Final Post for Embellishment Party!! Sunni's here!

It's the final day of our Embellishment Party, and we have the fabulous Sunni with us today! You can catch her posting on her blog and also guest posting on other lucky bloggers' pages, so we are happy that she had time to work up something for our party! Especially since she had a tremendous snow-storm and a three day power outage to contend with, too!


Welcome, Sunni!

Hi! I'm Sunni from Love Affair with my Brother

 No, it's not what you think!! I love my sewing machine!!

I was so excited when Jacque asked me to come up with a fun purse accent. I brainstormed for a few days and finally figured out what to do! Then my power was knocked out by a winter storm for 3 days. It came back on and then went back out again!!

Jacque was very gracious and understanding, and generously gave me a few more days to be able to sew up my project. Thanks Jacque!!

Zippers and Silk. It's like "Leather and Lace", only updated!

These flowers are so easy, your friends will never believe it!

You will need :

a 24" or larger zipper

fat quarter of silk or satin

felt for backing

pin back

basic sewing supplies

glue (can also do this step by hand-sewing)

I made a template

 that you can print out and use or just use your own shape. I am using the middle size. Cut 12 petal shapes if you are making a 6 petal flower.

I chose a very industrial looking zipper. I wanted big teeth to stand out against the silk. Cut a bit of the seam allowance off of your zipper. It fits better with such a small petal and makes turning easier.

Clip every 1/4" or so to accommodate the curve of the petal. Don't clip all the way to the teeth. Just a little will be sufficient.

Sew the zipper on one layer at a time. Slow and steady wins the race here. The curve of the petal was so sharp that it was very difficult to sandwich it between both layers. Just sew it on the front, sandwich the zipper between the layers and sew directly on the first stitch line.

If you are an expert, just go ahead and sandwich the zipper between both petal layers and sew.

This is just before I added the second layer on top and sewed.

Assemble all 6 petals and turn right side out and press. Then plug in your glue gun. I am using a composition notebook so I don't get glue on my carpet!

Using a needle and strong thread, run a basting stitch from edge to edge of the first petal. Continue adding petals, one right next to each other. I was careful to make sure that my zippers all faced up at the sides.

Once all of the petals are basted onto the thread, tie it in a circle to create a flower shape. Glue a felt circle on the back to stabilize the petals and be a base for your pin back. Glue your pin back onto the felt.

For the center of the flower, you can make a zipper swirl. Just roll and glue, roll and glue until you are happy with it. Glue it onto the center.

You can also use the zipper pull as your flower center. Just be sure to pull your circle very tight! I liked the pull better because it creates a bit of an illusion. As if you could just unzip the flower! My oldest immediately started pulling on the tab trying to unzip it! 

Then just pin it on your purse, scarf, or headband!! I'm sure you could think of a bunch of places to use these flowers!

To Jacque and all your awesome readers: Thank you so much for having me and being so understanding for my "extended" deadline!

Thanks, Sunni, for such an awesome tutorial --- these have a lot of potential uses as embellishments! So glad that your power is back, and all is well. After all, the worst part of an outage is that your sewing machine won't run, right?!  (Grin)
If you enjoyed this tute, please leave Sunni a comment, and be sure to stop in at her blog --- there are lots of fun things happening there!

I'm also linking up with Making Rebecca Lynne's Thursday Think Tank linky party.....stop by there for some creative inspiration, OK?


Love,

Embellishment Party - Week 2!

I'm linking up today to share at the Shady Porch! Click this link to check out all the fun projects and ideas there!

Yay! It's my turn to show you my embellishment for totes, purses, bags and more. Wherever you want a little "Wow!" you can use these embellishments.

Jackie of Jackie's Art Quilts showed us her Scrap and Slash Flowers --- thank you, Jackie! They were scrap-happy fun, and I can imagine a lot of uses for them.  (Pssst! You want to see another embellishment from Jackie? Check out this link to the Riley Blake Cutting Corners College.)

Sunni of Love Affair had some super bad weather and a three-day power outage, so she's going to be a little late to the party, but that's OK. She's bringing a really neat project with her on Thursday!

So now, it's my turn. Gack!  The pressure, the intimidation!  Hold on a minute whilst I grab a paper bag and breathe a few times!

OK, I'm alright now. Are ya ready? Here we go!

We are going to make a Cherry Charm embellishment for your enjoyment --- I think you'll get lots of positive comments on your tote or purse, with these babies displayed there!  I'm adapting this from our Cherry Charms tutorial, so instead of a cross between fuzzy dice and quilter's emblems, we'll end up with purse embellishment!

We're going to start with some scraps of fuzzy red fabric, fuzzy green if you have it, and the brown cord for the stems. Fleece works great for this project, so if you made some funky slippers or apparel for Christmas, just go root around in the scraps and then come back. Want us to wait?  OK.  (Slipper scuffing to kitchen for coffee, then returning.)
You ready now? Great! You'll need to go to our file cabinet in Google docs and download and print the pattern. Once that is done, you are ready to roll.
You'll want to cut out the pattern pieces on the solid lines, first.

Then you will use those to cut your pieces of fabric. Most of us will use the red for the cherries and the green for the leaves, but if you really want to reverse it or even do something totally crazy with different colors, don't let me hold you back. (Grin)

Next step will be to mark WS of the cherries. On our tutorial, Elby used a marker (gasp!) but you can use whatever method you have handy, and mark the darts to form the cherry half.

Then you need your trusty needle and thread, and sew up those darts! (Is it just me, or do you feel like you're back in Home Ec, too?!)

If you find the nap is caught in the dart, just use your needle to fluff it out, this way:

(Just look at those smudgy fingers....I told Elby that would happen!)

Once all the darts are sewn, your cherry half should look something like this:

Now you need to construct the other half of the cherry --- second verse, like the first!

Then you can put them right-sides-together and sew them up. It makes it a LOT easier if you don't match up the darts. Oh, and don't forget to leave a small opening for turning . . . don't ask me how I know to warn you about that.  I'm just old and wise. Well, old, anyway.

Now, where was I? Ah! We now have what could pass for a deflated cherry. Make another one. And then one more. You want three, all told.

Now comes the stuffing part --- hey, nobody said you could head toward the kitchen! We're stuffing the cherries, not our faces! This is where a pencil or chopstick comes in really handy.  You can use scraps of fabric, thread snippets, etc to pack into the cherry and make it nice and plump. I know plump.
You could use fiberfill for stuffing if you wish, but I prefer the solid way that the scraps and snippets pack in there. Like Daffy Duck used to always say, "So round, so firm, so fully packed!" 

Now grab some red thread, and sew that opening closed! I'm not really taking that much in a stitch, I just placed my needle there so I could use that hand for the camera.

When you are sewing the opening in the cherry closed, stick one end of your brown cord into the hole, and take a couple of stitches through it to secure that bad boy right where you want him.  When we attach them to the bag, you can loop the stems back under the cherry charm unit, and the loops will look all artsy and 3D and such. (Wink)

Next, you'll put the pieces of green fuzzy wrong-sides-together and blanket-stitch around the edges. Sure beats turning them right side out, and besides, it gives them a nice edge!  (Elby used embroidery floss on hers.)

Now, let's get organized . . . you should have three cherries with stems, and two leaves. You'll need a large yarn needle, and yarn, and a stout heart for this next step. You are going to (be brave, now!) pierce each cherry and pull your yarn through, to make one unit. (I know you can do this.)

Pull them together kind of loosely, and arrange the leaves in a way that is pleasing to you; then stitch those into place with sewing thread, so it won't show.

Now, sit back and admire your handiwork . . . Ain't they cute? Now all that's left is to secure them onto your bag, purse, or other project. I placed mine with a large safety pin, but you can use whatever method you like to attach yours.

I think my Mary Engelbreit bag looks wonderful! Well, at least it will when I get the handles on! (If you like the bag, the pattern is an original by my friend Kiera. Here is a link to her blog, and here's a link to the pattern.)

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial, and I really hope that you try this project --- and let me know if you do! Show pictures!!

Love,

Embellishment Party Week 1 + a giveaway!

Linking up this week with the Shady Porch's Rock and Share Linky Party! Click to jump over there and join in the fun!

Pssssst! Hey, Lilypad quilters!!  It's time to party . . . and look who's here for our first project! It's Jackie, all the way from Ontario, and Jackie's Art Quilts!

Hi Everyone!

I am so thrilled to be here.  I was over the moon when Jacque invited me to guest post on her blog.  She really rocks, and I have been a follower of hers forever.  

A little about me.  I am a quilter of all sorts, but love doing art quilts, and every single art quilt I do has 3D embellishing on it.   I don’t mean like a bit of fabric sticks out of the surface, either.  I do 3D in a big way.   Check out my gallery on my blog to see my 3D art quilts.

I thought it would be fun to make one of my favorite flowers, the Scrap ‘n’ Slash.  You can use this flower anywhere.   On a quilt, corner of a mug rug, or even on a purse.   Since I love to recycle, I picked up a cute leather handbag for a dollar at a local rummage sale.   You can find recycled purses at your local second hand store, church rummage sales and bazaars.  

Supplies

3 assorted colors of fat quarters

Hot glue gun

Rotary cutter and mat

1 recycled purse

Instructions

Cut 2- 2 ½” strips off the long side of each fat quarter.  You will end up with 6 strips

Take a strip and glue along the long edge.   I usually do sections at a time as the glue dries quickly.
 

Make little slits in the folded side of the fabric about ½” apart from one end to the other, be careful not to cut all the way through.

Decide which strip you want to be the centre and roll up, putting dabs of glue near the bottom as you go.  Continue putting a bit of glue down to secure.  When you finish with one strip, pick up another one and continue until the flower is the size you desire.

Trace the base of the flower onto a piece of matching fabric. 

Put 2 pieces of fabric right sides together and stitch along that tracing line.  Cut circle out and make a slit in one side. 

Turn right side out, pushing all the seams out.  Press.

Glue the flower to the base with the slit side glued to the base.

Glue the base to the purse.

Here's another view of the purse with its new embellishment -- a little closer!

And here is another example of the flowers you can make with this technique:

You can make a whole bouquet!

Editor's note: And they won't wilt or fade, and ya don't hafta water them! Yay! I love these 3D embellishments, and I would love for all of you special peeps to take a peek at one of the ways that Jackie has used these in her art quilts:

Aren't they awesome?  OK, I'll shut up now and let you listen to Jackie again! 

Now here comes the fun part.   If you decide to check out my blog and like it enough to follow.  Leave a comment on my blog telling me you  are now a follower, and I will put all those names in a draw for a bundle of my hand dyed fat quarters. 

                                                    *******************************

Pssstt! It's me again! Snoodles, that is! You don't want to miss Jackie's hand-dyed fabrics . . . they are absolutely beautiful! So hop on over there, and check it out! And while you are there, be sure to click and look around at her quilt gallery --- and don't you dare leave until you gaze at her "Bye Gram, I Love You" quilt. It brought tears to my eyes when I read the story behind the quilt. You can read it right here.  

Well, Lilypadquilters, the fun is only just beginning! This is Part I of our Embellishment Party! Be sure to stop back by, when Sunni shows us her 3D embellishment project next week!

Love,