Question for my Crafters out there...

How many of you have used a hot-fix crystal setter?

Well I am getting one for Christmas .. maybe sooner so that I can "glam up" a few things and I am not sure of how it works or how to use it for that matter. The directions aren't that clear for me -- everything has to be quite visual for me to understand. Don't laugh -- I know some of you are the same way!!

If you have a hot-fix setter, please help me out!! I am thinking for a quilt (think of a midnight blue sky with a creamy moon and large star appliques) that I want set some "twinkling" stars on it. Can the crystals be set on other things than just fabric. .. say like on metal or plastic items? I will be most grateful for your help, tips, hints, etc. for this... I know you guys are wonderful in helping out others.

Well, gotta get some much needed sleep. Tomorrow evening starts the first evening of working till 11.30 pm ..ugh!

Keep stitching,

Cameo

Christmas is coming!

Can you believe that Christmas will be here in less than 2 weeks...a fortnight!! It's almost crazy!! Ok it is crazy, but I am thankful that all my shopping is done... YAY!

I have been working a lot here lately and this next week I will be working nearly everyday. That's the good news... the not so good news is that we (the store) will be open till 11 pm! OMG -- I couldn't believe it. People actually shop that late?? seriously? UGH!! I am not happy that we will be open that late at night but I know it's all about the $$$$$... and greed, too.



A little question for everyone -- what is your favorite Christmas song of all time?

There was a survey done and people really like "White Christmas" by Bing Crosby. Personally that's not my favorite ... mine would have to be any and all of the songs sung by The Muppets and John Denver -- YES I have the CD -- lol!!

Well, I am off to clean the house. You know that Santa cannot come and visit a dirty house -- you didn't know that?? Well, it's how I get my clan to help clean - my son wants Santa to come so he cleans -- wink wink -- it really works for the younger kiddos. I have had a super clean house EVERY year in December.

I haven't been stitching much since I have been working - hopefully I will get some time off during the holidays and get some items finished. To all of you -- Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah!

Keep Stitching,
Cameo

Hello out there!!

I know it's been awhile again since I have posted anything. Life has been a bit crazy since I have been working now. I do enjoy my job, though dealing with some customers and employees can be difficult.

Did you have a good Thanksgiving? I did sorta. My family went over to my in-laws for some yummy food and then I had to work for the evening!! YES I had to work on Thanksgiving!! I think we were the only craft store to be open and of course we had some great deals. People came out in droves it seemed. I know what a couple of my gifts are too --heehee!!

Right now it's raining out and it's terribly cold too. The weather people have been saying that by Friday it's possible that we could have snow again this year!!?!!? How crazy is that. I am a little scared about that becuz I have no idea how to drive in the stuff except really slow, but that doesn't mean the rest of my town knows to do that..

A little late but here is a finish that I did .. I am sooo proud of it and really love it. I am hoping to be able to get it framed. Bit costly right now with holiday shopping to be done. Well I cannot stay on long this evening -- gotta get some sleep and keep the toes warm. Have a wonderful week.. and weekend. I hope to be able to post again soon and more frequently.

Keep Stitching,

Cameo

Hotdog Pillowcase Tutorial Continued...

Ok -- I think I can finish the pillowcase in this post -- YAY!!

You will lay the body of the pillowcase face down (right side) on the top of the banding with the raw edges together. The length of the body will be hanging way down and you will want to grasp it and accordian fold it so that it lays in the middle of the casing.

Should sorta look like this -- You will see the casing, at least half of it anyways since the body of the pillowcase is laying on it. Now you will pull up and over the edge of the casing to the top of the raw edges... this will create the hot dog look -- the body being the hotdog, the banding your condiment, and the casing is the bun... cute huh? sorry for the boobage shot -- was trying to get a different view and boy did i LOL!!!

Now you will pin all these edges together down the entire length, I tend to start in the middle and work my way to each end so that there's no hiccups.... you know what I mean. You should get this look -- your hotdog!!

Now you'll take your hotdogger to the sewing machine and sew about 1/2 inch in from the raw edge....

Now here come the fun part!!! I used flannel for making most of my pillowcases during the retreat becuz of the fun prints that I found and they are super soft. But you can use nearly any type of material for these. My only caution is that when using thicker material this next step is a bit difficult. You have to turn the casing inside out and pull the body out. Using regular cotton material was super easy, but flannel can be a bit fussy. Once it's entirely pulled out -- IRON!! it flat...

You will notice that all your casing and banding edges are inside and out of sight.. YAY!! no more stringies!! At this point if you want to -- it's optional... you can use your embroidery stitches on the machine to add a decorative border stitch to the banding (the solid color) and if you're really creative.. machine embroider someone's name to casing. Yea, I'm not!! LOL

Getting to my favorite part -- the finished part!! YAY!! If you know how to do french seams, then good on ya-- that's what we are fixin to do to finish this pillowcase up -- 2 seams and you're done done done! I told you this was easy. Now with WRONG side together, pin down the edge and bottom. If you need to trim it to get it even -- do this before sewing! I like to trim about a half inch down the edge and bottom to get all edge nice and even before stitching. Once it's pinned, you will stitch a 1/4 inch seam down the side and bottom. Clip corners.

Sorry for the blurry picture, but it's a clipped corner. Now you will turn the pillowcase inside out. You will be looking at the wrong side. PRESS!!! This is soooo important. Be sure to push the edges close to the seam so that when you sew this edge again you will catch all the raw edges inside. I found that ironing this helped to keep it neat. Now back to the machine and sew anywhere from a 1/2 to 5/8 inch seam making sure that you catch all the raw edge inside so that it does not show when it's turned right side out.

Clip all your threads and press again -- making it pretty!! and TAA-DAA!! You have just made the perfect pillowcase with no raw edges and it's super easy. You'll be making up a storm I bet.

If you liked this tutorial, please feel free to leave me a comment. I love reading them. If there are any other tutorials that you would want me to have -- let me know and I will do my best to post them. Knowledge is power!!

Keep Stitching,

Cameo

I'm BACKKKK!!!!

Whew! It's so good to be back and sleeping in my own bed with my pillow and blankies!! Don't you agree?? It doesn't matter where I go, or for how long ... I miss my bed and it's comfortable spots. Seriously, I had a wonderful time at retreat. The ladies that came were all wonderful and a bit on the crazy side!! omg... some were down right a joy to hang out with !!! Winky -- if you read this - you are a HOOT!!

I thought that I took a ton of stuff to work on but evidently I didn't. I finished a small flower quilted wall hanging in minutes it seemed, and put another quilt wall hanging together, and then started the addiction that I only have Lisa to blame for. I made 10!! yes 10!! pillowcases over the course of 4 days. There were soooo simple and easy to do. They are called hot dog pillowcases and don't take but about 15 minutes to sew. And only 3 seams!! I plan on sharing the tutorial with you in this post .. how nice am I?? tell me I need to know....HAHAHAHA!!

I hope to be able to attend more retreats like this in the future... gotta start saving my pennies again. We were out in the boonies (smiles) at a great lodge. The meeting room was wide open and quite nice to sew in. The dorm rooms provided great privacy and was spacious too. The food was DELICIOUS!! It was so great to be able to get up in the morning with breakfast ready to eat, no cooking, cleaning, or worrying about anything but sewing our little fingers off. I don't think that I have laughed my butt off more at my new friends than I have in my whole life. We truly let our hair down and just enjoyed each other's company. I. will. go. again!!

Now on to the tutorial... it's really easy to do -- just remember this little equation for the fabric needed ... You will need a 3 inch band, 9 inches for the casing, and 27 inches for the body of the pillowcase. 3 x 9 = 27... neat huh? I am showing you my godson's present for Christmas with the cut pieces that you will need. The brown print is the body (27 inches), the brown strip (3 inches), and the green print (9 inches) will all make the pillowcase.

From here you will fold the band in half and iron it flat. This will create a nice edged banding for the pillow case and helps break up the 2 prints. Now you will lay it on the green print (casing) with all the raw edges facing in the same direction, doing this will make sure we have no raw edges to deal with.

Now I will have to stop here and make another post for tomorrow since it's photo rich already. Blogspot limits the amount of photo memory sooooo tomorrow will be the finishing part .. I know that you will stay tuned for that.

Keep Stitching,

Cameo

GREAT NEWS!

I know I let my posts slide once again! Smack me upside the head with wet noodles.. LOL

But I have the greatest news to share with you. As most of you know that I have been working at Michaels as seasonal help as a cashier and whatever else they need me to do. Well this Saturday was a demo day and of course I was picked to do it. Really fun, goo-ey fun making snowmen with Snow-Tex product. Anyways, boss man walks by as I was finishing up one of the snowmen and says in a very serious tone, "I need to see you in my office after you are done with that...", no eye contact and he walks to the back of the store. My heart fell. I just knew that I was going to be written up for something stupid that I did or that I was getting the axe. So I am sweating beads as I am trying to prolong the finishing of the snowman. I get back there to the office and timidly knock on the door, boss man still has serious look on his face. And guess what?!?!

I GOT A PROMOTION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! How awesome is that?!?! I am no longer just a cashier, but a glorified one!! My official title is Front End Supervisor.. I will keep an eye on the registers, be over a few of the cashiers, and keep the front end of the store in order. You guys have no idea how happy this has made me. After being a stay at home mom for 12 yrs and thinking that I would never get a job becuz of the long space of time not being the workforce... my heart just soared. I wore a shit-eating grin all day long afterwards, floating on cloud 9. You laugh -- that's ok!

This weekend, starting on Thursday and ending Sunday, I will be gone to a quilter's retreat. My very first. I am told by some of the veterans that go to them alot that I will have a great time and I must say that I am looking forward to it. Time away from the house, work (which I don't really mind), laundry, cooking... ohh yea!! Just laying around , sewing... and you know that I am taking stitching with me.. laughing and having a good time with some awesome ladies in my quilt guild. We are even going to play Bunkco? (prolly spelled it wrong) ..which I have never played.

I will post after I get home with all the juicy and fun details of the time I had. Maybe even post some pictures of items that I completed... right ... you believe that?? HAHAHA!!

Take care everyone and I'll be back really soon!

Cameo

Finally a post...

I know that I haven't been able to post in awhile and it kills me that I haven't kept in touch with you guys. My job is going well... I had a little trouble remembering some procedures for credit card and check policies, but all in all it's good. I didn't realize how much I would be on my feet though, so I am learning to take it slower than my usual fast pace.

I also learned that I am OCD -- in the worst way. I go around straightening the shelves and all the products, which we are supposed to do...but I go as far as all the labels in the same direction. ARGH!! I am sooo nuts!!

But on to better and brighter things, my swap partner for Brooke's Board Interactive (yahoo group) has received his item from me so now I can share it with you. I know that he likes it -- always pleasing to know that.

If you celebrate, have a haunting Halloween tomorrow -- it's my most favorite holiday ever!! I don't dress up anymore but I LOVE seeing little guys and gals in their costumes. Makes me smile -- my godson will be Handy Manny -- his favorite cartoon character. His mom and dad even went out and got him the toolbox.. he should be adorable as ever.

Be safe if you choose to go out.

Until next time -- Happy Halloween!!

Keep Stitching,

Cameo

Happy Hallows to you --

I just had to share some more pictures of my monsters on the pumpkins -- ENJOY!!

Keep Stitching,

Cameo

No Sew Cube Tutorial

I have been wanting to do this for a long time -- but finally got the time yesterday to sit down and take photos as I put it together. Since this cube is for the postal worker that has been very friendly to me for years, I can show it without worries.

How to Make a No-Sew Cube

supplies needed:
* a styrofoam cube that is a bit larger than your stitched item
* 2 stitched pieces that will fit the cube -- you will cut it a bit larger than the cube
* fabric to cover the sides (width) of the cube plus an inch or 2
* variety of ribbon in colors that compliment your stitched pieces and fabric
* glue gun and glue
* straight pins (flat head) and 4 glass head ones that match colorwise with your stitched items
* coordinating charms or buttons
* scissors

Place your cube over the stitched item, centering as much as possible and lightly draw with pencil the sides of the cube on the wrong side of the stitched piece. This will not be seen, it will be merely a guide for the cutting. Cut outside of the pencil line about 1-2 inches so that you have something to pin to the cube.

Place your stitched piece on the front of the cube and use a pin in the center of the piece and stick into the cube's center. This helps to keep it centered and in place while pinning. Fold over each end and put in about 5 flathead pins ... 1 in the center, 1 at each end near the corner, and 1 in between the center and corner pins. Using flathead pins allows the fabric to lay flat... you will NOT remove these pins. They will stay in the cube forever. Slightly tug the fabric taut while pinning. Repeat on all 4 sides. When this is done, it should look like this -- and now for the corners. Crease the corner to one side, pulling it taut and pin, rotate and do all four sides going in the same direction. You will do this for the back of the cube with your other stitched piece, repeating all the directions as stated above.

Now for the fabric section that wraps around the cube to hide your pins and stitched piece edges. Measure the fabric to cover all 4 sides of the cube and cut off the excess leaving yourself about 2 inches for overlap. Fold over the fabric on the wrong side of the fabric to make a nice clean edge. You can glue this down so that it doesn't move. Apply glue to the cube starting at the top, along the pin line and lay your straight edge of fabric on the glue. You can do one side at a time but I find that doing both sides at once prevents wrinkles and oopies!. Once you get back to the top, fold the excess fabric under and glue into place.

Nice cube you got there!

And now for my favorite part, ribbon! Ribbon should be the easiest part to attach. Always starting at the top, glue and place ribbon around all 4 sides of the cube. I used 2 ribbons for the perimeter of the cube, a large first and then a small layered on top. Layer several strips of ribbon and tie a small piece of ribbon around the middle creating a large bow for the top, glue into place. You can accent with a button or charms using your glue gun. An option is to place glass ball pins on the bottom at each corner to make the cube stand up off the surface that it's placed. It kinda gives them "feet" if you will.

Go around and gather up any loose glue webs -- hate those things.

Wasn't this easy??

Please email me if you have any questions or need further explaination. This was a tutorial that I made up all on my own and have made several cubes in this fashion.

Keep Stitching,

Cameo