FolkArt Tweets Bird Pincushion directions with photos

 

FolkArt Tweets Pincushion!!

Please use the cross stitch pattern for the bird, it can be found in the pattern "FolkArt Tweets"

These are general instructions to make your very own bird.....with lots of photos

1) Cross stitch the bird and wing separately

I used 14ct Aida

2. Using the stitched wing as a template

 (But add approximately a ¼ of an inch around to make it a bit larger),

 cut out 2 pieces of felt …one for the center of the bird to hold needles 

and the other for the back of the cross-stitched wing.

3. Pin the felt wing on top of the bird and stitch in place

4. Cut out the cross-stitched 

wing leaving approx. ¼ inch extra around the stitched wing,

 stitch the felt to the back of the wing. I use a whip stitch.

See Photo below

5. Cut out the large bird

 leaving approx.. a 1/2 inch around the outer edges.

 

Use this piece as a template and cut out a piece of felt or wool the same size. 

Also cut a long strip of matching wool or felt approx. 2 inches wide.

( I cut 2 but only needed 1)

6. Pin the wool strip around the outer edges of the cross stitched bird, 

right sides facing, and sew all around. Turn right side out

7. Pin the wool bird piece to the other edges

 of the wool strip and stitch all around, 

you will not be turning this because the bird is already facing outward.

 I used a sewing stitch all around and then a 

buttonhole stitch over the outer edges to seal them. 

I did the bottonhole stitch after I had stuffed the bird.

8. Cut a slit into the WOOL bird piece and stuff with

 crushed walnut shells, sew opening closed.

9. Add the separate wing to the top of the bird with a whip stitch

I did finish my outer bottom edges with a buttin hole stitch just to finish it off :)

This is the bottonhole stitch that I saved until the end :)

Enjoy creating !

The link for the pattern is in here 

How to make a Mattress Pincushion. "Pumpkin Spice"

These are some quick directions on how to make a Mattress pincushion out of any of your stitching pieces....how about a poinsettia or any other flower.......a bird .. a name .....how about a saying ....like "add pin here"........the options are endless and you can make them any size ....that is up to you and your finished piece...Have fun and I hope you enjoy your stitching as much as I do :)
Read all directions first :)

Take finished cross stitch design, iron and cut a strip of wool, any size you would like...pin on top of linen to one side..stitch down the edge next to the designed area..I used a stab stitch or a buttonhole stitch would be great too...maybe a little crazy quilt stitch with a thread that would show your needle work :)

Next take another wool strip.. lay it on top of the upper section of the stitched design..pin in place,  stitch  using a stab stitch or a buttonhole stitch.. At this point you will know the size of your mattress...remember this is all up to you deciding how wide you make your top wool sections...you could also add more wool to the other sides....so when you are finished with the top take your finished piece,  lay it on top of another piece of wool (matching your side strip sections) ...cut around the outer edges...this will be the back of your  mattress....lay this piece aside until we are finished with the top and the side strips for the mattress. :)

The next step is to cut strips of wool 1 inch wide for the sides of the mattress ( you can make them wider...this will make your mattress thicker...it is up to you)...I did not measure how much I cut...just made sure I had enough and long enough to cover a length and width of the mattress top and bottom. see next photo for placements :)

Pin the top and bottom strips over the edge on top of the mattress...I stitched these down with a running stitch length wise next to the design on top of the mattress section only...make sure you leave about  1 1/2 inches  extra over the edges...see photo above :)

Lay the side strips on the left and right sides...again on top like the previous sections...Make sure you only stitch these down on the mattress top ..do not stitch over the other mattress strips  (stop in the corners)...make sure you leave extra lengths of wool ....see next photo to connect these strips. 

Pull the strips together horizontally and pin

Close up to see how to pin together 

Stitch them together straight down, secure thread and cut off excess wool strip. Do this to all 4 corners

Turn your piece over....... and pin the back piece of wool to the to the edges of the wool strips that have become your sides of your mattress. 

Stitch around the outer edges and secure...I used a buttonhole stitch ......next cut a slit into the back woolen fabric only, stuff with walnut shells and  fiberfill, pin the opening closed and stitch , using a whip stitch . 

Complete :), now just to add some tassels to cover the corner edges 

If you would like to  make some tassels ....this is the method I used. I found this on Pinterest and it is so easy.....Take a skein of floss, open up one end.....using a piece of matching floss tie a knot to keep the threads together for the top section. 

Next....with matching thread make a wrap around the upper skein just under the top looped section...we are forming the head....secure with a knot and pull your threads through to hide......Cut the skein in half under the paper tab.

And there you have a tassel......you can get 2 tassels from each skein by following the same process for the other side. :)

Your mattress pincushion is just waiting for those fancy pins to embellish it with.....or you can add some buttons, old safety pins., any thing you can think of.......

Happy Stitching
donna 

Time To Blossom new design

"Time To Blossom" By The Bay Needleart

Oh my, the sun is shining, YEAH!!

I just finished a new design called "Time To Blossom" and that is what I am hoping for. 

The stitch count is 63 x 95, I stitched her on 28ct Waterlily linen by Wichelt.

The finished size is 4.5 x 6.78. This fit in my 5 x 7 frame but it was up to the edges. 

I decided my frame needed a little something extra so I stitched the flower again on the 28ct linen and followed with my "Stitch An Inch" finishing directions (See here )

Cross stitch flower on 28ct linen, make fabric tight in hoop

Use Aleen's Fabric Fusion, apply to the back of the stitching, let dry for approx 4 hours. 

Cut out flower close to the edge of stitching, Cut 2 pieces of green wool for leaves  1( 1x2) and 1(1x1)

Cut around green wool shapes to form leaves.

Place on top of frame for a general idea of placement

Using a green marker and a ruler, make a straight line for the flower stem. And glue in place. :)
all Finished !

Thank you for reading my blog and I have one more thing to share. If you have sent me an email and I have not responded within a day or two, please email me again. I will not be offended.  I have 4 email addresses that I check constantly and my AOL acct will delete my message after I read it from my phone. I try my best to remember if I have one to reply to when I get back to the business computer but it could get over looked. I am human , prone to mistakes :).  I have been blessed, between the stitchers that have signed up with shops and people that have signed up with me, we have over 500 stitching the sampler. I spend a lot of time answering emails and by no way do I mean to disregard any one. 

Well thank you for reading my concern, and I truly am thankful to all of you. 

Have a good day and until tomorrow

donna 

Wool Popcorn Garland Tutorial

Good day everyone, We have finally finished decorating the tree :) and now more cleaning!
I baked a huge bunch of cookies the other day and boy did the house smell good, wish I could have shared it with you, I could even smell the cookies on me when I went to the grocery store.

I wanted to share this tutorial with you that I have been sharing with the Wool/Feather Tree classes. 

A lady at one of the first classes that I taught shared this with us and I am passing it on.

I took my cream colored felted(Washed) wool, sprayed it with my left over morning coffee (in a spray bottle)and let it dry. I wanted it to look like real popcorn with a bit of tan for the seeds. Then I cut it into a long strip 6 inches wide by whatever length you have, took my rotary cutter and cut it into 1/2 inch(or a little smaller)wide strips.
I then took my red wool and rotary cut the strips into 1/4 inch wide strips. Take the strips and cut into 2 inch long pieces.
Using a ball of perle cotton and threading it onto a very long doll needle I then started using a gather or running stitch down the long center of a coffee dyed strip of wool.

 Then take a red strip of wool and roll it up like a jelly roll and insert your needle through the side center. (See Photo).

 Keep adding the wool by alternating the cream wool along with the red.

 For some of the the cream pieces I cut them in half to make it look more like a real strip of popcorn(varying the sizes). * I kept pushing the wool down the ball of perle cotton because I was not sure how long I wanted to make the garland, so by keeping it on the ball this let me keep going in my garland length.

This is a great size for the 12 inch Wool/Feather Trees, and if you want to make them for a larger tree just make the width of the strips larger.

Hope you enjoy and have time to make some garland.

Directions can be purchased here for the trees

New design and a Free PDF Wool Applique Finish

Good morning to all. I spent yesterday working  finishing some projects that I had started. The first is called "Autumn Fleur". I just love to finish with wool and this is what I did. I have the directions for you here with the pattern templates included in this PDF. You can always stitch another design in the center, also a punch needle design for fall would look wonderful.  I found the wool that I used at Camp Wool. 

"Autumn Fleur" 

The pattern for the cross stitching has been added to my Etsy shop. It comes with the fabric that I hand dyed myself. You can not see to much from this photo but it is a yellowish background along with some purple and green dabbed in. 

This weeks highlights in the Etsy shop are "Spooky Hill" and "Fall Leaf". Yes I know it is still summer but what a great time to get your stitching done in time for Fall :) .

Spooky Hill

Spooky Hill was designed in 2005. I was stitching my Hill series and was thinking about Spooky Hollow. I loved that movie as a kid and remember the school teacher Ichabod Crane. So I made this design so I could remember that childhood time. I have it on Etsy for this weeks special. 

 I found this really cute site that makes cute paper mache figurines that have a Spooky Hollow theme.

Here is the link 

"Fall Leaf"

"Fall Leaf" was designed in 2010. I just wanted something simple that I could use an over dyed floss on that really showed fall leaf colors. I finished the frame myself. The frame was painted orange then I added a layer of glue, let it dry a bit and then brushed on the black paint. I could not wait for it to dry naturally so I used my blow dryer to hurry the process along. Here is a link to a site with very simple directions if you would like to try this yourself. This one is also on Etsy for this weeks special.  

This is my post for today I hope you have a great rest of the week and I am off to the printer to pick up "Nantucket Village #5. It should be up on Etsy tomorrow. 

donna

Crazy About Wool Blog Hop, free tutorial & having a free giveaway too.......sign up

Hi everyone, I need to say that I miss you . I have been very busy and have some things to share. 

I am opening up my Studio/Shop for a Holiday Open House on Saturday Nov 30th from 9:00 to 4:00. 

I will post more about that this weekend and I will be attending Market-fest in York Village  Maine on Oct 18 and 19th. I also have more classes that I will be teaching at Yankee Cross Stitch and Camp Wool. 

But for now this is what I have been doing. 

I have 2 designs finished. A local watercolor artist Kathy Carter painted 2 doors for me.  I had them printed onto fabric, which I then embellished. I will be giving classes on these in my studio for embroidery.

 I also dabbled myself in some painting and painted a fall water scene. 

And Then I embellished it with flowers and grasses.

Actually this scene is an after thought because I made a tree first and it needed a fall background. My tree is 3 dimensional and here it is. 

AND HERE IT IS ALL TOGETHER!!

I am so excited about it. I will teach this piece at Yankee Cross Stitch, at my studio, and our local EGA chapter called "SOME"   . If you live in the Miane area you should join our chapter. Always having fun and getting together.

I am also teaching the wool feather trees again and this year I have made a miniature tree skirt to go along with them. Last year it was the clip on birds.

Here is a picture of tree skirt. I will release the pattern next week.

There seems to be a bit of wool stumpwork with those sheep :) 

There are nine little sister sheep and 3 poinsettias

AND NOW TO THE POMEGRANATE TUTORIAL

I made these 4 little fruit from some wool that was over-dyed. I cut out a six inch circle for each one. I did this by tracing a saucer(a plate for your tea cup) onto the wool with a marker. 

This is the 6 inch circle. Then go in about 1 inch and mark another circle this will be your gathering line.  

Before I made the running stitch for the gather I cut little triangles out to make the top of the fruit. 

Make your gathering stitch with a brown 6 strand embroidery floss or a pearl cotton. After you make this stitch, pull the thread and fill the fruit with fiberfill  (stuff as firmly as you can) pull the opening closed very tightly and then keep wrapping the extra floss around the top making a thick top like the real fruit. Secure your thread with a knot and tuck the thread into the top of the fruit so it will not show. 

see the thick brown section of floss

I made 4 of these fruit. On one of then I added a section of beads on the outside to look like the fruit ripped open and the seeds poured out. I added these beads on before I made the gathering stitch.
To finish it off I went out side and gathered up a branch from the yard. Mounted it onto a board that I had already covered with black wool. I then cut out some small green wool leaves.  To make these take a piece of wool 1 inch x 2 inches. Then cut around the edges to form a long leaf.  I made 10 of these.
I hot glued the branch to the board. Placed the pomegranates where I thought they would look good. Hot glued them down  I then added the leaves with hot glue around the tops of the fruit and a couple of leaves down the bottom onto a branch.

I would like to thank all of you for visiting my blog and Denise from Pieced Brain for making this fun "Blog Hop" . Please check back for more fun stitching and if you leave me a message I will add your name to a giveaway that I will have for the "Nine Woolly Sisters" tree-skirt PATTERN. 

I will have this drawing on Saturday evening and post the winner on Sunday 

Have a good day, and don't forget to check out the other blogs in the BLOG HOP that are listed at the top of the sidebar 

donna