Good Morning, Quilters!
First, I’d like to thank all of you who shared last week’s tutorial, The Dizzy Daisy. With your help, the Dizzy Daisy reached nearly 20,000 people! That is a record for tutorial views in one week…Thank YOU!
Welcome to all the new followers who joined us this week. Seems many of you are friends of Mary and The Heartstrings Quilt Project.
How ever you found us, Welcome!
BACK TO SCHOOL
It’s Back to School! It’s eerily quiet in the neighborhood…a little sad, too…but a brand new box of pencils holds so much promise….
If you have any books to cover, see my step-by-step tutorial, How to Cover a Textbook…(I’m an expert…I’ve done hundreds!)
THE PERFECT PENCIL TUTORIAL
Today’s tutorial is a fun pattern that would look great on any kid’s quilt or a quilt for any teacher. Sometimes it’s fun to add little hidden picture among your fancy quilting as a whimsical surprise…Also, don’t forget that a single motif is a great way to tie a quilt...
The pencil in this tutorial is rather short…3-1/2 inches…make it any length that suits your quilt…
Begin by drawing three lines. The first two lines are 3/4 inches apart, the third line is two inches away…NOTE this creates the body and point of the pencil…I don’t think you need to draw another line for the eraser…if you want to…add a fourth line 3/4 inch away…
Begin stitching on the right line. Stitch a straight line to create the body of the pencil, then stitch at an angle to create the point of the pencil.
Stitch back and forth three or four times to create the “lead tip” of the pencil…
Stitch at an angle back to the line and then stitch three scallops down…
Echo stitch the scallops, then stitch a straight line to complete the body of the pencil.
To create the contour lines in the pencil, stitch two sets of curved lines…then stitch over to where you began stitching the pencil to close the gap.
Next, curve back and forth four times at the base of the pencil.
Finally, stitch a large eraser at the end of the pencil and stitch over several stitches to begin the next pencil in the line…
Wouldn’t a row of pencils look darling on the border of a girl’s skirt? Or decorating a computer case or market bag for a teacher?
Or….omit the contour lines in the body of the pencil, and have students sign their names in the pencils as a keepsake for a teacher?
Where would YOU stitch a pencil?
NOTE-This motif (like all motifs) can be stitched from right to left or left to right or down to up…whatever works best for YOU and your quilt…
LATE HOMEWORK-AQS Winners
It’s only the first week of school and I’m already late with my homework! Arrgh! AQS winners announced tomorrow…
Feeling the Back-to-School-Blues….
Lori
(Just kidding, I’m sipping tea and enjoying my quiet, clean house…I’ll probably go shopping and out to lunch,too…as long as I’m home by three…who’s gonna know???)
PS…This tutorial was stitched on Robert Kaufman Kona cotton, Tuscany Silk batting–I’m experimenting–with Aurifil 50 wt cotton in the bobbin and Sulky Rayon on top with a Schmetz 80 Universal needle on my Bernina 150 without a stitch regulator.
PS…All images, information and tutorials are the property of Lori Kennedy at The Inbox Jaunt and are intended for personal use only. Feel free to re-blog, pin, tweet and share with attribution to The Inbox Jaunt. For all other purposes, please contact me at lckennedy@hotmail.com. Thank you, kindly!
