Hawthorne Threads Blog

A Modern Log Cabin Design for our House in the Woods

The guest apartment above our garage is finished enough for a little tour!

But first let's take a step back for a look behind the seams, as it were. For most decor projects, pillows would likely be the finishing touch to tie a room together, almost as an afterthought. But not for me - and considering the audience I suspect I'm not the only one, my fellow fabric fanatics! I tend to build a whole room around these final accessories. Similarly, I'll put pick out my shoes and jewelry first and throw together an outfit together in reverse. It's just the way I'm wired. So naturally when I started dreaming up a room makeover for the small guest apartment above our garage I chose the fabrics for the throw pillows first. 

I decided on a mustard yellow and charcoal gray color palette, selecting fabrics from Masai Mara by Dear Stella and Aviary 2 by Joel Dewberry. And if you remember this post, I found the perfect yellow color for the walls, Hawthorne Yellow no less! For the pillow itself I went with a log cabin design and, as it was my first endeavor, I used this tutorial over at Oh! Fransson.

I also picked up this Modern Log Cabin Quilting book where I really fell in love with the block. This beautiful encircling design can be as simple or as complicated as you want it to be. There are so many variations that it's perfect for both the seasoned and novice sewer. My skills lie somewhere in between and I had a lot of fun putting this one together.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm pretty pleased with how it came out, and the window frame look is such a fun way to show off a focal piece like this little sparrow.

And now, here are some peeks into our sunny room!

I found these prints over at Society 6, a great marketplace full of beautiful work from independent artists, like Wesley Bird and David Fleck seen here.

With the gabled roof I can't quite get a full room shot so please indulge me with the multiple photos ladies and gents.

Here's a close up of that little nook tucked between the papasan chairs.

I slid a cut of Embroidery in Gray from Masai Mara under a glass top table and love the effect - it's such a simple way to incorporate fabric into a room. A similarly easy way to show off some of your favorite designs is by stretching it onto a canvas. After learning that Alexander Henry's Matisse line was sadly out of print, I squirelled a bit away for myself. Since I cringed at the thought of cutting into it one day, this worked out perfectly! If you haven't tried this project, I've previously shared a nice and easy how-to over here.

With all the gray and yellow, I did want to add some more pops of color so I chose to pick up some of the more citrusy mustard and teal blue in this rug. And, much to my husband Charlie's dismay, I always say one can never have too many pillows...

Ever the tree-hugger, I chose one of Joel Dewberry's Majestic Oaks from his Modern Meadow line. The ikat is from Amy Butler's Lark Home Decor collection. The solids are Cotton Couture in Straw and Dirt, and Pure Elements in Mirage Blue.

That one can achieve so much variety from a simple design is what I've come to love most about sewing. Please continue to share all of your pieces in our shop, the creativity and ingenuity "sews" the seeds for us all.

Hope you enjoyed the tour! If you like this organic modern style, head over to our Pinterest Board to see where you can find many of these pieces.

Weekend Sewing with Kids

To all of our friends states-side, we hope you all enjoyed this Memorial Day! After a fun weekend of hiking and swimming it was time for our family to relax on this holiday with some sewing. My daughter wanted to "make something pink" and after some rather lavish design ideas from miss Annie, I convinced her to forgo the superhero fairy-princess dress and opt instead for an easy applique pillow. If you have small kids with an interest in sewing, and who like to be in the driver's seat behind the sewing machine, I'd recommend whipping one up together.

We started with a Fat Quarter Bundle of Woodland Tails from Sheri Berry Designs, which comes with a great panel print. Since we used a 16" square pillow form, a single FQ did the trick for the pillow top and another for the back. Annie surprised me by selecting the orange fox as her centerpiece - I was all ready to cut out the pink lamb. I suppose she agrees with Pantone that it's the color of the moment! Then again, she handpicked her chevron top so perhaps I shouldn't be too surprised each time she dazzles me with her keen fashion sense. My son Aidan got as far as picking out his fabrics, but moved onto greener pastures to play basketball with Dad. I'll keep trying there...

If you've followed our blog you might remember Annie's tunic and scarf, so she's not entirely new to sewing and we easily completed the pillow in about 90 minutes. But if your child is new sewer, this is still a great place to start. If you are a beginner as well, here's a great tutorial for a simple envelope style pillow like the one we made today. For the applique, we simply cut out the circle, and affixed it to the pillowtop with a zig zag stitch (similar to this design I did here);

Now don't let me fool you, sewing at home with a five year old is not without its challenges. With all of the cutting, ironing, and pinning, sometimes the pace just isn't fast enough and, as you can see, they're not always rapt with attention. Forgetting that most of my tools are at the shop and having to improvise whilst cutting out the centerpiece doesn't help either...

One of the biggest challenges is enforcing a speed limit. Let's just say Annie's got a lead foot when she's at the pedal...

But once the machine is whirring away, I'm still amazed by her careful concentration. I am quite sure that I can feel her pride swell with every stitch.

I'm pretty proud of this little girl myself.

I hope you'll try out this project with your own tiny seamstresses!

A Gift for the Guys - Ties!

Anyone still looking for gift ideas for the guys in your life, both big and small? How about some stylin' neckties for the guys this Christmas? Perhaps Mr.Ty Pennington was having a fun play on words with his name this past Quilt Market, for on prominent display in Ty's booth were, as you can see, ties! He whipped up a tie from each and every print in his new Impressions collection.

With its beautiful array of lush designs and distinctly organic, tribal feel, Ty has refined his woodcut printing technique and chosen a more daring color palette this time around. The line is great for any guy not afraid to add a little color to his wardrobe.

Having "winged it" with my son's necktie seen here, I'd certainly recommend following a tutorial (especially if, ahem, you're like me and pressed for time getting through your list of handmade gifts this year).

Images courtesy of The Purl Bee

I found a couple of great tutorials over at the Purl Bee - here's one for the little guys and the big guys in your life. The Impressions line is sophisticated yet brightly colored and would work well for stylish guys, both big and small. Happy Sewing!

Curtains On Parade

I had been on the lookout for the perfect pattern to use for curtains in our daughter Annie's new room. After having shared a room with her brother Aidan up until our recent move, our daughter Annie really wanted something girly. In fact, the very prospect of decorating sealed the deal and convinced her to step out on her own. We had asked the kids if they wanted to share a room again in our new house, or if they'd each like their very own. Aidan didn't give it a second thought but, as the younger sister, Annie wasn't entirely certain she wanted to be alone just yet. Then the dawn of an idea sprouted in her 4 year old mind, and a smile spread across her face as she asked me in a hopeful whisper, "mama, it can be pink?" Sold.

We decided on the spectacularly sweet Children at Play line from Sarah Jane that celebrates the romance and the simplicity of being a kid. That kind of nostalgic innocense is exactly the feeling I wanted for my little girls room. Annie on the other hand just loved that the parade had both pink and purple balloons.

For the main panel of the curtains, we selected a pink floral print from Riley Blake's Alphabet Soup Line. The main border fabric is of course On Parade, a double border design (meaning that it runs along both selveges). That proved really great as I lined the back of the curtains with the border as well to give them a nice polished look (or, if truth be told, because I knew my mom would be giving them a once over). Annie thought it needed something more, and so we added a little strip of this turquoise dot from the same line.

We've just gotten our hugely anticipated re-stock of this sweet On Parade design- grab some fast, before this parade of kidets heads out of town once again!

New Throw Pillows - Check, Mate!

I've been having so much fun making our new house a home, and I know many of you have been asking for more peeks! So here's a look into our sitting room, updated with a fun assortment of throw pillows.

Wanting a variety of textures, I gravitated toward Anna Maria Horner's Innocent Crush Velveteen, and Little Folks Voile, and a really soft organic cotton from Cloud 9's Cut Out & Keep Line. For the backing on these pillows I chose Laura Gunn's Painter's Canvas in Aqua. The fabric looks just like her oil paintings and is a great alternative to a basic solid if you'd like to add a little faux texture. I also used Anna's new Loulouthi Needlepoint fabric, sans embroidery floss. I s'pose that makes it a cheater embroidery design, but hey, we all used cheater patchwork prints so why not?! I really love the pairing of Visions in Spa with First Impression in Jewel, and it definitely makes for a much more comfortable chess match with my kids.

Sewing with all the different substrates was a breeze - same needle, same thread. If you've been wary of trying the different varietys out here's a fun way to incorporate them in to a single, quick and easy project!