February 10, 2024 marked the beginning of the Chinese New Year. This is the Year of the Wood Dragon. Growing up with a Japanese mother, we celebrated New Years on January 1 with ozoni, a soup with a rice dumpling called mochi. The Lunar New Year was acknowleged, but not a big celebration in our house. We did, however, know our Chinese Zodiac signs. We are lucky to live in an area of the United States that has a significant population of Vietnamese and Chinese families, so the Lunar New Year is a big celebration. In my brother’s neighborhood, the Tet festival is a lively 3 day celebration. My ..read more

It’s ornament time! These gingerbread cuties, who are sporting top hats with festive hat bands, are the latest in my Christmas ornament design collection. The gingerbread girl has a cast on stitch collar like the Christmas Angel ornament from last year, but I doubled the amount of stitches to give it a more ruffled look. Also, I added a peppermint on the back of the ornament for a little kiss of holiday cheer. Happy stitching! You will need: Gingerbread Wishes and Peppermint Kisses Layout and Pattern Butternut Plaid Stitch Guide Felted wool or wool felt - suggested colors background - 6 1/2 ..read more

The year is just zooming by, and it’s almost Halloween! This is Viridescent , a friendly witch who wants to help you have a spooktacular Halloween. it’s a quick and easy project you can complete in an afternoon. This is a little 5 3/4” x 5 3/4” applique that you can hang on your door to welcome your Trick or Treaters or you can increase the size 220% to fit on a 14” pillow — the perfect companion for the Smiling Cat Pillow. Happy Stitching! Pattern and Layout - Download here Stitch Guide - Download here. This is the same guide used for all the projects. Supplies Background fabric - one fat ..read more

It’s been a while, but I’m back with a new tutorial. You may have remembered this design from my IG feed @butternut_plaid. The original was a tiny 3 1/2” square painting made with homemade acorn cap ink. Acorn cap ink painting The second version was a 6 1/2” embroidery created with threads I dyed with indigo and madder. The background fabric was dyed with local oak galls. Embroidered with indigo and madder dyed threads on a background dyed with oak galls The final design I chose for this tutorial is the largest version at 7 1/2” x 8 1/2”. It’s a mixture of wool applique and embroidery. I us ..read more

2023 is the Year of the Rabbit according to the Chinese Lunar Calendar. In many Asian countries the rabbit holds special significance. It is a symbol of longevity, peace and prosperity. This year is predicted to be one of hope. As a child, my Japanese mother would point out the rabbit image in the moon and tell me that the Man in the Moon had rewarded Rabbit for his kindness by taking him back to the moon to live with him.  When my children were young, I read them a classic Japanese folklore story about the Rabbit in the Moon.   You can read a version of the story here. I stitched ..read more

It’s time for Christmas ornaments again. Yes, it’s last minute, but I couldn’t let the season pass without an addition to Tis The Season snowman and friends. The trees are from a pattern by Ann Wood Handmade. I’ve included a new stitch on this project. It’s called a cast-on stitch. The instructions can be found on various sites. My favorite is Mary Corbet’s and a close second is Sara’s Embroidery. Use the same finishing instructions as those in Tis the Season. Enjoy! Supplies Christmas Angel Layout and Pattern - Download here. Butternut Plaid stitch guide - Download here. Felted wool or wool ..read more

There are days when I find patience in short supply, and I need to step back, take a deep breath, and slow down. Do you ever feel like that?  This design came about on one of those days. Patience and perseverance seem to go hand in hand. Like a snail who slowly crawls up to its tasty reward, we too must patiently persevere to achieve our goals. This design measures 7 ½” x 7 ½” (19.05cm x 19.05cm). It is appliqued onto a linen/cotton floral from French General’s La Vie Bohème line – Ciel blue 13900 18L. This fabric has a nice weight to it that works well with wool applique and embroidery ..read more

Home quilt using old wool sweaters, pants and skirts. One of the members of my quilt friendship group was given several bags full of old wool sweaters, pants and skirts. Someone had tried to felt a few of the wool sweaters and had shrunk the adult garments to doll size. Most of the wool in those garments were too stiff to use in our projects, but I thought if I overdyed one or two of them and cut them into narrow 1/8” and 1/4” strips they could be used as flower stems. Some of the fabrics were dull and lifeless, so I cut them apart and then simmered them in a pot with the bold colors so that ..read more

The end February in Southern California marks the beginning of the strawberry season, but March is when these delectable gems really start to show up in the markets.  So, of course, I needed to commemorate this delicious season with a new design. This is Phoebe mouse who loves strawberries as much, or possibly a touch more than me. She has a special strawberry tree in her garden that produces amazing fruit – it’s almost magical. If only I had such a tree in my garden! I appliqued this on a pieced background (using up my scraps), but a single fabric background would have worked just as we ..read more

The woods would be very silent if no birds sang except those that sang best. Henry Van Dyke (1852-1933) This 6” x 9” design is dedicated to everyone who has ever felt intimidated in this Instagram world in which we live. Find joy in the making and celebrate all of your endeavors! Happy Stitching! Supplies Birdsong layout and pattern Butternut plaid stitch guide Background fabric - 12” x 15” piece of Linen cotton blend or midweight quilting cotton (I used Moda Grunge spots in white paper) Light weight fusible woven interfacing (I used Pellon SF101 Shapeflex). This is optional. Use this ..read more