Elizabeth Coughlin Designs

Lynn’s Blog

Melva Loves Scraps

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About a year and half ago my husband and I moved to a new house in a new area in our state. One of our nieces, Julianna, already lived in the neighboring town. We’re really enjoying spending time with her and her sweet and silly dog named Myrtle. Myrtle is a pit bull mixed with who knows, and we take care of her whenever Julianna is off on one of her many adventures.

Myrtle can be quite rambunctious when she gets excited, and on more than one occasion she has tripped Julianna, or pulled her down, while on a walk. We need to be careful when she’s with us and we’re out walking with her. We all jokingly started calling Myrtle “Danger Dog.”

Julianna suggested I sew up a Halloween costume for Myrtle. I thought about it, but I knew Myrtle wouldn’t cooperate with having a costume put on her. When I saw the announcement for this blog hop, I thought it’d be a great opportunity to celebrate Myrtle’s alter ego in a different way.

I designed and stitched a wool felt wall hanging that now hangs in Julianna's apartment.

So I present to you, “Danger Dog!”

She's all ready for Halloween, sporting a cape and medallion with, of course, the letter "D" on it!

She's very serious, because she's contemplating what Halloween mischief she might do.

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After I gave Julianna the piece to hang in her apartment, she managed to get Myrtle to pose with it and got some great pics.

Thank you Myrtle for being so cooperative, (and thanks to Julianna for the photos), and it seems like you approve of my homage!

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I love reading your comments, and will respond to them all via the blog, unless you are a “No Reply” blogger.

Finally, be sure to check out all the creative bloggers participating in this hop:

Monday Oct 20

Tuesday Oct 21

Elizabeth Coughlin Designs

Wednesday Oct 22

Quilting Between the Rails (on Facebook)

Thursday Oct 23

Saturday, June 21, 2025

Setting Anchor

Continuing to make decor items for my house.

This time, it's an anchor that I designed and stitched up.

Thursday, January 9, 2025

A Flock of Seagulls

No, not that New Wave group from the 1980s...

...but some fun wool felt seagulls to adorn my living room bookshelves!

These cuties were made using an easy-to-follow pattern I purchased on Etsy.

I altered the legs a bit, using pipe cleaners encased in a wool felt strip.

So much fun to make, and to look at!

Tuesday, November 19, 2024

Gnome for Thanksgiving Blog Hop

I'm happy to be participating in another fun blog hop, this time brought to us by Joan of MooseStash Quilting.

Here's the list of today's hoppers:

Wednesday Nov 20

Quilting Gail

Quilted Snail

Selina Quilts

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Before I show my project, I wanted to take a moment to thank Joan and Carol for all of their hard work organizing these blog hops. I won't be participating in the Christmas hop, so since they are ending this will be my final one! The hops have been lots of fun, and challenging, and have really kept my creative juices flowing over the years. So thank you ladies, so much! And I also will miss hopping with everyone and seeing all the wonderful projects you create.

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Now, back to my project...Our theme is Gnomes, and Thanksgiving or something we're thankful for.

My project was inspired by a fond Thanksgiving-time memory. My dear friend Suzanne used to host epic pie parties, usually the week after Thanksgiving. There was always a good crowd, and we'd each bring a pie...or two or three. Suzanne usually made three, including apple and key lime. I would always make pecan pie without using corn syrup, as well as a berry pie. The type of berry pie depended upon which berry did the best in our garden that year. We grew blueberries, blackberries and raspberries. I say "grew" because we've moved and no longer even have a garden, let alone one large enough to grow berries. But I digress...

Everyone else at the party would purchase or bake a pie to bring. Suzanne would of course offer tea and coffee, as well as big bowls of freshly whipped cream to top the pies. We'd talk and eat for hours, and it was such a fun time!

My project was inspired by these pie parties.

Last month, for the Halloween hop, I made some wool felt donuts.

So this time...how about some cookies?

First, there are pie cookies:

From left to right: Blueberry, Pumpkin, Cherry, and Key Lime. (The green of the Key Lime didn't photograph well, but it is actually green!)

Next, per our theme, gnomes who are pie wedge-shaped:

Their clothing colors match the pies.

And finally, some pumpkin cookies to fill out the tray:

Each cookie is stitched up in wool felt pieces from my stash, using embroidery floss. They are lightly stuffed to give them some dimension.

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I enjoy and appreciate all your comments, and will reply to them here on this blog.

Happy Thanksiving!

Finally, be sure to visit everyone participating in the hop:

Monday Nov 18

Tuesday Nov 19

Wednesday Nov 20

Elizabeth Coughlin Designs

Quilted Snail

Selina Quilts

Thursday Nov 21

Just Let Me Quilt

Songbird Designs

Tuesday, October 22, 2024

Something Wicked Blog Hop Challenge

I'm so happy to be participating in another fun challenge, this time brought to us by Carol at Just Let Me Quilt.

Here's the list of today's participants:

OCTOBER 23

A Quiltery

Beaquilter

Homespun Hannah's Blog

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I decided to take a different approach to the Halloween theme this year. Instead of spiders, ghosts, bats, etc., how about a dozen donuts?

They look good enough to eat, and are in Halloween-inspired colors. Luckily for me, since I no longer eat donuts, they're not real. Instead of baking, I stitched these up with embroidery floss and wool felt. It was a good project to use up some more wool felt scraps.

I used this template to make the donuts.

Most of the donuts have sprinkles; some with black icing:

Purple icing:

Green icing:

And orange icing:

And a couple with white icing and spider webs:

They add some Halloween vibes to my kitchen counter, for sure!

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I love reading your comments and will reply to them on this blog.

Finally, be sure to visit everyone participating in this wicked hop!

OCTOBER 21

Just Let Me Quilt

Just Sew Quilter

Sew Many Yarns

OCTOBER 22

OCTOBER 23

Beaquilter

Homespun Hannah's Blog

OCTOBER 24

MooseStashQuilting

Quilted Delights

Tuesday, September 24, 2024

Bee Kind Blog Hop

I'm so happy to be joining in another fun blog hop, this time brought to us by Joan of MooseStash Quilting.

Here's the list of today's participants:

Wednesday Sept 25

BeaQuilter

Karrin's Crazy World

That Fabric Feeling

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For this hop I created a bee-themed piece, and I'm also making it available as a FREE pattern.

It's a little stitchery that I'm calling "Bee Kind," (not very original, I know lol.)

Just right-click on the image and save it to your computer.

The image should measure 8" x 10" so make sure that is the size before you print it out.

Or, you can contact me for the pattern by going to my profile page and clicking on "email."

I like to use a product called Fabri-Solvy when I'm doing embroidery.

You print the pattern on it, and then stick it on the top of your fabric. Then, you can stitch right through it. Afterwards, soak it in warm water to remove the Fabri-Solvy.

Here's my final stitchery:

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I love reading your comments and will reply to them via this blog. For some reason, I no longer get emails when people comment; I used to reply via those emails. Hopefully you still get notified that I've replied to your comment here.

Finally, be sure to visit everyone in the hop on their day:

Monday Sept 23

Tuesday Sept 24

Wednesday Sept 25

BeaQuilter

Karrin's Crazy World

That Fabric Feeling

Thursday Sept 26^th

Sunday, August 18, 2024

It's a Jungle Blog Hop Challenge

I'm so happy to be joining in another fun blog hop, this time brought to us by Joan of MooseStash Quilting.

Here's the list of today's participants:

Monday August 19

MooseStashQuilting

High Road Quilter

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Our theme this time is the Jungle; either plants or animals that can be found there. I made two small projects, one plant and one animal.

The first is a hand-sewn, wool felt Snake Plant.:

According to Wikipedia, "Dracaena trifasciata is a species of flowering plant in the family Asparagaceae, native to tropical West Africa from Nigeria east to the Congo. It is most commonly known as the snake plant, Saint George's sword, mother-in-law's tongue, and viper's bowstring hemp, among other names."

Each leaf is double-sided, with a yellow/gold outer edge, and a green inner part. I used wool felt and embroidery floss to make each leaf. I then inserted wires, and stuck each leaf into floral foam inside the pot. Then I added dried floral moss on top.

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My second project is this adorable stuffed Koala.

It's also hand-stitched with wool felt and embroidery floss, with safety eyes. The pattern comes from the Lia Griffith website.

Again, per Wikipedia: "The koala, sometimes called the koala bear, is an arboreal herbivorous marsupial native to Australia. Its closest living relatives are the wombats."

Here's the cutie with my snake plant:

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I'd love to read your comments and will reply to them all, unless you are a No Reply Blogger.

Finally, be sure to visit everyone in the hop on their day:

Monday August 19

MooseStashQuilting

High Road Quilter

Tuesday August 20

Karrins Crazy World

Quilting Gail

Quilted Delights

Wednesday August 21

Thursday August 22

Tuesday, July 23, 2024

Something Smells Fishy Blog Hop Challenge

I'm so happy to be participating in another fun challenge, this time brought to us by Carol at Just Let Me Quilt.

Here's the list of today's participants:

JULY 24

A Quiltery

Beaquilter

Quilting Gail

That Fabric Feeling

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I've missed the last several hops because we were busy moving. We've realized our dream of settling down on beautiful Cape Cod!

That's NOT a view from my house; we don't live right near the ocean. But it's a reasonable drive away, so we're happy with that!

The theme of this hop is very appropriate considering where I now live. The challenge was to create something with fish or other ocean creatures.

I wanted to make something to decorate my fireplace mantle. I stitched up a wool felt folksy fish, and some star fish to accompany it.

I might make a few more starfish to fill the display out more, but overall I'm happy with how it looks.

The fish also looks cute as a pillow on my chair:

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I love to read your comments and will reply to them all via email, unless you are a NO REPLY blogger.

Finally, be sure to visit everyone participating in this challenge:

JULY 22

JULY 23

Quilting Between The Rails

Words & Stitches

Quilted Snail

JULY 24