You Go Girl!

In the Mail...

Have I ever told you how much I love making these little felt ornaments? I'm pretty sure I have. Making ornaments sure beats the pants off my most recent project...altering a costume for the Nutcracker.Yuck!

Slippery synthetic fabric and alterations=MISERY

I think I would rather gouge my eye out with my scissors. In fact, I almost did. Fear not. I am done with the alterations and I still have both my eyes. Yay and yippee!

Now back to my little felties...I loved every minute of making them. They went in the mail to Canada earlier this week. I think they will be happy living together in a sparkly Christmas tree up north. I had a little trouble parting with Foxie Loxie, but I said my goodbyes and put her in the mail with the others. I think I heard her sniffle a little when I was wrapping her in tissue paper. Oh, wait. That might've been me. I have another little fox part way stitched. I wonder if she will make it on my tree this year. My make-it-before-Christmas list is pretty long, but maybe...

A Recycled Doodle

So my thumb still gets angry when I crochet but not when I doodle stitch. Yay for doodle stitching!

I haven't embroidered for so long that when I drew my circles on to my fabric I was a little stumped. What should I stitch? Hmmmmm. I sat for the longest time pondering. It was hurting my brain. Finally I decided that the best way back to doodling would be to enjoy something already tested so I recycled an old pattern and stitched it in a different color. Isn't it weird how a different color changes the design? Recycling...it's a good thing.

Cheers~

Cassie

Up next...I'm going to stitch some felt ornaments. I have a little raccoon and a frisky squirrel all cut out. Can't. Wait.

And one more thing...the last four pillowcases in my shop are marked down to $23 dollars (original price was $30). See them over there in the sidebar. Don't they look lonely? Just saying. :)

Hey Pinterest...

...I HEART u. I discovered this method of keeping my floss neat and tidy on Pinterest. So nifty.  I liked it so much I pinned it twice without realizing it until I was looking through my Pinterest for the pin. Must be good, I'm thinking. Anyway, I recently loaded up some clothes pins for my next doodle-stitchie adventure. Feeling giddy. Happy day, friends.

 

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