February catch-up - Valentine card and tin, birthday card , coin purse

Catch up post for the record.  I have a couple more to add after this one. I know it's July, but I haven't posted for some time.  These are my February finishes.

This sweet little Valentine card  is from the book,  "A Rainbow of Stitches" book.  Done on 36 count linen over 2 with   DMC 4210.

My brother's birthday is in February.   He's a sucker for Marie Callendar Pumpkin Pie.  I went online and discovered there was, in fact, a real Marie Callendar and there was even a picture of her as a young women.   This card is a tribute to her using a modified Sub Rosa Design,  "Pumpkin Pie".   Esther herself laughed at a pumpkin pie as big as the table.   I was sure my brother would get a kick out of it.   Frankly, he was not amused.  Ya can't win 'em all.  Stitched on Belfast summer khaki over 2.

The next one is an old freebie by Drawn Thread, "All You Need Is Love", stitched on 32 ct Belfast summer khaki.  Perfect Altoid tin top size and I hadn't made a tin top in some time.  Filled with red berry flavored lip gloss before presenting as a 'Galentine' to a friend.

 

And wrapping up the month, I used an adaptation of Snowflower Diaries "You Make Me Happy" as the basis for this little coin purse.   Found an Etsy seller, CreativeKinyobi,  with tons of charms already attached to a lobster clasp and this little mermaid charm worked perfectly.  Another piece on 32 count summer khaki Belfast.

Double zip pouch and SAL updates

I did a little experimental sewing today.  I've made a number of little zippered coin purses and I use them a lot.  They are handy for carrying my credit & ID cards, some paper money and some change in a compact, light-weight format.  The only annoying thing is that change gets buried at the bottom and it's difficult to see what's there to pick out the right coins.  So I decided to try sewing one that had an outside zippered pocket to use as a separate compartment for the change.  I had always been afraid of doing that because of the added bulk in the seams.  So today's test was just done with quilting cottons and no cross-stitch fabric, interfacing, or batting.  It worked out very well, but next time I'll place the side zipper a little higher.   I wasn't sure where to put it.  The pouch measures about 3.5" x 5", about the size of a recipe card.

I found this You Tube video to be a very clear tutorial on how to do this.  I didn't follow it exactly, but it's more or less the same technique.  I've also found it easier to use a zipper that's too long and shorten it on each end.  Trying to line up the metal pieces at the end of each zipper when you sew it in is just too fiddly an operation for me.

 

I'm up to date on the Snowlower Diaries Calendar SAL now too.  I made a few color changes to brighten it up, but not much.  That bunny and squirrel are just too cute. 

I also completed part 6 of Ele's ABC SAL.  Why does that peacock look like a dinosaur to me?  We just got part 7 and I I think may be going rogue on that one.  We'll see.

Peace card, coin purse and ruler sheath

For a while now I wanted to try using a little fabric trim around an x-stitch piece for a card.  I needed a small x-stitch design for this since I always like to make standard size cards.  I can cut two cards from one sheet of card stock with no waste that way.  I went back to the JCS 2012 ornament issue and selected the Blackbird Designs "Peace" chart .  Stitched over one on 28-ct tea Monaco, it worked out to be tiny.  The camera wasn't happy with the rainy day on which I took the picture, but I think it actually was a reasonably effective technique.  I'm sure I'll be using it again.

The zippered coin purse that I made long ago and use every day has finally started to fray around the edges.  I never expected it to hold up so well since it holds my plastic cards, cash and change.  But it has been a sturdy little companion.  So to prepare for its coming demise, I picked  "Comme un Oiseau" by Tra La La to be the design for a new purse.  I like how the "ABC" in the upper left can be interpreted as "ALB", my initials.  This was done on 36 ct Edinburgh linen in some beigey/off-white color.  I've had it for a long time and label was gone. Not the worst zipper insertion of my life so I'm satisfied.

Sheryl of "Sewing After Seven" sent me a link to a video with a tutorial for making a sheath that was another alernative for constructing those 6" ruler sheaths I have been making.  She used the technique to make a holder for a fan here.   The video is in Spanish and I had to watch it multiple times before I understood what the presenter was doing.  But once I understood it, I was fascinated by how clever and simple it is.  I immediately tried it with plain quilting fabric and it worked like a charm.  Not sure if I'll be as happy with it when I use x-stitch linen and there is more bulk since the ruler sheaths are narrower than the fan holder that Sheryl made.

Here's a link to the video:

https://youtu.be/6Bsn0G37BHo

And you gotta love how the sheath color appears to match my shoelaces in this photo taken with my phone!

Wear a smile, have some coffee, and think Cinderella

I think I just did the fastest complete cross stitch project of my life.   Mii Stitch chose me as the next in line to stitch Lizzie Kate's "Wear a Smile" in another of the traveling patterns that's making the rounds.  Such a cutie when I saw it, but I probably would never have thought to stitch something like this otherwise.  I received the pattern on Friday, stitched almost the whole thing on Friday night, and finished it up into a pinkeep on Saturday.  I'm planning to display it on a little easel and give it to my dentist as a little knick-knack for the office.  The office seems to thrive on such things.  It's stitched on 36 ct HDF linen over 2 threads in the 3 shades of DMC on the pattern.

I need to pick a stitcher who would like to stitch this pattern next.  Please leave a note in a comment that you would like to be included in a drawing and I'll pick a name.   As always with traveling patterns, we would like you to stitch it in a timely fashion, show it on your blog, and offer to send the pattern on to another stitcher.

Does everyone's dentist send out such arty re-call notices as mine does?  Take a look at the latest one I received:

I stitched up another Aliolka pattern to make as a gift for a coffee loving friend.  I was going to do a book mark, but then I thought about a quilty coaster.  Not 100% happy with my finish, but the more I look at it, the more I like it.  Not sure if this is on linen or evenweave.. just used an available scrap.

You can find the free chart here.

 

I crocheted this cute princess motif from a Japanese designer.  I think of her as Cinderella, but maybe with that hair she's more of Princess Leia.   This was a very difficult graphical crochet pattern to interpret.  I finally found a number of people who tried it on Ravelry and several gave a variation to make it work out.  So I used one of those and still had trouble.  She's not perfect, but who is?  I got the idea to make a pumpkin zippered pouch from one I had seen on the web and applique the princess on the back., So I think of it as Cinderella waiting for the pumpkin to turn into a coach so she can proceed to the ball.  Did not quite turn out the way I imagined it, but I am proud to say that I figured out how to do it with no exposed raw edges inside!     I'll probably donate her to WOCS to use as one of the favors they give to nursing home residents or even to the children in one of the shelters for domestic violence.

 

 

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.

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.

Bunny SAL and Carmela's Garden

I was one of many to join Kissy's Bunny SAL, 3 parts in 6 days, a commitment I could handle. I had a small piece of old fabric in my stash from Sassy's Fabbys from the days when she did the hand-painted technique. This was done on a lovely color called Spring Shamrocks. I changed up the colors to work with the fabric and just to be a little different. I loved stitching this and I love how it turned out. I made it into a little zippered bag since I never seem to have enough of those to store stitchy things and other small items.



Just finished a Love Quilts Square for a quilt with the theme of "Girls Being Girls". This design was a freebie displayed by a blogger named Carmela who has since closed her blog. She always had the cutest designs. I think I saved this one with the thought of making a Comfort Doll from it. I added the little motifs outside the border just to make the design a bit larger. Those come from some hardback books on my shelves by various designers. Just when I think it's time to get rid of those books, they come in handy!



Finally, here are some iPhone photos of the various t-shirts and onesies designed for my Jazzercise instructor's new grandson. My instructor was moved to tears by the efforts of some of her students. You can see my shirt with the owl in the top photo.

Diamond Wrist Warmers and Elephant Coin Purse

With a whole ball of yarn left over after the last set of fingerless gloves, I decided to knit a second pair with a thumb gusset. This pattern was designed for a much larger hand than mine, but I didn't feel like ripping it out after I had finished the first one and made this discovery. So I just knit the second glove with fewer stitches cast on and it came out perfect. One of those patterns you have to concentrate closely on to ensure you don't mess it up. Still find I have some large holes to stitch up where the thumb joins the base. Maybe I'll figure out why that happens eventually. These are the Diamond Hand Wristwarmers by Micah Hazlett.




I recently discovered that a friend of mine collects elephants (not live ones thank goodness). Always wondered why she had a giant plush elephant on a chair in the living room, but I never noticed the curio cabinet behind it that had the most amazing collection of figurines. As a little New Year's gift, I crocheted the Crochet A Little elephant again, this time in pink. I made a quick little zippered change purse and sewed the motif on the front. On the back I sewed another of Wendy's tatting motifs. It has just enough batting to give it a little body.

Little Lulu Bag

I finally got around to finishing the Little Lulu cross stitch piece. I made another one of those simple zippered sling bags that I find so useful. Hope my friend will feel the same. I modify my method each time I make one, but I'm never 100% satisfied with the results. This has some extra batting. I thought my last one was a bit flimsy. The two tatted motifs were part of the gifts I received from Wendy. I've beeen keeping my eyes and mind open to ways to use them and I think they look nice this way. The fabric color is somewhere between what you see in the two photos.




My Jazzercise friend Maggie tucked a cute little package into my hand the other night just before class started. I didn't open it at the time and I've yet to thank her, but it turned out to be a sweet little holiday ornament. I don't think Maggie is a stitcher so I'll be interested in finding out where she picked this up.


The other fun thing that happened was I reached the 20 class attendance goal that meant I got to take home this cute Jazzercise patent leather zippered clutch. Of course, my incentive to attend classes in this cold weather is gone now. I'm hoping I can continue to rally!