Three Months?

I was so surprised to see that it's been over three months since I posted on my blog.  We can't have that!  Lots has been going on - vacation, work, blah, blah, blah.  Let's move on!

I did get just a little bit of needle oriented type stuff done.  This is little cardigan - I think it came out about a size 2T.  Yarn was the wrong weight so I knit the larger size on smaller needles with the intention of getting the small size.  It will fit some toddler one day!  Interesting construction.  I've never done a flat raglan (is that even the right term).  Regardless, it was new to me!

Entrechat by Lisa Chemery

US Size 7 Needles

Tanis Fiber ArtsYellow Label

Lemongrass colorway

I've also made some progress of Anniversaries of the Heart by Blackbird Designs.  This is the final block.  I'm in the midst of planning all the personalizations and hope to stitch them soon.  Lots of trying to figure out placement and over 1.  I hope I can finish this up this year.  Who knows?  I have a block (March) that I'm pretty sure I don't have any family birthdays or anniversaries to honor so I need to figure that out too.   Not a great photo but you get the idea!  

I hope you all are having a good week!  Even though I haven't been blogging, I have been reading blogs.  Thank you for the inspiration!

Remember Me

I've picked up Anniversaries of the Heart and made some progress on it, finishing the December block.  This project is on my guild's WIP Challenge List and I really hope to finish it this year.  I still have to finish that last double block, I've made a good start on it, and plan out and stitch all the personalization for each block.  So I have quite a bit to complete yet.  This block will be dedicated to my almost 83 year old Dad as December is his birth month- just have to plan it all out.

Anniversaries of the Heart by Blackbird Designs

Remember Me (December block)

Called for threads with minor substitutions

36 count Lakeside Linen in Vintage Light Examplar

I've been knitting too but don't have anything to show.  I'm actually contemplating ripping out half of an almost finished project.  Still pondering that one.

I hope you all are having a good week!  

Framed!

I picked up two framed pieces last weekend that I wanted to share with you.  Hard to take photos of glassed pieces but you get the idea.

What drew me to Sarah Elizabeth Brooke by The Scarlet House was the verse and the border.  Really enjoyed stitching this one.  The variety in the motifs really kept my interest. 

Sarah Elizabeth Brooke 1842
Reproduction by The Scarlet House
40 count Lakeside Linen Vintage Light Examplar
Belle Soie (substituted the color Mer for the urns - thank you Mel for the suggestion!)

Close up of the frame

Sarah Seifer is a much smaller piece and I chose a bit of a chunkier frame for it.  I love the tree and snake on this one along with the angels.

Sarah Seifer
The Goode Huswife
36 Count Lakeside Linen Vintage Light Examplar
Conversion to NPI
Mods - Left the trombone's off the Angels

A close up of the frame

Both of these were started in January of 2014 and finished up in 2014.  I don't stitch anything fast so I was especially pleased to have these framed and on the wall.  

I have a couple of new knitting projects in the works and I've picked up Anniversaries of the Heart again.  I hope to have a little something to show you soon!

We also have been on vacation since my last post - we made a quick stop at Eat. Sleep, Knit along the way.  Great yarn shop and a great vacation!  It's always great to get away and re-charge. 

Hope you've all had a great weekend!  See you next time!

Finished Finish

I have what I call a "finished finish" for you today!  My first ornament of the several I hope to finish in 2015.  This is one I've stitched mostly on my lunch hour at work.  I wanted to try finishing this one myself and I also wanted to try a beaded edge.  I used the instructions from a Jane Timmers/Fancy Work class project instruction set but this tutorial from Staci at Snippets and Stash is a good one too.

Snowy Pines by Little House Needleworks
Stitching, Cording and Finishing by Me
30 Count Natural Linen with DMC
Mill Hill Glass Beads # 02010

The beaded edging has flaws but I am very happy with this attempt.  It took longer than I thought and at times I'm sure my eyes crossed.  I'll definitely be doing this again!  Next time I need to work on getting the corners more firmly stuffed.  I did use fusible interfacing on both the front and the back and I like that it adds stability to the ornament.  I forgot to get a picture of the back but it has the year stitched and I added one of those "made with love" charms to the back as well.

One last closeup!

I also found my 2nd attempt at a patchwork zippered pouch.  I'm happier with my results.

The corners are more square.  More to learn but there is progress!

I hope you all are having a good week and that all your stitches are happy ones!

Little Bit of This, a Little Bit of That

My attention hasn't seem to be focused on any one thing these days - my mind is flitting from one thing to the next.  That has been reflective in how I've been spending my free time.  This past week, I've stitched on three different projects and did some frogging on a 4th.  Not typical for me!

Zippered Pouches:

I've had another attempt - two actually - at getting my zipper corners more squared on pouches.  This is most most recent attempt.  Much improved!  But guess what?  I forgot to do the topstitching!  Oh well, I'll either still use this one (knitting notions) or pass it along to my sister who is a teacher to put in her "treasure chest".  I also went back to the drawing board on my pieced zippered pouch, but I can't find it to take pictures of it.  It must be some place "safe".   It came out better too but not tremendously.  Need to figure out what to do with the bulk since that project had batting in it instead of fusible interfacing.

Knitting:

I finally weaved in the ends of this project.  This is an inexpensive wrap for the couch for those days it's too cold on my shoulders in the living room.  Obviously, since it's already hot, hot, hot here, it's going to be a while before I can use it.   When I bought the yarn, I was on vacation and hadn't been knitting for a while.  So I bought cheap yarn.  I've learned my lesson because I really do wish this was  less rustic.  I didn't think I'd like the ruffles but turns out I love them! 

 

Ruffled Shawl

Marble Chunky Yarn Color MC15

Size 9 Needles

Scraps:   GIVEAWAY CLOSED

Do you use 1.5" and 2" inch scraps - mostly traditional fabrics?  If so, leave your name and they are yours!  If more than 1 of you would like them, I'll draw a name.  They're too small for me and have been sitting on my cutting table for far too long!

A Favor:

If you're a stitcher and on Facebook, can you "Like" our EGA guilds page?  We are trying to get to 100 likes!  There is a ton of pictures of beautiful stitching to look at too!  Thank you!

I hope you all have had a great weekend!  I've been busy today with things that need to be done about the house so no needle time so far today. Hopefully tonight.  I hope all your stitches are happy ones!

Tomorrow is Another Day!

I know it's been a while!  I'm still out there reading your blogs and being inspired.  I'm just getting a slow start to the year.  Thank you for hanging in there with me!

One of my goals for the year is to have more handmade ornaments for our Christmas tree this year.  It's a sad state of affairs here as there are presently only two in our "collection".   There are times at work where I do get to take a full lunch hour.  It doesn't take an hour to eat so I've put together a little kit so I'll have something to stitch on when I do have that extra bit of time.  

Here's my kit - this is actually what I'm working on presently.  Fabric, pattern, thread, QSnaps, and a cute little handcrafted needle holder that Annette made for me at the holidays (I love it so much, perfect for a couple of spare needles).  

It fits nicely in this zippered bag.  It looks huge here but in reality it is just a bit bigger than a paperback book and fits nicely in my lunch tote. 

It's amazing how much progress can be made on a ornament with little bits of time here and there.  I've actually finished stitching two ornaments and the one in the kit above is more than 1/2 done.  The one below is the first one I finished this year and the kit was gifted to me by a good friend Teresa.  It definitely started off my year on the right foot!  Thank you T!

Erica Michaels

Quiet Night

JCS Christmas Edition 2007

It's no secret that my sewing mojo has been on a field trip.  I haven't even been going into my sewing room.  A few weeks ago I did get in there and re-organized my scraps.  Today I went in there and told myself to  "just sew anything".  So I pulled out some scraps and ended up making a little zippered pouch.  As you all know, I'm pretty new to zippers.  My first experience wasn't that bad though.  It feels like it's been downhill from there.  I'm not happy at all with today's pouch.  It didn't help that my machine was being cranky as all get out and I felt like I had to fight it to get through this and it shows in the end result.  But that is OK, because I'm going to try again and do better.  And in order to do that, I need to get in there and sew on a more regular basis - improve my skills instead of getting rusty!  

I do love those rounded bottom corners though!  

Even though today was a bit  frustrating, I am grateful that I don't do everything well on the first (or even the 5th try) as I do find joy in learning!  Wouldn't it be boring to master every new skill on the first try?  I think so!  

I'm off to watch some YouTube videos or at least I will be after I finish watching Real Housewives of Atlanta.  Ha! 

Follow Your Arrow

I'm participating in Ysolda Teague's Follow Your Arrow Mystery KAL again this year.  It runs for 6 weeks and we've had two clues.  The pattern calls for 550 yards and I thought it would be a good project to make the best use of the yardage of a skein of Wollmeise.  No such luck.  Here is clue #1 knit in that selection.  As you can tell, far too dark for the pattern.  

So I went back to the drawing board and ordered yarn from Eat. Sleep. Knit - specifically MadelineTosh Tosh Merino Light in the Oceana colorway and here is how my project stands at the end of Clue #2.  With blocking, the texture will look more like sideways arrows.  I had to work hard at not pulling the floats too tight.  I'm trying to loosen up my tension in general.  It's more important with something like this.  I've learned a lot with this project already!  Even though it seems I've knit most of it twice.  Ugh.  Looking at this picture, the pattern isn't very prominent.  Trust me it is in real life, this is just a bad i-Phone pic.

I also ordered some yarn to make my husband a hat.  This knit up super fast. Like two days.

 

Bulky Waffle Hat

MadelineTosh Tosh Chunky

Mandala Colorway

I also made a knitting project bag.  Aren't these knitting sheep cute?  It doesn't match my project but I wanted to use the knitting themed fabric.    I used the Noodlehead tutorial but ended up veering from the pattern a bit.  Sewing is not intuitive for me and I needed more photos.

It's lined in a co-ordinating knitting fabric.

That's it for me for now.  Have a great week and I hope all your stitches are happy ones!

Out of Deep Hibernation

I do have one goal for 2015.  I want to finish Anniversaries of the Heart!  I'm quite sure I didn't pull this one out for more than a minute in 2014.  I've already made serious progress in 2015 and stitched the November block.  Three more to go and ALL of the personalization (which isn't planned out yet). I can do it!  

I have been on an organizational frenzy lately.  It's not like we're unorganized but it was time to go through and look at everything in closets, drawers and cabinets with a critical eye and neaten and donate.  It feels good.  That said, I really haven't moved that thought into the sewing room BUT I did manage to find this BBD stocking that has been on a "field trip" for some time!  

I've also been stitching ornaments for the Christmas tree.  I want next years tree to have more than 2  stitched ornaments on it. Should I change the date on that?

I've started a new knitting project - a mystery knit along called Follow Your Arrow 2.  I enjoyed that last year and will share more about this on another post.  

For me, 2015 has started out feeling like a time of refreshment and renewal.   How does it feel to you?  I hope it has been good to you so far and that all your stitches have been happy ones!