Sunday, September 14, 2014

Fall Pumpkins Altoid Tin

I was beginning to think this post was never going to happen.  This project seemed to be one disaster after another, but somehow it finally got done. I had expected it to be finished much sooner, but I'm happy it finally gelled.

I fell in love with Elizabeth Talledo's "Fall Pumpkins" hornbook design in the Oct. 2014 issue of JCS.  Since I had done the Spring one as an Altoid tin top, I knew this was the right size for one, so I decided to go ahead and stitch it with that finish in mind.  I used Summer Khaki Cashel linen, one over one with DMC threads.  After I finished the bowl that holds the pumpkins and looked at the rest of the chart, I was shocked to see that Elizabeth had charted a lot of petit point motifs.  In other words, I should have been stitching that bowl over two so I could halve the size of the stitches for the other motifs.  No way to stitch over half a thread!

I almost abandoned the project at that point.  But I took it as a challenge instead.  I re-charted three birds to make them simpler so they would fit in the space.  The background had included a lovely alphabet and the numbers 1-10, but I had to let that idea go.  I just looked around for fall sampler motifs and sprinkled them in the background - owl, acorn, key, tiny pumpkin, etc.  I'm still not perfectly pleased with those choices, but enough was enough.

Then in the finishing, I started gluing the ribbon around top, only to realize I had chosen ribbon that was too wide.  So I had to pull that mess off and re-start.  The padded stitching is kind of lumpy too.. I don't know why that happened.  But at least had 1/4" ribbon in the right color.

For the inside I got the idea to do a round keyring fob.  I thought I still had one of those bottlecap frames to make a magnet, but I couldn't find it.  So I just used a backing with plain fabric stretched around cardboard and sewed it to the stitching stretched around cardboard.  I stitched the trim around at the same time I stitched  the front to the back and it started fraying all over the place.  I had to used clear-drying glue to tamp it down.   The design is a little witch from a freebie called "Hallowen Witch and Tree" by Kathleen Finn of Stitches of Olde.  She gave the freebie to members of  the FB Prim Stitchers Society.

On to the next project!


22 comments:

Rita said...

Sorry about the complications but it really turned out great!

I just finished stitching the witch design last night while watching football.

Anna van Schurman said...

Whatever the problems, it's quite a lovely little small. Nice job.

Jackie's Stitches said...

I can't tell you had any problems at all! Nice fall colors.

Annette-California said...

I was feeling your frustration as I was reading. WOW! You did it again:)))
It turned out Gorgeous Annie! LOVE the design and the inside is such a wonderful surprise! SUPER darling witch fob and the tiny leaves are great!
love Annette

Carol said...

Oh, Annie, I'm so glad you persevered because you ended up with a terrific finish! Love the whole piece and the way you finished both the outside and the interior. As I've said many times--you are the absolute queen of Altoid tin finishes :) I'll have to check out the JCS magazine at work today--that really is such a beautiful fall piece!

Enjoy your week :)

Mii Stitch said...

So so glad you didn't give up, everything just look fantastic!! A great job, well done!!

Brenda A said...

Awe, sorry it turned out to be a pain, but it looks really lovely finished!!

Vickie said...

I love this pattern too. Good for you Annie! You did it. And very well too. :)

Angela said...

Lovely finish :)

Margaret said...

This is just lovely! I'm glad you didn't abandon it and came up with a solution for the over one and the over one. lol! Gorgeous finishing as always. You are so creative!

The Inspired Stitcher said...

Way to go on "making it work" as Tim Gunn would say. Very nicely done!

Anonymous said...

Hello!

Your finish is lovely, it's nice that you persevered with it.
Have a good week (:

Kissy said...

It looks just perfect! Love the things you added and can't even imagine how it would look with the alphabet. The witch key fob is pretty too!

Blu said...

Too bad about the problems, but the finish is well worth the effort!

Jane said...

It looks fabulous, it gives no clues to the problems it's given you

Karen said...

You are so creative, Annie, and you always figure out how to do your projects in such unique ways. Very pretty and so charming!

Sheryl said...

It has turned out really lovely.

Melanie said...

Woooo, that does seem like a lot of work for a small project. I'm not sure I would have finished it, that's for sure. lol
It's quite lovely though and bears no scars of it's long process to get there. :)

Anne said...

Sometimes frustration reaps rewards and thats what youve done!! Its lovely Annie! I'm working on 2 Christmas tins right now and one of them I still have to decide on the design. Possibly a tatty teddy over one! Would be fun, wouldn't it! LOL Happy Day to you!

Hetti said...

Oh Annie, after all the problems the Altoid tin is so beautiful!! The inside is also a very nice surprise.The witch is so cute!
XXX Hetti

ArchangelDecker said...

You did a good job! I love how yours turned out. :)

Brigitte said...

What a nice little treasure you created. In spite of all the problems you were having when compiling it it turned out so great.