Heartbreak Hotel and The Traveling Bunny

The World Of Charity Stitching Group decided to do an Elvis-themed quilt after finding some interesting Elvis-printed fabric.  I wasn't planning to sign up for that one.  Seemed too complicated to find an appropriate pattern.  But they were short a couple of stitchers and no one had done anything for "Heartbreak Hotel", so I took it as a challenge.  I now have a ton of drawings and ideas for this theme.  But nothing that I wanted to stitch.  My drawings all required too many large one-color blocks for my taste.  I finally settled on an adaptation of the Charlotte's Web Needlework design, "For My Friends", from the 2006 JCS Ornament issue. My rendition kind of looks like a candy shop rather than a hotel.  That's why I had to stitch in the words at the top.  I changed the stylized tree in the front to a heart with a zig-zag crack... get it?   And there was a wreath on the front door that became a heart as well.  Doesn't look like the end of lonely street exactly, but I think it works.

   

 I've signed up for a number of those 'traveling patterns', but I was never lucky enough to get in on the fun until now.  Lee selected me as one of the next group to stitch "The Littles Bunny" by Bent Creek.
He arrived  safe and sound from  Gracie and he couldn't be cuter.  I stitched him in one night on tea-dyed Monaco.  He made a cute little card.  In real life the card is more cream-colored and looks a lot more impressive.    I used all DMC, but changed some of the colors and just did French knots for the middle of the flower instead of beads.  Stitchers have each added some little things to the package as it hops around the world... floss, beads, charms, fabric, needles, etc.  I'm adding a few goodies myself.  Since there are already three more stitchers on the list, I won't run a contest myself to choose the next one.  I'll leave that for a stitcher further down the list.  Next up is Lelia and the bunny will be hopping on the bunny trail to her house soon.

Lee also included a lovely little fob as a gift for me.  She comes up with such clever ideas and does a perfect job of stitching and finishing.  I could not find a way to show this photo in a vertical position.  Blogger drives me crazy these days.

Stitching Pretty

I love when I find stitcher-tunities to do feminine, pretty designs.  The last couple of weeks presented me with just the right occasions to use some.  The World of Charity Stitching group is doing a Fruits and Berries quilt (not sure why berries are different from fruits, but whatever).  Of course most people did a standard apple, pear, etc.  But I remembered this lovely Strawberry House design, "Maisonnette aux Fraise", from Le Chalet des Pérelles.  I added the top strawberry and roses to increase the size a little.  This was so much fun to stitch.  It's on 25-ct bone lugana over two.  So relaxing to work on lower count fabric and the design shows up nicely for a quilt square.

I have been invited to an engagement party for a cousin of mine.  Trying to figure out what kind of gift is appropriate to bring.  Not sure what the etiquette is for this.  But meanwhile, I made this card to go along with whatever gift I pick out.  This is one of the free Gift Of Stitching heart designs. This is done on linen and I used a little interfacing to stiffen it.  I think Aida really makes better cards.  I used DMC Ruby Red color variations and I think that worked out pretty well.    The color scheme might be a bit too patriotic for an engagement card, but so what.

Finally, I made this birthday card from another of  the little cuties from Le Chalet des Perelles.  This is  actually called "Un peu d'Amour et d'Amitié",  meaning "A little Love and Friendship". I wanted it to have more of a birthday greeting and I struggled to find a sentiment that was appropriate and would fit in the space.  But I think I succeeded.  This was on another piece of linen that was a little floppy for the card, but the old-fashioned feel worked well here.

Halloween stuff & a finish for an oldie

After I finished that Hearty Craft quaker stocking ornament, I wondered if I could use the same process for an old Halloween ornament that I liked, but figured it was too difficult to get it to come out right.  The ornament is the Prairie Moon Spot Motif Shoe from the 2009 JCS Halloween ornament issue.  It was finished as a stuffed ornament in the magazine, but I wanted to go flat.  I also skipped the corded trim and went with an Antwerp Edging stitch.  It's like a standard buttonhole stitch, but has an extra little knot.  I wish I'd had black beads for the simulated buttons, but I just went with what I had.  Worked out pretty well I think, even with all the curves and angles.

Next I had the urge to do a little stitchery piece for Halloween. This is an adaptation of a rubber stamp design from Whipper Snapper designs.  I stitched it up on a piece of muslin and made it into a little pouch to hold some Halloween goodies.  Not exactly sure what will go inside or who will get the pouch.  It just looked like such a fun thing to make.

Finally, while I was searching for something in my totally unorganized stash, I discovered this piece I had stitched, probably 15-20 years ago.  I think it was in an old CS & CC magazine or maybe a Cross Quick issue.  I had cut the fabric too small and I couldn't frame it so I had just put it away.  When I discovered it, packed away for so long, I couldn't resist sewing it up into a little tool case.  Plenty of fabric for that.  This was too nice a design to keep hidden for so long.

Halloween Cards and Stocking Ornament

It's been a sad week here in the neighborhood.  The McDonald's closed!  That was our only remaining fast food burger place in the commercial district near my home.  I never went there a lot, but it sure was my security blanket.  A bathroom when my toilet wasn't working, a place to get coffee when my coffee maker failed, dinner during the derecho, excellent $1.00 plastic ice cream.  In the worst blizzard, I knew I could manage to at least crawl those two blocks. Some of those employees had worked there for years, and I sure hope they've found employment elsewhere. The lot is going to be redeveloped with new office space, and supposedly the McDonald's will return on the ground floor at the completion of the project in 2014.   I think I'll survive, but there will be an adjustment period. 

Three quick finishes to show on the stitching front.  Every time I see something adorable on a blog or Pinterest, I have to drop everything and stitch it up directly.  Especially since I can do a lot of the little ones right from the Nook without printing.

The first is a fabulous design by Erynne who has re-entered the blogging world as 'Stitcheree'.  She has generously shared some of her great designs with us.  This one is called Creepy Hollow and just begged to be stitched for a Halloween card.  I love that crazy moon and the little skulls on the house.  I re-worked it a little bit to replace the tombstone with a cauldron and I added a crow to balance out that side of the piece.  I had those eyelets for some time and the crop-a-dile turned them into quick embellishments.

 

 

I had printed out this little design by Maria del Valle at Alarttexx some time ago.   It was perfect for a circular cut-out to frame on a card.  A little bit of ribbon and a couple of stars was all I needed to touch it up.

 
This little quaker stocking design is from Zinaida at Hearty Craft.  I had it saved for a long time, but it just recently popped up on Pinterest and grabbed my attention.  This is  stitched on 35 count linen, a fairly loosely woven type so it was easy to sew up those curves and manipulate the fabric. I just used a little interfacing for stabilizer, but no added batting.  I sewed on a row of red beads along the top that don't show up all that well in the photo.  Super-quick finish and flat enough to mail in a regular envelope!

Expect a Miracle

Last night was the series finale of a summer documentary series on ABC-TV called NY Med.  It was a fascinating look into the workings of New York City hospitals, every bit as watchable as the old ER dramatic series that I was so fond of.   If you missed it and are interested, I think you can actually watch episodes online here.

The final show featured some patients with very serious medical conditions whose odds of survival were very slim.  In each case, the outcome was wildly successful, and the word 'miracle' seemed like an apt description of each.  I had to laugh after I thought of that, because I had been finishing up a piece of stitching with the title, "Expect a Miracle", as I watched.

This is a design by Gail Bussi from the June, 2009 issue of JCS.  It's a square for a World of Charity Stitching birdhouse-themed quilt .  Looks a bit different from the magazine photo since I used the DMC equivalents instead of the hand-dyeds.  And looks different in my photo than the real life verson.  I think I like my photo better than the real life one actually.  In any case, it was a fun stitch with pretty colors and very delicate.

Meanwhile,  Pumpkin  let me know that she received the little gift I made in honor of her latest miracle, Junior Pumpkin.  You can see photos of him on her blog.. just the cutest little guy ever.  The card design is an old Halloween motif from San-Man Originals.   Seemed perfect for this little newbie.  And I had those scrapbook overall brads around for a long time just waiting for the right project.

 

The birth sampler is the JBW French Country Pumpkin design, appropriate for the purpose, and not too girly for a boy.  I won that trimming fabric in a contest a couple of years ago, and I've been hoarding that too.  Glad to see my stash treasures finding a good home!

 

Time for Tea Zippered Pouch

One of my Jazzerbuddies took a pretty nasty fall during class a couple of weeks ago.  She has no idea how she lost her footing, but she went down during the cardio portion of the workout and broke her ankle in three places.  Required surgery no less.  Luckily our class is in the same building as the Rescue Squad and they gallantly carried her to the ambulance and whisked her to a nearby hospital.  I think the worst part for her is having to miss class for so long.  Meanwhile, as all good stitchers would do, I made a little stitchy gift for her.  The sampler for this little zippered case is from a freebie called "Tea Time"  and you can find the pdf on Echevette's blog.   My friend should have plenty of time for tea in the coming weeks.   This is stitched on 36 count Edinburgh linen (and re-stitched, and re-stitched due to excessive frogging I might add). 

 

These are the finishing fabrics I used.  The blue is the back side of the case and the  red is the lining:

 

Hope this brings a little cheer to an unfortunate situation.

By The Bay SAL Camera Pouch

Seems like my stitching and finishing go so slowly lately.  Part of it is just not being able to stitch for long periods anymore without my eyes getting too tired and part of it is the dreaded frog.  I always try to find away around mistakes without frogging, but sometimes the mistakes are just too egregious to deal with that way.  So I have a small piece in progress that is taking way too long and hopefully I'll show that when it's soon done.

In the meantime, I finally got the motivation to do something with my By The Bay Mystery Sal finish.   The stitching was finished a while ago and the fabrics have just been staring me in the face for too long.  This weekend I made a pouch for my camera using the same method that I used for my Nook Tablet pouch (tutorial).  This one fits its intended device much better.  Of course, I couldn't take a photo with the camera inside, but you'll get the idea.

Unseasonal Holiday Cards

So it's not really the time of year for winter holiday stitching, but a few things made it seem appropriate.  First, the weather has been very hot and humid, so I thought if I stitched winter themes I could trick myself into feeling cooler.  That actually did not prove to be successful.  The AC is best for that.  Then the JCS ornament preview issue arrived with a couple of designs I couldn't resist stitching.  And finally,  the World of Charity Stitching Yahoo group started a July project to collect stitched cards to distribute to nursing homes in December.  I've been a member of that group for a while and finally found the time and right project for participating.

So here we have four stitched cards as a result.  I decided to try ribbon trim on these.  A very quick finishing technique and I was only in the mood for quick finishing.

The first is the Blue Ribbon Designs ornament from the JCS preview.  I think this is the cutest in the series so far.  I love the white owl, the bunny and those teeny birds.  

 

Next is the Full Circle ornament from the same magazine.  I changed the "Ho Ho Ho" to "Peace", but otherwise I don't think I changed anything.  I like the long, skinny shape. Works well on a card.

           

At long last, I stitched my first CEC Mitten design.  This was a freebie called the Mitten Mitten.  The chart was in black and white and I didn't have a color photo of the finish, so this was a mystery stitch.  I had no idea how the colors were going to mesh.  I don't think I would have chosen that particular green for the background, but at least all the other colors show up pretty well against it.  And not having enough contrast always bugs me.

And for the last in the series, we have one more Full Circle design from the 2011 JCS Ornament issue.  Such a little cutie.  I never got around to it last year.  The red ribbon has gold glitter on it that doesn't show up so well in the photo, but in real life I think it makes a nice border.

Altoid Tin, Pillowcase, Graduation Card

I'm one of those many victims of the East Coast surprise storm.   Limited electricity so I have a few lights and working power outlets.  But no AC, no hot water,  and no refrigeration (good bye  to my yogurt collection - staple of my life).   It's played havoc with my head and I spent a lot of time sleeping yesterday.  This morning I went out for the first time since the storm and got some shelf stable, ready to eat,  food to keep me going til the power returns.  But in in my good moments yesterday, I did finish a couple of projects.

I was a little late to the party, but when I saw this adorable design for a Sal by Manka Minta, I just had a desire to stitch it up immediately.  Manka was nice enough to send me the little chart even though it was past the deadline.   I decided to use it for an Altoid tin top to give to a stitcher friend whose son is getting married soon.  As a scissors case, it seemed like a nice small favor to commemorate the occasion.  I just love how many different color variations that the stitchers used for this piece.  Here's the gallery of finishes on Pinterest.

My cousin just received his Master's Degree from Stanford and I expect to be going to a Taco party for him next weekend.  I wouldn't dare try to pick out a gift for him so I'll give him a check tucked into this card I made.  This a part of the "Reach for the Stars" design by Barbara Ana.

Finally, one my bucket list items was to embroider a pillowcase.  Not the same as bungee jumping or seeing the top of Machu Picchu, but I have more moderate goals.  I bought two inexpensive white pillowcases from Sublime Stitching to work with.  This design was the illustration used for the 2011 Collaborative Summer Library Project.  I just re-worked it to create a line drawing for embroidery.  I did modify the little girl's hair to be a bit wilder than the original.

Pink and Purple Bookmarks

I'm in between bigger projects and thought it was time to use up some of that incredible fabric stash I've acquired over time.  There's a lot of multi-colored hand-dyed Aida that I don't use much these days, so I thought it was time to start finding projects for it.   Once Aida is hand-dyed, it has a wonderful soft feel, but still with a lot of body.  It's like the comfort food of stitching for me to work on it.

I decided to make a couple of bookmark gifts from older freebies.  I picked out this 18 ct mint fabric from the long-defunct Enchanted Fabrics.  Then I just reached into the floss for pretty colors.  The photos make the fabric look more blue, but it's really a beautiful variegated mint color.  I'm using it for the By the Bay Needleart Mystery SAL also.

First is this lovely bird design from a freebie on the Stitches Crumble blog:

Next is this older design from Papillon Creations called Bookmark 1 on the freebie page.  Thanks, Heather, for finding it for me.  It only has three colors and I see that a lot of stitchers have chosen their own combinations.  I just wanted something pretty with a lot of contrast against the background fabric: