Christmas 2014 Embroidered Ornament Tutorial

Hi everyone:

If you're looking for a quick Christmas gift this year, you'll love this idea! It's simple and fast and so easy to personalize. 

Christmas 2014 Ornament

While I hand embroidered a snowflake to my ornament, you could certainly choose to use the recipient's initial, a word, such as Joy or Peace, or even "Christmas 2014". If you do want to stitch a snowflake, just download my FREE Snowflake Brrr design and use the smaller snowflake design in it.

If you still have some time after making the Christmas ornament, you might want to tackle the Snowflake Brrr design and create a pillow or wall hanging with it. I know you'll have time to create that project too!

Snowflake Brrr design by Chatterbox Quilts

But let's not get ahead of ourselves: let's learn how to make the Christmas 2014 ornament first!

You'll need:

• Two pieces of fabric - one for the front and one for the back. I used squares that were about 8" each.
• A piece of ribbon or rickrack about 6" long for the hanger. I chose a piece of coordinating rickrack.
• A piece of heavy fusible web, just slightly smaller than the fabric pieces.
• A CD, bowl or jar lid - something to trace the circle that will be the finished size of your ornament. I used a CD and found it was perfect for the size I wanted.

Trace the circle onto the right side of one of the fabric pieces. I used a Frixion pen so I could easily remove the traced line later. 

After tracing the circle, I embroidered the snowflake inside the circle, centering the design in the circle.

Snowflake embroidered inside the circle

After I finished tracing the design, I layered the fabric pieces together and cut out along the traced circle with pinking shears. I also cut out a circle from the fusible web with regular scissors, making sure this circle was just a bit smaller than the fabric ones.

Finally, a use for my pinking shears!

Front and back fabrics all cut pinked out

Layer the ornament as follows: back fabric, wrong side up; ribbon or rickrack, folded in half with raw edges in; fusible web; top embroidered fabric. Fuse the ornament together, following the manufacturer's instructions.

Layered up and ready to be fused

Hang your ornament and enjoy! (You did make one for yourself, didn't you?)

All finished and hanging in my house already

If you have additional time, consider adding some embellishments to the ornament. A running stitch or maybe even some beading all around the edge would be lovely (why didn't I think of that when I did this ornament?!). There are lots of ways to jazz up this little decoration. 

I had fun creating this ornament and it only took an hour to whip up.

I hope you'll try stitching your own embroidered Christmas ornament and would love to see your creations.

Happy quilting!

Merry Early Christmas with a Free Pattern from Chatterbox Quilts

Hi everyone:

Christmas is fast approaching and each year it always creeps up on me unexpectedly and I'm usually frantically finishing gifts at the eleventh hour. I'm sure this year will be no different. I have, however, created a new winter pattern and it is already published and just waiting for you to download it and make it. I'm quite impressed with myself - until I start thinking about the present buying, the house decorating and the baking. Oh well, I guess there's still quite a bit to do.

Snowflake Brrr from Chatterbox Quilts

In any event, you at least have an early present from me. You can find Snowflake Brrr, a hand embroidery design, on my Craftsy pattern store. The pattern includes full size templates, in normal and reversed formats, as well as stitch and colour suggestions.

Snowflake 1 Detail

Snowflake 2 Detail

This is really a quick project to create and once you're done stitching you can use the stitchery to create a pillow, a table topper or maybe you'll just leave it in the embroidery hoop and hang it on the wall. 

I hope you enjoy this design and would love to see your finished projects using Snowflake Brrr.

Brrr! stitchery detail

Happy quilting!

Fall and Halloween Recap

Hi everyone:

Wow! It seems like fall just flew by and we're already into winter - at least in Calgary. I've been busy with lots of projects, although you haven't heard much about them. As usual, I start working on projects for holidays much to close to the actual date and end up with them finished - or not - past that particular date. This year, I was caught up in fall and Halloween projects. 

Embroidered Pumpkin Design by Chatterbox Quilts

Some are even almost finished. Which is saying quite a bit for me. Maybe I'll even have them quilted in time for next Halloween!

Boy Skull design by Janie Hirst for Chatterbox Quilts

I shouldn't feel too bad about not finishing these projects yet because it's been a very busy fall. We've been up to Edmonton several times to see my daughter, check out and buy (or not) some vintage sewing machines, and to buy a used tent trailer. I think we've been to Edmonton more in the past few months than we have ever been! Add to that the fact that I've been sick for all of October and still can't seem to shake a cough that pops up now and then - usually when I'm trying to sleep! We also celebrated my husband's birthday (one of the big ones) and our 30th wedding anniversary within two weeks of each other and then there was Thanksgiving and Halloween too... Well, suffice to say that the past two months have been extremely busy for us.

Girl Skull design by Jamie Hirst for Chatterbox Quilts

Now of course Christmas is looming, so maybe I should start thinking about some wintery projects. Or maybe I'll just finish off those fall and Halloween ones...

Hope you're ahead on your quilting!

Quilts and Pillows and Softies, oh my!

Hi everyone:

This past week-end we travelled up to Edmonton to visit Sarah at university - and to take a look at a vintage Singer sewing machine, but that's another blogpost! This trip reminded me that I had promised to tell you about the other items that I made for Sarah to have in her residence room.

Since residence rooms are not very homey, I thought that some soft furnishings would be welcome. As Sarah is a huge Harry Potter fan, the subject matter was obvious; I just had to decide what to make. 

Sarah's quilt

Since I'd already made her a quilt, I thought that a throw pillow would be nice and decided that I would use the same orange flannel backing fabric from the quilt to make the pillow back. Well that was easy, but what about the front of the pillow? Again, Harry Potter to the rescue! I traced a Deathly Hallows symbol on a plain fabric background and embroidered it using a chain stitch. You'll notice a slight difference in the symbol - this is how Sarah always draws it, incorporated the lightning bolt through the centre of the design. Borders added around the outside, back completed, pillow form inserted and the pillow was done.

Pillow with Deathly Hallows symbol

But this was not quite enough yet. Sarah had drawn a small Dobby figure and partially completed the embroidery before grade 12 activities took over. I finished the embroidery and made it into a little softie. I enlarged the outline of the figure and cut the embroidered fabric and backing fabric to this shape. These pieces were stitched together, right sides together, leaving a small opening at the side to turn. I then turned it right side out and stuffed Dobby and then whipstitched the opening closed. I think he turned out very well and is now a companion to the Harry Potter softie that I had previously made for Sarah. 

Dobby front

Dobby back

Dobby nestled in a sleeping bag (sleeve from a sweater)

Things are looking a bit more homey in Sarah's room now.

I had to make sure that Dobby had his sock - he is a free elf, after all!

Telecast Thursday: Embroidery Inspiration

Hi everyone:

Welcome to Telecast Thursday! I've finished the videos about my Janome Horizon Memory Craft 8900 QCP sewing machine and am now switching from machine stitching to hand stitching, specifically hand embroidery. While I love working with my machines - and I have lots of machines - I also enjoy sitting down with a hand stitchery project. I find it relaxing and easy to do.

If you haven't already subscribed to my Youtube channel, be sure to do so to receive automatic notifications when new videos are posted. 

While there are many hand embroidery patterns available, I like to create my own. In this video, I discuss where I find my inspiration for my hand embroidery designs. You can watch the video on my Youtube channel or below.

 Subscribe to receive automatic notifications so you don't miss any of the latest videos.

Inspiration for Embroidery Designs

Hi everyone:

Last week I gave you a peek at the latest embroidery design that I'm working on. I've done more on the sample now, so I can show you more of it. I think it looks quite elegant and stately (I was working on it while watching House of Cards) and I thought you might be interested as to the inspiration for this design.

Art Deco Embroidery design by Chatterbox Quilts

I love to drink tea, especially Chai tea and I can often be found with a cuppa next to me while working in my studio. I was opening up a new box of Tazo Chai tea and noticed the lovely scroll design on the interior of the box. Wouldn't this look nice as an embroidery design? Of course it would? And off I went.

Design on interior of Tazo tea box

I envisioned using neutrals for this design and had the perfect shade of copper in a Tencel thread to use for it. I guess it's close to tea colour, so maybe that's why I went in this direction. 

Tazo tea box interior and Tencel thread

I'm using a linen look fabric for the background and I think I'll be adding some yo-yos to it for some extra texture. Plus I have some Michael Miller Fairy Frost fabric (try saying that quickly!) in a copper shade that I've been hoarding for some time. I think it's going to be perfect on this project.

Yo-yo made from Michael Miller Fairy Frost in copper

I also have a lovely turquoise batik that I think would look nice as a smaller yo-yo on top of the larger copper one. I haven't yet made these up, but have cut out the fabric so I can use my Clover quick yo-yo makers.

Batik fabric would be perfect on top of copper yo-yo

Here's what the design looks like - in a reduced format. The magenta circles represent the yo-yos. 

Art Deco embroidery pattern printed at reduced size

I don't like having to enlarge my patterns, so I printed this out in a tile format and then taped it together with Scotch removable tape. This is what it looks like taped together at full size.

Art Deco embroidery pattern full size

I traced the lines onto the background fabric with my Frixion pen and then started stitching. 

I hope to finish this design soon and I'll let you know when it will be available on my Chatterbox Quilts website.

Where do you find your inspiration?

How to Waste Time While Embroidering

Hi everyone:

Okay, as if I don't spend enough time watching Downton Abbey, Call the Midwife (thanks, Ebony!) and Mr. Selfridge, as well as cruising several social media sites, I've now become addicted to another series on Netflix. 

It's really the fault of the Academy Awards, which I love to watch every year and enjoyed again this year (all those gorgeous gowns, although I do miss Cher's outfits). Kevin Spacey was on Jimmy Kimmel's show after the Oscars and they were talking a bit about his series, House of Cards. I'd never watched it or paid much attention to it really, after all, it is about politics, so how interesting could that be? Well it turns out it's really interesting! 

Filling in the embroidery based on Darcy Ashton's design

So for the past week I've been spending my afternoons watching the episodes on Netflix and doing some hand embroidery. I figure I can at least say it hasn't been a complete waste of time if I've made some progress on some of my projects.

Embroidery detail

I finished the outline on this design which is actually an appliqué design by Darcy Ashton. I thought it needed a bit more, so now I'm filling it in with some french knots and chain stitches. I drew the additional stitch details with a Frixion pen so I can erase them later with the iron - on the back of the embroidery, of course. 

Of course I couldn't be just working on one project, so… I designed another embroidery pattern and am working on the sample. Here's a little peek at it. I'm really liking how it's turning out and have used a fly stitch in part of it, which I haven't done before. Gives it a great look, I think.

New Art Deco embroidery design by Chatterbox Quilts

I'll be showing you more of this new design in a future post - if there are more episodes of House of Cards to watch, that is.

Deck the halls in Ikea

Hi everyone:

Table Setting Detail at Ikea

We were out shopping at Ikea recently looking for some bedding for the wall beds that we had installed a few weeks ago. Of course all of the Christmas trimmings were out in the store which distracted me from my original list, but I was still able to pick up some plates and napkins for our upcoming Christmas party. Yay! They are usually sold out fairly quickly so I was glad to get my hands on them and it's one less thing I have to pick up in the next few weeks. 

Ikea's displays also reflected the upcoming holiday season and I had to snap a few photos of this gorgeous table setting. 

Festive table setting at Ikea

Wow! This greeted us at the top of the stairs. Very elegant and luxe. I could certainly set my table this way for the holiday meal - if I had six sets of plates! I think the stools would be for the designated drivers as I couldn't imagine sitting on these after a few glasses of wine!

Deck the Halls Ikea style

I also noticed other displays around the store which gave me some ideas. I could visualize three embroidered framed signs with "Deck the halls" on them surrounded by fabric. Sarah also noticed "Let it snow", but I'm not sure I want to encourage that type of thing :)

Here's another idea for some of those doilies that I've been accumulating collecting. Doily in the background and appliqué on top. Will definitely have to try this idea.

After getting all the items on my list (and a few extra things), I had to browse around and ended up checking out chairs. While Gary liked the cream Tullsta chair, I was more tempted by the red version. That's just kind of me.

Tullsta in humdrum cream

Tullsta in red - now you're talking!

I was enjoying our Ikea excursion, but I'm not sure that I could say the same for Gary. Guess it was time to go.

Are we through yet?

The post-Ikea collapse

Now to design a few embroidery designs for the Christmas season.

Add Some Heat with Sweet Dreams

Hi everyone:

My last post was about the Heritage Park Festival of Quilts. I was helping out at the Quilter's Connection magazine booth and did a demo of my latest pattern, Sweet Dreams. I'm pleased to let you know that this design is available as a FREE pattern on my website for the next 2 months. 

Sweet Dreams by Chatterbox Quilts

 It's my first pattern using my HEAT process: Hand Embroidery Appliqué Technique. This fusion of two techniques (hand embroidery and fusible web appliqué) has been a natural evolution of the work that I've been doing over the past year or so. 

 My first love is appliqué, specifically fusible web appliqué, since it's fast and easy - my two favourite words when I'm referring to quilting, but I've been drawn more and more to hand embroidery recently. I also find this fast and easy, although I don't think it would be as quick if I were doing an entire embroidery project. So, how am I using hand embroidery in an appliqué project, you ask? Well, let me tell you...

Detail of Sweet Dreams

I use hand embroidery as an enhancement to my appliqué project. Some appliqué details are too small to be made from fabric, so I add hand embroidery stitches for these finer details. 

Detail of Sweet Dreams

I typically use perle cotton in various weights, but embroidery floss works as well. I guess I'm just a perle cotton snob! I also find that I can add so much more texture and interest to a project with just a few simple embroidery stitches and they really don't take much time to complete.

Moon and star details of Sweet Dreams

I hope you'll download Sweet Dreams and try my HEAT process. If you've never tried hand embroidery before, this is a great project to introduce you to this technique. Don't forget to download it before the end of July 2013, since it will no longer be available as a free pattern after that date. 

DaGMT Update

Hi everyone:

Wow! February is now over and so is the Drop and Give me Twenty challenge. I wasn't sure if I could keep up with doing at least 20 minutes of quilting a day and hesitated to sign up for this, but decided to commit to doing 30 minutes of quilting per day during the month of February. I'm sure glad that I did! I've been able to work on many of my UFO's and also focus on new pattern ideas.

To give you an idea of what I've accomplished this month, here are a few photos.

I was able to finish and publish three patterns this month. Candy Hearts, a stuffed ornament/pincushion or shelf sitter, is a FREE pattern available on my website.

Candy Hearts by Chatterbox Quilts

Another pattern that was completed before Valentine's Day was Sweet Sayings, which combines easy hand embroidery stitches to create a lovely pillow.

Sweet Sayings by Chatterbox Quilts

I also completed Hearts Abloom, a fusible web appliqué wall hanging which features a bouquet of hearts.

Hearts Abloom by Chatterbox Quilts

Now, for the UFO's that I've been working on. I had this sweet cat embroidery completed, but hadn't yet added any borders to it. So, I added some borders. I believe that I was going to cut down the background fabric, but neglected to do this before adding the borders, so... I think I'll stitch these little mice on. This is a Darcy Ashton pattern from her Claire's Cats Volume 1 book.

"Caught You" from Claire's Cats Volume 1 by Darcy Ashton

This wall hanging has been (not) hanging around my quilt studio for several years. I loved the antique letter and stamp fabrics, but was stuck on how to finish quilting it. Since I've recently been watching Cindy Needhan's Craftsy class on free motion quilting, I thought that this would be the perfect project to try out some of her quilting designs. It's almost finished - I just need to quilt the outer border. May try to do some feathers here.

Okay, this is more a WIP than a UFO. I finished the hand embroidery on this pattern and will now need to finish off the appliqué pieces. Hopefully I'll have this pattern ready in time for Halloween!

Black Cat by Chatterbox Quilts

I've recently been experimenting with different uses for my appliqué templates. I traced the Large Peacock appliqué template onto some background fabric and then coloured it in with pencil crayons and then stitched around the individual areas with matching embroidery floss. A few borders and I can now finish quilt it for a small wall hanging - or maybe I'll add a few more blocks and make a larger project. Still thinking about this one.

Large Peacock appliqué template by Chatterbox Quilts

Our guild provides neonatal quilts to one of the local hospitals. I've completed one already, but here is a second one using the slab technique described in Sunday Morning Quilts by Cheryl Arkison and Amanda Jean Nyberg. Just need to quilt this baby up!

Neonatal quilt top

I've also been doing some stitching - I figure anything using a needle and thread can be lumped under "quilting" - and have started (yes, something new) a stitch sampler to try out various stitches, some familiar and some new. Will continue to add to this one and then decide what I want to do with it.

Hand embroidery stitch sampler

In addition to these projects I've been working on other quilty-related items, such as upcoming patterns and other projects. 

Now that February is at a close, I'm hoping to continue this trend through the rest of the year. It's really surprising what you can accomplish when you decide that you're going to do it!

Hope you had a great February too!