A Hopeful New Year!

Happy New Year, everyone! Our New Year's Day here in Germany was pretty quiet, due to our current lockdown. So far the lockdown has given me (Kara) extra time to stitch—especially for our latest Stitch-Along, which will kick off in just a couple of weeks. 

Last year, we created our Hopeful Bluebird wall hanging as something to do during the first quarantine. Our Facebook group started out small but has grown quite a bit since then, so now it is time to introduce another little project. Whether you are in lockdown or not, this project is made up of simple wool appliqué blocks that are brought to life with some interesting, not your run-of-the-mill, stitches. We have created four blocks that will help you broaden your stitch repertoire and make your appliquéd flowers sing! Here is a sneak preview of what's in store!

 

 

The Hopeful Flowers Stitch-Along will go for 5 weeks, although those weeks will not all be consecutive. There will be a few weeks in between block 2 and 3 so that we can have a little time for catching up—and because those two weeks will be the block showcase weeks for the two mystery stitch-alongs we are doing: Potted Petals and Winter Wonderland. The fifth week will cover the finishing of the wallhanging. Each block will be free to download until April 15, 2021. After that, we will have the full pattern available to purchase on our website. There may even be a giveaway along the way!

We are really looking forward to our Hopeful Flowers Stitch-Along start date of January 21, and we think it is going to be a great time to learn some new stitches and look forward to spring as we are stitching. Follow the link below to join—and please tell all your friends about it so they can join in the fun!

Hopeful Bluebird Facebook Group

A Poppy Pincushion and Pin!

This is our last installment in our Hopeful Bluebird Sewing Smalls, and "hopefully" you have been joining in on the fun. This week we will be showcasing our Poppy Pincushion.

Hopeful Bluebird Poppy Pincushion

To start the pincushion, cut out the wool pieces and appliqué the poppy—the templates for the poppy can be found in our Hopeful Bluebird pattern (website link below). The first two petals are stitched down on one of the circles, and then the smaller petals are just tack stitched in the center. Once that is finished, it is time to add the embroidery to the top and side piece. We used a stem stitch down the center and then embellished that line with lazy daisies and French knots. We added a stem stitch around the poppy in purple just to bring a hint of that color to the pincushion, and the center of the poppy is made by using a spider web stitch with 5 spokes. Here is a video of how we did that stitch:

After the embroidery is finished, it is time to assemble the pincushion. First stitch the top to the side using a blanket stitch and #12 pearl cotton in green starting 1 inch from the end. You can pin if you like to help keep it together.

When you get to the end, overlap the two ends and finish off your blanket stitch. Line up the bottom ends, pin, and then sew the overlap with matching sewing thread.

Overlapped ends

Overlap sewn closed

Next, attach the bottom circle with a blanket stitch as you did for the top. You can choose to pin the whole thing, but we found that it was easier to just pin at the end after we had stuffed it.

Blanket stitching the bottom circle

Leave an opening and stuff.

Pin the opening and stitch closed.

Stitched, stuffed, and ready to go!

An extra project this week is to make a pin to wear for Remembrance Day! It's super simple to do—just cut a small piece of wool for a backing and then tack stitch the centers of your poppy petals to the backing, embroider the center, and then add a pin to the back.

 

We hope you have enjoyed making our sewing smalls—and don't forget, we have kits for sale on our website that contain all the wool needed to make all four smalls: scissor keeper and fob, needle book, and pincushion. You can find all links needed for all the smalls below, as well as a link to our Facebook group where you can meet other stitchers and participate in our great giveaway. All you need to do to enter is join the group and then post any of the Hopeful Bluebird projects, either finished or in progress.

Update!

The Giveaway is now closed, but you can now purchase the Hopeful Bluebird Sewing Smalls Printed Pattern along with the wool kits using the link below.

Have fun stitching and don't forget to share your pics!

Hopeful Bluebird Pattern and Kit

Hopeful Bluebird Facebook Group

A Bluebird Needle Book

Needle books are a handy thing to have when you use a lot of needles, and our bluebird needle book is no exception. This little book has plenty of space for lots of needles, and the bluebird is even carrying one! The stitching on this goes together quickly, and we have put together the instructions to help speed you on your way.

Hopeful Bluebird Needle Book

As we said, our simple needle book can be made in a short amount of time and would be perfect for that stitcher who is a fan of all things bluebird. We stitched our bluebird mostly out of bright blue ultra-suede (included in our kit), but of course wool would work just fine. When you buy a kit, we will include a package of ultra-suede needles for free! Regular needles will work well, but the chiseled tip of the ultra-suede needles are designed to more easily pierce the fabric.

The breast is stitched first, followed by the top wing, and then the body.

We used staples with the ultra-suede, and although the staple initially leaves an indentation, 

that can be rubbed out without a problem. 

All stitched down

Once the bluebird is appliquéd, it is time to add the embroidery. The bluebird's eye is one French knot with #8 pearl, and the beak is made with straight stitches in the same thread. The instructions include the needle and thread design, and the buds are made with a French knot and two lazy daisy stitches at the base of the knot.

You can play around with the stem stitch for the thread. Here we just 

used one color, but on the final we added a pop of purple with a whipped stem stitch.

Once all the embroidery is finished, all you need to do is add your lining, stitch and flip, and then sew the opening closed—add the needle page and your needle book is all finished!

Do you know anyone whose day would be brightened with this little gift—or better yet an entire needlework set? Head over to the website to pick up our Hopeful Bluebird pattern along with our sewing smalls kit, and you will be set for making not just the sewing smalls but the wall hanging as well.

If you already have the pattern, then all you need to do is download the instructions found at the bottom of this post, and you will be ready to create these fun little sewing treats. Also don't forget to join our Facebook group, where you can post your bluebird stitching—and even be entered in our giveaway! All you need to do to enter is post a picture of your progress on any one of the Hopeful Bluebird projects. It can be a picture of your chosen materials to a completed project and anything in between.

Our giveaway includes a pair of Famoré embroidery scissors, chenille needles

for the pearl threads, milliners needles for perfect French knots, 

and an assortment of lovely threads for stitching!

The Giveaway is now closed, but you can now purchase the Hopeful Bluebird Sewing Smalls Printed Pattern along with the wool kits using the link below.

Hopeful Bluebird Pattern and Kit

Hopeful Bluebird Facebook Group

Hopeful Bluebird Stitching Smalls

Back in April, we introduced our Hopeful Bluebird Stitch-Along during those uncertain times at the beginning of the pandemic—it certainly helped to keep us occupied as we all stayed at home. Our Hopeful Bluebird Facebook group was created and we really enjoyed seeing everyone's version of the wallhanging. Because it was so fun, we wanted to keep that fun going by creating more options to use our pattern so we created some sewing smalls that used our Hopeful Bluebird motifs. And to make it even easier to create, we have put together a kit for all four sewing smalls! 

The limited edition kits are available on our website starting today and will include all the wool needed. The Hopeful Bluebird pattern is available in our store in either digital or printed form if you don't have it already.

Each week, for the next 3 weeks, we will give you the instructions to create the showcased small for that week. This week we are creating our pansy scissor keeper which will be a pretty complement for those special scissors—pair that with our scissor fob that we showed you a couple of weeks ago (HERE) and your scissors will be set.

Hopeful Bluebird Scissor Keeper

Cut your wool out using your templates
and staple or fuse and then appliqué.

Stitch the vine onto your scissor keeper 
top. We used #12 pearl cotton.

Blanket stitch the top of your keeper front
with #12 pearl cotton, starting and stopping
an eighth of an inch from the ends.

Assemble your scissor keeper by placing
the keeper top on the top of the back piece, 
then place your front on top of that
aligning the edges.

Pin or staple all your pieces together to keep them in place and then 
blanket stitch around the entire scissor keeper.
Sometimes I lightly draw a line around the edge of the piece I am
working on to help keep my blanket stitches even.

(The first scissor keeper we made had a purple pansy, but we changed that out later to make it purple and orange as those colors looked better with the rest of the projects.)

The leaves are stitched down with an angled blanket stitch.

To add a little pop of color, you can make a
few straight stitches in a contrasting color
on the bottom three petals.

The finished vine.

If you choose to purchase the kit (and we hope you do!) your kit will include all the wool needed to make all the smalls including the scissor fob. The cream background for all of them is a 12" square and we have included a picture here of how we laid our templates out to make sure all your pieces will fit.

These little sewing treats would make lovely gifts for a fellow stitcher or for yourself and let's face it—we can always use some new stitching items! If you don't have the pattern, you can head to the website to purchase it in either digital or printed form. While you are at the website, feel free to pick up a kit while you are there.  Just click on the Hopeful Bluebird link in our shop.

The next step will be to download the instructions for the scissor keeper. You can do that below or better yet, join our Hopeful Bluebird Facebook Group. All the links to the instructions will be there as well and you can share your progress, and maybe make a few new friends. We also have an ongoing giveaway that is running. All you have to do to enter is post a picture in the Facebook Group of any Hopeful Bluebird project you have done or are doing. The giveaway will close on November 23rd and the winner will be revealed on Thanksgiving Day, November 26th.

Update!

The Giveaway is now closed, but you can now purchase the Hopeful Bluebird Sewing Smalls Printed Pattern along with the wool kits using the link below.

Hopeful Bluebird Pattern and Kit

Hopeful Bluebird Facebook Group

If you are already a member, please share our group with a friend. The more the merrier and the more inspiration and encouragement we will receive from one another. We can't wait to see everyone's stitching treasures!

Happy Stitching