Small Business Saturday

November 24th is Small Business Saturday. Come to The Shops on West Ridge, 3200 Ridge Road in Greece, New York. This is a collection of 200 small shops that feature Artisan Creations, Antiques and Collectibles. My shop #407 is one of over 15 shops with individually crafted items, a great place to start and maybe finish your holiday shopping. There are two full floor, so plan enough time for your visit, there is a Cafe for lunch or snack to refresh and continue shopping. Open Thursday to Sunday 10:00 am to 6:00 pm, check the website for additional days in December.

These are some of my applique items that may still be available, it first come and get it for unique items. I also have table runners, Christmas stockings, journals, mug mats and much more....

I will also bring what is left by then to the Eastside YMCA Crafts for a Cause event on Dec. 1st.

Welcome

Hi there and welcome to my blog. Please sign up on the right, if you want to be notified when there is a new posting to the blog. I will be the first to admit that I do not post here as often as I should. So, if you are on Facebook please like my page @sewinghusband this has many more pictures and posts. My goal for 2019 is to start the video series that my wife said I should do two years ago.

As I write this post, I am getting ready for a busy weekend. The photo on the right is all projects that need to be finished today! Some just need a hanger while others need borders and backings. You may have visited with me at "Fight Night," an event to fight breast cancer, at The SHOPS on West Ridge Road. You may have also seen me at the St. Rita School Craft Show in Webster.

If this is your first visit to my blog, you may wish to go the the earlier entries to read of my humorous start to sewing. Yes, my wife is still speaking to me but is much happier now that I have my own sewing room and sewing machines. She encouraged me to get my Brother Dream Machine and software to create my own designs. The snowmen and flowers you see above are purchased designs. The hearts are my own creation. I have also created the "Home" below and have crafted some little tea lights for some fun holiday decorating.

My permanent shop location is at The SHOPS on West Ridge Road in Greece, NY. The address is 3200 Ridge Road, Rochester, NY 14626 and the shops are open Thursday to Sunday from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm. This is a coop and I am not always in my shop. You may purchase from the shop at anytime, all items go through the front registers. If you would like to talk to me in person my schedule is listed on the sewinghusband FaceBook page.

The Snowmen are Coming

I love these guys and I have gotten a lot of positive encouragement from friends and family on FaceBook. The base of these projects comes from an in the hoop design at Sweet Pea Machine Embroidery Designs.

Each snowman takes over an hour, closer to two hours, to sew out in the embroidery hoop. I choose the colors for each part of the design through the fabrics that I apply as I sew through the multiple steps. I have five variations of snowmen to choose from. Once these are completed I play with how they are arranged as table runners or wall hangings. 

Here is my first set of snowmen all in black and grey. The blue snowflake border compliments the blue snowflakes in the designs of the snowmen. Below is a wide variety of ways that I have chosen to finish my creations. From single snowmen to groupings of two to five with a wide variety of borders. I continue to create these products as I get ready for upcoming shows and stock for my shop.

Oh Christmas Tree - Dec. 2nd - Second Day of the Blog Challenge

Thank you to the 40 people who have visited my blog. For me those numbers are great and the best since last spring. I hope y'all will keep coming back.

 Now for the Christmas tree story. My wife was showing me how to use her beautiful, Bernina sewing machine. She showed me a best practice of putting a little starter strip of fabric under the foot as a way to make an even start when you begin sewing. She used a little piece of green fabric that was next to the sewing machine to show me what to do. Since she used it that day I assumed it was a scrap, silly me! Some days later I thought I would use her pile of scraps to make Christmas tree. The two you see here are a couple that I made that day, along with the four trees together on a wall hanging in the next photo down. Well, those 'scraps' were actually bias cut strips that she had ready for an appliqué project. They were to be the stems between flowers on a bed size quilt. When I showed her what I made she just smiled and walked away. I could sense something was wrong. She later told me about the appliqué project and admitted it was all her fault because she used that little piece as if it was a scrap when it wasn't really.

So from that example you see how most of my projects happen. They just happen as I put together shapes and fabric in pleasing combinations. In this photo you see the wall hanging with four trees in it. That is one of my favorites and is used to decorate for Christmas. It contains the fabrics from my wife's appliqué project, so I don't think I can part with it. It is one of the many pieces I hope to write a pattern for. In the mean time, in the same photo you see two new wall hangings one with three trees and one with two trees in various stages of completion.


In addition to my small strip trees I have made some larger strips into trees. The first group of five sold right from my FaceBook posting. The single trees below are actually the second group I made this year and there is another "Joy" waiting for the hanger on the back to be finished. I use scraps to make the trees and decorate them with those fancy stitches on the sewing machine that never get used. These will also become a future pattern or maybe a class.

Look Up

"Look Up"

My entry for the third challenge is called "Look Up.' A study of texture is found wherever you are. I love to look up at buildings to see the beautiful ornamentation the used to be a standard part o buildings. The finished wall hanging measures 22" x 15" and was created in Webster, NY for the 3rd Challenge at Project Quilting. The description of the project is continued below. I also want to thank Kim and Trish for running the challenge. I was also a drawing winner for the last challenge and want to thank  Marcia’s Crafty Sewing & Quilting for the pattern that she donated.

Building Ornamentation, see below for building placement.

I wouldn't be a sewing husband if it weren't for my wonderful wife. She puts up with a lot. Some has been documented in previous posts. It wasn't until recently that I found out how nervous she was that I was organizing her sewing room while she was away on retreat. She wasn't thrilled to share her sewing room with me so life was better as the kids moved out and I got my own sewing room. Slowly I am getting tools of my own. She even bought me my own Martelli rotary cutter. It is my favorite cutting tool.

Button on campus at PENN

So another way my wife is wonderful, she started taking me to the Lancaster PA AQS Quilt Show. She also takes me along when she travels to Philadelphia each year for a meeting. While she is in her meeting I get to walk around the campus and streets surrounding the University of Pennsylvania. There are some interesting things on campus, like a giant button. I also like to look at all the textures and details on the buildings. I alway have great intentions of turning these things into quilts and wall hangings. So the current challenge gave me the push to get started.


I have collected a variety of photos over time. Textures from brick and tile along with building materials and perspective pictures. So many things are hiding in plain sight if you just look up. So for this challenge I looked above a doorway on the streets of Philadelphia. I cropped the photo and printed it a few different sizes. I created a freezer paper template from the printed copy. I ironed the freezer paper onto some starched fabric. Of course, what better fabric to use for the building ornamentation than my favorite Stonehenge by Northcott. The appliqué was added with 505 spray adhesive and secured with blanket stitch. Another advantage of the kids moving out is the single bed flannel sheets from their youth have become a layer filling to use as something thinner than batting. For this wall hanging I used one layer of flannel underneath the appliqué layer and then added some batting between the appliqué layer and the back.

Into each life some rain must fall, Carolina Lilies

The spring fabric burst from the shipping bag with excitement. They joined other fabrics on the work table. The brown tones had been pushed to the back of the table when the Christmas projects began. They were afraid that they would now be sent to 'the stash' never to be seen again. The blue tones on the table were happy to hear the next challenge was for flowers that needed a 'Carolina Blue' sky. Two shades of blue batiks were cut into strips and brought to "the Brother" machine. The strips were cut and staggered like rain in the sky. The challenge was to create a quilt with Carolina Lilies. The lilies were appliquéd on the Carolina Blue sky.

The finished size of this wall hanging is 23" wide x 21" tall and was made in Webster, NY by Ed the Sewing Husband. Since Ed lived in NC for a few years he knew there had to be a Carolina Blue sky. The green stems were added to the sky. A blanket stitch on either side of the stem added texture. The leaves on the lilies are snippets from the Sulky project blogged about earlier. Orange flower pedals were appliquéd and fabric paint added the spots on the flowers. Free motion quilting was added to look like rain falling on the lilies. Into each life some rain must fall. From this rain springs beautiful flowers. In this case the flowers are Carolina Lilies.

 The exciting thing about doing this challenge is that it brings me back to my original goals in quilting. I have spent the last year on my skill set. I am excited to get back to art quilts. With the Brother Dream machine I can add embroidery and many other details. This is the beginning of a new chapter in my quilting journey. Thanks to Kim for this push in the right direction.