another finish ....

As soon as I saw this chart I knew I had

to stitch it .... I was not disappointed.

It's quite dainty and stitched up rather quickly.

You'll find the chart here.

 

WIP, UFO or vintage ......

Years ago I always used to sign and date my x-stitch pieces but learned that dating them wasn't always such a good idea.  I stitched this one way back in 1990 - that's  .... well, you can do the math!  It was a kit that I received as a gift and I had no idea how I wanted to finish it so I rolled it up in tissue and set it aside.  After a few long distance moves I've been sorting and downsizing my 'junque' and in doing so I came across it - no longer rolled but totally flattened and badly creased  ..... at least now I know what I did with it.  I decided to make it into a cushion cover and with the assistance of my colour coordinator (the man of the house)  we auditioned several fabrics and this is what we came up with.  We were both pleased with how it turned out.

 As I mentioned the stitched piece was badly creased so I used a wee bit of persuasion and look what happened .....  Yep, the red in 'Greetings' ran - curious that only the thread in that one spot ran.  Well, it is what it is.

 I made an envelope opening, my favourite, for the back from sheeting and stitched the edges of the opening with a stitch that looks like snowflakes, which is hard to see in the photo.

 I'm not sure if this still qualifies as a WIP, UFO or

 is it already 'vintage'?

sewing and crocheting for baby ....

Sewing and crocheting for babies today is much more fun
 than it was when my children were babies and that's a good thing.

Here's what I've been having fun with ....

 You're right, these are for that new little fellow 
arriving soon.

You'll find the bib patterns here and here.

Be sure to check out Blogathon Canada going on here. 
It's on all week and there are lots of bloggers to meet
 along with some great giveaways. 
I'm also linking up here.

 

Christmas sewing and stitching

Christmas is my favourite time of the year - I love everything about it!  Here are a few of my new projects .......

 The 'cookie plate crumb catcher' was a design 

offered by the craftyquilter.com.

Check out her variations of this design - quite lovely!

Making this I learned that I'm still not very good at

making the star block.  This was the first time I'd ever

applied binding to an octagonal shape and it was a breeze - whew!

There were no cookies in our home so a wee plate of

brownies had to suffice.

 Santa is one of a whole series of snow globes from here. 
I'm currently working on the winter one.

Something different for my Merry Christmas redwork.

My Victorian cone. 

WIP is finished!

This shawl has been my WIP for a couple of months and it's finally finished!  I didn't like the border that the pattern called for so I changed it.

I Remember .....

I remember

having fun ....

We received a couple of inches of snow yesterday and with the temperature on the mild side it's made for very icy conditions but it looks pretty.  I had some fun in the 'sewing' room today and I just had to show off share .......

 The large angel is made from a piece of drop cloth and back stitched .   The small angel (see the red ribbon) is made from a paper clip, ribbon, and a bead - I know, not a very good photo of her.  The upper nativity is from round clothes pins and the bottom (left) one is made from chunks of wood.

  I now have an owl pincushion to add to my collection - he was fun to make!

 

I crocheted this guy the other evening but put him all together today - I love him.  I must admit that I wondered about all the fuss over owls but I totally understand now.

some finishes ....

Remember these 3D pinwheel blocks?  I did actually finish them and the photo shows front and back.  For the backs I used two blocks that I'd made ages ago. 

 Hmm, does this mean I made reversible mugs mats?

 I finished Lavender Girl as a birthday card for a friend.

An angel for the Christmas basket.

This was one of the lily of the valley that I stitched this summer whilst at the cabin.  It became a lavender sachet to tuck into an  elderly friend's Christmas card.
 By the way I'm linking up here.

are you nuts

I am delighted to report that Blogger is back up and running today - I have no idea what Google did with it yesterday but it was most frustrating.

I was determined to make this hanger but I said to myself, "Are you nuts?".  You see, I'm not very good rather useless with sewing wee pieces.  I could never make Barbie doll clothes -  I could crochet them but not sew them.  I dug out this pattern, which is from Kim Diehl, and started to cut the appropriate pieces....how many 1.5 inch squares?  Anyway, I persevered and finished it.  It's not an award winner but it was an accomplishment and I don't ever have to sew with wee pieces again (unless I want to) because I've been there done that. And now I have another door hanger to display for the season.

Blogger issues?

Anyone having problems accessing their blog today?  Mine isn't working - actually, I can't even access it although I did manage to, somehow or other, find this and am hoping it is posting to my blog.
I just hate it when crap like this happens.  Happy weekend everyone.