New Years Resolutions

How many of you make New Year’s Resolutions?  Is it to stop a bad habit or lose weight or exercise more?  Getting healthy sure is a good thing to do. 

But what if your resolution was to be more creative?  What if you made a promise to yourself to do more art or sewing or learn a new craft? 

Every year I go through my unfinished quilting projects and decide which one I am going to finish for the upcoming quilt show in March.  It is amazing to me when I find I only have a little more to do on a project for it to be finished.

Other years I have promised myself to take advantage of the classes my quilt guild offers.  I have learned different ways to quilt on my home sewing machine, new ways to appliqué, new embroidery stitches (after a recent class with our guild I can now do a successful bullion stitch) and can now piece a Y-seam in a quilt block.

This coming year I want to try more sculptures in needle felting and expand my embroidery on needle felted items and I want to finish the log cabin sampler I started so many years ago. And I still want to take as many classes and try as many new crafts as I can.

Why not make sure you add some creativity to your resolutions list?  You can still break a bad habit, lose weight and exercise more but make sure you also create new art that represents who you are and what your 2018 brought to your life. 

Happy 2018 to you.

Cheryl

 

©2017  Cheryl Fillion

Happy Holiday (all year long)

This is truly is a wonderful time of the year.  The holidays are a time to spend with family and friends, helping wishes come true and maybe being a little sneaky with who is getting what in gifts.

It is a time of year to dress up our houses in holiday decorations and string lots of lights everywhere (Kudos to the brave souls who climb on their roofs with those twinkle lights).  There is music in the air and even if you have hard the songs hundreds of times, it still brings a smile to your face.  And then there is time for family and friends and the holiday parties. 

Sometimes don’t you wish you could have the holidays all year long. Well, why not?  No I don’t mean keeping the tree up and playing the  Christmas music all year  But what about keeping the good spirits of smiles to strangers and visiting with family and friends. 

Where I work there is a holiday party for the staff.  I often can’t go because of various obligations.  Wouldn’t it be nice to get together in the spring when the flowers are blooming or the summer when the sun is shining later in the day?  A gathering at other times of the year would not compete with the busyness of Christmas or Hanukah or New Years. 

And what about decorating?  You don’t need Santa or trees or snowmen around all year.  How about decorating for the other holidays?  I know some people do for Valentines, Easter, Thanksgiving and Halloween (at least I do).  What about decorating for Mothers Day or Father’s day or Independence day? What about those months with no special holiday like August or September?   Wouldn’t it be fun to research a holiday for those months and decorate and celebrate it?  (I think I have a new idea for a blog post.)

Think about keeping the spirit of the holidays with you all year long. Find something to celebrate and some reason to party and find some music that makes you smile and you never tire to play.

Whether you try to keep this idea of the holiday spirit with you all year is up to you.  But for this holiday, I hope that it is wonderful and filled with family, friends, good eats and good memories.

Happy Holidays, Everyone.

Cheryl

©2017  Cheryl Fillion

 

Create Your Own Souvenirs

With the exception of thimbles, I am not a big souvenir person when I travel. And I don’t much care for t-shirts.  But I usually want something to remember a vacation or a special event.

This year I went to the Nutcracker Ballet at the community college where I work.  They were selling wooden Nutcracker Princes in all sizes and while they were tempting, I didn’t buy one.  Instead I came home and started working on an embroidery piece of the Nutcracker and a ballet dancer.  This would have a lot more meaning to me that a wooden nutcracker.

I realized while I have been working on this that I do create my own souvenirs.  I mentioned above that I am not much for t-shirts.  So when I went to Door County Wisconsin for my 50^th birthday, I bought fabric to make blouses.  Now when I wear those blouses (one had sailboats on it which is one activity Door County is known for) I think of that trip.

In Door County there are numerous lighthouses.  I went to one which was a favorite of my father’s.  Now I will admit I did buy a travel mug from the lighthouse but I also create a wall hanging of it.  I took a picture of it and printed it on a special treated fabric that could be sent through the printer.  And with that lighthouse picture on fabric I created a wall- hanging adding more trees and beach and water in appliqué to expand the image.

Lighthouse

Lighthouse wall hanging
(the above photo is in the center)

I work with the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life.  I am working on a t-shirt quilt (I may not buy t-shirts but I do keep them from special events where they are given).  I didn’t want to make just a t-shirt quilt but one with meaning for me.  So for every year I do the relay, I prepare the front of the t-shirt to put in the quilt and also create a quilt block that represents either the theme of the relay or some member of it.

My first Relay year

Purple is the Relay's color.

While I was writing this blog I began to wonder how making your own memory souvenir would work for a Christmas holiday.  If a family is traveling to visit Grandma or just to spend the holiday somewhere new, the kids could draw a picture of their favorite activity or memory of their visit.  You could take pictures and make a collage to hang on your wall (it could be, but doesn’t have to be, done in fabric). 

Or how about make an ornament that represents this holiday.  Did you build a snowman in Grandma’s front yard?  Create a snowman ornament to remember it and don’t forget to make a snowman for Grandma too so she can remember it?  Did you go to the beach?  Collect some shells to decorate a framed memory of your holiday.

Store bought souvenirs are nice but making your own personal souvenir makes your special trip or holiday even more memorable.

 

©2017  Cheryl Fillion

My Ornament Tradition - 2017

In a December blog last year, I wrote about a Christmas tradition I have. When I was a teen, I made a little paper doily angel for the ladies celebrating Christmas with my family.  Then ever year I would make another ornament.  This tradition has continued all these years.  What started with 6 family friends now includes over 30 family, friends and colleagues.

While I can’t make an ornament for each of my reader’s I decided to share how I made this year’s ornament.  This year’s ornament was a felted heart with a little embroidery added to it.

Cheryl's 2017 ornament

To make this heart, I needle felted some wool in a cookie cutter (see my blog “Needle Felting in Cookie Cutters” for even more instructions.)  Start by putting some of the wool roving or batting in the cookie cutter.  It doesn’t matter if it over flows the cutter, this will felt this down.   Keep felting until it is a firm as you want it.  Add wool where  you need it to get the surface smooth.  Remember to felt both sides, this will help smooth out the felting.

roving in cutter

finished felting in cutter

                           

When you have it the thickness and firmness you want, take it out of the cookie cutter and felt along the edges.  This will give a nice rounded smooth appearance.  Now if you like it looking a little ragged, then leave it unfelted.  This is your ornament.

felting the sides

Now starts the embroidery. Use embroidery floss, perle cotton or as I did here a real thin 2 ply yarn. I put a snowflake design in the middle. But you could do whatever design you want it.  I did it by free hand but if you want to draw the design on  the wool , go ahead.  To be honest, I had a hard time getting my fabric pens or pencils to work on the wool.  I started with a dash along the center of the heart.  I made mine about an inch long.  Don’t worry about hiding the stitches on the back, when it is done, we will cover that up

start the embroidery

Then I made an X over that dash.  After the X was done. I then added a French knot at the tip of each point of the design.   

Add French Knots

Add the X

                       

                                   

                            

       

Finished snowflake

When you are done with the embroidery turn the ornament over.  Now you see the back side of the embroidery, add a little roving on it and felt it in.  If you are using a dark color thread against a light colored wool, you might need to add a little more as you felt it because the dark thread will show through.

put roving over back stitches

Back of ornament

                 

Finished back

felt roving on back of ornaments

                             

If you like how the ornament looks at this point, then stop and add a loop of thread at the top for a hanger.  I added a running stitch along the edge in another colors just to add some pizzazz to it.  Make sure you have enough thread long enough to be able to go around the heart without having to start and stop.  I didn’t felt over these stitches on the back I liked the look of the running stitch on both sides so that meant I didn’t want any knots showing.

I started at the bottom edge of the heart.  Leave a tail of a couple of inches.  I knotted the two ends of the thread when I finished the running stitch for a simple little tassel at the bottom.

 

Start the running stitch

the running stitch

                       

When I stitched around to the other side, both tails of the thread met.  And here is where I knotted the two tails, like I said making a simple little tassel.

Running stitch done

Knot at the bottom

At the top I added – in the same color as the running stitch – a loop as a hanger.  And now your ornament is ready for the tree.

Ready for the tree

©2017  Cheryl Fillion

Creativity in your Holiday Shopping

I am sure many of you have started your holiday shopping or are at least are planning your lists.   If you read this before you start your shopping adventure, don’t forget to add a little creativity to your shopping list.

What do I mean by Creativity?  I mean make sure you buy someone you love some art supplies, craft supplies, or a craft kit or two.  You never know what life long love you will start in a young child or help someone older continue to enjoy a lifelong love.   

There are all kinds of activities out there from model airplanes and cars to assemble to adult coloring books.  The other day I saw a kit to paint a set of nesting dolls (I almost bought it for myself).  There are looms of every kind and step by step books to do all kinds of needlework.  And of course you could provide the supplies for one of the crafts I have done a tutorial on and show them this blog.

And also consider a gift of music or dance.  Either provide some future performer with lessons or an instrument or take them to a holiday concert or ballet.  I bet there is a Nutcracker Ballet going on somewhere near your hometown this time of year. Going to a performance is a memory both of you can share.  I still remember going to a simple children’s Christmas concert at a local junior high with my mother when I was visiting her one holiday.

So add a little creativity to your holiday shopping by giving a gift of creativity in whatever form your heart desires. You can never give too much. Happy Shopping!!

©2017 - Cheryl Fillion