iStitch Exchange

Carol from iStitchaholic recently hosted an exchange featuring her designs, and stitchers all over the world signed up to exchange finished pieces.   Carol has been posting the exchange pieces to the iStitch Designs facebook page, and will be posting a gallery to her blog once the exchange wraps up completely.

My piece arrived from Elisa of Old Ragged Threads back in July.  She stitched Sew French Blue and finished it as a pinkeep.  So pretty and delicate - I love the lace on the edges and need to keep that in mind for future finishes of my own.  (Why yes I do have a collection of finishing ideas I'd like to try!)

Elisa also crocheted me this sweet colorful mat.  It is so soft and pretty, and my 4 year old was eyeing it up as soon as I took it out of the package.  Once he felt how soft it was, it was a task to get it back from him!

My exchange partner was also located in the UK.  I stitched Sew Peacock for Michelle (Michelle's Stitchcraft Place).  Sew Peacock has long been one of my favorite designs and I chose a gorgeous turquoise blue silk (Belle Soie Aqua Velvet) to stitch over 1.  The fabric you see in the background is the taffeta I used for the back of the pinkeep.  In fact, I chose that fabric first, then went to my LNS in search of the thread.  I had at least half a dozen choices, and ended up going with my first choice silk.  Do you do that too?  I go through several different colors for something like this, and inevitably go back to my first choice.

I also finished mine as a pinkeep.  Since I used the little acrylic stand I bought for Elisa's pinkeep to stand the piece up for photographing, I decided to include it in the package to Michelle.  (I'll pick up a new stand for myself so I can put Sew French Blue back on display)

And you can see the Swarovski crystal pin I put together from my jewelry bits.  I believe that's the Blue Zircon color, which happens to be my birthstone as well.  I wanted to jazz up the lace trim I used around the edges, so I added soome blue satin ribbon.  I bought a spool without realizing I had used the exact same ribbon for another project, oddly enough another iStitch design!  So I used what I had and sent the new roll off to Michelle.

As I was looping the ribbon for the top, I realized that it looked a little bit like a peacock too!

 

So my piece arrived safely in the UK and I'm just thrilled with the piece from Elisa.  Thank you, Carol, for hosting such a great exchange!

To the Queen

To the Queen by JBW Designs

Stitched 2 over 2 on 32 ct. Antique White with Recommended threads

 I've had this chart in my stash for a while.  I picked it up on sale at my LNS becasue the moment I saw it, I knew it was destined to be for my friend Kim.  I met Kim YEARS ago at work, and we ended up in facing cubes.  Since Kim has a long standing fondness for the color pink and queens, this is utterly perfect for her.

The original chart calls for a tiny crown charm, but I substituted a K for Kim instead.  I debated whether or not to use the glass (normally I'd frame it without since I wasn't using a mat) but I didn't want the charm to tarnish, so I went ahead and put the glass back in.  I gave it to her last weekend, and she LOVED it.  She's a bit of a stitcher herself, though she hasn't done it in years (she crochets more now), so she knew the work that went into it and appreciated it all the more.

And no, my framing isn't quite as wonky as it appears in the photo.  I swear I do this all the time - I never notice how weird my framing looks in the photo for an item I've already gifted until I go and write the blog post about it!

French Country Bunny Ornament

So it may have taken me a few years, but I did get another F&S piece finished up!  This one probably shouldn't have taken me so long since the cardboard for the inside has been cut to shape and covered with the batting for ages now.  But I struggled with getting the shape of the bunny done neatly, so it ended up in a drawer for quite a while out of frustration.  I don't know that I would do a shaped finish like this again - I might go with an easier to manage oval instead.

It actually made it to our tree this past Christmas, and I forgot to put it on the blog, though I did share the finished picture with the original stitcher!

This was my very first F&S Exchange with Michele.  (It's JBW Designs French Country Bunny)

Two more cubes

Since I was on a finishing streak with some of my F&S exchanges, I started thinking about what to do with the rest of them.  I came up with a "seasonal theme", planning to make two squares for each season.  The squares from Robin made up my first spring one, but the second set of squares I pulled out for a spring cube is just a little off in size from the square pieces of styrofoam.  Back to the drawing board on that one, I suppose. But I did find two more that would work for a seasonal theme.

In fact, it works out particularly well for the winter squares from Renee because the design for the front is a rectangle and the back is a square.  I was going to make an ornament, but couldn't figure out how to make it work, so back to the drawer it went.  That was until I started making up the last set of cubes and came up with the idea of adding a snowflake embellishment.

I dug through my stash of crafty bits - if there's ribbon or sequins or some other embellishment I think I can use for finishing, I put it in with my crafting materials until I have a need for it.  These snowflake sequins came from inside a snowglobe Christmas card, and I was going to sew them on before pinning the fabric to the cube until I figured out it would be much easier just pin them.  Once again, the wide dark blue satin ribbon makes an appearance.  I may change it up a little if I find a snowflake embellished ribbon when the Christmas craft materials come out (which should be any day now, right?  LOL)

We have so many ornaments for the tree that this will be a nice addition to the other decorations.  I decorate our mantle and the dividing wall between our kitchen and family room, so I will be able to tuck this piece in the greenery in either place.

And here's the one I did with the squares from Shelley P.

I ended up using the same fabric I used on another no-sew cube (also from a F&S Exchange from Nicky).  That cube lives on the shelf in Little Dude's room.  I had planned on using the one from Shelley as part of my "summer pair" for my living room, but when I was photographing the two cubes together, Little Dude asked if he could have the "really cool pirate one!" for his room.  Looks like I'll have to find something else.

You know, as I went back through my blog looking for posts on the original squares, I happened to notice that I have a one track mind when it comes to finishing these squares.  I see them and almost immediately think, "Oh!  No sew cube!"  I think I need to do a little branching out!

A pair of no-sew cubes

I did a little finishing work earlier in the week.   I've had one of my Fair & Square pieces designated for a no-sew cube for a while now, and when I received Robin's exchange, I knew I was going to do that as a no-sew cube as well, so I picked up what I needed over the weekend to finish both of them.

This is how the squares from Robin turned out.  I used the squares for the front and back (you can see the back in the post I linked to), and a pale green wide satin ribbon to cover the seams.  I used a skinnier striped ribbon as an accent, and finished it with a tulip pin made with some glass beads I have in my stash.  (The tulip flower is the same one I used for Dianne's scissor fob.)

I also finished up one I had received in 2012 in an exchange with Pokua in Australia.  (Pokua's blog hasn't been updated in quite a while).  These are the squares that Pokua stitched for me, a Debbie Draper design.  She stitched it in Debbie's memory, as Debbie had passed away a few weeks prior. 

The ones I stitched for Pokua can be found here.

This cube will be a companion to another F&S exchange I finished in the same manner, the blue one in this post, stitched by Jeannie C (no blog).  I'll put the two of them in my living room cabinet.

So the blue one might have taken me almost two years, but at least I got Robin's done and it's STILL SPRING.  YAY!!  Now I will have to go through my Fair & Square exchange stash to see if there are any other seasonal pieces I can do like this.  They work nicely on the shelves in our living room and it's a different way to display finished needlework.

If you're interested in doing your own, here's a few resources

• Totally in Stitches No-Sew Cube Tutorial (the one I followed)
  
• LHN Hometown Holiday Cube Tutorial - With beaded feet!
  
• Cameo's No Sew Cube - with a larger cube

Just a note - these use fabric to cover the seams on the sides, which I've done, but it seems I prefer to use a wide satin ribbon in a coordinating color.  Sometimes I add a second skinnier ribbon, and sometimes I just leave the satin ribbon plain.  (And if you look at the one I did with Marie's squares, I used a wired ribbon which made doing the loops on top a little bit easier.)

I can't believe I forgot to post this exchange!

I've been doing some catching up on my blogging, and realized I had forgotten to post photos of the Round #14 Fair and Square exchange from Nicky. Not only that, but I forgot to take photos of the squares before I finished them up into this no - sew cube.


The cube now resides on the bookshelf in my son Nick's room. Thanks again, Nicky!!

Two Fair and Square Finishes

I finished up 2 of 3 no-sew cubes I planned on making from some of my Fair and Square exchanges I've received.

First up is my Round #11 squares from Jeanie C (no blog). I knew as soon as I got them that they were destined to be a no-sew cube, trimmed in blue ribbon and put on display in our living room (our connected living and dining rooms are painted in several shades of blue that almost perfectly match the thread Jeanie chose.)
The cube is trimmed wtih a wide pale blue satin ribbon, topped with a thinner metallic silver one and pinned with some Swarovski crystals I pulled from my jewelry making stash. It's exactly what I had in mind when I received the squares and it looks perfect in our living room, displayed on the shelves.

I also finished the squares I received for Round #13 from Marie P (Creative Thread) into a no-sew cube. I had looked everywhere for a reddish gold plaid type ribbon I had in mind, but couldn't find anything I liked. Then I started playing around with other colors and stumbled onto this brown satin, which works very well. Getting the loops in the ribbon on top to line up was a little tricky, but it turned out very nice in the end.


For now, it too is on display in our living room, but I am contemplating moving it either up to our son's room, or perhaps onto the mantle in the family room once we paint it. (We're planning on painting the room a sage green to complement our brown couches, and I think the browns in this piece would really look nice against the green walls).