Trying to Play Catch-Up - Again

When last I posted, I showed you the Hershey's Bar needlepoint in the blocking stage.  I was able to finish it for my husband, as a belated Christmas present.  It is an eyeglass case.  For he who is too vain to admit he now needs the glasses for more than just reading.  But, it's the only thing my wonderful husband is vain about, so I leave it at teasing him.

Front of case in the large photo above; the small photo above shows the business end where you insert the glasses.  At left you see the back view of the business end.  The back was made from a scrap of a man's wool jacket.  I added a pewter button that is a reproduction of the buffalo side of a "Buffalo Nickel" American 5 cent piece.  In the last photo you can see that a week ago, when I took these pictures, we still had a little of our day-after-Christmas snow on the ground.

 Now on to two things I want to share with you.  Ever since we saw the CEO of Yankee Candle on Undercover Boss we've been buying them; in spite of cheaper knock offs being more available.  But a few months ago I decided that those jars the candles come in are just too nice to pitch into the recycle bin.  So, I've been saving them and cleaning them up.  I have one (not pictured) that is a large jar with a rubber stopper sort of top on it that I've also rehabilitated.  You can see what I'm using the smaller ones for - buttons!  They're perfect because the jars pretty much seal up with those stoppers around the glass tops.

 I've been watching Martha's Sewing Room on PBS and have tried some of the designs of Kari Mecca.  I've also been purchasing Sew Beautiful magazine.  Well, I took the plunge and bought some new tools - whimsy sticks and both of Kari's "Whimsy" books.  I hope to be playing with these soon.  Right now I'm in the process of making my granddaughter a rain coat - with my own whimsy!

I have a friend who is an arborist.  As well as a geologist, an archeologist, an anthropologist, a former White House gardener, and all around good guy.  He just celebrated his 70th birthday.  Hopefully we will be able to pull off a big birthday celebration this spring.  On his birthday I gave him a small gift, and I hope to have this one finished for the celebration . . . it is going to be a canvas bag.  For his groceries, for his books, for his digging tools; whatever.

The bag idea was not mine.  You can see in the bottom picture that they made a bag in the magazine.  This past summer I was at a thrift store and found a stash of Cross Stitch and Country Crafts magazines.  I sat there the better part of an hour and went through each one, picking ones with charts that I liked.  This was one of them and I thought at the moment I saw it that it would make a great gift for my friend.  But, you see that they were really bland and did their stitching on white and used raw canvas.  I have done my stitching on Country French Tula, 10 count.  Their count was 7 so mine's even bigger.  And my canvas is GREEN.  I used the charts to stitch the trees, but I chose the trees - did even more than they did and did them MANLY.  That is to say, I didn't stitch any of them with the pink froo froo that they had done.  Can't wait to finish this up.

You'll also remember I picked up some quilt squares that were pre-printed and I was stitching on one of those.  Got one done - finally!

I don't know what I'm going to do at this point.  I will say that it was incredibly boring stitching this pre-printed panel.  I have no idea why, but I just hated it.  The other one I've been working on - the schoolhouse - I've been having the same problem with it.

Now to the quilting.  I'm going to eventually add another page to the blog here that will just have pictures of the quilts when they're done.  We had a fine day on Sunday.  The temps didn't quite make it to 70 degrees like they predicted, but we were nearly 60.  In the afternoon I ran out with armloads of quilts and hung them on the line to get decent photos.

This is the Civil War repro quilt that you can see SO much better now.  Sebastian, the cat, would not go away.  He kept rubbing up against the quilts and getting into the picture.

The backing fabric from Keepsake Quilting arrived last week, so I'm calling the quilter on Friday and this one will go in.

This is the Dick and Jane quilt (name of the fabric) that I made a few years ago.  It has backing fabric now so will also go to the quilter ASAP.

 

This is Froggy Fourth of July.  I made it back in the mid-90's and it gets its name from the patriotic frogs that are all over it.  It is a lap quilt or table topper size.  I've not shown this one before on the blog, so thought you might enjoy it.

This is Juliet's Ribbons, my personal Civil War reproduction quilt. This will be a wall hanging in our foyer.  My husband really likes this one.  And I'm pretty proud of it myself.  I haven't gotten the backing fabric for it yet (Hancock's of Paducah really let me down on that) so I'm going to my local quilt shop soon with hopes of finding something.

This is called My Little Red Tractor (based on the print on the fabric) and is a tessellated block.  I made it many years ago and gave it to someone as an unquilted table topper.  She returned it to me after several years never having used it.  People with no imagination don't deserve nice things like this anyway.  I've decided to have it quilted and use it myself.  So there!

 Last year I bought a fat quarter bundle at my quilt store.  It sat until I was inspired by a background quilt on the Fons & Porter show.  I call this Patty O'Quilt and it is my granddaughter's birthday present this year.  You may recognize the design from her Christmas stocking - I stitched it as the quilt on the bed!  Top left is the blocks that I did in a day.  Top right shows rows in progress.  At left are the white backgrounds that I pulled out (I didn't want to use them in the blocks so substituted the turquoise and orange you see in the top left) but I did use them to make the binding.  Here, below,  is the quilt top hanging out on the line.  I have to go through my stash to see if I have fabric I can use for the backing. I'm thinking not; and I'd like to find something white and sweet like the binding fabric.

Last of the quilts came out of my stash.  Several years ago I bought these panels at a quilt shop going out of business.  They are Robert's Baltimore Album.  The first part was easy, sew the two panels together to make the center or "album blocks".  Then I had to cut the other panel apart to make the swag borders.  This weekend I worked to attach said borders with mitred corners.  Only problem was I soon discovered the panel had been cut about six inches too short to make matred corners.  Huh.  Guess I know why I got it at such a good price now.  So, what to do???  I sat there looking at it so long that when my husband walked by the door of the workroom, he asked me if everything was OK.  Jackie knows what I'm talking about.

Finally, I went to the Fons & Porter show I'd seen just that morning.  It was about making easy LeMoyne Stars.  Well, I didn't use the easy method, lets just put that out there right now.  That means set-in seams. I have a jelly roll of Barbara Brackman's ReUnion.  They are Civil War reproduction colors.  They also happen to be the colors from the cheater quilt panels.  So, I zip zapped with colors and neutrals and made the "test" LeMoyne Star block you see here.  Those blocks will go in the corners.  There was no way I was ever going to be able to match that white background (as there about 50 billion shades of white) so I'll have corners and the swags will run between.

Here you can see the album blocks in the back, the swag border on top and the LeMoyne Star block I made to see if the colors went with.  My husband really liked this one too!

Our weather's been weird here.  Snow on the days before and after Christmas and then so cold afterward that it stayed for two weeks only to be melted away by a nearly 60 degree day.  When the warm air came in that morning, we were treated to super thick fog.

This photo was taken as the fog began to drift away from us, but you can see the top of the fog bank just at the top of the trees in the distance.  The sunny sky quickly went away and we were very dreary until about 3 in the afternoon.  Now cold air is coming back and we are expecting freezing rain over night.  Keep your fingers crossed that we don't lose power!  Hope you enjoyed!

Celebrating 100th Follower and Catching Up!

Hiya!  Wow, I finally got to 100 followers.  Thanks to Ruth, my latest!  Seems like I should do something special.

When last we talked, I said I was doing a lot of stuff and not sharing.  So, here's the updates -

The cathedral windows table runner is done.  For the binding, I used all my leftover window squares, sewed them all together in a long strip.  I also cut a plain piece of white cotton folded in half and attached it, along with the binding.  The white strip became a flange on top and the binding, of course, goes all the way 'round to the back.  The back is just one large scrap piece of the 1930's reprints. 

Here's a closer view of the corner, flange and binding.  I'm super happy with the way it turned out.  This is also the longest I've ever let a project go between starting a finishing - I swear, I've been working on this for more than 15 years.  Usually I will decide that I'm never going to finish something, or have lost interest in it, so I'll toss it and all it's parts into the Goodwill bag and let it be someone else's treasure (problem?)  But, this one I hung onto.  I'm glad I did.

Next up - the needlepoint blue jay.  The canvas was designed by Labors of Love.  I picked out the fibers to use.   The canvas came with the feathers and the springy feet.  So, last weekend I sat down to finish it.  And boy, when I got done at the sewing machine and turning it right side out, I thought "oh, crap!  I've ruined it".  So I spent 12 hours thinking about it and decided that as hard as it is, I was going to have to hand stitch the seam in places and then cover it up with cording.  I made the cording out of gold DMC Light Effects (a metallic) and then VERY carefully hot glued it on.  No burnt fingers this time.  Then I stuffed those feathers into the hole I'd left at the end and hot glued in the springy feet.  VIOLA!

As you can see, he will be beautiful on a Christmas tree!

Next up, my experimental stitching.  Last year, Prairie Schooler came out with Ukrainian Easter eggs and a Christmas design on black fabric.  Many of you know how tough stitching on black fabric is.  Yeah, I know, we can use a light box.  But, those can get awful warm on your lap.  Remember I just finished up the American Sampler?  And on the sides and top I had to do the Alternating Half Cross Stitch to "recolor" the background fabric to the dark green?  Well, as I sat there stitching all those infernal half crosses, I was wondering, will this work for the problem of black fabric?

I took a piece of red linen I had.  I chose red because when they do gilding, often they will paint the object to be gilded red before they apply the gold gilt.  Somehow it makes it look richer.  The fabric was 28 count.  I cannot say that I am 100% happy with how things turned out, but I really think I'm onto something here.  Maybe I just need to use a smaller count, like 32.  Anyway, here's one of the PS Easter eggs that was featured several years ago in Gift of Stitching Magazine.

Top pic shows the work in progress; bottom shows the finished stitching.  Now to make it into an ornament.  So, whadaya think?  Beats stitching on black fabric.

A few months back I showed you a pre-printed schoolhouse stitchery I'd picked up at an antique mall.  I got a start on it with my variagated threads:

Also, a few months ago I picked up pre-printed embroidery quilt squares.  I got a start on them too, but have since exhaused my supply of those colors of floss; will pick up more next week; this is destined for my guest bedroom.

Also got a start of Little House Needleworks Liberty Belles.  However, I am changing the color pallete.  Doing it on 32 count scrap linen.

I probably showed this to you a year or so ago.  It's a table runner I made.  I designed the foundation leaf and used scraps to make it up.  I originally wanted to do a whole quilt that looked like this, but after doing a few blocks - and there are some set-in seams - I decided that there was no way.  So I made the table runner out of the "few blocks".  I like to do that now, find blocks that I sort of want to experiment with - just to say I did - and then make up a table runner.  I guess that's what the whole bed-runner craze now is all about.  Although I think a bed runner is pretty useless.  I mean, why make your bed, you're just going to sleep in it again.  JUST KIDDING!!!  But I still don't see the point in a bed runner.

 

So, anyway, for you intrepid experimental quilters, here's the foundation pattern.  This is my present to you for my achievement of 100 followers!  Thanks again to all who follow.

Finally, I am working on charting out my granddaughter's Christmas stocking.  Sadly, no pictures yet.  Hope you enjoyed!

I Urned It

No, no, don't get the idea I'm patting myself on the back.  I've just had that post title running through my head these last ten days while I worked on The Chase sampler.  Here's why:

I finished both urns and flowers.  I am almost finished with the Jacobean Crewel portion of this sampler; just have those two little birds to do.

Here's a picture I took, indoors, that shows the crewel portion of the sampler and you can see the placement of the birds better.

Finally, I took a picture outside so you can really see the colors.  We have 98% humidity out there so I only stayed out for the one shot.

I have decided that on the two lines I will put my own information; my name, birth date and either birth place (as there is no sampler in my family commemorating my birth) or the name of the town I grew up in.  Right now I'm leaning toward the town I grew up in.  The original sampler has the stitchers info as well as a brief Bible snippet.  I don't know if I'll finish the sampler next month or not, but I'll come darned close!

I want to take an opportunity to say how impressed I am with the people who were attending the concert at the Indiana State Fair where the stage collapsed.  Incredibly brave people who ran into the fray to help those who couldn't help themselves.  And then I want to say how disappointed I am that law suits are already being filed.  Want to know what's wrong with society today?  That's one of the things.  Any opportunity to make a buck.  Anyone remember the phrase "act of God"?  Last weekend my husband made negative comments about the state leaders bringing in people to figure out what happened there - so soon without giving people an opportunity to grieve.  Me, the eternal pessimist, replied that I thought he was naive that lawsuits wouldn't begin pouring in the first week.  Well, guess I win that one - and I just think that's sad!

Back on the stitchy front, I was reading Mary Corbet's blog a week or so ago and she reviewed this book:

She talked about what a great read it was.  Mary so impressed me that I immediately went to Amazon and ordered myself a copy.  It has arrived and although I haven't had an opportunity to read it cover to cover like Mary, I have thumbed through it.  It is now sitting in my "to read" pile by the bed because it certainly deserves a closer look.  I think it will not only inspire design, but explains some older techniques that we may find interesting to use again.  Oh, and the author has two other books that I'm putting on my wish list!

Meanwhile, I needed to beef up my total so I could get that free Super Saver Shipping!  A book I'd had my eye on for quite a while is this one:

When it arrived, I started reading it that night and have read it every night since before going to bed.  My favorite historical era is the American Colonial Period and this is the best book I've ever read that gives you an idea of what it was like to live on a colonial plantation in Virginia.  Martha Washington was some kinda gal!  She has completely come alive for me.

That's all from me for now - hope you enjoyed!

The Grass is Riz

That old song goes something like The Grass is Riz - I wonder where all the flowers is?  Well, this month I worked on doing all the monotonous long and short stitches to finish the grass.  I did it number one because I just wanted to get it out of the way.  It paid off in an interesting way though.  This month was really stressful for me.  But each night I would sit and work on that monotonous grass and just feel the stress falling off of me.  Anyone know what stitch it is that makes the pounds fall off?

I also did one of the little bunnies, two of the raspberries, the little blueberry bush on the right and got a start on the small tree to the right.  I played around with the idea of changing the colors on the peacock/chicken to the left of the stag.  You might think I'm closing in on being done.  Alas - not so!  When I finish the bottom portion I have to go back up and stitch the urns with their flowers and then finish some of the frustrating cross stitch I just could not bring myself to do back in the winter.

Anyway, I think I got a lot done this week and have moved on to the new project in my rotation - Opus Magnusson.  I will be stitching that one for the rest of my life!

Thanks for your comments on my blogging question; I'll update you if I hear anything more.  Hope you enjoyed! 

Vintage Embroidery

Almost a year ago to the day I posted about a sewing basket I'd picked up at an antiques store.  Showed you pics of the various things that I found in the basket, but held back some.  Well, the wheels of God grind slowly, but slowly grind they all - and so here are the items I held back on . . .

Bed Spread Pattern - Enlarge and Zoom In

Sample!

Oh, so 50's!

And more!

I just had no idea when I found these in that tin, what I was going to do with them.  To me, vintage stuff is very dear, even if I have no use for it.  So, I put them away.  Now that I know I can actually do embroidery (thanks to my work on The Chase sampler) I have to find them.  Although I don't know that I'll do a whole bed spread (gasp!) that pattern might look nice on pillowcases that are just for show or something.  Hope you enjoyed!