A Tale of Two Months

Sometimes life keeps you so busy, you can catch yourself coming and going!  I am sorry that I have not been keeping up with the blog as I intended, but allow me to explain.  January is always a busy month.  I try to plan most of the classes I intend to offer for the year.  However, this January I became distracted.  A stray female Labrador retriever mixed dog wanders onto our place and decides to stay.  We already own a golden retriever, and were not interested in another dog. So we contacted the appropriate authorities.  They put advertisements in the local papers, and called people in the area to see if they were missing a dog.

Meanwhile, she is growing on us.  Our dog, Brady, adopted her.  She was great at playing catch, none of the other dogs we owned ever wanted to play that game.  We found ourselves falling in love with her.  

After she has been with us for about three weeks, one day she isn’t around as much.  My husband notices that she has been staying in the dog house.  We coax her out and discover that her right front leg has been injured.  Assuming that she has been hit by a car, we contact the vet. 

Once there we decide to go through with the x-rays to diagnose the problem.  Much to our dismay, she had been shot!  The bullet destroyed her leg joint, and it would have to be amputated.  We didn’t know what to do since she was a stray, and it was going to cost a lot to have the surgery.  So the clinic posted the story on their face book account, and the donations came pouring in to perform the surgery.

The next question was, would we be interested in adopting her if they performed the surgery. Placement of an adult dog is hard, and it is harder if they have special needs.  It didn’t take long for us to decide she is part of the family. So the next two weeks, I was nursing her back to health.  Giving her medicines and keeping an active dog quiet is not easy.

She healed very well and everything was going fine.  After much debate, our son named her Peggy.

Brady

Then our golden retriever, Brady, started going downhill.  My husband took him to the vet.  We found out he had diabetes and wouldn’t live long.  In fact he lasted only two more days.  It was a sad loss since he had been a member of our family since 2002.  

Peggy playing in the snow.

The month of February ended with a couple of big snow storms.  The last one leaving us without power for two days, so even though I had the time to write a post I couldn’t.  However, I wanted to share with you the thank you card I created for the donors to Peggy’s surgery. 

I used my digitizing software to import a photo.  Then I created some echo quilting lines, and the word, “Thanks”.  Finally, I traced around the photo so I could create a postcard in the embroidery hoop.  I transferred Peggy’s photo to fabric, this then became the face of the postcard.  I stitched them out with my embroidery machine.

Peggy's Thank You Postcards

Here is the results!

A Sew Day!

Yesterday, we finally got our first snow of the season!  Maybe it is the teacher in me, but I really enjoy a snow day where you need to stay inside.

I love it when a snow day = a sew day!  Sending warm thoughts your way, Linda B.

Surface Techniques

I just wanted to give you a heads up--this Tuesday I will be teaching a class that explores different surface techniques with your sewing machine.  We will be couching a variety of items, layering different substances, and attaching buttons.  Then on Saturday we will use this piece for the cover of a notebook to store all your inspirations in!  Love to see you at Zede's Sewing Studio, in Columbia, MO.

This is my sample for the class.

Enjoy your day, Linda B

Using a Photo to Make a Pattern

A while back I posted an article (Patterns from Nature) on how to find the perfect patterns for your quilting projects.  My friend Kathy, pointed out that perhaps not everyone enjoyed the lovely fall weather like we did.  Therefore, they may not have thought to get great photos of leaves. So to remedy the situation, I am providing you with a leaf photo, and a sample of how I would outline the leaf to create your own pattern. It can be downloaded by clicking here.

This is what the photo and sample pattern will look like.

After you create your pattern you will need to decide how to use it.  I chose to paint mine on fabric.

So next I transferred my pattern onto cotton fabric.  To do this you can use a light box.  If you don't have one you can hold it up to a window during the day, or you can get a clear bottom plastic tote and place a light source inside(I like those "tap on" lights that you can use in closets).  I then used a permanent marker to trace the outside of the leaf pattern, and a soft lead pencil to trace the shading marks(these are the yellow lines on the pattern).

Pattern traced on fabric ready for painting!

Finally, I used Setacolor Moire Paints for Fabrics to fill in the missing color.  I teach a class on this, so I won't go into details on how to paint on fabric. The pattern would work equally well with fabrics and thread painting.
Here are my finished results---What do you think?

The Bradford Pear Leaf

Trying to make Fall last a little longer,  Linda B.

It's Time to Share

I have been having so much fun in the classroom teaching, I thought that I would share with you my stained glass applique pumpkin pattern. 

Click here for the pattern

We use fusible black bias tape to finish the edges, but the pattern can easily be done as a regular applique.  
Have fun creating!  Linda B.

Stained Glass Applique--Making a Bold Statement

I have been busy getting ready for my stained glass applique class.  We will be using my pumpkin pattern to develop our skills with fusible bias tape. 

I like to include other samples in my class to motivate my students.  This pattern is from Gretchen K. Hudock's book: Quick Quilts Using Quick Bias.
It will be tomorrow at Zede's Sewing Studio.  Class information is available at www.sewhere.com.

Exploring different avenues of quilting,  Linda B.

Patterns from Nature

Looking for the perfect leaf shape for your next project?  Why not turn to nature?  Take a look outside to find your next pattern.  Once you have found the perfect leaf you can take a picture of it with your digital camera. 

Next print a copy of your photo on plain white paper.  If the perimeter of the leaf is hard to discern, use a black marker to emphasize the outline.  Also at this time you can use the marker to emphasize veins or areas of color that you want to include in your pattern.  Cut the leaf shape out, now you have a pattern to use. 

I like to trace the reverse of the pattern on light weight fusible web, and then fuse it to the wrong side of the fabric that I want my leaf to be. Next I cut out the shape on the pattern line and fuse it to my quilt.  Once you stabilize the piece, (I like a medium weight tear-away stabilizer), then you can thread paint the veins and do any shading you desire.

You can even use these patterns for your quilting patterns!

Don't forget to try different types of threads, like the variegated thread on the yellow leaves,  or the metallic thread on the bottom leaf.
Of course if you don't have a camera, you can get similar results using the low tech method of doing a leaf rubbing using paper and crayons!  Hoping to inspire you to a fall project, Linda B.