Project :: Wedding Gift Pillowcases

Mr. Wiedz and I attended a wedding last September of some dear friends. I brainstormed quite a few options for gifts...can't even remember them now but I do think I was thinking KitchenAide mixer at one point.

Mr. Wiedz suggested our traveling to Alabama for the wedding was gift enough. But I couldn't really go to a wedding empty handed.

I thought a compromise would be a hand-made gift. Some of my most favorite wedding gifts are the embroidered pillowcases we received so I decided to go that route and started brainstorming designs.

The groom was from Colorado and the bride was from Alabama so I decided to draw the two state flowers intertwined. Columbine and peonies. 

It took longer than I thought it would to embroider the design so we did attend the wedding empty-handed. And it took a really long time for me to decided what kind of body fabric I wanted and to actually purchase it. Then it took even longer to sew the pillowcases together (the sewing took a couple sessions one day but the fabric sat in a pile on my desk for awhile then washed but hanging for a few more months). Finally almost a year after the wedding I was able to get these hand-made beauties in the mail for the happy couple.

I love how they turned out and intend this to be my go-to wedding gift in the future.

Handmade

Now that Christmas is over I can show off some of the handmade that made it under our tree this year. I didn't take on too much as far as handmade goes and I'm happy to report it seems like just the right amount. People who really appreciate handmade or could use something I can make got something but I didn't go too crazy and drive myself into a dizzy trying to do too much.

First up was a project by the kids for their grandmas. And our first-ever freezer paper stencil project - fun! I found the idea in a Family Fun Magazine (they didn't do freezer paper but I think it worked brilliantly). I talked to each kid about what design they would like on their dishtowel. Then I cut out all the freezer paper. During nap-time the kids took turns painting the towels. Baby got some help putting his handprint on after he woke up. The kids thought they turned out real nice and the grandmas liked them too!

#1 found a project in a book we had from the library, Kids' Embroidery, that she thought her Grandma D would like. Grandma D is a big journal keeper so #1 embroidered a cover for a new journal for her. I forgot to take a finished product photo but it turned out awesome and Grandma D loved it.

My dad is a hankie user. A couple of years ago I embroidered some for him and now they are ready to be replaced. So he got some new hankies wrapped up under the tree.

Lastly, I drew #1 in our family exchange and thought she'd appreciate a cowl (or neck warmer as we like to call them). I had some yarn my mom gave me sitting in my stash waiting for a project and found a quick easy pattern (ravelry link). I paired it with a new journal and she was very pleased.

A gift

I whipped this t-shirt up for a friend of #2's from Cub Scouts. The party was this past Saturday. #2 picked out the guitar design, I'm not sure why. While we ran errands the other day we picked up the shirt...I was hoping for a colored shirt since white generally doesn't stay white for too long, especially on a 7 year old boy. It turned out cute and I was happy with it. So was the mom of the recipient...the actual recipient couldn't really care about a t-shirt, hand embroidered or not.

inspired by all my reading at house on hill road.

My big embroidery project

When I finished the quilt for the school I started a new project for our mother's day presents.

A few months ago I followed links from one of my favorite blogs to an article in, Mothering Magazine, highlighting her new book with a link to a sneak peak at a project from the book, family portrait bookmarks. I showed the kids and suggested these would make a nice present for the grandmas for mother's day. Back then they decided first we needed to make on for Uncle Bill first since he was going to Iraq. (I posted about that here.)

So after the school quilt I got to work on the kid's drawings of their grandmothers. I got finished the day we left for Mother's Day weekend. The grandmothers enjoyed their gifts and the kids thought that their drawings turned out good too.

The instructions called for using ribbon as the tab but my supply of ribbon is limited so I crafted tabs from fabric scraps I had and I loved the result. Don't tell the kids but #2's are my favorite, how he filled the whole square and all the details of the hair and the fingers. #4 doesn't write or draw so I did his with just the grandma's names. #1's were smaller and therefore embroidered really quickly which I loved and she was very specific about the color of each element, I can't wait for her to lose her fear of needles so she can do her own embroidery. I helped #3 draw his figures which were simple stick figures with big smiles and lots of spiky hair.

A fun project. And a great gift!

Finishing and Starting

After Easter I mentioned the list I made in January. Another thing I started in January was a quilt project for the auction at the kids' school. Students at the project day made the blocks using fusible webbing applique. Then I've put it all together and quilted it. The auction is Friday so I'm thrilled to be finished with the quilting. Now all that's left is the binding which will hopefully go on easily the next couple of days.


Now that the quilt project is almost over I'm itching to work on some embroidery projects I've got brewing. The other night I was surfing and found this flicker set of beautiful and inspiring embroidery. I've been sketching, doodling and seeing pictures to embroider ever since.

On another embroidery note, this blog I frequent has an embroidery book coming out soon...I can't wait to get a peek!