Gifts

Here's a peek at a few interesting gifts I received this year.

Isn't this a unique gift for an embroiderer! I have seen yarn bowls before but never one for a ball of embroidery floss. This particular thread bowl (my name for it) was gifted by a friend who attended last summer's EAC Conference in PEI. The bowl was made by an artist from that province.

Gale, my granddaughter, decided that I needed a real plant for my studio. She chose this one because she liked the bowl the best. I think she did a great job of selecting the perfect combination!

This ornament is the Signal Hill Star. It was created by Darrel Pike, Saltwater Pewter, NL. Each Christmas season, a large star like this one, is hung on Cabot Tower, St. John's. It's light can be seen from all over the city.

My brother, Don Eady, Sandy Point Stained Glass, made these for our tree.I have quite a few of his gorgeous stained glass pieces.

I was entertained by humming birds on my patio, last summer. My daughter found this delightful beaded humming bird for my tree. She usually gives me an ornament on Christmas. Many of them have been from her past travel destinations.

I treated myself to one of Anne Lucas's needle felted Gnomes when I was in Newfoundland in early December. This is a 'cute' one!!

Did you get a chance to check out the links on the previous post? Well, here's more:

• Interesting felt ornaments HERE (scroll down)
• Stained Glass Ornaments HERE  
• Beaded Christmas Tree Ornaments HERE 
• Yarn Bowls HERE 

 Enjoy!!  

Pendants & Sculptures!!

Last Sunday, the family went to White Point Beach Resort for Mother's Day Brunch. The food was wonderful and a lovely spot to spend an afternoon. Some of my Fibre Art Pendants and Shimmers are for sale in the gift shop. You will find a few of the pendants below:

On the way home, we visited Crosby's Sculptures and Garden Center, Liverpool. If you are in the area, it's well worth the visit! These sculptures are all constructed from concrete:

Newest Pendants

I finished a few new Fibre Art Pendants this week. Some of them are now for sale at the Lady Luck Boutique (facebook link), Halifax. This quaint gift shop specializes in the work of Canadian designers and artists.

I'm not happy with the colour or the quality of these photos.  However, it is too late to redo them as some are now gone, but you get the idea. Check out more of my photos on Instagram @jctextileart. Coming soon is an on-line shop selling my smaller pieces such as shimmers, felted ornaments, art cards, greeting cards and pendants. I'll keep you posted on our progress as I've had several inquiries wondering if my work is for sale online.

Shimmer Ornaments at the the Kitchen Witch

Lots of Shimmers are now for sale at the Kitchen Witch, Bridgewater. When I saw the sign on the store a couple of years ago, I thought it was a place to purchase everything for the kitchen. However, that's not the case. They have gift items for everyone! This includes: a selection of leather purses and wallets, pottery, lots of different jewellery from artisans across the country, wall art, fancy umbrellas hung around the ceiling, framed prints, stained glass, clocks, tartan shawls, knitted children's sweaters, a year round Christmas display as well as much more.

I was impressed with the store and also pleased that the owner, Ann Jabalee, loved my Shimmers. I dropped down today with the rest of her order. Ann was in the process of hanging them on one of her trees in the window.

Shimmer display just started

View from one corner

My blue car outside

 

Sewing Projects for Mother's Day

I've found a few links with some projects to consider for Mother's Day. However, these projects aren't limited to just one occasion and you might want to make some of these for yourself!

• To keep mom organized (or yourself), there's a free organizer basket HERE.
• I found this Pill Bottle Survivor Kit interesting and relatively easy to make.
• 10 Mother's Day Gifts to Sew 
• Mother's Day Sewing Gifts HERE & HERE   
• More Gift Ideas HERE 

From Joan's garden in Tennessee!

 

Projects for Mother's Day Gifts

Another sunny, spring day and the snow is disappearing quickly. Mother's Day is in May and I've found a few projects that might fit the bill.

• Free Bag Patterns at My Go-Go Life
• 9 Sewing Tutorials from Sew Can She  
• No Slip Dish Towel 
• Jewelry Travel Bag 
• Fabric Basket with Drawstring Top 
• Arm Chair Pin Cushion & Sewing Pocket Tutorial     

     

Flowers from my sister's garden in Tennessee!

   Enjoy!!

July Birthday Gift!

Last year I made a sewing kit for myself from some of my 'fantastic' fabric. If you recall, I gave it to my sister for Christmas. Read about that on the link above.

My birthday was mid July, so my friend, Marilyn, gave me my own sewing wallet. Thank you so much. I do love oriental fabrics! Don't you just love the closure 'button' that she made?

It was partially filled when I took this photo!

Handmade Gifts for Quilters / Sewers

I decided to compile a list of handmade gifts for quilters and sewers. Sometimes you just want to be able to put your hands on something quick to make for a special friend, relative or as a donation to a sale / auction. Here's a few projects to get you started:

Enjoy!

• Divided Baskets from Noodlehead
• Magnetic Pin Dish from Diary of a Quilter
• Needle Book by Nana Company
• Idea Pouch  and  Sewing Machine Apron at Craftsy  
• Fabric Baskets from Pink Penguin
• Quilted Pendant from Crafty Pod
• Fabric Beads by Linda Matthews
• Fabric Beads by Alma Stoller
• Fabric Beads by Delia's Place
• Microwave Bowl Cozies from Aunt Judy's Attic
• 30 + Makeup Bags & Rolls to Make from Tipnut

 

Sweet Little Present!

Don't you just love to receive gifts! Well, I received a sweet little present from one of my stitching friends the other evening. Yes, it's Dress It Up Buttons! And, ones I need for a special Christmas project I'm working on. I couldn't get these here in the city but my friend found them in a little florist shop in Springdale, Newfoundland. My project won't be ready for this Christmas so I can't show much in the way of photos. It will be ready for next year and will be hand delivered next summer. The tiny buttons will be doorknobs. The background is stitched with Sulky Sliver 8040. I love that particular Sliver Metallic Thread as it picks up the colours of the fabric its stitched on. The tree isn't finished yet either. So many things to do!!
I hope you are working on some special projects and getting somewhere with them.
Enjoy!

Sewing Projects

Quilters are a great bunch! They don't mind sharing their 'finds' with others. Here are a few sewing ideas that were passed on to me and I'm sending them on to you!

For Show & Tell, one quilter brought in a great travel iron tote she had received as a gift. At the time, I didn't pay too much attention to it as my iron usually stays at home. That was then. So far, I have lugged my iron to 3 - 4 classes. I think I need one of those totes! Well, yesterday, I discovered a free pattern for one which I will share with you HERE. I wish I had one already but it will have go on my To Do List for the fall. Did I say that when opened up, it also converts to an ironing surface?

A Dollar Shop Project made by a member, was a great hit at the June meeting of the Eastern Edge Quilters: Eyeglass Case to Sewing Kit. This is just perfect for slipping in your bag when you need a small sewing kit. I wonder how many of these will appear at the September Show & Tell! Another Travel Sewing Kit pattern can be found HERE.

Another excellent sewing project that I found, is a portable design wall. This one is very easy to make as shown in the video. Mind you, it isn't suitable for full size quilts but it is great to take to a class or on vacation. Now I have a use for some laminated fabric I purchased last year while vacationing in Chicago.

I have been looking at these fabric baskets for awhile. They would make excellent mini garbage containers for the car, especially if it's lined with plastic or that laminated fabric I just mentioned and has a longer loop stitched on it. Actually, I was thinking it would be great for the driver and passenger seats for any motor home. It could hang on the seat belt hook.

I hope you fine these links useful. Any of the above would also make great gifts.

Enjoy!

June is the Wedding Month!

This is the second of a three part article by Laura Holden. Check HERE for part one.

Photo Quilts as Wedding Gifts or Favors

To recap:
June and July always seem to be the big wedding months—and wedding anniversaries too, of course—so it’s a good time to hunt down some inspiring ideas and patterns for gifts and decorations. You don’t have to work with fabric specifically to make some gorgeous wedding-themed creations.

For example, a quilt is a wonderful gift for a newly-married couple, but for an interesting twist on the idea, a photo quilt is a great way to make an already personal gift even more so. And it’s certainly less back-breaking work than the traditional double wedding ring quilt!

Melissa Mortenson of The Polka Dot Chair creates gorgeous personalized photo quilts for members of her family, and her site includes not one but two tutorials for printing photos directly onto special photo fabric. It’s also possible to use transfer paper and an inkjet printer to transfer photo images onto fabric. Idonette of D’Vine Living offers a tutorial on this method, which offers the advantage of not requiring dedicated photo fabric.

On a much smaller scale, quilted photo fabric, with photos of the bride and groom as children or adults might be used to create wedding favors such as place cards, small bags or pouches, handkerchiefs, or napkins.

I agree with Laura. Creating unique gifts using photo fabric certainly would make a statement!

For other wedding favors / gifts check the following:

• 50 Great Wedding Favors
• Wedding Favors from Pinterest
• Photo Transfer to Canvas
• Bubble Jet Set 2000
• Printing on Fabric (earlier post)
• Experimental Piece: Row Houses (earlier post)
• Quilty Habit Tutorial using Bubble Jet Set 2000
• Making Memory Candles

Projects for Valentine's Day!

If you need a project for Valentine's Day, check out below:

Heart Shaped Zippered Pouch
Mug Rug (So Sew Something)
Hand  Embroidered Heart from Mary Corbet
Lap Quilt
Wool Felt Valentine Tutorial
Valentine Cup Cozy
Valentine Gifts
Heart Themed Patterns

You will also find lots more on my past Valentine posts:
2010
2011
2012

Enjoy!

Gifts Given . . . Enjoy

Here are some of the things I made for Christmas gifts. The quilt is from a kit I purchased last summer at the Hobby Horse, Georgetown, Ontario. The panel caught my eye as each block has words about the sounds each object makes. It's part of the Little Genius series. The toy giraffe pattern was from Tilda's Studio by Tone Finnanger. Both were made for my little granddaughter in Chicago.



  This bird was featured in a Quilting Arts Magazine. It lives in Manitoba. A similar one is in Tennessee.

I made five table toppers but I forgot to photograph the one gone to Texas.



 

Make It Tonight!

I just drove by the Avalon Mall, St. John's. Believe me, every space where a vehicle could be parked, was filled and there was a line of cars waiting to get into the parking lot! That was not my destination today. I walked into Chapters to get gift cards, took one look at the line for the cash and walked right back out the door. I guess you can say, my patience this afternoon, was limited. I am so glad I took the time earlier this fall to make some of my Christmas presents. I don't know about you, but I enjoy making and receiving home made gifts.

At this late date, gifts of food, are wonderful choices. Have you checked out these sites with all the fantastic recipes?

Rock Recipes (NL)
Seven Spoons
Pastry Affair 
Martha Cooks (NL)
Spoonful
Midwest Living
Martha Steward
Lick My Spoon
Better Homes and Gardens
Food and Wine
Kraft Recipes

I hope you find something to make for those last minute gifts. Stay away from the shops and make something home made! It will be much appreciated by the recipient.

Enjoy!

Gift Wrapping for Christmas

Eric White, a well known interior decorator, provided some wonderful gift wrapping ideas at the St. John's Embroidery Guild social last week. He also entertained everyone with great anecdotes about some of the people he has met over the years. Needless to say, the evening was enjoyable. Here are some of the ideas he presented:

The design on this present is a window decal from the $ Shop!

This is a take-out box and bow (also from the $ Shop).

The right ribbon and craft items can change an inexpensive candy dish into a lovely gift.

There is a second vase / candle holder in the box,

An unbreakable bauble is attached to a Christmas card for an inexpensive gift.

From Ewe to You

I was out walking this morning in Lower Sackville, Nova Scotia, and found a great little yarn shop called From Ewe to You. The owner is Rachel Hooper. Her shop has beautiful yarns. Of course I was drawn to the glittery stuff. She also has fun projects and patterns, needles and knitting accessories, books, gifts (some made by local artists), as well as some felting supplies. Here's some photos of the shop. The second photo shows a knitted shawl that has been blocked to the correct size. Enjoy!