A Variety Of Craftiness

For the past couple of months I haven't been too crafty. I do pick up my stitching on some evenings, but getting things done in the craft room has not happened. Working some extra hours, and working different times has thrown my routine off completely. I guess I'm one of those people who thrives on routine!

I did do some sewing for a gift at Christmas. I made this project bag for my group's December stitch day. As I mentioned in the past, we exchange gifts at each stitch day, and I thought that someone would really like this.

I used the Twisted Stitcher's project envelope instructions for this, and love the way it turned out. Because of a weird early snow, we had to postpone our special Christmas extravaganza stitch day until January. And that suited us just fine!

I opted for a magnetic snap for the closure for this one. You can get them very inexpensively at Amazon.

The snap shows on the outside of the project envelope so I needed something pretty to cover it. I looked around at Joann's and didn't find anything, but when I looked through my own jewelry making supplies, I found this! I think it's a connector of some sort, but it worked out perfectly because I could sew it right over the snap.

Don't you just love the lining fabric? You can't see it here, but it's sparkly!

Meanwhile, other people have been crafty! Here's another edition of Other People's Creations.
In case you're not familiar with this feature of my blog, I'll explain. Occasionally I like to show what other crafters are doing. They are mainly friends of mine and I do have some talented friends!

Let's start with some knitting. My daughter in law, Stephanie, always amazes me with her knitting skills. She was working on this sweater when she and Matt visited for Christmas, and recently sent me this photo of her completed project.

Wow, right? Not only is it something that can be worn, it's incredibly detailed. I haven't mastered knitting, so this to me is wonderful. As are these socks.

See, I told you she is amazing. I'd say she has a gift for knitting.

My sister, Sheila, crafted a beautiful gift for each of us at stitch day.

She made these rose ornaments out of polymer clay. Again, this photo doesn't show the real beauty of this flower. They're luminous and kind of iridescent, as well as very detailed. What a lovely gift to receive!

And all of us Sisters In Stitches were lucky to receive another wonderful handmade gift.

Thea presented us with these sweet pin cushions. She used deep red velvet fabric and a pretty button to crown the top.

This pin cushion is very solid as it's filled with a combination of emery and crushed walnut shells.

How lucky are we to receive handmade gifts? As crafters/sewers/stitchers, we all know what goes into handmade items, so it's pretty special to be gifted with something that someone made.

I hope you enjoyed seeing the craftiness of my friends and family, as well as my own! Please stop by again. I still need to find a good balance of work and working on my own creative projects. So hopefully, I'll get back to more regular posts. Watch for my Wipocalypse post coming at the end of the month for my stitching progress! Until then, have a great week!

April Pinterest-Inspired Project

I admit it.  I really like Pinterest.  During the past year or so, I've become more of a pinner than in the previous year after I started my account.  It's not an obsession, like I've seen portrayed in a video that's been going around.  I look at Pinterest this way:  it's like a virtual scrapbook for all of your good ideas and all of the cool things you see online. 

As you may know, I have a goal of trying out one of my pinned ideas each month.  I'm trying to vary the projects so that I'm not doing the same type of thing every month.  This month I chose the Mason Jar Pin Cushion Sewing Kit.  Just click over the words for the link to the instructions. 

This was a fun, easy project and I used a lot of things I already had in the craft room.  OK, I did buy the Mason jar.  And I found an adorable PINK measuring tape to go with it.  But that's it.  The pin cushion top only required a small piece of fabric, some fiberfill, felt and hot glue. 

Some little pins that I made with beads from my vast collection.

Little needlebook.

I also included some tiny spools of thread, scissors, a needle threader and some floss.  The needlebook and pin card were made with fabric covered cardboard and felt. 

Wouldn't this be a cute gift for someone just starting out on their own?  Or for someone just getting into sewing or quilting?  You also might want to keep this in mind for Christmas gifts for the crafters and seamstresses in your life!

So to sum it up, this was an inexpensive, relatively quick, and fun project to put together.  Let me know what you think!

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!