the tale of two buttonhole stitches

I managed to add a couple more ditties to my Bohemian quilt yesterday : )

I used two different buttonhole/blanket stitches.

Do you call them buttonhole or blanket stitches?  I have some research

to do, because I am not certain there is any difference!

I used a regular buttonhole stitch on my willy nilly piece.

I used a closed buttonhole stitch on my circle embroidery.

Now I am ready to stitch up more fun ; )

piece,

elizabeth

slowly working on my bohemian quilting

I am starting to add some pieces to the quilt top!

As I said in the beginning, I am calling this Bohemian Quilting because

I am combining my love of quilting with a love of embroidery.

Now that said, I am no expert on embroidery, and that makes this journey

even more fun.  I will hopefully be learning as I sew(stitch)!

Time to pull out the big guns : )

piece,

elizabeth

more bohemian quilting

I am working on the stitching for my bohemian quilt.

Here are a few of the pieces that I have done:

I am waiting to sew them to the quilt top….I have a few

more things that I want to add : )  What fun!

piece,

elizabeth

show off friday~~~red stitches

Show Off Friday

I finished stitching my Hawaiian raw edged appliqué. 

I love how the design looks from the back!

The red variegated floss turned out to be a good choice

on both sides, so I want to embroider a simple design like

that sometime.

Click for a closer look....I need to clip some of the loose threads!

This appliqué  block is about 9.5 X 9.5 inches.  I framed it

with 2.5 inch strips of Alexander Henry fabric called "larkspur circle".

I haven't decided what to do with this block.  I think I will leave it on my

design wall for a while.

Now it is your turn to link up something~~~~ what do you have for

Show Off Friday

There are no rules for this link up party....this is just the place to show off projects you are working on!

piece,

elizabeth

wip~~~hawaiian applique

I have had this little Hawaiian appliqué kit for years.  It is for needle turn appliqué.  

I have always admired needle turn appliqué, but I just don't have the patience for it at this

 point in my life!  So I decided to make this block my way... a raw edged Hawaiian appliqué block.

I am using red variegated floss for my stitches.

I am also hand stitching my Union Jack mini quilt.  I am still spending lots of

time watching NBA basketball on TV : )

I do like working with red!

piece,

elizabeth

I am linking up to WIP Wednesday.

may in review

Here are my WIP and finished projects for May.

solid hexagons, coin baby quilt, hexagon and cross
wavy tumbler mini, amish mini, hankie stitches
fabric stitching, tea time mini, star baby quilt

piece,

elizabeth

I am linking up to Fresh Sewing Day.

little quilt monday~~~merry christmas stitchery

Little Quilt Monday

I made a simple little stitchery and framed it with some pretty pinecone fabric.  Then I FMQ(free motion quilted) in a meandering way.  What an easy little mini quilt : )

The measurements for this little quilt are 14 X 17 inches.

I know that for many, this is a very busy time of year!  I hope you have something to link up this week 

for

Little Quilt Monday.

  Maybe you have been making some cute gifts.  Let's inspire each other!

Be sure and check out my give away here.

piece,

elizabeth

wip~~~button tree

I saw the cutest framed button tree while shopping and decided to make one with my button collection.  The inspiration piece had some embroidery and used only white/off-white buttons.

First I placed the buttons on the charcoal grey(it looks blue in my pictures) flannel.   I put a little glue on each one, making sure that I didn't get any glue in the holes.  Then after the glue set, I sewed each button on with red thread.

Now I need to decide what embroidery/stitching to add.  I need a tree trunk too : )

When it is finished, do you think I should make it into a mini quilt or frame it?  I am not usually one to use embellishments, but this was so fun and easy, and at this busy time of year that makes it a perfect project!

I am linking up to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.

piece,

elizabeth

colorado cabin art

I spent a week in Colorado with my daughter, MB, between her clinical assignment and school.  We had a wonderful time hiking, eating, napping and shopping.  I worked on my hexagons and she made a few bracelets.  While I was there, I took a few photos of my wall art.  One is a cross stitch that I made and the other two I purchased from an art festival in Oklahoma City years ago.  I have always like the ones that I bought, they are painted blocks with stitching on muslin.(click on the photo for a closeup)  I think they would be fun to make, but I do not need to learn another kind of craft : )

We had such wonderful weather in Colorado that I was dreading coming home to the heat.  Thankfully, we have had cool weather here in Oklahoma this week....what a blessing!

piece,

elizabeth

do you cross stitch?

I wonder if any of you are cross stitchers, now or in your past?  I don't make them anymore, but as you can see, I still enjoy them hanging around my house : )

Here are a few more of my stitcheries:

As you can see by the last photo, our home was established in 1981....we are getting ready to celebrate our 30 year wedding anniversary!

piece,
elizabeth

hearts and flowers

These stitched pieces are hanging in the guest bedrooms:

piece,

elizabeth

alphabet stitches

After you see all my stitcheries this week,  you will figure out that I have enjoyed cross stitching alphabet samplers : )

These pictures hang in the master bedroom and bath:

piece,

elizabeth

cross stitch extravaganza

This week my blog is going to be a show-and-tell of my cross stitch over the years : )  I haven't cross stitched in years, but you will see that I use to do it often!  Since they are in frames and under glass my photos are a little wonky, but I did my best to keep the flash off of the glass.

Today I am showing the ones that are hanging in my kitchen:

piece,

elizabeth

thunder up

We are fans of the Oklahoma City Thunder NBA basketball team.  By the way, they beat the Heat last night : )  When I found this fabric I knew what I had to do.   I made a little quilt/mug rug for my son to put on his desk at work.  He's a new lawyer, with a new office and I thought he needed something fun on his desk so here goes!   Thunder Up!

I am having a busy week, so very little sewing going on : (

~piece~

elizabeth

insul bright and hydrogen peroxide

Today I was in the mood for a quick project.  I turned my little vintage creamer stitchery into a hot pad.  I used Insul Bright and discovered that it is very easy to stitch through!   I haven't stitched the vintage sugar yet, so the cup and saucer pattern hasn't been posted.  I don't know if anyone is stitching them with me or not, but I  will copy the cup and saucer on my pattern page next week.

I nearly always prick my finger with the needle at least once while stitching a project : )  I use hydrogen peroxide and a Q-tip to blot out the blood spots and it works quite well.  This tip was found somewhere here in blogland and it has saved me from ruining a project more than once!

I am considering tea dying these little hot pads when they are all finished, and then maybe I won't mind using them.  I'm afraid the white linen will be dirty in no time!

Linked to Have a Stitchin' Weekend with That Girl That Quilt blog and Fabric Tuesday at Quilt Story blog.

~piece~

elizabeth