Fun little projects

So, I always stuff my small pillow-type finishes with orts (i.e. thread clippings).  Takes a long time to accumulate enough of them for even a tiny piece.  They pack down so much!  But I had a nice little bag of them save up,  I decided to make a little pin cushion from this old Prairie Schooler  freebie, "Stick it Here".  It's stitched on 28 ct over 2  on Cashel linen.   The trim came from my friend Hetti, who graciously sent me a bag of stitchy goodies.  Such a funny little design!

For some time I had wanted to stitch "Sweeping The Garden" by  Barbara Ana.  This design was in the Fall, 2017 issue of Punch Needle and Primitive Stitching.    I never quite knew what I would do with it, but I fnally thought a little zippered case/coin purse would be just the thing.  This is on 36 ct Edinburgh linen over 2.   I really should have stuck with putting the zipper near the top, on the side.  It's so much easier.  But I like getting things in and out of the case better when the zipper is on top.  This is a little gift for a friend and the mouse design was perfect for her.. an inside joke between the two of us.

I recently noticed an empty mini-box of  Russell Stover Valentine's Day chocolates lying around when I was searching for something completely different.  I had saved it with the intention of doing a heart-shaped stitched box top, but you know how that goes.  Never got around to it.  But I remembered the "Mary Valentine's Handework" designs by  With Thy Needle and Thread and I knew there was a perfect design for this in that set.   This is on 36 ct Summer Khaki Edinburgh.  I used my own color conversions to DMC.  And the mini pom pom trim is again, courtesy of Hetti.  Pretty easy to put together.  I gave this to my cousin who has just opened her own micro-hair salon and recently had an open-house party to celebrate.

Spring Altoid Tin

Hoping for a spring warm-up this week.  We got a taste of it yesterday, but pretty brisk again today.  I've been doing a bit of stitching in spring colors to give Mother Nature the hint.  This Altoid tin and stitchy items inside will be a little thank you gift for a friend.  She doesn't stitch, but appreciates all the smalls she sees me make.

The tin top design is from the current issue of JCS.  The magazine is featuring a series of hornbooks and this one is from Dames of the Needle.  I stitched it over-one on 32 count lugana.  The photos look like the fabric is white, but it's actually a more ivory color.

 

It's always harder to figure out what to put inside than it is to decorate the tin.  But here's my current plan for contents.  This could change if I get other ideas, but I'm tired of thinking about it so this will probably be it.

The egg pin cushion is by Aliolka. She showed it in multiple color schemes and she has a second version with a daisy I think.  Click here for the free pattern.  I just sewed up a backing following the outline of the stitching, stuffed it and added beads on the edge.   It is stitched over-two on 32 count lugana.

The keychain fob is a tiny granny square done in variegated crochet cotton.  I got the idea from this pattern for granny square earrings.  There are many variations on granny square earring patterns but this was the tiniest version and simple to attach to the keyring.  Tiny is important when working on Altoid tin contents.

 

The little bunny on the lid is a popular free crochet bunny pattern.  Works up in no time.   One could make dozens of these in a wink if there was any reason to.   Here's a link to the tute if you want to whip up a few of these for the coming season.

And once again, a toothy take-off on a famous painting in the guise of a dentist reminder card.  If you think I go to the dentist a lot, you are right.  Miserable mouth syndrome.

This one may be harder to recognize.  Think men in bowler hats floating in air,  Golconde by Magritte. Ignore my sneaker.  It was windy out on the balcony and I was trying to keep the card from blowing away.

Dutch Tulip Luggage Tag & Crocheted Pincushions

Sometimes, a design grabs me because it is the perfect size for something I want to make.  That was the case with this Dutch Tulip design from Threadworks Primitives.  I saved the chart some time ago, earmarking it for a luggage tag.  I also saved the photo of Anne's rendition because I liked her modified color scheme.  She used hand-dyed floss, but I tried to come close to the look using DMC colors.. 356, 407, 433, 758 if you are interested.  I'm pretty happy with finish on a linen scrap I had.  I think the backing fabric and eyelet were good accompaniments as well.

While everyone else is showing their orts once a month as part of the TUSAL,  I just accumulate mine to be used for pin cushion stuffing.  The bag was full and my periodic urge to crochet some thread motifs kicked at the same time so I made three little mini-cushions.  Each is only 2-2.5".  They work up really fast and will make nice stitchy gifts. 

The first is from Margaret Hubert's Granny Square Book. This is called the  Dogwood Flower Granny Square.  It's  a perfect design for this type of pin cushion.  I think I picked it because the model was crocheted and blocked so perfectly.  I aspire to that kind of perfection, but I settle for much less.

The next two are both from various Japanese designs I've found on the web and saved.  They are presented as graphs with little text hints.  Of course, text in Japanese doesn't help me, but usually I can pretty much get along with the graph only.  Like reading sheet music and not understanding any Italian.

 

The round ones are a little harder to do, but not much.   

Three little cuties together:

Good Luck Lady Lexi

Well, it's been about five weeks since I sent what was to be a surprise gift to Michelle.  Don't know where the package is, but it hasn't reached it's expected destination.  Michelle and I decided I could blog about it in hopes that just after I do this, the package will arrive as sometimes these things do.

Originally I had planned to do a Valentine's gift, but I fell behind on that score.  But then Michelle opened an Etsy Shop, Lady Lexi Designs, so I thought a little good luck gift was in order to wish her well on this venture.

I decided to stitch this pretty pink flower from the Workbasket.  You can find the pattern here.  It seemed perfect for an Altoid tin top and I love the design.  I had planned to put Michelle's initials on it, but then the shop name seemed like an even better idea.  Actually, the shop is named after Michelle's dog, so may this is a tribute to her dog as well!  It's stitched over-one on off-white Monaco.

To go inside, I crocheted a cute little pincushion sunburst granny square with #10 crochet cotton.  I made two sunburst granny squares and joined them together through the back loop.  There are two squares of blue felt underneath and some fiberfill inside.    If you are a crocheter and want to make your own,  you can find the instructions for the square here.

And hoping to provide a guardian angel, I included an adorable angel bead fob from Melanie's Moonraker Lampwerks.  I hope the angel doesn't let us down!

I also included a pretty bookmark made from a design by Pelin Tezer.  I don't see it online any longer.  This was done on 14-count Aida, a piece that Michelle sent to me as a gift previously!  It's very soft Aida and nice to work with.

If we all keep our fingers crossed, maybe this package will find it's way to Michelle!

Crochet Pincushion plus....

I love to make thread crochet motifs, but I really find it hard to find a way to use them. I only like to make one of any design...not into crocheted doilies, tablecloths and such. I was browsing for something else entirely when I found these gorgeous pincushions at this Etsy seller, Namolio. Not sure of the details on how she attaches the motifs, but I decided to make something on that order. I cut two felt circles, used blanket stitch to sew them together and stuffed them. Then I sewed my motif on top, just tacking at each of the eight vertices of this octagonal design. I did it in a hurry so the sewing was pretty sloppy, but as a proof of concept, I'm pleased.




I've been keeping up with the Great Escape SAL in the Stitch Specialits Yahoo group. You can see the model on the home page. Each installment uses a different embroidery stitch and some are quite tricky to do well. My stitches are not really very even and someone said my owl probably has ruffled feathers. I'll go along with that. We've had 4 installments so far and the owl is starting to look like an owl. The fabric I'm using is a light blue violet, not this harsh blue that my camera chose!





Another browsing around session brought me to a cute sampler I fell in love with. It's called 'A Sea of Red, White and Blue' by Tonia Pappan of Oakhaven designs. I've finished the stitching and hope to make it into an art quilt for AAQI. Just waiting for Tonia to grant permission. Don't you just love the little guy with the spyglass. Little does he know that giant bird is right behind him!

Little thngs

I wanted to the try the Sulky Blendables thread that has been enjoying such recent popularity so I bought a spool in "Jeweltones" since it was so pretty. This is size 12, about equivalent to 2 strands of DMC, but you stitch with one thread, not splitting into strands. I think the little heart design I picked got kind of obscured by all the colors, but the thread is great to stitch with and looks great so I may get some more. I turned this piece into a sachet filled with lavender that I can hang in my closet. The crocheted edging was the first row of a much larger crocheted border. I love it because it is another one that doesn't require a foundation chain. I just stitched it onto the top with sewing thread.

The heart design is a freebie from Le Grenier de Zoé



I've seen so many cute crocheted pincushions that look like hats lately. Nima even ran a challenge to crochet the one she designed, but I never got around to creating one of those. When I saw a pattern for this miniature one, I just had to make it since I knew it wouldn't take very long. The pattern is a freebie from Crochet Soiree called "Hats Off to Mother". It's just big enough to park a couple of needles. I used #10 crochet cotton and a US Size 7 hook.



I've also been crocheting some of the little motifs from Crochet a Little, a Japanese blog. The designer comes up with such cute ideas, and I'm gradually learning to read the diagrams with the symbolic notation in order to make these. Better than sudoku for taxing the mind! Here's a sample of a cute little girl that I finally managed to conquer! I'll find a use for her and some of the other motifs at some point. They are all too cute to keep hidden.

Merry Month of May Pin Cushion

Just heard that my exchange partner, Nicky, for Becky's Pin Pillow Exchange received the little pin cushion I stitched for her. Nicky has a beautiful blog, well worth checking out. This was her first exchange so I'm glad the piece arrived safely. I love how excited first-timers are to participate. Exchanges are so much fun!

I stitched a San-Man design that was part of a SAL for Sandy's board members last spring to celebrate the merry month of May. I had my doubts while I was stitching it since it seemed like the colors weren't really popping from the fabric. But I was pretty happy with it when I completed it. The fabby is Vikki Clayton's 32-ct Peach Butter linen. I added a little bee charm in one corner to hide a spot where the lace trim kind of got lost in the seam. I think that's one of my favorite parts of making things... how to recover from mistakes!