UFO's into WIP's

UFO stitching has been going on around here lately!  I have to say it feels pretty good to be getting these projects closer to being finished.  The last time I worked on Lizzie*Kate's Merry Christmas by the Letter was October 2009.  Here is what it looked like then:

And here it is now:

Not bad for a weeks work, if I do say so myself.  Especially since I was also working on another former UFO; Travelling Stitcher by Little House Needleworks.  I'm about half done both projects now.

Here is my progress on 12 Days of Christmas Whimzi by Just Nan.  I'm on 6 Geese a Laying:

Have a great weekend!

Christmas Ornaments for my Kids

I have a confession to make...even though I had these ornaments stitched, sewn and stuffed, I didn't have them sewn closed until last Friday night (Jan 7th)!!!  How bad is that?  I made sure my parent's ornaments were done for Christmas morning, but I just showed my kids their ornaments and back up to the craft room they went until now. 

This is the ornament that I made my son for Christmas this year:



Run, Run Rudolf by Raise the Roof Designs

Fabric:  32ct. Stitches & Spice Linen, colour unknown

Fibres:  GAST, DMC

Embellishments:  ribbon, JABC present button

Finished as a pillow ornament

I made my daughter this:



It's Expensive to Be Me by Lizzie*Kate

(It's a Girl Thing Chart)

Fabric:  32 ct. Platinum Belfast linen

Fibres:  GAST & DMC as charted

Embellishments:  Kreinik #4 braid, Mill Hill Crystal Treasures, twisted cord

Finished as a pillow ornament

Let me tell you, that trim was a little time consuming to stitch on but I like doing the handwork part of the ornaments so it was no bid deal.  Isn't it pretty too?  I found it last year at Wal-Mart by the wrapping paper.

I know DD's ornament isn't very Christmasy but she loved it, especially the colours :)  Oh yes, my baby girl turned 15 on Saturday!  We celebrated with a sleepover party with her posse, as I call it.  She has a group of 9 incredible friends so it's no big deal having them all over at once :D  They enjoyed a taco bar, fancy cupcakes lots and lots of potato chips and candy and VERY little sleep! 

Have a great week everyone!

My First Lizzie*Kate Exchange was Received

I made this little needlebook for my L*K exchange partner Stephanie, Blue Star Stitcher. 

February Stamps Flip-It by Lizzie*Kate

Fabric:  can't remember!

Fibre's:  WDW and GA as charted

Embellishments:  teeny tiny buttons included with chart & shell button for closure

Finished as a needlebook

I LOVE how this turned out.  Stephanie's lucky I personalized it or I would have been tempted to keep it!

Happy Stitching!

3 Finishes!

Though I can only show you 2 as the 3rd is an exchange. I'm feeling quite happy with myself...I'm well on the way to having my Christmas stitching goals complete.

I'm going to stitch a few more before I do a finishing blitz. Here is PS Santas and Snowmen:

Aren't the beads and pom pom cute?

L*K, It's Expensive to Be Me:

It's hard to tell but I add Kreinik #4 Braid to the shoes and sunglasses. It adds a nice shimmer to the design. I think my daughter will be thrilled.

I'm off to kit up a gift and an exchange.

Happy Stitching!!!

One Down, Many More to Go!

I'm FINALLY feeling better after my cold/flu. Sitting on the couch the past week or so was a little productive for me. Here is was I've been working on.

For my step dad one of the charts from Santas & Snowmen from Book No. 151 by The Prairie Schooler:

I used Wisper for the trim on Santas hat. You can tell it's different from the other threads used but it isn't as fuzzy as I was hoping. Any suggestions??? I have couple snowflakes to stitch in and then it's done.

For my daughter I'm stitching It's Expensive to Be Me by Lizzie*Kate:

It's right up her alley! I'm going to finish it with some funky trim if I can find something cool and girly. I'm going to wait until I have a few ornaments stitched and then do the finishing all at once.

I've also had a little stash enhancement. Awesome ribbon, rick rack and trim from Michaels:

Holly & Ivy from Shepherds Bush and Christmasland series from Raise the Roof Designs:

As if I don't already have enough stitching to do...I've joined the LHN Monthly Ornament SAL and the LHN Travelling Stitcher SAL, both starting January 2010. I justify this because I already have the Travelling Stitcher kit and the chart price for the LHN monthly ornaments is only $6!

Happy Stitching!

Harvest Exchange & Birthday Pie!

I am able to post a picture of the Harvest Exchange piece (Stitching Exchanging) I did for Yoyo at Dragon My Needle.

I made her a Needlebook and a scissor fob:

The design is Fall Squared by Lizzie*Kate. I used some of the recommended floss colours and substituted some of my own here and there. For the fob I used a pumpkin and an "L" from the L*K chart and finished it off with some Mill Hill beads and filled it with more of my crushed glass, which Yoyo said felt suspiciously like BB's, LOL! This was a fun project, I loved figuring out how to make the little needlebook, since I couldn't find anything on Google that I liked.

As for Birthday Pie, today is my darling husband's 44th birthday. Instead of a cake, I made him his favourite, Pecan Pie. I even made the pastry! Here is a picture of it hot out of the oven:

I first made my hubby pecan pie when we started dating waaaay back when I was nineteen years old. My parents were going out for the evening and my mom said it would be okay to use her kitchen to make my boyfriend a romantic dinner (I still remember what I made: cornish game hens with pasta & brocolli in a rose sauce) followed by his favourite pecan pie for dessert.

As my parents left for the evening I'll never forget what my mother infamously said..."Whatever you do, DON'T tell him you didn't make the pie crust!" That quote will live on forever in our family history. I still laugh when I think about it. For some reason my mother was dying to get me married off, you would think it was the 50's and not the 90's, and thought my lack of pastry making would be an impediment to this master plan. What a woman!

Happy Stitching!

Random Act of Kindness, L*K Update

Look at this little beauty I recieved from my blog buddy Sandra Sews:)!

I've been admiring the zipper bags she makes (check out her blog, she is a zipper bag machine!) and she graciously offered to send me one! Look at the pleats and the little yoyo detail...isn't it cute? She also attached the sweetest zipper pull:

My photo isn't great. I hope you can see the stones and beads she used. Thanks Sandra, I love it!!!

If you're interested in making this type of bag check out this great tutorial on the blog Heart of Mary.

Here is a picture of the progress I've made on Christmas by the letter:

I haven't stitched on it for awhile, I've been busy doing exchange stitching (which have turned out soooo great, I can hardly wait to post pics of my finishes!)

I just have the seam to stitch up on Happy Halloween by La-D-Da and I'll be able to post a picture of that finish too!

Happy Stitching!

Cream Puffs and Stash

I haven't posted in over a week because I haven't stitched in about as long. My mom came to visit and we were too busy running around lunching and shopping! Now I'm ready to get back at it.

Today I took treats in to my son's class for his birthday, even though it was in August. I guess this will be the last time since next year he's off to High School which is Grade 8 here in BC. *sniff* What did I take in you ask??? Was it the ever crowd pleasing Confetti cupcakes out of a box with buttery sugary icing? Nooooo...it had to be cream puffs...filled with whipped cream...dipped in chocolate! Homemade of course. Good taste for a twelve year old. Here is a picture of the result:

As for the stash part of this post yesterday I bought an Epattern from the Sampler Girl called The Stitching Janeite's Pattern Book No. 1. I've been on a Jane Austen movie watching marathon lately so when I saw the charts I was hooked. I'm going to do Netherfield Park first I think.

Today I headed over to my LNS (such as it is) and was able to get some stash for upcoming projects. They don't carry a lot of the current threads and fabbies there but I was able to improvise pretty well and here is what I bought:

I also picked up a few skeins of thread just because I liked them. One of the cutest was WDW Trick or Treat thread from their Holiday collection. As soon as I saw it in there window I ran over and grabbed two. I don't even know what I'm going to use it for, I just had to have it.

Is that not just the perfect Halloween colour ever!?! Love it!

I've made a lot of headway on Christmas by the Letter and will post a pic this week. I've also almost finish an exchange piece for Stitching Exchanging in a Harvest theme. It's turning out really cute.

I have more stash coming in the mail this week, woo hoo, and hopefully I'll have some progress on something to show soon.

Happy Stitching!

Progress and Birthdays

The last few days have been very busy with stitching and organizing and my son's 12th birthday on Friday. Isn't it hard to believe how fast they grow? Dad and Grandpa took the boys to paintball. DD and I hung around long enough to get some pictures and then we had to pick up the...cake!...yeah, that's why we had to leave! ;-)

I swear things like this are genetically programmed! Why else would boys want to go shoot at each other and girls want to go for mani's and pedi's! My DH and I actually censor TV and video games (no 14A TV or movies or T or M games in our house!) so it's not like he's desensitized or anything. Oh well, he had a blast, it was great excersise and he enjoyed showing me his one "war wound" or welt, whatever you'd like to call it.

I organized my 2nd spare bedroom, which is also the library and stitching room, this week. I now have so much credit at the used book store that I had them put my dad's name on my card so he can help me use it up. My dad also spray painted this small tool storage cabinet for me Heirloom White so now I just have to figure out what stitchy things I'm going to organize in it!

I've made a lot of progress the last few days on Christmas by the Letter:

Tonight I'm going to finish up the beading on Mes Giraffe and hopefully start the framing process. I found a great tutorial at The Twisted Stitcher so my dad is going to help me frame it for my DD. Here's hoping I'll have a picture of the finished stitching to show you tomorrow!

Happy Stitching!

"M" Finished

I finished "M" last night on my current WIP, Christmas by the Letter by Lizzie*Kate. It didn't take too much time at all. I'm having issues with my stretcher bars though, and it's driving me bonkers! I can't seem to keep the tension on the fabric taut enough for very long. I'm using stretcher bars because my fabric is 11 x 30. Any suggestions?

Thanks to Daffycat for the great advice on project photo taking! I think this photo turned out way better than previous attemps.

I went to my LNS yesterday and got my Nymo thread so I'll do the beading on Frosty Blue House today and take it to the my local quilting shop to find some pretty backing fabric for finishing. I was also inspired by this post on Daffycat's blog and bought paper bunches to make my own floss tags. Too cute!

Also, more very exciting news, to me anyhow. I noticed I have 3 more new followers of my blog! In one day!!! Woot, woot. I find that hugely exciting. Thanks for reading and Happy Stitching!