Those new designs are ready!

It's a lovely thing when you form a picture in your mind, transfer it to paper, then bring it to life with a needle and thread, and some perfect-for-this project fabric.

That's how designing is for me. 

I can be inspired by something I've read, a conversation over a pot of tea with my family, the sound of birds busily nesting in our trees, or perhaps just a wistful idea that stops by for a moment in my thoughts. There are often weeks that pass when no new pictures form, and where once I wondered if I'd ever design again, now I relish those times as long moments when I can indulge my desire to make other people's wonderful ideas. 

But then, my time of creative drought passes and a flurry of mental activity reignites and I am filling pages in my sketch book and wondering how many of them will see themselves dressed in thread anytime in the near future. Such fun!

Today I have two new design sets to show you!

~ Tea 'n' Toast ~

...a set of three simply 'country-fied' waffle-weave and redwork breakfast delights!

 

The tea cosy....

  

...the tea towel...

  

...and the bread bag!

 

These are so pretty and very quick to make up for gifts, or for your own home. Wouldn't they be a special Kitchen Tea or housewarming  gift? Or perhaps for friends who travel in their caravan?

~~~~~

~ Heart and Home ~

...a pretty duo of lavender scented door hangers!

 

 

These are so pretty, and a wonderful way to let people in your home know what is most important to you. They are also perfect for housewarming, engagement, or wedding gifts.

~~~~

You can purchase either of these patterns today for $4 each, or both sets for $7.

PLUS, I also have a bonus!

If you purchase one or both of the sets above I will give you this pattern for free!

I have made up my Little Bird stitcheries into a journal cover, address book cover, and notebook cover! 

Your free pattern will include the instructions for making all three, along with the Little Bird designs!

Tea 'n' Toast Set $4 USD

Heart and Home Set $4 USD

Both sets of patterns $7 USD

I will email the patterns to you within 12-14 hours of purchase.
Hope you like them. :-)
Hugs
Jenny
xxx

Homespun arrives, new projects, and things you have made...oh, and some sneak peeks!

Storms are brewing around us again, and with the inclement weather activity I find myself battling a continuous migraine once again, so I'll let this post be one of pictures - things I'm making, a published project, and some lovely photos from bloggers who are making my designs their very own.

Homespun Magazine arrived in the mail today, so I can finally show you my secret project, "Hopes and Wishes"....

...a sweet bag with wishing well centre, surrounded by this verse from Emily Dickinson -

"Hope is the thing with feathers, that perches in the soul. And sings the tune without the words and never stops at all."

Remember I showed you the journal cover I made last week? It fits in the bag, to hang by your bed close at hand, to write down those hopes and dreams.

If you are unable to acquire a copy of Homespun in your country and would like the pattern for the bag I will be releasing it in April, as well as the pattern for the matching journal cover.

~~~~~

Here are some lovely projects I have made this weekend, using two of my stitcheries.

"Bloom" is now this gorgeous wallhanging! It will be published later this year in Patchwork & Stitching...

...and "Gift of Roses" is now displayed in this very functional and pretty bag that I store my patterns in!

This pattern will also be published later this year in Creating Country Threads. 

~~~~~

Some lovely ladies have sent me photos of their own versions of my designs.

Jenny in the UK has made a couple of lovely bright cushions using my Oopsie Daisies! You can also see the cushion is blues on her blog.

Teresa has finished her first block from my ~Bouquet~ BOM, and it's so lovely!

Jeannie has found a use for some scrap binding, so she has officially entered my February Binding Challenge. Jeannie used the binding to finish off the inside pocket of a bag she made. 

I also used some binding to finish the top of my pattern bag (photo further up in this post). I love binding!! It has so many uses and gives a lovely finish to projects like Jeannie's. 

~~~~~

There has been a lot of redwork fun happening among the Gum Tree Designers recently! No doubt you've noticed a few sneak peeks on the other designer's blogs?

Would you like to see my design? Yes? Just a tiny peek then...

We're in love with redwork, and especially French fabric. 

We even had Blossom playing with us! Here is a little snippet of her own design...it's gorgeous.

We'd love to show you more, but I'm afraid you'll have to wait.

I hope wherever you are you find some time to stitch today, but mostly I pray you find some time to nourish your soul with those who love you...you see, it's wonderful to lose yourself in the harmony of needle working with thread, but don't let it take you away from the most important melody of your life - your family.

Hugs

Jenny

xxx

~BOUQUET~ block 2 ...

Today I have block 2 of my beautiful ~BOUQUET~ quilt to share with you!

You can download the instructions for block 2, *Bucket of Roses*, HERE

Block 2 will be available free until March 6th only, after which it will be sold as a single block download through my Etsy Shop.

~~~~~

 Block 1 is now available for purchase from my Etsy Shop HERE for $4.25 US

If you would like to purchase the complete ~BOUQUET~ quilt pattern now, which includes all 9 blocks, it is available through my Etsy Shop for $25 - the pattern is a pdf download complete with instructions, fabric and notion requirements, templates, reverse templates for the applique, colour photographs and more - 18 pages in all!

 ~~~~~

 For those who missed out on last year's quilt 'Shabby Roses', I also have it available now as a PDF pattern purchase in my Etsy  Shop. It has 12 beautiful embroidered and appliqued blocks plus quilt label - and if you did not want to make the quilt you could find so many wonderful ways to use each of the blocks individually in gifts such as bags, pillows, smaller hangings - you are only limited by your imagination! 

The complete Shabby Roses pattern pack is available HERE as a pdf download emailed to you for $29, or as a special offer this month you can purchase the complete paper pattern pack HERE posted free of charge to your home anywhere in the world for the same price, a saving of $10!

~~~~~

Last night I finished the runner I made using Stina's Valentines blocks. It looks so pretty on the chest of drawers in our bedroom! Thank you for such pretty blocks, Stina!

I also finished a sweet and simple new design I sketched over the Christmas holidays, featuring my favourite fragrance, lavender.

Sweet and simple, fragranced by nature...just how I like life.

Hugs

Jenny

xxx

February Challenge giveaway prize...and something dreamy.

You've been so patient waiting to see what the giveaway prize will be for the February Binding Challenge - thank you! Today I can show you...

...a bundle of French General's "Rural Jardin" woven stripes and checks (donated by the lovely designer Kaari Meng!), and a lovely French inspired lavender sachet I made incorporating my design 'Rainbird' on the front and stitched on some of the Rural Jardin fabric. I used vintage cotton lace as well, and some lovely old silk ribbon - French General fabrics always transport me back in time so I wanted to make something reflective of the simple 'olde world' days in the sachet.

To enter this giveaway you'll need to make something from your scrap binding strips (or scrap strips that you have doubled lengthwise to resemble binding) - you can read the original Challenge post here. Once you've completed your item please add a photo to your blog and leave a comment to let me know about it. If you don't have a blog please email me a photo. :-)

~~~~~

The next issue of Homespun will contain a special project of mine that brings our thoughts to wishes, hopes and dreams. Here is a small sneak peek...

You'll have to wait for the magazine to be in the newstand before I show you any more of my project, but I can show you a companion project I finished this week, something that will be a perfect match if you wanted to make a set. 

It's a journal cover for a record of all your hopes, dreams, prayers and wishes.

I even used a piece of scrap binding leftover from the Homespun project to make the bookmarker, so I can add that to my Binding Challenge ideas this month. 

I haven't decided whether to make up a pattern to sell for the journal cover yet. It will depend on whether there is enough interest in it. But for me, I have the secret Homespun project and the journal duo, so I can begin to write down all those wonderful dreams I have that bring hope to my soul, and plot a path to my future...

Do you record your hopes and dreams? What is the thing you hope for most of all in your life?

Hugs

Jenny

xxx

SHABBY ROSES - the label, and a new design!!,

The day has come.
The final day to share my very first Shabby Roses quilt block - this time the quilt label.
When you've sewn the label on a quilt it's a project completed, and then it's time to stand back and admire the work of your hands, the beauty of a created piece.
Even though the designs are mine, the finished appearance is all yours. Give yourselves a big {{hug}} from me.
You chose the fabrics, the threads. You made choices that took my work and gave it special magic using your own imagination and style! Well done!! I am so humbled by the beautiful photos coming through to me of finished quilts - you are so talented, so incredibly kind to have made my quilt, so generous in your words of encouragement to me along the journey.
~ thank you ~


**The Shabby Roses Quilt label will not be available as a free download after December 31st, 2009. It will be available as part of the purchase set of blocks 10, 11 & 12 in my Etsy Store.



If you haven't downloaded the assembly instructions to complete your quilt, you can download the file HERE.

~~~~~

I had fabrics left over after I finished my Shabby Roses Quilt, so I decided it would make good sense to add the Shabby Roses Bolster Cushion to the collection!

The cushion is 20 inches long, and 27 inches in circumference.
This was my gift to Blossom as she has been such a help in the Shabby Roses journey, and she's been patiently waiting for a bolster cushion for two years! She says it was 'well worth the wait!'

But I really loved the new design, HOPE, so using different, but just as beautiful fabrics, I made the HOPE wallhanging and hung it with an organza ribbon. There is a little hanging sleeve hidden behind where I could thread the ribbon through.

The wallhanging is 10 1/2 inches X 7 1/4 inches, and is bound with fabric that reminded me of ripe raspberries, my favourite fruit.

The HOPE pattern set - for both the bolster cushion & the wallhanging - are available to purchase HERE through my Etsy store! for $8.95 USD.

If you would like to purchase the HOPE set in Australian currency, you can do so at my shop blog HERE.
~~~~~

Next year I have another gorgeous BOM for you!!
This time it will be in blues...and with some more of my Shabby Roses!

Hugs
Jenny
xxx

~ Its The Simple Things ~

Its The Simple Things
~ an embroidered and bead-edged milk jug cover ~

I added the last stitch, and hung the final bead, this morning. Isn't it beautiful! I have really enjoyed stitching this...my heart is to simplify our life in the future, and that thought just kept cloud-rolling across my mind when I designed this on the weekend.

The fabric is from Robyn Pandolph's "Somerset Cottage"...

...and the threads are a mix of DMC and Cosmo.

The beads are 8mm glass.
I have backed the cover with white quilters muslin, so soft and it hangs beautifully.
The cover measures 10 inches across without the beads, and easily covers a milk jug, small bowl, or water pitcher. It could also be used as a doily to hold a glass cake stand full of sweet morsels for an afternoon tea.

The pattern is available in my ETSY STORE, or if you prefer, you can just click below and purchase it now. :-)

~~~~
Stitching "Its the Simple Things" was my first experience using Cosmo threads. I only have a few colours (won in a recent giveaway), and only two of them were suited to this embroidery, BUT, I am really impressed with them! I guess that stitching with both Cosmo and DMC in the same project helped me to discover just how different they both are. The Cosmo threads glide through the fabric, they have a silkiness to them that is just exquisite - and not once did the thread knot or twist. I was REALLY impressed by that.
The DMC, as always, knots and twists constantly. I used to think it was the way I stitched, but not after using the Cosmo and having none of these issues occur.
Now I need to find a Cosmo distributor in Australia.

Have you tried Cosmo? How do you rate it against DMC?
Or perhaps you use Anchor or Madeira (both of which I like better than DMC)
What is your favourite thread and why?

Hugs
Jenny
xxxx

PS: I slept wonderfully with my brandy, milk and honey, but Allie corrected me on her grandaddy's remedy - the milk bit was supposed to be lemons. Might give that a go tonight, as although my voice is returning, my head cold has stepped up a notch. Thanks for the lovely thoughts, ladies!

~Window to my garden~ - my newest design!

Have a look through the ~Window To My Garden~ ....


The pattern is now available in my Etsy Store HERE, or if you prefer to buy in Australian dollars then you can purchase it from my new shopfront blog, ELEFANTZ DESIGNS.
(You can see the new link to my shop at the top of the right sidebar)

The pattern will also be published later next year as a cushion design in Creating Country Threads magazine, but if you can't wait that long to make this gorgeous applique/stitchery block (about 5 months I think) then it can be yours in less than 24 hours by purchasing through either of the two links above. If you have already purchased the In My Garden set of stitcheries you could easily use this larger one as the centre block of a quilt and scatter those smaller blocks around it. Hmmm...maybe I should do that too!?

Now to get back to work on those sneak peeks I gave you last night!
(one of them will be a freebie....now THAT got you excited, didn't it!?)

Hugs
Jenny
xxx

~ Jenny of Elefantz ~ The Collection ~

To make it easier for everyone to purchase my designs, and so as not to clutter up this blog page, I have set up another web page as a shopfront for my original patterns to be sold.
I'd love your input on this. Have a look ...

~ Jenny of Elefantz * The Collection ~

...do you prefer this to Etsy? Do you think it's better than a cluttered blog page here?
I'd like to make this side of things as user-friendly as possible so if you have some helpful ideas, please leave a comment on the shop blog. :-)

I will be uploading more designs for purchase in the coming days.

Hugs
Jenny
xxxx