It's Me in September!

Hello, Hello, I have been madly stitching away this summer, so much so that it wasn't so Secretively and today my husband told me I needed to stop sewing for a while.  WHAT? NO WAY?  This is my creative outlet, so what have I been stitching this summer.

1. I did some Embroidery Projects:

   

   Bird Bones Mini Quilt, and Printing a Stamp on Fabric.

2. I participated in a lot of Swaps:

   

   Strawberry Swap, Need a Needlebook Swap, and the Big Stitch Swap

3. I experimented in making clothes for my daughter:

   

   The Butterfly Challenge, Liberty Shorts, and Up-cycled 4th of July Skirt.

Today I want to show you my 3 projects that I did specifically for this blog hop, all 3 have some Gingham in them, because I like the stuff!

  1.  Embroidered Dish Towels, I stitched these towels while on vacation.

A little bit in the Ancient city of Philippi

Some on the beautiful beaches of Greece

Madame Samm herself got me hooked on embroidery.

You can find the Pattern here

 I was going to keep these beautiful Greek inspired dish towels for myself.....

I just got this yellow ribbon in a swap from Karri!

.....But I am so excited my Auntie from Washington State is coming to visit us this weekend, so they will be a gift to her, to remind her of the delicious food we plan on feeding her and my Uncle.

And of the Views we will show her.

We have our own Olive Tree, so yummy.

   2.  An Open Wide Feathered Gingham Pouch for a Swap

Sent this Noodlehead Open Wide Zippered Pouch with added Vera of Negliegent Style handle to my swap partner this Monday.  It is a secret swap, but she seemed real keen on this kind of bag and she loved the look of pieced feathers. One of her many favorite colors was red, so I added a dash of fun with Riley Blakes Large Red Gingham to the inside.

  3.  One skirt for my daughter became 2

one sided Circle Skirt

 Originally I wanted to do this Reversible Circle Skirt, but then I realized that the the April Showers Rain Drop fabric would be upside down, lucky for me I had only cut out the gingham part.  So Katerina got 2 dresses, her sweet Red Gingham Circle Skirt and her Umbrella Swirl Skirt.

Umbrella Swirl Skirt

This totally fun hop and gathering is due to Madame Samm at Sew We Quilt.  She's the mastermind behind all these fabulous hops and of course our wonderful Cheerleader Shari at Living With A Purpose and we couldn't forget Riley Blake Designs for the lovely Gingham.

Be sure to visit my other fellow bloggers of the day: 

Wednesday 10, 2014

Secretly Stitching (You Are Here)

Buzzing and Bumbling
Quilt n Queen
Quilted Delights
Grandmama's Stories

Thanks for stopping by, 

 

The Purge and A Book Review

My friend Shirley of SimpleSew gave me the Sew & Stitch Embroidery book by Alyssa Thomas a few months ago, and I started working on the fold over feather clutch pattern inside the book (page 111).  I finished the feather over a month ago and then it sat, you see I wasn't that happy with it.  2 issues:

• I used a jean like material and it was very stretchy, so there ended up being some fabric distortions.
• Said jean material is dark in color so I used tear away stabilizer to get the pattern onto the fabric.

Here is how I played with the fabric distortion:

I added a little pleat to cover up the stretch and to make it a design element, I added 3 pleats to the back of the pouch.

The second problem was a little more harder to fix, I couldn't get the stabilizer out, I tried my best and got most of it out, just little bits of white here and there.

I used Vera of Negligent Style's Tutorial to add the strap and she also recommended to go to a hardware store for snap hook and D-ring, which is fantastic since I am all out of those things in my sewing room.  So this is the best my hardware store could do,

It's not the fanciest hook, but I think it will work.

The book is pretty nice, it has a few embroidery patterns I would like to try, but this is my favorite pattern from it, I think I will make a few more, just not on dark fabrics.
I'm linking up to The Purge, first linky party, cause I am sending this to a new home and it won't sit lonely in my house, I look forward to doing some more purging in the next weeks, you should join too!
Update:  It is in it's new home and she LOVES IT!  The interior is to her style with skulls, I only had small irregular pieces of these fabrics so I made a QAYG style lining.

 The awesome Vera, mentioned above sent me a skull zipper pull to put on the pouch.

Not only did Jenna in the UK get the feather pouch but she also got  a bird bone mini quilt, you can see it here.

and also The Craft Book Sew Along.
buttons on the right side of this blog.

Friday Night Sewin Swaps.

I did some sewing Friday night for the (FNSI) Friday Night Sew In.  I generally don't like to sew at night it bothers my eyes, so this is a great excuse to get some extra sewing done that I wouldn't normally do.  I finished up my Win a Singer quilt block.

I added some more buttons in the jar.

and what I think is a cute little pin cushion.

the bottom part says SEW, but it also said PIN, but I accidentally cut the P

I worked on my Big Stitch Swap.

What do you think, should I do some hand quilting in the front of the bird?  should I take out the straight stitches on the back of the tail, any comments or suggestions will be helpful.  I was going to leave the front of the bird plain, but now I am unsure.

I am also linking up to Drowning in Fabric, Saturday Swaps
Swaps that are still open:
Text Fabric Swap (hosted by me and there is a giveaway :)
Super Swaps/August, zipper pouch or basket -deadline to enter is July 30th

Calling all Europeans

Well everyone is invited and this post is a little all over the place so hang on.
Today is the last day to enter in my Big Birthday Bash Giveaway.
SWAPS:
Let's talk swaps first, I want to start a European version of the F8 Fabric Swap that started in the States, by Laurel of Drowning in Fabric.  She also just started a Weekly linky party on Saturday just for talking about Swaps.
Okay let's talk the European F8th Fabric Swap:

1. There will be 8 spots for each swap, if more people are interested we can do more than 1 group of 8.
2. Each month will have a theme, this is what I was thinking of for right now, July-Text prints, August-Low Volume, September-Halloween/Black & White, any suggestions will be helpful.
3. Purchase 1 yard each of 2 different prints for a total of 2 yards (you might even have 2 yards of 2 different prints in your stash) and cut into 8 pieces each, for a total of 16 pieces.
4. Okay more rules for later, what do you think?  Anyone interested, shipping shouldn't be to bad to send 2 yards to Greece and it cost less than 5euros for me to send it back to you, plus you will get some really cool Greek stamps!

I want to share this fabric.

 Would you like some of this pretty Adornit print, talked about it last Sunday Stash, it has a really pretty hand and great words.

These are also all 1 yard cuts, starting from the top left, Timeless Treasures Fabrics (black and white) crossword puzzle, ABC words for VIP fabrics (black and white with a splash of some rainbow), bottom left, "Back Talk" by Maria Kalinowski for Canvas (black and white), "Wordplay" by Michele D'Amore for Benartex (light green w/ brown and cream sewing words).

Any body interested in a swap!

Still speaking of Swaps, I am participating in Amy's Need a needle book swap, and last night during my Friday Night Sew In (FNSI), I put it together, just a sneaky peeky photo for now.

I also worked on my feather last night and I hope to finish today and show you tomorrow. It was a great time at my FNSI, I drank a whole pitcher of "sweet tea" (insert Texas accent), and also watched my favorite show "Person of Interest".  My partner who is sending to me, the lovely Sheri of Sunshine in the Attic, has finished my needlebook also, in fact she did 2 and gave me a choice of which one, go check them out, she even put zippers on the inside, really beautiful work on both, it was a hard decision, can't wait till it comes in the mail.
FRIDAY FINISH:
I had a Friday finish also, (photo heavy), it was for the Chris W Designs Photographic Contest.
Tell me what photo you like:

This is the one I sent in!

 But there were so many others, I really need to get into shape again, my upper arms, grrr...I used to be a massage therapist and had great upper arms.

 My husband directed and took these photos of me,the bag and the Vespa!

 My daughter took the photos of use at the coffee shop, theses 2 are the same photo, just different PicMonkey effects.

I really liked this one, that she took.

And would have loved to send in this one that I took of her.

So which one do you like?
Chris wanted a person in the photos to show the scale of the bag.  Here are some close-ups of just the bag.

 Her patterns are excellent with lots of photos, but the best part is that she also has a section with just the Text Only Instructions for Printing, it is in black and white so it doesn't use up all of the colors on my printer and is only a few pages, versus the over 60 some in the PDF.

Inside fabric, "Spa" by Deb Strain

 I originally wanted to make an interior zipper pocket, but my yellow fabric that I used for the piping was a scrap piece and I ended up not having enough for the bottom piping of the bag, so I had to use the fabric that I was going to use for the pocket for the bottom exterior piping.

 I omitted the 2 exterior slip pockets for the back, I like the big design on the fabric.

 This is an Emmaline "handmade" metal bag label, makes the bag look so professional, along with the metal rings and I also added purse feet.

I used the Lovely Aurifil thread, Yellow Varigated 4658 50wt, and a China blue that perfectly matched the blue Dear Stella fabrics, 2725 40wt.
This pattern was pretty tough with the piping, but would be a lot easier if I had a machine that I could move the needle, it was pretty hard to get close to the edge of the piping, but I love it and I think it will look great for dressing up or for just going about town.  What is really awesome is that my dear friend Shirley of Simple Sew got this for me, and I had pinned it on Pinterest over 50 weeks ago, I loved the look of the bag and couldn't believe that you could sew it up and look at that over a year later, I sewed myself a Sugar and Spice bag, from Chris W. Designs.

I feel like I wanted to talk about something else but I can't remember, linking up to all of these fantastic linky parties.
TGIFF
Saturday Swap
SewJo Saturday
Show Off Saturday
Sunday Stash
Have a great weekend.
Tell me if you are interested in the Fabric Swap.

My Secret SuperPower (plus giveaway)

HELLO!  My name is Mara, I am an American living in Greece, so glad you stopped by during another wonderful hop put on by Madame Samm of Sew We Quilt and our Cheerleader for this hop Pauline of  QuiltNQueen.
We are showing off our SuperPower's from April 11th to April 21st.

I think everyone has a SuperPower, a Secret SuperPower, maybe only a few people know about.....
Perhaps a Secret SuperPower that doesn't show it's self often ....Like Mine....
My SECRET SUPER POWER you ask?  shhh.....

I CAN BE FOXY

Oh Yeah, you heard me right, FOXY!

Secret Super Power, FOXY HOOP!

Way back in the day when I was younger, I sold make-up and I learned a few tricks of the trade in applying said make-up.  I only put on my full blown war paint make-up two times, both for weddings.

One was a family wedding and all of my Aunts, Uncles and cousins kept coming up to me and commenting on how beautiful I was and asking "What did you do?" Living in LA at the time, I think they thought I had done some sort of cosmetic surgery, that is how much this tool/make-up can change your appearance.

Now I am about ready to give away MY SECRET, so we can ALL have this Secret Super Power.

We will be a Club, of Super Foxy Women (and perhaps men, who knows).

Self photos (1st Without Make-up, 2nd with Make-up and yelling at my daughter)

First Take a black and white photo of yourself, most people will find black lines under their eyes, around their nose, corners of the mouth and around the chin line.  Now go out and buy yourself a tube of white concealer, I used to sell the brand SeneGence.  I don't have any more and I couldn't find any white concealer's here in Greece so I used the next best thing a white cream that is used for wrinkles, I just didn't blend it in as much and left it fairly intact while I added my powder foundation.  Apply to those dark areas, when you apply it along your jaw line it will get rid of any double chins and make your face appear thinner, blend it into your skin, then apply your regular foundation over the top, add a little eye liner and mascara, and your FOXY!

Okay, now you are asking yourselves "What in the World does this have to do with Stitching and Sewing?"

Glad you asked, have you heard of Knockout Neutrals and Spotlight on Neutrals, both books from Pat Wys.  She talks about Value and you can say the 2 things, your face and your quilts are connected.

Read more and watch a video here.

How do I look in Color!

Just realized I am wearing black, lol color, look at my awesome bag, it's in a rainbow of colors and has a fox on it, so not only am I foxy, so is my bag, Thanks to Mary of Mary Moon Designs for my tote during a recent swap, LOVE IT!

 I also made a bathroom pouch to go with my new bathroom foxy hoop decoration.  I used Vilene Lamifix for part of the fabric so it can sit on the bathroom counter sink area and I won't worry about it getting wet,

  plus the outside see through pocket is lined with the lamifix and I used a plastic table cloth that I got at the Euro (Dollar Store) for 1.50 euro, don't you just love it when the dollar store sells things that are not a dollar, HA!

I used Brussels Washer Linen in Silver and Ed Emberley Picture Pie Fox in Grey.

Plus lots of Orange, Orange Kona, Orange Felt, Orange Zipit Zippers 

and of course Orange DMC thread # S741

Linking up all of this "bright" Orange and sparkly thread to

I also used

DMC Light Effects #E130 for some sparkle on the mask and around the lettering of foxy.

GIVEAWAY! Winners have been picked

I am picking 2 WINNERS for the Giveaway, it is a SECRET Giveaway, the first winner will be chosen randomly and will win an assortment of fabric and a glass pendant made by me, the second winner will be chosen based off of their answer to the question 

What is your favorite Holiday? and

What's your favorite way or Super Power way of stitching, Do you like Quilting, Embroidery, Knitting, Cross-Stitching, NeedlePoint, or Crochet, or any other ways that I haven't mentioned?

The second winner will receive a half yard of holiday themed fabric and a stitching book(these prizes are already picked out and are themed generated so that is why I would like to know the answers to the questions above)  Thanks!

My favorite holiday was Halloween, but since we don't celebrate that in Greece it is now Easter, and that is coming soon!  And I love to do Embroidery, I think it is fun and there are so many options.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today and be sure to check out the other bloggers of the day, all though if you are following the hop, I should be your last stop!

MONDAY APRIL 14 
It Seams To Be Sew... 
Why-Knot-Kwilt 
Bumbleberry Stitchn' 
Elizabeth Coughlin Designs 
Jane's Quilting 
Secretly Stitching You Are Here!

And if you are still here and wondering why I don't put on my foxy make-up very much it is because the last wedding I wore it at was a friends/co-workers wedding and another co-worker started yelling at me during the reception about why I looked so good and got very mm.. violent about my looks.  It was interesting, lucky for the me the bride was humored and she even thought it was funny that the camera man must have also thought I looked pretty foxy hot, since I was in all of the photos of the wedding, except the cake cutting, lol, now that was totally funny.  Lucky for my friend I had been in charge of taking pictures of our bachelorette party in Reno and there was only 1 picture of me in there during our group photo.
The End.  So just be careful on where you decide to get Foxy!

My daughter put on some make up too :)

Be sure to answer the questions in the comments to be entered in the giveaway it will end on April 21st at the end of this blog hop, the rest of the blog hop days can be found here.