It’s been a very busy couple of weeks working on a wide-variety of sewing projects. Tango, Pa’s, Valentines, Stoles, oh my! And I have even more finished works to show, but they need to be “properly” photographed.
It is time for me to catch my breath and re-group. Fabric piles are consuming my office, sewing tools are thrown about, and I can’t possibly start another project until I get organized.
Time to make a cup of coffee and regroup.
Filed under Uncategorized
My husband’s grandfather (“Pa”) is an incredibly important part of our lives. For Greg he’s been an essentially constant presence in his life, living always just a minute or so away. For me, he’s filled a hole that I’ve had in my life never having gotten a chance to know my grandparents. When Greg and I bought our house, we were ecstatic to live just a couple of blocks away from Pa.
So needless to say we had to celebrate Pa’s 90th birthday in a big way. 90 years! Greg and I spent a lot of time thinking about all of the things Pa has seen during his years. Eventually I came up with the idea of making a simple patchwork quilt where each block would represent a year, and that I’d embroider a patch to mark each birth, job-change, and wedding that was a part of Pa’s life.
Pa waving to his fans. Quilt on display at his party.
Picture of Pa with his twin to the left.
Every block represents a year...
This is a very traditional blanket, backed with flannel, quilted in the ditch. I hope it keeps Pa warm in his chair for many more years!
Just a sample of all the people who came to his party!
Filed under Embroidery, Quilting
Here is my quilt entry for the Tangerine Tango challenge.
Yup, it’s a variation on my Dusty Springfield Quilt!
It measures 52″ x 60″
Only this one features a random 90 degree angled, meandering quilting…
and some fun double binding.
And here’s the back:
Check out the rest of the entries HERE!
Filed under Challenges, Quilting
So I’m making priestly garments now… (spit take cue for anyone who knows me).
My brother-in-law’s dad is a priest. He asked me if I would make for him a flashy stole.
Here’s what he wrote:
Clergy stoles are colorful fabric yokes, worn in worship over robes, hanging around the neck of pastors. The colors usually match the color of the liturgical season. They signify a “yoke” of service … like a draft animal might wear while plowing or pulling.
Here’s a super secret Jenna, the most expressive ( and stylish) pastors often use them as an expression of God’s great creativity and joy. These are often wearable “works of art”.
Certain colors of stoles are special for certain seasons…
1. Red – (Special Celebrations/ Festival & Feast Days)
2. Purple – (Lent / Repentance)
3. White – (Easter / Christmas)
4. Green (Pentecost / Growth)
So I made Pastor Reggie a purple one for lent. I really love this project. What a fun creative outlet! And after doing some research I’ve seen that hand-made stoles are really really expensive! Maybe this is a future business opportunity?
The Power of Christ Compels You!
Sew Liberated’s Sweet Pea Pilot Cap + Hand Sewn Felt Tubes = Adorable Hilarity.
We have fun.
I meant to post about these pillow forever ago, but this is actually more appropriate. Our Michigan December was virtually snowless, but now in mid February I’d say we have a good three inches on the ground…
Anyway – I made these two sets of snowflake pillows as presents for Christmas.
One set for my mother – reverse appliqued duponi silk – like my table runner.
And another set for my gal pal. These are laser-cut felt snowflakes (I bought) that I machine and hand- appliqued onto a cotton, snowfall-reminiscent dot fabric.
Let it snow!
Filed under Pillow
Are you getting excited for Valentine’s Day? I have to admit – it’s nice to have pretty pink pillows around and get the boys excited for a day dedicated to kissy kissy hug hugs.
We’ll be giving the kids treats and toys tomorrow – some of the treats hiding in these felt envelopes I made (inspired by these)…
We also mailed some to the lovely ladies in our lives (niece and quasi-nieces)…
We also made some crayons to give to our friends…
small crayon pieces bakes at 230 degrees F for 15 minutes in a candy-form
I took a little bit of initiative and sewed some more Valentines pillow to sell on etsy.
This one sold in a jiffy!
And inspired someone to ask for a custom order! So I made her this “love you more MORE” pillow by request. Sounds like someone has a hot feud going on in their home! ; )
For Christmas I got the coolest present from my mom…
Can you see it? It’s transparent! It’s an adjustable sewing table that fits to my machine!
I’m finishing up my quilt-top for the Tangerine Tango challenge, and was finally motivated to get this puppy out of the box and on to my machine. It’s so awesome. And what’s so great about this table is that it’s adjustable in like 400 different ways so you can easily make changes so it will fit any sewing machine. It’s so nice to have the added support by having this extended table. Also, it actually makes sewing a more quiet experience – you slide off the junk drawer from the bottom of machine so that you can attach this extending table. By doing that you no longer have to hear all of your bobbins and machine-feet rattling around when you sew! Added bonus.
If you want one, my mom got mine from HERE.
Anyway this isn’t a sponsored post, just an honest-to-goodness recommendation/bragging post. But thanks for thinking I’m fancy enough to have sponsors!
Yes, I made some Valentine’s Day Pillow covers last year… but I hate those now and they are dead to me. Time for some new ones!
Aren’t they cute? Felts letters appliqued onto a very lightweight denim. Inspired by this wood carving.
Smooches!
jenna brand 