My New Duvet Cover

I have focused on sewing and not done much decorating or thrifting lately so I thought it would be fun to join 

Thrifty Things Friday at the Thrifty Groove this week.

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On a fairly recent stop at Value Village I found something that I consider a great find.  I have been planning to make a few changes in our guest room upstairs.  I wasn't really sure what direction I would go with it but now I know.  I found this duvet cover and king size pillow shams for a total cost of $15.00. 

The bed is full sized so the cover hangs down the side of the bed

I have to purchase a couple of king size pillows for the shams

I am using it as a bed spread without a duvet inside right now.

The tag say Ralph Lauren and the other tag says dry clean only but I just tossed it in the washing machine and it came out fine.

Those who know me know that this type of fabric is perfect for me.  I had considered changing the room to look a little more modern but after finding this set for $15.00 I have other ideas.  I hope to share a transformed room with you soon.

Linking with Thrifty Thing Friday at the Thrifty Groove

My Very First Schnibbles

The project I am going to show you is called "Hat Trick". It is a Schnibbles pattern by Miss Rosie's Quilt Co.

 I pieced most of it while attending a "sit and sew" this weekend.  The charm squares I used are in a fabric line called California Girl by Fig Tree.

  I have been visiting Sinta's blog Pink Pincushion and have seen the Schnibbles patterns  by Miss Rosie's Quilt Co.  There is a group of quilters who sign up to  make a Schnibbles pattern each month.  AYOS (Another Year of Schnibbles)  I am joining in and here is my first project.

It is all pieced and ready to quilt by hand or by machine, I'm not sure how I will finish it.

It was a fun and relaxing time of stitching and it an added bonus to have a project that was started and completed (except for the quilting part) in one weekend.

My Embroidery Tool Kit

 

I am sharing my embroidery tool kit at andStitches blog.   Embroidery has been one of my favorite type of stitching since I was very young.  I have created many projects over the years but learn new things and new stitches all the time.  Through the blog world I have learned new stitches and found many wonderful new designs to embroider.

 

I am going to share with you some to the essential tools I use when doing embroidery.  I love to use linen for many of my projects but a nice cotton is great too.  The work below was done on linen.

I usually back the work with muslin, I have tried interfacing and stabilizer but basting a piece of muslin to the project after tracing seems to work best for me.

 

The picture below shows the things I would gather when preparing a new embroidery project.

 

I try to keep the threads, needles, scissors, pincushion and anything else I might be using in one basket.

 

  

I have hoops in many different sizes, little scissors and sometimes use a thimble.

 

I love embroidery thread.  I use a lot of DMC and love it but have tried many new threads since I have started blogging and use many different types of threads, depending on the project.

 

I have a new light box last fall and it works fabulous for tracing my embroidery designs on my fabric.  In the past I would tape my design and fabric to the window and trace but on gray winter days in the Northwest the light box really comes in handy.  I will use one of my wash out markers, or a micron pen or sometimes even pencil when transferring a design. 

 

 

If I want to take a project with me to work or when we travel I just gather the necessary items that are all in one place and toss them in my cloth needlework bag.

 

My bag is well worn but with the pockets inside it is perfect for sliding everything inside to take my latest project with me wherever I go.

 

I was looking at my tool kit and realized that I do not have a needle threader included, until now that was not really necessary but  lately things have changed a little and I think it is time to add one to my kit.

 

 

Happy Stitching!