Two-toned Crocheted Snowflakes

Here's my next go at making colorful snowflakes!  Like the quilted ones from last week, they're still not exactly what I want, but I still love them.  And they look nice scattered on my snowflake themed table.

To make these, I found a snowflake pattern I liked.  There are a ton of them on the internet!  I used one from the JPF Crochet Club site, designed by Julie Boldoc.  Crochet Pattern Central also has links to a lot of nice snowflakes.  I used a variegated size 20 Lizbeth crochet thread (Caribbean) for the colored areas.  I didn't have any size 20 white thread that wasn't already connected to an unfinished project, so I decided to give it a go with size 10 thread and it seemed to work fine.  I'm not sure it would have worked with a larger piece, but for a snowflake it was fine. 

With a size 7 steel hook, I started one snowflake with the white thread and one with the Lizbeth thread - and changed colors with each row.

Now I'm off to try another idea for colorful snowflakes!

Happy Creating!  Deborah

Friday Inspiration - Bougainvillea Palettes

Well, here we go again .... Phoenix usually has such wonderful winter weather that we grow lots of tropical plants and keep pots of bright annuals all year long.  That's one of the things I love about living here!  And it's all great until we get one of those every few years hard freezes.  Like is being forecast for the next three or four nights ... more unusual to have a string of days like that, though.  

The last time we froze hard was two years ago and I spent the rest of the winter missing all my bougainvillea.  It comes back from the roots, but that takes awhile so I made this felt garland.  I'm resigned to it dying back again this cold snap - not happy, but resigned!  I spent today taking photos, hoping to be inspired to make some type of fiber art.  I have some ideas ....

The hydrangeas in the top photo don't grow here - they're part of an indoor bouquet I added cut bougainvillea to.  The color palettes were run on BigHugeLabs color palette generator.

Now while I'm wrapped up in my winter clothes I'll have something to plan!

Happy Creating!  Deborah

Quilted Snowflakes

So, I had this idea for colorful snowflakes - did not turn out to be these!  I was originally going to quilt them in several colors of thread, like I did with the quilted leaves I made last year, but they really look better with just the white - colder looking, more wintry.  These make good coasters, but I also have them tossed around the table as decorations - like I was doing with the leaves!  The quilted table mat can be found here.

Materials:
*fat quarter of backing fabric
*fat quarter of fabric for the snowflakes (I used a sparkly white)
*fusible felt
*either Steam-A-Seam II (lite) or spray quilting adhesive
*pattern for large snowflake found here
*pattern for backing found here

1.  Cut out two backings for each snowflake you are making.  For the snowflakes, there are two ways to attach them to the backing - and which method you use determines how you will cut them out.  If you're not making too many or have allergy/chemical problems with spray adhesives (like me), you'll be using the Steam-A-Seam II (lite).  Trace a snowflake onto one side and attach to the wrong side of the snowflake fabric.  Cut out.  If you'll be making quite a few of the snowflakes, you might want to use the spray adhesive.  That way you can stack up a layer of the snowflake fabric and use the pattern to cut them all out at once.  Once they're cut out, turn them upside down and spray the wrong side.

2.  After you have cut out the backing pieces, trim about 1/4 inch from each side and use the now smaller pattern to cut out a piece of fusible felt.  Iron to attach to the wrong side of one backing piece.

3.  Attach snowflake to the right side of the other backing piece.  Pin the two backing pieces together.

4.  Stitch around the edges of the snowflake with a very small zigzag stitch.

5.  Stitch around the edges of the backing.

6.  Trim edges and you're done!

I still want to make some colorful snowflakes - I have a couple of ideas to work on!

Happy Creating!  Deborah

2013

This is a bit late, but Happy New Year!  While not quite back to my usual tornado of energy, I'm getting there!

I've been thinking a lot about what I want to focus on in the coming year .....  Last year, I finally learned to knit decently - and spent the rest of the year making dishcloths.  Which we are thoroughly enjoying, however ... it's time to move on!  I've been thinking about knitting and crochet more as a means of making cloth that is then used for another purpose - like making a sweater from or using for a doily ... or dishcloth!  That might seem weird, but it's helping me to look at how I'm knitting/crocheting.  How do I blend yarns/stitches/colors?  It's opening up some interesting ideas for me. 

When I was in Portland over Christmas, I got a wonderful gift certificate to my current favorite yarn store - Yarn Garden.  I'm still caught up on emerald green, so I spent it all emerald green themed yarns!  One skein of each.  So what do you do with that besides enjoy looking at them?  There was a beautiful knit afghan in the store that gave me an idea - how about  knitting a cloth that I will use for a blanket?  Just a little lap blanket.  So I'm having a lot of fun playing with that!  I'm using size 10 circular needles and just doing straight knitting.  And as I knit away on it, I can feel my mind changing more and more to viewing what I'm doing as creating cloth with yarn.

I want to do more quilting this year ... I played around last year with quilted leaves and am continuing with some small quilted art.  You'll see the first one this Wednesday!  I've also started sketching plans for some art quilts and if I meet a self-made deadline, you should be seeing the first one of those in February.

And .... more spinning.  My poor spinning wheel got put away last May when little c came to visit - and it never came out again.  It's back in the living room now, ready to spin up the piles of roving I've gathered since then!

And continue with my embroidery, fabric surface design, and felt projects!  Wow - it's going to be a great year!

Happy Creating!  Deborah