Final Sleigh Ride of 2015

Not much to show today, but I did decide to do one final small gift for a friend who really appreciates these little stitched goodies.  This flat fold pattern is "Sleigh Ride",  a Winter Snapperland design from Bent Creek.  I love that little guy all bundled up and riding in his one-horse sleigh.  It always amazes me how much personality can be displayed in so few stitches.  The fabric is 32 count bone jobelan.   Maybe a slight color change somewhere, but basically I used the recommended colors.  Skipped the snap and substituted a gold bead to suggest Jingle Bells.  And I added a couple of star-shaped buttons.  The cording is purchased.  The backing fabric was a stray fat quarter I bought in the fabric shop some time ago on a whim.  It's only in the photos that the cord looks so misplaced on the top back.  I didn't notice that at all on the finished piece.  Of course, it's there, but not so prominent.  Just ignore it please.

Bambi ornament

I thought I should make an appearance in Bloggerville since I seem to have been AWOL for a while.  I guess I've just slowed down on the crafty side and I've never been one to show works in progress.  I have been stitching, just more slowly.  My eyes seem to be very tired in the evenings and that's my prime stitching time.   I finally managed to do a finish-finish this weekend, small, but sweet.

A while ago I discovered a French designer while browsing Pinterest.  Her name is Roselyne Pittet and her designs are released under the name  "Fleurs de Lin".   They are all charming, but one little ornament just caught my eye and I kept returning to it over and over.   I was delighted to see that it was available as a PDF download.  We are in a good period for U.S. stitchers to buy European patterns with the exchange rate between the Euro and dollar right now.   The design I picked is from the "Noel Nostalgique" sampler.  The sampler is a collection of 9 designs, but they can be purchased individually. 

Here's a link.

I fell in love with design #8 in the series, the two baby deer that look just like Bambi.   I stitched it up on 36 ct Summer Khaki Edinburgh linen with DMC threads.   My finish is a flatfold and I made a 3-color braid for the trim.  This time I used the method of tying a knot at one corner and letting the ends dangle.  I'm not sure I love that method, but I haven't found a better way of dealing the with trim ends when the trim is applied after the front and back are glued together.  This will make a nice little holiday gift for someone.

Halloween Mermaid plus Ghoulies & Ghosties

Seems weird to me to be stitching Halloween designs in July, but the stitcher wants what the stitcher wants.   I saw this cute witchy mermaid stitched up on the Midnight Stitching blog.  There was no reference to its origin and I thought the blog owner had designed it.  I wrote to her and she quickly returned my e-mail to let me know this is part of the "Stranded Jacks" patterns by Plum Street Samplers.  I love the titles on Plum Street designs.. so inventive.  I couldn't wait to stitch it up.  The top photo is oddly blurry.  I guess my hand was shaky.. witches can be quite scary, at times.

I went for a stand-up finish.  It's only 3" on a side when completed so I can stand her right by my computer and glance at her from time to time.   The fabric is 18 ct hand-dyed aida from my long ago acquired Enchanted Fabric stash.   I made a braid out of three of the colors in the design.  Braided just like a hair braid with 2 full 6-strands lengths of each color.  That's much easier for me than doing twisted cord.   I usually sew on trim, but this time I glued it.  The little green ribbon hides the spot where the cord ends come together.  I definitely need to find a better way to handle that part.

Next I stumbled upon Lizzie Kate's "Ghosties & Ghoulies"  design. So cute and I wish the photo did justice to the card finish.  Again, the fabric is 18 ct hand-dyed Aida in a nice brown color and the mat card stock is true black like the ribbon trim.  The outer card is a cream color.  I picked that ribbon up in a clearance basket at A.C. Moore the last time I was there.  I knew it would work for a Halloween card of some sort.  This is the first time I tried wrapping the ribbon around the mat so the raw edges are hidden.  It was a bit bulky, but this ribbon was kind of stiff, so maybe a regular ribbon would have worked better.  At any rate, I like the effect.  I added one teeny star sequin on the left. Somehow that spot looked bare.

And now I'll get on my broom and fly back to July.

Turkey Easel Stand-up and Carrot Pillowcase

I was looking for a simple, therapeutic design to stitch, and I really didn't care what I would be using it for.  I found the perfect design with this little turkey from the San-Man Originals Gift of Giving series from a few years ago.  Since it appears that the San-Man group will be shutting down at year end, this seemed like a nice piece for celebrating the Thanksgiving season as well as celebrating the many long years of San-Man fun.

I decided to use it as a learning piece as well.  I had never made a stand-up, flat-fold style finish so this was a good opportunity for a trial.  Vonna and Meari  each have a popular tutorial, but I have always found both of those tutes to be intimidating.  They are very complete, but both seemed like so many steps and so many possibilities for messing things up.   After extensive Googling, I managed to find a much simpler version that I thought I could handle.  Not sure if the results are as nice as I would get if I mastered the Vonna or Meari version, but the results were plenty good for my taste.

The tutorial appears to based on directions that come with those Secret Needle Night kits from the Silver Needle.  The tute is no longer available online as of 3-10-15.  I made it even simpler by using a glue stick for most of it.  I did sew the stitched front board to the fabric-covered back board as well as sewing on the twisted cord.  The easel is made with only one piece of board, not two, but it was sturdy enough.  I only added batting to the front piece.  And of course, I added a fork bow.   The fabric is a piece of 32-count HDF linen, another relic of the past.

I had a package of two white pillowcases from Aunt Martha's sitting around begging me to stitch on them.  I found this cute doodle at Bird in the Hand Primitives  to use for the first one.  The photo with the whole pillow case didn't turn out so good, but here is the stitching.  The design is about 4"h x 6" w, centered just above the hem.  These pillowcases are really long, so plenty of room for stitching.  I'm still trying to pick a design for the second one.

Finally, I made this condolence card with a sweet freebie from Manka Minta.  I don't think it is online any longer.  The card was for our dear friend Carol.