Our Dahlia Panel Challenge Winners!

Three amazing entries came back into the shop from our Dahlia Panel Challenge, but they were all lovely and brightened up our shop as they hung in our classroom this month for all to vote on :)  This entry was from Margaret Pipp!

Every participant used the panel in a different way, and each entry was so creative!  Margaret stitched up a large Dresden Plate center piece, and added some adorable little nests and insects from some cool fibers. Here are some close up shots of some of the little details on Margaret's project :) 

This one was made by Barbara Lanore.  She used English Paper pieced hexis to border her large dahlia photo.

This entry is from Betty Enselein.  She used several of the techniques and products she learned about in Amalia's Make it Fun from A to Z Class art series :)

They were each amazing, and the voting was very close.  But the Viewer's choice winner was Betty with her Texture Magic Dahlia!   Betty won a thread assortment worth over $100.00, and Barbara and Margaret were the runners up and received a smaller thread gift for join in on the fun :)

Thanks to everyone who shared their creativity, and all who cast a vote for their favorite, we had a fun time with this project :)

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

Saving a Beloved Huggie

Anyone who has known children knows how vital their security items are.  Some kids have blankets, some have stuffed animals.

Emily has a ‘Huggie’. Huggie is a receiving blanket given to Emily by her big cousin Abby, who decided during one visit that she was now too old for blankies, but her baby cousin was the perfect age.

So Huggie has been with Emily since that visit, and they are rarely apart. But Huggie had seen better days, and what are you supposed to do when a security item is getting “tired”?

I already knew rough measurements of Huggie and had a plan in mind.  So I was able to cut my border strips prior to starting any Huggie restoration. Emily likes to cover up with Huggie, so I had a certain size in mind that I was shooting for.

The next step was to retrieve Huggie.  My best suggestion, giving the child some extra fabric and non-sharp sewing tools!

 
After sewing on my borders and pressing, I took quick measurements to determine my backing size. Since Emily was getting restless about what I was doing to her Huggie, I opted to sew my backing to my ‘top’ right sides together, leaving an opening at the bottom, and flipping the whole thing right side out.

To keep everything in place, I stitched in the ditch around my borders, as well as around the edges of Huggie.

So Huggie is alive and well. And Emily was pretty interested in the whole process. Grandma Dawn would be proud.

How have you saved your ‘Huggie’s??

~ Heather