Once upon a tree & pendibule

My plan was to try making a covered altoid tin, but the design I picked was a little too big. I also discovered I had no idea how to cut out the perfect cardboard template needed. I could make one the same size as the top and that would be too big. I had a template from the Victoria Sampler site, but it was a little too small for what I had in mind. Sounds like a Goldilocks situation.

So I switched and made a little zippered case to hold some stitcher tools and such. This is the summer design in the Once Upon a Tree series from JCS, July/Aug 2009. The entire design would make a lovely bell-pull, but I didn't think I would stitch the whole thing. I like summer and fall (the one to be featured in the next issue) best. Lots of specialty stitches that I slogged through on the 36ct Vikki linen. So glad she will be offering a 32 count version come October. This really makes me think of summer with the wrinkled linen. ;-)



Next, a quickie mini-pendibule just to see how to make one. This design is from Stitch Creations. A little tricky to sew up the seam near the vertices, but the decorative ribbon hides a lot of that.




And the naked mail-art from the previous post arrived at it's new home in just a few days, totally unscathed. Except for the struggle I had with the post office clerk who insisted on attaching the postage label with Scotch tape, it was a perfectly fine experience. The recipients had never seen anything like this and they were appropriately thrilled (at least they acted that way for my benefit).

July 4th Gamble

For my first mail-art envelope, I chickened out and sent it inside another envelope. But that does kind of take the fun out of it a little. I wanted to try another in a different style of construction, so now that I've finished it, I'm going to take the plunge and send it 'au naturel'.

I didn't over do with stitching embellishment for this test. If I had really done a lot of stitching, I would be more disappointed if the envelope never made to its intended recipient. So I'm hedging my bets to soften the blow just in case.

The front design is a Roly-Poly Uncle Sam by Pam Kellogg, a freebie on the Kreinik site. The back designs are two small designs from this Better Homes and Gardens book.

I borrowed the construction ideas from Liz. I took a notecard envelope and opened it up. It became my template. I traced it onto the fabric. After stitching, I sewed a lining to the Aida. Then I just turned in the sides and sewed up the bottom flap. I think I will baste it closed for mailing.

Ruby

About a week ago I felt like doing something more original than just stitching someone else's design. So I decided to invent another little doll. I have a book of knitted dolls by Claire Garland, but all the dolls in the book are large. The book has some interesting techniques so I started there in hopes of making a small knitted doll. I worked on it a bit each evening. Each night, when I stopped for the day, I thought it was time to forget the whole project. I didn't know where it was going, and I was getting very frustrated. But when I woke each morning, I had new ideas and continued on. Yesterday, I finally completed this little cutie, and I am exceptionally pleased with her. She kind of invented herself. I had no idea that this was what she would look like. She is free-standing, and I didn't expect that either. She just stood up by herself. I guess the dress acts as a base.

She's named after an old friend of mine who has a head of beautiful long curly red hair. I didn't start out to make a Ruby doll.. that's just where the experiments took me.

Very difficult to get the pictures to match her true colors. I started with an indoor photo:



But Ruby demanded to go outside and show off her dress and new handbag:

Kitten in a Red sweater

Fate made me stitch this one. I had just finished browsing the Love Quilts site to see what themes were available for current quilts. Nothing caught my fancy, but shortly after that I saw the DMC chart of the week and remembered the open quilt for Emily F. with a theme of baby horses, puppies and kittens. The stitching went faster than I expected. I usually get bored with lots of grays and stripes like this one has. The fabric is white, but my camera seemed to think it was blue. The design actually shows better on blue, but LQ requires a white Aida background. And, of course, the best part is that once it's stiched, I can just mail it away.. no need to do any finishing!

Of Partridges and Pears

I couldn't stop staring at the Ink Circles ornament in the new issue of JCS. Maybe not the right season for it, but I knew the only cure for me was to stitch it up. And once it was stitched, I had to do the finish. I was going for a pear shape, but I guess it's more of a tree shape. Added some chain feather stitching and a little brass heart to cover up the spot where the piping ends meet. I also changed the shape of the pears in the tree to be a little more to my liking. The stitching is on Vikki Clayton's 35 ct linen. I'll put it away now and hold it til a more appropriate time of year.