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.

Bouquet des Fleurs

Last September, my cousin gave birth to a beautiful baby girl.  Usually I stitch something immediately when I get news like this, but somehow it stayed on the back burner this time.  I'm happy that I finally finished a door hanger in honor of the new little one and especially happy that's it done before she grows up and goes to college!

I had picked out the design some time ago.  I wanted something feminine with an alphabet.  Once I saw "Bouquet des Fleurs" by Jardin Privé, it seemed like nothing else would do.  I was so pleased that I could purchase a PDF for this since those French patterns can be hard to come by in the U.S.    I modified the border to include all of the "baby facts".  It's stitched one-over-one on antique white Monaco fabric.  I used the suggested DMC colors with a few changes, notably the upper left orangey flowers and a slightly darker gray for the letters.  The bird was done in a random hand-dyed floss I had.  I was also determined to use finishing materials from my stash.  This sparkly batik seemed like the best choice from what I had.  There are a couple of layers of batting behind the stitched part only.  I like that look with the flatter border.  Probably doesn't show up that well in the photos.

Now we'll see how long it takes me to get it in the mail!

Bluebird Alphabet Baby Sampler

And another baby sampler is completed.  This baby is the first grandchild of my first cousin.  I guess that makes the baby my first cousin, twice removed!  The grandfather is very close to my age, and I think this baby fills both of us with joy, but also makes us both feel our age!  The grandfather has refused to be called 'Granpa' or anything like that.  He's going with Pop-Pop.  Whatever feels good. 

The design is Just Nan's Bluebird Alphabet stitched on 32-ct Vikki linen.  I love the overlapping letters and contrasting colors.  The little birds in the corners and that adorable nest in the Y (looks kind of like a champagne cocktail, yes?)  just make this piece for me.  I edited out the baby's last name for privacy.   I had planned to just finish with blue cording around the edge, but I was afraid I would mess up the corners, so I went with a more tried and true finish.  The backing is the same as the borders.  I interfaced the backing and added a layer of batting between the layers, but no board for stiffening, so this is more quilt-like.

I whipped up a quick design for a card to accompany the gift as well.  This is a freebie by Ulrike M. that you can find here.  I think it translates to "Bunny in the Grass", but don't hold me to that.  If you know a better translation, let me know and I'll edit this post.  I took the photo before I added a little heart sticker at the top so that's why it seems a little off.

Bloom Where Your Are Planted

It's a rainy Easter Sunday here, but not as cold as it's been so I think Spring may be trying to pop out.  This design makes it seem like Spring anyway.  I made a baby sampler for one of my Jazzercise instructors.  This is her third child, a baby girl.  It broke the spell on Jazzercise instructors at the facility where I take class.  The previous 10 babies born to instructors at this facility were all boys! The design is "Bloom Where You Are Planted" by Birds of A Feather.  I've been hoarding this design, just waiting for the right baby to be born.  Am I the only one who hoards designs in wait of a special occasion?  Anyway,  I used all DMC. I will say that the DMC color choices were excellent.  They are not just the easy use of some online conversion charts to turn hand-dyed GAST to DMC, the way some designers seem to do grudgingly as an afterthought.  The fabric is a piece of 32-count linen from my stash.  Would you believe that I didn't notice there were numbers in addition to the alphabet until I got to the very end to stitch them? I always stitch from the center out.

I also stitched up this sweet little old freebie from Brightneedle, called "Bunny Hop" to use on a card to accompany the sampler.  So simple and just grabs at my heart!

Hope everyone is enjoying their Sunday, and to those who celebrate, Happy Easter or Happy Passover... whatever your pleasure.

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!

 

Baby Sampler & Holiday Ornament

Those Jazzercise instructors of mine keep popping out babies, and they always seem to be boys. As a stitcher, I always hope for girls because there are so many cute designs that really are only appropriate for a girl baby. I have to look harder to find boy designs. Kind of a sexist attitude, but I feel it's safer to have that attitude when you are giving a gift. The design I picked is the "Too Tiny Alphabet" by Drawn Thread, stiched on 28ct Light Mocha Cashel. I like the striped mattress ticking type of border. It gave it a kind of airy feeling. I've had that little bear button in my stash for ages, and I thought it looked kind of cute on this as well.



While I was waiting to receive some fabric I ordered, I was going through old magazines, cutting out pages I wanted to keep and throwing out the rest. I really needed to make space. I came across this little ornament from the Jul/Aug JCS 2011 issue. I never noticed this the first time around. It's so kooky and adorable, I just had to stitch it. Perfect little piece that filled out the rest of the time til my other fabric arrived. This is called "Holiday Hootie" by Fresh Threads Studio, stitched on a scrap of 36ct Rue Green Edinburgh linen, with some red rick-rack for the edging.




And finally, the winner of the "Queen of Hearts" chart, selected by the time-honored "Eeny, meeny, miny, moe" method, is Margaret! As soon as I get a snail mail address, I'll send it right out.

Autumn Button Baby Sampler

Another new baby boy arrived in November for my friend who had her first one a couple of years ago. I decided to make a companion baby sampler to go with the one I stitched for the first baby. You can see the first one on this post. Both designs are from the Homespun Elegance Button Sampler series. For the latest little bundle of joy, I stitched the Autumn Baby Sampler. I did this mostly in the suggested DMC alternatives. Several of those used the blended needle technique to give a tweeding effect. For the pumpkins, I used DMC color variations. The fabric was a piece of Rue Green 36ct Edinburgh linen that had been waiting in my stash for a good use. I added a little wooden leaf button at the bottom since I omitted the squirrel buttons in the corners as shown on the original pattern.


The trickiest part was the squirrel tail and acorn top. They are done in French knots just packed in to give that textured effect. This would have been a disaster if all the French knots had to be the same size, but not a problem for this kind of thing.


One of my non-stitching friends happened to look at my blog one day and grew very fond of my Fetching fingerless gloves. I told her the knitting fairy might help her out. The knitting fairy doesn't usually like to knit the same thing twice, so these gloves were done in Patons Classic Wool, New Denim. These knitted up smaller than the ones I made for myself. It's a good thing because my friend's hands are about half the size of mine.


I've decided to participate in a year-long SAL on the San-Man Board called "The Birthday Village". Each month will bring a different building in the village. Someone on that board started the SAL on linen banding and when I saw a piece that would work and was on sale at 123 Stitch, I couldn't resist. The piece is Mill Hill 27ct Simplicity Banding in Natural. It's 3.5" wide and almost all of that area is stitchable since this banding has only a very narrow selvedge. Here's the January house all stitched up and waiting for it's next door neighbor to arrive in February if the schedule is upheld.

Trilogy Square Baby Sampler

The little boy babies are just cropping up everywhere it seems. For my co-worker with a newborn second baby, I picked this design by the Trilogy. The model on the leaflet cover was done with Gentle Art and Weeks Dye Works threads. But the chart included DMC colors as well. Using the DMC colors listed would have given this a completely different look, although probably a very nice look. I used all DMC, but I chose my own colors in a lot of cases. For some areas, I could use DMC color variations. In others, I used 2-3 colors that seemed to match the hand-dyeds and just randomly filled in the spaces, changing colors every so often.

This was also the first time I had done significant over-one stitching. The heart house on the left is all in over-one. The fabric is 28-count Monaco in antique white. The Monaco is such a sturdy fabric that it supports the over-one really well. But it was a chore, no doubt.

I met a nice woman in the fabric shop who was selecting threads for a finished quilt top. So I helped her pick out colors and she helped me pick the backing fabric. I wouldn't have thought of using green. I was looking for something in the rust/barn red area, but the green really worked best I think. The ribbon is the wired type.

Double your pleasure...

A friend of mine became a first-time grandmother of twin boys recently, and I offered to stitch a baby sampler for them. Just finished it yesterday. This is the 12 Houses Sampler by Drawn Thread stitched on summer khaki 36 ct Edinburgh linen over 2 threads. I substituted DMC colors for some of the hand-dyed threads. And I modified some of the specified colors where I thought it worked better. I added the path, fence, birds and flower at the bottom since I had extra space between the names. The houses use some specialty stitches which were fun to do, but hard on the eyes on this fine-count linen. The babies don't have middle names, only middle initials. The babies were conceived in vitro and the initials stand for the names the doctors gave their blastospheres. The photo is clickable if you want to see more detail.



I also found another fascinating pattern for a dishcloth. This is a round one that did not require double pointed needles. It's knit using short rows to create wedges and requires only one seam at the end to connect the first wedge to the last wedge. The pattern can be found here. This is knit using Rosewood Sugar and Cream cotton yarn.

Snowman Baby Sampler

I'm still trying to recover fully from a nasty attack of bronchitis. But at least I've been able to stitch again without coughing after every 'x'. Last night I even did the finishing for this baby sampler so I must be getting better!

This design is by Homespun Elegance, with some modifications by me. Some things about the chart annoyed me:
1) The model for the design was shown in fancy hand-dyed threads, but DMC alternatives were given with the warning that the design would not look the same as the model. I think they should have included a photo of the piece done in DMC as well.
3) There are not a lot of colors, but the symbols are so small and some look so much alike that you had to really refer to the stitched model constantly to be sure not to make a mistake.
4) The chart was one sheet, printed on both sides. So the chart was on a different side from the color key. Pretty much forced you to make a working copy and that would not have been necessary otherwise.
5) The chart was really too large for one page and is very hard to read.

But I do like the design and I think it's perfect for a baby boy born on X-mas eve. I used Zweigart Edinburgh linen in Summer Khaki. The piece looks quite different from the photo on the chart using these colors, but I like how it turned out. The actual design called for snowman buttons in the fours corners (available only from Homespun Elegance!), but no problem.. gave me a place to put the baby facts.

For the finishing, I sewed a section of a wire clothes hanger inside the top of the hanging so it wouldn't sag in the middle. If you just bend the hanger back and forth a few times, it breaks off neatly and you don't need special tools. One of my favorite finishing methods.

New Baby

One of my co-workers had a new baby boy in August. It's always hard to find 'boy' designs that I want to stitch. I finally chose this little door-hanger birth announcement from the design on this blog. I used Carrie's Threads in Passion Fruit for the alphabet. I'm not sure the letters stand out as well as they might have with a solid color. I substituted little buttons for the hearts to make sure it wasn't too dainty. It's done on Monaco antique white. The father does quality assurance for new software products. Hope he doesn't think the funky sequence of letters was a mistake!

Baby blasts from the past

These are two old photos I scanned to see how that would work out. Both were taken long before I entered the digital age.

The first is a pillow I made in 1990 for the new son of my boss at the time. The baby was born on Halloween, two months early. He spent a fair amount of time in the preemie ward and the parents took this pillow to the hospital. I saw the boy who is now ready for college about a year ago at a party and he brought the pillow with him. I told him he didn't need to carry it everywhere he went. The haunted house design was from an old issue of Cross Quick magazine:



The second picture is a growth chart I made for a baby back in 1994. She was the first of four girls for these parents and I stitched an announcement of some kind for each child, but I have no pictures of the later ones. The design is by Lori Birmingham from an old Treasures in Needlework magazine.

Micah's Birth Announcement

Just got word that the family received this little birth announcement I made using the Sweetheart Cottage by Maryse Dupont, http://grillesdemaryse.canalblog.com/

I'm so happy that they seem to like it.