Make it: Embroidered Heart coaster

embroidered heart coaster

I made heart shaped coasters, but you could switch out the shape with whatever you like. You could give THESE away as Valentines! They’re fairly quick to complete and easy peasy.

h-supplies

Materials
embroidery floss
a needle
double-sided tape
4″ x 4″ cork coaster (I bought 12″ x 12″ tiles and cut them up. 9 per tile!)
heart shape to fit your tile

not shown:
ruler, pencil

steps1

1. Adhere your heart to your coaster with a small piece of tape. Mark the “corners” of the heart by placing a ruler across the tile diagonally and making small marks on the edges.
2. Working with a LONG piece of floss (leave the non-working tail connected to the rest of your floss), insert the needle at the bottom tip of the heart, from front to back.
3. Bring the floss back over and insert about 1/8″ from first spot. Continue bringing the floss to the front and stitching at evenly-spaced (as even as you can muster) intervals along the edge of your heart.

steps2

4. When you get to a corner, stitch in the spot, then come up along the adjacent edge and stitch into the same space.
5. Continue stitching along this side until you get to the next corner. Stitch into that space, bring the floss back over along the adjacent edge and stitch into the same spot. Continue stitching until you run out of floss. If you get back to the beginning, stitch into the first spot, then knot the ends together and weave them under the stitches on the back. You’re done!

If you run out of floss, follow steps 6-7:

steps3

6. Cut a long piece of floss from your non-working end and re-thread your needle with it. ON THE BACK of the coaster, bring the now working thread through the first two or so stitches, then start embroidering up the side, the same way you did the first half of the coaster.
7. When you get to your original thread, knot the ends together and weave them under the stitches on the back. Now, you’re done!

h3

Like I said above, use them as coasters or little pieces of art! You could use this same method to embroider on cardstock to make a lovely Valentine’s Day card. I’m going to make some for my boys!

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Getting around

window

Happy Monday, folks! I’m here to share two posts I’m excited about this lovely Monday morning– a tutorial AND a giveaway! WHAT?! How sweet is that?

tut0

First, learn how to turn your 5-minute hearts into a vertical garland on Sweetly Yours.

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Then, head on over to my girl thursday and enter to win a custom doily blanket! Wahoooo! It’s been about a month since my last doily blanket giveaway, so I think it’s about time.

I love spreading the doily blanket love. If you don’t win, you can always snag yours in the shop. But hurry–prices will be going up early February! If you can crochet, make your own with my patterns in Lace Love.

I hope these two posts help you kick off your week with a bang!

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Crochet a heart with me (my first video!)

5-minute crochet heart

Valentine’s Day is a few weeks away, so why not start adorning your house (self, bags, books, etc) with hearts? This is a super quick 3 row pattern that you can probably complete in under 5 minutes. String them up garland-style, or add a safety pin to the back and have yourself a brooch. I chain stitched some together to make a vertical garland. Love!

Materials
worsted weight yarn
5mm (H) hook

Abbreviations (U.S. terms)
Ch- chain
SC- single crochet
DC – double crochet
slst- slip stitch
sk- skip
st- stitch

Pattern
Ch 4
Row 1: 1 SC in second ch from hook, 3 SC in next ch, 1 SC in last ch. Ch 3, turn.
Row 2: 3 DC in first st, 1 SC in next st, 3 SC in next st, 1 SC in next st, 4 DC in last st. Ch 1, DO NOT TURN.

Edge: 2 SC in first half of the side of last DC, 1 SC in next half, SC the first and last ch of the beginning chain together, 1 SC in the first ch of beg ch-3 of Row 2, 2 SC in next ch, 2 SC in last ch, 2 SC in first DC, 1 SC in each of the next 4 stitches, 3 SC in the “corner stitch”, 1 SC in each of the next 4 stitches, 2 SC in last DC. Slst to top of first SC. Fasten off.

The edge can seem a little confusing, so I made this video–

Crochet Heart Edge from Lisa Gutierrez on Vimeo.

This is the very first time I’ve made a crochet video. To be completely honest…I LOVED IT. It was awkward at first and pretty difficult to get focus, but I think I might make more for future projects. I found the music on Vimeo and it’s called “Instrumental salad” by Marlo Eggplant (www.myspace.com/marloeggplantmusic).

I used Windows Movie Maker to create this video. Any tips for newbies? I didn’t realize there were black edges on the sides until after. I expected the bars on top, but not the sides. I’ll have to figure out what those are next time.

Let me know what you think about goodknits videos!

5-minute crochet heart

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Past Valentine’s Day Projects

hearts and heart
[Knit heart, thrifted garland]

9.365: plate of cupcakes
[Cupcake containers]

heart crayons [1]
[Heart crayons]

amigurumi heart
[Amigurumi heart friend]

scoop of love
[Heart pins]

My husband has been in Las Vegas 4 out of the past 5 Valentine’s Days. He works for an apparel company and so he’s there for the men’s fashion convention, MAGIC (ha). The first few years it really bummed me out, but now I’m used to it. These days, I consider it more of a kid’s holiday. We get to play with pinks! Reds! Whites! Hearts! Cupcakes! It’s a crafty holiday and so I really dig it. How about you?

Do you like Valentine’s Day or do you ditch it? Is it more of a romantic or fun holiday for you?

I’ll be back soon with a super simple under-five-minutes crochet heart pattern.

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Top 5 patterns/tutorials of 2011

Happy new year, friends! It’s 2012. That’s just wild!

I meant to post this before the year ended, but I just got caught up with other stuff. I’ve enjoyed a long weekend with my family and my son’s 2-week holiday vacation ends tomorrow, so I think it’s time to get back in the habit of posting and sharing.

For now, let’s re-visit the top five tutorials or patterns I posted in 2011*.











Thank you all so much for making 2011 a fantastic year for this blog. I love sharing patterns and DIY ideas with you and I LOVE receiving feedback on it all. Many wishes for wonderful year!

I’m basing this list on what I see in my Google Analytics. This list includes the most visited tutorials posted in 2011. You can view the full list of Goodknits DIY posts here!