embroidery hoop hopes...

i have so many embroidery hoops that have been hanging in my craft closet just waiting to be used.  actually, i have quite a few things begging to be used...

i have been in a little bit of a crafting funk. 

 i'm going to blame the weather for that. 

i think part of my problem also is that i lost my little notebook that i use to jot down ideas or to sketch out little projects.  

i just need to start a new notebook.  it really makes a difference for me.

recently i came across a couple of amazing creations that just might pull me out of my funk.  

this is just one of the many incredibly beautiful ones found here.
where is our cold weather??!!!
i want to snuggle under a quilt.

and this one from this etsy shop makes me crave a cold evening out.

for some odd reason this reminds me of an awkward night long ago when the jr high group from our church went on a hay ride...i don't remember any thermoses, but then again my memory isn't the sharpest.

now I just need a quiet evening in to make something pretty...maybe tonight when i snuggle up with andy and rub my cold feet on him, with a hot beverage at arms length while we watch a movie i picked up at the library today.

a little fabric magic

I started this project a little while back...months ago. I wanted to try to do a real embroidery picture. Read - an embroidery picture that will take a long, looooooong, long time. The bottom one in the picture above did not take long at all. I started next on the bird. WOW! Those women who used to do huge embroidery pictures are insane. Way too much work for me. I'm more of a small project, instant gratification type of girl.
So this lonely bird sat unfinished on my wall. Everytime I would think about finishing it I would find something else to do. Believe me, those times I would even think about it were pretty much, uh, never after months of avoiding it. I hate feeling like I'm avoiding a craft project. I craft because I love it and have fun while doing it.

Well for some unknown reason yesterday, I walked in the door and all I could see was my lonely bird. I was over the embroidery. My solution - fabric. I LOVE FABRIC!!!

A couple of leaves cut from some fabric I love and my sad, forgotten project was done.

Done!!!

Making of an Owl Towel

A couple months back I was inspired to make some hand embroidered tea towels after seeing some really cute ones at Anthropologie. 


Here is how I made mine.

Here are my supplies which included a good cup of coffee.
First I drew my owl on my fabric, cut it out with a seam allowance of about 1/4 inch. Then I slit small notches to ease the fabric at corners and on curves when hemming.
I hand sewed my owl onto my towel tucking under my 1/4 inch seam allowance. These pictures are pretty horrible, but there is some exposed edges of fabric at some of the corners. I just put a tiny drop of Fray Check on any of these edges then I can go crazy washing it and not have to worry about it falling apart. I got mine at JoAnn craft stores.
Next, I drew the details on the owl and gave him a nice branch to be perched on. I just use a pencil for all my drawing. I'm sure there is some special pen or marker that can be used for this but pencil works just fine. Once all the embroidery is done, the pencil won't show.
I used a running stitch for all of my embroidery except for a satin stitch was used for the beak. I seriously had no idea what these stitches were called so I had to turn to my handy dandy reference book.I forgot where I scored this book, probably a thrift store, yard sale or the Bookman, but anyways it is one of the best books on needlecraft. It was first published in 1959 and then again in 1971. The pictures and projects are the best. It is 548 pages of magic about every needlecraft you can think of. Seriously! It touches on the usuals such as sewing, crocheting, needlepoint, embroidery and such, but then if I were ever interested in rug making, macrame, tatting and netting I would be set. Who knows, that may be my next project. As you can see, my poor book had probably sat on a shelf for the last 40 years so when I began thumbing through it the binding cracked and it is falling apart.
So bummed.
Back to my owl. Here he is standing proudly after the embroidery work.

I added a little trim at the bottom. It's now right at home in my kitchen.