She's a Good Human!

Michael Ann wins the Best Human Award. She took on the Alphabet Friend Adventure and SOARED! I think she covered just about every area of the animal kingdom......prehistoric, land and sea with a little african safari thrown in.

I'm on the letter J. :(

I hate being such a loser. I really wanted that gift certificate to Quilt Taffy!! But I shall finish out my alphabet!!! Stay tuned.

Check out Michael Ann's good deeds. Her animals and names are so darling. She's giving her friends to the My Stuff Bag Organization. I love their purpose!

Thanks for the Adventure, Michael Ann.

Helen & Ida

I've only got SEVEN more days and SEVENTEEN more friends to make for the finale of the Alphabet Friend Adventure.

Michael Ann has already kicked my patootie in finishing hers up.

Meet Helen and Ida.

Helen is named after my Aunt Helen.

Ida is for Idaho.

How poetic.

I'm thinking crocheting the rest of the 17 is not going to be very fast going. I'm going to have to kick into assembly line production. Where did the time go? I must have been enjoying my summer too much.

Pattern here. Love Amy Gaines. Pdf crochet patterns!

Fabric here. Yummy Farmer's Market and County Fair.

~Des

Francisco and Geraldine

I know. I KNOW. I can hardly stand how stinkin' cute these are! They're my latest Alphabet Friends. I'm up to G!!!! Only 19 more friends to go!!! Francisco is the monkey and we just like to say "Francisco" around here. Geraldine is the bear and she is named after my cousin Geri. Oh dear. I just realized that Geri spells her name with a J, Jeri. oops. Oh well. So much for a dedication.

Geri the bear has already spent hours learning how to do a cursive G, so I don't want to cause her any undue stress.

Imagine this held by little hands. It's a RATTLE. It has a little jingle inside and everything!! Let me just say that if you can crochet at all, these are the dang easiest things to make. It is all single crochet in the round. Super, duper easy. But I have to warn you. You'll be hooked and then you'll be making more (okay a blue monkey? it was my practice one)

and more and more

crocheted toys.

Monkey/Bear Rattle Pattern here.

Blue Monkey and Goldfish Patterns here.

I love etsy and these clever crochet pattern makers!!

Invisible Closing Seam ~ A tutorial

 Invisible Closing Seam.
On all these cute little animals and friends that I'm making, I like to have a nice finish to them. It's much easier to just whip stitch them closed, but not very attractive and frankly, I think it gives the kids something to pick at. Let's hide those stitches!! No Cat Teeth.

Materials:

~Hand Quilting thread~ because it's a little stronger and I want to give my seam every possible chance to withstand lots of playing and loving.

~Needle~I basically just find a needle in my stash to use. But I do look for a slim long one with a small eye.

For the pictures, I have used a contrasting thread with the red, but if I was really closing this seam up, I would of course, use red.

Directions match the photo above them.

To begin with you might want to pin the opening closed so that you can concentrate on your stitches more than keeping the opening closed.

Cut about 12" of thread. Put a knot in the end. The thread is not doubled. You want to hide the knot in the fold. I've hidden the knot in the top of the red fold.

Going straight across from where I came up (with the knot) take a little stitch in the fold on the bottom.

Pull thread through. Going straight across from that last stitch, take another stitch from the top fold. Pull thread through.

Continue in this pattern (stitch in the top fold, stitch in the bottom fold) all the way to the end of the closing.

I've left the white stitches here to show you what it looks like.

But, after each stitch, you will want to pull the thread taut/tight.

When the thread is kept taut as you go along, the stitches will disappear in the fold.

Even using white thread, you still can't see them.

When you come to the end of your opening, it's time to knot it off.

This is the best way I can think of. I take one more little stitch. Before I pull the thread all the way through, I have a little circle left.

I put my needle through this circle, through the front end. This is important to note. You want to create a square knot and you will want to keep track of whether you went in front of the circle or in back, first. I've gone in front, first.

Pull the thread through to make a knot. This is the first knot. Pull tight.

Take another little stitch right in the same spot as the last stitch.

You're now creating another knot.

I left the little circle and I'm going to come in from the back with my needle.

Pull thread through. You now have a double knot.

Instead of just cutting it clean off there, I want to hide the thread ends. I stick the needle in right next to my double knot and travel inside through the batting, trying to weave it in there so it doesn't come out. I poke the needle up through the animal, pull thread through. Tug on the thread just a bit and clip very close to the material. I've now hidden the end of the thread. I'm trying not to draw attention to where I just ended my handiwork. :)

A nice finish.

Remember, if you're project is small, you will want to take pretty small stitches. Think of the length of the sewing machine stitches. While mine are never THAT small, I don't want to have any big gaps in my closing.

Good Luck!!
 Come join us at our 2015 Quilt Retreat!! 

 

Dashwood & Edward

D & E, done. Check.

They're twins, Dash and Ed. You can only tell them apart by their tails. Dashwood's is green and Edward's is black.

If I could dedicate these elephants to anyone, it would be Jane Austen. Dashwood, is for sisters Elinor and Marianne. And Edward is for Edward Farrars. With a teeny,tiny, little shout out to my Edward Cullen. :) p.s. This fabric is almost gone. It's even on sale right now. I just love it. I can't get enough of it. I want to buy it all. Save me from myself. My husband would thank you.

C is for Charlotte

C is for Claudia, Connie and Caliopy, my family's name for this elephant but I was a bit partial to Charlotte. That was MY choice. :) I over rule all. A tutorial that is probably over done yet, not done enough, can be found here. I can find no happy medium. I dedicate it to Vanessa. You probably won't even have time to READ all the instructions let alone make one! :) But it's the thought that counts. Love your little girls first, make elephants second. I'm on to the letter D......I think it should be boy. But what shape?

Yea, Rebecca, Michael Ann and Karen!

I'm just feeling extra love for you today, so you're all THREE winners. I'm sending you this pdf pattern. Wish it was my brilliant creation but alas it's not. It's from a cute little Etsy store Bit Of Whimsy Prims. Cute stuff. Check her out! Contact me at my email address in the upper right hand corner for more information. I've got a cute little elephant tutorial and pattern coming up any minute now. <p>Here's to making lots of friends for charity! It's never too late to join!

AlphaBet FriEnd AdvenTurE

Are you feeling adventurous?

Want to enjoy working with patterns, fabric and trims

all why making the world a better place?

Join us for the Alphabet Friend Adventure.

Since I only have 2 children and just a couple of pets, I haven’t gotten the whole ‘naming’ thing out of my system yet. As I was naming Abby and Bettina, I had the thought that I should just keep going through the alphabet! And thus the Alphabet Friend Adventure was born.

Guidelines to go by:

• These friends are to be for charity. (Children/Grandchildren/Neighbors are not charity:) Find a cause, any cause and create a toy for a child in need. I currently give my friends to my church and they are shipped all over the world to children. You might check with local churches, Police/Fire Departments, hospitals, homeless shelters, and domestic violence centers for opportunities to give.
  
• There should be 26 friends made by the end of the adventure. One named for each letter of the alphabet, Abby....Bettina.....C I know, won’t "X" be fun!! Friends can be sewn, crocheted, knitted, needle-felted. The medium doesn’t matter as long as it is something a child could play with, preferably soft and cuddly. :) You can make a whole army of friends or one of every kind. There are no particulars on what you can create, dolls/animals/space men/robots/etc. They can be super simple, or all dressed up. Mine will always be pretty simple. But give them a name and take a picture!
  
• Pick a button, any button (see below )and place on your blog side bar linking back to this post. If you need help doing that, just ask. Also, if your copy of the button isn’t very clear, write me for a better copy. Non-Bloggers: I’d love to see your efforts as well. To be entered into the drawing at the end, just send me pictures of your creations and your plans for them. See Contact us: Des.
  
• Leave a comment here letting me know you are on board and I’ll set up a blogroll.
  
• Create a label/category of your posts about the Alphabet Friend Adventure, that way I can go directly to your efforts! I’ll be sure to peek around the rest of the place as well. :)
  
• Adventure ends September 15th. To be entered into the drawing I’ll be visiting everyone on the blogroll on Sept. 15th and checking out your good works. Prize will be fabric goodies for sure! But don’t do this out of greed! Do it for children! You’ll surely be disappointed if you make 26 animals for a fat quarter! ! :)

  Some thoughts on Friends
  Toys provide social development, fine and gross motor skills, stimulate learning and imagination and help children find joy.

Remember who this is for and what organization you are choosing. The toys I donate go to children all over the world, so I stay away from American culture, religious, military, violent or scary images of any kind.

Be aware of buttons and trims and that most do not do well on a child’s toy because of the hazard of items that might be pulled off and put in a child’s mouth.

Quality, Quality, Quality! On my toys , when sewing, I use a smaller stitch on my machine. I also close up the openings, left for stuffing, with a heavy thread, like quilting thread.

If you’re still here reading after all of THAT, then you deserve a prize! Anyone who adds the button AND leaves a comment here, (sorry, non-bloggers) will be entered to win this cute pdf/email pattern! It’s a great way to get you started! By the way, her stuff is ADORABLE!! I will draw Tuesday Morning, June 17th.

Buttons to add to your sidebar: I went a little crazy and just couldn't do ONE. This might be overkill. I'm usually not this in to giving people so many choices, but I.Just.Couldn't.Help.Myself. Right Click on a button and save to your computer. Then add to your sidebar. Blogger automatically resizes it for you. If you have a problem, let me know.