You Go Girl!

Felt Ornament Tutorial...Finally!

Remember the tutorial I hinted at here?

Well....

I'd like you to meet the Nuts...

Hazel...(And the crowd goes wild. Okay. Not really. But that would be cool.)

and Filbert...(More raucous cheers...in my own mind, anyway.)

And now for your warm, fuzzy enjoyment...A tutorial.

Collect your supplies:

• Squirrel-colored felt
• White Felt
• A puff of fluff for stuffing
• A pen for tracing
• Embroidery floss
• Embroidery needle
• Scissors
• 2 black beads or small buttons for eyes
• 10" hanging string (Divine Twine, Ribbon, Emboridery Floss, Yarn, etc.)
• Powder Blush (optional)

Download the pattern here (Squirrel Ornament Pattern). Warning: Pattern is not fancy. If only Heather Bailey was my neighbor (sigh). Pretend my pattern looks like one of her faboo masterpieces. Okay?

Cut pattern pieces out and trace them on to the felt. (Tip: I use a Uniball Roller pen to trace my pieces.)

 

Cut pieces out of felt. (Tip: I like to cut just inside the pen line.)

 

Stitch belly to body. Then stitch on ear piece. Use any kind of stitch you like. (See picture below for placement.)

Embroider nose and mouth. 

Add black bead eyes.

Hazel has a little powder blush on her cheeks. Apply with a q-tip.

Embroider a design on the tummy if you want. Here are some ideas.

I like to embroider a date on the back. (Tip: Make sure you are stitching on the correct side of the back. Not fun to find out you've done it wrong after you've put in all that work. Yes. I am speaking from experience.)

Match body front to body back and blanket stitch around the edges of the ornament. Before you sew the ornament completely shut, you can add a fluff of stuffing if you want your squirrel to be plump.

Add a string for hanging. I used Divine Twine. Other ideas...yarn, ribbon, embroidery floss, etc.

Say hello to your new squirrel friend. Perhaps you will name her Chessie. Get it? Chessie Nut. Chestnut. I think that's funny. Are you feeling warm and fuzzy yet? I hope so.

Happy stitching, friends.

***Ornament pattern not intended for resale. Ornaments made from this pattern are for home use or gift-giving. Please do not sell them. If you share your ornament(s) made from my pattern on your blog or facebook page, I would surely appreciate a link to the tutorial. Thanks much. ~Cassie

Coin Purse Line Up

 

I took a little break from my hook to stitch up some zippered coin purses for a friend's wedding. This project was fun, fun, fun. Fabulous felt, flowers, and floss. Mmm. Mmm. Mmmmmm. She only needed ten but I couldn't stop. I've fallen and I can't get up. I mean, I'm stitching and I can not stop. I put the four extra coin wallets in my store, just in case you can't live without one. 

I best go. There are 10 thirteen-year-olds, yes TEN, 4 boys (gasp!) and 6 girls in my back yard. They were saying something about starting a fire. Perhaps I should be out there.

Later friends,

Cassie

Feeling Owly

I put the finishing touches on these little owls more than a week ago. (Pattern found here. Thanks, Jessica.) Since then NOTHING crafty has been going on. This makes me feel a little owly. It seems that all my time has been consumed by stripping wallpaper and washing wallpaper paste off the walls. Rip. Spray. Scrape. Spray. Scrub. Wipe. Spray. Scrub. Wipe. Rinse. Wipe. Move over. Repeat. Gag!!! I think I would rather poke needles in my eyes than remove wallpaper. I have told my family that if I suggest that we put wallpaper on anything ever again, they are to take me out in the back yard, beat me, and then see how I feel about that wallpaper. 

I probably shouldn't be complaining. This wallpaper removal is part of a major kitchen renovation. I have been looking forward to a kitchen redo since we moved into this house twelve years ago. But...come on...Rip. Spray. Scrape. Spray. Scrub...UGH! The good news? I think I am done with wallpaper eradication. Tomorrow I get to start priming and painting the walls. I like painting better than wallpaper removal, but just by a little bit. I must remember to keep my eye on the prize. It's a good one!

Pillow Talk...

Remember this little patchwork project I told you about? As Carolina pointed out: It's a bit on the small side if it's a really cold night. She cracks me up. She is right, though. It would be a small quilt for a cold night unless you were a squirrel. But guess what? I'm not a squirrel and this is not a quilt for the Nutkin family. No, it's not a quilt at all. Instead, it's a patchwork pillow. See...

I discovered another bit o' magic when I put this pillow together...the invisible zipper foot. Bernina magic. There is no other way to describe it. You simply line up the zipper teeth in the groove on the foot, push the power pedal, sit back, and let the feed dogs and the foot do the work. Voila. A perfectly stitched zipper. Magical.

Fabulous Felt...

Hello friends. Just a quick post to say hi. I hope your Christmas happenings are merry. I am smitten with felt and ornament making right now. I promise I will show more of these felt friends later. I might even write a tute.  I love them that much.

Feeling warm and fuzzy~

Cassie 

Hip to be Square...

Hello. Did you all get your fill of turkey and pie? I did. In fact, I had pie twice on Thanksgiving. Once at grandma's and once at my sister's. Don't tell any one. I don't want people to think I'm a pig. But any day that you have pie twice is a good day, no?

On the crafty front, I have been feeling kind of square lately. I am working on my first true patchwork project. The rules are simple:

1) All the fabric for the project has to come from my stash.

2) The fabric has to be cut into squares.

I used this doodle as the inspiration for my fabrics. Once I picked the fabrics, I cut them in to two-and-one-half-inch squares, arranged the squares in a pleasing-to-me fashion, stitched and quilted. I think I would have a love/hate relationship with patchwork and quilting if I decided to jump in with both feet. I love picking the fabrics, arranging them, and stitching them together. I hate do not love cutting all the squares or the straight-line quilting. I was wishing someone would poke me in the eye when I quilted this little piece. I was THAT bored. I tip my hat to those of you who quilt gigantar patchwork masterpieces. Did I mention that my little patchwork project is only 16 inches square? I didn't, did I? I guess the cat is out of the bag. Now you all know that I have the attention span of a flea and the persistence of a circus monkey. 

Well, I'm off to find something shiny that will capture my attention and amuse me for a moment. :-)

Take care,

Cassie

PS-- I would never put a cat in a bag for real. I used to dress my cat in doll clothes when I was a girl, but I never put her in a bag. That is soooo wrong.

Keepin' My Head Above Water

I had a comment on my last post that just cracked me up. Go ahead. Read it...

Sue said:

Okay so you posted this on October 18th and now it is October 26 does that mean you went into your room and haven't made anything yet so you can't come out?

No. As delightful as a week two weeks stuck in my sewing studio sounds, it didn't happen. I did go in and make something like I said I would. See...

I made this little felt pin cushion, but it didn't take two weeks, only an afternoon. I've also hemmed four pair of pants and painted the shelves for Hailey's room. Now I'm itching to make the patchwork pillow that danced through my dreams last night. I think I will cut the fabric this afternoon. 

We have been very busy with life in the land of You Go Girl. Dance and volleyball. Piano lessons and homework. Choir concerts and jazz band rehearsals. Birthdays and holidays. Work and play. Life...it's kind of like a river. If you don't jump in, it will pass you by. I think I am in up to my chin. Sometimes the current feels swift, but I'm keepin' my head above water and enjoying the ride. I hope you can say the same.

Happy day,

Cassie

Crocheting and Doodling...

Thanks so much for all the crochet love. I have TWO pillowcases completed and can't wait to start another one.  I'm not sure what I am going to do with these pillowcases, but for now I am content to look at them. Many of you asked for the low-down on how to put the crochet edging on the cases. I am giving some thought to a little pillowcase-crochet-along.  I even have a sidebar button made for the event! Thimbleanna and Brigette are spurring me on.  I want to make sure that Beata doesn't mind first, though. I openly admit to being a copycat of her lovely lovelies. My fingers are crossed that all will work out.  Stay tuned...

On a different note, spring can come any time now.  The winter doodle is done.

 

I couldn't resist adding a little bit of spring around the outer edge.  It was either that or big blobs of dirty slush. What can I say?  I try to embrace winter, but I think it sucks am fueled by sunshine.  I can't wait for the sun to return. Oh, Mr. Sunshine, how I love you! Please come back and restore my good humor because I am tempted to use words like 'suck' (gasp!) when you are away.

I hope the sun is shining in your corner of the world.

Take care...

Winter Doodle...

 

I've been working on this doodle stitch every now and again the past couple of weeks. I'm usually all about bright colors, sunshine, flowers, and flying bugs. But this time I wanted to stitch something that symbolized winter and the beauty that is found there. Is that an oxymoron? Winter and beauty.  I struggle to find a relationship between the two, but I am trying. Anyway, this winter color palette is really stretching me. It seems I've spent just as much time, if not more, ripping out stitches than I have spent stitching them in. Who's idea was this anyway? Just kidding.  It's all good. 

Edit:  Just to clarify...This little doodle isn't done yet.  See the center.  It's full of pick-out stitches that need to be replaced.  I also need to think of something else to put in there that will set this doodle on fire.  Not literally...that wouldn't do at all.

Fabbity-Fab-Fab Felt Flowers

Fabitty-fab-fab fast felt flower fun!  Say that ten times fast.  Your tongue will be tied in knots.

 

The triplets were looking for the perfect accessory to adorn their apparel for a piano recital they played in on Friday.  Instead of making a trip to Claire's House of Crap (that's what Mr. Handsome calls it anyway), I decided to do a whip-up. Enter the felt flower pin.  These little flowers packs tons of crafty fun and eye candy in a quick and easy project.  Wanna see them up close?  Please hold your applause until the end. LOL!

Introducing....

 Ms. Rosie Posie,

 

Lady in Red,

 

 and, last but not least, Madame Azul.

 

I'm not even kidding.  It only took about 45 minutes to make ALL three of these.  That's a serious power-craft in my mind.  Tutorial anyone?

Happy Day,

Cassie

PS--The winner of the Sew Mama Sew Giveaway was Kathleen.  She left comment number 271.  Thanks for playing. I had 427 comments. WOW!