Secret Sister Gift

These two photos are the side view and the view from above of a little pincushion I made for my Secret Sister on one of the quilting groups. This particular group focuses on "sane" quilting (as opposed to crazy quilting) on a budget. The budget for the secret sister gifts are $10 for the whole year so a little ingenuity is called for. The little crystal dessert dish I picked up at the thrift store for about a quarter and the embroidery itself from the same store. It was framed in an embroidery hoop (remember when everyone was doing that?) so I took it out and constructed a giant yoyo out of the cross stitch and some fabric from a remnant and then stuffed it. The beaded trim and rose trim both came out of my stash so I don't count them. So, all in all, I figure it cost about fifty cents to make. I hope she likes it!

So, why get involved in Secret Sister Swaps? Just for the fun of it! It is fun to pick and choose and try to make or find little gifts to please someone else and hopefully brighten their day. It is also fun to receive little thoughtful packages in the mail from someone else. It makes a nice change from the bills that usually land in our mail boxes. It is another way to meet other people and get to know them a bit better. Often these swaps result in lasting friendships and that is always worthwhile!

Comments

Jane said…

I love the beaded edging, a beautiful finish

January 16, 2009 at 1:22 PM

CJ STITCHING AND BLOOMS said…

Hello Kerry, I you did a lovely job of creating the pincushion for you SS. I have also enjoyed following your seam Tx. projects. Hugs Judy in very blustery snowy Michigan

January 17, 2009 at 9:41 AM

Giveaway Day! (CLOSED)

I am very happy to be joining in the Giveaway Day through Sew, Momma, Sew . I have chosen to share one of my finds from a shopping trip, or treasure hunts as I think of them. This is an antique sewing box - I could not resist it when I saw it for sale! Were you able to guess the item from the sneak peek earlier in the week? The box itself is fairly small, 8 inchs X 6 inchs and 4 inches high (20 cm X 15 cm and 10 cm high). From my research it is of Asian origin. Inside the sewing box is lined with hand-painted silk. The inside of the lid features a neat little needlebook. In the bottom of the sewing box there are more beautiful hand-painted blossoms and an attached pincushion. I hope you are as charmed by this little box as I was when I found it and that you will enter my giveaway. I will be pleased to mail internationally so everyone is invited to enter. To enter, visit my Etsy shop and then come back and leave me a...

BAS - Week 81 - Sequin Flower with Tutorial

This Build a Seam (BAS) Challenge is a little different - not exactly a stitch per se. It is a technique for making sequin flowers which can be a wonderful addition to a seam treatment or motif. You will need cupped sequins for this - flat ones will not work properly - and some seed beads. Mark your fabric with a center dot and five evenly spaced dots around the outside. Bring your needle up through one of the dots on the outside and string on one sequin (cup upwards), a bead, another sequin and two more beads. Take your needle down through the middle dot. Carry on making another leg in the same way on each of the other four outside dots, always going down into the center dot which will be the middle of your flower. This is what you end up with after you have done all five legs - a nice little sequin flower! You can add a bead or two more in the center of the flower if you wish. You can also vary the number of legs depending on the size of t...

BAS - Week 79 - Feather Stitch Variations

I have about the next twenty BAS stitches scheduled and by happy coincidence this week's BAS is a series of Feather Stitch variations which coincide with this week's TAST stitch if you are following. So, we can hit two birds with one stone! These hardly look like feather stitch but they are. They are created by making the "v"'s of the feather stitch vertical on the inside. Very simple to do but a different look to an old stitch. The second variation is created by doing two feather stitches at a time on each side, again making sure the inside of your "v"s are vertical and line up as much as possible. Same thing again in this one except they are in series of three. To me these have the look of stitching on old crazy quilts so they are nice to add to your stable of stitch variations. Hope you enjoy them and have fun!

kerrykatiecakes

Search This Blog