Christmas in December….the Christmas Story in Stamps

By on 12-06-2010 in art quilts, Christmas Patterns, Embroidery, Original Quilts, Vintage Patterns

Christmas story

These figures were published in the McCall’s Needlework Fall/Winter 1959/60 magazine. They were stamped on paper (the lower photo) as well as on wood for free standing decorations. With the new medium for carving stamps I can see these modernized and stamped onto a Christmas wall hanging or table runner. They could also be used for redwork embroidery and beading. I have posted Mary, Joseph and Jesus here.

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You can download the full set of Christmas family, shepherds, wisemen and animals here:Christmas Story Stamp Patterns

Digital Collage…..from rusty wheel rim

By on 11-27-2010 in art quilts, Digital Images + Collage, Original Pattern, Original photos

rusty wheel

This is my first digital collage. I started with the image below….a rusty wheel rim. The bright red and orange colours captured my imagination. There is a blade of grass in the center of the rim which gave some colour contrast. I manipulated pieces of the image, cropped them in Adobe Photoshop and moved them onto a new background. The colours for the background were taken from the rim as well. The lines were made with a Photoshop brush and applied before moving the image. This collage would look good on a card, in a scrapbook page or as a block in an autumn quilt.

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Christmas in November….snowflakes

By on 11-18-2010 in Christmas Patterns, Embroidery, Vintage Patterns

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This bright sunny snowflake was published in the McCall’s Fall/Winter 1972-73 Needlework Magazine. The yellow gives the snowflake a very “sun-like” appearance. I thought it would look great appliqued in white on a mid blue ground to look more like a real snowflake. Done as a bed-sized quilt would give it an Hawaiian look. Embroidered white on white, in faux suede and given a trapunto technique, it would make a modern, sophisticated pillow.

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McCall’s gave a 1/4 pattern. I have put it together for a full, round pattern.

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