October Pinterest Project: A Little Christmas In October

I'm extremely happy with the way I've been keeping up with the monthly Pinterest Project attempts.  And most of them have been successful!  I may keep this little project up in 2016.

This month, I looked ahead to Christmas.  It's always nice to do some crafty holiday things way before Christmas.  Let's be honest, if I don't have my Christmas projects done before December 1st, they're probably not going to get done.  Once December starts, the time passes like a flash until the 25th. 

So my Pinterest inspired project this month was Folded Fabric Ornaments.  I found this tutorial on Pinterest, and the creator of it is Crouton Crackerjacks who has many videos on Youtube.

Look at what I made!  It's a simple sewing project that can be done probably in about a half hour or less if you're a fast sewer and don't get distracted by things in the drawers of your craft table.  Ahem.  It's a very good tutorial, with clear instructions.  When you look at the video you may be surprised that this little square started out as a 7-1/2" circle.  It's all in the folding.

Funny story about this.  In the video, he suggests using contrasting fabrics, a light and a dark for contrast.  So I go off to Joann with a coupon in my hand, or rather, on my phone.  I'm so tech savvy.  They already had a very good selection of Christmas fabrics, so I was sure I'd find something good.  The first one I found was the off white with gold snowflakes.  I put it into my cart and looked for a darker fabric which I located quickly.  Then I saw more fabrics on the other side of the aisle!  As soon as I saw this red and gold holly leaf fabric, I grabbed it and put the other one back.  When I got home and began my fabric cutting while watching the tutorial, I realized that these 2 fabrics were the EXACT SAME ONES used on the video!  This was totally unintended!  I honestly didn't pay attention to the detail on the fabrics when I first watched the video, just recognizing that one was dark and one was light.  Wow, weird, huh?

I would pronounce this Pinterest inspired project a success.  It only required two circles of fabric, a sewing machine, needle and thread for a little hand sewing, a button or decoration for the center and some thread for a hanger.  I used a gold metallic.  And the easy to follow instructions were a plus.  I think that if I made more of these, I would get them done faster now that I have the hang of it.  I could also see doing the cutting and machine sewing of a bunch of these, and then sitting down in front of the tv to do the rest. 

So get some fabric and get sewing!  What excellent little gifts these would make!

Kalideoscope And A Bouquet of Happiness

Today is overcast, rainy, windy, and cold.  The cats are hissing at each other.  And I'm sick.  WAAAAAHHHHHH!  That's all of the whining and excuses for one day.  Maybe I just need to get stitching and forget my woes.

My current project is one that I'm enjoying stitching very much.  I've made a bit more progress on Sheena Rogers' Kaleidoscope.  I haven't been the most prolific stitcher during the past six months or so and I can't really say why.  It's not exactly a slump, more like a semi-slump. But this is a pretty cheerful looking project with its combination of beautiful colors, and it's getting me out of whatever kind of slump I'm in.

I don't even mind all of the color changes because it's so rewarding seeing it come to life.  I think I will pick this up for some evening stitching if I don't fall asleep first!

My stitch group's October Stitch Day was a couple of weeks ago.  I've mentioned before that we have a gift exchange at each of our get togethers.  Look at what I got!

It's a bouquet of floss in autumn colors. Who doesn't like to receive more floss?  I mean, you could already have 4,000 skeins of DMC but getting a gift of more can make you do a little happy dance.  Who's with me?  Come on, I know I'm not the only one!  Love this.  Look at them - all colorful and shiny.  Makes me want to start a fall project.  Hmmmmmm, I may have to look through the chart collection......

Giveaway Winner!

And the winner of my "Learn Something New Giveaway is:

Linda from the blog, Stitchin With My Furbabies

Congratulations, Linda!  I'll be e-mailing you soon asking for your mailing address.  Then I can ship your fabric, needles and needle case to you!

Thank you to everyone who commented on this post and entered the giveaway.  I'm sure I'll be having more giveaways in the future, so I hope you'll visit often.  Oh, and also visit for all of the awsomeness you find here.  Hee hee.

 

Learn Something New Giveaway!

It's been a long time since there's been a CraftyCat giveaway, so today's your lucky day!  I've noticed that in some of the stitch groups I'm in on Facebook that there are a few stitchers who don't know what evenweave fabric is or know what it is but are too intimidated to stitch on it.  Come on, stitchers, expand your stitchy horizons!!

Now, I know that everyone has their own preferences when it comes to cross stitch.  Aida is a perfectly nice fabric, easy to stitch on, and most of us created our first piece of stitchy art on it.  Stitching on evenweave, however, allows for more detail because fractional stitches are easier on it.  It can be a lot softer too.  And after you master evenweave, you can move on to linen which is a tiny bit more of a challenge because the threads in linen are often not even. 

So for my giveaway, I'm offering a 18"x18" piece of white 28-count Jobelan.  Don't panic about that 28-count.  It's the same size-wise as 14-count fabric because you're stitching over 2 threads. 

It's not at confusing as it sounds.  I'm going to also include my favorite instructions for stitching over 2 on evenweave (or linen).  And I'll even print them out for you.

As a little bonus, I'm including this little magnetic needle case with two size 26 needles. 

Sound good?  To enter the giveaway, just comment on this post.  That's it.  You don't have to be a follower to enter, although I love getting new followers.  I mean, it can really make my day.  Please make sure there is some way to get in touch with you!  If your email address is difficult to find by clicking on your blog or photo, then please include it in your comment.   I will announce the winner on Friday, October 23rd at 12:00 EST, so please comment before then!  Oh, and I'll ship this prize anywhere in the world.

Who doesn't want to learn some thing new?  Come on and enter my giveaway, even if you're an experienced evenweave/linen stitcher.  Good luck!

What's In YOUR Stitch Bag?

Prior to a Stitch Day a few months ago, I decided that my stitch bag needed a good cleaning out and organizing.  After emptying it out, I found that I didn't have too many extra things that I didn't "need" in it, like non-stichy items.  I also discovered that I carry a LOT of stitch stuff when I take my stitching somewhere.  Here's the bag itself.

I sewed this bag with help from a tutorial from Colorfool Creates.  I've changed the dimensions and added inside pockets and a button closure.  I think I've made a half dozen of these for friends.  So this one is my designated stitch bag, unless for some reason I have to carry more "necessities". 

Current projects are kept in these zippered Alvin bags.  That's really the name of them.  Just Google "Alvin bags" and you'll find them.  They come in all different sizes and are pretty reasonably priced. 

Another kind of project keeper is this one that I got as a gift.  I think this kind of keeper is available at office supply stores.  They're a little more sturdy and less bendable than the Alvin bags and expand a little to hold more stuff.  Both are good storage for WIPs.

My small zippered bag is another thing I sewed and its basic construction is from this tutorial by Luann Kessi.  As you can see, I again changed the instructions a bit to make a bag that would fit my needs.  Inside I keep a magnetic credit card size case to hold important items like Lift-N-Snip scissors (for frogging), a Star Detailer, a pair of Clover Tweezers, my Snag-Nabit and extra needles.  There are some scissors in there too.  The Clover tweezers are the best thing for pulling an errant strand of cat hair out of your stitching.  I'm the only one who has to do that, right?

Let's see, there's also a tape measure, a needlecase, some extra bobbins, another pair of scissors a couple of needle minders, and two (not one, oh no) small lights in case I have to stitch during a power outage. 

Oh look.  There's more!  A needle threader, strawberry pincushion, Thread Heaven, a bobbin ring,  yet another pair of scissors and a magnetic thing for locating lost needles.  And a tiny Alvin bag to keep them in. 

AND a spring hoop and a magnifier.  I haven't needed the magnifier since I got a new pair of glasses last year.  But you never know.

Looks like a lot of stuff, but everything fits nicely in my stitch bag.  Yay me.  Now I'm all packed up and ready to go to Stitch Day this Saturday!

Soooooo, am I carrying around an excessive amount of stitching items?  Or is it reasonable for going to Stitch Days where I can't just go home and get something I need?  What do you carry in your stitch bag?  Just the bare necessities: a WIP and some scissors?  Or all the stitching supplies you'll need for every eventuality? I'm pretty happy with my stitching setup, but am curious as to what other stitchers do! 

Oh, and another thing:  DO NOT carry chocolate in your stitch bag.  I don't care if it's wrapped.  Don't do it!  I learned that lesson the hard way.  

Thanks for visiting my blog!  See you soon!