I bought a small circle loom from Twill Textile Design on Etsy. Although I don’t really know what to do with the finished bowls, I’ve been making them like crazy because it’s such an enjoyable, soothing activity. Watching the colors form into slow, lazy rings is immensely satisfying.
You can find more details (including tutorials for using the circle looms) at the Twill blog.
I found a vintage linen tablecloth at a local antique shop and used it to make clutch purses in blue for my sister in law, pink for her Mom and her soon-to-be Mother in law. I’m not sure when the tablecloth was made, but from researching the embroidery style, it may be from the 1950s. It felt cruel to cut up something beautiful that some unknown person spent time making, but I decided they wanted their work to be loved and used, above all else. The bride loves them, and they’ll be quite loved on her big day! Maybe they’ll even be passed on to a few future brides down the road.
This was made in the usual “book cover” style, with the outer cover starting out about a half inch larger than the book all the way around.
And it was quilted super fast on my speed demon “new” Singer 301. (I’m in love!)
Colors were inspired by my highlighters.
Recently I’ve been doing a little embroidery between quilting projects. My plan is to add these to a (very) slowly building mini-quilt wall, as just an extra pop of interest. I found these geometric animal patterns on Etsy in the Three Silver Trees shop. These are printable PDF patterns with instructions, but they do kind of assume you’re familiar with the technique.
In addition to the wolf and stag, she also has a bear and fox. (And while I like bears and foxes, I wanted the Stark and Baratheon feel of just using these two.)
What started this whole hand stitching kick was this awesome state map I found from Lovely Messes. She’ll make up any state or country for you with a lovely, complete little kit that is packaged like a gift!
I chose colors that reminded me of West Virginia in the fall, but she has other colorways and enjoys putting together personal palettes, too, such as school colors. She includes all instructions and even includes practice fabric and threads so a beginner can feel confident before stitching the actual design.
CoopCrafts 