More Machine Embroidery Magic

I think most of my readers know by now that in addition to sewing I love to do machine embroidery. One of the reasons I haven’t been blogging much in the past week is because I have been busy embroidering  a bunch of things.  I will show you more soon, but one of my projects is top-secret so I can’t even give you a sneak peek.

A couple of months ago I picked up a new t-shirt at the mecca of all fashionistas, Tarjay.  Initially I was going to use it for my mom’s Mother’s day gift, but decided I wanted a different color for her and figured I would just keep it for myself. After a couple of washings I noticed a small hole near the bottom of the shirt and was bummed out since I had spent a fortune on this couture piece 😉 . I decided that the only possible solution any self-respecting embroidery machine owner could do was to cover it up with an embellishment.

Butterfly Embroidery on T-shirt

I looked through all the embroidery files I already had and decided to use some designs from the Anita Goodesign Butterflies & Bees collection. Now you won’t find this exact configuration in the design pack.  I used my 5D software to split, duplicate and merge a couple of files to create this design. The butterflies in this design actually use applique to fill in the background and with a clever placement of the bottom butterfly the hole was covered up.

Butterfly T-shirt Embroidery Detail

If you click on the image above you can see some of the fabric I used in each butterfly.  I know it isn’t a masterpiece and you can see some of the backing I put on the inside to keep the embroidery from scratching me, but I love butterflies and now I can keep wearing this t-shirt.

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Nina’s News – Synchronized Sleepers

Hi everyone! It’s another day of fun here at the Pet Blogging Games and I am entered in the Synchronized Snoozing competition with my Angel Sister Yenna hosted by Oskar. You can also check out the Bouncing competition at Bouncing Bertie’s Blog today too.

Synchronized Snoozing

That is me (on the left) with my Angel Sister Yenna when I was just a youngster.  Even though our eyes are open I swear they were closed just before mom took this picture of us. We wouldn’t have been wrestling or anything like that. I sure miss the good times Yenna and I used to have together. Sadly she crossed the bridge way too early.

Go visit Oskar’s blog for all the Snoozing action today and stay tuned for more upcoming events.

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Nina’s News – Let the Games Begin!

Hi Everyone! I’m sure you are all excited about the people olympics that are taking place right now, but the more exciting competitions are happening right here in Blogville!

It all started yesterday with Roo’s amazing Opening Extravaganza.  You have to go and visit him to see the amazing videos of all the action and torch lighting ceremony.  Next up Mayor Frankie Furter gave a great opening speech encouraging the athletes of all shapes, sizes and species to have a great time and to remember the spirit of the olympics. Finally Posie did a fantastic job introducing all the competitors in the parade of athletes.

Today the actual competitions started and I entered the “Window Nose Art” competition being hosted by Jazzi. You can also see all the Swimming competition over at Sarge’s blog. I’m not a big fan of water so I didn’t enter that one, but there were so many competitors that Sarge had to put up multiple posts to show all of them.

Nina Keeping Watch

I knew when I saw the list of competitions that the Window Nose Art would be one of my best chances for a medal.  Anyone that has visited me knows that I like to spend my day in our front hall looking out the windows on either side of our front door. When an intruder enters our yard I stand up and bark with my nose pressed hard against the glass.  This creates some fantastic masterpieces of nose art (at least until dad washes it off).

Here is my submission for this competition. I have named it “Wirey Dog on Glass” and think it resembles my friend Asta. I created this side by side comparison and hope Miss Asta doesn’t mind that I borrowed one of her pictures to show you.

Can you see the resemblance? I bet Asta’s mom, who is a wonderful artist herself, will appreciate my rendition of her beautiful girl. It is a rather impressionistic work as you can see.

I think that it’s a Gold Medal piece of work if I ever did see one.

Don’t forget to check out all the action going on throughout the Olympics by visiting the Pet Blogging Games web site. I’ll be back soon with more action from upcoming events I’m competing in.

 

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Nina’s News – Olympic Competition

Hi everyone, Nina here to tell you about all the Blogville Olympic events I have entered. At first I didn’t think with my advanced age that I would be able to enter many events, but mom helped me and we found quite a few pictures in our archives that work perfectly with some of the competitions.

Here is a list of all the events I am entered in with links to the host blogs and the date of the event so you can visit them and see how I do.

• July 27 – Opening Ceremony by Roo
• July 27 – Parade of Athletes by Posie Dorg
• July 27 – Window Nose Art/Snot Smears by Jazzi
• July 29 – Synchronized Sleepers by Oskar
• August 1 – Discus/Frisbee by Mr. Pip
• August 4 – Tuneful Farting by Declan
• August 4 – Keep Away by Casey
• August 5 – Equestrian by Ruby
• August 7 – Free Style Zoomies by Susie & Sidebite
• August 7 – Roaching & Rolling by Ruby & Penny
• August 8 – Squirrel Hurdles by Bailey & Katy
• August 9 – Extreme Weather Sports by Frank the Tank
• August 12 – Closing Ceremony by Finn Howard

There are also a couple of events that I have entered being hosted by cat bloggers that don’t have specific dates as to when they are being shown.

• Synchronized Snoozing by The Island Cats
• Smackdown! by Friends Forever

As you can see I will be one busy girl in the next few weeks.  I have been training very hard to make sure I can keep up with this grueling schedule.  I will keep you posted when each event is being held so you don’t miss a thing so stay tuned!

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Blogville Ladies Crochet Society – Potholders

This month’s project that Lynne presented to us for the Blogville Ladies Crochet Society is to make a pot holder. The yarn needed for this project has to be 100% cotton and I didn’t have enough left over from the dish cloths I made for our last project so I headed off to Joann’s to see what I could find.

I was looking for colors that would go well in our kitchen and found a variegated green for one and a twist that has red, green, blue and yellow in it called “Twists Chalet”.  I also picked up some cream and yellow to compliment these yarns.

Twists Chalet Potholder – Front

Twists Chalet Potholder – back

I like the way the colorful side looks, but it isn’t really as good a match for our kitchen as I would like.

Camo Potholder – front

Camo Potholder – back

The green colors in the other yarn are a perfect match for the wall paper in our kitchen, but after getting about half done with the crochet of the one side my husband pointed out that the pattern looked like camouflage.  Not that there is anything wrong with camouflage. It’s just not the theme I was hoping for. I finished the potholder and now I wonder if Dave & Zim’s mom from Army of Four Digest might like it for her new kitchen since I know that she has an affinity for camo? I have plenty more yarn so I can easily make a pair of them too.  Let me know KZK, it’s yours for the taking.

In the mean time I decided to see what it would look like if I alternated every few rows of crocheting with the green and then the cream and here is what I got.

Green & White striped dish cloth

I decided to start with a dish cloth and I really like how it turned out.  I have already started on another potholder in the same pattern.  I did two rows of single crochet with each color. Most of the time I was working on this was during the breaks of the Ricky Tims seminar.  Our friend Dorothy, that came to the seminar with my mom and I, showed me how to not have to cut the yarn after each color change so I only had to bury two ends when I was done.

On another note I also learned about a project where you can knit or crochet cotton wash cloths to send to our troops serving in Afghanistan.  It is through the Warmth for Warriors program that provides knit and crochet wool hats to our troops in the winter. I will be making some wash cloths to send their way soon and when I get some more practice under my belt I will also try my hand at a hat to send their way too.

Thanks again to Lynne for the great tutorial and getting me hooked on hooking!

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Whoo-hoo!

Mom and I with Ricky Tims

I don’t really know where to start telling you about the Ricky Tims’ Super Quilt Seminar that was held at the RIT Field House from July 12 – 14, 2012. The first thing I want to say is thank you to my mom and dad for giving me the gift of this seminar. It was definitely a once in a lifetime opportunity that I would not have wanted to miss.

If you are a quilter and you are anywhere near where one of these seminars is being held run, don’t walk, as fast as you can to sign up for it. I guarantee that after the three days of presentations you will not only be exhausted, but you will be exhilarated by everything you will learn.  During the day at the seminar I didn’t really feel tired at all, but when I got home each night my mind was full and I crashed in bed and after three days I slept for about 12 hours straight.

The attendance at this seminar was the largest he has ever had, but it never seemed crowded. While waiting in line or wandering around at break time I met people from all over the Northeast.  One very fun group of ladies came by bus from Ottawa Canada. All totaled there were about 740 attendees (with 140 of them from Canada).

There really wasn’t a bad seat in the venue either. The large display screen was used for both PowerPoint presentations as well as live video for demonstrations.

Libby Lehman teaching

All three of the presenters were very enthusiastic about their topics and not once gave you the impression that they didn’t want to be there.  Ricky himself gave about two-thirds of the presentations over the three days and was as fresh and funny as ever for each one.

Alex Anderson Teaching

Each session was an hour and a half with 45 minute breaks in between and a little longer for lunch.

The line waiting for Ricky Tims’ autograph during break

During each break all three speakers were available to sign autographs and have pictures taken with you.

Alex Anderson Signing books

Libby Lehman Signing Autographs

The syllabus that we received was easy to follow and will be a great resource to go back to while trying the new techniques we learned.  Most of the time you didn’t need to read along, but it was good to know where in the book the information you were learning was.

Quilt show of quilts by Ricky, Alex, Libby and others

A small quilt show was available to peruse during breaks that showcased the techniques being taught as well as showing off the speakers skills.

Ricky Tims – Bohemian Rhapsody quilt

I uploaded pictures of some of the quilts in the show to Flickr if you are interested in seeing a few more.

Ricky Tims – Dad’s Lone Star quilt

These two were among my favorites of Ricky Tims’ quilts.  The one directly above is called “Dad’s Lone Star” because his father did all the piecing on the large star in the center of the quilt. This one was hanging so you could see the back of the quilt too.  The quilting is stunning and all done by Ricky on his domestic sewing machine. There are lots of pictures of the quilting on the back in my Flickr set.

Cindy’s Seat – Break Time with Dorothy (on left) and Claire (aka Mom)

I have to say that “Cindy’s Seat” served me well. I was mistaken about the type of seating (I showed you a picture of bleachers previously) we would be sitting on, but even though the seats were individual seats and fairly nicely contoured I would not have wanted to sit there for three days without the cushion.

Cindy’s Seat

On the final day of the seminar, during the first break of the day, a group of ladies sitting nearby took notice of my fancy seat and apparently during my absence (while I wandered the display area on the main floor) were examining the construction.  When I returned to my seat I was swarmed by all the ladies asking me for the pattern! Lucky for me I had stashed a few brochures for my Etsy shop in my bag and told them that I would write a pattern and soon be selling it in my shop.  I also want to mention that I will also be adding the seats as a custom item to sell in my shop (since a few of you already expressed interest) so if you are interested and not handy with a sewing machine I will be taking orders in the future.

Ricky Tims

Alex Anderson

Libby Lehman

On a final note, I have to say a huge thanks to the Genesee Valley Quilt Club (of which I am a member) for planning and organizing this fantastic event. The ladies that volunteered to help did a fantastic job and received a standing ovation at the end. I can’t stress enough to all the quilters out there to check out Ricky Tims seminar schedule and sign up for one near you. You can also get on his email list so you will be notified when new dates are announced. And thanks to Ricky, Alex and Libby for a great weekend!

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Getting Ready to Meet Ricky!

Okay, I know that most of you are probably saying Ricky Who? Is she going to meet Ricky Martin, Ricky Gervais, Ricky Fowler? Well all of those guesses would be wrong. If you know anything about the world of quilting you may have already guessed the correct answer as, to the best of my knowledge, there is only one Ricky in the quilt world and that would be Ricky Tims!

The Genesee Valley Quilt Club has worked very hard to bring the Ricky Tims Super Quilt Seminar to Rochester, NY. This amazing event (since I haven’t attended yet I don’t know for sure, but that is what “they” say) also includes, Alex Anderson and Libby Lehman for three days of seminars, fun and even a concert.

I am very excited to attend this event since it is really a once in a lifetime thing.  According to the club committee this is going to be the biggest Super Quilt seminar ever for Ricky and his gang.  I think Ricky is a bit excited too (and hopefully not just for the payoff) and on one of his recent posts to Facebook he said, “Farewell DC – Flying to Rochester NY in a few min – Hang on everyone – biggest Ricky Tims Super Quilt Seminar EVER!!! 750 – WHOO_HOO!!!” That’s right, there will be over 750 attendees to this event.

My mom (I guess dad too) gave me the registration for this event as a Christmas and birthday present for this year. Three days of seminars by three world known quilters is not cheap so I am very glad to have this as a gift. Mom is going too so we should have a fun time together and will probably be exhausted by the end.

So you might be asking what do I have to do to get ready for this three-day seminar? There are only lectures and you get a notebook with lots of information and places to take notes so there really isn’t much to prepare except maybe snacks and lunches.  The seminar is being held at the RIT Field House and we’ve been told that the seating will be metal bleachers!

The bleachers we will be sitting on are similar to the ones pictured above so they at least have backs on them, but can you imagine sitting on those metal seats for 3 days?! Well I couldn’t either so I set out to make myself comfortable.

Cindy’s Seat – portable seat cushion

Here is my version of a portable seat cushion complete with embroideries and verbage to indicate who this belongs to.  I figure that if someone wanted to steal it at least it would limit the thieves to those whose names were Cindy or knew someone named Cindy 😉

I chose sewing themed embroidery from a set that I have.  I love how these look against the purple fabric. All of the fabric I used is from the Dragonfly Summer collection by Holly Taylor that came out last year that I just love. I still have quite a bit so you can expect to see it pop up from time to time.

I found a pattern in one of my books for a basic seat cushion with a zipper in it and worked from there. To pad the back of the seat  I used three layers of extra loft polyester batting I had left over from the dog beds I made for Nina.  It was tough to stitch in the ditch on, but it will feel nice against the bleacher. It took me a while to figure out how to attach the back to the cushion, but that is where it is great to be an engineer as it came together very easily. I also added some ties to keep it compact for carrying and also to be able to tie it to the back of the bleacher or a chair.

Cindy’s Seat – tied to chair

I figure this seat cushion won’t go to waste either as it will come in handy when I go to quilting classes too.  Often the chairs are not only hard and uncomfortable, but not high enough for my vertically challenged self. The two-inch high cushion will give me a bit of a lift.

Cindy’s Seat – secured to chair

I’m really pleased with how it turned out and for those of you who were wondering, I did line up my stripes perfectly in the front and the back.  Yes, I am that fussy! I will be taking pictures during the seminar and will let you all know how it went, but probably not until Sunday!

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