Valentine totes!

Alisa and I made this cute variation on Martha Stewart's felt shopping tote featured on page 42 of the January 2010 issue. You can download a full-sized PDF file template of Martha's felt bag from her website. Alisa and I made a couple of the totes out of gray, wool felt. The full sized bag is 16 inches wide and 27.5 inches high including the long handles. Alisa pinned on one of her felt corsages that we made at Christmas time and it looked really cute.

• For the Valentine's tote, I reduced the pattern size to 12 inches wide by 18.5 inches including the handles. The pattern piece is shaped like a square bib with long straps that you stitch together to make the tote handles.
• After cutting out two pattern pieces, stay stitch 1/4-inch from the curved edges of all four handles, using a decorative stitch if desired.
• If you want to applique a decoration on your bag, cut out your decorative felt pieces and stitch onto the front of one side of your bag.
• Then put the two bag pieces together and stitch all around the U-shaped outside edge of the sides and bottom of the tote.
• We used a decorative zig-zag stitch in a contrasting thread color for all of the stitching.
• Then overlap the handles of one side of the bag and securely stitch the handles together.
• Repeat for the other side of the bag.
• Pin a felt corsage on the front of your bag, if desired.

Cotton chenille

Alisa and I took a class in making cotton chenille scarves from Cindy Jones at Lake Street Mercantile in South Lyon, Michigan on Sunday.

We each bought our own Olfa Chenille Cutter and a yard-and-a-half of cotton fabric. We cut five-inch-wide bias strips about 40-inches long, stacked them, and sewed 3/8-inch channels down the length. You really need a walking foot for this job.

We made our scarf double-sided by stacking seven layers of bias strips with a slightly longer piece in the middle position to act as a foundation for both sides. Then we used the chenille cutter to slice three layers open in all the channels on both sides of the foundation, leaving the center layer to hold the scarf together.

Once the scarf is washed and fluffed dry in a dryer, the bias frays and creates the distinctive chenille nap.

Cindy showed us a cute baby blanket that was chenilled on one side only. The stitched channels create a quilt effect the un-napped side. Lots of interesting patterns and textures could be created using this method -- just make sure to stitch and cut on the bias of good quality cotton to achieve the best effect.

There's a nice basic how-to for chenilling at Quilt Bus.

Yes, Virginia!

I got this wonderful holiday message from my friend, Virginia in Iowa: 

Thank you for the Gorgeous felt Corsage!  I think it will Rejuvenate my Aura! - Which, by the way, desperately Needed rejuvenation.  I look forward to the opportunity to dress up and wear it.  You are Way too sweet!

And the Pepper Streak* sounds Yummy.  I think I have fixed a similar dish - don't remember what we called it, but it was tasty. Thanks for the reminder.

Funny thing about crock-pots.  There was a chili cook-off at church toward the end of October. I was not going to take chili  - just corn sticks. But about noon, I decided to make a batch. My chili is nothing to brag about, but I felt obligated to participate. I made it on the stove, but transferred it to the crock-pot to take to church and to keep it hot through the evening. Went early to plug in the pot and get it good and hot again. There were no outlets at the serving table, so a neighbor took it into the kitchen to plug in.  We sat, chatted, waited for the hungry hoards.  Then the young woman in charge was getting things on the serving table. She carried in my crock-pot. The handle broke off.  Everything went flying - like a slow-motion train wreck. Fortunately it was in the kitchen, not on the fellowship hall carpet. A delay while I got the mop and cleaned it up; others wiped down the walls etc. A clever friend looked to see if it was fix-able. It wasn't. My corn sticks were very well received.

So Target has crock-pots for $14? Was that a special? Maybe I'll go see about a replacement. The dead one was over 20 years old. It deserved to go out with a Bang!

I was just watching Moonstruck while making little folded paper boxes - to put gold dollars in for stockings. I love making those boxes. I have the size exactly right for the gold dollars and have made a templet so I get the part of the picture that I want on top. So cool.

Kathleen has another craft show tomorrow for her counting monsters and baby blankets. She is quite the 'Toy Maker' these days.

Counting monster by Weenbean on Etsy

It has Warmed Up to about 20 degrees here. The snow we have will probably be around 'til April. The other morning I found Drifts in my computer room! The south door had blown open and I could not close it.  there was a 2 foot drift pushing the door open and there was ice and packed snow around the hinges. I was afraid at first that those hinges were sprung or whatever when I could not close the door, but I chipped away the ice and snow and was very relieved when the door actually Latched shut. Couldn't Sweep out the snow due to the drift. So I got the shop-vac to get it up. It was EVERYWHERE!!!

Simply being snowed-in has been a pleasant relief after that.

Thank you again for the purple flowers! I will wear them with Pride!!

Much love  to ALL
And Many Christmas Blessings!!!
v

* Pepper Steak recipe (adapted from a crock-pot recipe from Better Homes & Gardens): 
Get a hunk of round – about 1-1/2 pounds, or so – salt and pepper the meat and brown it in olive oil in the pot. Mix a pint of diced, stewed tomatoes with a six-ounce can of Contadina Italian style tomato paste, and a tablespoon or so of Worchestershire sauce. Dump that over the meat in the pot and add two cups of red, yellow, and green pepper strips. (You can buy these frozen in a bag if you want to be quick; I tried them and they were good.) I added a little water, maybe a quarter cup, then just simmered, covered for four or five hours or so. Pull the beef into chunks and serve over any kind of pasta with shaved Romano cheese. I know it doesn’t sound like much, but boy was it delicious. (P.S. I almost forgot -- add a big ol' chopped onion with the pepper strips.)

Felt fantasy-flower pins

I saw these cute felt pins in a holiday catalog and wanted to try to make some. The ones in the catalog were all different. Some were layers of felt cut in the shape of petals, some were loops of felt that looked like crysanthemums, some were rolls of felt that looked like rosebuds. Some were a little of each. I made this poinsettia as a trial effort, but it seems to me that you could while away a winter afternoon cutting shapes, embellishing and building flowers to your heart's content. For ideas to spark your creativity, search for "felt flower pins" on Etsy.

Equipment:

Needle

Scissors

Materials:

Standard copy paper for pattern cutting

Heavy felt squares or yardage, as desired (For poinsettia buy dark green, burgundy, and bright red.)

Variety of large (1-1/4 inch diameter), fancy buttons or large beads for flower center

Beads and sequins (if desired)

Large safety pins or stick pin with safety cap (clutch), or jewelry finding pin back available from jewelry finding stores

Buttonhole twist thread to match felt colors used

Embroidery twist for embellishment if desired

Directions:

1. Cut 5-inch and 4-inch squares of paper. Fold paper and cut petals to make pattern for flowers. (For poinsettia, make pointed petals on pattern with eight petals)
2. Choose felt and trace petals onto felt. (For poinsettia, cut one dark green, one burgundy, and one bright red five-inch flower, and one bright red four-inch flower.) Cut 1-inch squares of felt scraps to layer between petal pieces and cut 1-inch circle (dark green for poinsettia) to cover stitches on back of flower pin.
3. Embellish each petal piece with beads, sequins, or embroidery before assembly. Do not embellish center of 5-inch petal pieces because centers will be covered with layered petals.  Four-inch petal piece may be embellished everywhere but center where button will be sewn.
4. Layer petal pieces. (For poinsettia layer 5-inch green, then square spacer, 5-inch burgundy, spacer, 5-inch bright red, spacer, 4-inch bright red.)
5. Thread needle and using double thread stitch through all layers twice leaving a long tail on back to use to tie knot securing stitches.
6. Choose button and sew on using the same threaded needled, but do not stitch through all layers of felt. Secure on back by several small stitches and cut thread. Note: a vintage broach would also make a pretty center.
7. Cover stitching with 1-inch round felt piece (dark green for poinsettia) and using a couple stitches secure to back of flower through the bottom layer of felt.
8. Using the same threaded needle sew a large safety pin to the round felt piece by stitching several times through the circle on the end of the pin, or sew on a jewelry finding pin back. Alternatively, use a hat pin with safety cap (clutch) to secure flower to clothing.

This blue felt pin has a hat pin made with beads glued onto pin bases purchased at bead store.

Photos by Ben Theil