Chickens!

Spring is here, my sister has her new baby chicks! They are so adorable! I would like to show you a fun way to use the hen and chick designs on my Blue Ribbon panel from Marcus Fabrics. I have a limited number of panels and I also have the Blue Ribbon BOM quilt kit. Perfect to welcome spring! The quilt kit and panels can be found at the Quilt Doodle Website The design can be embroidered or left plain. It's totally up to you. I did not embroider the panel sections for the projects I'm showing you today. If you decide to embroider your hen and chick panels, do not trim up to the block sizing stated in the table runner pattern until you have completed your stitching. 

This is a fun table runner to make using the hen and chick sections of the panel along with scrap pieces of Aunt Grace's Apron fabric by Judie Rothermel from Marcus Fabrics. You can also dig thru your stash for reproduction 1930's fabrics to go with the panel too.  What I love about the Aunt Grace fabrics is they look lovely mixed up, even between different collections. As you can see the runner is pretty simple and can be easily pieced in an afternoon.

I did simple meandering for the quilting around my mama hen and her baby chicks. To quilt on the border I used my walking foot and quilted X ‘ s in each of the squares. 

I hope you enjoy this little freebie pattern using my Blue Ribbon panel. It’s the perfect table runner to put out during the spring and summer months. If you happen to love and raise chickens, not only do I envy you but you could keep your runner on display year round!

Happy quilting,

Cindy & Belvedere

Embroidery 101-2

Let me recap what I've talked about so far.... I like to use Valdani Pearl Cotton. I use the #12 and #8 weight typically. I also have a healthy collection of DMC floss. When I embroider I use 3 strands to stitch with. I line my panels with a fusible interfacing and then I machine stitch around the edges. I like to use an embroidery hoop but I've been known to stitch without one! (yes, I break rules even in the embroidery world....) I love my Ott Lite, especially if I'm doing my stitching at night in front of the TV. Watching the Hallmark station is perfect for stitching. The time will just fly by!

Welcome! Today I will be showing you how I use a running and satin stitch. These are both basic stitches and come in handy for many different designs. They are great stitches for beginners and can be used so many different ways. I have been using my Blue Ribbon and Woodland Getaway panels to demonstrate my stitches on.

I used a running stitch for the bumblebees flight. 

Here is a step by step photo tutorial on doing a satin stitch. I’m using a variegated #12 pearl cotton from Valdani Thread. I love using variegated thread to add extra dimension to the design. These sweet stars are found on my Woodland Getaway panel. Filling them in with a satin stitch adds an extra pop to the design. 

On my Blue Ribbon panel I thought it would be fun to fill in the cone flower petals with a satin stitch. Coloring the design with thread. The flower will stand out more on the panel using a satin stitch instead of outlining the design with a back stitch.

Here is a finished cone flower... do you see how I used the satin and satin stitch?  I used a variegated green thread for the leaves, isn’t it a fun look.

I'll be posting more stitch ideas over the next few days. I also have the Blue Ribbon Panel and Woodland Getaway panel available on my Website and in my Etsy Store. I hope that you have fun experimenting with the running and satin stitch as you embroider. 

Happy stitching,

Cindy & Belvedere

Embroidery 101

As many as you know, I have a couple of panels available thru Marcus Fabrics. They are fun to work with and embellish. So I thought I would talk about embroidery over the next few days. Growing up, one of the first needlework projects mom started me on was embroidery. I remember mom had a small 'how to' book she let me use that listed a bunch of embroidery stitches. I remember working on a kit that had flowers that was done all in crewel work. Many different stitches using a lightweight wool yarn to stitch with and a big needle. 

I like to use pearl cotton from Valdani. I typically use #12 or #8 thread. You can also embroider using 3 strands of DMC floss. I like to use a small needle to embroider with. I feel like needles are a personal preference. I also recommend a needle threader and an Ott Lite (or other good lighting) I'm of an age that I'm blind as a bat as soon as the sun goes down so I love my Ott Lite. You will also need an embroidery hoop. I have hoops in various sizes. Again, using a hoop or not using a hoop is a personal preference. I have also been known to not use a hoop while stitching. When I work with my panels, I line the panel with an iron on interfacing on the back side. I then stitch along the edges using my sewing machine to hold the interfacing in place. My three favorite stitches are the French Knot, Backstitch and Lazy Daisy. These were also the first stitches I learned when I was a little girl.

You can see in this up close picture of some of my stitching how I used a backstitch and French knots to stitch on my Woodland Getaway panel. 

On this section of my Blue Ribbon panel you can see how I used the backstitch to outline the rooster design. I used a French knot for the rooster's eye and also for the flower centers.

Here you can see how I traced a sweet snowman design using a water soluble marker. I am stitching the design using a back stitch and a few french knots. 

Can you see how I used the lazy daisy stitch to make the purple flowers on my Blue Ribbon Panel? It's a quick and easy stitch to do to make flower petals.

As you can see, you don't need to learn a ton of stitches to be able to embroider one of my fabric panels. I love to embroider in front of the TV watching the Hallmark Channel. It's a relaxing way to spend an afternoon when you need a break. I'll be posting more stitch ideas over the next few days. I also have the Blue Ribbon Panel and Woodland Getaway panel available on my Website and in my Etsy Store. I also have Valdani Pearl Cotton and thread kits available.

Happy quilting!

Cindy and Belvedere

Chester's Wagon Ride

Do you love Scotties? I sure think they are adorable!

Spring has arrived in Minnesota and it's the time of year that I think a lot about my grandma, she love flowers and to garden. My Blue Ribbon panel from Marcus Fabrics features a sweet dog and cat sitting in the flower garden. It's a great panel, it can be embroidered or left plain. In the Chester's Wagon Ride pattern, I left my panel plain for the sample. The quilt is a nostalgic design featuring a Scottie Dog block. The quilt is embellished with traditional quilting.

It a fun quilt to put together. I used Aunt Graces Apron by Judie Rothermel from Marcus Fabrics. I love working with reproduction fabrics. The blues remind me of my grandma's house dresses she used to wear on the farm. She always had a tissue tucked in her sleeve and a smile on her face. She lived thru the great depression and WWII. She saved everything from wrapping paper to tin foil. I smiled because I found myself washing a throw away tin loaf pan because the store had run out of them the last time I was there. Grandma would've washed it too.... 

Back to this sweet quilt, as I mentioned I used the Aunt Graces Apron fabric line from Marcus, but you could use any of the Aunt Grace fabrics. I'm fond of the red print with the Scottie design, just adorable and the inspiration for the Scottie block. The pattern for Chester's Wagon Ride is available on my 

website.

As I work on the scottie dog block, I find it helpful to lay all of the elements out on my table so I know how to sew the block together. The quilt has two scottie dog blocks, facing in two directions. So remember don't make all your dogs looking in the same direction!

Isn't this just an adorable block. My dog just had to have a red bow tie!

There is a total of 16 star blocks in this quilt. I made 8 stars in two colorways but the stars can be made scrappier if you choose. 

~Chester's Wagon Ride~

I hope that you enjoy this quilt, it is a fun way to use the Blue Ribbon Panel. Over the next few days I will show you a few different things that I have done with this panel. Both the pattern and panel can be found on my Website or a quilt shop near you! I'm going to head outside now and plant some flowers.

Happy quilting!

Cindy and Belvedere