2 New Patterns!

I have two new patterns for sale--"Crown & Tulip Four Patch" and "Bee Skep Pillow."



"Bee Skep Pillow" is made entirely of wool, although I think a Woolies flannel from Maywood would be terrific for the body of the pillow. If you don't have rick rack, or aren't a fan of rick rack, embroidery stitches would work just as well to show the 'layers' of the bee skep.



"Crown and Tulip Four-Patch" is wool appliqued on a cotton background. I had a nice plaid which I cut up to make the crowns. I used the colors in the plaid as a starting point for the other colors used for the applique.

These are both great applique projects for spring! They are both smaller, doable projects you can work on in the evenings after you've spent the afternoon cleaning winter out of the garden.

On an entirely different note and to follow up from my last post--Andrew's thumb is fine. Wrestling is over and now we're in the middle of baseball.

After a long time away . . .

Happy Valentine's Day! I realize I'm one day late, but compared to the fact that I'm 6 months late with a post, I think that one day isn't too bad--it's all relative.

To celebrate Valentine's Day I made my own "heart tree" using red and pink fabric scraps I had, and steam-a-seam 2 double stick fusible web. Basically I cut two squares the same size (5", 3", 2", etc) and made sandwiches of fabric, steam-a-seam, and fabric--with the wrong sides of the fabric against the steam-a-seam. Make sure you peel the paper off of the fusible web! After I fused the sandwiches together with the iron, I cut out hearts. I used regular thread to make a loop to hand the hearts. This was a simple, fast project. I really liked my "heart tree"--it added some color to our snowy winter. Here are some close-up shots:

Yesterday and today Andrew has been home sick with the stomach flu. He also has a broken thumb--he broke his thumb at wrestling practice about a month ago. This afternoon he gets an xray to see if he can stop wearing the splint. Fingers crossed!

Catching Up With Summer

Here's my small project for June--"Wool Pennies and Scallops"--it measures 8"x10" and is my interpretation of the traditional wool penny mats [patterns and kits are for sale at Shaffer's Countryside Quilting (http://www.shafferscountrysidequilting.com/) or by emailing me].







Where has the summer gone? I did have Wool Pennies and Scallops done and ready for sale before the end of June. As for my July project . . . well, it is still a work in progress:








I think I need to add something on the left side--a hummingbird? Bumblebee? I am waiting for inspiration!





During July I also made a wool picture:






The background is coffee-stained pages from an old book, and the flowers, leaves, vase are wool. "Wool picture" sounds so boring and not very descriptive. What do you think I should call these?


Now it's time to make the small project for August, which I haven't even started yet! Where does the time go?

New Pattern: "Summer Buds"

This summer one of my goals is to make one pattern a month for a small project. This is the first one of these patterns! I've named it "Summer Buds" and finished size is 21" x 27". I did wool applique on a cotton background--I also used cotton for the borders. I am very happy with the rick rack, and I also embellished the berries with seed beads, although that is hard to tell from this picture. As for the picture--honestly, this wallhanging is not crooked--my photography skills are crooked! Patterns are available at Shaffer's Countryside Quilting (http://www.shafferscountrysidequilting.com/) or by emailing me at darlenemccoychd@gmail.com .

The new Block of the Month started at Shaffer's Countryside Quilting last weekend. I am happy to say that I am designing this quilt for the store. No applique this year, though. If you are interested in signing up, call Judy at 724-962-9394. Here's the first block:

I'm working on my next small pattern--June is just around the corner!

Have a Happy Memorial Day!

Win "Fresh from the Garden Gift Set" from the Vintage Workshop

If you haven't checked out The Workshop Window, the blog from the Vintage Workshop, you are in for a treat! They have so many great ideas, and now they are having a contest to win one of two gift sets of bags, aprons, etc.--really, there are too many goodies for me to list them here--and all of them have images of vintage seed packs! Click on the link below to see the gift sets and to enter the contest! I know you'll be adding The Workshop Window to your list of favorites!

http://blog.thevintageworkshop.com/?p=1618#more-1618

I've been having a busy spring--not only sewing but gardening, too. I have a couple of new projects in progress. I'll be posting pictures soon!

"Folk Art" Picture

The weekend before Easter I made this picture (I needed something to cover up some holes I made in the wall when I tried to hang shelves--I had to call in the calvary) and now it is hanging in our dining room.



I've been toying with the idea of making folk art-ish pictures out of wool. I made a willow tree and gave it to a friend. You can see it in the picture below--I hung it on the wall in my sewing room to take a picture. The red framed fabric is images I cut out of Cake Rock Beach fabric from Moda, and I put it in vintage frames--I can put better photos up in a different post.






Anyway--I have a nice collection of vintage wool, and a small collection of vintage frames, so I figured why not use them together? So I made a picture! I am thinking of making another, but completely out of fabric-- a summer wall hanging.

Time flies

Time flies! I can't believe it has been months since I last posted. Time got away from me--and now it is spring!


I have been busy with two new patterns--Quilter's Garden and Quilter's Dozen. Both are queen-size quilts, and both are available as a regular pattern or as a Block-of-the-Month program. The blocks in both quilts are 18 1/2" square. In 2009 Shaffer's Countryside Quilting in Clark PA (http://www.shafferscountrysidequilting.com/) ran both of these as block-of-the-months, and they were successful. Peggy Sheehan, a long-arm quilter from New Wilmington PA, quilted both of these for me. She did a fabulous job!


Quilter's Garden combines piecing with applique:





Quilter's Dozen is a pieced sampler quilt:

If you are a shopowner and are interested in either of these patterns for a Block-of-the-Month for your shop, please email me at darlenemccoychd@gmail.com.

If you are interested in purchasing the pattern for personal use, either email me or you can place a phone order with Shaffer's Countryside Quilting at 724-962-9394.

One of the other things I've been busy with is a new puppy, George. George is now 3 months old, and we've had him since he was 6 weeks old. George is just adorable--not always as well behaved as we'd like, but we're all working on it. This is George when he was new to us--he is much bigger now!