Wild and Crazy Carrot

So after I caught up on my SALS in the last post, I realized that I hadn't planned what project to start next.  I usually have my next project in mind while I'm working on one.  I'm a one-at-a-time stitcher, so no WIP's waiting in the wings.  This happened on the night of the Oscars and I couldn't imagine watching an awards show without stitching at the same time.  I looked through my recent freebie downloads and the CEC Primrose Carrot caught my eye.  It fascinated me because it used a lot of colors, but the chart was in black and white with no accompanying color photo.  I couldn't visualize the completed design at all.  I laughed because the designer encourages you to pick your own colors.  Not sure how I would have been able to that.   Luckily I had an appropriate piece of linen and all the DMC colors in my stash, so it became a mystery stitch for me.  It was so much fun to stitch and see the design in color come to life gradually.  On 32-count evenweave, it's a bit too long for a book mark, so I made a little mat to use as a resting spot for my iPad-mini.  I'm quite happy with it.

And I did one more block of El's ABC SAL. Still love these quick little squares.

Coffee Altoid Tin Top & Freedom Mat

So it's down to the final projects for 2014.  I made yet another embellished Altoid tin for my coffee-loving Jazzercise instructor.  The design is a slightly re-worked version of Barbara Ana's "Drink Coffee, Stitch Faster".  I probably could have used the entire design if I had done over-one stitching, but I wasn't in the mood to go with any higher count than 36 over-two on Summer Khaki Edinburgh.  Naturally I enclosed the cute Starbucks gift card keychain fob in the shape of a  mini-red Startbucks coffee cup. With coffee, lip balm and a few chocolates, this seemed like the perfect little package to carry around.  I had those two little gingerbread people embellishments in my stash from one of those "Dress it Up" collections.  My instructor said her two sons are really enamored of gingerbread this year, so I expect they got a kick out of it.

And continuing in the Barbara Ana theme,  I stitched up this "Freedom" design that Barbara donated to the members of the Star Spangled Stitchers FB group.  My camera just couldn't capture the lovely colors of the floss and fabric.  It's stitched on 36 count HDF linen in a beautiful pale blue.  All the other colors are DMC as suggested.   The finished piece is a 5" x 6" mat on which my eyeglasses are currently resting.  The backing is the same as the gold/brown fabric around the piece.  Not my best binding effort, but the camera seems to point out every flaw much more than I would notice in true life.

The Good Ole Days

I think Spring has finally sprung in these parts.  Hoping that the three hours of snow yesterday were a last gasp of winter.  I spent the day finishing up this little quilty mat.  It will rest on the table next to sofa and hold the remote and my glasses.  I love these two Victorian ladies, probably spreading gossip as they meet on the street, dressed so elegantly.   They are a nice take on silhouettes.. just enough color to be interesting. Only four shades of DMC.  One of my better binding efforts, but still with my characteristic wonkiness!

 

The design actually put me in mind of one of my great aunts.  Here name was Annie also, but I was not named after her.  She was born in 1882 in Russia and came to the U.S. in 1898 at the age of 16.  Her outfit could definitely compete with the cross-stitched ladies' finery.

When I was a kid and my older brother discarded some toy or trinket he no longer wanted, I always scooped it up and added it to my collection of treasures.  One such item was still in my jewlery box.  It was a tie tack from AZA, the young boys club that was part of B'nai B'rith.  I decided it was high time I returned it to its rightful owner.  It was so tiny that I was afraid if I put it in an envelope, my brother might drop it, the tie tack would roll under some furniture, and he would never find it. So I invented a keepsake pouch for it.  Kind of looks like a needlebook.  The 6-pointed star I crocheted was not exactly a Star of David, but close enough.  Click here for the pattern.

I added the little tab so that the tie-tack would be removable rather that just sewn into the lining.  I doubt that he will remove it, but just in case!

My brother has received it now (after a bit of scare with weird post office tracking statuses!).  The tie tack is so tiny that although he could see that it is a menorah, he couldn't see the lettering, Aleph-Zadik-Aleph which is AZA in Hebrew.  He didn't recognize it at all as being something he once owned so I had to tell him what it was.  I took this enlarged photo and lightened it up so the letters are a touch more visible.  He certainly appreciated the effort though!

The Happy Couple & Hugs

I was so happy that all of my little quilts sold for the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative, that it inspired me to make more.  When I saw "The Happy Couple" that  Brooke Nolan designed for the Attic Needlework annual breast cancer research auction, I fell in love with it.  Just the sweetest celebration of the young, and albeit white-haired, George and Martha. Then when Brooke offered it for free on her site, I grabbed it and started stitching immediately, knowing this was a perfect piece for a little quilt.  I loved stitching this on a 32 count hand-dyed evenweave fabric I had in my stash, just DMC, no beads.  But there was a reluctance to do the finishing since I really wanted to preserve the circle and do some hand-embroidered seam treatment.  I was afraid I would ruin it in trying that!  Luckily, that part worked out reasonably well.  I used a feather stitch and colonial knot combination for the seam treatment. Circle is a bit wonky, but I never expected perfection on that score.

I had also taken a chance on ordering a walking foot for my ancient Singer sewing machine.  It was a third-party generic foot that was at a good price, so I figured I wouldn't be out much money if it didn't work.  Turned out to work like a charm and did make the sewing a little easier.    Not a perfect finish, but I am pretty happy with the result.

  I used the same technique for the label as I did for the "Tortoise and Hare" quilt.  Simple and effective.  I love having a little touch of embroidery.

The World of Charity Stitching group decided to do an 'Encouraging Words" quilt for a Sandy Hook Survivor.  I picked this ornament from the JCS 2011 ornament issue, changing the word from "Joy" to "Hugs".  The designer is Little by Little Designs, Inc.  I've become quite a fan of that choclate blueberry color combo.

A super surprise package arrived in the mail from Michelle.   She spoiled me with an adorable snowman ornament, a sweet pin pillow, a beautiful piece of raspberry-colored fabric, a couple of nice picture-frame insert cards and the most beautiful counting pins ever!  Thank you so much, Michelle.  I love it all!

Best wishes for a safe, healthy and happy New Year everyone!

Tortoise and the Hare AAQI Quilt

I had my eye on the "Tortoise and the Hare" designs by The Prairie Schooler for a while.  The leaflet had two designs in the same theme, but each was quite different in nature.  I decided to use the smaller one for an AAQI quilt.  I have a perfect spot on the wall for the larger one so I'll do that for myself. 

I love this fable, but I do sympathize with the hare.  "Seize the day", "Strike while the iron is hot", "He who hesitates is lost" ... those are all the inspiring adages we hear all the time.  "Slow and steady wins the race"  seams so boring and not in the spirit of "No guts, no glory".  The bunny messed up, as risk-takers sometimes do, but I suspect there will be a re-match with lessons learned at some point.

Anyway, the small design was charted with the words "Rabbit Hare Tortoise Slow".  Needed more I thought.  So I stitched the two opposing adages, "Time waits for no one" and "Haste Makes Waste" instead.  Of all the adages I thought of, these fit the best in the space I had   The two runners can argue about this over a beer during a teachable moment.

The fabric is 32-count peach butter linen from Vikki Clayton.  She doesn't offer that shade anymore and I really like it.

 

 I experimented with a new way to do a quilt label. I had been doing x-stitch labels, but I was tired of stitching my name and city over and over.  So this time I decided to just write the wording on with a marker.  I used Word to print the text so I could more or less get the spacing right.  I found two little clip art images for a tortoise and a hare and included those in the printout.  I then pressed some freezer paper to a piece of muslin to stabilize it.  Using an ultra-fine point Sharpie, I kind of traced the wording onto the label.  Really I just used the letters as a guideline.  Then with a washable transfer pen, I traced the tortoise and hare and drew a free-from border followed by a little back stitching with 1 strand of DMC.  I folded under the edges and stitched the label down on the quilt back.  Lots of possibilities here.  Sometimes I'm more into label-making than quilt-making.

Two AAQI Quilts

It's been so long since I posted that I almost forgot how to do it. Seems like my blog sometimes ruled my life. It's not that I haven't been crafting, I just haven't worried about finishing and blogging on such a regular basis. It's less stressful. I've completed two more mini-quilts for AAQI. I never seem to find a day when the sun is shining and it's not too windy to take photos outside, so these photos aren't all that great. Plus it's hard to get those quilts to lay nicely and not look totally wonky. Anyway, both designers were very quick to answer my e-mails and allow me to use their designs in this manner. The first is "The Quilter" by The Floss Box. Emily's designs are just too cute. I stumbled on this appropriate finishing fabric too and couldn't resist buying it even though I'm really trying to use up the fabric I have. This is stitched on 36 ct linen from Vikki Clayton. I think I only changed one color from the designer's suggestions. I made the little girl's dress a slightly darker shade of pink. It didn't show up well when I was stitching it in the original lighter pink, but that may have just been a fluke of the lighting in the room at the time.

Next, I stitched the "Take Time To Collect" design from the Jan/Feb 2012 issue of JCS. This is by Jeannette Douglas. It had lots of different embroidery stitches. I decided to use a sample of Vikki Clayton's 28 ct linen for this. It's very stiff. She calls it "canvas light" since it's so close to needlepoint canvas. I wasn't sure I would like working with it, but it's great for these different stitches. It has enough body to support them. Since this was a sample, Vikki hadn't paid much attention to shrinkage when she dyed it. Turns out that it shrunk in one direction more than the other. The design is 68 stitches on a side, but as you can see, it's certainly not square. I didn't realize this til near the end, but I did think those spools at the top seemed oddly tall. Luckily it made no difference in this case. I would have been disappointed if I had been planning to use this for a pre-purchased square box or frame. I did this one all in DMC and changed all the colors so it doesn't look too much like the one in the magazine. I added a button and charm instead of the personalization shown in the original.

Strawberry Snow

Sometimes I make something so sweet that it feels like my teeth are going to melt. "Strawberry Snow" is a San-Man Originals chart that I won in a contest on the SMO message board. I always feel like I have an obligation to stitch a chart that I won, and I only enter contests where I really want to stitch the chart so it usually works out fine. This was such a cute theme, perfect for the transition from winter to spring. I've turned it into a quilt that I hope to send to AAQI if I can get Sandy's approval. I had fun adding beads to snowflakes, rick-rack to the seam and the cute little bow around the snowman's neck. The fabric is 28 ct Cashel linen in light mocha, and the threads are mostly DMC with the exception of WDW Strawberry Fields for the berries. It annoys me that the camera seems to pick up all the wonky parts that aren't so noticeable in real life. I think this is the first time that my mitered corners all came out like they were supposed to though.

Queen of Hearts

Not too much crafting happening lately. I started this piece sometime in December and began to think I'd never finish it. I'm generally a one-piece-at-a-time stitcher so that was rather unusual for me. But it's all done now. The design is "Queen of Hearts" by Prairie Moon. I may have selected a fabric that's just a bit too dark, Zweigart 36 count Dirty Linen, but I like it anyway. I used a mish-mash of various pink flosses that I had in my stash. I think that queen is so cool, especially the teeny feet! I've turned it into another mini-quilt for AAQI.



I made a teeny cross-stitch label for the back. Next time I try that, I'll make it a bit bigger.



And in honor of Valentine's Day, I'd like to give away the chart to someone who would like to stitch it. Just note in a comment that you are interested, and I'll do a drawing if there is more than one person who would like to have it.

Cottage Pinkeep Sampler Quilt

I was feeling a little down yesterday so I decided to employ a bit of stitch therapy and finish up another little art quilt for AAQI. A 'finish-finish' always lifts my spirits. This design is the Cottage Pinkeep Sampler by Deborah Thorpe of Midsummer Night Designs. Deborah has granted me permission to use her design for this purpose. It's stitched on 36 count linen from HDF. I love the sweet motifs and muted colors, but I thought it needed a bright border to set it off. Might be too bright for some tastes, but I love it.





My addled brain totally forgot to post the wonderful gifts I won from Carol's contest. I had already put the toys away in separate places when I remembered I hadn't taken a photo, so I gathered everything up today and took a picture to share. Funny thing, Carol also included some chocolate, but that is nowhere to be found at this point...hmmm? Anyway I just love the wonderful stitching bag that has a nice flat bottom so it stands up on it's own. Carol included a couple of lovely fat quarters and nice little journal. And the pièce de résistance is the sweet little pin cushion she made for me. It's stitched on black fabric.. something I could never hope to do and it's stuffed with the crushed walnut shells that are so popular these days. It's fun to hold and squish... could be marketed like worry beads I think! Thank you so much, Carol.

Sea of Red, White and Blue Quilt

Finally found a block of time to finish up the Oakhaven Designs "Sea of Red, White, and Blue" sampler into a mini-quilt for AAQI. I picked up the blue and white fabric in a clearance bin of fat quarters at the fabric store. I almost left empty-handed before I noticed it and thought it was exactly what I wanted.





Also finished up Carol's iStitch SAL. The last part had personalization and I didn't want to add any monogram or date since I'm not sure how I will use this piece. So I found a little squirrel design to substitute in the lower right. It's a slight modification of the one in A Mon Ami Pierre's Six Mains sampler. And there was supposed to be a date in the block below the scissors, but I changed that motif a little to fill in the empty space. This was a fun SAL and a ton of work for Carol. I hope she knows we all appreciated her efforts and generosity.

Crochet Pincushion plus....

I love to make thread crochet motifs, but I really find it hard to find a way to use them. I only like to make one of any design...not into crocheted doilies, tablecloths and such. I was browsing for something else entirely when I found these gorgeous pincushions at this Etsy seller, Namolio. Not sure of the details on how she attaches the motifs, but I decided to make something on that order. I cut two felt circles, used blanket stitch to sew them together and stuffed them. Then I sewed my motif on top, just tacking at each of the eight vertices of this octagonal design. I did it in a hurry so the sewing was pretty sloppy, but as a proof of concept, I'm pleased.




I've been keeping up with the Great Escape SAL in the Stitch Specialits Yahoo group. You can see the model on the home page. Each installment uses a different embroidery stitch and some are quite tricky to do well. My stitches are not really very even and someone said my owl probably has ruffled feathers. I'll go along with that. We've had 4 installments so far and the owl is starting to look like an owl. The fabric I'm using is a light blue violet, not this harsh blue that my camera chose!





Another browsing around session brought me to a cute sampler I fell in love with. It's called 'A Sea of Red, White and Blue' by Tonia Pappan of Oakhaven designs. I've finished the stitching and hope to make it into an art quilt for AAQI. Just waiting for Tonia to grant permission. Don't you just love the little guy with the spyglass. Little does he know that giant bird is right behind him!

Seasonal Pantries & SAL Updates

AAQI has provided me with a new way to use all the designs I've saved up for the 'right occasion'. I never stitch anything twice, so when I really like something, I don't like to waste the stitching when I don't know how I'll use it. Am I the only one who does this? But the AAQI mini-quilts are perfect for those designs, especially since it doesn't seem like the 'right occasions' are ever going to come! Reminds me of how reluctant I am to wear new clothes until a special occasion comes along. Sometimes, those clothes hang in the closet un-worn until they completely go out of style!

So I decided to stitch up the seasonal pantry designs that Brooke Nolan offered to members of her Yahoo group some time ago and use them for a mini-quilt. Brooke graciously gave me permission to use the designs in this way. They are so beautiful, I just didn't have the heart to stitch them without a purpose. I used four different pieces of hand-dyed 18 count Aida. The amount of shrinkage was different on each so they aren't precisely the same size. But I don't ever stitch things up precisely anyway so not a problem. I used all cotton batting in this one. It's nice.. retains its loft when I press it and also stays in place without a lot of slip-sliding while I'm sewing it.











I added two months to the San-Man Birthday Village. We now have an LNS in town. Notice how it is the tallest building in the village, just as it should be! And you can buy a tasty apple snack on your way.




I'm up to date on the Carol's SAL too. The piece is small and the photo is even smaller. Carol wants to prevent people stitching from finished images and this is the best way I guess.

Something Sweet

Tropical storms make for rainy Saturdays indoors so I got a couple of stitchy things done yesterday.

I decided to test my new binding skills to create a little art quilt that I hope can be used by AAQI to raise money for Alzheimer's research. My friend Jane gave me the chart for "Something Sweet" by Blackbird Designs and I thought it was just the right subject. My Mom had Alzheimer's and flowers were one thing she could still appreciate right to the end. As usual, my finish is a little lop-sided, but it actually looks less so in person. I used the fast-finish triangles on the back to make an easy way to hang it.. just insert wood slats, a nail file, a straw.. whatever and hang from a nail on the wall.

I'd like to pass this chart on to someone who would like to stitch it. Just mention it in a comment if you are interested. I'll do a drawing if there are a number of stitchers interested and post the results in a week or so.


Part 2 of the iStitch SAL is now done as well. Since Carol added some letters, I thought I'd add another color to the mix. The intrigue is increasing!