Llama Love

 

We've had some really cold days here in Minnesota, but I guess it's typical weather for us. I love warming the house up with the smells of fresh baked goods! I've been craving Tri-level Brownies. My absolute favorite brownie recipe! I've been making these since 1983 when I first was given a Better Homes and Gardens Cookie book by my grandparents. This is a wonderful recipe and I bet you might have the ingredients on hand. I tell myself these are healthy since there's eggs and oatmeal in them, lol! I'll do anything to justify having a treat!

I thought it would be a great time of year to revisit one of my favorite designs and the story that inspired me to draw it up. I have a niece who is in love with llamas, so I certainly had her in mind when I drew this design up. My dad- way back in the day worked for the Llama Registry in Minnesota after he retired. He loved it, he also worked with my sister there. Another reason why he loved working at the registry! I thought of the sweet memories and stories he'd share when I stitched this up. It's a fun design to make. I was able to get it done in an afternoon. I made my llama's white and cream, but you can have fun and make yours any color combo! There are so many different types and colorings for llamas. 

Something I wanted to share that is a little different then I normally do is, instead of sewing with brown or black thread. I used a cream/tan variegated cotton thread for a softer edge on the design. I really like how it turned out.

I hope that you have fun with this pattern. I sure had fun making it. I have PDF patterns available in my Etsy shop and also on the Quilt Doodle website.  It is a great project to work on for Valentine's Day. Well, I hope that you enjoy the recipe!

Hope you have a wonderful day!

Cindy & Josephine

My clearance sale is still going on in my etsy shop under the clearance tab, check it out! 

Valentine's Projects

 

Looking for a cute project for Valentine's Day? I bet you even have fabric in your stash that you can use to make some cute Valentine projects! 

These are quick and easy mug rugs that

will be fun to give to your family and friends!

PDF instant downloads are available for these cute designs.

Don't forget to check out my Sale/Clearance tab in my Etsy shop, I've got some great deals posted! 

Happy quilting!
Cindy and Josephine

Love Bugs

My neighborhood is covered in a sheet of ice this morning. It's a perfect day to work on something bright and cheery like 'Love Bug Mug Rugs'. This was a quick and easy project. I dug thru my stash and found a couple of fat quarters, one pink and one blue. (Just for fun!) I was able to make two mug rugs, along with the binding out of these two fat quarters. I found some scrap fabric for the design that matched my fabrics. This goofy bug reminds me of those fun classroom valentines that I received from my classmates. I wish I would have saved some of those cheesy cards from my childhood. I know that if I dig in my closets, I will find Valentine's from when my two boys were in school!

Most of my projects use heat n bond lite or Flexifuse. It works

best with my sewing machine. Here you can see I have

been cutting out my pieces and laying them out onto my mug rugs.

I use a dark brown thread to do my blanket stitch around my ironed on

pieces. I use a stitch setting of 2.5 for both length and width.

Feel free to play around with you stitch settings to get a stitch

that you like best.

I'm all ready to make the binding. I cut 2" strips from my fat quarters

to make the binding. Of course I will have to sew a few strips together to have enough

length to go around each mug rug.

I'm all ready to do some hand stitching in front of the TV.

Love Bug Mug Rug is a fun little project to give to your family and friends. I'm sure if you dig thru your fabric stash you will find some fun colors to work with. Mug rugs are also a great way to use up batting scraps from those larger projects. So, I hope you have some fun this afternoon and find the time to make up some Valentine mug rugs for the sweeties in your life.

Have a wonderful day!

Happy quilting,

Cindy and Josephine

Scrappy Valentine Heart

Happy Valentine's Day!

Valentine's Day is right around the corner, and I have a couple of cute patterns for you that I put together for OLFA. There's a cute scrappy mug rug and a fun heart garland. Both projects are free thru OLFA . There's still time to finish these projects in time for Valentine's Day! 

Go dig thru your fabric stash, I bet you can find some red, pink and cream fabrics that will work! 

Also, stayed tuned on Monday for the next Mondays with Marcus series III! We are all diving into color!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Cindy

Llamas!

We've had some really cold days here in Minnesota, but I guess it's typical weather for us. I've been moping since my oven has died and I have been unable to bake. I love warming the house up with the smells of fresh baked goods! I've been craving Tri-level Brownies. My absolute favorite brownie recipe! I've been making these since 1983 when I first was given a Better Homes and Gardens Cookie book by my grandparents. There are so many wonderful recipes in this book, and I have been missing baking lately. I've been told my stove will arrive February 15th.... after Valentine's Day. (I've been without my stove since December 26th) We certainly won't starve since I still have a microwave, instant pot and a number of other kitchen gadgets. 

I have a niece who is in love with llama's, so I certainly had her in mind when I drew this design up. My dad- way back in the day worked for the Llama Registry in Minnesota after he retired. He loved it, he also worked with my sister there. Another reason why he loved working at the registry! I thought of the sweet memories and stories he'd share when I stitched this up. It's a fun design to make. I was able to get it done in an afternoon. I made my llama's white and cream, but you can have fun and make yours any color combo! There are so many different types and colorings for llamas.

Something I wanted to share that is a little different then I normally do is, instead of sewing with brown or black thread. I used a cream/tan variegated cotton thread for a softer edge on the design. I really like how it turned out.

I hope that you have fun with this pattern. I sure had fun making it. I have PDF patterns available in my Etsy shop and also on the Quilt Doodle website.  It is a great project to work on for Valentine's Day. Well, I hope that you enjoy the recipe!

Hope you have a wonderful day!

Cindy

Snowmen Love!

I Love snowmen!

It's that time of year that love is in the air.... so, I put out this sweet design out in my kitchen. I think it's perfect for this time of year! Now that all of my Christmas decorations are tucked away it's time to decorate for Valentine's Day. Let me show you how I made it....

Here I have all my pieces layered onto my towel and ironed down.

Typically, I use brown thread to applique around everything, but I wanted a softer look for my Valentine design. I matched up my fabric colors and used white, blue, and red thread. I did have a bit of trouble stitching around the snowman, I'm still getting used to my new machine.

I used a black pearl cotton for stitching the snowman details. To make the trucks tires I used my 30 mm yo-yo maker. One of my most used notions in my sewing room.

~Spreading the Love Snowman~

I just love how my little Valentine loving snowman turned out. He looks very sweet in my kitchen and just brings a smile to my face. This pattern can be found in my Etsy Shop as an instant PDF download. It's a great way to use up some of your fabric pieces and when finished makes an adorable gift for someone you love.

I hope that you have a wonderful weekend and find some time to do some stitching. 

Happy Quilting,

Cindy 

Heart Garland Tea Towel

In about a month it's Valentine's Day and I'll be doing a little decorating around the house for the February holiday this week. My boys are all grown up so there's no class parties to plan for or class list to help put together valentines for, so I'm doing a little decorating here around the house. To be honest, I'm packing away the Christmas tree and taking down the socks, twinkle lights and the house will look so darn bleak, I need to hang some pops of red, so these long Minnesota winters don't seem so dreadful. Besides, I love Valentine's Day because it also gives me a really good excuse to buy chocolate.

I have a really good beginner project for those of you who are new to iron on machine applique. (Which most of my designs consist of) It's a garland of hearts and yo-yo's that embellish a tea towel. This cute towel looks adorable draped out of a basket or hanging on a towel rack. I have mine displayed with my all-time favorite kitchen gadget, my mixer. It's a great project to use up those left-over scraps (which I cannot throw away) and makes a great gift. It would be super cute paired up with a brownie mix for a special Valentine.

Isn't it cute in my mixing bowl. I love the red and white combo. So fun and cheerful.

So let me show you how fun and easy this little project is....

Following the directions for the Heat n Bond lite, I traced, ironed, and cut out eight hearts with the Heat n Bond.

Then I evenly spaced them along the bottom edge of the towel and ironed them in place.

Using a dark brown thread, I machine applique around each heart using

a small stitch setting. You can also hand buttonhole stitch this too.

To finish off your heart garland, I made seven yo-yo's using various

scraps of material to sew in between each heart.

So isn't this a fun way to use up some of your red and white scraps? My Heart Garland Tea Towel was super fun to make! Hanging tea towels here and there is a sneaking, easy way to decorate in the kitchen. It doesn't scream, look at me, I'm a decoration.... it's sorta like those cute potholders. Looks adorable, but it's useful too.

Happy Quilting!

Cindy

Be My Valentine Gnome

 

When I put away all of the Christmas decorations this year, I decided to leave my gnomes out to decorate the house for the rest of the winter. I love gnomes and actually leave a couple up all year round. Gnomes remind me of my dad, he had a set of gnomes that stood in the front of the family home for years. Dad was also 100% Norwegian. So when ever I see a gnome, I think of dad. Well, I just had to make up another gnome design for Valentine's Day. I'm thinking of putting this one on display in my kitchen, tucked in a bowl or hanging on the cabinet door. I might even leave it up longer then just the month of February! The PDF pattern can be found in my Etsy shop and also on the Quilt Doodle Website.

Let me show you how I made it! I was able to complete it in an afternoon. My guilty pleasure these days is sewing and watching Outlander on my iPad. 

To make the design, I printed up the pattern, gathered my fabric and fusible web. 

I then trace all the shapes onto the paper side of the fusible web following the manufactures directions. The I rough cut the shapes out and pair them with the fabric I'm going to use. Iron the fusible web to the wrong side of the fabric.

Then cut the pieces out. I like to use my OLFA applique scissors for this step.

Following the placement sheet from the pattern, I lay the pieces out to create the gnome design. Some of the pieces will layer over other pieces. Remember to peel the paper off and then iron the design in place on the tea towel.

I used white thread to stitch around the beard, mustache and nose of the gnome design, I used brown thread to stitch around everything else.

Your towel is complete! Isn't it cute! This design would also be cute made into a small mini quilt or mug rug. Whatever you do with it, it'll make an adorable winter project to put on display for the month of February.

I hope that you have a great day!

Happy quilting,

Cindy and Belvedere

~ Be My Valentine ~

Gnome in Love

 

~ Gnome in Love ~

Since I've cleaned up my sewing area, I have been having fun messing it all up again! I had purchased some brightly colored polka dot towels just recently and the red towels just screamed to have a gnome put on them. So I drew up this adorable gnome for Valentine's Day. It's just around the corner! This is a larger design, it measures 8" x 10" when done. With the larger size it would be a great design for a beginner to applique. This gnome design is an easy one to make in an afternoon. If I had more towels I would have made several of them! I love this bright and cheerful fellow, the pop of color is going to brighten up my kitchen for Valentine's Day! The PDF pattern can be found in my Etsy shop and also on the Quilt Doodle Website.

Another project that I worked on recently for the Valentine's Day was a Buffalo Plaid heart table runner that I made for OLFA. Buzz on over to their website and check it out. The directions can be found on the OLFA site. It's a fun table runner to display for the month of February. It's so much fun to decorate for the different holidays! I even got my silhouette cameo cutter out (it's like a cricut)  and created a heart garland to hang in my kitchen window!

I hope that you have a great day!

Happy quilting,

Cindy and Belvedere

Quilted Hearts

 I have been cleaning my sewing space/studio the last couple of days... my least favorite thing to do in my sewing room. I'm much better at messing it up. I came across some left over blocks from a red and white quilt that I made years ago. I contemplated throwing the blocks out.... but couldn't. So I made them into a cute set of heart shaped coasters. All you need for this fun project is some scrap red, white, pink fabric... (you can make your hearts out of any colors!) Backing fabric, scrap pieces of batting, pinking shears, and just a little time. Granted I had a head start with mine having some 5" x 6" blocks already made, but these are quick to whip up with some fabric strips. Let me show you how I made them.

After you make a block, any block really... any size. Layer the backing, batting and quilt block together like you would for a quilt. My blocks are smaller 5" x 6".

I put my walking foot on my machine so I could do some straight line quilting. You can have fun and play around with the quilting if you'd like. With you free motion quilting foot you could play around with different designs.

My quilt block is all quilted....

I then quilted a heart on my block. I free handed the heart. If you want, you can trace a heart onto your block and then stitch it. After you have your heart all stitched, then cut the heart out using a pinking shear being careful not to cut the heart stitched onto your block.

Aren't these hearts fun! If you want to make a garland you can make several of these and then attach them to a string of rick rack! I think I'll use mine as little coasters I can place here and there in my living room. They are cute little accents for Valentine's Day.

~ Quilted Hearts~

I had so much fun making these that I would love to make some more.... but I need to finish up cleaning my sewing room/studio.... then I can get back to what I like to do best, sewing and making a mess. I hope you find some time to make some hearts for Valentine's Day. 

Happy quilting,

Cindy and Belvedere

Spreading Love Snowman

It's that time of year that love is in the air.... so I drew up a new design featuring a sweet little snowman spreading love everywhere as this cute pickup drives along. It was so nice to putz around this morning and work on something new. This little snowman has been sitting on my to do pile for almost a month and I finally got around to it today. I tried something new today, I used a new product to me, Flexifuse lightweight fusible web. (The company does not know I'm doing a shout out nor have I been asked to do so.... I just like the product) I recently bought a new machine and it hated my go to fusible web. I mean, really hated it.... I had skipped stitches along with a gummy mess. Frantic I jumped onto Amazon and looked for something new to use in hopes that I would be able to applique again! I was very frustrated to say the least... Well I remember seeing Flexifuse at Quilt Market so I thought I would give it a try. It works great and I'm really happy with the results. The Flexifuse that I picked up is 8 1/2" x 11" so paper sized. I decided to run it thru my printer and have my pieces printed right onto the paper side of the sheet instead of having to trace my shapes. What a fabulous time saver! It made it so easy to cute the pieces apart then to fuse onto the back of my fabric and then cut the shapes out like you would normally do for fusible applique. 

Here I have all my pieces layered onto my towel and ironed down.

Typically I use brown thread to applique around everything but I wanted a softer look for my Valentine design. I matched up my fabric colors and used white, blue, and red thread. I did have a bit of trouble stitching around the snowman, I'm still getting used to my new machine.

I used a black pearl cotton for stitching the snowman details. To make the trucks tires I used my 30 mm yo-yo maker. One of my most used notions in my sewing room.

~Spreading the Love Snowman~

I just love how my little Valentine loving snowman turned out. He looks very sweet in my kitchen and just brings a smile to my face. This new pattern can be found in my Etsy Shop as an instant PDF download. It's a great way to use up some of your fabric pieces and when finished makes an adorable gift for someone you love.

I hope that you have a wonderful weekend and find some time to do some stitching. 

Happy Quilting,

Cindy and Belvedere