TWO NEW SEW-ALONGS!

Reets is participating in TWO new Sew-Alongs both beginning

MONDAY, JUNE 6, 2022

The schedules are below.   Click on either schedule to link to the FB Group and sign up.

FARMHOUSE FRIENDS AMERICAN FARMHOUSE SEW-ALONG will offer Free Pattern Downloads Each week along with Kit and Printed Pattern available for sale.

HALLOWEEN LADIES SEW-ALONG will offer pre-sale kit/pattern 2 weeks previous to each debut.  A discounted pattern download will be available for 2 weeks following each debut.

 

SPELLBOUND MYSTER QUILT SEW ALONG - FINISHING BLOCK

 The fabulous Spellbound sew along finish is here.  Free pattern download and an available kit.  Mary Jane did a wonderful job coordinating all of our blocks and finishing the quilt.  Get the free pattern download and purchase the kit on her website, Holly Hill Quilt Designs.

All of the 12 blocks still have the free pattern download and kits available to purchase from each designer.  You can see all of them in my previous posts or visit the FBgroup for more information:

Spellbound Mystery Quilt Sew Along.

SPELLBOUND AND 12 WEEKS OF CHRISTMAS SEW-A-LONGS CONTINUE

 

BLOCK 12 - SPELLBOUND SEW-A-LONG.  Traci from Woolin Rouge gave this little batty guy some personality!  Get the free pattern download on Woolin Rouge blog,  From there you can go to her Etsy shop and order the kits . . she also has those buttons and a thread kit as well.

Next week is the finishishing block from Holly Hill Designs.  Don't miss it!

FARMHOUSE THREADS 

12 WEEKS OF CHRISTMAS PROJECTS

A gorgeous 12 Weeks Project from Gloria of the Olde Green Cupboard. I can't imagine anyone not wanting this on their Christmas table.  For the pattern download, $1, or printed pattern plus the kit just go to her website below.  If you do purchase her kit you will get a FREE Village block pattern AND kit for this adorable little Coffee Shop.  Free!

Just go to Gloria's website Olde Green Cupboard.

SPELLBOUND BLOCK #11 FROM BIRDBRAIN DESIGNS - JACK'S RIDE

When you hear the name Birdbrain you know it is going to be a fun pattern.  This one is super cute.  I love his smile.  Loving the button hubcaps too.  Just go to Robin's website Birdbrain Designs for the free pattern download and to purchase  the kit for this adorable block. 

Getting close the the last block in Spellbound Mystery Quilt Sew-A-Long.  Then comes the finishing block which you will not want to miss.

STITCHING FUN FROM 2 SEW ALONGS

 WEEK 5 of Farmhouse Threads Sew Along - Lisa Bongean from Primitive Gatherings offers this wonderful appliquéd Christmas pillow.  Her own flannel background fabric with wool appliqué.  Get the pattern download for only $1 and purchase her kits on her website.  The purchase of the Pillow Kit also gets you a FREE Village Quilt Shoppe Block pattern AND kit.  Just hop on over to her fantasticwebPrimitive Gatherings,  and get your pattern and kits.

You can also find the schedule of the 12 designers projects on our website Home Page.  ReetsRagsToStitches.com

This week's SPELLBOUND BLOCK lures you right into the eerie graveyard. Kaye Moore's creative playfulness.  Visit her website for the free pattern download plus kits.  You will not want to miss out on her fabulous button kit.  Visit Kaye Moore's website for Halloween fun!

To see what the group is doing with the 12 designer blocks JOIN THE SPELLBOUND GROUP. 

SPELLBOUND BLOCK & WEEK 4 OF FARMHOUSE SEW ALONG

Project for Week 4. You know that you have to make Kathi's happy little Snowman Pennyrug. The pattern download is $1 and kits are available. If you purchase the Snowman Kit you will receive for FREE, the Village Church Quilt Block PATTERN AND KIT. To get the download and kit options visit Heart To Hand's website. 

Spellbound Block from Glenda at Liberty Homestead. I'm in the mood for this clever little Mardi gras spider. Are you. Visit Glenda's website for the free pattern download and her fabric and embellishment kits.

Glenda's website: LIBEERTY HOMESTEAD.

 

HAPPY JACK - SPELLBOUND BLOCK 7

I just love this SPELLBOUND MYSTERY SEW-A-LONG Block from Janet of One Sister Designs.  It is so simple and happy and well done.  Visit One Sister Designs website for the free pattern download and the opportunity to purchase her kit.

For the previous 6 Blocks see previous posts.   The free download and kit available for my Smirky Witch Block is available on my website.  ReetsRagsToStitches.com

 

SPELLBOUND BLOCK 6 - CRAZY CAT

 Well check out this very creative Spellbound Block from Maria of Pinwheels.  Just love the clever use of crazy quilt embroidery on this not so spooky kitty.  She has a free pattern download and numerous embellishment and thread kits available on her website.

PINWHEELS WEBSITE

SPELLBOUND - HALLOWEEN MYSTERY SEW ALONG!

Love Halloween? . . come JOIN THE GROUP!

A Holly Hill Quilt Designs group. Myself and 11 other designers lead you down the Mystery Halls of Halloween . .scary every stitch of the way! Each week one of us will present a free pattern download. At the end the blocks will be wrapped up into a quilt. Or you can make any or all of them into wall hangings. JOIN THE FB GROUP here.

And join the fun! The name says it all.

SPELLBOUND !!

APPLIQUE & LETTERING PLACEMENT TUTORIAL

This is an extremely simplified version of how to use vinyl or a sheet protector and a wet or dry erase marker to help you position appliqué pieces onto your backgrounds.  I also use it for lettering placement when embroidering words onto a project.  

I do a lot of character appliqué . . characters with attitude.  The attitude is usually conveyed in a facial expression, position of eyes or mouth for example . . . or with a certain position of the body, tilt of the head, or a raised foot (see Witchie in the wall hanging).  Most patterns show a Layout of how the pieces fit together.  My very simplified example is from this Witchie Portrait pattern.

 I'll use the pouch design as a quick example.
Take a piece of vinyl, or more simply, a sheet protector and place it over the pattern layout.
With a wet or dry erase marker, trace the position of the design, including facial features.







 Below you can see I have traced the pattern and moved the sheet protector to the side so that you see the tracing.  Now simply position the vinyl on top of your project background fabric.  Lift the vinyl and position your appliqué pieces in line with the tracing.  With a disappearing ink marker draw the facial expressions in line with your tracing.   This works wonderfully with any appliqué project whether it's character, flowers, houses etc.

There are many methods for transferring Lettering.  I am usually in a rush so I use this vinyl method for first of all, figuring out how and where i want lettering to appear when i'm creating a design.  It's easy to erase!  When i am satisfied, i lay it over my project, lift and draw it onto the fabric with a disappearing ink marker and then stitch.  

I hope you find this useful.  Try it out . . . and happy stitching everyone!

Hi . . It's me Reets.  Remember?  2018 has been a bit of a challenge so far.  But it's time to get back to creating.  I needed something to make me laugh.  I can always rely on Halloween and a whimsical witch to do that.  There will be a wall hanging and a little pouch.  I'll let you know when this pattern becomes available . . as soon as i write up the instructions.

Fiber on A Whim now has some wonderful hand dyed velveteens.  I'm just finishing up a small project combining some of their wonderful velveteen colors with our wools.  Velveteen is a dream . .so much easier to work with than velvet and just shmoozes up so nicely with our hand dyed wools.  Perfect match!  This pattern will be soon available also.  Keep an eye on our FB page . . or here for it's release.

Ok

Needle and thread in hand . . 

Onward.

FRANKENSTEIN AND FRANKENSTINA

I hope that you followed the Halloween Blog Hop link i posted on our FB page last week.  You may have found the free "Frankie" pouch pattern posted by Debbie from The Wooden Spool Blog.  One of the granddaughters wanted to do a girl with hair so we added Frankenstina.  The other wanted RED eyes instead of black.  Love that don't you?  This was their first stitching lesson and they were beyond enthusiastic.   With a little help they stitched the eyes on, stitched the hair on and followed the little line across for the mouth.  They were so tickled with these that they jumped out of bed early in the morning and dashed downstairs to retrieve them from their special little hanger.

I think that i had almost more fun than they did.

Thanks Debbie . . for the adorable pattern.

H A P P Y   H A L L O W E E N !!

THREE LITTLE PUMPKINS

Pop Pop's 3 Little Pumpkins

WICKEDY JIG PATTERN WINNER

Our new Wickedy Jig Pattern winner plus the packet of chenille needles was randomly chosen . . . Since i'm a bit scared of that little Witch Queen (don't be fooled by the sweet face) .  I feared i had better pick TWO winners.
So the two random winners are . . .

KAM - Kristen Freeman

and

Linda of Barneynme

Please read all of the comments as they are very entertaining.   I loved every one of them . . discovered even MORE reasons to love Halloween and Fall!   I sincerely thank you all for joining the fun.   Woolbert and i are working on another little contest either here or on Facebook . . 

or why not both.

A little note on my Saltbox Angel Class at Bolt in Cloverdale.  It filled up and has a waiting list so we have decided to add a second class the next day, August 14 .  next Sunday.  There are a few spaces left.   All of the information is on Bolt Fabric and Home's website > Classes page.

I hope that you are all finding some time to stitch and be happy.

Thanks again for spending some time here,

Reets

PATTERN & CHENILLE NEEDLES GIVE AWAY - WICKEDY JIG

 Wickedy Jig Pattern is now available on Reets Website

AND

available for you to win here on the blog.  We want to toss in a 6 pack of our

#22 Chenille Needles too!  Love these needles . . made in Copenhagen.

Just leave a short note telling everyone your favorite thing about Halloween.

By the end of the day, Saturday, August 6

I'll draw a totally random name from the

comments left on this post.

I'll announce the winner right here Sunday/Monday . .  I may not have your contact information if you post anonymously so be sure to check back then.

Plenty of time for you to get this whimsical project completed.

Wool applique on woven cotton.

Good Luck !!

W i c k e d y   J i g

Coming Soon - Wool Appliqué Wall Hanging

Jiggity Jack and the Little Witch that thinks she's a Queen!

A little sneak peek portion of the wall hanging is shown below.

Since the last free giveaway was on our Facebook Page

We'll have this pattern drawing here on the Blog.

Still have to write up the pattern.  This one is guaranteed FUN.

Just a little sneak peek portion of the upcoming pattern Wickedy Jig.

SPOOKSTERS !!

Barbara just keeps on stitching.  I'm becoming her Number 1 fan!

Spooksters Parade - amazing job.   About all i can say.

 And then her settings are over the top.  She has the entire Lori Mitchell

Trick or Treaters Collection.  I want every one of them.  

Oh and one more thing . . 

BOO !!

SCREAM PUNK ABBY

And so here is Fall already.  A few years ago I got excited about some Steam Punk jewelry my friend Janet had made.  It inspired this Scream Punk Abby pattern.  A quirky little doll and wall hanging.  Recently Kathy Baker sent me the photo below of her very artistic version.  Love all of her innovations . . read about them below.  An added crow!  And that old zipper around the clock . . just puts her little Abby over the top.  So well done.

Kathy Baker's Scream Punk Abby

In Kathy's words . . . 

"I inserted an old zipper around the clock, with the zip pull....because time is just zipping along...Our Abby loves animals, so she is talking to her pet Raven, and her mechanical pooch (His eyes glow-ooohhh!) is chained up to her flag-the hex nuts are his doggy treats.  I found a heavy ceramic candle holder that holds them all up.  She will be a fun decoration in the Staff Lunchroom at the hospital where I work." 

Thanks so very much Kathy for taking the time to share your photo.  She is delightful AND inspiring.

Happy Fall Stitching Everyone !!

SPOOKSTERS

 BOO !!