Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Post #72 - WIP Wednesday

My name is Pam and it's been two weeks since my last Work In Progress blog post.  Or any blog post, for that matter.

But I've been really busy and I have the photos to prove it.

The last time I posted I had just started sewing the dark brown dog doll.  Today both dogs are finished.
I bought the pattern from Wendi. Go check out her blog.

The last time I blogged I had just started on the dark brown one. He is made from a low-pile textured cuddle fleece and he went together rather quickly.
Stuff me!Stuff me!

The burnt orange dog took more time to sew. It is made from a two-sided medium/deep-pile cuddle fleece.  
 It takes a LOT of pins to keep this stuff from shifting while you sew it.

It takes time to put all those pins in.
 And it takes time stopping to take the pins out while you're sewing.

Then once it's sewn you have to pick the pile (fur) out of the seams.

Before and after picking on the medium pile:

  I use an awl to get underneath the fur and lift it out of the seam.  (Oh, in the background is a peek at the fabric Kate is preparing for her quilt.)


Just look at the difference it made on this ear. To the left is the fur stuck in the seam of the deeper pile; to the right it has been picked out. 
The seam disappears!


 The cuddle fleece is soft and just makes you want to pet it. The deeper pile of the burnt orange dog makes it softer than the brown one, though. I didn't stuff the orange one as much as I did the brown one because I wanted him to be "squishier".  :-) I'm very happy with both of them. Now I need to find children who would enjoy them and give them a good home.


#50StatesStitching
 The 50 States Stitching Quilt is coming along. I have the embroidery part caught up. Here is a close up of them.  I still have to paper piece the last 4 stars and sew them onto their blocks. I have not sewn any more striped blocks since the last update.

 Thomas Jefferson called Delaware a diamond (small, but valuable).

 Pennsylvania is represented by the Liberty Bell.

 The New Jersey beach is represented by a seashell.

 Maryland has an adorable blue crab.

 Massachusetts proudly displays the Mayflower.

 Connecticut's state flower is the Mountain Laurel.

 And New Hampshire's state flower is the purple Lilac.  
This one was so much fun to stitch!

Well, I *was* caught up with the embroidery until the new pattern arrived yesterday. A Virginia Ham!  This cracks me up.
I should probably mention that the embroidery hoop in that picture is 3 inches wide. These are tiny patterns...roughly an inch wide (some more, some less). So if my lettering is a little wonky, it's because I find it difficult to stitch a word that is about 1/8-inch tall. I get impatient and use bigger stitches than I should. The letter "s" is giving me fits. Just look at how many are in Massachusetts! Maybe I'll be a pro at this by the 50th state?

Mollie's patterns always make me smile. Even though I adore them, I decided not to put the smiling faces on every object. I also decided to use the full name of the State instead of the postal abbreviation.  The abbreviation would have been much easier (not nearly as many "s" letters) but I don't always take the easy road.

And that's it. 
I did not stitch on the Ohio state counties pillow project. 
Nor did I work on the pumpkin panel that I showed you last time. 

Kate is working on her first quilt and we are both excited. She has it planned, the fabric is cut, and the blocks are laid out and organized. She will begin stitching soon. I can't wait!


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