Take a bow tie block and look what you can do...

Mug rugs they did not become, but I did make a mini quilt over the weekend with my two little mug stitcheries and I even took photos along the way to show newbies to patchwork how easy it is to make a sweet bow-tie block.

The stitcheries were trimmed to 6 1/2" square so I needed two of the same sized bow-tie blocks.

For one block you'll need to cut -

two, 3 1/2" squares of red floral 

two, 3 1/2" squares of cream floral

two, 1 1/2" squares of red floral

Draw a diagonal line across the back of a 1 1/2" red square and position in the corner of a 3 1/2" cream floral square as shown below.

Machine sew a seam along the drawn line. 

Remove the excess corner section by cutting 1/4" away from the seam.

Press the seam open to make a new square.

Repeat to make another square.

Position the four squares as shown below.

Sew them together to make one blow tie block.

Such simple blocks and very festive as they remind me of big gift wrapped bows on top of Christmas presents beside the tree.

(those two sweet mug stitcheries are here if you'd like to embroider them yourself)

I completed my mini quilt on Monday with binding and simple machine quilting but the storm yesterday blackened the sky when I was ready to take photos so I had to wait until this morning for the sky to 'light up'. 

My new mini quilt is now hanging in the sewing room...

...the first touch of festivity for this Christmas season.

This is not the first time I've made a bow tie block, but I do admit to forgetting about it until the planning of what to make from the two stitcheries began in earnest.

For Christmas 2011 my grandson Calab asked me to make him a pillow of his very own and I discovered that if you play around with a bow tie block you can create a variety of patchwork finishes.





A touch of applique can add another element to the simple bow tie!

Inspired by my dear Nana who raised me this table runner design from 2013 is still a favourite in my home. I call it the Phyllis May table runner because that was her beautiful name.

If you'd like to make it I've just added the pattern to my shop.
You can make this up in a day, truly.

Next year you'll discover a number of "Phyllis May" patterns popping up on the shelves of my Elefantz shop. Nana has long gone from this world but is still treasured in my heart so I thought it was time to honour her with the work of my hands and the creativity God has gifted.

These will tie in with the new Block of the Month for 2019 which is vintage inspired, as well as the year long journey we'll be taking through the pages of my well worn copy of The Gentle Art of Domesticity.

I'm SO excited about next year, but I think we should enjoy the final weeks of 2018 first.

Before we close today I wanted to tell you about some wonderful tutorials my friend Fee is sharing on her new blog to help you with gift giving and also to teach some very basic paper crafting projects for those who haven't tried it before (like me!).
Drop by and say hi, okay?
visit Fee here

I'll be back in about 24 hours with another alphabet pincushion...where did the week go??

Bless you heaps,

HOPE (free pattern)...

HOPE.

Everyone needs it at various times in life.

I have personally had a few hopes dashed of late and it would be easy to wallow in self pity about them, but yesterday I decided to not let "self " get in the way of renewing fresh hope in my heart again.  

So I sketched up this simple design, stitched it, added a fabric applique border and popped it inside a lovely vintage wooden hoop I found at a garage sale ages ago!

HOPE may be just a word to some, but it's a dose of encouragement to me.

I 'hope' it is for you too. xx

One of the new patterns for my Stitchery Club this month is also displayed inside a hoop and features an applique border as well, so in response to a member's request that I show how to add the fabric border I'll take you through each step with the Hope design because you could use this for any stitchery you want to hoop as long as the hoop is at least an inch or two larger than the diameter of the design.

DOWNLOAD the free "Hope" pattern here (updated April 2025)

First of all draw a circle around the design if it doesn't already have one, and then trace that circle onto the smooth side of a piece of fusible web. 

(I use Vliesofix)

Fuse the rough side (the side opposite to your traced circle) of the fusible web onto the wrong side of whatever fabric you've chosen for the applique border. Do this with a warm dry iron.

Carefully cut away the circle.

Trace the stitchery design onto a piece of plain cotton fabric. For this project I used some scrap flour sack but you could use homespun, calico, linen...whatever you have on hand.

Peel away the fusible web.

Position the fabric over the traced design and fuse in position with a warm dry iron.

Optional: You may decide to skip the next step but this is what I always do before I begin to embroider.

Fuse a fabric stabiliser behind the prepared design. 

This blog post will show what I use if stabilisers are new to you.

Choose embroidery threads which blend with the colours in your border fabric. 

In the pattern I have included a list of the threads used for my version of "Hope".

Blanket stitch applique around the edge of the fabric circle with a single strand of thread.

Now switch to two strands of the same thread and chain stitch as close as you can to the edge of the fabric.

Stitch the design by following the steps given in my free pattern.

Using the inside of the hoop your completed design will be displayed in, trace the circle onto a piece of medium weight fusible Pellon.

Cut the circle from the Pellon.

Turn your completed stitchery to the wrong side and centre the hoop over it. Trace a line around the inside edge of the hoop using a pencil - this will not show through.

Place the Pellon circle inside the traced circle at the back of your stitchery.

Fuse the Pellon to the back of your stitchery by placing a piece of cotton fabric over the Pellon and gentle pressing with a dry iron set to cotton. 

You need the cotton fabric between the Pellon and the iron or you will have a nasty melted mess as Pellon is synthetic.

Turn the stitchery over and press from the front as well.

Place the design inside the hoop, keeping the Pellon circle centred at the back.

After you have screwed the hoop to a firm fit, trim the excess fabric away from the edge.

Turn the hoop over to the back and use a glue gun to run a line of hot glue between the edge of the trimmed fabric and the hoop. 

Add a ribbon through the screw on top and hang!

This is the hooped project my Stitchery Club members will be making. As you can see the applique  border is rippled instead of a straight edge circle.

When you applique an uneven border around a stitchery you need to trace the reverse of the shape and then carefully place the fabric over the prepared stitchery background using your pattern sheet to get all those edges in correct position.

Hot glue is wonderful for securing those raw fabric edges to the back of the hoop...

Blossom, Ross and the girls moved into their new home (rental) last Friday and slowly they are unpacking and setting up house. It's a big change from the very tiny cottage they have welcomed both babies into over the past two years but I can assure you Cully May is over the moon to have space where she can run and jump and play and sing...without waking baby Rafaella.

Our story continues, though we feel closer to that first home purchase than ever before.

We have a short list and shall see where that leads in the next week or two.

All prayers appreciated.

Bless you heaps this week!

hugs

April designs and a tutorial...

When only a small amount of a particularly beautiful fabric remains my heart is tempted to fold it carefully, place it gently upon the fabric shelves around eye level, and leave it there to gaze at lovingly for the next however many years. 

But my head tells me something else. Use it. And the past year or two I have tended to listen to my head more often than not.

(hope you're not one of those people who hates it when someone begins a sentence with 'and' or 'but'...I used to be like that but now I write how I speak...so I'm forgiven, right?)

The floral fabric inside my new needle/thread/scissor keeper, or as I officially call it, a sewing supplies folder, is one that very much held my heart for quite a while, which is why it needed to be displayed in a forever home. So I made this folder with a 'home' on the cover! 

Inside there are roomy white-lace trimmed pockets which can hold larger things than the average needle-book. 

So I wonder, do you have a precious bit of fabric you really should take off the shelf and use?

Might this be the next project for you? Mmmm...??

The house design on the front cover is available HERE in my Etsy shop but the folder itself can be made with any embroidery or even fabric alone.

Gather these supplies...

·         One fat quarter floral fabric

·         9” x 14” rectangle of medium weight fusible Pellon

·         Two, 2 ½” x 40” lengths of red/white spot fabric

·         A completed stitchery measuring 7” wide x 8 ¼” (or fabric the same size)

·         24” x 1 ¼” length of white cotton lace

·         ¾” x 14” length white lace

From the floral fabric cut-

·         One, 7” x 8 ¼” rectangle

·         One, 8 ¼” x 13 ½” rectangle

·         One, 10” x 13 ½” rectangle

From the 24” x 1 ¼” length of white cotton lace, cut –

·         One, 9” length

·         One, 14” length

Let's Sew!

Making the outside of the sewing supplies folder –

Sew the 7” x 8 ¼” rectangle of floral fabric to the left side of the trimmed stitchery and press the seam open. Lay the 9” length of white cotton lace over the seam and sew it in place along the side edges of the lace. 

Make the inside of the sewing supplies folder –

Fuse the 8 ¼” x 13 ½” rectangle of floral fabric to the Pellon and machine or hand quilt. I did simple straight lines along the top half, leaving the bottom half un-quilted as that section will sit behind the pockets. Trim away the excess Pellon.

Make the pocket –

Fold the 10” x 13 ½” rectangle of floral fabric in half to give you a 5” x 13 ½” pocket.

Sew the ¾” x 14” length of white lace along the fold (this will be the wrong side) so that most of it peeks out of the right side. Sew the 14” length of the wider lace about an inch below the fold on the right side.

Lay the pocket along the bottom of your quilted lining and pin in position. Score a line down the centre, and two more lines 3 ¼” to the left and right of the centre line. I use a Hera Marker which leaves an indent in the fabric and you sew along it.

Sew along those lines to create your smaller pockets, and sew the sides and bottom of the larger pocket to the lining with a scant 1/8 inch seam.

Assemble and finish…

Lay the front of the sewing supplies folder on to the pocketed lining, wrong sides together. Sew a line down the centre of the lace spine to join the front and lining together. The sewn line should cover/reinforce the centre pocket line we sewed earlier.

Make a length of quilt binding from the strips of red/white spot fabric and attach it around the edges of the sewing supplies folder as you would a quilt with a ¼” seam.

Press the binding away from the folder.

Turn the binding to the inside of the folder and slip stitch in place.

All done! Fill with your supplies and it’s ready to use.

You can see why I love that floral fabric, yes?

I also love the spotty binding and fortunately still have a fat eighth of that left for another project.

The floral is a print from Brenda Riddle's 'Windermere' range for Moda and honestly, I confess to loving all her fabrics. She's also the sweetest gal and she loves Jesus. 

10/10 all around for me.

Need another tutorial to empty your scraps bucket?

How about a fabric basket? Follow along here.

Well, I'd best get back to work and prepare some new designs for coming months, plus I have to pack for our mini holiday/road trip this weekend, give the house a general once-over with the dust cloth and prepare a nice meal to freeze that we can enjoy upon returning late at night. I'm hedging towards lasagne at the moment as we can have it for dinner tonight and have the leftovers when we come home.

 After time away I love to open our front door to a home that is clean and welcoming, with fresh sheets on the bed and soft towels in the bathroom, a meal that can be easily heated up and lots of ice in the freezer for iced de-caff coffees before bed.

As much as these short and rare times away are good for us, Mr E and I do enjoy coming home again.

What about you? 

have a blessed day,

hugs

Hexies, a trip and a free pattern...

On Saturday hubby and I drove west to Charters Towers. 

It's a beautiful small country town about 160 klm away and it's where we called home from 2009-2011, living in a lovely old cottage that captured my heart.

We go back to visit every couple of months and as the giant water tank on top of Towers Hill comes into view about 10 klm out of town my heart always skips a beat because it feels like coming home and I tend to become a wee bit emotional about that.

First stop is always, without exception, the local newsagent. They stock all my favourite English country magazines and many craft magazines from overseas that I cannot find in the big city. The week following our Charters Towers visit has me enjoying many long afternoon teas and I'm sure you understand why. 

We don't visit people while we're there, we come to visit the town itself. Quite simply the atmosphere, the peace of country life, the simplicity and 'slowing' that cloaks the town draws us in as we wander up and down Gill Street (for in all tiny towns there is but one main street, yes?) and scan the Houses For Sale ads displayed across the various estate agent windows. We dream, hope, pray. After all, you never know, a teaching position may open up there again one day for my darling man and we could set down deep roots at last in a town we love.

I slip into my favourite charity shops to see what treasures can be found and inevitably come out with at least a few vintage buttons and a book or two. There's also a gorgeous gift shop with so many pretty things under one roof that a number of birthday gifts are usually purchased in advance for shabby chic loving friends or family.

Coffee and cake (or a hearty breakfast if we've come early in the morning) is enjoyed at Henry's Restaurant next to the cinema before a final stroll back to the car, and then it's a slow drive around the streets, looking at the beautiful old homes, enjoying expansive views from the hill and ending with a drive past one particular home we've had our eye on since 2009 - always hopeful a 'for sale' sign will one day appear out front when the time is right.

We don't talk much during the 90 minute trip back home, each of us in our own thoughts...but that evening we share our dreams about life, the future, and perhaps that town. 

Have you lived somewhere that stole your heart and never gave it back?

During the three hour round trip to Charters Towers I sewed one inch hexies on my lap as Mr E drove. 

When we go away on long road trips I take embroidery, and next weekend we're off on one of those much longer trips which is why this shorter drive was a good test to see if sewing hexies would be more relaxing during the journey, and it is. 

In fact I enjoyed making them so much that I continued sewing hexies that night while we watched an old movie. Fortunately I'd prepared a lot of hexie fabrics whilst sorting through my scraps basket so I just kept going until I ran out.

The next morning I prepared more and before we go away I shall add to them, just in case.

A few ladies have asked me to show how I make a hexie.

Many blogs and designers have done tutorials on this so I won't go overboard with it, but here's a simple run through what I do.

You need hexagon shaped paper templates and these can be purchased in packs from your local quilt shop, online, printed from the internet to cut out yourself, or even as occasional freebies with craft magazines. 

As we live fairly remote in the big scheme of things around Australia, unsold magazines are not sent back to publishing houses from here for cost reasons, so the newsagents resell them after their month of issue has expired for just a dollar or two. This is how I purchase most of my craft magazines, and most of the time there's free fabric, plastic templates, kits or paper templates attached. One of those $2 magazines had 250 one inch hexies included when I bought it last week, just in time for my trip!

I have a plastic template for tracing the hexagon shape needed to make a 1" paper hexie (also from a $2 magazine) but I feel confident now to cut four at a time with scissors alone.

I cut four squares of fabric large enough to give me a border around the paper shape and holding the paper and fabric together with one hand I use my super dooper Klasse shears to cut through the fabrics.

The border is close to a 1/4" all around, but sometimes a little less when using smaller fabric scraps.

If you're not confident doing it my way use a proper hexie template sized to suit the hexie you want to make, or trace the hexie onto the wrong side of your fabric and draw a line 1/4" outside it for your cutting line. 

Cut along the line with scissors or a rotary cutter.

There's two ways to fold the fabric around the paper hexie - hand stitching or glue.

I hand baste because for me this is sooooo very relaxing.

Folding one edge at a time around the paper you sew large basting stitches (running stitches) through the fabric and paper until you have done all six sides.

No need to knot the thread, it will be removed later when you take out the papers.

(papers can be re-used)

This is quick and easy, perfect for doing on your lap in the car or anywhere you're out and about.

To use the glue method a glue pen is best. You only need enough to secure the fabric to the paper because you'll need to lift up the edges later and remove the papers.

Press the fabric borders over onto the hexie paper with your fingers, one at a time.

I'm a hand baster because it's very calming and I don't much like peeling glued fabric borders away from the paper later, but I have friends who love glue basting so do what makes you happy.

My camera was whisked away to the camera shop this morning to be cleaned so I don't have photos of sewing the hexies together, but it's not hard. Press the hexies flat with a warm dry iron as this will give you a nice crisp edge, then hold two hexies right side together (still basted, still with paper inside) and sew along one side with a blind stitch. 

Sew as many together as you need and when you're done remove the basting stitches and the papers. 

I think these will become the first of many hexie flowers...

Here's one of my old designs (The Summer House) which has embroidered and fabric hexies as a feature...

The embroidery is traced onto the hexie fabric shape first, then after the hexie is made it is sewn onto the design and embroidered.

I've done the same thing with hexies in a new pattern for April (see it here)...

Hopefully this has helped those of you who haven't yet ventured into paper piecing, but remember, I'm no expert, just a girl who likes to make them as simply and calmly as possible with minimum effort for maximum effect. 

A few years ago I shared a free pattern and tutorial, The Hexie Flower Show". Perhaps you may like to practice with it?

You'll find the tutorial here

and...

Download the free pattern here from my shop.

I wonder whether you prefer stitch basting or glue basting?

Bless you heaps!