Balzer Designs

Hexagon Pin Cushion

I am a member of the Cambridge Modern Quilt Guild.  At our Guild Meeting on  Sunday, one of the Guild Members taught us how to make a pincushion from eight hexagons.  I used some leftover scraps that another Guild Member didn't want.

It's not the most beautiful pin cushion, but I really enjoyed the process and I'd like to make another one in fabric I love.  Maybe even some hand painted fabrics?

Here are some things I liked about this project:

• This pin cushion uses up very little fabric and is perfect for leftover scraps you can't bear to throw away! 
• It's also all hand sewn, so it's perfect for taking on the go or doing in front of the TV.
• I assumed that the pin cushion would be filled with Fiber Fill or something similar.  Instead it's filled with crushed walnut shells.  Because they're heavy, the pin cushion doubles as a pattern weight.
• I was introduced to sewing clips and I immediately bought a pack of 100.  Where have they been all my life?!
• It was my first experience with English Paper Piecing and it was much easier than I thought it would be.

In case you'd like to try, I did some googling and I found this video tutorial, which looks very similar to what we were taught.  Enjoy!

Thanks for stopping by!

*NEW* YouTube Memberships

YouTube has recently rolled out a new feature to some channels: membership.  You can still subscribe to my channel for free, but now you can also buy a membership for $4.99/month.  As a member, you'll receive access to a one-hour livestream each month.  At the beginning of the livestream I will share an art technique or idea and then I'll spend the rest of the hour answering your questions.  If you can't make it to a particular livestream, you can still watch the replay and/or you can leave your question in the private members-only area.  I'm going to do my best to answer all of those questions in each livestream.

I made a video about what to expect:

Let me know if you have any questions!  Thanks for stopping by!

Knitting Update

As you know, I'm taking a knitting class.  I'm in the midst of making a hat: knit two/purl 2.  I love the delicious fat ribs that I'm creating:

I have reached the end of this skein of yarn, so I'm anxious to go to class and learn how to add on new yarn!

Thanks for all of your knitting tips last week.  I'm really enjoying the process and finding it a very portable craft.  I've only had to rip work out 3-4 times so far!  Not bad and making progress!

Thanks for stopping by!

Paper Flower Place Cards with ScanNCut

I recently made these gorgeous paper flower place cards with my ScanNCut:

The flower, the leaves, and the "twigs" are all built-in designs from the ScanNCut DX225.  I used one of the basic shapes in CanvasWorkspace to create the flag.  I even used the ScanNCut to write the names on the tags!

If you're interested in making a similar project, here are some resources:

Two Videos on Making Flowers with ScanNCut:

Two Videos on Drawing with ScanNCut:

Thanks for stopping by!

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P.S. I am a paid spokesperson for the Brother ScanNCut.  It is a machine that I love and use.  All projects and opinions are my own.

Product Registration: https://www.brother-usa.com/registermybrother/
Brother Customer Support: https://www.brother-usa.com/support/

Two Collage Faces

First, thank you so much for all of your input on The 100 Day Project.  I think I'm going to take the advice to sit this year out and focus on the house.  There's always next year!

As for right now, I'm busy creating samples for my upcoming class, "Collage Faces" on April 6, in Hanover, MA.  These are the two faces I made this week:

And here's a video that shows the process of making them and talks about the class:

Have a great weekend!