Weekend Sewing

I have been doing a lot of weekend sewing lately.  Quick and simple projects that offer me some instant gratification – I love instant gratification! Most of these pictures have already been up on my Facebook page, but I thought I would share a little more about the projects I have been working on and not blogging about. There are way more than this, but these are finished and photographed!

One of my wonderful blogging friends, Eileen, and I had a conversation about hand embroidery back in June and she oh so generously offered to send me a little starter kit to learn some of the basic stitches.  When I opened it I was blown away. There was a hoop, 2 patterns, 2 pieces of muslin with tons of stitches done to show me, 2 needles, a needle threader, and TONS of thread (both perle cotton and floss).  I was so excited but as you all know in July my hands took a turn for the worse.  Well this month I finally decided to throw caution to the wind and I gave the hand embroidery a try and I am now officially ADDICTED!

This is my first project and I have to tell you I was so tickled when I finished it. I don’t know why but it was a BIG deal to me, probably because I really thought I wouldn’t be able to do this. I have a lot more embroidery stuff to share with you and even the find of the year, but that will all have to wait for a future post!

Another project I worked on was for my hands to bring myself a little relief. I made myself a booboo bag. I know I’m kind of old for one, but ice packs make me really uncomfortable so I thought a flannel covering with a flax seed filled muslin bag might feel a little better on my wrists.  I love it because I can throw it in the freezer and it just feels so good on my aching hands and wrists.

I decided to go with the super cute and kid friendly fabric in the hopes that if Anne needs to use it she will be enamored with the bunnies (she loves bunnies) and will be willing to have it on her booboo.

The last project I am going to share with you is Anne’s new art apron! I followed the wonderful Smock Monster Pattern by Rebecca Ruth Designs. It was super easy and came together beautifully. The cool thing is that when I went to my LQS, Ruby Street Quiltworks in Tumwater, WA to find the ric rac I needed, the person who helped me color match…was Rebecca herself!  She works at Ruby Street. She is just the sweetest lady ever. Check out Anne modeling the 5T size.

Now you  may be asking yourself…”where is the monster exactly?” Well I did option E of the pattern which is just a basic pocket. I was working with laminate – a first for me – and I wanted simple and doable.  Anne loved the apron so much she wore it for about 4 hours straight and only took it off when I told her it was time to take a bath!

So I told you that last week was a rough one. We had to deal with some ongoing health issues for Anne and that is never easy. Hard to explain to a 2 year old that the tests are painful and uncomfortable but absolutely necessary for her well being. She doesn’t care about those things, she only cares that someone is hurting her (and I don’t blame her one bit!). Well on Thursday we got to meet one of my wonderful blogging friends and bee mates in person, the wonderful CeLynn from The Sunflower Patch.  It was so cool to put a face with a name!  We went fabric shopping and in the middle I got a phone call from the doctor  and CeLynn was awesome enough to go with us to the lab to pick up stuff for Anne’s testing.

Then on Sunday I realized that the Pacific West Quilt Show going on in Tacoma, WA- a 45 minute drive later and Anne & I were surrounded by some amazing eye candy!  The coolest part, aside from buying a ton of thread from Superior Threads, was meeting Marsha McCloskey – author and designer of the Feathered Star books and ruler that I blogged about back in May! I bought 2 more of her rulers AND she gave me a copy of one of her books! How cool is she!!! Here is a picture of the 2 of us in front of one of her stunning quilts:

And so long as I kept the snacks at the ready…Anne seemed to have a good time too!

Ok, you’ve heard enough from me for one day. Tomorrow I will have a post up about a fun blog hop I will be participating in next month, so be sure to check in.  Also, if you haven’t already I am have a fun giveaway up as part of the Quilting Gallery Blog Hop, so make sure you go enter, there are 6 Amy Butler Fat Quarters up for grabs and a great book too!

About Melissa Dunworth

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12 Responses to Weekend Sewing

  1. Carrie P. says:

    cute little bird and how very nice of Eileen to get you started. Is the bird done in bullion knots? sort of looks like them.
    How cool that you got to meet Marsha. Sounds like you and Anne had a great day.
    Love your projects. I have not worked with the laminate before.

  2. Lisette G says:

    I’m so ready to try embroidery. Around christmas I started with cross stitch. Haven’t done that since middle school! Hopefully soon, I can pick up some stuff and get going!

  3. Lisa says:

    Love your hand embroidery and Dr. Seuss laminate apron! Your creations always look fabulous!

  4. Connie says:

    Your embroidery looks beautiful Melissa! Love the little smock for Anne and how neat that you met Rebecca and Marsha McCloskey! Hope everything goes well for Anne with her tests!

  5. eileen says:

    so glad you’ve found it fun to embroider. i’ve had so many people be helpful/generous to me and glad i could pay it forward to you! darling apron for your girlie. sorry she has to undergo testing–so very hard for a little one (hard on anyone, but tiny and not understanding is hard for mommies to watch, too!!) have a great day. and explore the rest of washington as most of it (east of the mountains) doesn’t have rain all the time and is actually part of the great american desert! of course, your side is so gorgeous partly because of the abundance of moisture

  6. Mrs.Pickles says:

    wow what wonderful creations!

  7. Debbe says:

    That is awesome that you got to meet so many cool peeps in quilting/sewing/blogging world.

  8. Katy says:

    Gotta love instant gratification! Glad you had a great week after the nasty tests

  9. Snoodles says:

    Your embroidery is great! I love that booboo cushion….flax seed, eh? I think I see one in my own future! I am a klutz and that would be handy!
    What fun to meet friends from the blogging and quilting world…it’s my hope to meet some of my long-distance friends face to face someday! 🙂

  10. Gene Black says:

    Same as Carrie, I wondered if the bird is done in bullion knots. It is very addictive. LOL.

  11. Vicki says:

    Great projects Melissa! I love your embroidery. That’s something I’ve never tried…maybe someday.

  12. Sharon says:

    My mom is visiting my sis in Seattle and she was going to the quilt show, too!
    Lucky you to get Marsha m. Stuff, I love the book of hers that I have.

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