Stitching, stitching and more stitching -- woohoo!

To begin, I belong to the Fair and Square exchange group and have been working on my partner's squares.  She's a big fan of snowmen, hardanger and the color blue:

And if this little guy looks familiar to you, it's because I've stitched him before.  Isn't he the cutie?  He's also a fun stitch.

I received these square from my partner -- gorgeous!  This is by iStitch Designs and is so perfectly delicate.  I love it!  Thank you Linda.

 

For my next piece, I actually broke out my little sewing machine and used it to make my first little quilt -- taa daa!

Okay now -- no giggling or snickering from the back rows!  Yes, my sewing machine is about the size of a dictionary, only does straight stitches (that's 2 lenghts, thank you very much!) and is mostly plastic but it's "NOT A TOY"  and "Requires Adult Supervision" -- as is clearly labeled on both the machine and it's box. 

This was a first for me and I think it turned out okay.  I had a couple minor  problems while assembling my little quilt but I was determined to finish it without getting cranky and tossing the whole thing (that is, the cute little machine) across the room in frustration.  (Sewing machines and I have a somewhat rocky history that I would rather not go into here.)   I should also mention that I actually did hand quilting (another first and not viewable on this picture) along the seams.  Needless to say, the hand quilting needs some practice.

I painted the dowel rod black (so it looks much better) and still want to add a big button to this but that's basically it. 

I am very proud.


And now onto my Sticklounge projects:

This lovely piece, called Heart Note Alley, is becoming one of my favorites.  It is so graceful looking and the colors I chose are so soothing.  I love it!

This second piece is called Purple Garden (though mine isn't purple).  Everytime I stitch on it, I can't help but feel cheerful:

And this last project is called Berlin Work Sampler by Pelin Tezer.  I just started it yesterday so there isn't much to see yet:

And now for three beagles resting comfortably:

May your weekend be as restful!

More stitching, no puppies

The puppies left last weekend and my house got much quieter and kind of boring without them.  But I have gotten some stitching done.  I worked on 2 more of my Crazy 15.  The first is the Sampler Girls' Jane Austen In The Kitchen:

The colors are so awful because my flash didn't go off -- I must have changed the settings somehow.  It isn't actually finished because I haven't attached the charm or signed and dated it yet.  In case you are familar with the pattern, I rearranged, changed and deleted some elements from the original design.   This is the second time I stitched this one, the first was for a friend.  This one is for me.

The second Crazy 15 is A Ghost's Alphabet by Primrose Needleworks:

You probably don't remember (why would you) but I started this on different fabric and when I picked it back up last weekend, I decided I didn't like it ===>

<=== So I changed the fabric to a 14 count golden-colored aida (again crappy lighting makes for crappy colors) and I like it better.  I should be able to finish this over the weekend and when I take the next picture, I'll be sure to get the flash to work.

This third project is almost finished also -- Friendship Heart SAL from my Sticklounge group:

I need to decide how I'm going to finish this. I'm not a big fan of heart shapes in frames because of all that empty space at the bottom.  A throw pillow is not a good idea with my dogs, unless I keep it off the furniture and display it on my shelves.  One of the ladies in the group found a heart shaped box that fit her stitched piece perfectly -- what are the chances of that happening for me??  Another thought was to finish it as a heart-shaped wall hanging -- ugh! sewing.  Oh well, I'll come up with something -- any suggestions?

I forgot to take a picture of this guy last week:

He is my third hardanger snowman -- the first two were given away as gifts.  This one will be mine and serves as the model for my EGA group's Christmas in July class (which I am teaching).  As you can see, he needs a few finishing touches -- mainly a face.  All three snowmen are from the same pattern but they're all different (due to threads, material and counting errors).  Here are the other two as comparison:

I think that's about it on the stitching front.  Have a good weekend!

Day 10 is ghostly crazy

I bought this pattern in 2006 and have been wanting to stitch it ever since but for whatever the reasons (ah ... other projects), it remains unstitched. 

Until now. 

I didn't get much stitched last night.  It took me awhile to gather the threads and decide on the fabric.  Once this was done, and I sat down to actually stitch, my feet were cold and I kept nodding off while stitching (not a good idea while holding a small, sharp, metal object).  So I called it quits pretty early last night with only a '-O' to show you today.  Hopefully, tonight will be better.

Until then ....