Halloween- quick and easy!

Cindy was very busy while Lori was at convention. You saw in my last post the new Halloween fabric display.  Well, she stitched out this easy table runner using this pattern and they are now in stock.  'Snappy Splendor' is the perfect pattern for any holiday or occasion and a quick stitch out if you are short on time.

The bench outside our front door is the perfect backdrop for my photo shoots.  

The 10 degree rulers are now in stock so this notion makes the cutting of the fabric pieces even easier.

Stop by the store soon so you can pick up the pattern, fabric and ruler and get it done before the stroke of midnight on October 31st!

It time to stitch for Halloween!

Halloween is my favorite holiday!  When my children were young, I enjoyed decorating the house, sewing their costumes and making pumpkin cookies with them.  Ironically the only choices for fabrics in the 80's were black or orange solid fabrics.

But all of that has changed!  New Halloween fabric arrived yesterday and I am inspired!  Check out this display including our new fabric from Henry Glass.

These cute little pumpkin faces glow in the dark.

Ghosts on Orange and Black backgrounds and the candelabra glows in the dark!

I was able to find several great project ideas on Pinterest. But Cindy did a fantastic job in creating this quick and easy table topper.

She cut 5  2.5" strips of fabric and stitched them together using a 1/4" seam.  She then used a 60 degree ruler and cut them into 6 sections alternating the position of the ruler for each cut.  The next step was to stitch them together to create the topper.

Add the batting and backing and then the binding for a quick and easy finished table topper.

Stop in and pick up a 1/4 yard of each of our Halloween fabric and create a few of your own easy table toppers!

Sewing Sisters - All About Needles

Our first Sewing Sisters event was held this past Saturday.  As Diane A said - 'What can you possibly teach me about needles? ' Well, Diane was pleasantly surprised after the class was over as she learned a number of invaluable tips regarding sewing machine needles.

I learned an invaluable tip as well from Linda B and I am going to share it first in this blog post.  I have been throwing away all of my used sewing machine needles- 'oy, the clutter'.  But no more.  

In the Hari-Kuyo ceremony, Japanese women gather once a year on February 8th at Shinto shrines or Buddhist temples to thank their worn out needles and pins for good service.

The celebration is known as the Festival of Broken Needles. The burial of the needles is meant to bring rest to the needles and give thanks for their service. Also another aspect is to give value to the 'small things' and not be wasteful. So now I will save my needles in a container and bury them on February 8, 2019 and celebrate their part in my creative inspiration.

I shared a few Pfaff projects from the blog post. One of my favorite is this 'Needle Minder project' from Melanie L.  Her suggestions are to use the pocket to hold the 'MyPad for Needles" organizer and create little pockets to hold your package of needles.  I added the lettering for my favorite varieties with my Pfaff icon machine. You can find the link for the project HERE. The link includes both the printed directions and the embroidery design.

Several of these are still available- you can pick one up at Scrap & Sew today!

I also featured the Cutwork needles (Teacher's Pet) and Two free projects from Pfaff.

HERE is the link to the Pillowcase project.  This is my version of the pillowcase, a perfect addition to my spare bedroom.

Another great cutwork project from the Pfaff blog can be found HERE.  

Last, but not least is my finished project from a Karen Charles event.  In this section I demonstrated how to sew pintucks with the Five Groove Pintuck foot and a 2.5 twin needle. Sandy C. suggested this should be a class and my creative is spinning on this one.

 It looked a little dull so I added the paint with the Tsuneko paints.

Here is another pintuck sample using a 6.0 twin needle on a blank hand towel.  The top design is an embroidery design found in the Premier+2 software.  The bottom are stitches from the Pfaff icon.

This lecture/demo is free to everyone and the next one will be "Going in Circles" on October 20th from 10-12:00 p.m.  You do not want to miss it!

Welcome to Fall 2018 Class Preview at Scrap & Sew!

Yes, indeed we are a wild bunch but we are having so much fun and we want you to join in on our frivolity! 

Minnie wants to join the fun as well!

Sarah and Mickey welcome you to our clubhouse!  But wait, there is so much more!  Here is the staff at Scrap & Sew ready to inspire and encourage you!

But what we need are 'Mouseketeers' and they are waiting for us to begin the festivities!  Check them out!

So the party begins!

Lori, our fabulous new owner welcomes everyone to the event. She has updated the store and made it look fresh and new, yet at the same time leaving the feel of the original Scrap and Sew.

But decorating alone does not make the difference to the success of the store.  It is you, our customers and we are so thankful for all of you. The teachers make a difference.  Our teachers inspire you and welcome you to our new fall schedule.

Lori will be teaching an Edge to eEge quilting class.  This class is perfect to practice your quilting in the hoop and the magnetic hoop is the best choice for this class.   Don't forget to buy extra magnets!

(Photo courtesy of Patricia Washam Gourieux)

How clever is this? Bat Moon Rising with Lori is ideal for practicing you curved piecing techniques.

Do you own an embroidery machine? Then we have classes for you!  Starting in September we will have TWO Embroidery Clubs per month.  The Monday line-up will be for any brand of embroidery machine, even if you bought your machine elsewhere. Our Icon and Epic Divas will have their very own class on Saturday  or Wednesday mornings. Adeline has a great line-up and it is possible to embroider two projects a month.

Cindy is our Premier software educator.  She is going to dazzle you with several new fall projects  for your holiday celebrations.

Tess and her daughter Abigail will both be teaching classes this fall. Abigail will be teaching two small quilting projects for the holidays.

Tess has updated her bag for the holidays and is teaching a unique method for making the Card Trick quilt.

Dominque is sharing her very creative serger cover with our group.  She will share this creativity again by teaching a very versatile fabric box with tons of possibilities. 

Theresa is teaching an 'oh-so' cute penguin quilt.

I hope you enjoyed this event as much as we did.  You can always count on Scrap & Sew for a good time!  We hope to see you all soon!

Tissue Box Thread Catcher tutorial

These thread catcher boxes are a perfect addition to your sewing space.  If you are like me, I have threads and small scraps all over the place.  To neaten up my sewing area, I stitched one and keep it right next to my icon.

If you missed getting your free pattern at class preview, stop by the store and pick one up.  If you do not live in the area, I have the pattern dimensions listed below.

9.25" from fold to cut edge

 

8.5" from top edge to bottom and 2" boxes cut in the corners.


Supplies: (this makes 2 tissue box thread catchers)
1 Fat quarter
Aurifil thread for construction
Empty upright tissue box.

Step #1- Fold the FQ vertically so it measures 9" x 22"

Step #2 - Pin the pattern close to the top and cut out pattern.  Re-pin the pattern again and cut out your second cover.

Step #3 -Press top hem 1/4 " , then 1/4 " again.  Pressing now makes it easier to topstitch in step #5.

Step #4 - Stitch back seam with a 1/4" seam, reversing at each end.  Press to one side.

Step #5 - Stitch the top hem, stitching close to the folded edge.

Step #6 - Fold the fabric right sides together so the raw edge of the bottom seams match.  Stitch with a 1/4 "  seam.  Reverse at each end.

Step #7 - With right sides together, line up the back seam with the bottom seam and stitch 1/4 ".  Repeat with the other bottom seam.

Step #8- Turn right side out and insert empty tissue box.

Set it next to your machine and throw all of your thread snips in here.  Believe me, your floor with thank you!

Make it SEW!

Fall is coming!

This time of year is definitely my favorite!  The weather cools down (OK, in October) and the stores are filled with fall decorations.  On my list of fall patterns, was this pattern from Indygo Junction.  This pumpkin trio is made with Crossroads denim but I used our new Grunge fabric.

This is actually a quick pattern if you alter the pattern directions for the stem and omit the leaves as I did.  I used felt for the stem and tightly rolled it and stuffed it into the top opening.

I am going to share with you a quick tutorial in how to make the curls on the pumpkins.  Do you save your scraps of Wet n Gone or Aqua Magic?  No, then you should!  I put the scraps in a zip lock baggie and reuse them as often as I can.  This is the perfect project for this technique.

Collect your supplies:

Scraps of Aqua Mesh

Plastic container of warm water

Twine or strips of burlap

Plastic straws - 'grab em while you can'

Paper towels

1.  Add the scraps to the warm water and stir with one of the straws until dissolved

2.  Cut of lengths of twine and submerged them into the container.

3.  Soak the twine until it is saturated with the solution.

4.  Wrap it around the straws - I vary the tightness of the wrap to get different looks.

Let them dry on the paper towel until thoroughly dry - usually a couple of hours.

Gently pull them off the straw and step back and admire your creativity! One of the reasons I use plastic straws is I have found they tend to stick to the wooden dowels.  I am a hunt for different size straws to add to my collection.

Here is a cute idea I found on Pinterest.  I just added a few of my own touches.  You just may find a few of these in our newly decorated bathroom!

You will need:

1 roll of toilet paper

Fat quarter of orange fabric - 18" x 22"

Burlap curls and embroidered leaf from the Viking Epic

Quick and easy!  Just tuck the corners of the fabric into the center and add the organza leaf and curls.  I did pin them into the roll to make sure they stayed put!

Not too many may guess this is your extra roll of TP!

I hope you give this technique a try.  You just may add twine curls to every project.  See you next time.