Signs of Winter

Seems like every blogger is showing photos of early snowfalls this year. It's cold here, but we haven't seen the first flakes quite yet. So this altoid tin top I stitched will serve to keep us on the lookout. This a Bent Creek design, one of the four for each of the seasons. Not sure if I love it in the over-one stitching on the tea-dyed Monaco or not. But I know I like the crocheted penguin inside. This one is just tailor made to be another winter survival kit with some Burt's Bees goodies added to fight the winter dryness.

Bent Creek Flatbed Fridgie & Altoid Tin

I just discovered the adorable Bent Creek Flatbed series of little designs when I was searching for a cute turkey to stitch for Thanksgiving. This Flatbed Turkey looks so unaware of the fate that lies ahead. I feel kind of sorry for him. He's on my fridge at the moment merrily rolling along on sequined wheels, stitched on off-white Monaco.



One of my friends just passed her U.S. citizenship test and I thought that called for a little stitchy gift to help her celebrate. The Flatbed Uncle Sam was perfect for an Altoid tin top. I used button wheels on this one. Not sure what will go inside. I'm thinking red, white and blue hair accessories like barrettes and elastics topped off with a bit of chocolate. This one is stitched on Bay Rum Jobelan.

American Pie

One of my friends just passed her citizenship test and has now become a full-fledged citizen of the U.S.A. No self-respecting stitcher could pass up this opportunity to commemorate the occasion. I picked out a Bent Creek design called "Made in the U.S.A.". Changed the lettering a bit and added a few little crocheted touches.

The little heart crochet pattern can be found here.

The little bow crochet pattern can be found here.

The fabric is 32 count Jobelan in Bay Rum.

eduCATed

Sometimes it's really hard to find the right chart. Just when I think there would a myriad of choices for a particular occasion, there often turns out to be very little that's appropriate. Or I can't seem to find the appropriate thing anyway. My cousin is graduating from college with a degree in civil engineering. It's always hard to find boy designs, but for graduation designs, everything was either too sappy or way too babyish for my taste whether for boy or girl. Finally, when I wasn't looking for a design anymore, I found this cute cat design by Bent Creek in Lynn's gallery. Purrr...fect for a smarty-pants bookmark. Now I can go to the barbecue Sunday with a personalized gift to match the impersonal check (which I'm sure the grad will appreciate with or without a bookmark).