Reindeer buddy, crocheted pouch & dapper chick

After having success with the pinkeep finish,  I decided to start experimenting with the flat ornament finish that is pretty similar.   The design is a freebie from Aliolka's blog.   I changed the colors to make a little more contrast on the fabric I was using, Sassy's cobblestone on 18 ct Aida.  The edging is a standard braid with three lengths of floss.  I used two six-strand lengths of each color.  I  think I could have used more strands to be a little fuller.  Next time I might try a lanyard-sytle braid like we used to make out of gimp when I was a kid.  I don't know if they still do that, but I made a ton of those back in the day.   Not 100% happy with the finish, but my brother who likes cute reindeer and owls should like it.  I think I may do one of the other reindeer ornaments on the blog as a companion piece since I have one small piece of the same fabric left.

Here's the tutorial that I more or less followed:
Flat Ornament Finishing Tute


The fun part was the little bow.  I don't know if I'm the last person to discover the 'fork bow' or not, but it's an incredibly simple way to make a nice bow for this purpose.  This little one was made with a regular dinner fork.  To make a larger bow, you use a larger fork or a potato masher or a wide-toothed comb.. anything with evenly spaced spikes that you can use for weaving the ribbon.  You can make multiple loops too.  Use the link below to see how to do it.
Fork Bow Tute

 

 

Found another crochet motif I wanted to try.  This is called the Tahiti Blossom.  Click on it for the pattern.  I used it to embellish a little pouch and then I wanted to do some embellishment on the flap also.  Found this fan pattern on Ravelry.  Ravelry patterns are great because members give so many review, hints and cool modifications.  The picot edging is one of those great ideas that really adds to the original pattern.  I sent this to Melanie with one of the little pincushions I showed in an earlier post.   I guess I could say I sent it because she was going through a tough period, but I actually didn't know that.  In any case, it turned out to be a good time to send her a little pick-me-up gift.

Tahiti Blossom

WOCS started a special request quilt with a chicken theme.  Seemed uninteresting to me, but then I remembered something from my stitch and stow vault.  This little guy was stitched in the 80's or early 90's  from a design in an old issue of Cross Stitch and Country Crafts.  I think it was an adaptation of a vintage Easter card.  I kept hoping someone I knew would have a baby around Easter time and I would use this as the basis of a baby sampler, but it never happened.  I'm happy to donate it now and give it a good home.

Feeding again

My last post seems to have gotten lost in  the world of RSS and never made it to many readers.  Trying this way to see if I can at least get a way to broadcast.  The link should take you directly to the post   Charming Ghost and Summer Splendor

Charming Ghost and Summer Splendor

We have a tale of two seasons today.  Ever since Maja of Snowflower Diaries entered the blogging and designing world, I've been wanting to stitch this little haunted house cutie.  And now I also want to make everything into a pinkeep too since I had success with the last one.  As you can see, I'm into experimental mode with the top bow.  Couldn't get the colors to show up right with my camera of course.  The fabric is a 36 ct linen in Rue Green which a really light blue-green shade although it looks very blue here.  The last photo is probably the closest to the real color. The dark color floss is Sassy's Fabbys Witches Brew.  I had some in my stash and thought this was the perfect use for it.  I just love that dreamy little ghost, right down to the eyelashes.. teeny straight stitches.  And the dark stems and leaves just add to the eerie quality of the little piece.  I used Comic Book cardboard for the inside of this one.  Felt like Penny in the Big Bang Theory Comic Book store when I went to shop for this.  Or more like Penny's adopted grandmother, but whatever.  The board is a bit sturdier than the Brownie Mix cardboard, but both work equally well for this I think.

And now back to our current season.  I saw this LHN Summer Splendor design on so many blogs that I grew attached to it.  Stitched it up as a little wall-hanging or mat. The border is not as wonky as it appears in the photo.  I used DMC floss with just a few minor changes in the colors. I wanted a little more contrast in the greens, and I picked a gold that showed up a bit better.  This is on 28 count Summer Khaki linen over-two... easy on the old eyes.

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:

Fond of Dancing and Spring House

I guess I'm in a pink state of mind for spring now.  My latest two pieces are smothered in pink.  The first is a small design I stitched to be given to a bride along with a wedding gift.  It's the Jane Austen ornament designed by The Sampler Girl from the JCS 2012 ornament issue.  The bride-to-be has spent much of her life dancing, so this design was so appropriate.   It seemed to cry out to be a pinkeep, but the last time I tried making one of those, it was not one of my proudest stitching moments.  Since that time, I've found lots of tutorials with various tips, so I gave it another shot. I'm so glad I did, because I really love the outcome.  I replaced the gold dress from the original design with a pink one. The "J" and "A" for Jane Austen, became "J" and "S", the first initials of the bride and groom.   This is a tiny piece done over-one on 28 count  Summer Khaki linen.  The couple lives in a New York City apartment....no space for a lot of extraneous knick-knacks.  I think I'll package it with one of those mini-wooden easels so it can easily be displayed on a desktop.  I'm sure that pinkeeps are a total mystery to non-stitchers and the easel will make it clear that it is for display!

Love the 180° turnout!

The backing fabric is one of my favorites.  This print has come in handy on a number of my finishes so you may recognize it (and perhaps are tired of seeing it!)

 

Continuing in my pink theme, I  signed up to do a house design for a WOCS quilt square.  There are so many cute house designs around, but when I started searching, nothing really grabbed my attention.  Then one cute freebie stood out from the rest, and I'm sure the color scheme is what really got to me.  I also love the use of 'white space' in this design to delineate the sections of the house.  This is done over-two on 25-count bone Lugana...quite a change from the over-one pinkeep. I like both results equally.  The photo makes the fabric look white, but it is more cream-colored in real life.

The design, "Printemps",  is from the blog "Le Tric et le Croc, et la Brod d'Isazabelle".  If you are interested, you can download the PDF chart here.

Zoo Line Up and Holiday Card

When I saw the latest theme for a WOCS quilt, "wild animals", I figured I would pass on that.  I'm not crazy about stitching animals.  But then I discovered the Line Up series from the Trilogy and the Zoo Line Up design kind of stole my heart.  I pictured a gorilla at the Zoo police station, picking out the critter that attacked him!   This was really fun to stitch.  I used DMC of course instead of the hand-dyeds.  Hand-dyed floss is just not a good thing for a quilt that will be washed many times anyway.  I adjusted colors as needed to give good contrast on the 32-ct Jobelan lambswool fabric.    The group is doing quilts for adults with realistic animals and quilts for kids with cartoon/silly whatever animals.  You be the judge for the placement of this one.

In between other projects and for the sake of using up some of the old hand-dyed Aida, I stitched up the "Partridge 2011" design by Jannie Hubble from the 2011 JCS ornament issue.  Turned it into a quick card by cutting a funky opening and adding a few stickers.  I love the hat on the birdie!  This will sit quietly til the season for sending comes around.

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.

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!

Sleeping with Polar Bears

I really wanted this post to be about a gift I made and sent to a blogging buddy, but that mailing seems to be hung up in the maze of international postal operations.  It's been three weeks since I sent the package.  At week four, I will blog about it in any case.  Keep your fingers crossed that this is not a permanent loss in the ether.

Meanwhile, I had a pillowcase sitting around that was begging to be decorated.  I adapted another of Helen Dardik's design from Orange You Lucky.

I just picked a pile of embroidery floss in different colors and started stitching.  I mostly used satin and  stem stitch, but I threw in some buttonhole wagon wheels and some lazy daisies for fun.  I had thought I would try out lots of different stitches, but I didn't seem to have the energy to do the research.  I'm very happy with him.  It's nice to have a security polar bear!

My Jazzercise instructor and one of my cousins have each had a new baby.  One  girl and one boy and all are doing well.  Stitchertunities!  Yea!  So my work is cut out for me now and indeed, my fabric is cut out as well!