Challenge #131 Sew What!?!

Jana here  - It's my turn to torment challenge you all. This time I am throwing down the needle. I want to see what you can sew into your project. I want to see what you can do with needle and thread. Make a quilt, make a purse, stitch up an embroidery project, mend a pair of jeans, or attach elements onto a card or scrapbook page using needle and thread. Just SEW something.

I took the challenge literally, and used my sewing machine to make some bookmarks. I had some scraps of fabric and batting from a previous sewing project, so I made these:

I also decided that it was time to use some of the little hexies I have been making. My daughters and I were talking and thought that they would make really cute placemats.

I tried to get two done for today, but you know how it goes. (What this really means is that I had to sew the blue one twice because of the seam ripping I had to do when I sewed the pieces together wrong the first time. Otherwise I might have had two to show.) The pink one is in progress. I'll try to get it done and posted before the next challenge...


Let's see what all the other wonderful poobahs have come up with for this challenge.
 
Electra here
I know that Jana is going to show you something wonderful that she's created with fabric.
Not wanting to be left out, I pulled an old wall quilt off the couch (where I have it now) and took a picture of it.  I used to be a quilter.  Even though I have a new grandson and made it quilt for him, I'm still a "used-to-be-a" quilter.  Haha!

Deena here - I totally bite at sewing...can't do a straight line for the life of me...but I am super envious and intrigued by Jana's hexi projects that she has on the go all the time...they are so cute and trendy, so I tried to do the same in my card...maybe now that she sees the stitching on this card, she will totally get why I have huge envy of her projects!!!  some of my stitches didn't even reach the hexi and I couldn't line them up if I wanted too!!!

Gini here
I dusted off my very old sewing machine and made these cards with a little bit of machine sewing on them. Thank you Jana for getting me back into the joys of machine sewing, I had forgotten how much fun it is.
It is much easier to sew on card than material.
I used a size 70 needle (lingerie needle) and loosened the tension a bit from what I would sew mid weight cotton with. I set the stitch size to 3.1. (I would sew mid weight cotton using a 2.5 stitch size.)

They were inspired by a Sarah Engels-Greer inches card project on page 44 of Craft Stamper March 2012. If you're interested in making cards similar to these, I have put more details on my blog.

Rosemary here and I didn't actually stitch my card, but I mimicked stitches.  This paper is Basic Grey Lemonade that I've had forever but I wanted to get more texture, so I cut the strips apart with pinking shears in some spots and then added some faux stitching and lace and ribbon, border punch, and whew....a pretty feminine button that I think looks like a charm. In person it really has the look of material and a bit of texture.  The inside had me using a rubber stamp for You're Sew Special. 

You have until the end of Saturday 2 June to join in with your fabulous creation celebrating Sew What. Add your blog post address to Mr Linky below.
If you would like to join in with a previous challenge we've set (life happens and lateness is absolutely fine, we don't mind a bit) just add your blog post address to Mr Linky below. Please make sure your blog post refers to the previous challenge you are entering so we don't get confused. 
We look forward to visiting you!

Challenge #130 - Beyond the Garden Gate

Rosemary here and this time the Opus Gluei is asking you to go

Beyond the Garden Gate

Time to pull out all those garden-themed ideas and create!

Seed packets, lattices, flowers, plants, greenery, gardeners, sunshine, raindrops,
gnomes, fairies (all gardens need 'em), 
the list goes on and on and on!

I made a three-dimensional box inspired by Lori
she made these gorgeous 4x4 niches.

It got me thinking and pasting and inking
gluing and Stickle-ing....
and this is what I created.

I used a 4x4 box, not a canvas, and utilized the niche on the other side.
Used paper to cover the surfaces, suggest a lattice, make flowers, and more...

oh look, a beautiful golden bird nest with eggs!
(maybe the Bluebird of happiness?)

and here is the back of the box

For more info on how I made this, please see my blog

and here's just one more item
a quick little gift tag just right for Mother's Day flowers

Let's see what all the other wonderful poobahs have come up with for this challenge.
 
Jana here. Still have the needle and thread in hand. I had a different project in mind for this challenge. BUT when I started working it, I found out that some quilt blocks that I had made and mailed off to be joined in perfect harmony with other blocks hadn't arrived at their intended destination. It's been over a month, so those little babies are not going to show up. SO, I had to remake them. I LOVE when I can make something and multi-purpose it. They are tulips after all. And they are in gardens. So I got to sewing. Well, I got one block done anyway. It measures 12.5 inches by 12.5 inches.

The other block is going to be a butterfly. It'll get done tomorrow.

Electra here

 If case you didn't know this, the five little girls are the OG Poobahs, hanging out at the entrance to Rosemary's garden.  Just hangning, staying out of trouble.
For now...mwaaahaaahaaa!

Deena here
phew made it in at the last minute...happy national scrapbook day/weekend...I whipped up this card at a crop on Saturday...using my fancy new Tim Holtz markers...must say though, not as fancy as I thought and so sad that there is no real red colour in the pack, but the card turned out okay anyway...

Gini here
What a fabulous challenge from Rosemary, I could make hundreds of things with this theme as I'm sure you could too.  I made an Easel Card of a posh house and garden scene which is a Docraft stamp by the artist Michael Powell, and er I went a bit mad with the lace, which unlike shiny stuff,  it would appear you can have too much of -hrumph.
I used part of a silk scarf (a bargain charity shop find) to make the curtains.
I am staggered by the two hours it took me to colour the picture with Derwent inktense pencils. I wasn't messing about honestly, but colouring solidly.
No wonder I don't do much colouring....

So, with all of this inspiration and the theme in mind

let's see what you create when you go

BEYOND THE GARDEN GATE!

You have until the end of Saturday 19 May to join in with your fabulous creation celebrating gardens. Add your blog post address to Mr Linky below.
If you would like to join in with a previous challenge we've set (life happens and lateness is absolutely fine, we don't mind a bit) just add your blog post address to Mr Linky below. Please make sure your blog post refers to the previous challenge you are entering so we don't get confused. 
We look forward to visiting you!