A Coupon For You

For you sewers out there, we have a coupon for you for use at our store:

Finished My Quilt Top!

Off and on over the years, I have been working on a quilt top for me. One I can snuggle under, is in the colors I like with motifs that I enjoy. Well the top is done now and I'm working on figuring out how I want to quilt it. The center of the quilt is pieced based on a design I found many years ago in McCall's Quilting December 1996. I've used this design in in a simpler format for many of my Project Linus quilts and, of course, it uses my 2 X 4 blocks. The colors range from light pick to dark reddish pinks with some green blocks thrown in for relief. It is the border that I spent the most time on. I have machine appliqued/embroidered roses in each of the corners and resized them to be slighter smaller on the sides of the quilt. The lovely rose design that sewed out like a dressm is from Kenny's Kreations a fantastic Australian website with two great machine embroidery designers. The lace hearts are from Embroidery Library another fantastic site. Sewing out the lace hearts in the same color of thread as the roses gives continuity to the quilt and the border and something you can only do with the magic of home machine embroidery. I also stuck in a little lace butterfly on one of the blocks which came from Janome Memorycraft Card 129 K-Lace designs. Our amateur photography doesn't do the quilt justice especially the colors, but I was very pleased at how the quilt top turned out. Now if I can only quilt it to do it justice I will be happy. This is a long term project for me that I have had to think about each step of the process so that I would get what I want.

On another quilting note, last month I had a goal of making 10 blocks for my latest Project Linus quilt. Well they say if you write a goal down you usually accomplish it. Not only did I get the 10 blocks finished, I made the entire 25 blocks that I need for the quilt top. It is amazing how much you can sew while waiting for food to cook and taking rest breaks while doing dishes, which is about the only time I work on my Project Linus quilts. This month's goal is to piece the top together and quilt it. Currently, though, it is set aside as my son is visiting with his charming girlfriend and things had to be set aside to make room for them this weekend.

On another note we have been busy adding more sewing patterns to our store, lots more retro designs, maternity and plus sizes patterns have been added in the last few weeks. We have over 7000 patterns listed in all sizes and styles. We invite you to visit us at Moonwishes Sewing and Crafts for all your sewing pattern needs. We do have a backlog that we haven't gotten listed yet, so if you are looking for a particular pattern, just ask. however we do need the company and pattern number to to search.

Threads Magazine Back Issues

One of my best and most inspiring sewing guides has been my collection of Threads magazines. It took a lot of work but I finally have the entire collection, as published and have gone through and read them several times. I learn something new every time I pick up a new or back issue of this wonderful and inspiring magazine. In my quest to get one issue each of the entire set, at times I had to buy magazine lots that had an issue that I already had. These spare issues are what I’m selling. They have all been used, many are ex-library and have stamps and markings and wear, there is a possibility of a missing page. However I believe them to all be complete. They are being sold AS IS for the great information contained in them. You can see which issues I have for sale here.

Breast Cancer Comfort Cushions

For those of you who would like to use your sewing and machine embroidery talents to help others, here is a project that is worthy of support. Started by a woman who herself faced breast cancer, she developed a sewing charity of making breast cancer comfort cushions, tote bags for x-rays, tote bags for drainage bags, and a small gift that has helped thousands of women. You can read her story here. Embroidery Library, one of my favoirte sites is also giving away a free machine embroidry design to use when making your own comfort cushion and has step by step instructions for embroidering and sewing it on their site which you can see here.

If you know someone recovering from breast cancer surgery, this would be a welcome gift. If this is not something you would want to make yourself, be sure to send the links on to someone who could benefit from this project.

Sew Craftful

Hey I think I finally figured out how to use Twitter for myself. Saw a post that looked interesting, clicked on it and found this interesting blog on sewing with vintage patterns, etc. If you are interested in sewing with vintage patterns and other tidbits of vintage sewing information you might want to take a look at Sew Craftful.

Project Linus Quilt 2010

Finally I have the picture of this years Project Linus quilt that I just turned in. It is all made with finished size 2" squares, 4" squares and 2 x 4" rectangles. This is my interpretation of a front cover quilt from McCall's Quilting December 1996. I have made quite a few quilts from this block as it is easy to make, but looks a bit complicated. It is also a great block for scraps as you can control the scrappy look by having one piece of the same fabric of the same size in the same location in each block. Whenever I finish a sewing project that uses quilting cotton, I cut my leftover pieces into 2 1/2" squares, 4 1/2" squares, and 2 1/2" x 4 1/2" rectangles. Do that for a while and when you need a quilt in a hurry it is all basically cut out, all you have to do is decide the location for each fabric and sew them together. In this particular quilt I decided to quilt a block at a time and then join them in the end. In the larger squares I machine embroidered a quilting motif and then stitched in the ditch with decorative stitches, then put the quilt together.

I do most of my piecing for my Project Linus quilts at my sewing machine that is just off of my kitchen. It is amazing how much sewing you can get done while waiting for water to boil or toast to pop and even during those breaks I have to take while doing dishes. Most of this quilt was made in those spare minutes that usually get wasted. I'm doing a different block for next year's quilt and already have 10 blocks finished. I am yet again using my "Two by Four" pieces so they were already cut out and these blocks are going together fast. Perhaps this year I can make two quilts. Having this project in a different location than my other sewing projects, keeps me remembering it (don't want my Project Linus quilts turning into UFO's) and also no need to put it away when I have other projects to work on in my sewing room.

I like making quilts for children to have when they are in need of comfort and I hope it also encourages the parents to know that someone loved their child from afar even before there was the need for the quilt. Because I have health problems that keep me from doing many of the things I would truly like to, I feel blessed to be able to do this for others and that I was also blessed with an extra sewing machine to have this project always in front of me when I am in the kitchen.

Clothes for 18" Dolls

I'm a mother to boys and they haven't yet presented me with grand-daughters so I haven't had much of a chance to sew doll clothes. I know I could make and dress dolls for charity but I prefer making quilts for my charitable sewing. So I have to pass on information about making doll clothes to my readers and let them get the use out of them. Heart N Sole has some great in the hoop machine embroidery doll clothes for 18" dolls. Even if you don't need to be making doll clothes, you might want to pop on over to the site to see what is possible. Machine embroidery has come such a long way since the first home embroidery/sewing machine came out in 1990.

If you want to make doll clothes the 'old-fashioned' way, you can visit our pattern store and see our selection including some patterns that include an outfit for your little girl and her doll. As always from us, fast shipping. Currently we have over 6000 new, uncut sewing patterns of all styles and sizes in our store. Shop with us any time!

In the Hoop Doll Clothes

The Purple Hat now has a set of designs to be made in the hoop of 11 1/2" fashion doll clothes consisting of a skirt, pants, top and vest. If you need to whip up some clothes for your child's fashion doll such as Barbie(R) you might want to check out this set.

Books and Knitting

Here is an interesting article that you may find interesting if you love both needlecraft and books. http://privatelibrary.typepad.com/the_private_library/2010/02/stitch-n-bitch-and-the-private-library.html

New Embroidery Site

Hatched In Africa has come out with a New site called Hatched Embroidery fun if you like machine embroidering redwork and quilting blocks they have some great designs. Although they don't have any freebies at this site currently, they have always had plenty at the regular Hatched in Africa. When visiting there, plan to spend some time as they have many beautiful machine embroidery designs and you will get lots of great ideas.

Nostalgic Designs

Madsen Originals has just released some great nostalgic children machine embroidery designs. Visit them here and take a peek at these lovely designs. They also have quite a few FREE sample designs that you can download to see examples of their work.

Fleece Top

Here is my finished fleece top using Butterick Pattern 4361. As noted in the previous blog I machine embroidered the design and the top itself was very easy to sew up. Wearing it was a treat the other day as it was warm and cozy and we are in the midst of WINTER here! I'm looking forward to making my next top and ideas are already percolating in my head.

Fleece Top

Well I have had some fun tracking down embroidery designs for the fleece top I was making. I wanted to have the design coordinate with the fabric of a skirt I have, trying to keep Sewing With A Plan in mind. I found a design off of one of Janome's memory cards Floral Design 2 #125 design #7 and some small daisies and a butterfly design from Embroidery Library . Then I tried to match the colors as closely as possible and sewed out the combined design on my Janome 300E. After inspecting it and with some advice from hubby, I dropped one extra color completely and changed a few others around. I then embroidered it out on the front of my top. It was all downhill from there. I couldn't believe how easy it was to sew out the top! I was finished in no time except for blanket stitching around the neckline with perle cotton that I did while watching a DVD with my son. I will post the picture of the top as soon as hubby has gotten the phicture on the computer for me but in the meantime, I'm posting the embroidery design and a swatch of the fabric. Not an exact match for the design, but close enough to go with the skirt and also with another skirt I have. I am looking forward to wearing it as it is nice and cuddly feeling. The only comment I have about the pattern, Butterick Pattern 4361 is that the sleeves seemed to be way to long and as I am tall and sleeves generally are too short on me, this is something you may want to be careful of if you make up the pattern. Now that I have made it once, I plan on making another top with the other chunk of fleece that I have. We still have many months of winter to look forward to and I want some warm tops.

I found Nancy Cornwell's Book More Polarfleece Adventures
to be a great resource and guide while making this top.

Resting Reading Sewing

While running some errands today, I stopped in at my library and discovered that they have a subscription to Quilter's World
Magazine and I was able to check out 3 back issues. Now I'm looking forward to taking a break to look through them. I can only have them for a week, but it is nice to know that I can see it at my library. When wondering if you should get a subscription for a magazine, don't forget that your library may have issues of it that you can preview. There are other craft magazines at my library and I will have to see if there are others I would like to bring home for ideas. I love looking through magazines when I'm not feeling well, so glad to remember that I have another source for them other than buying them.

Hoping today to cut out a long sleeve fleece top using Butterick 4361. Still trying to decide which neckline to use. I'm thinking of using some gray fleece I have. We still have copies of this pattern available in our store if you would like to get one or one of our many other patterns that we have for sale. Currently we have over 6400 new, uncut sewing patterns in stock.

Sew Beautiful #128

After weeks of being stuck in the house due to snow, snow and more snow, I finally got out the other day with my son helping me to get groceries. At one of the stores, I saw the front cover of Sew Beautiful
issue 128. It was gorgeous! The front cover featured a beautiful bouquet of flowers made out of ribbons. The whole issue in fact featured ribbons, how to make them into different types of flowers and how to use them to decorate and accessorize. While normally this magazine is full of smocking plates, heirloom embroidery, Christening gowns, etc., this issue encompassed all that while bringing us the basics of creating with ribbons. If you are interested in making ribbon roses and other types of flowers you will want to find a copy of this magazine as inspiration and reference source.

Lovely Butterfly Bag

The Purple Hat as just brought out a great new Made in the Hoop machine embroidery design. It has butterflies and flowers on the front of the handbag and also includes a coin/cosmetic bag and eyeglass case with matching designs. Currently this design set is on sale until January 22, 2010 but should be available after at it's regular price. Stop in and see this great design!

Hearts and Daisies Machine Embroidery Designs

Ready to embroider something that isn’t Christmas related? Madsen Originals has some lovely new Hearts and Daisies designs that are available for only a limited time, till December 31, 2009. They are lovely machine embroidery designs and bring a breath of fresh air to those of us in the snowy depths of winter.

Madsen Originals has many more lovely designs and a nice selection of Free designs so that you can try out their designs before you buy.

Happy to report that I got my Christmas dress done in time to wear to our Christmas Eve service at church. No pictures of it yet, but as I had to make it with short sleeves, hubby was kind enough to help me make a cozy cover up out of dark green fleece using the draping process. We had a lovely but quiet Christmas as my boys were home and we are looking forward to my one son's girlfriend coming in a few days. Christmas with all adults is so different than Christmas with little ones!

Free Machine Embroidery Christmas Ornament

Visit Snow Lady designs to get your FREE machine embroidery Christmas Ornament and to see all her great designs and other freebies. I don’t know how long this design will be available so get it now while you can!

Started sewing up my Christmas dress the other day and went to make the cut out sleeves and found them to be too small, so I'm stalled between trying to figure out what to do and am also having an arthritis flare-up which is keeping me out of the sewing room. Hopefully I'll get it figured out and have something to wear on Sunday or else I will have to wear my old Christmas clothes that are currently too big for me.

Need Some Last Minute Embroidery Designs?

Need some last minute machine embroidery designs? Check out The Secrets of Embroidery . They are a huge on line mall of many different machine embroidery designers with lots of great ideas and projects, Plus lots of FREEBIES!

Redwork Christmas Quilting Designs

Just visited Hatched In Africa's website and saw the most interesting redwork designs. Taking what would normally appear to be a simple design and combining them, they became lovely quilting squares that look very intricate until you look closely and see the face of Santa Claus or a Christmas candle, etc. If you are looking for some last minute Christmas sewing inspiration check this out.