Tutorials

Just a couple of tutorials I want to keep track of:

Tissue Cozy

Crayon Roll

Thanks to Day for the ideas. :-)

One last update from the Christmas stitching

Here's a picture of one of the other items I finished for Christmas last year:


Click to enlarge

It's a Bent Creek pattern (Arbor Day) stitched on natural linen using Weeks Dye Works and Gentle Arts Sampler Threads fibers. I like the different characters of the three trees, and how it fits in the frame. I stitched it for a friend who loves trees, natch.

Sorry for the extreme lack of stitching content around here lately -- but it's the natural result of an extreme lack of stitching. We're expecting a baby any day now, so I think the drought is likely to continue for a while longer...

Finished Pieces

Just thought I would post pictures of some of the pieces I finished for Christmas this year. I forgot to take photos before wrapping up a couple of the others, but here are a few that I did manage to photograph first:


Click to enlarge all images.

The piece on the left is a free Bent Creek pattern called "Swirlygig," which I finished in a Betsy Box from Sudberry House. I lined the inside of the box with green felt and I think it came out nice. This was the first box I ever used, and I learned some things about putting the needlework in the top... I would probably put in an extra piece of stiff cardboard next time to make the whole thing feel a little more sturdy. I used two layers of low-loft batting behind the needlework and that seemed to be about the right amount of lift it needed. I'd like to stitch this design again using different colors, but I knew these colors (as charted) would go well in the bedroom of the person I made this for.

The piece on the right is also finished in a Sudberry House box, and you can see another view of it here. I made this for my mom, who has a lot of red in her kitchen and house. The design is "Delivering Flurries" by Homespun Elegance, which I stitched back in August. I added brass buttons for the wheels on the wagon and the bird's basket... I think the original design showed the bird carrying ice skates, but I liked the basket button better. I used the low-loft batting on this one and lined the box with green felt, too.



This black cat is a Rico pattern (from Germany) that I have stitched before. It's stitched with Anchor colors. I made this for friends of ours who love black cats as much as we do, and framed it in a little 5X5 desktop frame. I left the glass in it to protect the piece, and you can see my reflection in the picture. Oops!



And just a couple more. The one on the left is a Bent Creek pattern (Robin on an Egg) that I stitched in September. I really like working with the overdyed fibers and this was just a fun stitch. I used a blue suede desktop frame for it, that I thought matched the design well.

The one on the right is another rooster finished in a Sudberry House trivet. Again, I really don't think these "trivets" should be used as trivets... they just don't seem to protect the needlework all that well. But they would make nice dresser trays or something. This design was from an old kit I got on eBay -- I would like to stitch it again for myself (along with the other rooster, which I posted in the previous entry).

So that's most of what I did for Christmas. Of all the stitching I finished this year, I think the only pieces I am keeping for myself are the tea towels (I did three). I do love tea towels and all kinds of practical pieces! But there are still lots of WIPs, and a few things I'd like to finish for the baby, and the list goes on. As it always does.

Hope you all had a good year of stitching, and that 2006 will be even better!

A Small Update

Here is pansy number five on the SAL I am (slowly) stitching with Renee. I found this one tough to stitch, because two of the colors of orange are so very close... I think they were 221 and 222 (though I could be remembering wrong). But anyway, here it is. Click here to see my progress so far on the whole piece; I have done five out of sixteen pansies.

I really haven't felt much like stitching in the last couple of months. I've been pretty stressed out, so stitching would have been a good idea, but I just couldn't seem to buckle down to it in the evenings.

Now I am trying to frame and otherwise finish some things I made earlier this year (of course I am giving some of these things away for Christmas). Here are a couple of things I framed this week:


Click to enlarge.

I framed the rooster on the left in a trivet from Sudberry House, but I almost think it would be better used as a dresser tray or something. There is nothing remotely watertight about that "trivet," and if anything spilled on it I don't think it would fare too well. On the right is a small Marjolein Bastin design (my first foray with evenweave, if I remember correctly) framed in a matted wood frame from IKEA. Neither of these are too fancy but I do think they look nice.

I have some wooden boxes with frame holes cut in the top, and now I am trying to figure out how to line the boxes once I get the needlework in there. I have no idea. I am imagining some kind of process involving velvet, batting, and a hot glue gun, but maybe there is an easier way? Any suggestions would be most appreciated.

Sorry I haven't been keeping this blog up too well. I am in my 8th month of pregnancy now, and it is very difficult to concentrate on stitching or writing about stitching. I'm also dealing with gestational diabetes and it has pretty much knocked me for a loop. I am slowly regaining my equilibrium but it is taking a while.

I'll post more pictures of the finished pieces as I get them done.

No time to stitch!

Well... sorry to drop off the face of the earth like that! I stitched quite a lot in September, but since October began, I simply haven't had any time. Work has been very busy (I even went on a business trip), and my chorus is gearing up for its annual show so there is a lot of work to do there, too. I am still trying to keep up with reading some blogs (not doing that great, though) and I hope things will calm down a little once November starts. But you never know!

My goal for October is to finish the second half of the pansy I started in September, for the SAL I am working on with Renee. And I think that's about all I can commit to!

Hope you are all well! Thanks for checking in. I will try to update more when I have a little more time.

One HD and One WIP

First of all, thank you for the nice replies to my last post! I appreciate people trying to help me find the little elf I saw so many months ago. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to locate him yet, but I have seen some other really cute patterns!

Now for an update...


Click to enlarge!

Here's a small happy dance. These chickens are a Margaret Sherry design from one of the British cross stitch magazines. I stitched them on a Charles Craft tea towel and I think they turned out really cute!

I have been wanting to stitch a Margaret Sherry design for awhile, because I am intrigued by the way backstitch is used in them. I've bought a few of her patterns (mostly cats, one bear) and have even started stitching one of them, but in the end, these colorful chickens called my name. I love chickens anyway, so I will probably keep this towel.

The backstitch was not as tough as I expected. I was a little worried that my tea towel was inset with Aida, not evenweave, and I have heard that it can be hard to do the backstitch as represented on these patterns on Aida. However, the Charles Craft towel was really soft and easy to work with -- much more giving than most Aida I have used. So the stitching went fine. As always, I'm fascinated by the difference backstitch can make. Check out the chickens a couple of days ago, before I added the outlines.

The chickens weren't on my September objectives list, but I started and finished them this month. I'm actually not sticking to my objectives very well at all... here's another small WIP I started today:



I've actually gotten a little more done than is shown here, but the rest of it doesn't look like much yet. This cute little plane is from a book of alphabets I bought recently, which I really like a lot. There are so many cute designs in this book... I can't wait to try more of them. I'm stitching the plane on light blue 18-count Aida that I got in a grab bag of odds and ends from the Thistle in Glastonbury.

So anyway, I have been doing a little stitching! As usual, just my customary small designs. But lately my mind is really on finishing. I set myself a goal of finishing at least two completed items this month... I don't know if I will make it or not, but I do feel like I'll be doing a lot of finishing soon. I have several pieces from Sudberry House, and some frames that I would like to fill. I am a little nervous, having never framed anything myself (except for that little ladybug I stitched for my friend's daughter, but that was a kit with frame included and had very clear directions).

I also got my sewing machine fixed so that I could use it to finish things, but I just don't know if I have the patience or courage (or time, for that matter) to try anything new. We'll see. I have to start somewhere!

This is driving me CRAZY

Maybe one of you can help.

Months ago, I read on someone's blog (I think it was a blog) about how she had stitched birth announcements for her baby boy. The pattern was a little elf in a pointy hat, which she stitched all in red, and I think it was a freebie from a French needlework site. She had some help from a friend to finish them all up, I remember. And I thought I bookmarked it, but apparently I didn't. Does anyone else remember this? I want to find that pattern.

This may also be a good time to mention that I am pregnant. My due date is in February.