Sew Bird Crazy

For a jolly little elf named Jenny!

These are so cute, I just couldn't resist making one. The first one I made was not so great, a trial run I guess you would call it. I made this one with some red glittery felt I found at Joannes and some white embroidery floss. I spied my aqua and red buttons and immediately thought of Jenny B. Harris @ Allsorts. After all, that's where I found this adorable pattern in the first place. Who better to dedicate it to but her? I adore her blog, the bright color pallet and her adorable illustrations just pull you in. I've included a link to her blog, just in case you've never been there and you would like to find her pattern. Well, I'm off to work on more of these just to see what I can come up with. I'm thinking maybe some machine embroidered clogs that say '09, then I would have an excuse to make a new one every year. Cheers to you Jenny! Thanks for the pattern.

The Vintage Workshop Easy Christmas Pillow Covers

Aren't these delightful? I love them. I found an easy envelope pillow cover tutorial via about.com. Dug out my miles and miles of red and white ticking stripe decor fabric I purchased at Joanne's and picked some of my favorite images from The Vintage Workshop. You will need some therm o web, printable fabric sheets and some misc buttons. You may want to add a second piece of white cotton fabric so your background print doesn't show through like some of mine. I found this out the hard way after the second pillow. They really brighten up my boring couch, if you make any similar pillows I would love to see them. Happy Holiday Sewing! Images in this project were downloaded via The Vintage Workshop.

Patchwork Kitchen Towels

Time for holiday sewing. Just a post to show off my new patchwork kitchen towels featuring the fabric Figgy Pudding by Moda. I had the towels stashed away from my last trip to IKEA and finally found a use for them. I'll add them to the kitchen or bath for some extra color and holiday spirit. These make a great holiday gift idea. You can find the tutorial here on Sew,Mama,Sew. Happy Sewing!

Wild Bird Make Your Own Suet Recipe

I cooked up this recipe when I ran out of pre-packaged suet from the store. All the birds love it and its super easy.

• 1 cup shortening
• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup cornmeal
• 1 cup peanut butter(regular or crunchy)
• 1 cup of any wild bird seed
• suet form or cupcake liners with cupcake baking pad

Directions:

In a medium saucepan melt shortening over medium heat, add peanut butter stir till melted, add cornmeal and flour stir until well mixed, add birdseed. Mix. Remove from heat and pour your bird treat into your lined cupcake pan. Refrigerate until solid, remove and store in a seal proof bag or plastic container. Refrigerate or freeze if desired. 

Your birds will love you for it this winter season, it provides high fat energy to keep them warm during this cold winter season. I have just recently started making this recipe for them and every bird that comes to the feeder eats some of it. Its a winner!

Martha Stewart Spooky Glowing Pumpkins

This was a fun project and real easy for me, I made my fiance drill the holes and place the lights. (I am recovering from a thumb injury, so no projects for me.) I found the idea on the Martha Stewart website, hers called for real pumpkins, but I opted for the reusable ones from Michaels. You can find the project here, I think they turned out really good and I hope the trick or treaters enjoy them.

 

I think my cat is playing the part pretty well, he's definitely displaying some Halloween spirit.

 

He's playing the vampire tonight.

Fall Patchwork Celebration Banner and Tutorial

My first tutorial, a patchwork banner for Fall, Halloween or any occasion. I made this to coordinate with my patchwork runner for the coffee table. Sorry for the flash kill picture, it's dark and snowing today. Enjoy!

 

Annual Airing of the Quilts in Tunkhannock Pennsylvania

Today was a beautiful Fall day, not to cold and not to warm, just perfect for the Tunkhannock's annual Airing of the Quilts. Each year on the first weekend of October the entire town airs all of their local quilts for everyone to see. All along the main strip they are displayed on the front porches of the towns beautiful Victorian homes. We traveled in and out of various shops downtown and took in the sites. It was a good opportunity to use my new camera, get some shots and a breath of fresh air. You can find more information on this event at Airing of the Quilts, founded by Jeannette Kitlan, owner of Endless Mountain Quiltworks in Tunkhannock, PA.

 

 

 

 

 

 

My new baby, the Canon Rebel XSI

Just a quick post to show of my new baby. She takes the best macro pictures, I love this camera. Now I'm dreaming of 200mm lens so I can get great shots of my backyard birds. If your shopping for a new DSLR camera, I highly recommend this one. The price tag is a little steep from a point and shoot, but it's money well spent. I can't wait to get out there and take some great macro shots of the fall season.

The Bean Bag Tutorial and Luxembourg from Pixie Dust Decor Fabric

I finally finished my project from the three yards of Luxembourg fabric I received from Pixie Dust Decor Fabrics. It was hard picking a project and I chewed on many ideas before settling on the bean bag chair. Having no small babies to use the fabric for, I decided to make a gift for my niece Ivy who will be turning 2 in October. I found the tutorial for the bean bag chair via the Makingitfun blog spot by Michael Miller. You can find the tutorial under their project and tutorials section. It was a great tutorial, easy to make and turned out adorable thanks to the colorful scenery of the Luxembourg line. I added her name to the applique to make it all the more personal. In my neck of the woods I had a hard time finding bean bag filler, so I ran to my local Target and picked up a cheap bean bag chair and used the filling from that. This bean bag chair is nice, because it offers a liner, so you can change or launder the cover without messing with beans. If you love the fabric, which I know you will, you can find it here at Pixie Dust Decor Fabrics. Thanks again to Pixie Dust Decor, I'm sure my niece will love crawling and jumping all over her new bean bag chair.

Lola Freedom by belleandboo on Etsy

via www.etsy.com

Belle&boo where are you? I just can't wait to get this print and get it framed. She's coming to me all the way from London, so I have to wait with anticipation. Update: Just like destiny a half an hour after this post Lola arrived and here she is. She came perfectly matted and arrived perfectly intact. Why do I love her so much you ask? I guess she is the little girl in me setting the bird free.Thanks again, belle&boo.