Meet & Greet

 

Welcome to my blog!  Today is the Meet & Greet which is organized by Madame Samm at the Sew We Stitch blog. I'm looking forward to this event because I like seeing what other stitchers, seamstresses and crafters are doing.

I've been doing cross stitch since about 1981.  Patterns, fabrics, floss and accessories have sure come a long way since then!  One of my favorite pieces that I stitched is a pattern called "Square Dance", which I made into a pillow.  I stitched this in the 1990's when I found this chart in a magazine. 

Another one of my favorites is "Peppermint Twist" by Blue Ribbon Designs.  I love the colors and all of the little motifs in this one.

I even framed it myself!

Sewing is something I've been interested in since I was 8 years old.  I used to make tiny dresses for my Barbie dolls out of tiny patterns.  And I sewed them by hand.  Then I graduated to making clothes for myself.  Nowadays, I like sewing things like tote bags and other small accessories.

I made these little bags for the ladies in my stitch group.

My latest project is an embroidery project called the Summer Garden Pin Cushion.  I had done some embroidery in the past, but really needed a refresher course.  This project was perfect for re-learning some things, and also for teaching myself some new stitches.

You can find the first part of the tutorial here.  Then just follow the rest of the tutorial posts for the complete instructions.

I hope that you enjoyed your visit to my blog today.  Please consider becoming a follower.  Other than the hobbies mentioned above, I also like to make beaded jewelry, crochet (A little.  I'm working on that.), and other miscellaneous crafty things.  And I enjoy blogging about all of them.

As part of this Meet & Greet, I am having a giveaway!  One winner will receive this little sewing companion that I stitched up just for this event!  Inside you'll find a pair of the cutest golden embroidery scissors.

All you have to do to have a chance at winning is comment on THIS POST by Friday, March 27th at 11:00 a.m.EST.  Also, please make sure that there is a way that I can contact you.  There is nothing sadder than not being able to reach a contest winner.  I will draw one name on that day and announce it right here on my blog.  I will also e-mail the winner.

Thank you for taking the time to check out my blog today.  Stop by again sometime!  You never know what you'll find here!

Summer Garden Pin Cushion Finish!

When I started the Summer Garden Pin Cushion project, I had a "let's see what happens" attitude.  I hadn't embroidered in a long time, and I certainly didn't know how to do all of the suggested stitches.  But I had been wanting to learn how to make one of these sectioned pin cushions and this was my opportunity. 

And just look:  It has been completed.  I am very amazed and maybe a little proud of myself.

I took my pin cushion to Stitch Day last Saturday.  As it was being passed around by my fellow stitchers, I commented that it was like my baby.  I mean, I'd worked on it since when?  Last summer?  I carefully chose colors and attempted to master new-to-me embroidery stitches.  And when my friend Thea said that I probably don't even want to stick a pin in it, I had to agree!  But I will.

Don't laugh at me when I tell you that making that button scared me a little. 

I liked this project a lot.  There was no pressure to get things done by a certain date.  The instructions were very clear and there were detailed illustrations to guide you along the way.  Colors were suggested, but we could change them to what we liked.  If I couldn't master a stitch (bullion stitch, you still elude me!), I simply substituted another one with good results. 

Also, now I have the skills to make a sectioned pin cushion out of other fabric if I want. 
The materials I used for this are:  linen cross stitch fabric, embroidery thread, an ugly button (yes, that's what's inside the cute button), perle cotton, and crushed walnut shells for the inside.  A sewing machine is also needed to sew the two circles of fabric together.

If you want to try your hand at this, just go to the Summer Garden Pin Cushion Tutorial at the Fiberluscious blog.  When you see the photos and instructions, you might be inspired!

Resolutions... Or Are They Merely Suggestions?

I'm not a big New Year's resolution-maker.  Correct me if I'm wrong, but a resolution is just a decision to do something, right?  If my memory serves me, then I've made resolutions in March and September.  And every other month of the year.  For some reason, though, the new year has me thinking up new ideas for stitching and crafting and they've kind of turned into Stitching and Crafting Resolutions.  Here are some of them:

**Finish some WIPs.  This is my #1 goal.  I only have about 5 WIPs.  Two of them are very small. 
                   Is this an attainable goal?  Yes!

**Stitch one Christmas ornament every month.  Wouldn't it be wonderful to have a dozen ornaments stitched by next Christmas?!  
                   Is this reasonably do-able?  I should probably change it to one every other month, and if I happen to stitch more, then Yay!

**Actually attempt some of the crafting ideas I've been saving on Pinterest.  I have a lot of craft-oriented pins -- what am I waiting for?  One per month?  
                   Is this a realistic goal?  Depends on the project.  

**Learn to crochet items that require something other than single crochet, and don't panic if the project is not rectangular or square.
                   Can it be done?  Of course.

**Attempt some new ornament finishing techniques.
                   Can I do this?  Yes.

**Organize the craft room.
                   Is this a realistic goal?  This one is an absolute necessity.  

That last one.  The craft room.  Lately I've misplaced several things, only to find them later in places that made no sense.  Sure, my craft room may look clean and relatively neat.  But stuffing items into boxes just to make the place look tidy is no solution.  I've got a great craft closet, but without some organization, I have no idea what's in those boxes until I open them and look.  So a lot of organizing  and some labeling is in order.  That will be a day of fun.  Ha ha.  I'm pretty sure that the end result will be worth it!

So what do you think of my list?  Am I going to stick to these resolutions?  I'm thinking of them more as suggestions for enriching my craftiness.   I like that -- "enriching my craftiness".  If I keep these in mind, I'll be likely to act on them and have fun in the process.  So let's see what happens in 2015.

Speaking of getting things done, here is my progress on the Summer Garden Pincushion.

That's right, ALL of the embroidery is finished!  I worked on it at Stitch Day last Saturday and finished it up yesterday.  Now to assemble the pincushion.  You can find all of the instructions for this project at the Fiberluscious blog. 

Now I'm off to get dinner into the crockpot and then enjoy the rest of this gray, typical January day working on some stitching. 

And The Garden Grows

Even though summer is a distant memory, there have been some new flowers blooming here.  I continue to work on my Summer Garden Pincushion.  The ongoing tutorial is featured on the Fiberluscious blog.  Mums highlight the latest section.  I'm learning and re-learning many embroidery stitches by participating in this project.  For example, the fly stitch is new to me and is excellent for little leaves. 

I like the relaxed pace of this tutorial.  I don't feel pressured to get something done really quickly or to "keep up".  It's a project I can easily pick up and work on when a new section is posted, and then put away until the next part of the tutorial.  No hurrying is fine with me.

New product alert!  Well, new to me anyway.  I started using a Frixion pen for marking my stitching area.  The pen mark is a lot thinner than the disappearing ink marker (the blue lines) I was using.  This is especially handy when working in such a small space.  Best of all, the Frixion pen markings disappear with heat! 

My progress so far.

So far so good.  It will be fun to see the next installment's flower selection. 

On the stitching front, I finished an ornament that I'll be giving to someone for Christmas so it will remain a secret for the time being.  I used a finishing technique that I learned on the blog "Learn To Finish With The Twisted Stitcher" and I'm extremely happy with the result!  I'm also very close to finishing the stitching on the "Song of the Season" mystery sampler that I've been working on for quite a while.  I expect to be able to post pictures of that very soon!

Summer Garden Pincushion - Join The Fun

I've been wanting to make one of those pincushions that are segmented into six parts with a button in the middle.  You know.  A pincushion!  I don't know what they call them except for that.  But anyway, I think they're cute and was looking around for instructions on how to make one out of pretty fabric.

Imagine my complete joy when I saw that Jill from the blog Fiberlicious was starting a tutorial on how to make one!  And it gets better!  She's going to teach us how to embroider the sweetest flowers on each section!  It's called the Summer Garden Pincushion and you can find her first post in the tutorial here.  Or just go up to the right sidebar on my blog and click the little button for the Summer Garden Pincushion Tutorial.  See?  I've made it easy and convenient for you.

I love how Jill has made this a true step-by-step process.  Part one of the tutorial lists all of the items you'll need to make this pincushion.  As a stitcher, I already had a lot of the items in the craftroom.  She also explains the process of tracing the pattern onto your fabric.  When I printed her pattern, it printed smaller than it was supposed to, so I took Jill's advice and drafted my own pattern.  I got all old-school and used a protractor and compass.  And guess what -- it was kind of fun!

In step 2, Jill showed us how to embroider our first flower, lavender.  She includes a downloadable pattern sheet for the flower and complete stitching instructions.  I didn't use this, depending instead on my considerable (ahem) "artistic" abilities to draw my own.  It wasn't bad, but I really need to get some different kinds of erasable pens/markers for this step.  My water-erasable one writes very thick lines and it made a difference.

The top part of the pincushion with dividing lines drawn on.

I spent part of yesterday afternoon happily embroidering my lavender flowers.  As someone who has been doing cross stitch for a long time, I'd forgotten how much fun it was to embroider.  It was like painting with floss and I enjoyed the free form flow of the stitches.  I might have gotten carried away because my flowers are huge, but I am still pretty pleased with the result.

If you'd like to join the fun of making this lovely pincushion,  go ahead and read about it on Fiberlicious.  We're only at part 2, so you have plenty of time to gather your supplies, get your fabric ready and stitch your first bunch of pretty flowers.  Just take a look at her completed pincushion and you'll want one for yourself!