Mystery Monday HOW # 15

I'm glad I didn't get my drawings this morning scanned because I think I came up with some better ideas at lunch, but I needed a little time to clean them up.  So this week's HOW's are all of us at this time of year running here running there........
......

HOW #15 Christmas Chicks

 I did get things drawn for this week but have not had anytime to stitch for a long time, so no samples to look at, sorry!!!!  Well I have to go back to un-sewing........no time to blog tonight, got all the blocks done for quilt but had to un-sew 11....................just could not let some intersections go out like that, and one block had two parts (not one, nooooo...2!!) sewn in that were turned 45 degrees, stuck out like a sore thumb in the quilt too!!.  so back to re-sewing, then sewing the blocks all together, and finish up Paulette's ornaments........I put them aside and have not gotten back to them. They and AnnaLisse's gifts need to be mailed..............I am terrible at getting things in the mail.  .   Hopefully I will get back to normal blogging and emailing by the end of this week, I'm sure I've missed out on some great blogs.  Will try to go back to read old emails and other's posts to catch up on most everything!!

Need to blog on things I've received.  I got a bunch of goodies from my Ohio Twin, Cyndi from bluebirdswing, and a really cute tote bag made by Betty of luv2sew filled with more goodies as a thank you from my quilting chicks bunch.    

Monday Mystery HOW #14 done

Okay, it was back to the drawing board. today(yesterday, Sunday)...........if you tried to make last week's template like I did Sunday afternoon , you found out that the shape you end up with is a straight sided cube, no pointy top & bottom not at all the shape I was going for. (glad I did it with paper first)  HOWever you can only use three of the 4 shapes (don't forget to allow the seam allowance if you decide to cut the 4th one off) and have a triangle shape similar to what I had in mind. but I wanted a 4 sided ornament, so I had to re-draw some of the lines.  And I still wanted birds, but decided some of you may want something else so I put poinsettias on one page and the birds on the other, so it's a 2-fer.

I am still not finished am going to add a tassel to the bottom, maybe with some beads.  Also am not happy about the lack of pointiness (spell check does not like that word, lol!) at the top and bottom next time will trim the interfacing to almost nothing at the top and bottom,  it was very bulky.  Also would like it more square, I may have overstuffed it, and it's fabric what can you say.  Here is what it looks like from the bottom, before I rinsed out the blue pen.. 

The top looks the same only the hanger sewn in the middle.  Here's what it looked like after stitching,

Solid blue are sewing lines dashed blue lines are cutting lines.  Now cut it like below before sewing points together leaving sides open for turning, notice they are not stitched either, you will do that after sewing side seam shut.

After you sew all the points to each other turn inside out and stuff.

Then whip or slip stitch shut, whichever you prefer. 

NOW do a small chain over the seam you just closed...........then bury the ends and clip.

Ta DAAAAA!!!! a neatly hidden seam! add a twisted cord hanger to top and a tassel to the bottom.

Here is the pattern for the birds

click here for the birdy PDF

Here is the one for poinsettias, put french knots in the middle.

click here for the poinsettia PDF

Sorry I've been so behind lately!!!  I'm pedaling as fast as I can but the bike seems to stay in low gear!!  Just so you know, there probably not be a HOW next Monday...........that gives me two weeks to get caught up, hahahahahahaha! Like that will happen this time of year. BUT you never know, sometimes things fall into place and I might have time for one???????????   Have fun playing with these. adapt, changes them whatever.........Cyndi

Monday HOW on a Tuesday

Sorry, I am WAAAAAY behind!!!!!!!!!!!

Not only am I late, this weeks' HOW's are not stitched either.................

So an extra one for my tardiness, really I just wanted to give you all three, lol!!! but I am sorry they are not stitched and that they are late.  Sock monkeys with ornaments, count them 3..........Stitch with a strand of dark brown and a strand of med/dark cream on the body parts, 2 strands med/dark cream for the lighter parts(hands, feet, tip of tail) and 2 strands red for his overall shorts.  I thought about using fabric fused with Steam-a-Seam Lite (or something similar) for the tree, star and glass ball.  Making loose strands of dangly beads for the balls on the tree.  If you want to do the applique and need "pieces/parts" to cut out, let me know.  I can deconstruct the directions and re-do.  I did these last minute this morning before work, I wasn't really thinking about the details so much, like providing the applique shapes.  I am so far behind I couldn't even get Monday HOW on Tuesday done until I had time to finish it at lunchtime............AUGHHHHHH!!  (is my Snoopy voice! and  @#^%&@$&^ from my  Woodstock voice!)  I think I need a couple of days off!! But a need a plan of attack so I don't waste any of it searching for what I need..... I need to make a list and sort through the piles of fabrics, thread, needles, patterns and pull out what I need for so my time off will be busy time not searching time.  I am a hoarder of fabrics, patterns and crafty supplies.  Lately ransacked storage boxes, sacks and unsorted piles of goodies have formed everywhere and I need to organize again, I have not created anything stitchy for over a week.  It's the Halloween hairbow's fault........ ;-o.

CLICK HERE FOR LINK TO GOOGLE DOCS FOR FREE PRINTABLE PDF OF HOW #13
  But read all the way to the bottom before you click there's there links to things at the bottom.  You may want to come back and click those.   GOOGLE DOCS has been a bugger lately and sometimes won't share.  So if you have problems, let me know and I'll email them to you tonight.  Pam..I will email you last week's tonight.......sorry about that.

Here's a sock monkey I put on a onesie several years ago, that onesie is now on a sock monkey.  ( I tea dyed the onesie so that it would be cream colored).  I also have this on a white tee and on a red tee for myself, only on the red tee I substituted blue jean overalls for the red.  Can't remember for sure what I did for his pompon on his hat, but I think I made it red but made my own 3-d fringe. 

 If you would like a free pattern for sock monkeys you can find it here.......................at Lenny Taylors - a copy of the original pattern for red heel sock monkeys and the directions. 

 If you need the socks they are Rockford red heel socks.  I buy them at our local Orschelns farm supply, but there are lots of places to get them.   People make them out of all kinds of socks though not just the red heel socks.  There are pattens for all sorts of animals too if you search around (free ones and books you can buy).

Here are some of the trick-or-treaters from my family, needless to say one ended up at the costume party, not trick or treating, but she had to have mom help with a sewing fix for the costume (she needed super dooper large shoulder pads added to her jacket, and they needed to be removable so that shoe could wear it to work in the normal way, lol!).

Cami as a purple ballerina and Makenna as a cowgirl since she found some girly cowboy boots at a bargain price!!  The pumpkins were rather sad, we carved them on Wednesday and it froze Friday morning, so they shrunk!

Cami again I couldn't get her to twirl, Makenna's second picture did not turn out she had her eyes closed. Sorry Makenna!
And look who was spotted in central Missouri  Saturday night, Lady Gaga.......

 You can't tell from this picture because she's slouched down, but at 5' 10" and with 3" heels I'm sure she towered over many a man at the party.  Her twin is only 5'7" and their older sis is 5'1".  I'm in the middle at 5' 2", their dad is 5'11" and their brother (the middle child, in age anyway) is 6' 4".  In real life she seemed to be all legs, hahahahaha!

Sarah as Lady Gaga. (she is my youngest daughter and loves Halloween).  She decorates her house and dresses up every year then goes somewhere.............no where to go ???????  Then she and her friends throw a Halloween party!!
This is last year.........................at the bar before the party.  The girls below are 28 and 25 in case you were wondering why I let my daughter go the the bar at a young age.

I think they were "The Judds" Sarah, as Naomi and her best friend Becky, as Winona.

The year before (election year) she went as Sarah Palin,  I couldn't find a picture of that. Imagine the girl on left in a dark suit and no-rim glasses like Ms. Palin.  That year I was supposed to partially de-stuff a LARGE stuffed moose as part of the her costume ( moose belonged to her nieces) and add "bloody guts" to it.  I did not "de-stuff".  I just used some off-white knee-hi hose lightly stuffed with small pieces of blue and red fleece and colored on them with a dark red marker here and there, then tacked them to the moose's stomach looking like guts hanging out.  Was kind of a cute gross not a yucky gross.  She was caught off guard the first couple of times at the party, when total strangers kept saying "Hi Sarah!" forgetting who she was in costume, lol!!!!  And the moose has been restored to it's former cuteness, no harm was done.  Although she warned the girls that it was possible it could have since you just never know what to expect you are at a partly drunk mixed political sides party during election year, the girls were okay with that.......they had many more stuffed animals to choose from!

Did you see my last post???? I WON a GO! cutter from AccuQuilt, (thank you again AccuQuilt!!  I can't wait till it comes..........now I want to order some dies and there are SOOOO many I want.  ugh decisions, decisions!!) Anyway........

Maybe you aren't aware of this but they give one away EVERY Friday on FACEBOOK which is where I won mine.  So if you have a Facebook page, you need to become AccuQuilt's Fan on their Facebook page and join in the fun.  ............lately they've been posting the answers to the Facebook Fun Friday questions on their community forum so you have to sign up for that too.   AND they have other giveaways if you go to their web page and sign up for their e-mail.  LOTS GO!ing on at Accuquilt, GO! quickly!! GO! Grab your chances to win!

Have fun and enjoy until we talk again!!  Cyndi



Monday Mystery HOW #12

I'm changing it up just a bit this week, I took 3 hexagons embroidered snowflakes on them, added beads and made a 3-D ornament.  Also used pale blue taffeta instead of cotton but is still assembled like before with the stiff interfacing inside.  Take two, sew three together back to back, sewing three sides before joining next one and three sides, finishing joining the newest addition with the first on the remaining last three sides.  I also added beads down the edges, and a bead tassel to the bottom.

side A

side B

side C

side c

An end view of the 3-D of the ornament.  It is 3 sided.  The beads make it appear it is 4 sided, but is only 3.

click here for a link to google docs for a printable PDF.

have fun!!!   

And for those who only hop by here on Mondays,  be

sure to hop back a couple of posts for the hexoweenie ornaments.
enjoy, be back soon!

Mystery Monday HOW # 11

Wow was that an exciting week last week.  Fall in to Fall came to an end and the package of goodies will be flying over to NORWAY, to Anne-Lise from Rag, Tag, & Bobtail. Congratulations to you, Anne-Lise.  And Thank you to everyone who entered the giveaway and left, jokes, stories, and compliments.  Those of you I sent emails about the other gifts, not all of you have gotten back to me.  Take your time to decide and let me know.

Onto today's goodies, Mystery Monday Hexagon Ornaments of the Week # 11, Santa and mini mouse.

 Hexagon Ornaments of the Week # 11

mr mini mouse looked better on blue.

and santa was a redhead you know!

Click here for link to google docs for printable pattern in PDF
okay, that's all for today...............but you that are crazy for quick and easy stitchies are going to love what I post next next time.  We went to the pumpkin patch and after we got home I was doodling these ornaments and halloween just kept lurking in the back if my mind. Next thing I knew I had a page full of halloweenie quickies. Cute as they are, they may change and evolve into something even bigger before I'm done  Then after I scribbled those down, even more ideas kept popping into my head about 3-D ornaments etc etc.......it was one of "those" nights, kept paper, pencils and markers REAL handy!!  Now I need stitching time. But am finishing up some other things first.  Maybe I'll just post the pattern and see what you guys do with it????  We'll see, either way I think you'll like it.  Hope you like the ones for this week, keep stitching happy till next time!!!  Cyndi

M-M #9 & A Winner Update

update: forgot to draw for the HOW Ornaments and Frosty Flakes blocks yesterday!!
it was posted way back in August on my 100th post and didn't close until the weekend after Dawn Hay finished her Frosty Flakes posts.......which was Wednesday I think.  See what you miss out on if you only LOOK at pictures ..just did the random number generator and guess who won.............
this is what she won........

the stuff from my former header (I took it down last night and am going to find somethine new, so the licorice twist quilt will fill in till then) plus I am including some suprises for her...

Woohoo my Sweet Paulette, will email you shortly, Congratulations! sorry I couldn't give everybody something. I have such great followers and get such nice comments!!

NOW, FIRST, If you're looking for the Fall into Fall giveaway click next link and go here....

http://beetreedesigns.blogspot.com/2010/10/fall-into-fall-will-you-win.html

Oh my gosh I got so many wonderful emails, sometimes I cannot keep up , I still have about 40+ to answer and more keep popping in there.  Still having the problem with no-reply bloggers and "anonymous" people. 
 On another note,  here is the reworked grey tabby "Pudgie" fat cat pattern PDF link.

If you're not here for Fall into Fall, then you must be here for MYSTERY MONDAY HOW #9,  My oldest granddaughter and I were picking up the remnants late yesterday afternoon of her paper "free for all" from Sunday morning grrrrr, when I decided what I wanted to draw for this week even though I had some extras from last week...will save those for later.  So I got the paper and pencil box/crayon box and drew a picture, one with a little twist of words that made her laugh!

And after I stitched it decided it wasn't quite right.........and  since the crayons were sitting there anyway, decided to add a little color to the center, then I got carried away and did more.  My suggestion to you is, if you decide to crayon yours.......DO it before you stitch!!

so here you go.....

a pear in a partridge tree!!! hee hee hee!

Now I didn't start on this till late afternoon, and then I had to go make more soup because it definitely was a soup weekend, Saturday was taco, yesterday was potato and now we have enough for several more meals. We freeze taco, not the potato.  I regress, anyway I was stitching, re-assessing and then adding color and answering the 200+ emails (yikes!!) and even though I was up till 3am talking to a lady in France about the language barrier we had. (  She had used this foreign word in her message and I told her I wasn't familiar with it, laughing the whole time (the word was "housework")  hahahahaha!! )

anyway, due to this and that I didn't get the next one completed , but it is far enough along for you to use your imagination on the finished product... 

and to go with the pear in a partridge tree,

a little wren and holly

here's both

here's what pattern will look like, but the pdf is sideways (11 x 8.5 insead of portrait at 8.5 x 11),.  It will print okay. The link to google docs is below it

HOW # 9 - a pear in partridge tree and wren with holly

Okay, I think this is not one of my best days.  Am behind at finishing ornament today, and posting, then realized I left pdf at home for pattern and only had .jpg to add here, so, had to mail it and wait for return via other daughter who says she can convert jpg to PDF but says she was busy so it took a little while and while I was waiting........ on top of that................

horrors of horrors,

a cutie pie named Janet, one of my formerly "no reply" bloggers from Friday just emailed me about the ornament drawing, I said "Holy Carp, Batman, I completely forgot to do that yesterday!   So now all you ornament entrants from the last few weeks are going to have to wait until I get home from work!!!  But Thank YOU, Janet for reminding me...!!!

SORRY you guys,  well........it is Mystery Monday, why not make it more of a mystery, like where I left my brain??.....drawing for that this evening... sorry no new entrants for that giveaway, unfair to others who got in on time!

But there's still the Fall into Fall giveaway, if you haven't done that yet. 

Will be talking to some of you at lunch or this evening when I get around to answering emails again.

So what's up with you, hopefully nice weather at least, nice cool, crisp autumn and spring days, depending on where you are??

Mystery Monday HOW #8

If you'll notice I changed my header again, the pile of ornaments and blocks is growing, and that's not even all of them.  If you haven't heard.............I'm giving away them away, a complete set of the Frosty Flakes blocks(only, not the assembled quilt) by Dawn Hay from 'As Sweet as Cinnamon', and a set of the HOW ornaments how ever many there are between #1 and whenever Dawn posts the directions for finishing them, should be this Tuesday or next.  Find the 100th post to enter and leave a comment, there's a label for it.

Onto newer things, for those who only come by on mondays, I re-worked the cat ornament, check it out on my previous post, leave a comment on that post of you want a copy of the second version, If you don't get it within a few hours, your comment was left as a " no reply @ dot com" and for most that means no way to find you.  If you want to enter this giveaway or the next one that starts Friday October 1 with the Fall into Fall Giveaway you had better leave an email or I'll draw someone else.  If you want your blog linked to this giveaway and want to host a giveaway of your own contact Debi at the Fall into Fall link above or the scarecrow on my sidebar by Wed 9-29.

Here are today's Hexagon Ornaments of the Week.
Also if you're new here, there are posts about 3-d whiskers and how to make the twisted cords for ornament  hangers if you'll look back through posts, or search for them in search box top left very top.

Jake, a weimereiner, he is alllllll legs and belongs to granddaughters #1 & 2

here are both HOW #8 A & B

and a sock monkey just because I like them
should have used a darker cream for hands and hat, you can't really see them, Sorry!

here is the re-worked cat called Pudgie

here's a link to the Pudgie, a fat cat HOW ornament

link to pdf at google docs here .
oooooo and Fall-o-Ween starts today, Gudrun's World is up first. Go she what goodies she has for you!!! 10  days of Fall-o-Ween fun!!

anatomy of a HOW

First of all here are my stitched ornaments from last Monday, was a crazy week and I just finished them this morning. I am not real happy with them ( not real thrilled with the colors I chose)...........am a redworker, have trouble choosing more than one or two colors sometimes, lol!!!  AND.....

several have asked how I put the Hexagon Ornaments of the Week (HOW) together............I'm sorry I didn't write better directions.  Am so absent minded that I just assume people know what I meant, forgetting there are other ways to put them together or that there are beginners that need explanation, I am sorry.  Sooo here is how I've been putting together the ornaments lately.

This is where I start. So if you want to keep a nice copy print 2 copies. I cut the pattern apart. 

I cut from thick stiff interfacing for ornament A- 2 of the biggest templates and one of the smaller one, and the same for ornament B, two large, one small.  From FABRIC cut a piece bigger than each of  the templates too, the two smaller ones for each ornament are in your stitch background fabric and the big ones in contrasting fabrics.  The first one I did only has fabric on the back, the second one has 2 pieces of felt for the large templates.   I stitched the felt back before attaching to the front.  I like two sided ornaments and since then I have either added stitching on the back or adding other surprise backs for the people who win my giveaway (are you registered? you have until the Sunday after Dawn Hay's last Frosty Flake posts)  

Here is what I cut for ornament A along with my pieces from last week.

I usually attach the front stitching with some lazy daisy stitches but this week since the stitching intentionally fell off the edges here I just attached the front to the back hiding the stitches between the layers.

Here is the front and one of Dawn's frosty flake outlines for the back.

Then you have to stitch the back to the front like I did on the reindeer one from a couple of weeks ago below, here's the back & front.  (same fabric bad lighting)

match up edges and stitch together like this below.

 

showed the red because the brown and blue was too dark to see on the photo.

BUT WAIT....................

Carrie P from A Passion for Applique cut her fabric larger than I did so it would cover more of the template and appliqued her bird on the the side with the fabric folds, eliminating the need for extra back piece fabric and interfacing.  Look at the beautiful job she did stitching below.  Now if you look close she has her folds to the front and it looks GREAT.  SO yet another way to finish them, Thank you Carrie.  Go visit Carrie and see all the beautiful thing she does.

So I tried on on my ornament B this week

It worked fine,  but wish I had had yardage of this fabric for the back then I could have fussy cut it to get the snowflake in center, but it was a charm square, so it is off center some. added a few stitches on back for interest before I attached front stitching hexie.

will attach a PDF FORM  of tutorial in the morning with my next Monday Mystery HOW #7

Don't forget if you're a quilter with a blog and want to be part of a REALLY BIG giveaway go to Debi's Fall into Fall blog, CLICK on my sidebar for a link.  She's looking for 200 bloggers to participate and thousands to enter?

Mystery Monday HOW #6

HOW #6 A

I am so far behind, no progress on the CR quilt, but I did get something drawn for Mystery Monday, but have not had time to stitch it out.  I had to make a last minute dress for DD3 on Friday night, and I was swamped with some unexpected last minute work from work, I had to work Saturday at work unexpectedly and then worked rest of weekend getting address labels on 800 postcards from a list of who needed postacards in alpha order by LAST names working with a set labels they sent me in alpha order by FIRST name!! not a fun  job, it should have been a simple job but noooooooo!!  I knew I had to do the postcards, but not that the list and labels were so different, grrrrr.   and it wasn't how I planned to spend my weekend.  I finished at 10:46 last night.  Eyes were tired too to stitch....will do that later today, so here you go. you'll have to guess what I was going to do!! ; )  click on words under any of the pictures for a link to google docs for PDF

Oh and I forgot we had to make a pink tractor cake for GD#2 's 4th Birthday party sat afternoon, daughter baked cakes, and other daughter and I assembled and frosted it. She got a dog that had googles on so she's wearing them.


.

HOW #6 B

click here for HOW #6 pdf at google docs.

HAVE FUN! SEE YOU NEXT WEEK IF NOT BEFORE. 

HAVE YOU SIGNED UP FOR THE GIVEAWAY ON MY 1OOTH POST?