FaveCrafts

1000s of free craft projects, home decor ideas and DIY tips

FaveQuilts Giveaway: Around the Year Quilt Book

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The Around the Year Quilt Book: Rosie & Bear Calendar Quilt from Bustle & Sew by Helen Dickson is a delightful block of the month pattern for quilters and stitchers alike. Each simple quilt block frames an embroidered scene of a little girl and her stuffed bear enjoying the different months of the year.

The Rosie & Bear Calendar Quilt is inspired by Dickson’s memories of her own daughter, Rosie, and her toy Bear. You can use Dickson’s designs to make an adorable quilt for a new baby in your family or a gift for a child or grandchild. The scenes of Rosie and Bear are so charming, you’ll fee like you’re reading a children’s storybook when you’re looking at this quilt. Little ones will delight in following the adventures of Rosie and Bear.

FaveQuilts.com is giving away one copy of Around the Year Quilt Book to one lucky winner. It could be you!

Learn more and enter to win here.

Around the Year Quilt Book

Contest ends November 13, 2012. You can enter once daily, so return often to improve your chances of winning!

FaveCrafts Giveaway: Dimensions Embroidery Kits

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I think most people will agree that hand stitching has a certain relaxing quality to it.  Embroidery is soothing in its constant motion of moving the needle…and it’s something you can easily do when you watch TV or relax outside on a cool summer evening.  It’s even more relaxing and enjoyable when everything you need to make a cute project comes in one easy to use kit!

With these Dimensions Embroidery Kits, the newest giveaway from FaveCrafts, you can create a beautiful butterfly tag or a sweet embroidered bird pillow with ease and certainty.

The Butterfly Ornament Kit is easy enough for a beginning embroider to make…and it even comes with a pocket on the back to add a personal note. How cute is that? In this kit, you’ll find all your necessities…from yarn to fabric stuffing. There’s even a needle included! You can use this butterfly as a holiday ornament, a gift tag, or however you’d like. The colors are perfect for spring and summer.

The Bird on Flower Pillow Cover Kit is another great beginner project. Like the butterfly kit, this kit comes with all your supplies, including a needle and detailed instructions on how to create this sweet pillow cover. The only thing you need to supply is the pillow (or stuffing to fill it when you’re done).

With the help of these kits, you can have projects that look professionally made…and since they come with practically everything you need to make them, they’re great to take with you on a summer road trip or camping adventure!

If you want to win these sweet Dimensions Embroidery kits, visit our giveaway page and sign up to win.  You can sign up once every day, so the more you enter, the greater your chances of winning!

 

FaveQuilts Giveaway: Midnight Roses Thread Kit

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Embroider breathtakingly beautiful quilts with the Midnight Roses Embroidery Thread Collection from Aurifil. These rich, jewel-toned threads were chosen by Sharon Pederson and Elizabeth Phillips for their sultry Midnight Roses quilt, a masterpiece of embroidery. The kit includes 12 spools of  40wt 100% cotton thread in a variety of saturated colors from every shade in the rainbow. Each spool contains 1,094 yds. of thread so you can keep embroidering and quilting through several projects.

You can tell the threads in the Midnight Roses collection are destined for vibrant, colorful quilts and embroidery projects because they don’t include a single neutral! Starting with a deep raspberry, the hues of threads move through the color spectrum, stopping at dark red, vermilion, tangerine, orange, gold, chartreuse. moss green, and forest green. The cooler colors in the collection comprise teal, slate blue, and cobalt blue. With these colors, quilters and needle artists can embellish any project with masterful artistry.

FaveQuilts.com is giving away a Midnight Roses Embroidery Thread Kit to one lucky winner. It could be you!

Learn more and enter to win here.

Contest ends June 12, 2012. You can enter once daily, so return often to improve your chances of winning!

Geek Crafts: Keyboard Embroidery Hoop Sleeve

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Welcome to the Geek Crafts column, your weekly dose of geeky goodness with Haley Pierson-Cox from The Zen of Making!

I’ll admit it: I’m the kind of girl who will fish a dead keyboard out of the trash for purely crafty purposes—there are just so many awesome ways to reuse and repurpose the parts! In addition to the ever-popular keyboard jewelry options, I love the idea of using old keys to geek up projects in unexpected ways. So, with that in mind, I decided to add a quirky keyboard message to my travel embroidery hoop sleeve, ensuring that all of my needlework projects stay both clean and extra-sassy while I’m stitching on the go. If you’re not jazzed about the Beastie Boys, feel free to change up the words to better fit your style!

Materials:

  • Wool felt scraps
  • Straight pins or fabric clips
  • Sewing machine
  • Thread
  • Keys from an old keyboard
  • Fabric scissors/rotary cutter
  • Hot glue gun and glue sticks
  • Sewing needle (optional)
  • Fabric glue (optional)

This tutorial will show you how to make one embroidery hoop sleeve in a size that’s made to fit your favorite embroidery hoop.


Step 1
Fold the large piece of felt in half, then trim the top and sides so that they fit the size of your embroidery hoop, adding an extra inch to the top and both sides.


Step 2
Using the felt rectangle from step 1 as a template, cut the piece of fabric to the same size.


Step 3
Cut one or two smaller felt rectangles to accommodate your keyboard letters. The lengths will vary depending on the words that you choose.


Step 4
Using basting stitches or small drops of fabric glue, position the rectangles that you cut in step 3 just above the fold on the large felt rectangle, then use your sewing machine to stitch around the edges of each to secure them in place.


Step 5
With right sides facing, use your sewing machine to join the felt and the fabric rectangles at the top and the bottom edges using a ¼” seam allowance. (The longer side edges should both remain open.)


Step 6
Once the ends are joined, turn the felt and fabric rectangles right side out. The top and bottom seams that you made in step 5 should now be enclosed between the two pieces. Use straight pins or fabric clips to neatly align the fabric on either side of the seams.


Step 7
Use your sewing machine to top stitch across the top and bottom edges using a ¼” seam allowance.


Step 8
Fold the joined rectangles in half so that the fabric is facing the inside and the felt is facing the outside. Pin or clip the sides together, then use your sewing machine to sew the seams on both sides with a ¼” seam allowance. (The top should remain open.)

To add extra strength and stability to the opening, you can whipstitch around the side seams near the top on each side.


Step 9
Position the keyboard letters on the smaller felt rectangles, then use hot glue/your favorite multipurpose adhesive to secure the keys in place. Allow the glue to dry completely before using your finished sleeve.

Do you have a great idea for crafting with old keyboards? Leave a comment below and tell me what you’d make!

Link Love: Embroidery Hoop Art

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You know I love a good craft trend, so here’s a CRAFT TREND ALERT that I’ve been meaning to share with you: embroidery hoops on display as art! That’s right, people–the hoops themselves are being used along with whatever is inside them. These ain’t your grandma’s embroidery hoops…or maybe they are!

  1. Birdie Embroidery Hoops from Little Birdie Secrets
  2. Hoop Art Picture Displays from Take Heart
  3. Scrap Fabric Embroidery Hoop from Under the Sycamore
  4. Camera Hoop Art from Luzia Pimpinella
  5. Embroidered Table Numbers from Weddingbee
  6. Mixed Media Weather Hoops from A Bit of Pilli Pilli
  7. Embroidery Hoop Wedding Decor from Love and Lavender
  8. Obi Sue Kenobi from The Trouble with Crafting
  9. Stitched Messes from Little Dear Tracks

FaveCrafts 365 Octopus Alert!

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I think an octopus might have been messing with my microphone during the making of this video! I almost scrubbed it as a blooper, but then decided that we are friends and you’ll get a laugh out of the octopus voice that takes over!

Do you enjoy machine embroidery? I’ve got 4 great friends who are very generous with me and I just love the gifts they make! I’d love to here what motifs you are using!

And check out this Yarn Octopus

If you need yarn you should visit CutRateCrafts.com for some great prices and wonderful selection!

Happy National Embroidery Month!

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Since February is National Embroidery Month we’re taking a look at the well-known craft that’s remained popular for centuries.

Embroidery starts when an outline is drawn on fabric and then stitched over with a back stitch. This will create a solid line in thread. Projects ranging from handbags to ornaments can include embroidery. Traditionally, embroidery was limited to being a hand-craft but with technological advancements, new computerized machines have modernized the craft.

One of the older forms of embroidery is Redwork. Here’s an article on Redwork Embroidery by our resident Craft Expert, Maria Nerius.

Does Redwork Make You See Red?

Redwork will have you seeing red only because it is created with a red cotton thread! It is a simple embroidery technique that is one of the most beloved traditional crafts. Redwork is believed to have originated in Europe in the 19th century. It is believed to have made its way to America before the Civil War by immigrants. This style of embroidery was most popular with the working classes as it was not out of their price range. It’s first popularity had much to do with its affordability, simplicity, and availability.

In the United States penny squares were sold; penny squares were 6” muslin square marked with a design that could be stitched. The square was sold for a penny and for an additional penny you could buy a skein of red thread. The squares were often used to create quilts, bedspreads and linens. The squares eventually went up in price, but folklore loves the origins.

The stitches and designs were simple enough for children to use to learn and improve their stitching skills. The designs were often no more than just the outline of a motif like a flower, dog, or child. You could purchase these squares at the local general store and by mail order from ads in catalogs, newspapers, and magazines. The popularity of Eedwork embroidery died done after WWII, but it can still be found in books, magazines, and online.

Materials Needed for Redwork:

  • Red embroidery floss
  • Fabric, traditionally plain cotton muslin
  • Needle, small sharp
  • Hoop, to hold the fabric in place while stitching
  • Design, usually a transfer design

Additional Tips:

  • Wash your muslin before you transfer your design or start stitching
  • Redwork is simple and doesn’t translate well to fussy or overly detailed designs.
  • Traditional Redwork designs included alphabets, samplers, farm animals, fruits, and holidays.

(Find a review of “Redwork from THE WORKBASKET” on AllFreeSewing.com)

Want to celebrate National Embroidery Month? Learn how to embroider and find free project ideas below.

Bottle Koozies

Buttercup Embroidery Design

More Embroidery Projects:
Baby Girl Rattle Embroidery Design
Tea Set
Dancing Leaves Pillow
Easter Bunny Applique Pillow

Ask Maria “Organizing Embroidery Threads”

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Question

Thank you for a wonderful site!   I have tried organizing my embroidery floss so it is easy to reach and all the colors are visible but nothing seems to work just right. I now have them pinned to a padded and covered tri-fold cardboard but the needles fall out, it’s difficult to put away for next time. I use all colors when embroidering a baby quilt and do not want to spend my time looking through a notebook for the correct shade of a color. Thanks so much!

Linda D via e-mail

It seems like there are hundreds of colors of embroidery floss and when working a project getting just the right shade of green or red is important. I’d say a majority of those using embroidery floss are following a pattern or set of instructions so what is important to them is the number or specific color name, however since you aren’t creating from a pattern, but doing original work, most organizing systems aren’t set up for this kind of display.

I use small sealable plastic bags (often used for jewelry). I place each color of embroidery thread into a separate bag. I liked this system because I could keep the label inside the bag and have it for future reference, but I still also write with a permanent marker the brand, color number, and other details like where I purchased the floss.

I store the embroidery thread by color in small plastic containers. I can spot a color family quickly and it’s easy to spread the small plastic bags out on the table. It’s also easy to stack and store again. As an original artist, this is one of the easiest ways to organize and have your colors available to you. Keep at it, you’ll find your way to be organized. Be aware of your creative process and work with it, not against it. You don’t have to conform to traditional ways of organization, in time you’ll find what works best for you.

FaveCrafts.com’s Resident Craft Expert Maria Nerius answers your creative questions! Send her a note: Maria@FaveCrafts.com.

Help a Reader: Organizing Embroidery Floss

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Can you help Linda organize her embroidery floss?

I have tried organizing my embroidery floss so it is easy to reach and all the colors are visible but nothing seems to work just right. I now have them pinned to a padded and covered tri-fold cardboard but the needles fall out, it’s difficult to put away for next time. I use all colors when embroidering a baby quilt and do not want to spend my time looking through a notebook for the correct shade of a color.

If so, post your idea in the comments.

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