Hard to believe that it’s already the end of Summer! Here’s hoping that you all had a wonderful season! Today, we are thrilled to share our fourth AuriKids project by Gwendolyn Sheppard and her mom, Wendy! If you missed our AuriKids introduction, head here. This series is all about creative expression, innovative thought, and getting the kiddos involved in some seriously fun family time!
Please join us in welcoming Gwen & Wendy back to Auribuzz for the fourth of the 6 projects that the creative mother/daughter team has planned. Have fun!
Hello Friends, it’s good to be back to re-connect! Summer is over for us. Miss Baby started school this week. I have to say it took me a bit to get used to the quietness during the day while she is at school.
Have you been sewing along with a little friend, or by yourself since I last shared “Happy To Be ME”, Smar-kly and a Primer on Cross-Stitching ornaments?
It’s time for me to share with you the fourth of the six mother-daughter (adult/child) collaborative ornament projects, released to highlight Aurifil’s Aurikids iniatiative — an effort to pass on the love and joy and needle and thread to the next generation.
All the ornaments use embroidery floss Spool-en-dids, a thread pack my daughter curated for Aurifil.
Read more about Spool-en-dids, and find out the names my daughter has for her selected colors HERE.
#1. You may now purchase the collection from FAT QUARTER SHOP by clicking HERE.
#2. You may purchase the collection from Donna — email her: followthatthread@yahoo.com
#3. You may also purchase the collection by clicking HERE or HERE.
#4. OR, ask your local Aurifil dealer to order the collection for you. Click HERE for a dealer near you!
Miss Baby is saving the royalties for her college fund, as well as supporting the medical missions of Samaritans Purse.
PROJECT: Focusing on the spool!
SUPPLIES:
- 7-8″ square piece of Cross-stitch Aida fabric (11 or 14ct — I recommend 11ct for younger children 7 and under, 14ct for older)
- Spool-en-did thread(s)
- Aurifil 50wt thread
- a piece of ribbon
- embroidery hoop
- tapestry or embroidery needle
- stuffing material
- basic sewing supplies.
To make the ornament like what we have done here, you will need 4 pieces of fabric scrap to frame your stitched piece, and one for backing the pillow case. Time to go dig through your scraps pile!
NOTE: This tutorial, as well as all pillow ornament tutorials in this series, is not for a specific finished size. You may make it as big or as small as you wish. Since we hang our pillow ornaments on our Christmas tree, our ornaments do not finish larger than 4″.
GOAL: We will just be practicing on crossing the crosses row after row to get used to cross-stitching, until your child complains about being cross-eyed (JUST KIDDING!). But in the end, the rows will result in a spool of thread.
From ornament #3, (if you missed the tutorial, the link is here),
we will progress to this:
Here is the fun part about this spool stitching — you may choose the colors you would like to use, and you may stitch as many rows as you would like as well.
TUTORIAL:
Step 1. If you would like to stitch your spool just like the one that is shared, first you will hoop the fabric with an embroidery hoop! Start a little left of the center of your 7-8″ cross stitch fabric square and complete the following:
- stitch a row of 13 cross stitches using the brown floss.
- stitch a row of 11 cross stitches using the brown floss, off setting one stitch from the previous row.
- stitch subsequent 14 rows of 9 cross-stitches using red and yellow, alternating 2 rows of red and 1 row of yellow.
- stitch a row of 11 cross stitches using the brown floss, mirroring row b.
- stitch a row of 13 cross stitches using the brown floss mirroring row a.
After stitching is complete, remember to praise your kid stitcher to the sky!
Step 2. Trim and square up your piece, and frame with fabric scraps to make pillow ornament top.
Step 3. With the pillow front and back pieces facing each other and folded ribbon piece tucked in the between, sew with a 1/4″ seam allowance, leaving a small opening.
Step 4. Turn pillowcase right side out, and stuff. I started using the stuffing made by Hobbs recently, and have ABSOLUTELY loved it!!
Step 5. Hand stitch opening shut, and there you have it!
Now, how cute is this little spool ornament?
Imagine…
#1. having a stitching party of stitches of all ages, and have everyone stitch out the spool in their favorite colors – solid, variegated etc!
#2. making this as a gift change for a stitching or quilting group
#3. stitching a row of multiple spools during the different colors to make a horizontal pillow ornament
I hope you will enjoy this little stitching project with your kid stitcher, and jump start a lifetime of sweet stitching memories.
Meanwhile, Miss Baby has a new progress picture to share on her Patchwork Aux Chat sampler using ONLY colors from her Spool-en-dids collection. She has mixed up floss of different colors to achieve additional colors besides the ones in her collection. I have learned to zip my mouth and let her run with her color choices for her sampler because I think her choices produces striking results!
She tried her best to finish this sampler up before school started, but it didn’t happen.
Thank you for stopping by — and let’s get some stitching going!
WENDY SHEPPARD
Website — Instagram
Originally from Southeast Asia, Wendy came to the US for her tertiary education. After her degrees in Chemical Engineering, she worked in research in a wind tunnel for a spell. Nowadays, she is a stay/work-at-home Mom to a 7 year old. Wendy’s designs have been featured in major quilting publications, both home and abroad. She is also an author for Landauer Publishing, as well as an online quilting instructor. She is passionate about encouraging quilters to enjoy their quilting journey. During her free time, she loves to read history, and indulges in hand needlework.
GWEN SHEPPARD, Age 9 — Spool-en-dids
Gwen is the daughter of Aurifil Designer Wendy Sheppard of Ivory Spring. She started stitching with her mom 4 years ago and is already an incredibly skilled cross-stitcher. She stitched a magnificent sampler using threads from her AuriKids collection, a piece that we were honored to showcase in our booth last Fall at International Quilt Market. Gwen is just getting started on her creative journey and is turning her attention to quilting.
10 Small Spools Cotton Floss
Colors included:
2277 – 1104 – 1135 – 2860 – 4663
2520 – 1231 – 4020 – 2225 – 2155
THANKS FOR SHARING! SO NEAT!
Sew much fun!! Sew much talent!!! Totally Awesome!