Made it to the End of the Month...well somewhat...

A full month of posting!I was so proud of myself this morning.Took a fun picture of some calendar entries I'd made to mark my progress.Planned out my thoughts. . . . . . .and then the computer and I had a falling out!We have been fighting all day long and although I bested it in most cases, for the life of me I can't get that picture to load!
UGH!!!

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Hi...me again.I can't believe it.I just posted the above.Popped over here then to see how awful it looked without the picture and guess what was there?

Yup...the picture.

Made a Little Lily Goodie Bag

Have been pondering the wooden supply list I noted in the "Made a Lily" tutorial yesterday. Seems it's not always so easy for everyone to locate the little goodies I mentioned. Or if they are available, only in bulk sized packages and seriously how many Lilies does one person need? Making up some little custom packs seemed only fair.

Each one will come with all the necessary pieces to make up the body of your doll.

A few are ready over Etsy way and I can always make up more as needed.
Just let me know!

Made a Lily - Step 2

Step 2 - Start the "Lily Pad"

The lily pad is both the actual pincushion and the base upon which the doll will stand. For it you will need to select two prints from the pile of assorted fabrics you have already gathered up. I'm going to use the pink floral on the top and the black calico on the bottom. Once you've made your decision get ready because it's time to take a bit of a field trip. . . . .

. . . . .to the dish cupboard! Since the pattern for the lily pad is a circle I find it easiest to simply trace a plate. Of course, the fact that I long ago misplaced my compass may also have something to do with it!

I find the 6-inch diameter of my Blue Willow bread plate to be the perfect size. See if you can't find something similar in your cupboards....unless of course you know exactly where your compass is!

With plate in hand, let's head back to the sewing nook and get to work with some lightweight fusible interfacing. The interfacing will not only serve to make the fabric sturdier but also provides a great surface to mark the stitching line on.

Take two 8 inch squares of interfacing and place them with fusible sides together.

Center your plate on top and. . . . . .

. . . . trace away!!!

After tracing, cut away the excess interfacing leaving only an inch or so remaining beyond the drawn line.

Lay your fabrics out with wrong sides up. On top of each one place a cut piece of interfacing fusible side down and get ready to wield your iron.

Be sure to check with the directions that come with the interfacing. Mine, for instance, requires that you place another cloth over the interfacing itself before you actually press with the iron.

Trim the fabric down to the size of the interfacing.

With your fabrics right sides together it's time to sew. . . . .but first a quick suggestion on thread selection. . . . . .PICK TWO!!! One color to match the bottom of the cushion (put this on the bobbin) and another color to match the top of the cushion (thread this through the machine.) There will be quite a bit of pulling and stretching involved when the cushion is stuffed so a blend of the two colors will help camouflage any thread peeking out at the seam.

As far as stitch size goes this is where I "guesstimate" the setting on my featherweight. If I do an actual count of stitches per inch it seem to be around 18. In other words...make really tiny stitches!!!

Sew directly on the line leaving a small opening for turning.

Don't move yet because we're going to stitch a second seam 1/16" away from the first.

The edges can now be trimmed down to a 3/8" seam allowance.

Make lots of little clippings into the seam allowance, up to but not beyond the stitch line.

I prefer, however, not to clip the area near the turning opening as I've had some difficulties with fraying in the past when I've done so.

Carefully turn the cushion right side out. Hemostats are a fantastic tool for for doing so. I got mine here.

Congratulations! You now have one flat, floppy lily pad!

Looking ahead to next week you may want to gather up a small selection of coordinating embroidery flosses and a 3 3/4" round wooden clothespin (often called a doll pin.)

And as long as your out there looking for the doll pin you may what to pick up a doll pin head, a doll pin base, and a few 8mm wooden beads as your going to need them eventually. Most often these goodies can be located at a local craft store such as Joann's or Michael's.

Please let me know if you experience any difficulties sewing or shopping. I'll answer all questions right here in the comment section.

Happy Sewing!!!!

Made a Batch of Scones

And you can too!

Cranberry Chocolate Chip Scones

2 cups flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
½ cup craisins

1 1/4 - 1 1/3 cup whipping cream

2-3 tablespoons butter,melted

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Combine flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in a bowl. Add craisins and chocolate chips. Stir in cream with a fork until it holds together. Knead the dough on a floured board. Pat flat till 1" high and cut into desired shape (I like hearts!) Place on an ungreased cookie sheet 2" apart. Brush scones with melted butter and sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

ENJOY!

Made Myself into a Couch Potato

Succumbed to the rainy, dreary day it was. Donned a dowdy sweater, drank endless cups of tea ,and watched as many film adaptations of Jane Austin novels I could find.

Wonder if the fact that I crocheted throughout counts as being productive?

Made a Comfy Spot......

. . . . .and it looked like this. The best thing about it, however, was how it felt and that was wonderful!

Thanks to this newest find, the days of standing at the ironing board doing my thing are behind me. For now. . . . .I have a throne upon which to rest my weary bones!

Considering my current reading material,
it was ever so exciting to salvage such a time worn treasure.
Not sure that red is a very wabi sabi color but hey. . . . .

. . . . .at this price who am I to be picky?
Besides, I think we were meant
to be together!

Made a Recovery

Today I went bin diving in search of a favorite thread. This bin holds supplies used to make my little doll pillows and should have held the thread I needed to deck one out. What I found instead is that I need give my bins a good housekeeping!

Then my eye discovered something of interest. . . . . .

. . . . . and with a little digging I realized there were actually two somethings of interest.

The long lost makings of some pincushion pillows! How could I have forgotten about those?

I'll also have you know I also cleaned the bin and eventually found my pink thread (although it eventually turned up in the bin for name tags which I won't show you because I'd had enough of housekeeping by that time!)

Made My Listings in the Shop

Since the sun decided to come out from behind the clouds today I made the time to take some pictures of the eggcups and get them listed in the shop. I never did pick a favorite and in fact I was ridiculously tormented by the process of attempting to do so! No matter which one I would have kept it would have made me think of how bad I felt about not picking one of the others. Therefore, I decided to release them all to fate. The green one has been spoken for but the other three are now in the shop.

Be free little cups!

Made My Featherweight Get a Little Exercise

Today was a machine sewing day. . . . . .

. . . . .and resulted in the production of a pile of petite pillow toppers!

Made a Lily - Step 1

My first step in the creation of a Pick-a-Lily pincushion doll is almost always to grab a basket. Into this I toss an assortment of fabrics, threads, trims, and baubles that will be the inspiration for the finished piece. Today, however, this basket inspired me with another idea. . . . . .

. . . . . .I thought perhaps you might be interested in joining me in the process of making a Lily?!!! I spent some time looking over my notes and it seems as if it could be broken down into about 15 steps. If we did one step a week, we would be done sometime in May. I know it seems an awful long time but I'm not sure how proficient I'll be in the "tutorial" department. And please, if you do decide to join in, let me know if I ever lead you astray.

Step 1 - Fabric Selection (my favorite part!)

In general I suggest you stick with good quality, 100% cotton fabrics. You are going to need a minimum of 3 different prints but having a larger assortment is much more fun. Variety is key so within your color palette include a range of dark and light fabrics. Feel free to mix up the prints into a collection of florals, checks, dots, geometrics, plaids or even solids. And finally, although I have a great fondness of small scale prints, I do always try to pick a few larger ones in the process. Sometimes they help create a bit of contrast but other times I find they contain the perfect element to fussy cut out!

Peeking ahead a bit.....you might want to have some lightweight fusible interfacing on hand as well we're going to use it when we create the pincushion base!

PS -oops! I forgot to mention you might want to run your fabrics through the wash before we start working with them. I find it much easier to work with pre-washed pieces and think you might too!

Made a Lily Supply Kit

It snowed again today.

My doll club meeting up in New Hampshire was canceled as a result.

What to do with those now unaccounted for hours?

Well I could always do laundry, clean the bathrooms, or scrub the floors but none of those would be any fun at all! Much more enjoyable to play with this sweet little sewing cupboard gifted to me by my mother-in-law for Christmas.

It turned out to be just perfect for stashing all those little goodies that go into making up my pincushion dolls.....itty bitty pins, straw hats, baskets, bells, and even a broom. Now I suppose it's time to start making up some of those Pick-a-Lilies again!

Made it to the End

Finished up the eggcups this afternoon. . . . . without making any mess I might add!

First I signed the bottoms.

A quick top coat really make the colors shine.

Coordinating cushions were secured in place.

And finally the Bitty Blossom pins from last weekend were planted!

Now all that's left to do is to decide which one's my favorite because I just might really need to have one of these!

Made a Mess

What started as a little painting project. . . . .

. . . . . soon spread across the kitchen table. . . . .

. . . . . .unfortunately now it's time to make some dinner!