New Embroidery Pattern - Meet the Mini Monsters

$5.00

purchase the pattern here

Here they are - the Mini Monsters. These little guys were so much fun to stitch. By fun, of course, I mean easy, colorful, and making me smile. :-)

Even the satin stitching on the froggy-looking guy wasn't hard - just a bit time consuming - and you could totally skip it if you wanted to and simply stitch the outlines of the stripes instead.

A reader on Facebook (where I was showing some sneak peeks of the stitching in progress) commented that the bumps on this monster's head look like hair curlers - and now that's exactly what I see every time I look at her. :-)

My daughter thought this guy was an Easter egg monster - which made me write "design Easter egg monsters" on my calendar for next year.

And this guy. . . well - he's just plain weird. :-) He's not for everyone, but I just know there's some kid out there who will like him best of all and want him stitched on a T-shirt, his jammies, a lunch bag, a wall hoop - you get the idea. I wonder what he will name him?

Oooh - that gives me a fun idea! A giveaway! Leave a comment telling me which monster is your favorite and what you would name him/her/it. Get your kids in on the action too! I'd love to hear their suggestions! I'll use Ye Olde Random Number Generator to pick a winner who will get. . . all four monsters I stitched up for the cover.

I'll probably give some kind of runner-up prizes for favorite names - so get creative! I've never done this before but I really like naming things so I think this will be fun. Let's get a ton of entries! Tweet about it, blog about it, or mention it on Facebook for extra entries. Please - to keep me sane - give each kid entry its own comment, and let me know about each Facebook, Twitter, etc. mention in its own comment. That way I don't have to go back and figure out if some comments are actually more than one entry.

Yes - I will ship overseas. This is open to everyone!

Fun! And before I get all carried away with giveaway stuff and forget that these patterns actually support my family - you can buy the pattern here. :-)

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Best,
Wendi

Show & Tell - A Bailey Bear That's Out of This World!

When I posted the Moira's Peekaboo Cat quilt a couple of weeks ago, I mentioned that I love to see how you all adapt my patterns to make them your own. Well - here's an adaptation to beat all adaptations. :-) Cheryl (you may have seen her on the Facebook page as Adiarra Stormfury) turned Bailey Bear into Spock. SPOCK! How awesome is that?

I have a super geeky best friend who loves Star Trek and Mr. Spock.
So I changed up the pattern just a hair.  lololol.  I would point out that
using fleece on my machine was a tad overwhelming in size, so you
may notice the slightly awkward position of the arms lololol.  And I
moved the ears to the side of the head and made them pointy. The eyes nose & brows are felt that I stitched on, and the mouth is just stitched. But he really loved it, and despite his flaws, I do too!

Isn't he fun! And that's an excellent insignia on his shirt. But wait - there's more!

She also made this race car driver for her Dad.

Normal fire suits for race cars are just blue with the white stripe across the front, so that's what I fashioned it after. He and his father built dirt track cars here in Northern California when he was young, so his mid life crisis was building one of those old cars, which is what the sprint car world now calls retro, lol.

Sweet! Cheryl, I can't wait to see what you make next!

And that goes for all of you too! Please share your finished projects. I can't tell you how happy it makes me to see how you all use my patterns! You can post a photo to the sewing or embroidery groups on Flickr, or simply email them to me. I do a little Snoopy dance every time I get one of these emails. :-)

Happy Thursday!

Best,
Wendi

Ask Wendi - Embroidering on Quilts (Plus a Tutorial!)

I have a question--I just bought your bird sampler pattern and I want to include them in pairs around a quilt that I am making.  I have the top finished and I was wondering--what do you recommend--embroidering before I make the quilt sandwich, and then do the actual quilting--stitch in the ditch etc, or do you think it is better to do the embroidering as actual hand quilting and pull it all the way to the back.  I am not sure, as I haven't embroidered on any of the quilts I have made. The quilt is a combo of flying geese and Chinese coins patterns and the focus fabric has chattering birds on a telephone line--so I think random pairs of embroidered birds will be great.  Thanks for your help with this question!!

Sandy emailed me a while ago with this question. As is almost always the case - my answer is longer than you might expect. (I ended up doing a full-blown tutorial showing you how to start and stop without knots, hide your tails, and carry thread invisibly from place to place. Keep reading and you'll get there.) I've actually done both methods - and like them both - but they do look very different. So. . . it depends. . .

It depends on what design you want to stitch, what stitch you'll be using, and how much interior detail there is.

I thought the best way to illustrate this would be to show the backs of some of my embroidered pieces.

Running stitch looks the same back and front - so it's a good candidate for something you'll see from both sides. Read on and I'll share a tutorial for hiding your threads when you carry from place to place (like between the eyes and mouth).

Backstitch doesn't look bad either. It'll be chunkier on the back than on the front, but with some care on your carrying and hiding thread tails, it can look pretty good.

Here's another backstitched piece. Notice - what these two have in common is nice, simple, open shapes. Not a lot of detail. Now for the opposite. . .

Aaaaack! Run away! This is quite ugly from the back - and that's because the shapes are filled with cute chain stitches, French knots, and lazy daisies. Here's another. . .

Again, this one has lots of detail inside the main shapes and it looks bad, bad, bad from the back.

So, quilting first and then embroidering through all three layers can be nice. Choose a nice, simple shape to stitch and stitch it in running stitch, backstitch, or split stitch. The quilt will "puff" nicely around the stitching and in the larger open areas of the design.

If you want to do some fancier embroidery - like the owls or the birds - embroider first and then layer and quilt. Otherwise the embroidery will be hideous from the back - and it will also compress the layers of your quilt too much and can distort the whole lay of things.

So - about that carrying? I said if you're careful with carrying your thread and hiding your tails you can have something that looks pretty nice. Well, I ended up doing a full-blown tutorial on this.

Here begins the tutorial

This is a quilt sandwich, ready for quilting. Instead of the usual quilting thread, I'm going to embroider one pink line with running stitch, and the other with backstitch and split stitch. I'll use 4 strands of embroidery thread. I won't use any knots, there will be no hanging tails, and you won't see the thread carried from one line to the other. Ready to learn some sneaky magic?

Start by inserting your needle about an inch from where you want to start stitching. The needle goes in just through the top layer of fabric, then travels between the two layers of fabric (and the batting) until I bring it up where I want to start visible stitching. So if I flipped this over right now you wouldn't see any needle (or thread) at all from the back.

Pull the thread until the tip of the tail just disappears into the starting hole your needle made. Careful! Don't pull it all the way through!

Now - take a tiny stitch through all layers. This is going to secure the thread instead of a messy knot.

Bring the needle back up through the start of that tiny stitch. I should have photographed this better, but that needle is pointing up.

Now the thread is coming back up at the original desired starting point. There's no knot, but that tiny stitch is holding it in place. You can yank really hard on this and it's not coming loose. The tail of the thread is buried in the batting between the two layers of fabric. Neat!

OK. I stitched a whole bunch of running stitches and I'm ready to jump over to the other line. But I don't want anyone to be able to see the thread between the two lines! So I get sneaky again and thread the needle between the two layers of fabric, right there in the batting. Easy peasy! The only drawback is that you can't carry the thread any farther than the length of your needle. (Actually, there is a way. But I find it so tedious and irritating to do that I'd rather just tie off here and start over in the new space.)

OK. I did some more stitching. Some backstitches and then some split stitches. Now I'm ready to tie off. I take another tiny stitch. See how the needle is coming up really close to the end of that stitch? I'm talking that tiny of a stitch. Tiny is what makes it tight and work like a knot.

I put the needle back in at the end of the stitching (really close to where it came up - remember - tiny!) but only through the top layer of fabric. Carry your tail through the batting for about an inch, then bring the needle back up and out.

There's the thread tail, veering up off the top, waiting to be cut.

Snip it off really close to the surface of the fabric. Careful! Don't cut your fabric. It's ok if a tiny bit of thread shows above the surface.

Rub your finger over it once and it will pop right into the batting and disappear from the front.

So here's the finished stitching from the front. That's running stitch on top, backstitch on the lower left, and split stitch on the lower right.

And here they are from the back. Again - running stitch on top, but now the back of the backstitch is in the lower right and the back of the split stitch is in the lower left.

No knots, no tails, and no thread carries. Neat and tidy. :-)

Whew! That answer was even longer-winded than I expected. And I know how I can be. :-)  I hope you all find it helpful!

Best,
Wendi

Bunny Kits Are 20% Off

I know bunnies are a year-round thing, but I kind of promised these bunnies that they'd get to be Easter bunnies. There are only a few kits left and I don't want them to be still-unstuffed (and sad) on Easter morning. Won't you help?

Use code HOPHOP for 20% off.

:-)

I'll ship them out just as quickly as I can, so you still have time to sew and stuff them before Easter (they only take about an hour to make). Or give the kit to an older child and let them sew their own bunny. They'll be so proud!

Read more about the bunny kits here.
Buy them here.
Watch the video to see how easy they are to sew up.

Happy Tuesday!

Best,
Wendi

A Little Bit o' This and a Little Bit o' That

I've been hitting the UFO basket again. :-) I made these TARDIS jammie pants for my sister - with fabric that arrived right before I left for NY this December. That means it only sat in my basket for about three months - which might be some kind of record for me.

My daughter had a few plain T-shirts in the basket, waiting for some embroidery. She outgrew two of them while they were in the basket (d'oh!) but T-shirt #3 is now in the hoop and I'm stitching a cute blue cat on it. The BFF cat and bird embroidery pattern is here and I can report that The Magical Embroidery Stuff works like a dream for stitching knits. :-)

Finally - I got a few blocks made on another scrap quilt in the works.

Happy Monday everyone! I hope you all have a terrific week!

Best,
Wendi

Free Pattern - Embroidered Felt Easter Egg

FREE

download the pattern here

You (yes you!) can stitch up a lovely Easter egg just like this one. What do you need? Some felt. Preferably wool felt. It's dreamy to stitch on and you can find it in gorgeous colors here, in Heather Bailey's shop. It's where I buy all my felt.

You'll need embroidery thread. Choose four colors you like - or use the ones I specify in the pattern. They're all from my medium and light thread bundles.

You'll need the pattern - of course. Download that here. It's full-sized, so no enlarging or reducing needed.

And finally, you'll need a bit of stuffing. A handful of cotton balls will do the trick.

Do you have questions about working with felt? I answer a bunch of common questions here - including info about how to transfer an embroidery pattern to felt. I recommend using The Magical Embroidery Stuff.

You've never even held an embroidery needle before and think it looks pretty complicated? Fear not, my friend! This pattern uses only four easy stitches and I have videos teaching you every one of them: backstitch, running stitch, lazy daisy, and French knot.

You can totally make this!

Happy stitching!

Best,
Wendi

Show & Tell - Bunches of Bunnies!

Olivia over at projectrandom13 has been busy again. Look at the three springtime bunnies she made!

And here's a cutie pie bunny (and cutie pie baby!) that Crystal made. :-)

Love those big, bold polka dots! Her first bunny - and it was just the beginning. . .

I have since made two more bunnies, one for my 11 year old and she has been sleeping with it every night she loves it so much, and I'm working on one for each of my nieces as Easter gifts. I love how quick and easy they are to make, and you can personalize each one a little bit. I also made one to go with a baby shower gift and I used soft pastel colors and embroidered her initials on it. So sweet and special.

Crystal - if you have a chance I hope you'll share photos of the other bunnies too. I'd love to see them!

Sarah (aka L.A.C.E.) is selling finished bunnies in her shop. She adds cute little embroidered polkadots to the ears - and names to the tummies. A great idea for birthday bunnies. You can visit her shop here.

Quiltmamajb made this swirly pink bunny with satiny ears. Sweet!

And Liorallee made these three. I love the fabrics she used for the ear linings!

You folks have been BUSY! I love it! :-)

Want to join in the bunny-making fun? You can buy the pattern here, or buy a kit here. With the kit it will only take about an hour to make. That's less than a single naptime!

You can see all my Easter/Springtime patterns here - including several embroidery patterns.

Happy Spring! Happy Stitching!

Best,
Wendi

Ask Wendi: Rotary Cutting Wide Fabric

A couple of months ago I made a video about cutting fabric with rotary cutting tools. I got an excellent question from an anonymous commenter. . .

Hi, I bought fabric for quilting and it is 51 inches selvage to selvage folded.....my question is how do I cut that? Neither my cutting mat or my ruler are long enough.

The answer here is easy to say - kind of tricky to do right. In the video I show you how to fold the fabric in half the long way to cut it. That works with my big mat and long ruler - but what if your tools are smaller?

Well - you fold the fabric in half the long way again. Easy, right? Yes. The trick is that you have to make your folds exactly parallel to each other, so that your cut across the fabric run perpendicular to both of them. Otherwise you'll get annoying Vs at the folds. There's no special skill needed for this - you just have to be fussy about getting everything lined up as best you can.

Happy Wednesday!

Best,
Wendi

New and Improved Sunshine

Our weather lately has been unseasonably warm - and unbelievably gorgeous. I've so been enjoying spending some time outside in the sunshine, working in my garden - I thought it was the perfect time to stitch up a new and improved Sunshine pattern. It always bugged me that I stitched the original on white instead of a. . . warmer. . . color - and I was never totally happy with the face either. So here's the new and improved version, stitched on sunny yellow and with a friendlier face. Enjoy!

Just two super easy stitches (repeated a kajillion times) and you too can stitch a burst of sunshine. :-) You can find the sunshine embroidery pattern here.

Happy stitching!

Best,
Wendi

Starting a New Quilt

A couple of weeks ago I showed you some tiny (2 inches) squares I was cutting from my scraps - trying to get to where I could close the drawers of my scrap baskets. Well - I haven't cut a ton of squares yet - but I decided to go ahead and start putting them together into quilt blocks. Or rather, I decided to get Jo to put them together into a quilt block. She doesn't know it yet, but she's going to design this whole quilt. :-)

I decided I wanted each block to be 10 squares by 10 squares. That's doable to assemble and sew together in an afternoon, and 100 is a nice round number. :-) I told Jo she could do anything she wanted with the design of the block - symmetrical, asymmetrical, patterned or random - but it could only be two colors. On the next block I'll tell her she can't repeat this block.

It's going to take a long time - but I think it will be fun. And I think (hope!) the finished quilt will be a gorgeous riot of color. I can't wait to watch this one grow!

Did anyone else do anything fun this weekend?

Happy Monday! Have a great week!

Best,
Wendi