Kathy's Spooky towel

From ghoulies and ghosties

And long-legged beasties

And things that go bump in the night

Good Lord, deliver us!

                            ~Scottish saying

Bibi isn't sewing these days, but Kathy is sewing up a storm!  She has been on a search for weeks for black kitchen towels, and I believe this one was the last one from her stash.  So kind readers, if you know where we can find them, please let us know!

Her design came from Embroitique, one of our favorite sites.  Every time I see one of these, I think it would be so much fun to make one through my Artista software, but when it gets right down to it, it is a dad gummed whole lot of work!  These designs are digitized so well, and stitch out so nicely, I am afraid I could not get the same result on my own.

Her last touch was to add a cute polka dot grosgrain ribbon along the bottom of the towel.

And if you think about it, it is REALLY spooky that she can stitch this towel in Atlanta, and send it to me on the other side of the world, and I can put it on a blog!

Its time for tea!

           A woman is like a tea bag - you can't tell how strong she is until you put her in hot water.

~Eleanor Roosevelt

I have finished Mandy's second tea cozy.  Those Kiwis have morning and afternoon tea, so she needed a morning and afternoon tea cozy.  This cozy was made from a pattern called  Tea and Cupcakes,  and it included the pattern and instructions for the oversized Cupcake Tea Cozy.  The pattern is from Tique Productions in Arizona.The finished size is about 10" by 13", but you can use it for fancy, regular, or Brown Betty tea pots.  I think the girls will like the cupcake!

The directions are easy to follow, and they even give you instructions for preparing a proper pot of tea!

           

                                                                                                                                           

I did not line these napkins, I used a rotary cutter to cut 13 " squares, and then did a double hem with mitered corners.  You just cut the corners off at a 45 degree angle, and then fold the corners so that they meet, then topstitch.

My last little touch was to add a YoYo to the top of the cozy, where the pink ribbon is attached.  You just cut a circle, larger than the size needed for your yoyo, and do a running stitch by hand about an eighth of an inch from the edge.  I did not turn the edges under because  I knew the button was going to be on top.  After you do the running stitch, just gather it up and flatten it into shape.  If I were doing lots of yoyos, I would do a basting stitch on the machine.  Before too long, I will be having morning and afternoon tea with 2 precious girls with Kiwi accents.

Good Morning Sunshine!

I had a little tea party
This afternoon at three.
Twas very small,
Three guests in all,
Just I, Myself and Me.

Myself ate up the sandwiches.
I drank up the tea.
Twas also I who ate the pie,
And passed the cake to me.

I made this second tea cozy using the Bernina Circular Tool.

  I didn't have a pattern , so I just measured the length and height of my teapot , then made a guestimate.  I knew I wanted a big sunshine on the blue polka dot , so I used a bright yellow cotton to accent the blue , cut a square large enough for the sun, and attached the tool to the freearm of my machine.  You almost don't need to look at the directions.  You stick the center of your fabric through the pin, put the plastic top on it so you don't stick yourself, and choose a decorative stitch.  IT SEWS IN CIRCLES!  Perfect little circles.  It reminds you of using a compass like you did in Jr. High. 

After I had done my sun, and cut it to the size I wanted, I attached it to the blue usinig a little blanket stitch. I used pieces of rick-rack for the rays of the sun, and decided to let them go wild and not attach the ends.  My cloud is a biece of batting.  Now I was ready to cut out the cozy.

I just drew the shape out on tissue paper, folding it in half so it would at least be symmetrical.  I cut two blue polka dots, two bright yellow linings, 2 layers of Insul-Brite, 2 layers of Warm and Natural batting.  You layer the insulated Insul-Brite on the bottom  (it will be closest to your warm object), then a layer of batting, then the blue polka dot on top.  I basted the layers together because they were so bulky, then sewed  the two sandwiches right sides together, leaving the bottom open.  I put a little piece of yellow and white ribbon inbetween the layers.  Now sew the lining, right sides together leaving about 2 inches open to turn it, and stuff it inside the cozy, right sides together because you haven't turned your cozy yet.

Stitch the circle around the bottoms of the cozy and lining, pull the lining out and turn it through your opening.  I stitched in the ditch after pressing the cozy on my ham, and left a half inch trim along the bottom.

I fancied up my napkins a bit by lining them, monogramming, top stitching and addig some baby rick-rack.

Voila!

Time for a tea party!

September Song

There are flowers enough in the summertime,

More flowers than I can remember—

But none with the purple, gold, and red

That dyes the flowers of September!

                     ~Mary Howett  1799-1888

      It is hard to believe that September is already here.

      I spent the weekend with my little Birmingham girls, and Rachel had a PLAIN white t-shirt in Sarah's size.  We certainly couldn't have that, so I brought it home to jazz it up a little.

      The design of the little Teddy Bear came from a Sew Many Designs CD.  I moved the leaves around a little bit; there were 4 in the original design and they were spaced further away from the bear.  I deleted one with my Artista software, then scooted the remaining leaves a little closer to the bear so that the design would fit in my medium hoop.   I had to add sarah bear under the design in Child's Play; I heard that little endearment more than once this weekend from her Daddy and Mommy.  The design took a little while to stitch out; I had reduced the size and so the applique was a little more difficult to trim.

I used polymesh stabilizer behind the t shirt, added a layer of tear-away under the hoop, and solvy on top of the shirt.

My September Song this weekend turned out to be Twinkle,Twinkle Little Star, Sarah's current bedtime lullaby of choice.  And I can't imagine a more wonderful way to spend a Saturday night.