Tea Keeper, Baby Sampler, Candy Box

So as March winds down, I have three finishes to show.  Cold and windy weather meant more time staying inside I think.  First we have "The Tea Keeper" by Kathy Barrick.  I loved this design from the moment I saw it when it was only available as a club piece, a club for which I am not a member.  But good things come to those who wait and the chart finally became available to the general public.

I love the stern expression on this woman's face.  "Don't mess with my tea", she says.  But I definitely was not in the mood for another alphabet.   Somehow I remembered a Silver Creek Sampler that used a line from the song, "Do Re Mi", and I decided to use that line here where it was very appropriate.  So I stitched "Tea" across the top and "A drink with jam & bread" down the sides.  Bet you wouldn't have noticed if I didn't bring it up.  The fabric is 36 count Summer Khaki Edinburgh linen over 2.  It's all done in DMC with just a few color changes.  I also added the little teapot on the top to fill in the blank space left after my re-working of the pattern.   A pinkeep was the quickest finish for me.  Just added black mini-rick rack anchored with beads and straight pins.    It's happily sitting on the table where I work.

I have a new baby cousin born on Valentine's Day!  What a fun day to celebrate one's birthday every year.  I stitched an old sweet little alphabet freebie by Vavi for him.   You can get it here.  Just scroll down to 'Cocooning' at the bottom of the page.  She charted several variations of this piece.  I modified it to replace the many flowers with animal motifs and one key.   I picked 3 DMC colors in a 'boy' palette. 

Easy door hanger finish with a little batting, backing and rick rack edging.  The back is a darker blue and white polka dot fabric that complements the ribbon hanger.  I forgot to take a photo of the back.    The fabric is 28 count Cashel linen over 2 in some off-whitish color.

Oh yea.. one pink lion charm to cover-up the mistake I made in the rick rack edging. 

I've lately had the honor and stitcher-tunity to make something for a friend who recently got sworn in as a U.S. citizen.  I wanted a patriotic design, but not too patriotic.  I picked "Hat's Off to Uncle Sam" by Blackbird Designs which seemed to fit the bill perfectly.   It is stitched with DMC on 32 count MCG linen over 2.   Once I had stitched it, I scoured the grocery store shelves for a container that would be the right size for me to use as a candy box with the stitching adorning the top.  Trader Joe's to the rescue!  They had the perfect round tin of chocolate wedges.  I'd never done a round box top finish before, but a little running stitch for gathering and clipping the fabric curves made it easy to do correctly.  I love this little finish and I hope my friend does as well.