Silver Bella Needlework Sampler Swap

Each participating Bella was to make 3 needlework samplers, measuring 4"X5". The clever hostess, Chantal Johnson, assembled them and put the three into a lovely hand embroidered needle book. She filled it with needles, sweet scissors, and graceful touches of her talents. We did not get back our own sampler, and the whole swap was a wonderful surprise at Swap Night at Silver Bella.
Look closely at Chantal's delicate crown on the cover--

The first page--with it's cute little pins...

Then, the first of the 3 samplers--This one below by Rebecca Gawryl (please, if I have them switched, let me know, and I'll correct the post)

Next, is from Jana Perenchio--

And the third-below- is Vicki Flinchum's.

Aren't they precious? Such nice touches on each one. When I look at them, I think about all the time each creative seamstress spent--and what she must have been thinking about all the while.

The next to last page had this little heart pocket with the gold scissors.

Such a nice touch!

And then, the last page had a tag with the names of those who did the pieces.

So nice,Chantal, Rebecca, Jana, and Vicki, you did yourselves proud.

I'll treasure this little jewel always.

The following was included also, from Chantal--with her thoughts.

You will have to enlarge to read it.

The redwork girl below was my offering. We didn't receive one of our own in our booklets.

Carol

Next up--Swap #3

Now, this swap is a little different. While it looks like I did 14 fabric ATC's, that is not the case.

These will go to the hostess who will combine 14 different little art pieces on an apron front--presenting each participant with a finished apron on Swap Night. Pretty sweet, right?

This is called the Inspiration Apron Swap:


I incorporated wool felt, sweater felt, pieces of brocade, vintage lace, old pearls, beads, buttons, and a whole lot of free form embroidery.

Carol

Silver Bella Swaps

A summer of preparing for Silver Bella has come to a close. The Silver Bella Yahoo group entertained lots (and I mean LOTS) of swaps. Each one sounded so interesting and fun, and the finished projects filled our imaginations so full that signing up for 5 or 6 didn't make us pause.

I jumped right in and got busy, knowing how slow I work, how much more thinking and visualizing goes on in my head, rather than productive work.

Nonetheless, I have accomplished all my tasks. All 6 are done, finished, completed, and either sent off to the hostesses or tucked safely away for the trip to Omaha. Whew!

This first one is the Bella Holiday Fat Book: assignment.....

Eleven 6 X 6" fabric pages, showing a holiday color palette with emblishments.
The hostess will bind into books with covers.

I can hardly wait to see the finished project!

This is a closeup of the front (on the left) and the back of the page (on the right)The front side: Each page is a little different. Impossible for me to duplicate exactly, but it's OK.
The background is a grey wool, with pieces of ribbon, felt, and felted wool, beading, and trim.
Carol

Filling Time

After finishing other projects, one always has leftover pieces of felt, the trims are all spread out, the yarns and threads are right there on top. Why not just make something else with what's there?
As for filling time, well, I really should have been working on swaps for Silver Bella, but until the idea becomes clear for me for my last swap, I end up procrastinating.
A wee scissors case--in the same felted sweater pieces, but covered with embroidered cotton, lots of seed beads, baguettes, bits of lace, and sequins.
I just drew a pencil line around the scissors, enlarged it a bit, and cut it out.

The next one will be tweaked a bit--the little top part will be enlarged enough to fold over and fasten on the button--which will have to be moved up. That will keep the scissors from falling out in the sewing box.

Carol

Block Party

Elizabeth of Creative Breathing hosted a Block Party Swap a few weeks ago. It was a "one on one"--she made one for each of us who signed up, and we each created one for her.

What a sweet and precious treasure she did.

This is the front--personalized for our blog!!!

This is the back--although how can one tell the front from the back? Both are delightful.

Be sure to click on her blog to see the others that were sent during this swap; also, how she displayed them in her room.

---And the one I made to send, to her, ....this is the front side,

and this is the back-- of the piece I made for Creative Breathing.

posted by Carol.

Anniversary Plaque

For the 25th anniversary of the florist shop of my friend, there was an open house. One could not go without creating a tribute of some kind.

Here, I used a wooden base/tag shape (from Michael's), covered with my favorite paper from foof-a-la ; and then, layered on top an embroidered heart.

I'm loving to do these right now.

Fair warning, if I'm doing any projects in the near future, they will probably have some sort of embroidery like this.

The backside is covered with a vintage catalog page and a cut out Mary Englebreit calendar image.
Then, wrapped it up (my favorite part) with this embossed kraft paper, white paper lace, and buttons strung onto yarn.

Carol

Sneak Peek of Block Party

Elizabeth of Creative Breathing is having a Block Party
She's doing a "one on one" sort of swap. We make one for her, and she makes one for us. She will have all the blocks hanging (as pennants?) in her kitchen at the finish. What a show that will be!

This is a sneak peek of what I have done for her. The heart on the 5X5" is felted wool, stuffed, and hand embroidered, beaded, and glittered. Just didn't know when to stop. It was so much fun. The background paper is a Daisy D's piece (alas, another discontinued company).

This blue side is the back. We didn't HAVE to finish it out like this, but you know, once the train starts moving, it's hard to stop. My little miniMoo card pivots to show the back of the card with my information.

More than anything, I am excited to have one of her amazing pieces. Her Creative Breathing shows so beautifully in all of her tender and sweet pieces.

Carol

Wool Felt Needle Folder

All of the sewing I've been doing for Silver Bella swaps, have necessitated a needle holder I can carry around, moving from one working place to another. I've got supplies all over the place and want to feel more organized. Anyway, I've seen so many cute little felt folders and wanted to make one for myself.



The cover for this project was an actual pocket from a wool jacket I cut apart and washed/felted.

I wanted to use it as is; so cut it off the jacket with pinking shears. Then, I hand stitched on all the other pieces--tiny pockets and pages.


I've customized it to have room for some little tools I use--a little needle threader, a seam ripper, pockets inside the front and back covers, and labels on the pages to help me remember exactly what type of needle to use.

More needle threaders....

Now, that's out of my system, it's forward to the actual sewing/embroidery.

Carol