Cosmos

Cosmos ...the sum total 

                        of everything
 

Fabric Baskets

Just finished these little fabric baskets. The 5 x 5 inch square nicely holds a couple of balls of yarn and a knitting project that I had begun.
 

The smaller one, about 3 inch square is handy to hold a few sewing and knitting accessories. 

 

  The one basket is sitting atop a coordinated stash  of fabrics that I pulled out for my next (hopefully :) komebukuro. The 5 inch square basket is also great for storing a stack of fat quarters!

            

         

       The baskets are also reversible!

Poppy Art Quilt

Fiber Art ~ Poppies

 This is an art quilt I made using my own variation of a pattern by Lenore Crawford that I did years ago. I was undecided about the top stitching so it got rolled up and stored away with some of my fabrics. I discovered it again as I was going through my stockpile of fabrics. It measures 19 x 24 inches and have been considering I might like to do some sashiko stitching on it and perhaps choose a hidden quilt binding to finally finish it off. 

At least that's the plan for now :)

Komebukuro

I enjoyed making my first komebukuro. A modern Japanese Rice Bag using a pattern by 'kzstevens'. I'm sure I'll be making many more!

A cotton drawstring pouch often sewn using scraps of fabrics on hand. The traditional pouch was used to carry offerings of rice to temples or shrines. Handy little size for knitting projects, to carry  your lunch or a great little bag to hold a gift destined for a close friend or relative.

Oh, did I mention it’s reversible!

Origami Bukuro

Another fun little bag to sew using two coordinating square pieces of fabric is the origami drawstring pouch. The sizes of the fabric will determine the finished size of the bag. Tons of tutorials on the internet offering variations in creating this easy to sew little bag!

 

 

 

 

 

     

   

 

 

     As you can see I got carried away!

Textile Vessels ~ Boro and Sashiko

 I loved creating these little vessels/pots after watching the‘Ozachan Channel’ and how easy it was to sew fabric organizers. I created my own variation using scraps of fabric and doing a modern spin on boro and sashiko stitching. They’re handy little pots as well as reversible!

 

 

 

 I read a wonderful book about the art of Japanese mending and stitching titled ‘Boro & Sashiko Harmonious Imperfection’ by Shannon & Jason Mullett-Bowlsby. The authors wrote that the word ‘boroboro’ is from the Japanese, meaning rags. They say an internet search will bring up ‘boro’ as a sewing technique to patch textiles and make layered patchwork-style textiles using ‘sashiko’ stitching to hold the boro patches in place. Literally translated they write that ‘sashiko’ means ‘little stabs’. If you're interested in learning more about both these ancient techniques just head on down that rabbit-hole and enjoy!

Machine Embroidered Line Art Note Cards

I discovered  line art machine embroidery designs and saw the possibilities! Many designs are available for purchase and download on the internet. I owned an embroidery machine years ago which eventually bit the dust and wasn’t worth repairing. I decided to
purchase a Brother PE535 embroidery machine. Not the Cadillac of machines with all the bells and whistles, but I didn't really need all that to create
my cards. It does a lovely job and I'm able to create these great, simple little note cards! 

I download my purchased design onto my computer and transfer them onto a USB drive and into my embroidery machine. I embroider my selected design onto a piece of 140lb watercolor paper cut down to 4 x 6 inches which I’ve adhered to my stabilizer with several dots of fabric glue. All this fits nicely into the embroidery frame. I cut away the excess stabilizer from my finished design and using double sided tape attach the embroidered card onto a note card that is slightly larger and create an envelope for my finished card. There are many tutorials online explaining in more detail how to embroider
greeting cards if you’re interested.