Giveaway WINNER

 

Well, I had a great visit to San Francisco.  I'll tell more about that in my next post, but now, I'll announce the winner of my Giveaway.   I had the assistance of my son in choosing the winner and she is: 

 Carol, from Indiana.  

I'll be sending out an email to her this evening.  Thank you all for your comments and emails regarding this Giveaway.  I plan on having another one to celebrate my birthday in October, so I hope you will keep visiting.  It also will involve a book or two and who knows what else.

 

When I announced the Giveaway, I didn't have the inside of the heart box done...but here it is. 

I couldn't make up my mind what words to use.  While on my trip, I decided to use BE YOURSELF.

It's the best way to live, don't you think?    Here is one of my very favorite quotes, which inspired this Giveaway:

"Nobody can be exactly like me, even I have trouble doing it."

Tallulah Bankhead

 

This is the first little "box" like this I've done....with more in mind.  I have been saving boxes of all kinds and materials to do this.....so, there will be more coming as time goes by.  I'll use different stitches and trims, etc.  

 

 I really do think it is very good advice!

 

 And, of course...there IS that HEART!!

until next time

BE WELL 

FROM

BIRD NEST COTTAGE

♥️♥️♥️

Little Bird Books and a Giveaway

 

 Do you remember this little cabinet included in my post of June 17th?

 Well, it DID have a different bird on top, so it looks a tad different than that photo I used.  Here, on top, I have placed the cutest black 'sewing bird,'  a pincushion made by my dear friend, Kay.  And, I've moved it...here for the photograph near a window, then in another spot in the living room for an undetermined amount of time (below), like I do everything else.

  

Here...the new spot.  I like that the blackbird pincushion shows up so well here....oh, and let me say - there IS mail in the mailbox!  So, the little cabinet will rest here until I get the urge to move it somewhere else....at some other time.  

 

And, now, for the whole point of this blog post...the inside of that little cabinet.  Little books all about the birds.  FUN!!!  

 

 The opened one on the table is very old, it's falling apart, but so beautiful still.  It's written in German, I think, so I can't read it....but I love it anyway!  More on the little book with the bird and the nest in a minute...but lets talk about the other books first.

 

 I think you can read them fairly well....The Blue Bird of Happiness book on the left, has been 'enhanced' with a bird bookmark...they are so cute!  Or, as I like to say they are "dear."

   

 The brown on the top there....another very old book.  It is also falling apart....I still like to take it out and look at it every now and again.

 

 See.  Many old photos.......1925.

  

The photos are still beautiful!

 

 Having nothing to do with the little books is this little baby slip....drawn for me in 2010 by Michelle Palmer.  Pen and ink on a vintage baby slip.  How great is that? 

 

 A close-up.

  

The reason I showed you the slip is because she also drew the sweetest bird and nest on a little journal....you can see it here on the left.  I just LOVE it!!!   And, the little book sometimes lives in this little cabinet. 

  

Here is a close-up of it.  Isn't it the sweetest thing?

  

Like I said, I bought these in 2010.  I don't know if she is still drawing and selling, or even posting on her blog at this point,  but if you are interested, you can contact her....click to enlarge. 

OR, 

Michelle Palmer

michellepalmerart.blogspot.com

email:  michart@rochester.rr.com

  

 And, this little journal is the GIVEAWAY.    It is sweet also.  Along side of it is a little heart box.

Also included.  It will have a little surprise in it for the winner and I will show the inside when I announce the winner.  So.......if you want it, kindly make a comment on this blog post, or send an email to me, making sure I have a way to contact you should you be that winner!  

The winner will be chosen on Thursday, July 26th 

As I  will be traveling part of this month,  so I will not be posting until the GIVEAWAY announcement night....going to California to visit my son for his 50th birthday.

(Where did that time go?) 

 I hope you enjoyed seeing the little books and will want to own this little bird journal and the heart.  So....comment or email. 

 Until next time

BE WELL

from

Bird Nest Cottage

♥️♥️♥️

 

An Embroidery Design Giveaway

 

Just got the idea today that I'd post some things from my sketchbooks.  The book pictured above is one of several I have....and I've chose a mixture of drawings to share with you.  I'm calling it a ''Giveaway" because you have my permission to use these....just please give me and my blog credit if you do.

Feel free to copy and enlarge and you can share with friends if you wish.  (And, no, I'm not mailing them out.)

 

Any number of embroidery stitches may be used here...the bow, for instance, could be done in Satin Stitch, or Outline Stitch, or Back Stitch...oddly, even in small French Knots.

 

The Vine I would do in Stem Stitch and Lazy Daisy Stitches...the leaves are so small on the vine, you could even use three or so Straight Stitches to make the leaves.  You get the idea, I am sure.

 

Feel free to enlarge to any size, but you should know...if they get too large, they just aren't as pretty.

 

You can use a Spider Web Rose Stitch to make the flowers in these two hearts.  Or, French Knots to turn them into regular flowers.

 

 I love the flower coming out of the heart....you can make the heart larger if you'd like.

 

I've done those little birds in Outline Stitch many times.

 

I guess you're going to get two of these!

 

 I think this heart design would be so cute embroidered on paper to make a greeting card!

 You could leave off the outside line if you wanted.

 

There's that bow.  I love making them....if you don't want to Outline Stitch it or Satin Stitch it, you could take some narrow bias ribbon and Couch it on the background fabric with French Knots placed every so often.   When I do that, I tie the bow first, then pin it in place to Couch.

 

 Oh, be still my heart!  I LOVE little delicate embroidered Vines like this.  I would probably use one strand of DMC Floss....or #12 Perle Cotton for these.  But, you can suit yourself.

If you don't have a sketchbook of your own started, you might want to take that on...or, it could just be a notebook where you store patterns like these you have gathered from other sources.  It's nice to have something to look through when you are trying to come up with a new project, or want to add a bit of embroidery to a quilt or other project.

So...from ME to YOU....Free Patterns, my Giveaway to you this summer!  ENJOY!!!

from Bird Nest Cottage,

Until next time,

♥♥♥

Tiny Embroidered Hearts Tutorial with a Valentine Giveaway

At last!  I have finished the pincushions with the tiny hearts!  I wanted to have something made up to show you how I sometimes use these tiny embroidered hearts...along with showing you how I stitch these hearts.  And, now I have!!!  And, as promised...there is a GIVEAWAY also.  So, this post is in three parts.  First, how I stitch the hearts.  Second some samples of work I have done using these tiny hearts.  Third....the GIVEAWAY!

 

PART #1

I have drawn three hearts on this piece of muslin.  Why three?  Who knows?  One would do.

I don't know an easy way to show you how I do this.  I know there is an easy way...but it's beyond

 me - the electronically challenged person - so hang in there with me.  I'm sure you will 'get it' without any trouble.  In fact, you probably already know how to do this.  I guess you should just humor me so I can think I'm doing a good job!

So, choose the size heart you'd like to stitch.  To be honest....I think the tinier they are, the prettier they are.  This one is a quarter inch high and about the same wide.  TINY.  I love making them, although I have to say since I have not been sewing for quilt a while....I almost had to re-learn how to do it and my hands and my eyes definitely know I'm older, so these hearts aren't quite as "perfect' as they used to be.  I'm happy to report that nothing is really perfect...so it is what it is.  I'm using two strands of DMC floss here.  If I'm making a really tiny heart, I'll only use one strand.  And, I use the thinnest, strongest needle I can put my hands on.  Yes, I have marked the heart on the fabric.  Sometimes I use a pencil and sometimes I use a permanent pen.  This heart is permanent.  I think it challenges you to do your best work, usually, that is.  I'm sure some of you can stitch a heart without marking anything.  Sorry to say, I'm not that person.  I mark.  And, am using a Satin Stitch.

I begin by coming up from the back either at the point of the heart, or the dip of the heart.  I really don't think it matters.  Then, I  insert the needle in the opposite place.  I like to keep all the thread on the front of the work, so you will notice in all these photos, I go down and come up by making the next stitch almost touching the previous thread.  Hopefully, you will see that.  You can carry the stitch across the back of the heart....and I do on a teeny-tiny one, but on this size and up, I don't carry thread across.  They just seem nicer that way.  If you do carry the thread across the back, your heart will be thicker and puffier.  Perhaps you would want that.  I'm not going to say much more, thinking you can get the idea just by looking at the photos.

 

 Did that help you?  If not, feel free to contact me and ask questions.....but I bet you "got it."

 

I stitched these hearts just so you could see how they look in different sizes.  Like I said, I like the tiniest ones the best.  You'll notice I have two that say "padded with felt."  I'm not too crazy about that size...but if you want to make them....they do look better if they are thicker and fluffier....so I often cut out a piece of felt (cut into the exact heart shape and size, either glue or stitch it to the background, then do the Satin Stitch over it all.  Don't even try this with the teeny ones!

 

Here are a bunch of little ones I just drew freehand...all TINY....and in my mind, much easier that the large ones.  I have a fondness for long skinny hearts, but, truthfully, they are harder to keep 'neat.'

 

PART #2

 These are all the tiny heart samples I made for this tutorial....with the ones in the hoop - the ones I tried my best to photograph as I made them.

 

  Some examples of my teeny-tiny hearts in pieces I have made over time.

This is on a little doll quilt. 

 

 I stitched several over the surface of that little quilt...which is about 10" x 12" in size. 

 

 Here is a four inch crazy quilt pincushion....with one tiny heart.  All if needed, really.

 

 This is a crazy quilted needlecase I made way back when.  And, this may have been one of the very first tiny embroidered hearts I ever made. 

 

 A bird ornament also made long ago.  I did several of these...they flew away, of course!

 

 I made this pin the month after September 11th.  Actually, I lost one at the Houston quilt show and this is a 'reproduction.'  So to speak.  The hearts are stitched with a variegated thread, as are the stripes in the flag.

 

 This is the little quilt, the bird, the pincushion, the needlecase and the flag pin...all bunched together. 

Can you guess what my favorite colors are?

 

PART #3

 The GIVEAWAY!  There are three little pincushions I made shown here, and I actually just this minute noticed the Heart pincushion didn't make it into this photo, so there FOUR pincushions I am giving to FOUR of you.  (I'm keeping the muslin one.)

 

 This one, I am keeping.  Well, I have to have some reward for all this work!

 

 Just a little close-up!

 

 GIVEAWAY #1

 

 GIVEAWAY #2

 

GIVEAWAY #3

 

GIVEAWAY #4

 If you are interested in winning one of these pincushions....please leave a comment on this blog post and I will choose FOUR Winners on Wednesday evening, February 18th.    Kindly make sure I have a way to get in touch with you....and, no, you don't get to choose which one you might win...sorry....that would just complicate my life way too much!

I hope you enjoyed the Tutorial!  By the way, I have been asked to do a Tutorial on the Chain Stitch Pincushion I showed a few posts back...and I will do that in March.  Should be a lot easier for me and less photos in that one....so, I hope you will check it out.

Until next time,

♥♥♥