Yep… It Was Epic

Last weekend, I attended a wonderful stitching get together and reconnected with old friends, met internet friends IRL, and made some wonderful new friends!

There was lots of laughing, hugs, nail polish discussion, yummy desserts (courtesy of  Hostess Susan), stitching,  and stash enhancement.

While there, I made some progress on my Lizzie Kate Living With Charm Band sampler… finished the words “Listen” and “Learn.”  I’m stitching this with DMC rather than the recommended thread and am really happy with it so far.  Plus, it was simple to stitch and allowed me a minimal amount of counting and concentration during Canadian glitterification (I’m still finding it  – most lately in the dryer filter) and other activities.

The colors are actually a little brighter IRL.

I was so inspired by the beautiful Chatelaine WIPS at the GTG, that I may just pull out Alpine Seasons again.

Looking forward to next year!

Just Nan Limited Edition Tin – Snow

I just finished up a spur-of-the- moment, completely unplanned project!  I was going through my stash and ran across a Just Nan Limited Edition Tin and decided that it would intimidate me no longer…  I bought it a couple of years ago not because I’m a big fan of cardinals, but more because I liked the fabric color and the snowflakes.

Here is how the tin turned out.  This is by far my best ever attempt at joining twisted cording and honestly, I think it was just an accident that it turned out KINDA good.

Here’s a side view.  The sides of the tin came pre-decorated with paper on the sides.  I added the top, the twisted cording, and the ribbon along the lid edge.  I love the little jewel center.  The gold round exterior and the interior red bead came separately and you thread them together when attaching them.

This kit also came along with a pattern for a little needlebook accessory that matches. The pretty interior wool came with the kit and the directions were to attach the wool to the stitching using a blanket stitch. I’ve done decorative blanket stitches (thousands of them, I would venture), but never use them to join fabric. They are a little rough, but the OUTSIDE of the needlebook looks good! Its a tiny little mitten!

This design was stitched so that it folds over so that the back of the book matches the front.

And here is the interior….

Here are the two of them together.

I have enough of the pretty blue fabric (Weeks 30 count “Sky”) that I can someday stitch the round top again and finish it as an ornament…. someday.  The top was actually stitched TWICE already, since I wasn’t happy with it the first time round.  The stitches looked bunched up and uneven… partly because this fabric is a little hard to work with (I prefer something stiffer), but mostly because I used a needle that was too large.

Too Much Time On My Hands

I am not very good at orgami.  I’m too impatient, I think, however when surfing around the web, I came across pictures of paper bows on How About Orange blog to make paper bows  They were so cute that I followd the link and found the instructions on Let’s Create blog.

I dug out my origami paper and after several hours, ended up with this:

In another hour, I ended up with this:

The part I struggled with is where you make the little square that ends up at the center of the bow as evidenced by the crunched up square on the blue bow.  Its like an inside fold, while doing an outside fold at the same time… and the ones I actually finished were just pure luck.  After these two, I decided to do another in pink and I couldn’t do it again!  I’m kind of obsessed with figuring this out.

For any of you origami people, any tips on how to do that fold?  Its the one on the link where you “push down the little square.”

Help!  This is driving me nuts…

A New Altoids Tin!

For almost as long as I’ve been stitching, I’ve used an altoids tin to hold things like small scissors, needles, detailors, miscellaneous buttons or thread, or whatever. A few years ago, I used a freebie pattern, the “Good Friends” name tag from Victoria Sampler to cover my altoids tin. I was just kind of messing around, not expecting that I could do it and have it look good, and this is what I ended up with:

Well, its been everywhere and somehow, while eating strawberries, I managed to stain the fabric (not sure how this happened) and then noticed how dirty it was and how loose the beads were, in addition to the stains…

I decided this was a perfect excuse to make a new one! I copied the pattern I had used for my name tag, which was borrowed from the Victoria Sampler Lavender Herbal Sachet pattern and stitched it with stuff from my stash. I made sure to use a full cross stitch to attach the beads, which I’ve never done before, but figured it would keep the beads more securely fastened and upright than just a half stitch.

When I went to get a new tin, I was disappointed that I didn’t see any tins that had a white bottom, like my original tin had, so realized that I’d have to cover the bottom in addition to the top.

I kind of wish I’d taken pictures as I went, but didn’t, and this is what I ended up with!

The top is padded with a thin cotton batting and trimmed with ribbon. The sides are covered with silk fabric borrowed from a kit. I wasn’t happy with how it turned out, so I covered it with some trim. 🙂 The bottom is just felt.

Its definitely not perfect, but I’m happy with it! I haven’t decided if I’ll do anything to the inside yet or not. If anything, I might put some sort of magnet in the lid to hold needles. I figure one of the many flat magnets from various businesses I have on my fridge will do the trick.

I have done quite a bit of work on Alpine Seasons, and will post when I completely finish the border that I’m working on.