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Primavera – an Embroidered Springtime Girl

July 25, 2016

Her name is Primavera, but her friends call her Vera for short. 🙂

This is another of those Big Embroidery projects I did for Sulky’s Quilt Market booth. That’s a quilting hoop she’s in!

Here’s how I made her. All the links go to supplies or video tutorials.

The method I used is really similar to this cat. . .

. . . except that I embroidered the flowers in her hair instead of embroidering just the background.

First I appliqued the girl and the butterflies on a pretty swirly background fabric.

Then I printed out a single page of the flowers in the Continuous Stitches embroidery pattern onto Sulky Sticky Fabri-solvy. The pattern is designed for seamless repeats, but it only took one sheet to cover all her hair.

I used a single strand of Sulky Petites 12 wt. thread and only stitched the flowers that sat over her hair. You can see that I ignored the printed pattern for larger flowers that would have gone outside her hair. I just filled in those spaces with some of the smaller flowers.

After all the stitching was done it was time to soak away the stabilizer.

Look at that pretty face being revealed. 🙂 And that’s me and my camera reflected in the water!

I ironed the piece dry and framed it in an 18-inch quilting hoop.

Love that sweet face!

Here are the other BIG pieces I stitched for the same project.

Cat Among the Flowers

Embroidered Mandala Sun

April Showers

These big embroidery pieces have been so much fun!

Happy stitching!

Best,
Wendi

Cute Quilt-As-You-Go Applique Monsters – video class

July 16, 2016

A cute kiddo-approved project, quilt-as-you-go techniques for fusible appliqué, and me right there in front of you, showing you everything I know and answering all your questions. 🙂

Update – Please be aware that Craftsy (now Bluprint) has added a subscription plan to their offerings, which changes the way instructor support happens. If you buy the class for your Forever Library, you get instructor support – which means your questions go to a special instructor dashboard where I see them and I can respond to them. I answer questions every business day. If you watch the class as part of the streaming subscription, any questions you post go to the larger class community – not to me. I don’t even see them, so I can’t answer them.

All in one class, all on your schedule.

I’m so proud of this class!

If you just want the Mix & Match Monsters PDF pattern, you can get that here.

Happy quilting!

Best,
Wendi

Here Comes the Sun! An Embroidered Mandala Sun :-)

July 13, 2016

This is another BIG embroidery I did for the Sulky booth at Spring Quilt market – a pretty embroidered mandala sun.

I love how it turned out! And guess what?

I did it all with no pattern. 🙂

A lot of people have really enjoyed this tutorial showing how to stitch a mandala with no pattern.

But I’ve heard from people who want a teeny bit more guidance. They liked the improv style, but had a hard time visualizing the “spokes of the wheel” – especially if they were making a bigger piece.

I hear ya!

So I designed a simple radial grid that could be printed on Sulky Sticky Fabri-solvy and used as a guide for any mandala.

Here’s how I stitched the sun. 🙂

First I appliqued a circle and some rectangle rays around the sun. I used fusible adhesive and machine-stitched the edges down with matching thread because that’s not the stitching I want noticed on this piece.

I printed the circle grid from my Continuous Stitches pattern onto Sulky Sticky Fabri-solvy, cut it out, and stuck it over the sun.

Time to start stitching!

I always like to stitch around the edges first, so I started with a very simple zigzag that repeated every two spaces.

I created a grid with 96 total spaces because that’s evenly divisible by a LOT of numbers. I can create any pattern I like as long as it fits into 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 12, etc. spaces. As long as the number of spaces used for the repeat goes evenly into 96, I’ll end up with a perfect match as I make my way back to the beginning of the circle.

Here’s the next round. I added some French knots to the first zigzags, and then stitched a much bigger zigzag. The repeat on this row is 8 spaces.

I liked how the second row of stitching created flower shapes, so I filled in the middle of each flower with a little heart detail.

Another deeper zigzag – another 8-space repeat. Now I feel like I need to fill up those new spaces I created.

I like it! It makes me think of peacock feathers.

Remember – all of this is unplanned. Just keep stitching in circles and then filling in the spaces created.

I went back to smaller repeats for the center of the mandala.

For the rays I used the regular square grid graph in the Continuous Stitches pattern.

I just stitched some simple diamonds and French knots on each ray.

All of this is stitched with a single strand of dark orange Sulky Petites thread and the only stitches I used are back stitch and French knots. Easy peasy.

Time to soak off the Sulky Sticky Fabri-solvy.

Ewwwww.

But also yay because this soaks away all those grid lines. You get the comfort of having a “pattern” but you don’t have to stick to it to cover up your lines. The lines all disappear! Meditative, almost-freestyle stitching at its finest.

Iron it dry (here’s how to do it without smooshing your stitches) and frame it in a quilting hoop.

Done! A pretty embroidered mandala sun!

I love stitching this way!

You don’t have to make a sun or do any applique – you can just stick on the grid and hoop up any fabric in a round hoop and start stitching! It would be fun to do a bunch of 3 – 4 inch hoops for Christmas ornaments. 🙂

Here are the other BIG pieces I stitched for the same project.

Primavera – an Embroidered Springtime Girl

Cat Among the Flowers

April Showers

Happy stitching!

Best,
Wendi

What Will You Learn in the New Craftsy Class? Part 2

June 24, 2016

I’ve been sharing little peeks of what to expect from the new Craftsy class on Facebook and Instagram and then gathering them all up every week here on the blog. There are so many fun things in this one class!

You can read the first round up here. Googly eyes, scrappy pieced backgrounds, silly eyelids, a kajillion uses for a triangle – it’s all there. 🙂

This week we started with silly hair.

I mean, seriously. Those curls have elastic inside so they spring back when you pull on them. How silly is that?

And then I showed how one simple body shape can look totally different, depending on the other bits you add.

My favorite is the one with the purple toenails. 🙂

More fun 3D parts with these teeth.

So easy!

And then I went really crazy with the 3D additions with these floppy, satin-lined ears. . .

. . . and these folded, softie-style ears.

Update – there’s a tutorial here showing how to add 3D bits to your applique, and one here showing how to give those 3D pieces extra body so they don’t flop too much.

We also cover working with non-traditional fabrics in this class!

We use shaggy faux fur (video here). . .

. . . cuddly fleece (video here). . .

. . . and shiny tissue lamé (video here).

So many fun new techniques in this class!

~~Enter the giveaway for a free spot here. Even if you don’t win – just by entering you’ll be notified when the class goes live (so soon!) and you’ll get a special discount coupon.~~

Happy quilting!

Best,
Wendi

What’s Going to Be in the New Craftsy Class?

June 15, 2016

Did you hear the news that I have a new Craftsy class coming next month? ~~You can enter here to win a free spot in the class AND all the materials you need to make the quilt hanging behind me in all the lessons.~~

Over on Facebook and Instagram I’ve been sharing little peeks and bits of info about what will be covered in the class. Here’s a quick summary of what I’ve shared so far. . .

The theme is Monsters.

Mix & Match Monsters. 🙂

The pattern included in the class includes pages and pages of monster parts and you can put them together any way you like. Don’t worry if that sounds intimidating – over the course of the class you’ll see dozens of sample blocks for ideas and inspiration. You can copy as many or as few as you like. Here’s a GIF I made showing just a few ways I used a simple triangle shape.

Of course, you’ll learn the basics of Quilt As You Go and applique with fusible adhesive. . .

. . . and we even have a lesson on making pieced QAYG background blocks from scraps.

We talk about choosing fabrics and I show two different no-fuss-no-measure techniques for making your blocks. I love this grumpy “Get off my lawn!” monster. 🙂

I use a few different types of fabrics in the class and show you my tips for getting good contrast and monsters that really POP. I especially love the magnificent mottled monsters I got with these batiks.

Aren’t they gorgeous? I also really love saying magnificent mottled monsters. 🙂

In case you’re wondering, those batiks are from the Tonga Java Blenders collection from Timeless Treasures.

We do a lot of different variations on eyes in the class. I think my favorite are these googly eyes.

Technically they’re faux trapunto eyes with needle sculpted pupils, but that makes them sound really hard and they’re actually super easy. You’ll see if you take the class. 🙂

I also like playing with eyelids. Look at just a few of the possibilities!

Grumpy eyes, sleepy eyes, surprised eyes – I love them all.

This class is going to be SO MUCH FUN!

Update – Please be aware that Craftsy (now Bluprint) has added a subscription plan to their offerings, which changes the way instructor support happens. If you buy the class for your Forever Library, you get instructor support – which means I’ll answer any questions you post. If you watch the class as part of the streaming subscription, any questions you post go to the larger class community – not to me.

Happy quilting!

Best,
Wendi

How to use 9" circular needles for any pattern!

June 9, 2016

You know I love my 9″ circular needles. I think they’re the easiest way to knit socks and sleeves.

But, because they’re fairly new, there aren’t a lot of patterns written specifically for the 9 inch needle. I’m often asked how to translate your favorite sock pattern into one that can be used on a 9″ circular.

Here’s how to do it! And good news, it’s easy!

In this blog post, I’m going to show you a simple little example of a piece of knitting with 10 stitches. The green string is our yarn!

Step 1: Place your End of Round marker

If you’re familiar with knitting on circular needles, then you are probably already doing this step. The end of round marker is an interestingly-colored marker (different from all the rest!) that tells you when you’ve hit the end of your round.

Place stitch markers where the double points would be

Now, here’s the real trick. You want to place stitch markers on your work to note where would have been between the double point needles (shown in the image as orange).

Using our little example, let’s say the pattern told you to cast 3 sts onto one double point, 3 sts onto another and 4 sts onto a third needle. You would place markers to section off 3, 3 and then 4 sts.

This trick works whether you’re instructed to use 3 or 4 double point needles.

If the pattern called for 2 needles (such as when you knit socks on 2 circular needles), then you can do the same trick, just using fewer markers!

That’s it! Now you can knit, and easily follow the instructions as they refer to double point needles. If you want a bit more help, you might want to find stitch markers that contain numbers (to remind you which ‘needle’ would have been which.

You can now use 9″ circular needles on socks and sleeves… now that you know how to ‘translate’ the pattern! Happy knitting!

A BIG Embroidery Project – Cat Among the Flowers

June 8, 2016

Now that Quilt Market is over I can finally share details about some of those BIG embroidery projects I was working on back in April. 🙂

This post is all about how I made this cat surrounded by lots and lots of embroidered flowers. It’s in an 18-inch hoop!

I started out by enlarging my favorite cat (Maurice) from my Cats Quilt pattern and appliquéing it on a big square of fabric. I enlarged him just a bit (printed the pattern page as big as I could and still get it to fit on a single page) and used my normal fusible adhesive method.

I stitched down all the edges, but I did NOT stitch the whiskers yet. They’re just drawn in for now with a fine-tip Sharpie.

Then it was time to add the flowers. It doesn’t matter that the full piece is bigger than a single sheet of paper because the Continuous Stitching pattern is a seamless repeating pattern. See how you can overlap the edges for a continuous pattern? That means you can make BIG embroidery. As big as you want!

It took me several sheets of Sulky Stick & Stitch (the new – and much better – name for Sulky Sticky Fabri-solvy) to cover the whole hooped area.

I just stuck the sheets right over the cat. So many flowers!

I don’t normally have problems with the Sulky Stick & Stitch pulling loose, but I don’t usually stitch this large, so I started stitching in all the overlapping areas first, just to keep things secure.

I used one or two strands of Sulky Petites 12 wt. thread for all the stitching.

So many pretty colors!

Here are some details of the different kids of flowers. . .

One of the things I love about working with Sulky Stick & Stitch is that I can change my mind about things partway through stitching. All the markings will wash away, so I don’t really have to stick with my original drawing. Take these tulips. . .

Those little purple dashes were supposed to be dots, but when I got to them I changed them to dashes. No big deal.

All the stitching is finally finished! I just skipped right over that applique cat – it was easy to see him through the stabilizer.

Here it is having its soak.

Yep – that’s the messy back. Here are some more shots of the back of the piece.

I do NOT believe that that back of your work should be as pretty as the front. 🙂 I’m a thread-carrier and it would drive me batty to tie off my thread after each individual flower!

But – recognizing that I’m a thread carrier means I do something a little different with pieces like this. See how dark green that fabric is? That’s not the same lime green you see on the front of the piece! That’s because I backed the piece with a second layer of darker fabric behind the main fabric. It keeps my thread carries from showing through to the front! Tricky. 🙂

I soaked the piece for about an hour in cold water, sprayed off the bits of mushy stabilizer, gave it another quick swish in clean water, then ironed it dry. One more step before finishing. . .

Remember how I didn’t stitch those whiskers when I appliquéd the cat? Time to do it now. I waited because I wanted the black whisker lines to go over the embroidered flowers. This part was totally nerve-wracking, but it did just fine. 🙂

I hooped the finished piece in a quilting hoop using this method. No way was I letting glue anywhere near a piece that took this long to stitch!

Finished!

That is one BIG embroidery piece!

I’m super happy with this piece! Sulky had it hanging in their booth for Quilt Market and they’ll be exhibiting it at a few more shows, but Jo has already claimed it for her room when it comes home. 🙂

Here are the other BIG embroidery pieces I stitched for the same project.

Primavera – an Embroidered Springtime Girl

Embroidered Mandala Sun

April Showers

Happy stitching!

Best Practices for Working with Digital Patterns

May 9, 2016

I love digital patterns!

I love instant delivery. I love being able to print directly onto specialty papers like Sulky Sticky Fabri-solvy, freezer paper, and fusible adhesive. And I love being able to click through to additional resources and tutorials.

But they’re new territory for a lot of people!

I get a lot of questions about digital patterns and have heard some heartbreaking stories that could have been avoided if people had known just a few good practices when working with this kind of file.

So here are some simple suggestions for you.

When you download your digital pattern file, make sure to save it where you know you can find it.

Most computers have a factory-created folder called downloads and all downloaded files are automatically saved there. You can change your computer settings to save downloads to your desktop or another folder, or you can just open the downloads folder after you download your pattern, and then move it to where you want it to live permanently. I suggest a folder called Shiny Happy World Patterns. 🙂

Save a backup!

I can’t count the number of heartbreaking emails I’ve gotten from people whose computers crashed and they’re trying to replace all their digital patterns because they didn’t have a backup. 🙁

If you have a free Google account, you have a HUGE amount of free storage space on Google Drive. You can also save a backup to an external hard drive, another cloud service, or even a flash drive. I know a couple of people who store a backup of all their digital patterns on a flash drive – which makes it super easy to take to a copy shop for printing if you don’t have a printer.

Saving the email with the download link is NOT a safe way to back up your files.

A lot of shopping cart services have an expiration date on those links – some as short as a week.
Many shopping cart services have a limit to the number of times you can download a pattern – a few limit it to a single download!
Digital delivery services change and companies go out of business. Download links don’t remian functional forever. A pattern actually saved to your computer (and backed up) is yours forever.

Only print the pages you need

As a designer, one of the things I love about digital patterns is that I can include loads of additional information and photos – way more than I could possibly justify if I had to think about the printing costs associated with books and paper patterns. And I can include links to video tutorials going into more detail teaching every single skill used in the project.

The only pages you really need to print out are the pattern pages – the actual templates that you’ll be cutting out or tracing. And many times you don’t even need to print all of those. All of my applique patterns, for example, include a regular version of the image which you can use for needle-turn applique and as a placement guide for other techniques, plus a whole separate set of templates with all the pieces reversed and exploded and ready to print on fusible adhesive or freezer paper. You don’t need both sets! Choose your technique and then print only the pages you need.

Some people print all the instruction pages and keep them in a binder, but a lot of people skip that step too. You can set your computer, phone or tablet next to your sewing machine and work directly from the screen if you like.

Print at 100% size – no scaling

The exact look and wording of the printing dialog will vary depending on your computer and your printer, but it will look something like this.

Print digital patterns at 100% for the correct size.

I drew a big pink arrow pointing to the stuff you need to look for – language about size or scaling. Unless the instructions state otherwise, you want to print at 100%.

You can play with this setting to enlarge or reduce patterns that don’t have seam allowances (applique and embroidery patterns, for example) but not for things like stuffed animals and clothing. This blog post has tips for enlarging and reducing patterns with seam allowances.

My Pattern Won’t Print

Sometimes a PDF won’t print. It’s usually a problem with needing an update – either your browser, your version of Adobe Reader or your printer driver. It’s hard for me to help with that because the problem is usually specific to the software on your computer. I can tell you that there are no “protections” of any kind on my PDF patterns – if you can download the pattern you should be able to print it. One workaround that can help is to print it as an image. There are instructions here for how to do that, as well as some more troubleshooting tips for weird printer problems.

Updating your browser can fix a whole host of weird problems. It’s the “Have you tried changing your sewing machine needle?” fix of the tech world. Any time I run into tech difficulties on ANY site, my first stop is always to visit www.whatismybrowser.com. It will tell you if there’s an update available for your browser. Running that update has helped solve really weird problems more times than I can count.

Those tips address the most common questions and problems people run into with digital patterns. If you have any more tips or suggestions for people – please include them in the comments!

Having trouble downloading a pattern? Want to know how you can work with digital patterns if you don’t have a printer? You’ll find answers to lots of tech questions on the FAQ page.

Here’s a list of links all about choosing a quilt pattern – and even designing your own!

Return to the Let’s Make a Quilt main Table of Contents.

It’s Raining Rainbows – a free embroidery pattern

April 27, 2016

smiling raincloud with rainbow raindrops - a free rainbow embroidery pattern

This adorable rainbow embroidery pattern is perfect for beginners. It uses just one (ONE!) easy stitch. And it’s free!

Download the rainbow embroidery pattern here.

My favorite way to transfer embroidery patterns is to use Sulky Sticky Fabri-solvy. You can see some other embroidery transfer methods here.

I used running stitch for the whole thing – learn how to stitch a running stitch here. It’s the easiest embroidery stitch there is – the first one I teach to beginners.

You don’t have to use just one stitch. It would be adorable to use the lazy daisy stitch for the raindrops. Or maybe rows of French knots. Have fun with it! (Those links go to how-to videos.)

You can use any thread colors you like.

You don’t have to stitch it on white fabric. I love the “Lite-Brite” effect I got when I stitched it on a black T-shirt for my daughter.

Rainbow T-shirt - stitched with the free Raining Rainbows embroidery pattern from Shiny Happy World

Find tips for embroidering T-shirts here. Again – Sulky Sticky Fabri-solvy is my favorite product for that. It transfers the pattern and stabilizes the stretchy fabric in one step – and washes away completely. That stuff is magic!

The image is 6 inches wide, but you’ll find instructions for how to enlarge or reduce a digital pattern here. Stitch it anywhere you like!

Have fun with the rainbow embroidery pattern. I’d love to see what you make with it! You can share photos in the Shiny Happy People group. 🙂 And you can sign up for the newsletter here. Never miss a free pattern!

Happy stitching!

How to Knit or Crochet Using an Exact Amount of Yardage!

April 22, 2016

We’ve all done this, right? You have a ball (or partial ball) of yarn, and you want to know how much you can knit/crochet until you run out. How do you calculate this?

I’ll show you!

How to calculate how many stitches you can get from your yarn

I’m detailing each of these steps, below!

Calculate how many yards of yarn you have
Calculate how many stitches you get per yard (using your gauge)
Calculate how many stitches you can get from your yardage!

How to calculate how much yardage you have

If you have full skeins of yarn, this step is easy. Just read the label.

But, if you have partial skeins, you’ll need to do some calculating. The best way to do this calculation is by using weight. Read this blog post for step-by-step instructions!

You’ll need a digital scale and a calculator!

How to calculate how many stitches you get per yard

You’ll need to do a little gauge swatch! This technique works for either knit or crochet. Read this great blog post on how to measure yarn.

This blog post has some typical measurements for crochet.

Calculate how many stitches you can get from your yardage!

Let’s put it all together now!

To begin, multiply your yardage by 36 to get the length in inches.

So, if I have 110 yards, that’s 3960 inches.

Divide this number by your inch/stitch measurement (that you got in step 2), which for single crochet with a worsted weight is 1.8″.

3960/1.8 is 2200 single crochets!

That’s your number! A good pattern will contain stitch counts at the end of each row, so you can add them up and determine how many extra rows you can sneak into a cowl, or whether you’ll need so skip some rows of sleeve length to get your sweater to work!

Best,
Stacey

Step 1: Place your End of Round marker

Place stitch markers where the double points would be

When you download your digital pattern file, make sure to save it where you know you can find it.

Save a backup!

Only print the pages you need

Print at 100% size – no scaling

My Pattern Won’t Print

How to calculate how many stitches you can get from your yarn

How to calculate how much yardage you have

How to calculate how many stitches you get per yard

Calculate how many stitches you can get from your yardage!

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