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Tuesday, November 5, 2013

SewCalGal's Fall 2013 Machine Embroidery Blog Hop

DISCLAIMER:  This post has been written by my dear friend, Karin.  Due to my injury I was not able to fulfill my commitment so Karin offered to pitch hit for me.  THANK YOU KARIN!!!  (You'll find a link to Karin's Etsy shop on the left sidebar of my blog : Sew-Write Creations

I was so honored and excited to be invited to SewCalGal's Fall Machine Embroidery Blog Hop this year....of course, none of this would have been possible without Kelly's own personal "Fall", which occurred shortly after her Machine Embroidery Guild meeting last month.  I'm just tickled that she's let me crash hijack her blog once again!  So, let's get started, shall we?

Zandra Shaw, the owner/designer behind the Embroider Shoppe, is our featured designer.  Kelly had gone shopping before her accident and had selected a set of scissor keeps as the design she wanted to sew out. 

 I wanted to honor Kelly's original plan, so I elected to sew one of the scissor pockets for her, but which one was she planning on doing?  I really didn't want to pester her with embroidery questions while she was undergoing her therapy sessions, nor did I want to disturb her meals or sleep...what to do, what to do?  I looked at the 4 options, an owl, a lady bug, an ice cream cone and a bouquet of roses.  They were all so sweet, I knew she'd love any one of 'em.

Then it hit me; Kelly just looooves this picture of Farnsworth and his keeper that I took at the zoo one day.  Farnsworth is a Great Horned Owl that came to the zoo as a week-old baby and has been hand fed for the past year.  He's really quite special to us all and since he can't hunt for himself, he won't be released into the wild.  So, of course, I decided to sew out the owl pocket for Kelly!

A couple of years ago, I got hold of some samples of a new textile, from The Kunin Group, made completely from recycled bottles and other plastics, right here in the USA.  Its properties and feel are very similar to felt, but it isn't felt.  And it came in several colors and styles, but I thought this textured brown fabric would be just perfect for our little owl.

I read the Readme text file that came with the design, and it said if you want your finished product to look like theirs, you had to be sure to use the same colors they used.  Well........I don't usually do that....and this time was no different.  I picked out a lining fabric (they had suggested a small floral print - I chose a variegated batik with some speckles and swirls) and some Fall-inspired thread colors.  Here we are, all ready to sew.
I decided I'd better take a look at the instructions and Zandra's color recommendations, just to see if I understood the directions and had enough supplies all set out. 

Blue was the very first color to stitch.  Let me just say this about that....if you insert your bobbin and then  thread your machine and it makes funny noises, well, chances are, you didn't load that bobbin correctly.  And you might as well stop sewing and fix it before you get too far along.  Here's my trusty SeamFix seam ripper, hard at work.  It did away with those uneven stitches in no time flat.

 See how pretty they look after I fixed the bobbin thread?  That's one thing I noticed about Zandra's digitizing...she put lots of underlay stitches in there so the design fills up nicely without puckering the fabric.

 Here's a close-up of the detail that sews on each wing.  See how much coverage there is?  All those stitches lay nice and flat.  Oh, you may have noticed that little gap in the upper right corner...yeah, that might be a problem later..we'll see.  That's where the fabric shifted a little when I laid it into the applique outline.
 So here's my wing piece, all sewn out.  Looks pretty good, right?  Well, thank you, but I can't take any of the credit for that - I just load the thread up and push start.  (What could be easier??)
 So, here we go, sewing the back (body) piece.  Check out more of that solid underlay stitching.
 And the coverage of her fills...pretty cool, if you ask me.
Here is our finished owl, just hanging around, keeping my embroidery scissors safe and sound.  Do ya think maybe if I keep them put up in this little guy, no one will come steal them when the dog's fur is matted?  Well, probably not...as they really are WONDERful for cutting matted furballs out.  Ask me how I know that!
Here he is again, hanging out with Hugo's Amazing Tape, a little closer to my sewing machine (hint, hint...after all, these ARE embroidery scissors).
 Now he's down on my cutting mat, hanging out with some Wonderfil DecoBob prewound bobbins.  They make embroidery sooooo much easier and efficient!  Oh, and that little gap that was in the upper right section of the wing?  Gone.  I was able to trim the pieces to match each other and you can't even tell where I goofed up.
 I bet you were wondering where that batik fabric went, weren't you!?  It's used as a lining, inside the wing piece, and on the back, to cover up the "wrong" side and the jump stitches.  So, really, if you didn't have matching or coordinating fabric in your stash, it'd be ok...no one's going to see it anyway.

Zandra's home is South Africa, but she's currently on a USA Tour giving free trunk shows, how sweet is that?!  You may want to check her schedule to see if she's giving a show near you.  If not, you can contact your local quilt shops or sewing centers to have them contact Zandra and see if they can schedule a special presentation for you and your friends.

Be sure to join me in visiting all the other talented ladies to see what they've sewn up for SewCalGal's Fall Embroidery Blog Hop:

Monday, Nov 4th
Tuesday, November 5th
Wednesday, November 6th
Thursday, November 7th
Friday, November 8th


A big THANK YOU to Kelly,  SewCalGal and Zandra...I had a lot of fun sharing my little owls with you all!

GIVEAWAY TIME

Want to make your own scissor pocket or one of the other beautiful designs at Embroider Shoppe?
If you answered YES, then hop on over to the Embroider Shoppe and leave a comment on this post telling me which design is your favorite.  The winner will be announced on Monday, Nov. 11th.

A little birdie told me that the Embroider Shoppe has 25% off all of their Christmas designs so you won't want to miss out on the sale.

Karin

It's Kelly here, I just want to say...we get by with help from our friends!

With much gratitude,
Kelly


45 comments:

  1. Thank you Karin and Kelly. Love your ME tips and inspirational stitchout of these cute scissor keepers. The design looks complicated to stitch out to me but you make it look easy. And your tips are appreciated.

    Looks like a perfect ME project to stitch out for gifts but I'm also thinking that this might make a super inspirational pocket for sharing words of encouragement to kids and loved ones. You've certainly inspired me to create with this design. so cute

    SewCalGal
    www.sewcalgal.blogspot.com

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  2. There are several designs I love. The coin purses are a favourite, but the cupcake pincushion are also great.

    Thanks!

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  3. I would like to create a scissor pocket and I hope to find that interesting fabric made out of recycled materials that Karin stitched on. The Russian Floral Quilt design is pretty.

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  4. I love their free standing flowers - would love the hibiscus pattern!

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  5. I love #207 James the Bear. I think it would be totally cool to sew several in different batiks. And what is not to love about a teddy bear made in the hoop?

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  6. I like the 3D Flowers, the coin purses and the scissor keepers - too much choice!! Lovely designs!!

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  7. I've looked and looked, and those scissor pockets are still my favorite!

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  8. That owl is so stinkin' cute. I'm liking the mouse ornaments today. Trying to get in the Christmas spirit a little earlier this year so I actually get gifts done before the night before Christmas.

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  9. Sorry Kelly is laid up but was glad to read this post, love the pockets...did a great job. Get well Kelly!!!! You are going to get to use to being laid up and not want to get up....

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  10. These scissors holders are really cute. I think the owl is my favorite.
    I have looked all over the Embroider Shoppe website and cannot find where to enter comments for the giveaway. Can you direct me?
    Thanks

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  11. I have to say I love all the crazy animal appliques. They are adorable. Thanks for sharing

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  12. Those are just darling designs and such a great idea. I also liked their little applique houses.

    Hope you are feeling better, Kelly.

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  13. What a great friend you are to step in and do this! #361- Pink Floral Cushion Cover was my favorite item there.

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  14. Love the owl and thanks for showing us :-)

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  15. Kitten and red poppies looks so great-my favorite.

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  16. I think I like the personality of the Owl!! Great job with the blog.

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  17. Those scissor holders are too cute! I also love the 3D flowers.....they are beautiful. And I am always drawn to little coin purses. She has so many beautiful designs.....it is hard to pick a favorite. I find a new favorite everytime I look!

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  18. I really like the scissor holders!! I need some desperately. I think my overall favorite group on the site is the Tea, Coffee and Cake.

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  19. The scissor pockets are still my favorite. I really like the way your owl looks! Thanks for the tips and giveaway.

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  20. This is such a good idea. I love the scissors pockets. Today my favorite is the ice cream cone--but I love them all.

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  21. Love this - my favorite is the Ice cream cone - so cute!

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  22. Great blog post! Your scissor pocket turned out wonderful and loved that you showed lots of pics along the way. Tons of cute things at Embroider Shoppe, the purse pincushion and the Dapple Dogs are two of my favorites. Hope you have a speedy recovery Kelly!

    Thank you for a super giveaway and the chance to win.

    usairdoll(at)gmail(dot)com

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  23. Super Duper Cute! My favorite is the owl. Looks like a fun in-the-hoop project. :-)

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  24. Wonderful post! Looks like a fun project to make.

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  25. Those scissors covers are really cute - I love the i.c. cone. I'm looking at the Mouse Christmas ornaments to use to make the grands ornaments for this year. Isn't the web fabulous - if I had to wait for snail mail to receive the designs, I'd be out of luck for Christmas '13. Our family Christmas is a short 5 weeks away!!!

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  26. Beautiful work. Thank you for the tutorial. Love the project.

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  27. Really cute and would make great little Christmas gifts for your friends.

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  28. Great post showing the awesome Owl Scissors ITH design. Love the colors you used.

    I see so many things I really love on their site. Today the 244 Quilted Handbag caught my eye. Beautiful purse.

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  29. So nice to have friends that pitch-hit for us. Thanks Karin for the great tutorial and the sweet scissor case. I really like the Cupcake Feast embroideries...kinda makes me hungry! Hope you are feeling better each day Kelly!!

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  30. I love the scissor keep. Great job with your ITH creation. Nice job with your stablaizer too... This looks perfect.

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  31. The scissor keep designs are adorable! I don't even remember seeing them on Zandra's site. What a great gift idea, too -- especially if you tuck a new pair of scissors inside. Beautiful job!

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  32. Kelly I love their 3 d flower designs

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  33. So many amazing designs. I particularly liked the 3D butterflies.

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  34. My favorite is also the owl.

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  35. i love the Christmas kids, thanks for the chance

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  36. Thank you for the tips. I'm new to ME and trying to learn as much as I can. I love the owl scissor holder too. I would like to try it!

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  37. I love the vinatge tea set, but I also really like #243 Scissor Pockets and would love to make those for my round robin group.

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  38. Coffee Break is my favourite, thanks for the chance to win!

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  39. Karin, that is adorable! And what a perfect choice to honor Farnsworh, that handsome owl. WOW!

    Gosh, the vintage tea set applique designs are cute, as are he scissor pockets. Those are just presh!

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  40. Karin your blog post was so much fun to read and your scissor keeper is awesome! I would love to try Zandra's quilted bag, it looks like a lot of fun too.

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  41. The scissor keeper is great.

    I would have to say my favorite design is #406- St. Joseph Lily I am allergic to most flowers but these I could have.

    syvisser@gmail(dot)com

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  42. What a good idea, I love the owl.

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  43. Love the owl design. It is great and looks like it would whip up fast. Thanks so much for sharing

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  44. The scissor pocket is super cute! I love the Dapple dog in the shop too! thanks!

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Thank you for reading the IHAN Blog. I love getting and reading every comment that is left here; however I may not be able to respond to all comments left during giveaways. There are times when I am juggling many tasks at one time and may not reply to all comments. Please e-mail me at quiltnotions@gmail.com if you need a reply quickly. I thank you for your understanding and-
More Later-Beth

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