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?

Patchwork Kitty in Finally Finished!

A few years ago I started a Round Robin sew-along with some ladies that attend a Quilting Group at my church.  Each person had to make a center square and then every month your project got passed on to the next person and they added something to it. 

I started with a kitty applique square.  Here is the photo from my original blogpost  on Sept 13, 2013.

Well, I finally pulled it out and did some machine quilting on it during my sewing retreat in January.

I wasn't able to cut out any new quilting projects due to my hand surgery but I was able to finish up this smaller project.  Now I'm proud to say that my Patchwork Kitty is finally finished and hanging on the wall in my sewing room!  I just love how it came out.  :)

One project done.  And there's more where this came from.  LOL

Do you ever work on and finish up projects that you have started years ago?  Doesn't it feel great?

Applique Kitty Going to a Round Robin

I've been wanting to make an applique and embroidery project for a while, so here is my first attempt!  I love how the little applique kitty came out!   I have to admit, the embroidery isn't that great.  And the applique needs a LOT of work! I hope my friend Carol, who is an applique professional does not look too closely! Maybe she can give me a few tips the next time I see her!

This really cute pattern is from Lynette Anderson. It's a block-of-the-month that I bought last year. It has cats in some of the blocks and dogs in others.  I hope now that I've tried one block that I will attempt to make a few more (and get better at my technique!) 

Next time I make this block I will use a lighter fabric for the appliqued kitty.  Because the fabric is dark, you can't really see his face very well.

These little kitties are going to be part of a Round Robin challenge in my quilt group.  Each person submits a quilt square and every month a different person takes it home to add borders and more to it.  I can't wait to see what it will look like in June when I get it back!