Blessed is the Nation

Another pretty text design... another kitchen towel for myself!

The Blessed Nation design is from Lynnie Pinnie. (This is the 4x4 size and is all embroidery. The larger sizes include applique.) I selected these darker colors to coordinate with my kitchen.

(My Stay Put towel is loosely inspired by the Topsy Towel tutorial posted on Embroidery Library. In this case I did not applique a square of fabric, nor did I square up the towel. There is a free V-shaped buttonhole design posted on Sew Forum that goes with this tutorial. If you are not a member of SF, it is free to join.)

Garden Flags

For Mother's Day this year I made burlap garden flags!

For both of these I used Embroidery Boutique's Split Tuscan Alphabet. The fun challenge is selecting a font to use inside the split. :) For my mom, I used 8CP's Copper. It has nice short/wide letters so that four-letter name could fill the space across. I cannot wait to see a picture of it hanging among their beautiful flowerbeds!

For my MIL, I used 8CP's Southern Belle. It's a perfect match don't you think? I love how this turned out and was tempted to keep it for myself. I may have to make a duplicate. :)

Vroom Vroom!

This is a project that I'd call "simply providential" (recently watched Anne of Green Gables with my girl, hee hee).

I love being a design tester for Lynnie Pinnie! When new designs appear in my inbox my head starts swimming with ideas. As soon as I saw this Cars on the Road design, I couldn't wait to check my flannel stash, I was just sure I had something that coordinated beautifully! (It had been sitting there since 2006 waiting for this day.) At about the same time I learned that my expectant nephew was going to be given two middle names, so I was already brainstorming ways to use four initials. And as an extra bonus, my maiden name is Carr. :)
A perfect project was born!!

 I used the 6x10 size and put it in the corner of the light blue cotton print. Dashiell helped me pick the fabric scraps from my stash to match the flannel--3 of the 4 already had HNBL on them! Woo-hoo! To add his initials, I used the Appliance Font from Jolson's Tiny Fonts set. I'm so pleased how this turned out!!

Prior to making the blanket, I tested the 4x4 version of the design on a tote bag. It only has 3 vehicles, which was perfect for monogramming for my son's friend, filling with Hot Wheels, and taking to a birthday party. :)

SODA-lighted you were my teacher!

This year's teacher appreciation gifts:

I used 8CP's Two Color Script on the koozies. The little SODA-lighted tag is a free printable I found last year on the Tammy Mitchell Designs blog. I love the little play on words sort of appreciation gifts. :)

Trip to the Fire Station!

Our playgroup visited the fire station today:

and I used it as an excuse to purchase and stitchout a new applique design! :)
This actually is the first fire truck design I've used. I've never had a request or need, but I've always been on the lookout for a good SIMPLE one to have on standby. When I saw this design I thought, "This is it!" Isn't it cute?

The Fire Truck design is from Happytown Embroidery. I've had the pleasure of getting to know Lori through forums and groups. She does beautiful applique work and has recently started selling her own designs! There are lots in her shop that I'm admiring, check it out! I really liked the fill stitch pattern used in the bumpers and tires, it adds extra texture.

I added Dashiell's name with 8CP's Burst. Nice font with tall/thin letters so I could fit an 8-letter name in that space. :) I debated for a while what color to use for his name. I really like aqua and red together, so I picked that. And look what accent color is on our firetrucks in town!

We had lots of fun today, look at the delight in this little face :)

Cute crab!

When Designs by JuJu shared this crab applique last week I wanted to use it right away. I decided to put it on something for myself -- my cover-up! I love aqua and red together...

This cute crab has been around for years as a part of DBJJ's Critters of the Sea set. What's new though is that it is all applique (legs aren't filled), and it's a freebie on DBJJ's Facebook page! I picked the zig zag version with eyelashes, isn't she cute! Oh, and I finally cut into my RB tone-on-tone dots. They are so pretty and have just been sitting there decorating my shelf. :)

I added my monogram with 8CP's Monogram Three. My close-up of it didn't turn out well. You know me and red...  I'll try again another time. It's pretty though!

Happy Birthday, Nathan!

Nathan is celebrating his birthday Toy Story style. When his mommy showed him a couple options (like Maddox's Space Explorer shirt, or Jimmie and Jackson's birthday shirts) he picked the number four design!

The Box Font numbers are from Itch 2 Stitch. I added his name with 8CP's Tiny. We found the fabric at Hobby Lobby.

April Showers bring May Flowers!

When I saw this Watering Can with Flower Garden design for Lynnie Pinnie, I remembered Annaliese's four layer skirt that didn't have a matching shirt. (Gasp!) We spent time on a Sat afternoon looking through my fabric stash (these are odd colors!) and found four 5" charms from my Fairy Frost set that worked great!

My plan was to make her shirt after she went to bed. That afternoon something exciting happened, I got a package from Blanks Boutique with a new ruffle shirt for her AND American Girl doll size shirts! Woo-hoo! I was able to not only use the 6x10 size for Annaliese...

 

but also the 4x4 size for Anna! YES, a full 4" long design fit on the doll shirt! No resizing required!

 

Isn't this a cute set?

 

So fun... I love getting to do this. :)

Now, we both have a blue/aqua/mint 4 layer skirt that need matching shirts... still waiting for something perfect for those. :)

Burp cloths for Orin

Rebecca asked me to make a baby gift for a friend of hers who is using the Forest Friends crib bedding by Carters (it's so cute!). We picked these designs to coordinate:

I knew right away I'd use Lynnie Pinnie's raccoon design! I added his name with 8CP's Bobby.

I also had a cute fox design on my wishlist so I used this project as an opportunity to buy it. :) The Fox Applique is from A Creative Medley, and I added his name with 8CP's Woof.

Both components of this design are from Embroidery Boutique. I used EB's Dotty Alphabet for the O and merged the owl from the Owl Branch design on top.