finished bluebird pillowcase

I think I tried the limits of the lazy-daisy stitch on those red flowers. They are about 1/2 long on each loop. I’ll have to see whether it holds up in the laundry. Overall, I like the blue birds contrasting the red flowers. Even though they are about the same value, they still work because [...]

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thrifting: Bucilla pillowcase pair

Yay, I finally thrifted a pillowcase blank where the manufacturer is legible! Bucilla, and they have a lot of options available for sale on the web. These are my favorite pillowcase blanks to find, because the cotton is the best quality and the designs are significantly more intricate than their competitors. But I’d never found [...]

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bluebird pillowcase

Finishing up this bluebird pillowcase was on my list of unfinished projects from last year. When I finally sat down to stitch it up — I couldn’t find the pillowcase! I had made two pillowcase blanks out of cotton fabric, so I just ironed the design onto the second blank. It embroidered in about 4 [...]

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sewing: finished pillowcase

This is that pre-printed pillowcase I thrifted a couple weeks ago. It took about 4 hours to embroider. I realized right away that it was going to turn into an awful lot of red flower and green leaves and I did not want that, so I carefully added enough other colors to turn it into [...]

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learning to crochet

Can you believe I am only NOW learning to crochet? It’s true. First project, a washcloth. Is everybody’s first project a washcloth? I’m excited to start on granny squares. It’s not like I need another excuse to make more blankets, though. Plenty of blankets. Still, can you have enough? What I really need to learn [...]

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Friday thrifting: pillowcase & embroidery

I waffled over this pillowcase because it’s not embroidered, but the pattern is just so romantic I thought, “What the heck.” And I picked up this tablerunner for later projects. All four corners have the same motif, so it was a good buy for sixty-nine cents!

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chickadee pillowcase

I finally finished up the chickadee pillowcase embroidery. The photo makes it look worse than it does in person. I used a light gray for the white parts, but the photo flash washed them out. In person, they look white and the chickadee looks complete and cheerful. Overall I’m pleased, but my next try will [...]

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chickadee pillowcase pattern

Remember I said I was going to design my own pattern to embroider on a pillowcase? I finally got around to it. I wanted something wintery, and that wasn’t overly feminine like most pillowcase designs. And yet it’s not exactly masculine, because of the chickadee. I traced this design with blue pen onto my pillowcase [...]

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Thrifting Saturday, lucky pillowcase find

I actually bought a great bright pink quilt perfect for Elle, but don’t have a photo. I keep telling myself “no more blankets!” but it had flower applique and was BRIGHT like little girls like (and in perfect shape!) so I said what the heck, it’s only $7. And it’s heavy, too. I’m not a [...]

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Still busy, but a finished pillowcase

This going swimming every other day is really pulling down my productivity for some reason. We’re not thrifting and I’m not getting much work done. The swimming is of course tons of fun, though, and a nice break from the everyday schedule. This pillowcase is part of a matched set. The second one is half [...]

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