happy thanksgiving

I would like to wish a happy turkey day to all of you that celebrate this American holiday. I still celebrate it although I live in Germany; today is a regular day - no Thanksgiving day, it is an American holiday remember.

I usually make a big "traditional" Thanksgiving on the weekend following the fourth Tuesday in November. We invite our closest friends to compensate for the lack of family that all live in the United States. Last year and this year, I am unable to carry out this tradition. I have a weekend retreat planned instead. So, a little Thanksgiving dinner will be whipped up for this evening including chicken breasts, yummy stuffing, cranberry sauce and pumpkin cheesecake for desert. And of course, everything is homemade just like my "Plätzchen" or Christmas cookies!!

And for all of you shoppers on "Black Friday" - the biggest US shopping day of the year that follows Thanksgiving Thursday, I have a new pattern up and loaded for you on Craftsy to make as a Christmas gift for all of your sewing and patchwork friends - the perfect wrist pin catcher. I promise you, you will not be disappointed with this pattern. There are step-by-step photographs of the entire process, so you won't get lost.

  

You will have so much fun making one, you won't be able to stop making them go into production for your friends. Just raid your scrap bin and have fun!!

The wrist pin catcher can be tailored to fit your wrist exactly with a simple formula or use the quick reference guide. I have a 6.5 inch wrist, and this one fits perfectly; it doesn't turn or twist and keeps it shape. It is soft and non-itchy. They are especially nice when you make them from linen! Change up and where them according to your mood or project!

Enjoy the day and show the ones you love the most just how much they mean to you!
I love you, Mom, Kittie and Co. as well as the rest of you, Family! You know who you are! ;-)

Karen

wrist pin cushion for sewists

Recently I received an email from a reader about my linen sewing pin cushion that I made after my weekend retreat at a convent.  The very friendly, Ann from Australia wanted to know where she could get this pattern. I designed it myelf to the exact measurements of my own medium-sized wrist. The pattern is now available to you at Craftsy!

As I do with most patterns, I want it to be correct. So, I made several of these cushions tweeking the pattern to get them just right. I tried out different lengths of the elastic band and different materials that I filled the pin cushions with to get the exact feel that was comfortable and functional. It must hold the needles snug but the needles must also go in easily. A cotton filler might make it fluffy, but doesn't hold your needle. Risotto rice doen't work that well either. It is a nice medium sized grain that holds your needle, but dulls it as you push it in.

What is really great about this wrist pin cushion is the total comfort! It does not slip and slide. The elastic does not cut into your wrist either. It takes on the warmth of your hand from the soft texture of the linen. I added a plastic guard as well, so the pins would not ram into your arm for that bitter shock. Ouch!

If you like to keep your pins close to you especially on your wrist, this is the perfect pin cushion for you! It is simple, easy, and practical!

Thank you for dropping by. I would love to see your creations, so don't forget to upload them to Craftsy!

the forgotten five mini quilt

Hello everyone! My new favorite pattern is now available at Moda Bake Shop! Thank you everyone for the wonderful comments and support. A warm and special thanks to Lisa Calle for planning and organizing the project and to Sarah Huetschtemann for sewing it all together! The Moda Weaves
Collection looks like real linens in fantastic modern colors.

The pattern has directions for one 12" mini quilt, one 4" pin cushion and one 15" (40 x 40cm) pillowcase.

I can't explain how much fun this pattern really is. Everyone thinks that it is really complicated and time consuming, but it goes together like a snap.

I know that some people are intimidated by little quilts or little blocks, but now that I am making more mini quilts, I try to find ways or use special techniques to simplify the block and quilt making, especially for you. It is really too bad that mini quilt magazines are no longer published, because they illustrated a lot of very useful techniques.

I think you can use just about any type of fabric to make this creation. I have used solids, brights and pastels. Everything works, even plaids. You might want to steer away from large scale prints though. Larger scale prints don't usually work in any miniature quilt.

Here are a few of my favorite Forgotten Five Minis:

Don't forgot to join the site. I will be drawing a name/number this Friday. The lucky viewer will receive a little package of goodies from me including a charm pack to make lots of Forgotten Five Minis!

lost in summertime feelings

Oh, my how flies by. I just checked out my own blog to realize that I have only ONE post in the Month of June. What was going on this month?? We had two birthdays and a house warming party! I had one weekend to enjoy the solitude of great weather and no interruptions where I could concentrate solely on my sewing hobby. How much better can life be?

I enjoyed a great post exposure of my new cutting table which was also posted at Ikea Hackers and took a little summertime break. I also finished up my DQM quilt for Mary Pat and will be sending to her within the next few days.

Here is what I made in my last weekend retreat - a cathedral window pin cushion. Now, this is my very first try at cathedral windows, and I am not the best at hand sewing. It takes me a while to get going and find my rhythm before my stitches are a little more even. The project is small, but I always take on more than I can chew; I just wanted to learn the technique and get a project finished!

When this one was done, I move on to the next one of learning how to sew in a zipper. I have sewn in zippers before, but I felt a little bit out of practice. I also learned how to "hide" the zipper underneath the fabric thanks to my dear instructor, Sabine of Quilt Oase!

I made four pillowcase covers for my old sofa in the new house. Since my wall in my dining room is PURPLE, I wanted to united the red sofa with the wall. I have been looking for the right fabric and then found this from Makower. I wanted it simple - [Simple, Easy, Practical] - The quilting took the longest since it was a "quilt as you sew" method.

I hope now that June is over, I have more time to get back to the topic at hand - more sewing and pattern designing. I have a new pattern waiting to be published. This one will be free of charge, because I want you all to have it and start your own sewing projects with it. It is a fun little project that your really can finish in just a few hours.

I would like to thank all of you that either subscribe or read my blog. I really and truly appreciate your support. Thank you for the wonderful comments as well.

Yours truly,
Karen