Butterfly doll quilt

I felt my new kitten needed an accessory. My mom had the idea to make her her own baby quilt that matched her dress. First I picked out the dress materials I wanted to use, and then I rummaged through my stash for complimentary calico squares.

I came up with a 10 inch square quilt design and a little butterfly drawing to hand embroider in the center. I used a satin stitch to fill in the butterfly. I hand quilted the doll quilt too, with cotton batting sandwiched between the quilt top and a square of one of the dress materials.

I used my second dress fabric for the binding, which I slip stitched by hand to the back of the quilt. It all got a bit labor-intensive, but I like to quilt. So, I got carried away. It's the cutest thing in person. It's so tiny. I'm still fussing over it, but I should leave it be to make her dress.

Stitch-along, Bluebird Quilt Block Part 3, Satin Stitch

Back to the bluebird block...I finished embroidering the raw edges of the branch using the blanket stitch. I experimented with an alternate stitch, but liked the blanket stitch better. For the rest of my raw edges, for the most part, I used a satin stitch. The satin stitch was pretty easy and it looked very nice. Just a rundown on the basic steps first...Poke your threaded needle through your fabric from the wrong/back side to the right/front side of the fabric, just to the inside of your raw edge. I'm using a purple line in my photos to represent the actual edge of your appliqué. (You can click my photos to make them larger.)

On the right/front side of your fabric, poke your needle through to the back of your fabric along your raw edge, and, in one movement, back out to the front of your fabric, just inside the raw edge, and just next to the point where your first stitch emerged.

Pull your stitch gently taut without making it tight enough so that your fabric puckers. You will be repeating these basic steps over and over along your edge to finish your raw edge.

Take your next stitch just under your first stitch as you repeat the same steps.

Keep an even tension on your stitches by pulling your floss gently.

Continue along your raw edge until you have reached the end of the shape you are working on. You will switch colors of embroidery floss depending on the color of your appliqué shapes. Again, I made a little knot in the back when I ended a color or ran out of floss on my needle. Since the block will be quilted, it shouldn't matter too much.

You will need:

• Assorted colors of embroidery floss depending on your fabric choices (I used DMC black/310, white, 168, 260, 317, 370, 392, 646, 726, 742, 783, 797, 826, and 842)
• An embroidery needle (I think mine was a size 10)
• A hoop (I used a 9 inch wooden hoop for an 11 1/2 square of fabric. If your square is smaller, you might want a smaller hoop.)

Following the edges of each colored shape, follow the basic satin stitch steps to finish each edge.

I took a few random stitches here and there just for effect, like on the bird's belly and chest.

I added a little white stitch in his eye for a highlight.

His claws are also done in a satin stitch. You can see the blanket stitch along the edges of the branch in this picture too. I tried using a lighter gray on the top of the branch, and a slightly darker gray along the lower edge of the branch. Where the branch got very narrow, I used a satin stitch right over my fabric because I felt it was too thin to hold up on its own.

That is about it for finishing the embellishment on this block. It will be trimmed down and squared off later when I set it into its destination. It's finished size will be 9 inches, which means it will be trimmed down to about 9 1/2 inches to include seam allowances. I will be careful not to cut through any of my embroidery stitching to make sure it doesn't come out later. But, we will wait to trim it for now. I am still debating over how I will use the block. We shall see...

Stitch-along, Bluebird Quilt Block Part 2, Blanket Stitch

Okay, I'm back...We are about to start embellishing the bluebird quilt block with hand embroidery stitches. If you would prefer to use machine stitching, a zig zag or satin stitch along the raw edges of the appliqué will work fine, or you can try out the decorative stitches that might have come with your machine. I'm going to start with a hand-embroidered blanket stitch. Here are the basics of the blanket stitch before we start on the block itself. The first stitch is made by poking your needle through from the back of the fabric to the front of the fabric, along the raw edge you want to finish (shown here with a purple line).

The second stitch is made by taking a stitch from the front to the back of the fabric, just to the side of your first stitch, but inside the raw edge you want to finish. In one movement, poke the needle back out to the front of the fabric, along your raw edge, just next to the first stitch, while holding the embroidery floss from your first stitch down so your needle will be on top of the loop of embroidery floss from the last stitch. (You can click on my pictures to make them larger, for anyone who might not know that already.)

Pull your embroidery floss taut, not too tight to make the fabric pucker, but just enough that the stitch is smooth. It helps to smooth it with your finger as you go. These are the essential steps. You will just keep repeating them along your raw edge.

Poke your needle in and out of your fabric again, coming our on top of the last loop of floss. Keep your stitches an even distance apart. When stitching around a circle, point your needle from the middle centerpoint of the circle outward to make the stitches fan out nicely.

Pull them taut as you go.

Repeat the same stitch.

Pull it taut, and continue all the way around. You will take one little stitch almost in place to lock it down when you reach your starting point again. Then you will carry your floss along the wrong side (back) of the fabric to the next raw edge you want to finish, or you will take a backstitch on the back of the fabric and cut the floss to end it. I make a little knot just to be safe. Since this block will be quilted and it will have batting behind of it, it doesn't need to lie perfectly flat.

Okay...onto the bluebird block. Once again, you will need a few things:

• A hoop (I used a 9 inch wooden embroidery hoop, but you may need a smaller one if your square is smaller than mine, which was 11 1/2 inches)
• Embroidery floss (I used DMC 3777, but you will match your floss to the red of your berries)
• An embroidery needle (I think I used a size 10)

Put your quilt block in your hoop, keeping the fabric taut, and tighten the screw on the side of the hoop to make it snug. Cut a length of embroidery floss about 20 inches long and separate out two strands of floss from the rest. Thread your needle with the two strands. A needle threader helps, but I just wet the ends with my tongue and cut them at a slant to make threading easier.

Pick a berry and start your blanket stitch as described above. Take a little lock stitch almost in place as you reach your starting point and carry the floss along the back of your fabric to the next berry. Repeat the process, ending and starting a new thread as you run out. I tried to work in clusters so I didn't have to make my floss travel too far across the back. I used the blanket stitch on all the red berries.

My fabric appliqués lifted for the wear, and so I steam pressed them down again when I was done, following the manufacturer's instructions for my paper-backed fusible.

Here's a closeup of my blanket stitch. I found I got a little better at it as I went along. It would probably be possible to use this stitch on most of the raw edges, if you wanted to, but I think I will experiment with another stitch for the next area I do. More later...

Stuffed

"Huggy Bunny" is stitched and stuffed. I did some hand quilting on his ears and at his arm and leg joints.

His little tail, and the edges of his clothes, and his pink parts are machine stitched with a zig zag over the raw edge appliqué.

I took a shot at doing a twisted chain hand embroidery stitch on the booties. I don't think mine came out the way it was supposed to, but I liked it anyway. So, I kept going with it. I'll have to try it the right way later. My book arrived today, and it is very nice, with lots of pretty, inspirational pictures. I am still on the lookout for The Embroidery Stitch Bible by Betty Barnden, which I think has even more photos of the stitches. I need all the visual aids I can get.

Mister Bunny seems like an agreeable sort, cheerful, ready for anything. I think I will try raising the arms just a bit when I make his friend/sister/brother, and I think I'll make a simpler outfit next time. This one is adorable, but it took such a long time to make. I'll have to get him posted on Etsy so I can make the Etsy for Animals January challenge deadline. I was lucky to get him done and photographed before it starts raining again.

Later...Ah ha! I was looking through Judith Baker Montano's Elegant Stitches and I discovered that my mutated twisted chain stitch is really a coral stitch. I learned something after all!

Embroidery Beginnings

I used a zig zag stitch to finish some of the raw edges on my "Huggy Bunny" doll, and then I put my newly acquired hoop to use and tried a couple of hand embroidery stitches. I chose a chain stitch for the mouth, and a satin stitch for the eyes, because they seemed simple and appropriate for the task of stitching the face. I only sewed the whole thing to my pants once. So, so far so good. I'm going to try something decorative as soon as my new-to-me book, Elegant Stitches: An Illustrated Stitch Guide and Source Book of Inspiration by Judith Baker Montano, arrives. I bought a copy on eBay last week.

I'll try to get some close-up photos of how to do a chain stitch and a satin stitch, to post on this site, when it brightens up around here. It is finally raining, really raining. NC has had a very bad drought this year. So this is good news, just not good for photographing.

"Huggy Bunny" Doll and Quilt in Progress

I've got my new doll patterns ready for a test run. This is my "Huggy Bunny" ready for some machine appliquéing. I am also going to try my hand at hand embroidery, a new craft for me, partly in honor of the Etsy for Animals January challenge, "New Year, New Craft" (although I'm not sure I can meet the January 1st deadline), and partly to tie in with a new idea I have for some embroidery designs. I was thinking a sort of "stitch-along" might be fun. I'm working on an original design to post on my website so that anyone who wants to join in, can learn along with me.

My "Huggy Bunny" is part of a series of designs I've been working on since this past summer. This is the quilt variation. I had taken step-by-step photos of the whole machine appliqué process, and even the basic assembly of the quilt top, meaning to put together a tutorial, but, unfortunately, I got distracted by other things. This year I hope to get more organized and fill out this site a bit more. I've got plenty of ideas for new projects that I think will be lots of fun.

Happy Christmas Eve!

Organizing the Accumulation

With all the sales going on, my mom and I have been out stocking up on supplies. I've been prewashing, ironing, and stashing assortments of fabric, which I tried to get into some sort of order by color.

I've put my quilting thread, ribbon, and Rick Rack away in Ziploc bags, and I'm rather proud of my little box (I got mine at Michaels) of embroidery floss. I wound all the colors around white card-bobbins, and did a slightly strange job of arranging them by color too. If I can get my mind this organized, I think I will be in good shape.