the juki

Thanks to a very generous birthday gift last week, a pretty new sewing machine arrived on my doorstep yesterday. I think I'm in love.

2011 calendars: rosettes

So for the third calendar panel (here's one and here's two), I decided to keep things simple. I tacked down some grosgrain ribbon in the top left corner and hand-stitched three turquoise rosettes to the panel that I had made as potential wedding accessories back in 2009, but had never used. I finished the calendar by backing it with this fabric.

The calendar is simple, and came together the quickest of the three, but I love how it turned out. Now I just need to finish the fourth calendar panel which is for our house, which is currently sitting on my workbench, untouched...

featured on brides.com!

Photo by Shannon Renee Photography

Last fall, I was contacted by Brides.com to create a custom cross-stitch dog bandanna for a photo shoot that would be featured on the wedding web site. I stitched one up using some lovely yellow gingham from the local five-and-dime, and after a bit of waiting, I'm happy to report that my bandanna is among the adorable wedding day accessories for dogs that are now featured in the online photo spread!

Photo by Shannon Renee Photography

I will soon be adding a custom bandanna listing to the shop (which is now reopened after a much-needed vacation!), but feel free to contact me in the meantime if you're interested in a custom order or have any questions.

2011 calendars: embroidery

For the second 2011 calendar I worked on (here's the first), I decided to incorporate a little bit of embroidery. Using only navy embroidery floss, I stitched up a pattern designed by SeptemberHouse.

I used a variety of embroidery stitches, including the satin stitch (which I usually avoid, but now no longer fear), and I then backed the entire panel with this fabric by Kathy Davis.

2011 calendars: patchwork

Two years ago, I fell in love with SeptemberHouse's calendar panels. So last year, I decided to order a few and customize them for the family members on my holiday list. Over the next few weeks, I'll be sharing the calendars that I made with you. 

For the first calendar, I made a mini quilt from scraps in my bin. I appliqued the patchwork piece to the calendar panel and then used navy embroidery floss to quilt it.

To finish it, I added ribbon loops to the top of the panel and then backed it with some Japanese fabric I was given a few years ago.

P.S. Thank you to Melissa for spotlighting "Welcome to Our Year" on her blog, Oh, My Darling!

embroidery project: potholder

Last summer, I made my grandmother an embroidered potholder for her July birthday using this tutorial by Maggie Makes. (These pictures were taken last summer in Vermont, hence the bright sunshine and green grass in the background. Sadly, Maryland looks nothing like this right now.)

The potholder is lined with ThinsulBrite and embroidered with variegated floss I found at a thrift store in Austin before we moved. I love how the potholder turned out so much that I'm currently putting together another one for myself.

This Will Be Our Year (Took a Long Time to Come)

Tomorrow, a new collaborative show opens at Assemble Shop and Gallery in Seattle, and I'm so excited to be one of the exhibiting artists. The show is centered around the theme This Will Be Our Year (Took a Long Year to Come), after The Zombies' song. This is my contribution to the show:

Here's my artist statement for the show:

This piece is about the highs and lows of relationships, and in particular, about deciding to embrace a moment, a year, and making the most of it. I used traditional "Welcome to Our Home" cross-stitch samplers as the inspiration for this piece, since those samplers often have a prominent place on a home's wall, welcoming visitors. In this case, the piece is meant to welcome the inhabitants of a home and serve as a daily reminder, an affirmation, of the possibility of a fresh start, no matter what has come before.

The piece is 10 inches wide--it's the largest piece I've ever stitched--and is done on linen aida cloth. It took what seemed like ages to stitch, but I'm happy with how it turned out. If you're in the Seattle area, I hope you'll stop by the show; it's up until February 8.