Flowers for Lena

Yesterday, Sarah and I made these flowers for her to glue onto hair clips for Lena. Sarah's flowers

My flowers

They are super easy (if you can thread a needle & push it through fabric, you have the sewing skills required) and fast to make! They don't require many materials, either. We made these from fabric scraps that Mom had, since it was an impromptu project. I hate to post a tutorial for them, since I don't know who to give credit to-- one of my students taught me how to make them, but she learned from someone else and I know others who make the same type. If you happen to be interested in making your own, I would be happy to email you instructions.

Still Looking for a Mother's Day Gift?

Are you still searching for that Mother's Day gift? I found this a few weeks ago and knew it would be perfect for my mother-in-law. She LOVES pink, she loves flowers, and she LOVES her little grandson. These felt Dahlias have pins so they work as brooches, and they have a hidden pocket on the back for a special note or picture (of a favorite grandson, perhaps?).

My favorite thing about these, besides the fact that they are beautiful, is that they are inexpensive and EASY to make! There's still time to make them today for your special mother tomorrow! Here's a picture of my finished product (hopefully mom-in-law doesn't get on to read blogs before she gets it). As mentioned before, I don't love my camera. You can't see the detail of the center very well, and it looks red when it is really hot pink. Yes, Jenn, I did try the macro and super macro settings on the camera this time.

Want to make one of your own? The original tutorial is found at holidash, but don't forget to check out not martha's notes on what she learned for some better methods! I made mine before the notes, so I used heavy saucepans as suggested in the tutorial. The fabritac ended up sticking to my pans a bit, but I was able to pull the petals off without damage and without leaving felt on my pans. The pictures on not martha are also much better than mine, so you can see the actual details of the dahlias.

Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful mothers out there, and happy crafting!

Needlepunch

I'm not sure what possessed me, but I decided that I needed to do some needlepunch, which I haven't done in years. If you're looking for a fast, easy project, try needlepunch. I had a hard time finding a pattern and thought about designing my own, but I was not feeling very creative. I dropped by Red Rooster (what a treat!) where Zack HAD to drag me upstairs. I was glad he was there when I discovered their only needlepunch patterns on clearance up there. I finished this piece for Jenn's birthday gift. It didn't turn out quite how I had envisioned, but it's the latest project I've completed.
I dropped by Grandma's house and borrowed her light box so I can transfer an embroidery pattern to fabric. The girls and I have a date set for a Mile a Minute quilt with Grandma in May, so hopefully I will have more projects up and finished soon!

Flamingo

Flamingo: a shade of pink for Bernat's Satin yarn (very soft!).

I found this book while wandering Hobby Lobby, waiting for the jeep to have the windshield replaced at Techniglass. I love that Techniglass is in the same parking lot as Hobby Lobby. Very convenient.
I don't typically use the same yarn/colors as patterns. However, this afghan jumped out to me and screamed to be made. Ally needed a blog give-a-way gift, she is expecting a girl, and she's been talking about hot pink gerber daisies (loves them & has a long history with them, even). After ordering the yarn in, I ran out of flamingo with about 4 inches to go. Thus, the drama & inquiries made about flamingo. I finally received the flamingo and finished the afghan, shipped it off, and Ally received it yesterday (thus, the wait for the post, since I didn't want to give the surprise away). Here is the final product. Ignore the bad pictures. I need a better camera.

Now, what to do with the leftovers?

As if In Response

. . . to my last rant, there was a link on Craft Gossip today for Daily Knitter. Hooray! They use yarns that are easily and readily found. The yarns can be found on sale even and I can use coupons to buy them at local craft stores! Aaaaahhhhhh. . . I must have done something right this week. I can continue learning to knit.