May-July

And now to bring us into July.

This is another male birthday card.  The guy with the birthday collects glassware sets with pitchers.  So I think this works well for him.  I'm not sure where I found this.  Probably in a magazine at some point.
Stitched on 28-ct twilight mist Jobelan over 2.

This one is for me.  I've wanted to do "A Stitcher's House" by Stone Street Stitchworks for some time.  It's on Vintage Country Mocha 32 count linen.  I love how this door hanger turned out.  The colors are even prettier in person.

Here's a fun birthday card for a June 10th birthday.  I modified Heart In Hands Square Dance for June.  I loved the result.  Again on Vintage Country Mocha 32 count, apparently my new favorite.   I  enclosed a Baskin-Robbins gift card since it went so well with the theme.

 

Another finish for me using 32 count Vintage Country Mocha Belfast.  This is The Floss Box design, "Autumn Mandala".  It's an oldie that I saw stitched up online somewhere and took a liking to it.  I would never have known how cute it was if I hadn't seen it completed.  The pattern was only a graph with no photo of a finished model.
Makes a cute mat as a resting spot for my glasses, keys, whatever.

I made another cute coin purse gift. This is a modified version of the Black Hearted Queen freebie from SubRosa Designs.  The chart is still available on her blog here. The red dress idea was someone else's color change that I adopted. The wording change was my brain child. Less border too. Love my little heart charm zipper pull. This is on  32 ct summer khaki linen over 2.  Zipper pull charm from Creative Kinyobi on Etsy.

Finally, we have a last minute July 4th card stitched on 36 count summer khaki Edinburgh linen.  This is the "Liberty" mini-cat freebie from Lynn at Happiness is Cross Stitching.   Michael's made my job easy with those nice shiny star stickers and the star sequins jumped out at me in a local variety store.

Click here
for the chart.

Gardener Threadkeep, Coffee Coaster, Uncle Sam

Sometimes a design just calls out to me to be stitched.  This one, Blackbird Designs Garden Club #9, "The Gardener", was one of those.  Maybe it's because BBD does not usually put a human figure in their designs.  I can't think of any other that does, but I'm sure I haven't seen them all.  I decided to turn this into a little thread keep for our blogging friend Carol.  I discovered that JoAnn's sells those plastic rings in a number of sizes which makes it very convenient to select the right thing.   I think this is 32 count Jobelan or Lugana.

Another design that called out my name for some stitch therapy was this cute coffee design from Stone Street Stitchworks called "Coffee Corner".   You can find it in their Etsy shop.  There are two versions on the pattern, one in red with a December holiday theme, and the one I stitched that is kind of  all-season.   Finished into a little mat/coaster because I couldn't think of anything else. This is stitched on 36 ct linen from my seemingly endless pile of HDF linen.

I saw this adorable freebie from Annie Beez Folk Art,  "Uncle Sam Rides a Crow", and I really wanted to stitch up the center motif.  It always makes me a little queasy to see a crow with an Uncle Sam, so I played with the chart to turn the crow into an eagle.  Kind of looks like an odd-colored pigeon now, but in context, I think it passes as an eagle.  I think it makes  a cute July 4th card with the addition of the stickers too.  This is done on another scrap of 36 ct HDF linen.

Next project will be on 28 ct over 2 to give my eyes a rest!

Tea and Cake, Band Sampler & Condolence Card

So this is a catch-up post. Blogging has taken a real back-seat these days as it has with many others. Actually, I just like it to record my projects.

 Lakeside Needlecrafts recently sponsored a 6-week free SAL designed by Durene Jones.  It was hosted on their Facebook Group.  The theme was "Tea and Cake".   The fun part of these mystery SAL's is anticipating each installment and seeing everyone's interpretation with varying threads, fabric and design adaptations.   This is not a design I would have chosen to stitch otherwise, but the process was fun.   I kept up on time through part 4.   And then life interfered.  But I finally completed it and made it into a large coaster or small mat yesterday.

It is stitched on 28 ct Jobelan over-2.  The fabric color is  "Twilight Mist".  The threads are the DMC suggestions except for the border where I used Carrie's Mardi Gras cotton floss.

I changed the wording a little also.

A close colleague, friend and mentor passed away recently.  I made this little condolence card for the family using a motif from the "Dear Rine" sampler SAL.   This is another free SAL hosted on the Dear Rine FB group.  I'm not really doing that SAL, but some of these circular animal designs are quite charming and useful when you need a small generic design.

I also decided to so some of Pam Kellogg's Never-Ending Band Sampler SAL.   I don't think I ever stitched a band sampler, so I wanted to see what I had been missing.  This is another free SAL with a Facebook group, but the patterns are all on Pam's Blog.  I started with the second panel and did half of it.  Each panel is about 18" long on 28 count over-2 fabric.  I enjoyed doing this, but half a panel was about all I wanted to do before I wanted to move on.  This on a light beige Jobelan fabric.  I don't know if I will ever do anything with this piece, but I enjoyed it.  

The patterns are all black and white so everyone chooses their own colors.  Stitchers on the FB group have shown some lovely color choices.  I had no idea what I was doing, color-wise.  I just jumped in and decided colors as I went along.

Octagon, Ghost Carrots, and Joyful World SAL Finish!

Had a flurry of stitchy energy in the last few weeks.   My eyes are feeling better and I'm feeling better in general after some much needed meds finally kicked in and did their job.   I'm showing photos that have been on FB and IG, but I know not everyone sees those and besides, I like to have the chronological record that blogging provides.

First up is this adorable four seasons freebie design from Lori Brechlin of Notforgotten Farm.  She gave this to the members of the FB Primitive Stitchers Society.  The original had red and white striped candy canes for winter, but I substituted a teacup with steam rising from it.  That little motif is courtesy of one of the Little Stitcher's designs.  I decided to try and bind this in an octagon shape.  I almost ruined the piece in the process, but did manage to rescue it.  I had planned on a much wider border originally.  The backing is the same as the border fabric and there is a layer of quilt batting for the sandwich. This may be the last octagon I ever attempt. It's basically coaster size now and I rest my glasses on it when I take them off.  The fabric is 36 ct Edinburgh Dirty Linen.

I recently discovered an adorable Italian designer who goes by the name of Cassandra FairyWool and sells her designs on Etsy in the "FairyWool in the Wood" shop.  Her designs are primitive style that show-off her quirky, humorous side.   I fell in love with one of her recent designs called "Rabbit and Ghosts".  The rabbit looks very much like her real-live pet rabbit.  He's digging up carrots from the garden while ghost carrots are flying all around him.  I stitched it up and made a pouch for my newest wooden hoop.  It's stitched on 36 ct HDF linen.  That's a little wooden heart button in the bottom right corner, added for symmetry.

 

The finishing urge struck me and I completed the final five (count 'em, 5!) pages of the Joyful World Calendar SAL.  So all done now and nothing to do but wait for each month to 'turn the virtual pages'. Each used a different fabric, all from my stash.  Here are the final five:

 

And here are the ensemble photos:

Hare's Coaster and Calendar SAL

I had hoped to have at least one more finish before the end of March, but it was not meant to be.  I have two completed stitched pieces that are sitting with all their finishing materials waiting for me to take time to pay some attention to them.

So to have something to show, I decided to do a quick finish of this cute design by Gaynor of Stitcher's Anon fame.  This is a freebie design she offered to members of her Holmsey Hare's Heaven Facebook Group.   I was just so taken with that ring of hares, that I felt compelled to stitch it.  I had planned to make a pincushion, but the design fit so perfectly into one of these snap-in light weight coasters, that I couldn't resist such a quick finish.  I wish these coasters were still available in U.S. stores, but it seems that you can only get them in the U.K. now.    The original design used similar colors, but they weren't DMC so I just tried to match up DMC colors from the model. This is stitched on 36 count HDF linen.

Somewhere along the way, I managed to finish up two more of the Joyful World calendar pages.  So I've got seven of them done now.  This gives me hope that  I might actually get to all twelve.
My fabric trim for June really looks like an autumn fabric, but it seemed to go so well with the bear design that I used it early.

The sparkles in the border fabric for July kind of remind me of  July 4th fireworks.   I think the colors worked well for this one too.

I'm kind of amazed at how much fabric stash I have.  I think I won't need to buy even one fat quarter for finishing these.  And I'm excited that I can change out the March one on the fridge tomorrow to welcome in April!

Turkey and Eagle

Not too much stitching in the last few weeks.  Seem to have spent way too much time fighting off one kind of minor health problem after another.   I was scheduled for jury duty too, but luckily my number was high enough that they didn't need me on the actual day so I was excused.

One piece of good news during my downtime.... a big, beautiful, new Joann's fabric and crafts store opened in a mall nearby!  Usually, I just hear about these things closing.  What a pleasant surprise!

When I finally felt a bit better, I just wanted to stitch something cute.  So out came "Bok Bok", a freebie from Plum Street Samplers that came out in 2009.  You can still get the pattern here.  He's such a an elegant little turkey, stitched on a piece of lavender hand-dyed Aida.  I turned him into a coaster/mat to use for the season.  I'm afraid the guy got all dressed-up without knowing his Thanksgiving fate!

I also managed to finish a square for a WOCS quilt.  They are doing a couple of quilts for wounded warriers and vets.  I thought this sweet piece, "Pride and Glory", from Threadworks Primitive would work well for the theme.  The rules required white, 14 count fabric, and I had one lone piece of Aida in my stash that filled the bill.

Pumpkins for Cathey

Today is the big day to show love and support for our dear blogging buddy Cathey at the Pumpkin Patch.   This is Cathey's blogoversary so first we congratulate her for her many years of successful, entertaining blogging.  And we also want to send all the positive pumpkin energy we can as Cathey goes through difficult times.

When I first learned of this special event, the brainchild of  Sharon/DaffyCat, I immediately starting working on pumpkin stitchy projects.  Some are still in the works, but here are the finishes.  Hope they bring a little surprise cheer.

We start with a cute little girl coming out of a pumpkin to yell, "Surprise"!  This is a quilty mat/coaster from a design by  GreenBeanBaby .

 

Next is a cell phone case to be given in honor of Cathey to WOCS for distribution to a woman in a domestic violence shelter.  The design is the Autumn Mini-Sampler by Waxing Moon.  The x-stitch fabric is a scrap from an 18-count evenweave fabric in my stash that I really can't identify.  Plenty of pumpkin love on this one.

 

 

 

A slice of the October Doorways design by Vermillion Stitchery made a perfect bookmark  to welcome Halloween and show off some cute pumpkins.  This is on 36 ct Edinburgh linen with a black gros-grain ribbon fused to the back.

 

And finally, a finish for a design I stitched last year.  This piece is "Autumn Buddies" by Oakhaven Designs stitched on 36 ct HDF linen.  Perfect size for an Altoid top and perfect expression of pumpkin love for my "Autumn Buddy" Cathy.

 

 

Cathey, hope your day is filled with wonderful surprises!  You have tons of friends pulling for you.

Wear a smile, have some coffee, and think Cinderella

I think I just did the fastest complete cross stitch project of my life.   Mii Stitch chose me as the next in line to stitch Lizzie Kate's "Wear a Smile" in another of the traveling patterns that's making the rounds.  Such a cutie when I saw it, but I probably would never have thought to stitch something like this otherwise.  I received the pattern on Friday, stitched almost the whole thing on Friday night, and finished it up into a pinkeep on Saturday.  I'm planning to display it on a little easel and give it to my dentist as a little knick-knack for the office.  The office seems to thrive on such things.  It's stitched on 36 ct HDF linen over 2 threads in the 3 shades of DMC on the pattern.

I need to pick a stitcher who would like to stitch this pattern next.  Please leave a note in a comment that you would like to be included in a drawing and I'll pick a name.   As always with traveling patterns, we would like you to stitch it in a timely fashion, show it on your blog, and offer to send the pattern on to another stitcher.

Does everyone's dentist send out such arty re-call notices as mine does?  Take a look at the latest one I received:

I stitched up another Aliolka pattern to make as a gift for a coffee loving friend.  I was going to do a book mark, but then I thought about a quilty coaster.  Not 100% happy with my finish, but the more I look at it, the more I like it.  Not sure if this is on linen or evenweave.. just used an available scrap.

You can find the free chart here.

 

I crocheted this cute princess motif from a Japanese designer.  I think of her as Cinderella, but maybe with that hair she's more of Princess Leia.   This was a very difficult graphical crochet pattern to interpret.  I finally found a number of people who tried it on Ravelry and several gave a variation to make it work out.  So I used one of those and still had trouble.  She's not perfect, but who is?  I got the idea to make a pumpkin zippered pouch from one I had seen on the web and applique the princess on the back., So I think of it as Cinderella waiting for the pumpkin to turn into a coach so she can proceed to the ball.  Did not quite turn out the way I imagined it, but I am proud to say that I figured out how to do it with no exposed raw edges inside!     I'll probably donate her to WOCS to use as one of the favors they give to nursing home residents or even to the children in one of the shelters for domestic violence.

 

 

Valentine Stitching

I love Valentine's Day and I always like to do some 'heart' stitching for the season. My first item is a card I made after being sick for a week and not doing much of anything. I had some computer problems and now that I'm back up, I can't seem to find the freebie that I used to stitch this design. It was the final thing I printed on my old computer from a collection of tree designs in monochrome with no specified colors. Maybe someone else will recognize it. I used a variety of pinks in no particular order on a scrap of hand-dyed Aida from Sassy's. The sequins are all different colors, but I think they don't show up too well on the photo. I felt like a kid in grade school arts and crafts making this up on Sunday morning.



My friend Jane did a double enabling trick on me for the next pieces. First, she introduced me to Raspberry Rabbits and the free heart of the month stitchery patterns that were offered on this site in 2011. I had been asking fellow blogging embroiderers how they transfer designs to fabric, and Jane told me about an inexpensive mini-light table, only 6" x 9", mostly designed for card-makers to use for embossing. I found one on overstock.com and took a chance that it would work out. Turns out to be perfect for smaller designs. I used each of my four favorite hearts as the centerpiece on a quilted coaster. Each of them has been received by a fellow stitcher at this point. It was good practice for me to make them.

One for Nia:


One for Annette:



One for Wendy:


One for Michelle:



I also sent Michelle a little manicure scissors to use for frogging a few stitches. The curved tips are perfect for this. I made a little pouch to hold it with a pretty crocheted motif as embellishment.




Finally, I was so charmed by the little triangular thread-catchers I had seen on so many blogs that I just had to try making one. Myra made tons of them as gifts so I figured maybe they were a quick project if she had time to make so many. I found the tute here. Easy to make, but hard to make perfect. I had to sew the sides by hand since my machine balked at going through 8 layers of fabric! Maybe there is a trick to this that I missed. Anyway, it's kind of cute sitting on the arm of my stitching chair and it continues my Valentine's theme.