up.  I love the Pretty Peacock color of the stripes and the feathers.  I added the feathers from the Tags and Feathers wooden accents.  I thought the card needed a little something more when it was done, so I added the little bird.  He's from an old set.  I saw this idea on line from Karen Hallam.  This card can be used all year long and makes a great masculine card.

For this card, I cut out a leaf from the Peacock gingham paper using an older leaf die.  I added a smaller cut out from Seasonal Layers framelits to the inside.  Then I put a small teal pumpkin along side the tag.  The card base is Mint Macaron and the idea is from Mary Fish.

For this card featuring the Country Home stamp set, I added some embossing paste that I dyed orange to a cut out stencil that I made from a framelit.  It's along the bottom of the card.  It doesn't show up well in the photo, but it really adds some dimension to the card.  Then I stamped the Birch background in Crumb Cake ink.  I added the country milk can with the dried flowers and small pumpkin for embellishment.  The dotted paper is from the Come to Gather collection.

I used an older pumpkin stamp to make this card.  The papers are also from the Come to Gather paper set.  I cut out the pumpkins and added a dimension to the Jack-o-lantern.

I love to send out Thanksgiving cards.  By the time we get to Christmas, there are so many things to do that I enjoy the more relaxed holiday of Thanksgiving.  And you don't even have to buy any presents.

Painting Pumpkin Decor for Fall

If you're like me, you have a lot of items lying around that can possibly be turned into a craft project.  I stopped by my friend Tracy's house and she had made some really cute fall decor items.  Check out this cute pumpkin made from wine corks!  I grabbed a few, hot glued them together and then painted one side of them orange to look like a pumpkin.  How cute it turned out!

I glued half of a cork for the stem and added some leaves cut from burlap.  Then I added a raffia bow and a small embellishment. I just love it.

For these pumpkins, Tracy cut a wooden post into smaller sections.  I sanded them, painted them and added some embellishments to the top.  To make the candy corn one, I put painters tape around the block, painted one color and then taped the other section and painted that, etc.  After painting, I added some wax to finish them.

She even had a little scarecrow and a pumpkin to added to the top!  My fall decor is stepping up!

One day on a small road trip to VT, I stopped at a lovely display along the road. 

While my friend and I were out exploring and looking for fall foliage, we saw covered bridges and cute pumpkin displays.

Here I am sitting among the pumpkins.  Ah, I love fall, both indoors and out.

Making Fall Pumpkins

A couple of weeks ago one of my crafty friends said that she wanted to make pumpkins.  I knew right away that she meant, sew them and use them for decorating, not make something to eat! 

She and another friend came over and we took out some fabrics and embellishments and this is what we came up with!  Cindy cut the branches from one of her trees.  Then we used a dish to trace a circle onto fabric- cut out two.  Using a tapestry needle threaded with floss, we sewed a gathering stitch around the edge of the circle.  We added poly fill stuffing and pulled the gathers to form the pumpkin.

Then we added the stick and hot glued it into place with some Spanish moss at the top.  The moss covered up the raw edges of the gathered fabric.  We added some leaves, flowers, jute bow and a small stamped tag to complete the look.

They were easy and fun to make!  I made my pumpkins out of an old sweater, some burlap and some outdoor fabrics- whatever I had lying around the craft room.  I just want to make them all day long.

My Fall Sewing Retreat

Not only do I go on a Quilting Retreat in the winter, but also in the fall.  Ah, I love fall.  My friends and I went out on a walk during our retreat time and the landscape was amazing.

It was such a beautiful weekend!  The weather was just perfect and the trees were in full fall color. 

I do have to say, here in upstate NY the fall is such a great time of year!  (I'm not sure about what comes next- a very long winter, but I do love fall.)

Here is a pic of the outside of our hotel rooms first thing in the morning.  :)

On the inside, I was working on several different quilting projects.  Although our retreat is 4 days, I never get enough done!  There are just so many projects to make.

I started working on the Rainbow Quilt last winter.  This weekend I sewed some borders on it and got it ready for the backing and quilting.

I added a light gray border to it and I love how it makes the rainbow colors all stand out. 

This weekend I started this colorful quilt made from a jelly roll.  I saw the picture in a book and tried to get the whole quilt put together in a couple of days.  After sewing the strips together, I wasn't sure if I liked how it turned out.  (Don't you hate that?)

But now that I have it at home, I put a teal colored border on it and like it a lot better. I hope to finish it soon to give to a friend who is moving away.  She likes bright colors.

This is an adaptation of Pat Sloan's "Oh, my Stars" quilt pattern.  I picked up the fabrics last fall at the Houston Quilt Show and cut them into squares to make a quilt for one of my sons.  Last year I made him an afghan in these same colors, so I'm making the quilt to match.

It's ready for a backing.  I'm hoping to finish it for Christmas.  Wish me luck!

Magnolia Suite

When I first got the new (June) Stampin Up catalog this summer, I saw the Magnolia stamp set and coordinating papers.  I wasn't sure that I "needed" it, but after seeing so many beautiful samples online, I decided to go for it!

For my stamp classes this month, I offered a couple of classes featuring the Magnolia Lane suite.  The designer paper is amazing and this set works up some really nice projects.  This card is a simple card that also coordinates with the framed project.  I got the card idea from Gail Ellis.  Then I made a matching bag to hold all of the cards.  I watched a bag-making tutorial made by Amanda Flowler.

The Live, Love, Laugh sayings were from an old framelit set that I had.  I thought this would be a great use for them.  But I have to say that I love the 3D flowers along the side.  It gives the whole project a nice 3D look.  I'm not sure who to thank for the idea for this project, but it's lovely.  (If it was your sample, please let me know so that I can give you the credit.)

For the next set of matching projects, I made the Magnolia flower the focal point for the framed project along with a matching square card.  The card is from Stesha Bloodhart and I'm not sure again of the source of the framed project that I found on Facebook. 

I got the wooden frames at Joann's in the clearance section and painted them.  I also used Naturals white cardstock for the card to give it a more vintage feel.

Rounding out this month's cards is a lovely gold embossed card.  I painted the teal focal point with some ink to give the card some color.  It's a simple to make card that has a great impact.  I found it on Facebook but again don't have a name.

Lastly, but perhaps my favorite of all, is this painted Magnolia card.  I stamped onto Crumb Cake cardstock and embossed with white ink.  Then cut and gave the flower a watercolor look using some matching ink and some white craft ink.  It's hard to tell in the photo, but there's some wink of Stella to make the flower shine.  (No watermark on this card either, so no name.)

I was trying to showcase cards from this set that worked up fairly quickly without having to color in the Magnolia flower.  I think everyone enjoyed them.  What do you think of this set?

Vintage Adventure

In summer, I love to go out camping.  Actually, it's more like glamping, a glamorous form of camping!  I picked up a red vintage trailer (haven't taken it out just yet) and decided that I needed some "quilty" things to go with it.  :)

I want to decorate using vintage reds, teals, pinks, gray, etc.  I found this adorable fabric called Vintage Adventure by Riley Blake and it is so perfect for what I want to make!

I have a jelly roll and some charm squares of the fabric and I started out cutting the strips into 2 1/2" squares.  I sewed them together and make a table topper for the picnic table and one for the end table next to my bed.  I can't wait to use them next year in my trailer.

For the first mini quilt, I quilted it using straight stitches and love the grid pattern that it makes.  I'm pretty traditional when it comes to quilts and I love the linear look.

In the second one, I did some simple free motion quilting and it give it an entirely different look.  You can see the two quilting styles in the second photo.

One of my friends gave the vintage trailer birdhouse to me as a gift and I might even bring it with me camping to hang up in my campsite. :)

Oh, there are so many more things that I'd like to make with these pretty fabrics.  But for today, these 2 pieces will have to suffice. 

Pretty Fall Colors

Anyone who knows me knows that I love fall.  I seriously love everything about it - the crisp cool air, the pretty muted colors, pumpkins, apple picking, the smell of apple crisp baking in the oven, etc.

I found this pretty pitcher at Marshall's Home Goods store the other day and just had to get it.  My kitchen is painted a soft teal and the teal colored pumpkin on the pitcher matches just perfectly. 

Last week I picked out some fabrics that had the same colors in them as in the pitcher to make a simple table runner that would coordinate with my new piece of decor. 

Today I finished it up and set up my fall kitchen table.  It reminds me of fall, in a subtle sort of way.  I love it.  :)

Heirloom Frames & More

One of the first sets that caught my eye from this year's Stampin Up catalog was the Woven Heirlooms stamp set, papers and embossing folders.  Although I didn't use any of the pretty papers for this class, I did make 3 cards using the rectangle die to show how versatile that it can be.

For this first card I stamped the lacy image from Southern Serenade for the background in Soft Sea Foam.  This gave the card a soft, feminine feel.  The sayings and paper flower cut outs are from the Free as a Bird stamp set and it's coordinating paper.  The little envelope is from Love Notes framelits.  I got the card idea from Helen Edenbreejen on Pinterest. 

Next up I made this pretty vintage card featuring the Woven Thread Suite.  I have never put these colors together, but I saw this card online and decided to give it a try.  I love the richness of the colors with the pale purple in the background.  So beautiful. 

The card was originally made by Elizabeth Price.  She had used the First Frost stamp set, but because I didn't have that, I substituted an older flower set.  I think it came out just as nice.  For some reason, I especially love this card.

The next card is, of course, a Christmas card.  I used the tree cut out from the In the Woods die set, the saying from Winter Woods and the detailed trim from Dashing Deer stamp set.  I cut out the tree using silver glimmer paper.  I cut out two trees so that I could put another one underneath the first one.  And even though you can't see it, this makes the tree more stable.  The blue cardstock is Seaside Spray.  This is an easy, striking card.  I saw it online by Sherry Wayt. 

Lastly, we made this seaside card that uses Come Sail Away designer paper.  You really could use any blue or tan paper for the background of this card.  Then I cut a circle frame using 2 different sized circle dies for the frame.  We used watercolor crayons on watercolor paper for the sea and the beach.  But you could paint your colors on from the markers or the stamp pads.  The card idea is from Stacia Siorna. 

The chair is from Colorful Seasons and the seashells are from an older ocean stamp set that I had.  I just love this card.  Makes we want to drive to the ocean today.  Well, maybe not today.  But sometime soon.  :)

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?

Summertime Stamping

Ah, it's the lazy days of summer are here in upstate NY.  One of my fondest memories of summer as a girl is when I used to sit out in my backyard relaxing under the big maple tree and reading a book.  Those were the carefree days...

This week I made some cards with a summer theme. 

I used an old favorite stamp set, Sheltering Tree for my card.  It kind of reminds me of the tree in my backyard when I was a girl. 

I added the new gingham in-color paper paired with the Butterfly Gala punch and new Rose Rococco cardstock to give it an updated look.  It's hard to see in the photo, but the green tree just looks very summery to me.  :)

Next up is the Daisy Delight stamp with its coordinating punch.  Daisies happen to be my favorite flower.  Although I've never actually seen a daisy in Rose Rococco, I like the soft look of these on my card.  I used the new Birch background stamp for the base of my card.  Seriously, I want this on every one of my cards! 

The cut out words and the little bird are framelits from the Well Written dies.  Cute, right?

How are you spending the lazy days of your summer? 

Teepee Baby Quilt

This past weekend was pretty hot here for upstate New York.  We aren't used to weather above 100 degrees and frankly, I don't really care for it when it's too hot.

So I decided to stay home in the air conditioning and work on a baby boy quilt set.  I had picked up some really cute fabric last year on my Shop Hop and took it out to make a baby quilt.  One of my daughter's friends is having a baby boy in a couple of months and I thought it would be fun to work with this cute fabric.

I cut the fabric strips into different widths and sewed them together for the quilt front.  Originally I had some orange strips in this, but didn't really like how it looked.  So I took them out and replaced them with the dotted teal.

I like how the colors are more cohesive now.  I layered it with some backing and batting and quilted straight lines in the rows.  I really like how it turned out.

I was running out of fabric for the backing, so I sewed what was left of the brown fabric to the top and bottom of the quilt.  It kind of frames it in and I like how it looks.

Then I worked on some matching bibs and put terry cloth on the back.  I love this bib pattern and like how these can be used for a long time.

I then finished off the gift set with some matching washcloths.  The more I worked with this cute fabric, the more I liked it.  I hope the recipient likes her baby set.  :)