What is Old is New Again

I'm seeing plaid everywhere, aren't you?  I had a little pair of Addy's jeans (size 2T) that were too small in the legs, but the waist still fit.  I cut them off below the zipper and added a ruffled flounce of plaid flannel.  I pulled out my Bernina ruffler attachment that I had for my old 1630, and...it fit the Bernina 440!  I was happy about that.  Rufflers are cool to use.  It's a bit tricky to figure out how long to cut the strip you want to ruffle to fit whatever you are sewing it onto, but once you figure out the ratio, it is super fast sewing.  I made Ellen a jean skirt like this about 25 years ago.  Her's had three plaid ruffles, all a different plaid.  Had I known that such a skirt may be in style again in 2014, I may have held on to that.  I have also been remembering some of my smock tops I hand embroidered back in my college days in the 70's.  How fun would it be to have those again!?  And ponchos!  And boots!  I am sure at least those Frye boots would still fit...and the ponchos....maybe not the smock tops.  Jerilynn

Hidden Messages

Let's see if you can "read" the pillow patchwork.  It says "Lijewski" for those of you that just don't see it at all!  I made the towel in the bottom photo (complete with use wrinkles) from the scrap bin that you see in picture two.  The towel was made with a stitch and flip method, using scraps and bits of leftover patchwork.  A couple rows of selvedges finish the top and bottom of the patchwork.  Seeing it in our kitchen, I almost thought the patchwork had a hidden message!  So, I got the idea to free form piece a strip that actually did spell out something.   It turned out too big for a towel, thus the pillow.  The blocks and strips that make up the letters finish about 1".  I didn't want to go smaller.  I only used a school ruler and scissors to cut up little pieces to use.  I wanted an improvisational look in both the towel and pillow.  It was a good exercise in letting go of perfect cutting and sewing.  Quite fun.  Jerilynn  P.S.  Simply glorious views outside the windows today...bluer than blue sky, sparkly water, yellow, gold, red, orange and green trees.  Very thankful for this inspirational place to create!

A Little Elf Doll

We recently took a "look at the tree colors" ride on the back roads to Hayward, WI, a tourist town full of shops and a giant candy and fudge store.  Okay, maybe the ride was to stock up on candy for the long winter that is coming up, but the leaves were a good excuse.  There is a wonderful Scandinavian store there that is a simply must-visit each time we are in town.  I love all the red, of course, but also the wonderfully simple and whimsical Swedish decorations.  I have been loving the bottle topper elves that I have been making, but elf figures caught my eye at the store and I thought I could make one!  We stopped at Bargain Bills in Rice Lake on the way home, and I bought a 3 1/2" wooden doll form.  I cut some red felt to fit the form, stitched on some hearts on the hem, and some snowflakes on the hat.  I got out my glue gun, and in no time at all, I had a new friend.  Of course, I had to spritz him with glitter.  I did some internet searching for wood doll forms, and discovered that this form actually is a female form - narrow on top, but wide on the bottom.  The male wood doll forms are straight up and down.  I like the chubby shape of this elf, so underneath his furry beard he is all girl!  This little guy will be cute on a window ledge with some like buddies, or could be hung on a tree.  Felt, glitter and glue....heaven!  Jerilynn  P.S.  Happy October!  One of my favorite months! 

Woolfelt Cabin Scene

I have been busy getting ready for the sewing talk I am going to give in October, but in the meantime, I received another large order from Idlewild, an outfitter shop downtown Cumberland.  They have been a big source of orders for me all summer.  Even though the tourist season is winding down, they are still are very busy and want more stuff.  That is good, but it is keeping me very busy. They wanted a couple of little pictures to hang on a wall, or use on a table, so I made the cabin/tree/lake scene and the tree/arrow mat.   I have been frustrated because I couldn't figure out how to do a huge embroidery picture in my Bernina V7 software, but use my Pfaff Grand Dream Hoop.  After some research, it seams as if other sewers with a similar set-up have also been frustrated.  One suggestions given was just to hoop a big embroidery with multiple sew-outs in a smaller hoop.  Duh!  Why I didn't think of that is rather embarrassing.  I designed the cabin/tree/lake scene as one big scene, then saved chunks of it in different files.  I printed a paper "road map" of the embroidery, taped all the multiple pages together and went about and stitched the various parts. The second shot above is how it looked before trimming.  Cool!  The tree/arrow mat is a variation of a penny rug.  The bottom shot is a pillow with just the cabin and some trees.  I hope they sell fast, but I hope any reorders wait just a bit!  Being up in the studio this time of year is wonderful, though.  The trees are starting to surprise with color and I hear acorns thud.  The dock gets pulled in tomorrow - always a bit bittersweet.  But, that means that winter is coming, and I really don't mind that.  The snow is always beautiful, and ice on trees will take my breath away!  It is quiet up here in the winter and so cozy.  Recoup time.  Jerilynn

My New Friends

For a few years I have been loving the elf/santa/gnome bottle toppers that pop up during the holidays.  I even bought a few on clearance last year so I could make some myself.  Well, I didn't come up with an exact copy, but mine I think are pretty cute! I took my beloved Woolfelt, and threw it in the washer and dryer and it came out soft and bubbly and wonderful!  I designed a cone shape on my Bernina V7 software and added snowflakes around the bottom and a few scattered here and there.  Hard to see, but I put "diamonds" on the scattered flakes. I found some
Mongolian Curly White Faux Fur 30x36 Photography Prop on etsy.  I cut out a beard shape, being careful only to cute the fur backing, not the fur itself, so that it still maintained the long, fluffly edges.  I sewed the top of the beard to the bottom of the hat with a matched thread and a straight stitch.   As I sewed up the back seam, I added a cord and tied a bell once the hat was turned inside out.  A wooden plug was glued in place for a nose.  I designed a second version that I don't have a picture of right now.  It has primitive trees along the bottom, and I sewed it out on a light brownish Woolfelt, also washed and dried.  It has a woodland feel. I used a rusted bell on the top, but am looking for some rusted small stars - wouldn't that be perfect?   Last Christmas I bought a few bottles of wine that had Christmasy labels.  I never drank the wine, it didn't look like it would be all that great, so now I have bottles for my new creations.  This little guy would also look good on a dish soap bottle, or a shampoo bottle, lotion, etc.  A good gift idea.  I also think these would be darling sprayed with a little glitter!  Just be careful when opening the wine...not too many people like THAT kind of sparkly wine.  Jerilynn

Dishcloths Disguised as a Scarf

This

This isn't a project that I can show at my sewing presentation, but I can post this on my blog to show what I have been knervously knitting for a bit.  I love Knitpicks Dishy yarn, and I can almost knit a garter stitch dishcloth without even looking.  Perfect for evening-time tv watching.  I actually sold about 16 of the knit squares to a beauty salon.  Not sure what she is going to do with them, but I covered the cost of the yarn and about $1.00 for my knitting effort.  Yep.  Not much of a money-maker, but the fewer of these knit squares I have piled around the house, the happier the children are when they come to visit.  The piles of squares seem to make them knervous.  So, I got this great idea - knit 8 squares end to end to make a long scarf.  Half way through this project, I knew I was going to like it.  Carl also thought the scarf's colors were pretty fun.  I just bet if I stack up a bunch of these scarves, they just might disappear when the  kids and grandkids come to visit.  I suppose these scarves could also be cut apart for dishcloths, just in case you run out. 

Funky Fractured Fish

I am getting ready for my yearly talk at Sew Complete where I present projects that I have been working on the past year.  I usually start out by looking at my blog to refresh myself on what I have made.  Ooops.  Bad blog year.  Panic mode.  What in the world have I been doing?  It seems as if I am up in the studio every day working on this and that, but I have not done a good job at documentation.  The blog posts share my creations, but, more importantly, the posts serve as proof that I really do try to create something everyday.  Well, I can't do anything about lack of blog material for the talk, but I can work on some new ideas and do a better job at posting the results.  The Funky Fractured Fish little quilt is an idea I have had for a while and decided to see what I could make with that idea.  This is the first try.  I will do a couple things differently for the next go-round, but I think it turned out pretty cute.  The button eyes help, as does the quilting.  I used five different colors of Mettler cotton thread and did a free motion wavy line with an occasional "air bubble".  I used to use Mettler Silk Finish cotton thread all the time, then experimented with other brands.  I decided that I have very consistently good results with the Mettler, both for piecing and for quilting.  All three brands of the machines I use, Pfaff, Bernina and Brother seem to like the Mettler, so I think that is what I am going to stock up on.  So, back to my upcoming talk (first part of October)...I have made an ambitious list of things to make and then talk about. I could start a new project today, but the sky is a brilliant blue, the lake is right out of a Hamm's Beer commercial, the wood is newly stacked by the fire pit, and the stomach pain I have been fighting for a month now is feeling better.  I think we may even have some worms in the worm fridge in the fish house.  I could go drop a line and see if I can catch a funky fish to inspire my next project.  Jerilynn