[We took one of our favorite patterns and made it lovelier by adding more embroidery. I love the end results!] If Fairy Dust is sprinkled on a flower as the last dew of morning evaporates, something magical happens… a Flower Fairy is born! If you are lucky enough to have Flower Fairies in your garden, then you already know that all …
Several weeks ago a reader asked me for a applique block for a cardinal. I finally got it done 🙂 Although we have cardinals in our backyard year round, they look their loveliest in the winter world. Here, we have a male cardinal perched in a tree. I’m sure he has his eye on …
When I first started blanket stitching, my corners were… how shall I put this… unique, interesting, inconsistent… in other words, a mess! Messy is okay for some projects, but I did want my corners to look better and to stay looking good after a project was finished. Time and trial brought me to the point …
Part 1 – Think Before You Stitch – can be found HERE Part 3 – Corners and Sewing 2 Pieces Together – can be found HERE I more or less taught myself to blanket stitch by looking and doing. It was after I had been using the blanket stitch for a while, that I went in search of “how …
Before we even pull out our needles and thread, let’s talk a little bit about the purpose and structure of a blanket stitch. Blanket stitches are often used to finish an edge. The stitch creates an interlocked thread that runs on the edge of the fabric. Think of a serger sewing machine. Sergers overcast a seam’s …
How would YOU like to become a Blanket Stitch Whiz? One of the most common questions I receive is, “How do you get your stitches so even?” Well, my normal reply is practice, practice, practice, and although that is true, over the years, I have developed some habits that have helped me improve my blanket …
You know how we are always saying that our patterns are just a starting point? We encourage our readers to use them as is, but also want you to use your imagination to personalize our designs. Well… I hardly know what to say here, but I got this email from Bonnie, an avid WFA reader. …
Just in the knick of time, I finished the last 2 gnomes in our series, Big Gnomes for Little Hands, and was able to take them with me on my trip last week, and give them to The Little Lady. She was quite smitten with them, and spent half her time chewing on their hats …
Part 1 can be found HERE. Part 3 can be found HERE. Here are the next two gnomes in our Big Gnomes for Little Hands series. For instructions on how to make these “big guys”, check out the tutorial HERE. The actual pattern for our Sun Gnome and our Toadstool gnome can be …
The other day my sister-in-law, Jennifer, gave me this “swell” (my daughter-in-law Meghan and I have decided to bring “swell” back into everyday use… it really is a “swell” word, but I digress!) Where was I, oh yes, Jennifer gave me this swell bottle top pincushion. Isn’t it cute as a bug’s ear? I LOVE it. …
I must say, I think this little guy might be the cutest doorstop in the bunch so far. My girls were excited to see him. Pippin will make a great spring guest in your home. Enjoy! Materials: (yardages are approximate and based on optimal placement) Felt Embroidery floss 2 3/4″ buttons with 4 …
There have been many interesting ideas of how to use the design in the Little Birdies Eye Case for other projects. But then I thought, I might be thinking too small! It occurred to me that these little guys could, and should, be included in our Applique Blocks. So, I enlarged one little birdie 250%, …
