A Quick Appliqued Apron

 Someday I hope to have some chickens, I want to be the crazy Ol lady with the hound dogs and chickens that loves to quilt. Sounds like a great retirement, doesn't it? I think it does. In the meantime, I need to be happy with visiting my sister and sister in laws chickens and live vicariously thru them. I can also make cute chicken projects.... today I wanted to show you a quick apron project. The big cheat is to run to Hobby Lobby and pick up an apron that doesn't have any design on it because you are going to applique your own design using some fabric scraps from your stash. 

I went thru my fabrics and found some perfect colors for my hen and chicks. I traced the pieces onto the paper side of my fusible web for applique. I like to use Flexifuse because it doesn't gum up my needle on my machine.

Here's the apron I found at Hobby Lobby; I'll give it a good press to get the wrinkles out.

 I then cut out the shapes and pair them with the fabrics.

Press the shapes onto the back side of your fabric.

Then cut all the shapes out and lay them onto your project following the placement sheet or pattern photo. I'm centering the design on the front of the apron above the pocket. Press the design in place following the manufacturer's directions.

I traced a third chick and have placed it on the lower corner of the apron as a cute little added detail.

Using my sewing machine, I applique around the edge using a dark brown thread.

The final touch is to embroider eyes onto the Mama Hen and Chicks. I'm using a double strand of pearl cotton.

~ Hen and Chicks Apron ~

This pattern can be found in my Etsy Shop and also on the Website as a PDF download. It's a fun design for all year round. I bet you even have fabric scraps that would work for this sweet design. I was also thinking, you could make these birds bright and colorful too! Let your imagination go and have some fun! I made mine white to look like a Plymouth Rock, but you can switch up the colors to look like your favorite mama chicken. 

Have a wonderful day!

Cindy & Josephine

Mama Hen and Chicks

 It's the time of year that little chicks start to show up at the farm supply stores. They are adorable bundles of fluff. When the kids were young their auntie brought some of her baby chicks and ducks to an Easter celebration for the little ones to see. The kids were so excited to hold the baby chicks, such a sweet memory. Let me introduce you to a new applique design featuring a mama hen and her chicks. It's a great size for a tea towel but can be used in a variety of ways. It would make a cute bench pillow or table runner too! Let me show you how I stitched it together.

I went thru my fabrics and found some perfect colors for my hen and chicks. I traced the pieces onto the paper side of my fusible web for applique. I like to use Flexifuse because it doesn't gum up my needle on my machine. I then cut out the shapes and pair them with the fabrics.

I then will iron, press the shapes onto the back of the fabric.

Then cut all the shapes out and lay them onto your project following the placement sheet or pattern photo. I'm putting the hen and chicks on a tea towel for in my kitchen.

Press the design in place following the manufacturer's directions.

Using my sewing machine, I applique around the edge using a dark brown thread.

The final touch is to embroider eyes onto the Mama Hen and Chicks. I'm using a double strand of pearl cotton.

~ Mama Hen and Chicks ~

This pattern can be found in my Etsy Shop and also on the Website as a PDF download. It's a fun design for all year round. I bet you even have fabric scraps that would work for this sweet design. I was also thinking, you could make these birds bright and colorful too! Let your imagination go and have some fun! I made mine golden to look like a Buff Orpington, but you can switch up the colors to look like your favorite mama chicken. 

Have a wonderful day!

Cindy & Josephine

April's Snowmen Blocks

Happy April! A little over a week ago, mother nature played an early April Fool's joke on us and slammed us with eight plus inches of snow and super cold temperatures. Most of the snow is gone now and we had warm temperatures for Easter weekend. We had a wonderful weekend filled with family celebrations. Last evening, while relaxing I watched the Ten Commandments, the 1956 version with Charlton Heston and Yul Brynner. I grew up watching this every Easter.

We are anxiously awaiting arrival for our second granddaughter. We are hoping to meet her very soon since mom is a week overdue. It's such an exciting time for our family. Our family is growing, and we couldn't be more thrilled. 

Here's a quick recap, if you are just discovering this year's block of the month, it’s sort of a mystery and I am encouraging everyone to use fabric from their stash. You will want the same background color for the quilt to tie it all together but, other than that the sky’s the limit. So, to begin with go dig thru your fabric stash and look for the following.

Fabric Requirements

Blue background fabric- 2 yards

white fabric (snowman faces) - 1/2 yard

green (trees) - 3/4 yard

pieced border - red- 3/4-yard, pink - 1/2-yard, light green- 1/2-yard, light blue- 3/4-yard

orange- snowman noses

scrappy hats- 10 plus fat quarters or a combination of fat quarters and fat eights in a variety of colors such as red, blue, yellow, pink, green, purple. 

Now let's get stitching!

Snowman Hat Rectangle- Sew a background 2” square onto the top two corners right sides together corner to corner. Trim excess fabric leaving a ¼” seam. Press.

Trace 2 noses onto the paper side of the Heat N bond fusible web. (Or whatever fusible brand you prefer) Iron onto the back side of the orange fabric. Cut out all the carrot noses. Iron on carrot nose onto the snowman block using the quilt on the front cover for placement. Applique stitch using orange or brown thread around the raw edges of the carrot design. I like to use a small buttonhole stitch.

We will wait until the quilt is completed and then quilted before we put on the snowman faces, which will use either buttons or yo-yos.

 

Tell your friends! Spread the word! Post the button on your blog!

 Each month's pattern is a free PDF instant download. If you miss a month, the patterns are available for $2.50 on my website and also in my Etsy shop.  

If you don't have a printer, you can purchase a PRINTED copy of the monthly patterns.

HERE

 There's also a Facebook Group, please join and post your progress! It's also fun to see everyone else progress too! Make sure to post your blocks so far! 

I'm now off to my sewing room to do some sewing, I've got a quilt to piece together along with some embroidery to do!

Have a wonderful day,

Cindy and Josephine

St. Patty's Day

This is a festive St. Patty's Day design that I made a few years ago. It's a fun fusible applique design and I really enjoyed making it. I bet if you dig thru your fabric, you can find some green.... leprechaun green fabric. I made my leprechaun with a white beard, but a red/orange beard would be very cute too! I used fabrics from my Marcus Fabrics stash. (Scrap Heap and Shadings, both by Laura Berringer) 

Following the pattern directions, I traced out the design onto the paper side of my fusible web and then ironed it onto the back side of my fabric that I choose for the applique design. After I had it press on, I then cut the pieces out. Following the placement page in the pattern I then peeled off the paper and positioned the design onto my rectangle piece of background fabric. I then pressed everything into place. I traced two sets of the gnome/leprechaun. 

The second set I ironed onto a fun green towel from Dunroven House.

I worked on both projects at the same time to reduce the number of times I would be changing thread color for the applique. When I make an applique mug rug, I like to layer the top, batting and batting all together before I do the stitching around the design. I like that when I'm doing the buttonhole stitch around my design, I'm also quilting my mug rug at the same time. You can do additional quilting if you'd like besides outlining the design. I just find it to be a great time saver. Like I said before, I'm really pleased with how my St. Patty's Day gnomes turned out. They will add a festive touch to my kitchen for the month of March.

I hope that you have a fun St. Patrick's Day, even if you're not Irish. Shhhhhh.... I'm not one bit, but I was once told that everyone's a little bit of Irish on St. Patty's Day. I'm not sure if I'll drink any green beer but I might go all out and drop some green food color in a glass of white wine.....

Happy St. Patty's Day,

Cindy & Josephine

Lucky Gnome pdf pattern can be found on my website and also in my Etsy Shop.

Sweet Bea Bunny

Spring and Easter are right around the corner, and I thought it would be fun to draw up some new designs for spring. I'm in love with Sweet Bea Bunny. Did you know if I had a girl, I wanted to name her Beatrice. I loved the idea of having a little sweet Bea. But as fate had it, I was blessed with all boys, and I wouldn't have it any other way. That's where the inspiration for the bunny's name came from. I usually use Dunroven Towels for my applique, but I decided to use something a little different this time. Not everyone has Dunroven Towels on hand to easily purchase, so I used a couple of tea towels that I purchased some time ago from Target. My point being, you can applique my designs on anything that you desire, an apron, a quilt block, on a simple table runner, anything your heart desires! So let me show you how I make this sweet bunny.

I trace the design onto the paper side of my sheet of flexifuse. (or heat n bond)

I then group the shapes with the fabrics that I will use for that shape. As you can see, I'm doing two bunnies, one with pink ears and one with coral ears. I then iron the shapes onto the back side of the fabric.

Then cut all the shapes out using a sharp scissor.

Iron the bunny shapes onto your towel, or whatever project you are making. Follow the manufacturer's directions for fusing the shapes in place. 

I then pick out the stitch that I'm going to use to sew around the design. I play around with the sizing until I find one that I think will work best. If I'm making more than one of the same design, I make note of the stitch and settings that I am using. I sometimes take a picture of my machine's settings for reference later.  

I'm making a gray bunny and a brown bunny, I think they are going to be pretty darn cute!

I used a dark brown thread to stitch around all of the edges.

I used a black floss and stitched french knots to make the eyes on the bunny, you can also use tiny black buttons. I used my sewing machines backstitch to stitch the whiskers. You can also use DMC floss and hand stitch the whiskers. I then used some white buttons from my button jar for the flower centers.

~ Sweet Bea Bunny ~

Didn't my Sweet Bea Bunny turn out cute! Such a fun design for spring and Easter. This sweet bunny can be on display all spring and summer if you'd like! I've got spring fever really bad and have started my garden seeds in the house. I'm pretty pleased to announce that they are starting to sprout! I had troubles with baby bunnies last year in the garden, they were able to squeeze thru my wire fencing for the garden. I'll have to add a smaller grate wire fence this year to my garden fence to try to deter them. Baby bunnies are so cute, but not so cute when they get in the garden. Those little buggers wiped out my beans, spinach and cabbage last year! Little stinkers! I replanted twice! I have high hopes the garden will do better this year. 

This cute iron on applique pattern can be found in my Etsy Shop and also on the website as a PDF download.

Hope that you have a wonderful day and find some time to do some quilting,

Cindy and Josephine

March's Blocks!

Happy March! The temperature has been crazy here. We went from a 60-degree day down to below zero in a 24-hour period! As I write this, we are slowly warming up again giving us hope that spring is right around the corner. I've bought my garden seeds and I plan on getting them started indoors. I'm on the hunt for my grow lights, they are somewhere in the house... hmmmm where did I put them! I have a garden I would like to totally dig up and redo, I've been kicking around what I would like to plant in that space. It's gone from a shade garden to 100% sun with the loss of an oak tree. Along with my garden plans, I am excited about the arrival this month of a new granddaughter! We can't wait to meet her! Such an exciting time... I had all boys so it's so much fun to have granddaughters. I am enjoying spoiling them both! 

Now onto this year’s block of the month in case you are just joining us, it’s sorta a mystery and I am encouraging everyone to use fabric from their stash. You will want the same background color for the quilt to tie it all together but, other than that the sky’s the limit. So, to begin with go dig thru your fabric stash and look for the following.

Fabric Requirements

Blue background fabric- 2 yards

white fabric (snowman faces) - 1/2 yard

green (trees) - 3/4 yard

pieced border - red- 3/4-yard, pink - 1/2-yard, light green- 1/2-yard, light blue- 3/4-yard

orange- snowman noses

scrappy hats- 10 plus fat quarters or a combination of fat quarters and fat eights in a variety of colors such as red, blue, yellow, pink, green, purple. 

Now let's get stitching!

Snowman Hat Rectangle- Sew a background 2” square onto the top two corners right sides together corner to corner. Trim excess fabric leaving a ¼” seam. Press.

Trace 2 noses onto the paper side of the Heat N bond fusible web. (Or whatever fusible brand you prefer) Iron onto the back side of the orange fabric. Cut out all the carrot noses. Iron on carrot nose onto the snowman block using the quilt on the front cover for placement. Applique stitch using orange or brown thread around the raw edges of the carrot design. I like to use a small buttonhole stitch.

We will wait until the quilt is completed and then quilted before we put on the snowman faces, which will use either buttons or yo-yos.

 

Tell your friends! Spread the word! Post the button on your blog!

 Each month's pattern is a free PDF instant download. If you miss a month, the patterns are available for $2.50 on my website and also in my Etsy shop.  

If you don't have a printer, you can purchase a PRINTED copy of the monthly patterns.

HERE

 There's also a Facebook Group, please join and post your progress! It's also fun to see everyone else progress too! Make sure to post your blocks so far! 

I'm now off to my sewing room to do some sewing, I'm working on some new applique ideas, working on some patterns and also making baby blankets in between it all.

Have a wonderful day,

Cindy and Josephine

February's Snowmen!

 

 

Happy February! It's first false spring here in Minnesota. It's unseasonably warm here this week. It's supposed to hit 50's today. I should take Josephine for a walk, but she had a bath the other day and she's looking so nice that I hate to chance her rolling in something disgusting at the park. It's crazy warm, I've even cracked open a couple of windows to air the house out. I suddenly have spring fever and it's too soon! Toooooo sooooooo....... although it's been glorious to finally see the sunshine and blue skies. We had several days of gloom and fog the previous week.

With my spring fever comes the urge to clean and straighten up my sewing room. It's very much needed. I'm sure I will be distracted by the pretty things I will find as I clean, lol! 

Now onto this year’s block of the month, it’s sorta a mystery and I am encouraging everyone to use fabric from their stash. You will want the same background color for the quilt to tie it all together but, other than that the sky’s the limit. So, to begin with go dig thru your fabric stash and look for the following.

Fabric Requirements

Blue background fabric- 2 yards

white fabric (snowman faces) - 1/2 yard

green (trees) - 3/4 yard

pieced border - red- 3/4-yard, pink - 1/2-yard, light green- 1/2-yard, light blue- 3/4-yard

orange- snowman noses

scrappy hats- 10 plus fat quarters or a combination of fat quarters and fat eights in a variety of colors such as red, blue, yellow, pink, green, purple. 

Now let's get stitching!

Snowman Hat Rectangle- Sew a background 2” square onto the top two corners right sides together corner to corner. Trim excess fabric leaving a ¼” seam. Press.

Trace 2 noses onto the paper side of the Heat N bond fusible web. (Or whatever fusible brand you prefer) Iron onto the back side of the orange fabric. Cut out all the carrot noses. Iron on carrot nose onto the snowman block using the quilt on the front cover for placement. Applique stitch using orange or brown thread around the raw edges of the carrot design. I like to use a small buttonhole stitch.

We will wait until the quilt is completed and then quilted before we put on the snowman faces, which will use either buttons or yo-yos.

 

Tell your friends! Spread the word! Post the button on your blog!

 Each month's pattern is a free PDF instant download. If you miss a month, the patterns are available for $2.50 on my website and also in my Etsy shop.  

If you don't have a printer, you can purchase a PRINTED copy of the monthly patterns.

HERE

 There's also a Facebook Group, please join and post your progress! It's also fun to see everyone else progress too! Make sure to post your blocks so far! 

Have a wonderful day,

Cindy and Josephine