Wedding Pillowcases: Bear vs Llama

Well, Here are some pillowcases I made for a friend's wedding. Pretty fun!
I generally hand embroider, but had decided less than a week before the wedding to make them, so I tried embroidering?drawing by machine. I think they turned out pretty cool! The main thing I would have changed is to make their bodies more curved, not so cut-off.

 Bear

 Llama

Cassette tape fabric for the bear, and green and blue 60s floral for the llama.

Today I have been working more on the wool patch quilt and cutting out more denim squares for an upcoming quilt.

Baby Bear Quilt (Finished Object)

I thought I had already posted the final photos of the baby quilt I made for our friends. This was such a fun project! See the previous sneak-peek post for more photos.

Pretty much all of my quilts have had hand-sewn blanket-stitch binding. It does take forever. 

Sneak Peek!

Just a little look at a baby quilt I am working on. I cut out many squares. (Maybe 80 more than what I needed, oops!) But I wanted lots of options and wasn't quite sure how big it would be. I did 4x4in squares. The fabric was random vintage kid fabric from my stash, along with greens and grays as requested that I got as fat quarters. I also got some random fabrics at SCRAP which is a great place to find fabric. More pictures when it is finished. I sewed the whole quilt top in the afternoon today. I find it is best to power through quilt tops if possible, even if I get a little tired. I'm so glad that the quilt top is done because I can get it off the floor and fold it neatly! 

 I bought this cassette flannel fabric several years ago, thinking I would make PJ pants. I have grown out of large prints on my PJs, so I have already used some of this fabric for the lining of an awesome laptop case I made several months back. It will be perfect for the back of the quilt.

The good thing about all the extra squares is that I can make some more quilts and there are Plenty of friends and acquaintances having kids now. Sometimes I wonder if I should just start making items for my (hopefully) future kids. To try to get ahead while I have some free time?

Podcasts Listened to today:
  Stuff You Missed in History
  Stuff You Should Know
  Knitmore Girls
  Knitting Pipeline

Wedding Pillowcases

 I have made about 5 sets of Wedding Pillowcases for friends. Usually with favorite animals or something.  I made some for my cousin and her husband the last month or so. I have a set of vintage embroidery patterns of State Birds. I purchased some vintage pillowcases from Etsy (I normally just thrift for them, but I was running out of time). I then chose their birth-states (hopefully that works for them! haha, I know they have moved around some) and started sewing. I do love embroidery and how creative and colorful it can be. I also like it because it can have sort of a paint-by-number aspect

 Illinois for Joseph. (Northern Cardinal)

North Dakota for Karen. (Western Meadowlark - same as Oregon's!)

Ta-Da! I think they are fun, and I hope they like them. Happy wedding! 

Embroidery and such

I have finally uploaded some photos! Hurrah!
First in Knitting news: this is the shrug I started, which is i guess going okay, though i have no idea if it will fit me. I have put it aside for a little while. and in the meantime (how my crafting always seems to go) I finished a cowl in a pretty red yarn. I'm wearing it right now! The shrug is 2 strands together, hot pink and red.

In the last few years I've found I really do love embroidery. I got these awesome United States Birds patterns. So far I have made 3 dish towels. The one up above is the ugly duckling (not really a duck, but it is pretty ugly. I used fat quarters, and some fabric from my stash and traced the images on the fabric, using my light table. After these first 3, I feel like i know better what works and what doesn't. On the light table I really need like white or thin fabrics to be able to see the designs enough to trace them. So, since I don't have a ton of light fabric, also since the first 3 ended up being sort of small, I came up with another idea: To make a double sided 4 pane type of dish towel, where at least 1 of the squares can be light enough for me to put the design on. I have soooo much fabric, maybe it will help me get through some of my stash. I'm also embroidering the bird names on the towels so it is more educational (for me and everyone).

My favorite so far! (the fabric is cream/white in real life). I guess I should take more photos of the finished projects with the hems on them, I also added some loops for fun, so I can hang them up. (Assuming I will have hooks to hook them on someday.)

Here's a list of state birds! It's so amazing how many states share the same bird, but the patterns are varied, so that is kind of nice. I think it would be awesome to do a whole quilt, but it would be soo much work.

blah blah. So i guess i should cut up more fabric for the 4 pane dish towels!

Ornaments again

 Polar Pup

 Owl

 Polar (my dad bought this one)

 Scraggly tree

 Star bright

Red bird

There is a lot I'm working on...but some are presents, so I can't tell you. anyway... I feel too busy to blog or read other people's blogs. I'm also hoping to work on music more soon. I just sold a CD to Canada, so that is exciting! And I sold 6 ornaments already at Knack in Multnomah Village Portland.

Holiday Ornaments!

 The first batch! Available at Knack in Multnomah Village.

 Still in progress.

 Shell side.

 Tummy side.

T'is the season for Upsidedown Cat to make Christmas ornaments. I had a lot of fun making them last year for family, friends, Knack customers, and a few other people.

This year I was invited to make them again for Knack. It is so fun, because each is different, and besides making animal ones, I am making more experimental ones this year. I'm not sure if all the experimental ones are working, but... we'll see if they sell. Yay! Also this year it is different, because I do have a job. The money is of course welcome, but there's less stress about making so many of them, etc. Anyway, Here are pictures, some finished, some still need work! If you're interested in a custom one, let me know! :)