This week I finished my most recent work in progress...another sequin & beaded bird soft case for either glasses or phones.

Find it in my Etsy shop!

Roughly a year ago, while reading a favorite quilting magazine, I found this tulip quilt pattern. However, the quilt in the magazine fit a twin size bed. I am always on the look out for ways to minimize my ever growing scrap box. I decided on scrappy tulips, adjusting the magazine's suggested block measurements to my liking.

A pleasant afternoon and a warm cuppa was enjoyed choosing fabric - bright, cheery, "Spring" colors for the tulip petals; vibrant greens for the stems; put-a-smile-on-your-face polka dots, checks, and florals for the filler blocks.

It's not perfect. It's handmade.

And, I am delighted with the finished product.

Two days.

It took me two days to sew on each sequin and bead - by hand!

Surprisingly, I didn't mind.

Hand sewing is relaxing.

I enjoyed watching the simple felt become a thing of beauty with every sequin and bead I added.

Materials Used:

raspberry Felt (hot pink)
tangerine Felt (bright orange)
batting
white cotton thread
pink cotton thread
pink sequins
pink beads
silver seed beads
light pink sequin trim (it's like a sequin ribbon!)

Tools Used:
pink scissors
pins
thimble
needle
Mom's sewing machine
my own nimble fingers
reading glasses*

The Creative Process:
Measure Twice, Cut Once
I "measured" my cell phone case. By "measure", I mean I eyeballed it...placed my cell phone on the pink felt added an extra inch for seam allowance and mistake making, and cut out the size felt I needed. Then, I placed that piece of felt on top of the orange felt and cut out the same size. Finishing up the measuring by placing the felt on top of the batting and cutting out the size I needed.

Pin in Place & Sew Straight Lines
I "sandwiched" the batting between the pink and orange felt, pinned it all the way around, flipped on the sewing machine, and stitched all the way around my rectangle shape. Once I finished securing the batting in place, I decided on a diagonal design, and started sewing from corner to corner. I lined up the foot along the completed stitching line, insuring straight stitches. Now, I had a design to follow to sew the sequins and beads on by hand.

Busy Hands Are Happy Hands
Grandmother always used to say this to me. She was right. I happily followed the diagonal lines as I secured each sequin and bead in place by hand. And, the time flew by! First, I stitched a sequin in place. Next, I threaded a bead on the needle, carefully drove the nose of the needle into the pink felt, through the batting, and out the orange. Good...bead tightly fixed in place. I moved on to the next and so on, and so on, and sew on! One more thing to do before I stitch it together so that it will hold the cell phone...hem the top edge. I trimmed off excess felt/batting, leaving a clean straight edge, folded down the top edge, and stitched it down by hand.

Seams to Me
Ah, the tricky part! The quilting the felt and batting sandwich helped flatten down the bulkiness of the three layers, but it was still too thick to fit under the sewing foot. I had to sew the seams together by hand. This was not easy and quite time consuming. Especially since I did it once by hand with a blanket stitch all the way around. Right sides together, I turned it right side out, and discovered that it needed something more. A flash of inspiration. I unpicked the beautiful blanket stitch and hauled out my silver seed beads and light pink sequin ribbon. I covered up the remaining white thread with the silver seed beads. I pinned the light pink sequin ribbon right side facing the right side to the pink felt now with sequins and beads. By hand I stitched it in place all along the seam line. Finishing off, I turned the case right side out...BEAUTY! I now have a pretty pink sparkly case for my cell phone.

Comments, Please
I'm so pleased with this project that I've already begun working on a second one and will be adding this item to my Etsy shop, Pink Scissors Design.

What color would you like to see offered?

*reading glasses - these came with turning 40 this year!

Linking Up
I'm linking up with these fantastic craft link parties!

Today, I'm linking up with Marie of Blooming Homestead. I whipped up this cute little craft especially for today's link up.

Raise your hand if you keep your fabric scraps.

{Both hands raised high in the air.}

Yeah, I have more than one box marked, "Scraps".

I do enjoy small sewing projects that I can complete in a day...an hour - even better! Thus, I keep my fabric scraps...perfect for those small projects I love.




Materials
8 1/2 x 11 Document Frame
Muslin
Fabric Scrap for the bird silhouette
Fabric Scrap for the branch silhouette
Coordinating Colored Thread
Thimble
Scissors
Scotch Tape
Iron

Technique
Blanket Stitch - here are a few good places to learn this technique:
Tutorial: Hand Sew Felt Using Blanket Stitch from Future Girl
Blanket Stitch from Stitch School
Blanket Stitch - hand video from Connecting Threads


Step One: Cut
Using the thin piece of card board that came with the frame, cut our your muslin...just a bit larger than the size of the card board.

Keep that piece of thin card board. You're going to need it later and use it for framing that sweet little bird.

Tip: Iron your fabric after you cut it.

Save time and your sanity. A smaller piece of fabric is always easier to work with when ironing. No sense ironing yards of muslin when you will only be using a tiny portion of it.

After you have cut and ironed your muslin and fabric shapes, decide which whether your bird will be framed vertically or horizontally.

I chose vertically, leaving plenty of space to embroider a verse or quote later.

Step Two: Pin.
Pin the branch shape wherever you like, keeping in mind which direction you want your frame - vertical or horizontal.

My inspiration for this craft came from a picture hanging on my sister-in-law's living room wall. I thought the darling bird silhouette would translate perfectly from print to fabric. So, one day while visiting her, I did a free hand sketch to create my own templates. No copying or tracing - - - free hand.

This craft would have gone down differently if it was more detailed than a silhouette.

This bird is a basic shape which I encourage you to try. Doodle and sketch. Draw a bird and a rough branch and put your own signature on your craft. Own it!

Step Three: Stitch.
Bird and branch pinned in place, thread your needle, grab your thimble, pour yourself a cuppa, put on your favorite show/movie, and stitch.

I recommend appliqueing your bird and branch onto the muslin. My favorite technique when doing this by hand is the blanket stitch. It is easy and pretty. I listed three places to find how-to's for the blanket stitch (see above).

I chose a coordinating pink thread for my pink bird. Unfortunately, I did not have a coordinating green for my branch. So, I chose a complimentary color of an orangish-brown.


Step Four: Frame.
Remember that piece of thin cardboard that came with the frame? You used it in step one to cut out the correct size of muslin. Now is when you need it.

You will also need some tape to help hold the muslin in place and keep it as taught as possible when fitting it for framing.

Tip: Before fitting your fabric bird to the frame, iron it so that it will lay smooth and look lovely hanging on your wall or perched on a shelf.

After ironing it, lay the bird face down. Place the thin cardboard face up...so that you can read the writing on it. Fold over excess muslin and tape down to cardboard.

Next, gently slide the piece of cardboard which is now steadying your fabric bird into the frame.

A thick piece of cardboard should have come with your frame. Slide this in behind your fabric bird/thin cardboard.

Finally, gently slide the frame stand...the very back of the frame into the frame.

Voila!

Your lovely little fabric bird is now ready to grace your home.

Now, it's your turn...join me in linking up at Blooming Homestead.


I'm also linking up with these great craft link parties:

Cooker And A Looker - Homemade Tomato Paste. Amanda shares how to make homemade tomato paste two ways: the thermochef way and on the stove top.

A note about a few of the ingredients for American readers, "capsicum" is Australian for "pepper": red, green, or yellow pepper. Not the spice. The vegetable. "White Sugar" is Australian for sugar, meaning not raw (which looks a bit brownish), not icing sugar or powdered, but granulated. And, thermochef is a fancy Australian kitchen appliance (I'm sure America has its own version.)

Blooming Homestead - Crafty Tuesday. I for one am glad that Marie decided to host a crafty link-up on her blog. It gives me great reason to craft today...just as soon as I finish this blog post. Marie is inviting everyone to link up projects, recipes, and crafts. Join me in linking up tomorrow. Not crafty? That's okay, craft link-ups are a great source of inspiration...plenty of pinning going on...and you'll find some great blogs to add to your reading list.

The Handmade Home - A No Sew Tee Pee. My nephews would flip for this super craft! Set aside a day or weekend (if you are a perfectionist) to create this amazing reading/play space for your little ones. Ashley says it cost no more than $7 to make. Purchase six 1 x 2 x 8′s from your local handy man store and some jute (or duct tape if jute is not available) and follow Ashley's example for the rest...raid your fabric stash! Read the post to find terrific suggestions for how to make this amazing no sew tee pee at nearly no cost.

I think I might win Super Aunt of the Universe for Life if I made this for my nephews. Hmm, I wonder how their Grandparents would feel if built this in the bedroom I've been staying in while on my American holiday. Wonder if they will mind? I do realize that I may be sleeping in it...

Happy Wives Club - 5 Steps in 5 Days to A Happier Husband. The Happy Wives Club introduces Kathi Lipp, sharing 5 steps for wives to practice for 5 days to build up their husbands. It's not secret that I'm madly in love with Mr Speech! Any time I can learn how to make my husband happier, I welcome it. Think of it as more ways to say, "I Love You!" Kathi admits that the steps she suggests may not be easy, ask a friend to work with you - encourage you and stay accountable to and pray for you. Kathi is the author of The Husband Project & The Marriage Project...I have both books...very good. I highly recommend them!

Baker's Royale - S'more Eclairs. I can't resist a delicious eclair! The recipe calls for "finely cut graham crackers". Graham crackers are easy to find in America. I have never seen them in Australia. Any Australian readers know where I can get graham crackers in Brisbane? If I want to make these beauties, I'll have to make some extra room in my suitcase for a box or two of graham crackers. Mini-marshmallows are also not to be found in Australia. I have only ever seen the large size marshmallow and in pink and white. Where can I find plain ol' white marshmallows? I can easily cut them up into a mini size. No worries. Well, that's one more item to add to my suitcase: mini-marshmallows. Clearly, I need to learn where the best places are to buy American imported goods; AND where in Brisbane do the bakers shop?

Happy Wives, I think these would be perfect for step 4 in the 5 days to a Happier Husband.

Hey, if all else fails, do this for steps 1-5.

Methinks, ye husbands shall be very happy indeed!

Smiling eyes, rosy cheeks, and a heart shaped mouth, these sweet babushkas are cuddle ready for quiet time, nap time, and bed time. Terrific secret keepers and they love slumber parties. Perfect as a pillow for decoration or a soft toy for play.

Measures approximately 20 inches tall and 17.5 inches wide.

I made these darlings while in America. These beauties ship from America - $5.20 shipping to America!

Visit my Etsy shop - Pink Scissors Design - doll section and adopt yours today!

With the snow flying and two feet forecasted by Saturday, I am enjoying my wintry Michigan holiday by staying indoors sewing. A needle and thread and buttons are keeping me quite happy, as I work on this patchwork pillow. I had been collecting fabric scraps and carefully chose some pink ones for this pillow. I was delighted to discover that my mother has a very large container of stray buttons. I emptied the container of buttons, pouring them into the largest mixing bowl I could find in my mother's cupboards and took my time selecting buttons to use for decorate this charming Valentine's pillow. Are you working on any Valentine's projects?

I'm linking up with:

Plum & June is a sweet little sewing blog which hosts a weekly link up where everyone shows off their sewing skills. An Arctic Blast hit Michigan this week, and much of North America, making staying indoors cozy and warm essential. I've been in the USA for about two weeks now and unfortunately have been getting over a bad cold. Still, I have enjoyed the quiet, relaxing activity of sewing and drinking cup after cup of hot chocolate.

I've been brainstorming sewing projects for Valentine's Day. Here's one I recently came up with. I'd love to know what you think of it. Personally, I fell in love with the little beauty and am keeping it for myself. I'll pack it up snugly in my suitcase and fly it back to Australia with me.

I have a half dozen or so more of these sweeties cut out waiting to be sewn up and finished with a lovely button and bow. Don't you just love that cute little love heart button on the center of the bow? I think it is adorable. I have four more. I won them in a blog giveaway. They came all the way from South Africa. These beautiful buttons are handmade and fully washable from Button Mad.

I will soon be listing Sweet Heart Pincushions in my Etsy shop.

I'm off now to visit the other crafty/quilty bloggers linking up with Plum & June. I hope you will join me in the fun.

also linking up with:

Next up for us in this Christmas season is the Twilight Markets. We first became aware of them a couple years ago but for varying reasons were not able to get to them.

Not so this year, I said!

I was dog tired, and not feeling particularly well, and had a blasting headache, but I shoved myself out the front door regardless. Mrs Speech really wanted to go - I think mainly, to scout out what other crafterteers were doing and maybe get a spot next year.

So, we plonked ourselves on the bus and got down the city in about forty minutes. We live a fair distance from town so it takes a little while (I used to waste spend an hour and a half every day on the bus going to and from work).

Things did not bode well when we got to the Myer Centre in the city, which also has a huge bus station underneath it - it's a catacombs of bus islands which sit amid the stream of heavy duty traffic.

Anyhow we got in around the start of peak hour last night and about fourteen buses were banked up to the side of us, cutting off our route in. You've not felt raw claustrophobic horror until you've sat in a metal crate hemmed in by a zillion buses, underground with fifty zillion tonnes of concrete and steel above your head.

Anyway!



We trotted off to King George Square, home of the Christmas Tree Lighting, and saw it seemed, about the same number of people as there were at the lighting. Except, with tents lined up all over the square and the plaza above.

There's a new trendy-looking restaurant at the rear of the square, called Groove Train, which looked...well, trendy. It was all open and inviting and very well patronised.

At the front there was a stage on which would soon be sung some Christmas songs - more on that later.

The place was utterly packed; it was hard to move, let alone get in to the stalls to see what was on offer.

It was all handmade stuff as you can imagine - lots of dolls and felt and magnets. The odd glassware/ceramics. A stall selling independent magazines which was conspicuously vacant of customers.

It was all bohemian and lefty/liberal. Lots of 'good for the earth' and Christmas being about peace and hope and love (but not Jesus. Let's not put Christ in Christmas!). The flavour of activism was not dispelled by the group of twenty or so rallying against apartheid in South Africa (I think):

Leader: "What do we want?"

Group: "Equal rights for all humanity and an end to oppression. And a means of reconciliation and the belief in a common and unique love."

(Maybe I made that last bit up. But that was the gist.) They were largely ignored as the kooks that they likely are. One of the women in the group had a large tattoo on each knee.



I recongised not long in that I was getting snotty because of my tiredness and my headache and the crowds upon teeming, sweaty crowds of endlessly pushy/shovey people who I wanted to push and shove into the nearest hessian bag which said 'made from 100% pre-smoked cannabis butts.'

So I had to check the attitude and try to enjoy myself. Incidentally, I'm a big dude. Didn't always used to be that way. If you're reading this and you're big, have you ever noticed how much more difficult it is to navigate sales and markets and such? It's a tough deal. I'm pretty agile and I still find it tough to keep out of peoples' way. Makes it difficult to enjoy yourself when you can't dodge and weave like you used to.

About halfway through our visit in the square, the music began. It was initially a twenty-something woman whose voice operated an octave too high and had that shrill effect. You know the effect. The one that makes you wince, squirm and clutch at your bleeding eardrums all at the same time.

She also liked her licks. A lot of 'all I want for Christmas...is yo-o-o-o-u-u-u-u-u-u-u ba-a-a-a-a-a-by-y-y-y-y-y' that made me want to run for the nearest thrash metal concert for relief.

I had to check my attitude.



We wandered about for around thirty or forty minutes - for the reasons outlined above it was difficult to intensely and casually browse - and Mrs Speech bought a few things here and there. She is spookily, magnetically drawn to Babushka-related things and today was no exception. She noticed anything vaguely resembling an eighteenth-century Russian peasant woman.

She was thrown off by the occasional Geisha as they are iconically manufactured to look a little like Babushkas, but she came home with a green t-shirt which she almost walked away from but which I convinced her was an eighteenth-century Russian peasant woman steal at the price ($20).

The amount of paper stuff the vendors were asking for was...interesting. Mrs Speech commented that they maybe had to pay a lot in stall fees and needed to make it back. But most things were three to four times the price I would have thought. There was one collection of four pink dolls, the largest of which was perhaps ten inches tall, for seventy dollars. A mud bowl for thirty dollars (we recently got three for two bucks each from Coles).

You may handcraft your wares but you will not handcraft your way that deeply into my wallet.



After Mrs Speech picked up her goodies we began our way back. There was a Christmas parade which oddly was to terminate at King George Square, which meant it had to cross a very busy Adelaide Street. A strange choice.

"The drummers have been obliterated by the 131 bus going to Moggill."

They started out with the drummers, followed by the dancers in tight court jestery-type costumes, followed by a bunch of other performers. We're not talking floats, don't get me wrong. The thing was sponsored by Myer but I don't think they cared to invest that much. It was more a collection of themed people.

The Mary and Joseph on a donkey thing was cool. And the real camels! And the big star.

We sauntered back to head home, making our way through the throng. Incidentally we ended up on the wrong side of a two way stream of traffic, making our way up the left when people were sticking to the right, and with people packed together like little sardine people, no way of crossing. Oddly people swerved to avoid us as they made their way down to King George Square, like water flowing around a rock, in a stream.

Mrs Speech had a difficult time coming home - we had a long stretchy bus, whose tail kind of flails about a bit and catches all the extra momentum as the bus goes round the corner etc - she promised me to not sit in the tail again.

A nice night and Christmas is now only ten days away!

UPDATE: THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED...THANKS TO ALL WHO ENTERED!!

Christmas is only 62 days away, you know.

If you have a little girl who likes dolls we have just the thing for you for our latest giveaway!

Meet Sally. She's one of Mrs Speech's fine rag doll creations, from her shop.

Sally is made from cotton fabric, thread, ribbon and stuffed with fabric scraps - a real rag doll! She is 11 inches tall and loves karaoke.

To enter, visit Mrs Speech's shop, and leave a comment telling her which item is your favourite! Also, leave us your e-mail address!


To earn extra entries:

1. Tweet about this giveaway and leave a comment with the link to the tweet

2. Like this giveaway on Facebook and leave a comment with the link to your share

3. Pin this giveaway on Pinterest and leave a comment with the url of your pin

4. Blog about this giveaway and leave a comment with the url of your blog post

5. Follow PinkScissorsDes on twitter and leave a comment with your twitter name


Remember, you can earn up to five extra entries, but make sure you leave a comment for each one, or it won't get counted.

The giveaway is open worldwide and ends midnight, 1st November 2012 (US EST)

Good luck!

Christmas is 80 days away! Or less by the time you read this post. You can keep up with the countdown here. Phileas Fogg made his way around the world in so many days...so, Jules Verne recorded here. In so many days, I'm preparing and stocking up Pink Scissors Design for Christmas.

My Elna has been busy and merrily humming away as Christmas gets all sewn up.

When I'm not out on a walkabout with Mr Speech, I'm with Elna filling up Pink Scissors Design with Christmas goodies with you in mind: quilts, dolls, finger puppets, Jesse Tree ornaments, and now . . .

. . . Christmas Stockings!



Stockings are a necessity at Christmas. They are perfect for hiding sweet surprises and holding wonderful Christmas treasures. As a child in Michigan, every Christmas morning I found a beautiful round orange in the toe of my stocking - a delicious tropical delight! Now, living in tropical Queensland with my handsome Aussie husband, the toe of my stocking is usually filled with Cadbury chocolates. Christmas breakfast is typically a tropical fruit platter: oranges, pineapple, kiwi fruit, and mangoes.

Last week, I started making stockings for Christmas 2012. You can view them in the shop by clicking here. This year's Christmas stockings are a beautiful blend of cotton fabric and muslin. Each stocking is one of a kind, having a unique patchwork design on the front, quilted in variegated thread, and lined with muslin. The 2012 stockings measure 11 inches long, have a loop for hanging up, and are machine washable.

The stockings are large enough to hold one of the rag dolls from the shop with plenty of room to spare in the toe and foot for lollies (candy) and other Christmas surprises. The sweet Russian doll finger puppets would fit nicely, too!

If you visit the shop today, you will see only two stockings listed. One is in the popular chevron pattern made up in bright pink fabric and festive stars. The other is in a classic strips pattern made up in green with festive polka dots. If you would like to order more than one at a time, please contact me. I will gladly create a custom listing for you. Perhaps, you desire a specific colorway or pattern. I welcome custom orders.

I've got a lovely blue fabric on the table patiently waiting to be made into the next stocking. I haven't decided on a pattern for it yet. Any suggestions?

I'm linking up to:

In my (Mrs Speech) Tea Time Tutorial, I had the privilege of using the beautiful fabrics from the Serenade Collection, courtesy of Fluffy Sheep Quilting.

To celebrate the opening of my new Etsy shop, Pink Scissors Design, I am giving away surplus fabric to you, my dear readers!

It's beautiful fabric and it will be a joy to work with and create something lovely!

All four pieces are 15" x 10.5" wide.

International entries are welcome.

The contest begins midnight Wednesday, 26th September 2012 EST and closes Wednesday, 3rd October 2012 EST.

To enter please use the Rafflecopter below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway