No-Cal Sundaes and More Eye-Candy ...

 

These sweet little sundaes are not fattening at all because they are pincushions! I made one of these as a donation for a raffle basket and showed it in a post here. At our quilt show where the basket was offered, a visitor saw the pincushion and asked if I'd make some for her. Here's the result! The pincushion requires simple supplies- fabric scraps, floss, beads, fiber-fil, glass marbles, glue, and an ice cream dish. And voila! A sundae pincushion happens.

The pincushion itself is pieced from 8 fabric wedges to form what looks like a big yo-yo which is stuffed with fiber-fil. The wedges are then stitched and wrapped with embroidery floss to shape the piece and give it some oomph. The topper is one of my T-shirt beads (cotton ball wrapped with cotton knit strips and beaded). And I used E-6000 glue to attach the pincushion to the glass dish. That part was a little tricky because I didn't want the glue to be visible, so targeting the right areas on the dish and the pincushion took some finesse. There are three more dishes to fill, so I better get busy. 

And while we are speaking of sewing and donations, I also made this cute Boxer dog pillow. Our son is launching a new business called Carolina Real Food for Dogs (healthy, fresh-prepped dog food). He'll be introducing it at a dog-friendly event near Charlotte, NC, on April 9 (rain date April 10) called Carolina Bark Fest. The Carolina Boxer Rescue group will have a tent at the event, so I donated the pillow and a fabric covered journal for their fundraising efforts. I found the Boxer panel and the fabric prints on Etsy. I'm planning to attend Bark Fest- if you are near there, come and join in the fun!

Let's not forget the cats! This adorable wool felt, stitched and beaded cat was made by fellow art maker and animal lover Jan Brattain of Laughing Dog Arts blog. Jan doesn't blog as much now, but you can find her on Instagram. Jan made this kitty heart as a gift for a friend. She started it some time back after seeing the free tutorial on Design Matters which I linked in my previous post, but had set it aside. As things work in the creative world, Jan saw the motto cushion posted in this blog and was inspired to pull out her project again and finish it. She gave permission to show the finished project here. Isn't it wonderful.... right down to the whiskers? I just love the whimsical nature of kitty, and I love how we keep each other going creatively! Now I think I need to make more of these.  If you just love these, too, check out the free tutorial linked above, and get even more ideas from artist Jane LaFazio. She has a gallery portfolio of the many heart-shaped felt milagros she's made and she offers an online class for stitching them. Happy stitching, and thanks to Jan for sharing her project.

All Hearts...

 

Phew! It's been some time since I've posted on this blog. That's because life took a turn. You've probably heard the saying, "Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans."? That quote is attributed to John Lennon. It's been kind of like that around here. My husband Jack fell and fractured his hip which turned out to the the least of the problems. All sorts of other issues emerged when he was admitted to the hospital. So after a week's stay and two surgeries, he's finally at home to begin a recovery. This has been a very looooong month and there's more to resolve. Lots of plans got moved to the back burner, including sewing and crafting. This sweet stitched and stuffed heart was among them.

I had intended to complete it in time for Valentine's Day, but it's bead- and stitch-intensive, so it just moved along at its own slow pace. It's a "motto cushion" made from a free pattern and tutorial from Design Matters. It was fun and relaxing to sew and the motto "devoted" seemed to reflect my role as caregiver over these past weeks. You can make one with simple supplies including felt, beads, embroidery floss, and stuffing.

Because we've been somewhat confined to home, I also find that the online classes I so enjoy provided some fun and creative outlets.  A yearlong class called Fodder School offers monthly instruction for mixed media art methods to make "collage fodder"- little bits to include in journals or use for cards and other projects. It really feeds into my goal of mastering watercolor techniques. "Master" may be too ambitious. "Get along with" might better sum up my relationship with watercolors. The background and tiny heart are two of the bits from the course and the dog is a commercial die cut image. Of course I love sewing on the papers that result from my efforts, too.

I'm looking forward to completing some larger sewing projects and to returning to "normal" activities in the days ahead. And hopefully there won't be a big time lapse like this one between blog posts. Thank you for following and reading!