Flower Power! Embroidery and Applique

A friend came over with a lovely meal for us and saw a dishtowel that I had made.  I ended up making her one to fit with her kitchen colors as a thank you. 

Project Details:  This is a very easy project.  I found the images I liked and printed them out using normal printer paper. 

Using my heat transfer pencil, I traced the image I wanted to embroider in reverse. 

 I traced the flowers I wanted to applique onto double sided fusible, adhesive web (Pellon EZ-Steam II from Joanne's).  I used my light board and traced the images in reverse.

I placed the images that I had traced onto the fabric and cut them out.

I placed all of the items where I wanted them on the towel.

I did my new trick of combining several colors to create a multicolored floss.

 

 For the bottom of my towels I often add some ribbon, rickrack, lace or cording.

 A fun project for a very generous friend!

Shadow Box "Toes in the Sand" Beach Embroidery, Watercolor, Applique with Shells

We took a trip to the beach last summer and came home with happy memories and some really nice shells.  I wanted to find a way to display them in my guest bathroom that I was changing to a beach theme and so this project was born. 

I also wanted to play with my new favorite medium, watercolor on fabric with embroidery.  This time I used an iron on transfer pattern for the Toes in the Sand part (also purchased at Joanne's) and after transferring the pattern I first water-colored the image.  When I watercolor before stitching I can get closer to the edges and keep the watercolor more even.  But sometimes I am not sure which images I am going to paint or what colors I want to highlight so I just wait until after I have embroidered, keeping my options open.

I found the shadow box at Joanne's and bought some colored burlap there too to use as bright background. I also used the same burlap to cut out flower shapes to mount on twine to hang from the frame, adding a little bit of whimsy, my favorite!

I enjoyed this project because I finally got to use my shells!! I also enjoyed using the shadow box.  The colors and the fabric on the bird's wing matches my "Take Me to the Sea" project because they are both for my guest bathroom.