TUSAL and Stash...

Hello All and Happy Thursday!
As always, thanks for all your very kind and sweet comments, particularly about the little necklace piece! I am so glad that you like it too! In all honestly, it is not a piece that I will ever wear to work, but I can't wait to show it off this weekend. Just out of curiosity, is this type of jewellery something that any of you would wear to work? I will try to make sure that I have some photos to show you of how it looks while worn.
As I mentioned in the last post, I did have a bunch of fun working on it, so please don't worry about the missing finishing instructions (I hope that I didn't scare anyone off!!!) - if you love it, get it or at least add it to your wish list! You can always send me a row and ask how I finished it and I will be more than happy to try to show you.

Can you believe that it is that time again - the time for our monthly TUSAL updates? This is how my container looks now. I have started to "compress" the orts lightly on to have more room to play with. I can not believe how much scrap I have created! ow I am starting to think crazy things, like "what can I make with these things once the TUSAL is over?".

Other updates: the last few days I have been getting lots of new fabric to fondle. I tend to keep an ever growing wish-lists in my head and every other month or so, I hit Etsy and gather up most of the fabrics that I simply can not live without. This time, it was mostly Heather Ross - both her Far far Away 1 (and some larger Snow-white cuts from FFA3) and her Mendocino line - and also a few fun Alexander Henry prints.

Aren't the mermaids too cute!? I know that I have said it before; the only thing that is missing now is my ability to sew and motivation to get going on it...

I am aware of the fact that you have probably had it with the Hare Pyns shots just about now - will she stop posting pics of that thing already!? - but this is the last one before finishing, I promise!
Class starts early Sunday and I am thrilled that all the stitching is complete! As you can see, every single linen thread is covered and the piece can not be more ready for assembly. Sherri and I e-mailed each other a bit last week and she mentioned that she hopes that we will leave with a finished project - that would be fabulous. I also know that there is a tiny companion piece that we can purchase in class, so there will be more stitching on this project. One day....

Before Hare Pyns, on Saturday, L-Bug and I will drive up to mid-Ohio together to take the Lucet class. I can not wait!!! I am so excited and I am still doing all kinds of prep-work here at home. I have completed all my stitching, so now I am cutting lining pieces, basting interfacing and reading instructions like a mad-woman. It is a lot of fun!
Tomorrow is pretty much the last day I have to get ready. L-Bug lives 2 hrs from my house and I am going up to stay with her, so I will likely leave directly from work on Friday - I need to be packed and ready (I have been asked to bring sewing machine, cut-mat and rotary cutter, iron, ironing board etc, so I'd better make sure that I have all my ducks in a row before long...).
Anyway, L-Bug and I will have so much fun! Dinner, gossip, tea, stitching - I hope that we can get a lot of things crammed in just the two of us before the classes start.

Well, I am late getting to bed - as usual!
Take care and Sweet Dreams about Stithing,

Ahhh, Saturday!

Hi everyone! As always, thanks so much for all your comments. A lot of you signed up for the give-away and I got a bunch of new followers from all over the world, which is always a thrill. The give-away drawing is scheduled for today, but I will get to that that later tonight. I have popped down to the basement to give a quick summary of the week, both in stitching and in general.

I would also like to thank you so much for all the sweet and interesting comments in regards to the "mixed mess" post. Thanks, I really appreciate it! Please keep in mind that I am still not real savvy when it comes to responding to comments. I am trying, but generally I just pop by your blogs and leave comments there. I hope that works!

We do now have two more contributors (and one in process) and 8 followers at the Brightneedle Blog, so that is really cool. One contributor, Maggee, even posted a picture of her stash a couple of days ago, so we are officially up and running now!
This will be my latest post on that blog; Brightneedle's Button Satchel:

Let me assure you, my hands are not of an abnormally large size, this pouch is just very, very small. The kit came without a photo or dimensions on the front cover, so as usual, I had no clue what I was buying... LOL
As you can imagine, I was a bit surprised (= long nose) when I opened up the package to find a piece of linen that was smaller than my hand to work with! Oh well, at least it meant that it was a quick stitch... A very small project for quite a bit of money, so I would probably not recommend this kit, if that is all right to say out loud - even though I do admit that it is very cute!!! Anyway, how much stuff can I really store in this pouch? Not even a lip-gloss... :-o
If you do decide to invest in the kit, be aware of the fact that the size is pretty much exactly as large as it needs to be, so take care when placing your stitch area. It has to be placed pretty much in the exact position that was intended for it, or you won't have any extra linen to work with in the assembly step.

BTW, the French manicure in the photo above is that "gel stuff" that I wrote about months ago. Still love it; the photo shows how it looks more than 2 weeks after having it done - impressive huh!?

Since we are on the subject of collaboration boards; I have finally gotten around to posting my first Christmas project over at the All Year Christmas SAL blog. I'll post the pics here too, but don't be shy - feel free to hop over the the Xmas SAL blog and check it out! :-)
Here it is; the Noel Quadrielle:

I decided to do the assembly a little bit different than how the instructions are written. Instead of using just one piece of interfacing, I opted to go for 4 separate pieces. I figured that it would be easier to get four crisp corners that way and I do believe that it did make the assembly a bit easier.
I am sure that most of you are well aware of this trick, but I do recall the mixed duh-and aha-moment when I first learned it; using a scanner to get perfect templates.
Scan back of stitched piece:

Pin cut-out scans to interface, card-board or any iece needed for assembly:

Iron corresponding piece of interfacing to back of stitched piece (remove scanned cut-out before ironing):

Finish as usual:

I have been on a finishing kick lately and I finally framed a Brightneedle piece that I stitched back in 2008. Oddly enough, I get more stressed out by all the stitched-but-not-finished projects that I have lying around than all the kits, charts and materials that are waiting for some TLC. The story about the frame is pretty neat, but I already wrote about that on the Brightneedle blog...

Four years after stitching the Sweetheart Tree Happy Birthday Knob Knocker, I finally finished it into an actual knob knocker using my newly arrived Far Far Away 3 fabric stash (yay!). I was lazy and used an elastic type lace-trim to finish the edges. I am not so sure that I like the hanger made with the lace, so I may have to rip out and modify a bit once I get a better idea.

Just a quick note about the fabrics. If you like me love the larger Snow-white prints, do not buy the fat quarters but do invest in the 1/2 or, even better, full yards. The reason why is that all my three Snow-white FQs were cut so that the main motifs ended up on the edges and the majority were snipped in half. I still love this fabbie, but I can't really do as much with it as I had envisioned. At least now I do have a better idea about color and size, so that will help for future orders. Let me know if you would like to see an example and I'll post or shoot an e-mail with a pic of my FQs.

Another finish; a small harvest bouquet kit from Fremme mounted on a Clara Weaver phone book that I found on e-bay for cheap a while back. I don't really need two phone books, so I have to figure out who to give one of them to (interested anyone?). I am pretty pleased with the way that it turned out, even though I went with a fairly bold printed paper for the back.

Not a whole lot going on here on the stitching front. I have pulled back out a sampler form the Scarlet Letter, the EH 1669 Reproduction Sampler, that I will try to spend some quality time with for a while. I am estimating that I am about 1/6 of the way there... (I love (not so much) how I always manage to get bird-seeds in all my pics, btw...)

My grand new beginning looks incredibly pathetic with maybe a total of max 30 stitches, so no use posting that sad story here...
However, I did bite the bullet and got the over-one stitching done for my Lucet class in October. Now I have a bunch of pre-finishing steps that I really should hop on board with, but it looks so complicated that I am a little turned off... ever felt that way?

Last, but not least - introducing our latest family member (as always, excuse the state of the floor. Believe it or not, DH vacuumed it less than 24 hrs ago...):

I am so excited - I have never had a bunny before, so if anyone has any special tricks and tips to share, I would be all ears! I am not sure what to name him yet. I have been thinking either Bobby, Chocolate or Kanin (the latter means rabbit in Swedish). All my name ideas are pretty lame, so if you have a suggestion for a name, don't hesitate to leave me a comment. That poor bunny needs a name!
He is a real snuggle-bun and the people at the pet-store says that he is really social with people but he does not like other bunnies. I have been cuddling with him like crazy and he doesn't seem to mind in the least. He is also pretty curious and hops around and sniffs at everything, so we will have to bunny-safe the living-room now (I hear that they like to gnaw on electrical cords and such, so we have our work cut out for us in that department). The birds are not real interested, which is pretty much ideal.
I love him more than I love my new shoes and that says something, 'cuz my new kicks are pretty cool!

Can you believe that I got even more spoiled than shoes and bunnies this week!? Hip*Hip gave me a couple of charts as a thanks for having fun last weekend. So sweet of her and absolutely not necessary! I love both of the charts, but the favorite is the May I chart from All Through the Night (which I have been admiring on-line with my hand hovering over the Buy Now icon...)

Thanks for spoiling me, Hip*Hip!!!! :-)

Well, time to run off. There are drawings to prepare and bunnies to cuddle with. I am planning on making some Patera jewelry tonight too - if i can get my printer to work, that is...

Thanks so much for swinging by! Have a great weekend and Happy Stitching,

Spooky

Happy Saturday!  The weather is beautiful here today - after a few days with well-needed non-stop rain.  The temperatures are down and everything looks fresh and clean!

Yesterday evening, I finished up my last Crowjacker.  Check out this spooky & very, very scary collection:

 I stitched these figures because I thought that the Crowjackers were just about adorable, so I was a bit surprised to find that the Moonriders are my favorites now.  Hopefully, I'll get around to finishing them up this weekend!

I also started on my second Fremme bird picture.  This one looks a bit more stitch-intense than the first one, so it will be interesting to see how long this one will take to finish up...

Before I jump on to breakfast, I wanted to show you this super-sweet fabric collection by Heather Ross for Kokka Fabrics - this is my latest fabric obsession.  This is the third collection in the "Far Far Away" series.  I love the themes, the colors, the artistry - everything!  Kokka Fabric is a Japanese company and is the same design house that also prints up the Echino brand (another of my obsessions).  Anyway, being a Japanese collection made with fabrics that are a mix between cotton and linen, the prices are a tad high... one can always dream, right?  Anyway, this is Far Far Away III:

My favorites - Snow White in  light blue and green - the birch trees are wonderful!

Playing With Horses in brown - cow-girls playing with horses; who'd thought about using that for a fabric design?

And here is the pretty Far Far Away II collection, with Rapunzel, Sleeping Beauty, and Owl & The Pussycat:

 Some examples of finished goodies - some sweet bags from Blue Nickel Studios:

A gorgeous quilt, Sand Castle, from Chasing Cottons (pattern available for Ay $ 10):

Finally, here are some snippets from the first collection.  Unicorns, The Princess on the Pea, snail repeats and frog-princes....  Love the colors!

Yummy!

A lot of the fabrics from the earlier collections are still available at Etsy - quite a few of them at outrageous prices, but still...  ;-)

Talk with you in a bit and Happy Stitching!

We've Got Some Finishes! (nothing big though...)

A quick post before bed - it is barely past 10 PM and I can almost not keep my eyes open...  I think that the sharp twists in the weather leaves my body behind somehow (and may brain apparently even further away), so I am walking around in a daze most of the time right now.

Anyway, I did manage to finish up the small cross-stitch designs this weekend.  This is one of Homespun Elegance's annual Christmas ornaments kit from 1997 - picked up at E-bay for cheap!  It is always so much fun to translate the vision of how the finished ornament will look into reality (with varying results....).

Over that past couple of years, I have found myself drawn to kits more and more.  I am just too lazy to kit things up by myself nowadays!  ;-)

Here is the little scissors fob (by Prairie Moon).  Look in the progress picture how the blue bled like crazy during the ironing (with full steam) step.  Luckily, this is one of those "scrappy chic" designs, so I was actually pleased wit the result.  I was even a bit suspicious at my own reaction, since normally I tend to be bit of a perfectionist.  I guess that you just have to pick your battles, right? 
I did have a lot of fun figuring out how to finish the fob up.  I just made it up as I went along and I am pretty happy with the outcome of this experiment!  I even carried out the final assembly using my sewing machine.   The backing fabrics were taken from a charm pack of La Petite Ecole by French General - I just love their fabric collections!  The "bling" came with the chart pack.

 

Note the window film in the door.  I am absolutely addicted to bright and light environments.  No candle light dinners for me - I can't see what I eat which tends to make me in more of a crabby mood than a romantic such.  These films are great - no visibility from the outside, but all the light gets in.  Plus the films are static cling, so no adhesive goop to clean off the windows after removing the film, not to mention that you do get almost an unlimited number of "extra chances" to get it just right when setting it up (I did use a fair number of extra chances to get it straight and even).  Can't get any better in my book! 
I got two patterns, geraniums and orchids, when I was in Sweden a couple of years ago.  I wish that I had more wondows, because this baby would be installed next!  
Anyway, here is a somewhat better view:

If you are interested in picking up a roll to try it out for yourself, here is the link to the Geranium film at Scandinavian Design Center.  The design company is Strössel (which is Swedish and means sprinkles, the type that is used as toppings on ice cream and cakes) - here is their web-site.  Let me know what you think if you decide to try it out!

Speaking about geraniums, they are an absolute favorite flower of mine.  I just potted a tray on Sunday.  Love to pot plants; it takes no time compared to digging holes in the KY clay... 
Before:

 After:

 

The sweet ceramic bird-bath is a 2-piece deal.  The top part was broken no less than twice and is now beyond repair, so I picked up a big plant saucer from Homedepot and voila!  We are open for bathing season this year again!

Also, since we are talking geraniums, I just have to show this adorable embroidery design stitched up by my Godmother.  This is a table cloth in stamped embroidery from the Swedish company Fingerfärda, 

It is based on a Swedish story by Elsa Beskow; Sagan om den Lilla Lilla Gumman (The Tale of the Little, Little Old Woman).  Elsa Beskow was an Art Nouveau artist, which is a style I am very attracted to.  Here are a few examples of the illustrations to the story.  (Elsa was only 23 when she wrote and illustrated this childrens' book - can you believe it!?)

Well, what about The Birdcage?  It is coming along, slowly...   I was thrown off schedule once I realized that there were some details in the finishing that I just could not fall head over heels for.  Changes had to be done!   Anyway, I think that those birds in their cage will be wrapped up in one more evening or maybe two.  Until then, here is a teaser!

Oh, and finally; DH expressed some concern about not having any space in the kitchen to cut up his dinner pizza.  I don't understand what he is getting at....

 

Guess that it is time to pile things back up into neat stacks, huh!?  That should fool him for a few more days...  ;-)

Thanks so much for stopping by, take care and Happy Stitching!