Showing posts with label spring. Show all posts
Showing posts with label spring. Show all posts

Friday, April 4, 2014

New Pattern for April

So who's ready for spring?
It can never come soon enough for me!
To celebrate its faithful return, I'm offering a new pattern, "Garden Blooms".
It measures 56" x 56" and features a large flower medallion in the center.
It's actually so new, I'm just putting the finishing touches on the pattern today, but it will be available for sale on the New Patterns page of my website, www.countryquilts.ca, within an hour or two!
Hope you like it!
Merry, merry spring, everyone!

Sunday, February 16, 2014

New Pattern for Spring


I admit it--winter is my least favourite season.  So to get me in the mood for spring, I made up this little guy and christened him Benny Bunny.
He measures about 22" long, from the tips of his ears to the bottom of his big feet and is wearing his favourite overalls.
You can download the pattern here: http://www.patternmart.com/pattern/18136/Benny+Bunny
Here's to an early spring!

Friday, January 4, 2013

Happy 2013!

Hi friends,
I'm back!
Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and that 2013 will be your best year yet!
My year has got off to a great start. I received an email today from my favourite quilt magazine, "Primitive Quilts and Projectsthat a quilt I designed for them is featured on the cover of their Spring 2013 issue!
How cool is that???
(Can you tell I'm a little excited?)
Also, if you'd like to purchase a subscription to this wonderful magazine, use this code (DSMSP13) and you'll get a free pattern.  Just go to their website, www.primitivequiltsandprojects.com and sign up.
I'm busy working on a bunch more projects so stay tuned!

 



Sunday, March 4, 2012

Ever-blooming Daffodils--a tutorial

Spring certainly can't come soon enough for me!
If you feel the same way, you can speed up its arrival in your home by making a bunch of these fabric daffodils.
Cut a 4 1/2" square of muslin.
Fold in half and sew the long edges together with a 1/4" seam.
Turn the piece right side out until the raw edges meet at the bottom, forming a little tube.
Copy this template onto graph paper and cut out.
Pin the template to a double layer of muslin and sew all the way around it.
Trim the muslin 1/4" outside of the stitching.
Square off the points and clip into the curves.
Separate the muslin layers and carefully make a tiny cross incision through one of the layers.
Turn the shape right side out through this opening.
I used a pointy chopstick to get into the points.
Make gathering stitches about 1/4" from the raw edges of the tube.
Gather tightly and knot off.
Insert the gathered edge of the tube into the little hole in the daffodil.
Turn the edges of the hole to the inside and stitch the tube to the folded edges.
Thin some antique gold paint with a little water and paint the entire daffodil, starting with inside the tube.
When dry, sand gently with fine sandpaper.
Separate the layers of fabric and carefully cut a tiny horizontal slit into just the back layer.
Drip some hot glue into the hole.
Immediately insert a stick into the hole and up into the petal.
And that's it!
Enjoy your ever-blooming spring daffodils!

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Another Spring Chick

Here's another quick and easy idea to add a bit of spring to your home.
Make a few of these little egg-shaped chicks,
hot-glue one to the center of an old jar lid,
and stuff some spanish moss in around it!
You can download the chick pattern at Patternmart.
Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Monday, February 13, 2012

Free Pattern - Spring Chick Table Mat

The sun is shining, my bulbs are starting to poke their leaves through the soil, and it's starting to feel a lot like spring.  Hurray! (I hate winter, can you tell?)
So I thought I'd share a little table mat you can make to celebrate the promise of new life that spring brings.
All you need to make this is two 8" squares of green felt, a 6" square of light yellow felt, and a scrap of gold felt.  (I used National Nonwoven's Reet's Relish, Native Maize, and Butternut Squash.)  Plus embroidery floss to match (I used DMC 676, 730, 782, and black) and some freezer paper.
Trace the following template onto graph paper and then onto the dull side of the freezer paper.
Iron the freezer paper onto the felt and cut out 2 mat shapes and 6 chick and beak shapes.  Whip stitch the beaks onto the chicks with 1 strand of matching floss.  Use 2 strands of black floss to make French knots for the eyes.  Pin the chicks onto one of the mat shapes and whip stitch each into place with 1 strand of matching floss.  Pin the 2 mat shapes together and blanket stitch around the outside edge with 2 strands of matching floss.
Voila!  How simple was that?
Happy spring everyone!

Friday, April 15, 2011

A Week in the Life

Have you checked out my website, www.countryquilts.ca, lately?
I've been busy dying wool to sell...
 And I've added new patterns, kits, and sale patterns.
Speaking of new patterns, I just have to show you some tiny glimpses of a few of the quilts that will be included in my next book with Martingale, due out next summer.
Mary Flynn at www.quilthollow.com is doing the machine quilting on some of them.
I just love her ideas!
Aren't they wonderful?
 Yesterday was a bit crazy--I woke up to this!
Almost unheard of in BC in mid-April!
But today it's gone and it feels more like spring is on its way.
I designed this little cross-stitch to share with you.
Happy spring, everyone!