Mother’s Day flower embroidery hoop…

With Mother’s day just around the corner, I thought this cute little project, would make a lovely gift. you could even change the words and give the hoop for a special birthday or occasion.

Download my free pattern using the link below

Mother’s-Day-flower-hoopDownload

Whilst making this project, I came across this amazing thread gloss by Thread Joy, made with natural untreated British Bees wax and high quality fragrance oil.

The thread gloss come in different blends, which Claire at Thread Joy has chosen to evoke feelings of well-being, and allows you to match your mood to your stitching. Whilst I was embroidering the lettering I used the Release blend, which has been created to DE-stress, as it uses a blend of Ylang Ylang and Neroli, and it smells divine, like you have a calming candle burning in the room. It was brilliant at avoiding all these pesky tangles in my thread, and made sewing a dream.

Head to Claire’ Etsy shop to purchase yours.

https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/THREADJOYthreadgloss?ref=simple-shop-header-name&listing_id=935311762

Find out more about Thread Joy by heading over to their Instagram page

https://www.instagram.com/threadjoy_threadgloss/

I cant recommend this enough, and one pot will last ages, the only tricky part is choosing which blend to choose. These made a beautiful gift for yourself and for anyone who is into their embroidery, Thread Joy pride themselves on their beautiful packaging and its all fully recyclable.

Happy sewing, I cant wait to see your embroidery hoops

Follow me here on my blog, and share with friends, you can also find/tag me on Instagram and Facebook with your makes.

‘Do what makes your heart smile’
Happy Sewing

Michelle

Roald Dahl – The Witches…

Do you remember reading the book? well Craftcotton have just released a collection of Roald Dahl fabrics… I couldn’t resist turning some of them into a cute satchel

‘You really are a very clever little mouse’ fabric was just too cute to not use as the main outer fabric, I added the frogs for the pocket, and the Witches for the lining.

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This pattern is available from Debbie Shore ‘Satchels’ book, with templates and really easy to follow step-by-step instructions.

To see how I used the ‘Witches’ fabrics, download my tutorial, at the link below

craftcotton-witches-satchelDownload

Follow me here on my blog, and share with friends, you can also find me on Instagram and Facebook

‘Do what makes your heart smile’

Happy Sewing

Michelle

light at the end of the tunnel…

Can I see the light at the end of the tunnel?

Quilt Now have just released its first publication since lock down, and the magazine is absolutely packed full of inspiration and exciting things to make… and I’m thrilled to be featured inside, in fact I have my first pull-out supplement…

Inside you’ll find information about the history of the Dresden quilt, the Dresden ruler and my pattern to make the quilt with matching cushion, using the beautiful fabrics from Riley Blake ‘Sweet Honey Kisses’

These beautiful photos were taken by Quilt Now…

 

 

Follow me here on my blog, and share with friends, you can also find me on Instagram and Facebook

‘Do what makes your heart smile’

Happy Sewing

Michelle

 

 

Island Batik June Challenge…

Can you believe its June already…

If I’m honest everyday seems to feel the same at the minute, but today I will celebrate June by sharing with you my Island Batik June project

This months challenge was a ‘free’ theme, that meant we could make anything, using any fabric from box 1… I couldn’t resist using more fabrics from the stunning ‘Northern Lights’ collection from Kathy Engle for Island Batik.

I had been given a sample of Vlieseline R200, a new thermo insulating wadding… Its is lush. Vlieseline have developed two new thermo-insulating waddings made using 100% recycled polyester: R80 and R 200. These exceptional waddings have a high migration resistance so they will retain their shape and smooth handle, even after washing. They are suitable for use with all fabrics and are great for quilts, patchwork, bag making and garment applications. R200 is a more substantial, extremely bulky wadding with a soft handle.  It can be hand sewn and is washable to 40°

I chose to make a cat bed, I have four cats, and they love to sleep on my quilts (usually when I’m trying to quilt them), so this one could be theirs…

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I made a row of 6″ hearts using different fabrics form the collection

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I quilted the row of hearts and this created the surrounding edge for my cat bed

I self covered 4 small buttons, and these were added to the base of the cat cushion

I hand sewed the surrounding edge to the base, and the cat bed was ready for its first guest…

One very happy and comfy mog

I couldn’t resist sharing a few more photos of my cat making herself comfortable

Follow me here on my blog, and share with friends, you can also find me on Instagram and Facebook

‘Do what makes your heart smile’

Happy Sewing

Michelle

Island batik December challenge…

I’m closing this year with my Island Batik December challenge ‘3D challenge’.

With my presents bought and wrapped, I thought it would be lovely to add some special touches to the Christmas table.

I love the art of fabric manipulation, so I decided on making some fabric flowers, perfect for napkin rings, present toppers and decorating a special bottle of bubbly for friends or family.

There are many different flowers you can create, simply by changing the shape of each petal, i’l show you a couple of ways…

Cut six 4″ circles, per flower, press in half, then into quarter. Repeat for all six circles

Using Aurifil 100% cotton No 12 , weave small stitches along the outer raw edge, thread each petal , then pull tight and join to the first petal to create a secure circle.

Create different size flowers, by reducing / increasing the starting circle. The larger flower shown is made from 4″ circles, the smaller one is made from 2″ circles. These can now be sewn on top of each other, and finished off with a decorative centre. I used a small Christmas bell from Groves. Secure ribbon to the back in a loop, to hold the napkin in place

An alternative flower can be created by cutting a 4″ circle, and divided up into 8 equal triangles. Stitch along the raw edge as before and secure into a circle

Ribbon can be sewn to the back of flower, so they can secured to a napkin, a bottle of bubbly or a present

A special touch for a special gift, or a special celebration/occasion

Hope this has inspired you to get creative this holiday season.

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas, and every happiness in 2020

Huge thank you to each and every one of you who has followed me on my journey this year. Each comment truly does make my day

Follow me here on my blog, you can also find me on Instagram and Facebook

‘Do what makes your heart smile’

Happy Sewing

Michelle

Feeling creative?

Yesterday, was the first day I’ve been home alone for 6 weeks, yes it was back to school time for all four of my boys, and boy did my house feel empty and soooo quiet…

So I set myself a little challenge to create different ways to use an embroidery hoop.

First up, was a reminder hoop, I thought it could be hung by the door, to hold little messages…

Here’s how I made it… Really simple, but quite effective, would make a beautiful gift too…

Then I included a pocket, the fabric I used is a super soft Jersey fabric, so it had a little stretch in it, perfect for a nursery…

Here’s how I made it… My son thought it was adorable, and wants it hanging in his room 😊

These are all great scrap busting projects, but this last one, is perfect if you have a special piece of fabric, or a piece left over from something special you have made…

And there they were… And before I knew it the boys were home, complaining about being hungry and arguing with each other – back to normal, and just the way I like it 😊

Thanks for reading, hope this post has inspired you to get creative.

You can follow me here on my blog, and can also find me on Instagram and Facebook

‘Do what makes your heart smile’

Happy Sewing

Michelle

Daisy Chain Parade…

Today I’m sharing my finished Mystery Daisy Chain Top Quilt…

This quilt along was hosted by Alison @honeybunnyanddoll . Its been a beautiful quilt to make. I chose Tilda off white solid for the background, available from @grovesltd . Cotton supreme for the Focal and Accent fabric, available from @cottonandsteel, and included some lovely butterfly fabric from the Panorama collection also available from @cottonandsteel

Step one was to cut out all the pieces, I has no clue at this stage how this quilt was going to pan out, but I was pleased with my colour choice

I will be honest, the worst part of this quilt was joining all these little squares, I chain pieced them to speed up the process.

I am making the throw size quilt, so I needed LOTS of these, it was a great relief to have them all sewn together, I was super pleased with the joins in the center

And my cat kept me company along the way…

Over the next few weeks, we were given more clues, and began making more little blocks, but I still couldn’t work out this mystery

Next came the really exciting part, we began joining the smaller blocks to create these beautiful blocks, and I couldn’t resist playing around with a few ideas to possibly solve the mystery

No I didn’t guess right, but I absolutely love the finished design

Ta Da!

Ready to quilted, watch this space 🙂

To see all the finished quilts from the Mystery Daisy Chain Quilt Along, head over to Alison blog https://littlebunnyquilts.blogspot.com

Follow me here on my blog, you can also find me on Instagram and Facebook

‘Do what makes your heart smile’

Happy Sewing

Michelle

Easter Bunting with Giveaway…

Hello,

With less then a week til Easter, I thought I’d write a cute little tutorial for making some adorable and super quick Easter Bunting.

All the Fabrics and Accessories used in this tutorial are available from Groves

www.grovesltd.co.uk/ourproductrange

Email us:
groves@stockistenquiries.co.uk

www.facebook.com/GrovesLtd/

Download my free print friendly tutorial here

Groves Easter Bunting PDF

Head over to my Instagram page (using the link below) to find out how you can be in with a chance of winning 4 yards of the beautiful pastel tassel trim, to add to your Easter bunting

You can follow me here on my blog, and you can also find me on Instagram and Facebook

‘Do what makes your heart smile’

Happy Sewing and Happy Easter

Michelle @creativeblonde

Sunday and still going strong…

Hello, thanks for stopping by to read what I’ve been up to this week…

I’m feeling just a little bit pleased with myself ,as I’m keeping on top of the quilt-a-longs I’ve signed up to, so here is where I’m at so far…

First up – Daisy chain QAL hosted by Amanda @honeybunnyanddoll this week was all about sewing together Unit A, I’m itching to find out what this will look like when its finished, so is my cat 🙂

As I’m making the Throw size, I had 39 of these traditional 4 square blocks to make

The start of March brings with it, the next in the colour challenge block, hosted by Jen @patternsbyjen,  this month is BLUE… I’ve used an array of Beautiful Blue Batiks from @island_batik, and Gutermann threads.

I’m still busy sewing along with the weekly flower bouquet hosted by Pat @quilterpatsloan, can you believe we have reached block 10 of 20 already? I’m using Gutermann fabrics from the Portofino collection for all my blocks, along with Gutermann threads

The next block in the Modern HST BOM hosted by Steph @stephjacobsondesigns, is now available, I was keeping to a bit of a blue theme this week. I’m using Island Batiks and Guterman threads

The last sew along I need to update you with, is the Mystery QAL, hosted by Tracy @itsatsweetsday, this is where we are given one particular fabric which we need to include in our final make, along with whichever fabrics we like. this quarter the fabric is an adorable mouse fabric @lewisandirenefabrics, I’ve decided to make a paper piecing project, adding some fabrics from Moda and Stoffabrics

This week I was asked to play around with some accessories from Groves, so I decided to make a few simple Mothers Day gifts, my tutorials are suitable for beginners. You can download my patterns below 🙂

 

Mothers Day Gift ideas – key fobs

 

Mothers Day Gift ideas – keyrings

 

Mothers Day Gift ideas

‘Do what makes your heart smile’

Check out my Instagram and Facebook page @creativeblonde66

~Michelle~

x creativeblonde x

Have I bitten off more then I can chew…

Wow, another week has gone by already…  although I’m very happy to say goodbye to today, as we in the UK have been hit by storm Eric, its not so bad, compared to other weather issues in the world, but I honestly felt like I’d been pushed through one of those automatic car wash places with the giant rotating scrubbing brushes after returning home from the school run.

I’ve so much to tell you about, and as the title reads ‘I may have been off more then I can chew’..

Join this QAL?,

What about this one?

Ooo this QAL looks good!

Oh wow I have to join this QAL…

Yes I spent January doing too much of this, and now I’m involved in so many, but secretly I do love a QAL, I love to see what others create and I love the sewing circle of chatter.

So here is this week progress…

I couldn’t resist playing with these adorable buttons by Trimit, available from Groves. they would make a super cute addition to any make.

After getting distracted, I pulled myself back on track, and completed month two of the colour challenge hosted by Jen @patternsbyjen , this month the colour is PINK! I used Primrose and carnation fabrics from Island Batik, teamed with some pretty variegated threads from Gutermann

Next up is the weekly ‘Flower Bouquet’ QAL hosted by Pat @quilterPatsloan, we are on week 6 already…  this month was a double block (I know, I’m a week behind, I didn’t think you would notice). I’ve created these blocks using the Gutermann Portofino fabric collection and threads

Keeping on track, I thought I’d get this months Charity quilt blocks made, Elaine @greenandscratchy has gone for bright blocks, so I knew some Batik fabrics would be perfect. I wanted to be organised, as next month I’m the sewing bee mama, so that mean I have to come up with a design, sew everyone’s blocks together to create a gorgeous quilt for the siblings together charity @siblingstogetherquiltgroup

Moda are hosting a ‘Moda Love Quilt’, its a free pattern, and come is various sizes. I decided to make the Charm size. I’ve used ‘dreamer’ by Carrie Bloomston available from @windhamfabrics together with the ‘love you’ by Sandy Gervais available from Moda, teamed with a red batik fabric. This QAL is open til February 14th, so you still have time to whip up this beautiful pattern over the weekend @modafabrics

The last QAL which I’m all up to date with, is the Modern HST Block of the month, hosted by Steph @stephjacobsondesigns , I’ve decided to stick with bright Batiks and Black, this month I’ve gone purple, I absolutely love this mauve thread from Gutermann…

Some exciting new to end on, I’ve chosen my fabrics for the Daisy Chain mystery QAL hosted by Amanda and Alison @honeybunnyanddoll and @littlebunnyalison, so it definitely not to late to join in, as its only just started…

I’ve chosen’ Panorama’ fabrics and ‘supreme solids’ from Cotton and Steel @cottonandsteel

Thanks for sticking around and reading till the end, I hope this post brings you some lovely inspiration for the weekend ahead – enjoy!

‘Do what makes your heart smile’

Check out my Instagram and Facebook page @creativeblonde66

~Michelle~

x creativeblonde x