Spring Fabric

Happy post-Easter (and post-Spring Break for us)!! It feels like I was JUST picking out school supplies, and here we are past Easter with 7 or so weeks away from school being out for SUMMER. Of course today I have on jeans, rain boots and 2 long sleeve layers up top b/c it’s 54 degrees and dreary outside. Doesn’t feel like spring, but it’ll be here before we know it (and I will be complaining because I’m sweating to death). I heard via Facebook recently that someone who’s “work” I admire used a different kind of stabilizer than I use for t-shirts. I have heard of this stabilizer before but I really didn’t know what it was like or if I would like it. So, I decided to order me some and try it out. I used it for the first time yesterday and I liked it, but the verdict is still out. It’s Lightweight Cutaway No Show Mesh from Sewingmachine.com. It’s hard to tell from their photo what it looks like, so here is another pic for you…

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It turns out I had something LIKE this that I’ve used before, mostly on sweatshirts. The friend who recommended this also said she “floats” a piece of tearaway underneath which I forgot to do, but I still got good results. Here is a pic of it on the inside of my shirt. I used it like I use any cutaway and “stuck” it to the shirt with my Sulky KK2000 temporary spray adhesive before I get it hooped.

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Here is the finished shirt, and it looks like any other applique I have done. I will say… the brown gingham dog fabric was a little “bubblier” than I find when using my medium cutaway, but I was able to squirt some water on it with my iron and iron it really well and the Heat N Bond Lite worked and it turned out just fine. So… not sure I am making a drastic switch over to this new cutaway, but I did like it and will try it again (and try floating tearaway underneath for a little added support). I think the idea of this “no show mesh” is that it’s a lot thinner than medium cutaway so it doesn’t “show” on the shirt, which I don’t have a problem with. Some people say you can see the stabilizer around the design, but I’ve been using it for years and have never had anyone complain nor has it ever bothered me. But, if that is something that concerns you then you might give this a try!

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The moral of the story… try new things! You have to figure out what works best for you! Just because I use and love medium cutaway (which I am completely out of BTW…) doesn’t mean you have to! I have a whole roll of this no show mesh, so I will try it some more for sure!

I always LOOOOVVVEEEEEE…. opening a box from my doorstep from TJ’s Fabrics! A funny side story… when we got home around 2:20 from all the running around and carpools, we noticed the doorbell was ringing. It kept ringing, and ringing, and ringing. I ran to the front door to see who was there, and all I found was the TJ’s package! Evidently the mail-person left it for me and rang the doorbell. The doorbell got stuck and rang and rang and rang until we got home! Good thing we don’t have a dog or else it might have gone crazy!!

Now on to fabric… I saw these “mini” chevrons the other day on TJ’s Facebook page and knew I had to have some! I always tell people that in applique, you are dealing with such tiny spaces so small prints are GREAT! The top left one looks PERFECT for patriotic designs. Top right – great spring colors – lime, turq., yellow, orange. The bottom one is a few shades of pink and lime/green. LOVE LOVE LOVE!! Great job Timeless Treasures!! These are “mini chevron stripe”.

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Love these 2 together ~ Timeless Treasures Small Geometric Multi on the right. Fun colors for summer!

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Here are some new Riley Blake chevrons in some great new colors! A-D-O-R-E the lime green. Top left is purple, then orange, lime, blue and baby pink. I really like this lime and blue color!

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These 2 look great together too!

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More chevrons ~ these are also Riley Blake. The top left one would be great for Auburn fans! This group is called “One for the Boys” and I love all of the colors!

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I think if I didn’t get to designs appliques, I would love to design fabric!! All of these make me want to sew something! How about you? Check them all out at TJ’s Fabrics!

Christmas is ovaaaa…

Wow, Christmas is over! It seems to come and go so fast!? We haven’t “put away” a single decoration yet and are enjoying some time off. Here are a few things I worked on over the past week for Mallory and for a friend’s daughter. Below is an orange cord skort I got from someone ($10 hand-me-down) and I got the hot pink tee from good ole Wally World to match ~ Garanimals. The skort has hot pink ric rac trim. This is our Bird 3 design. I just love birds! I also love hot pink and ORANGE!!

 Below was a hoodie dress I got Mallory for Christmas from Old Navy. It is like a sweatshirt material and sooooo soft! I can’t find them online, but they come in several color combos and of course I bought it on sale with a coupon. Again, hot pink and orange and I used MC Center (Monogram Wiz Plus) for the font. It’s the sister font to Master Circle and might be my new favorite! This is nothing fancy, but I just love picking up a dress for 10 bucks and adding a monogram!

These are J. Khaki shirts from Belk, and I did our Heart Cross design on this one. I tried to find this shirt online too but all I see is SPRING! The chevron fabric is from TJ’s Fabrics which I love.

 On this J. Khaki shirt, I did Embroidery-Boutique’s Raggy Flower design, which is a favorite! On the raggy designs I use a layer of white flannel underneath my fabric. You can also use colored flannel or a couple of extra layers of fabric underneath – white or gingham that coordinates. This fabric is an all time favorite – it’s from Hobby Lobby. Check out Helpful Posts for more info on Raggy designs.

 

Are you asleep yet? Not much exciting to report! We just listed 4 designs at Applique Cafe. We are having a sale on all designs through Wednesday, January 2nd. Lots of new Valentine designs and we’re working on more new designs for SPRING and EASTER.

Have a great weekend and a HAPPY NEW YEAR! I’ll see if I can come up with something more exciting to post next time. I was thinking of posting about red & pink thread colors for Valentines Day??

Fabric, Fabric, and more Fabric

Thank you for all the kind comments and emails regarding my last blog post! I’m feeling like 99.9% normal as of today, and I’m looking forward to driving again (hopefully tomorrow)! Other than fighting a nasty sinus/cold thing, I don’t feel like 2 weeks ago I was near death. Not really near death, but you know the feeling. I forgot to post last time the funny thing that happened that Friday morning as I was getting ready to “check out” of the hospital. Walgreens called me in my room because they were to bring me any meds that were prescribed to my “bedside” before I got out. The poor girl who called me ask “What time is your baby getting discharged?”. I wonder what she would have said had I replied “My UTERUS was discharged on Tuesday. Bring me my drugs!!!!” I was on the OB floor, so I guess she assumed I had given birth! Jeff & I got a good laugh out of it.

Who’s ready to move on from Christmas fabric, designs, etc?? I AM! We have already listed a couple of new Valentine designs, including our Valentine Dogs and our Zig Zag Heart. How about some Valentine fabric? These are all new fabrics from TJ’s Fabrics and I don’t know which is my favorite!

OK so these aren’t technically Valentine, but they are NEW and CUTE!! I will TRY to include brand info for all of these, but some may not have the writing on them so you can check them out on their website. Check out the Newest Additions tab on the Online Store page or Home page.

Above: All Riley Blake Sweetcakes ~ Petals Pink, Strawberries Blue and Sweetcakes Blue.

Now on to some great Valentine fabrics! Love the red and pink together!

Above: Riley Blake Hello Sunshine ~ Dot Red, Plaid Red, Apple of My Eye Herringbone Red and Michael Miller Ta Dot Pink (I THINK?)

Above: Riley Blake Chevron Pink, Robert Kaufman Spot On, Moda Cherry on Top Strawberry and bottom right, ?? not sure what it is. It might be Moda also.

Above: Riley Blake Sweetcakes Heart Red (LOVE), Sweetcakes Love Pink (tiny hearts), Robert Kaufman (middle), and right Riley Blake Sweetcakes Stripes Pink.

Above: Robert Kaufman Remix Chevron Red, Riley Blake Sweetcakes Stripes Pink, Fabric Finders Chevron Rasberry, Riley Blake Chevron Red, Riley Blake Sweetcakes Stripes Blue and bottom right, Fabric Finders Chevron Red.

Sorry I didn’t link each one, but you can go to their website and search by Designer, look at all new fabrics, etc. They are all easy to find! Have a great day!

p.s. Today is the last day to take advantage of 25% off gift certificates at Applique Cafe!