Friday, November 20, 2015

Farm Love Friday 11-20-15









Happy Friday dear friends! TGIF! We had almost 3 inches of rain here this week! The rain didn't stop these adorable little birds from gathering all my Black Eyed Susan seeds! My camera lens kept fogging up with the rain and fog! I hope the sun today and tomorrow will dry things up a bit here around the farm.
    I did get time with all the rain to stay indoors and put together a new Patchwork of the Crosses block for the ETSY shop. I love aqua, pink and red!
   A neighbor will be keeping her grandchildren during the Thanksgiving break and asked me to put together some little kits to teach them to sew. I made the little Hexagon Ornament/ Gift Tag sets above. It includes (42) 2 1/2" Christmas fabric squares and (42) 1" hexagon Card Stock templates, all in a cute collectible Christmas tin. Each kit will make 6 Ornaments/Gift tags. That should keep them busy for a few days! I made some extra for the shop also. You can choose Christmas prints or Moda Mini Charm kits. You can find them here! I think they would make great Guild gifts, teacher gifts and stocking stuffers too!
   Our next Sew Simple Saturday will be December 5th with a great 12wt Thread set from Aurifil thread and a gift certificate from the Fat Quarter Shop! I can't wait to see what Sew Simple tip, technique or tutorial everyone has to share! Be sure to link up for your chance to win one the great prizes available!
 Thank you for stopping by today! A huge WELCOME to my new friends and followers! Happy Sewing ya'll!
xo jan












Monday, November 9, 2015

The Life of Riley!



  While some people have to get on waders and raincoats , then go out into the cold rain to feed and water calves and cows, my rescue kitty, Riley, gets to catch up on his beauty sleep on a nice warm quilt! I think his name suits him very well!

Thank you to everyone that participated and visited in our Sew Simple Saturday! You guys shared some really great ideas and projects! Winners will be announced Wednesday and our next Sew Simple Saturday will be Dec. 5, 2015!

 Have a great Monday ya'll!
Thank you for stopping by!
xo jan

Saturday, November 7, 2015

Sew Simple Saturday 11/7/15


Hi everyone and welcome to another "Sew Simple Saturday link Up Party"! I have a cute and simple project to share today!
  Hexagons have become so popular in the sewing and quilting community ! They are everywhere! In quilts, bags, clothes, pillows, and table linens ( place mats, mug rugs and runners)! And it's not surprising because they are so fun and simple to make! There are Hexagon Flower swap groups and exchanges galore on face book!  One of the most recent is a Swap for 1" Hexie Flowers with your name or state written on the center hexie! How fun is that!
  I love making hexagon flowers to use as Ornaments and Gift tags too! I decided it would be really fun to embroider the center Hexagon with Holiday Wishes and Gift Recipient Names using my machine instead of using a permanent pen!
  I chose a neutral background fabric for the Hexagon Centers and used Aurifil 40 weight thread!  It worked like a charm!

  These were so fun! The "Georgia" one is for a swap! So much better than my handwriting! And I don't have to worry about it washing out or fading.



Here are the supplies you will need to create a Gift Tag or Ornament:


A few scraps of fabric for your Hexie Flower petals.
A Neutral fabric for the centers. Use a larger piece since you will need to embroider it on your machine. You can use the Hexagon acrylic to center your embroidery and cut out your fabric hexagons.
7 Hexagon cardstock templates or use freezer paper. These are 3/4". The Georgia one is 1".
Glue pen for basting or you can thread baste.
Fine sewing needle.
Matching Aurifil thread. Pictured above are Color numbers 2870 (Green)and 2250 (Red)
Aurifloss or Ribbon for hanging.
Pen for tracing.
A piece of cardstock for the back of the hexie flower
And a piece of fabric or an old Christmas card for the backing.


I used the green and gold star fabric for my petals. Just cut the fabric using the acrylic template and glue or thread baste around the cardstock templates. Then sew your petals to the center hexagon and whipstitch the petals together.This is what the back looks like:

Lay your hexie flower on the large piece of Card Stock and trace around it.


Cut out on the traced line. Then lay your cardstock flower onto your backing fabric, trace around your cardstock flower.

Cut out the fabric adding a seam allowance. Glue baste the edges down.


Your finished back.

I created a little hanging thread using Aurifloss. You can remove the paper templates from the hexie flower or leave them in. I like to leave them in to make the flower sturdier.
Sandwich the front , hanging threads and backing together. You can whip stitch the edges together or simply use a glue gun!
 Here is the completed Gift Tag. I will add a little red Bow below the name. I also want to make some with old Christmas cards for the back.

You can also make a Hexagon Wreath by omitting the center Hexagon as shown in the photo below. Then you can hang a little Bell or Ornament in the Center.


 I was really happy to finally use some of those Embroidery Stitches on my machine! The Aurifil 40 wt thread worked great. I can't wait to make more Gift Tags and ornaments! I do have the Hexagon acrylics and cardstock templates available in my ETSY shop. In both 3/4" and 1" sizes.  The kit above is sold out however.

 I hope you enjoyed my Sew Simple project!
  Our fabulous sponsors have two great prizes for Linky participants this month!
 Aurifil thread has generously donated a Four Large Spool set of these great Neutrals in 50 wt for one lucky participant! These colors are fantastic and blend beautifully!

And the Fat Quarter Shop is offering a Gift certificate to one lucky participant!




Woohoo!!

  Now lets get this party started and link up your Sew Simple ideas, tips, techniques and tutorials!

Here are a few tips and guidelines!

1. Using the Linky tool below,  link to your blog post or face book post.
2. Be sure your face book post is set to public so we can all see it.
3. Be sure to link to your actual blog/facebook post not your blog/facebook homepage. We want to be able to find your Sew Simple link!
4.Please post the Sew Simple Saturday Button ( the button and HTML code are on the right sidebar of this blog)  somewhere on your blog OR include the text link in your post. It helps to spread the word. The more people that link up, the more fun and encouragement we will receive!
5.Visit as many of the other link ups as possible. Everyone loves to gain feedback on their hard work. And be sure and spread the comment love far and wide!
6. Following my blog is not a requirement, but it is greatly appreciated, plus you won't miss a thing!
7. Be sure and stop by our sponsors , Aurifil  and Fat Quarter Shop, and let them know how much you appreciate their continued support and giveaways! They are the most awesome companies that truly love our community!

Two winners will be chosen from the Linky participants using Random Number Generator and the two winners will be announced Wednesday November 11,2015!

This Link-up will be available Saturday November 7th through 10:00 pm EST Sunday November 8th!
Please stop by and visit as many people as you can! Who knows what neat idea or tip you may come across!
Now,  let's make some friends and let's PARTY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
xo jan