Heart Stitches

I think it was a year ago that I picked up these felt hearts at Target.

I wasn't sure what I would do with them when I purchased them, but they were pretty

so I got a package.

 

I pulled them out of a stack of stuff when clearing out the studio and put them with the few other items I had pulled out to work on while the studio was getting a face lift. 

 

 

 Later I realized all of my stitching paraphernalia was mixed in amongst the studio stuff and I couldn't get to it any of it, but remembered that I had a stash of handwork supplies that had belonged to my grandmother stashed in a trunk.

There was lots of thread, mostly wools and silks, and I also found

a few fabrics and laces.

 

 

I decided to be serendipitous about it, so I only pull out two small bags of thread and the first three pieces of fabrics I saw.

From there I quickly chose two of the fabrics

{a bit of jersey and a piece of lace, both white}

and four colors of thread from each bag.

{five wools, two silks and one metallic}

 

 

At this point I still wasn't exactly sure what I was going to do with all this stuff

so I sat down with my sketch book, drew out a plan and then began stitching.

 

 

This was my first time stitching with wool.  And I stitched through the jersey, the lace and the heart which is made of thick wool felt.

Needless to say, it was a battle.

I now have two cut fingers, eight bruised and sore digits, a pointer finger that is swollen

and one broken needle.

 

But I also have one stitched heart

that I'm quite pleased with.

Sending all of you lots of love 

Happy Valentine's Day

 

 



On My Worktable

Which happens to be the dining room table at the moment

and has limited supplies

due to a studio redo.

 

 

Project Life

{still loving this}

 

 

Ice Skating Afternoon Ornament Pattern

{I have 4 of these kits.  Someday I'll actually finish them.}

 

 

Valentine Stitching

{percolating}

 

 

Lettering Practice Journal

{awaiting a watercolor paper order to arrive}

 

What are you working on?

 

 



Phase One Is Complete

A long, long time ago...

{why do so many of my project posts start off that way????}

I had an idea that didn't start off too well.

Most of it got chucked to the roadside.

I talked a little bit about it here.

The idea finally felt right after the purchase of a sampler pattern by Pam Garrison.

Earlier I had purchased an embroidery stitch book and I talked about that here.
I loved trying out all of the new {to me} stitches on this sampler.
That book is so great!

I got started on it, picking it up whenever I had idle time.

When my Mother-In-Law became bedridden, I would sit at her bedside with her for hours at a time.

It kept my hands busy.

After she passed, I set it aside.

It was months and months before I really picked it up again.

Well, I finally finished it last night while I got all caught up with Downton Abbey.

However, when I say "finished" what I actually mean is

I'm finished with phase one of this project.

Now to find just the right substrate so I can begin

phase two.

My New Companion

Awhile back I found this book,

The Embroidery Stitch Bible.

I have purchased a handful of embroidery books.  Each time I have had high hopes that it would be THE book that I was looking for.

Although I really wasn't sure what THE book would really consist of.



Well, I have finally found it.

A simple, to the point, well illustrated, perfectly sized, no fluff or extra un-needed words stitching instruction book.

I've known how to create basic stitches for quite awhile now and was ready to move on to some more advanced and fun stitches.

Again, this is the book.

Something I've realized with this book is that most of those seemingly difficult looking stitches are based off regular basic stitches.

They really aren't as difficult as I once thought.

So now whenever I get a chance to pick up this piece I'm working on, this book is always within my reach.

PS.  The embroidery pattern I'm working on is by Pam Garrison.  It looks like she's sold out of them though.

She Dances Amongst the Stars

Well over a year ago I purchased a vintage book titled Russian School of Ballet from Wanda.

I knew immediately what I wanted to do with it.

Create my own book of ballet within its covers.

I soon began collecting bits of this and that to use, but I was never really inspired to start it.

That is until I received that first Stash Society kit.

My box of stars completely inspired this first spread...

She Dances Amongst the Stars

I started with a background of midnight velvet... wet, crushed and air dried.

Everything, other than the velvet and embroidery floss, is from the kit.

I trimmed the tulle from around the embroidered applique and hand stitched it on.

Then stitched the silver lace across the bottom.

The lettering started off... well, shall we say rough.

But after changing the embroidery floss from a metallic DMC Light Effects to rayon, things became much smoother.... literally.

The ballerina was created out of the decorative paper, pleated ribbon, rhinestone chain, a bit of the applique and tulle cut from the selvedge of the sequin material, all from the kit.

Once she was glued onto the velvet I sewed on the rhinestones.

And she began her Dance Amongst the Stars.

Gilded Again

A couple of weekends ago I had the utmost pleasure of attending the final Gilded Life event here in Dallas.

The first evening we came together for a Pre-Event Social.

Good Tex-Mex, lots of laughing and a name tag contest.

The next morning, bright and early, was a bus trip to Canton.

Fun as always!

On Saturday we gathered in The Church for a full day class, taught by Lesa Dailey.

(my half completed project)

And on Sunday, we created a stunning bracelet taught by Shea.

It was another incredible weekend spent with Gilded Girls, old and new, sharing beauty, friendship and talent.

(gorgeous necklace created by Charlotte Perez)

The Process

For at least two weeks

it has gone something like this...

trace and pin

stitch, stitch, stitch

rip, rip, rip

stitch, stitch, stitch

rip, rip, rip

growl

trace and pin

stitch, stitch, stitch

rip, rip, rip

stitch, stitch, stitch

rip, rip, rip

growl

and on and on and on....

tangles, re-threading, crooked lettering

I can win this.

I am more cunning than embroidery floss.

I just hope the velvet doesn't fall apart first.

I. AM. GIDDY.

Giddy, I tell you!

I have a very basic sewing machine.

A very basic sewing machine that I can no longer find the manual for.

For a long time now I have wanted to try my hand at free motion stitching.

It was one of those things that I wanted to try, but instead of doing it I popped it into the

 "will try someday" bin

for reasons that really didn't need to be reasons like,

 I need to get a free motion foot

and

I need to figure out how to drop those blasted dog feeds.

(can you tell how excited I am....that was a ridiculously long sentence)

So after a lot of tinkering and looking I finally got on line to see if I could find out how to drop the feeds.

Nope. Nothing.

Nada for my machine.

So I'm going to assume that they can't be dropped.

But that's okay, because I read that you can remove them or, even easier, just cover them.

Then it got better and I read that if I just set my length at 0 I'm good to go.

So I did.

(ignoring the foot issue entirely)

And afterwards the dog cocked her head at me trying to figure out if my squeals meant I was hurt or just a lunatic.

(she finally decided they were my normal lunatic squeals and went back to sleep)

Not perfect, but not too shabby for a first time either.

So now with two deadlines looming,

I have one more thing to distract me.

:)

Have a beautiful Wednesday!

Today

I should be cleaning house,

tackling the mountain of laundry

and figuring out what to feed the hoards this week.



But this is all I really want to do

on this cold, dark stormy day.

Have a beautiful Monday.

A Little Sample of Love

Back in November I told myself I was going to take a break from swaps.

No more joining any swaps for awhile...

maybe even for the whole year of 2011.

So what did I do?

You got it...

I didn't even hesitate and signed up for,

not one swap,

but two swaps

before 2011 even started.

Today I'll share the first one.

Kandeland's Valentine Tag Swap.

I had been wanting to do an all fabric and stitched tag for awhile

and even considered holding a fabric tag swap last year, but couldn't find the time to.

And I thought a little "love" sampler would make a cute tag.

On the back I made a little lace pocket to slip my card into, since it would have taken forever to have hand stitched all of my info.

I love, love, love the fabric I used for the back!

So much so, I considered making a skirt with it, but the Farmboy thought it would be way too over the top.  So much for that idea.

So maybe instead, I'll just pin a big swatch to the wall so I can gaze at it whenever I like.

I'm really pleased with how they turned out.

Have a beautiful Thursday!

PS. I'm a little slow to the punch and just yesterday realized Blogger had an updated editor.

So what do you think of my new look?

From Sampler to Pillow

Remember this from last September?

Well, I finally finished it.
Completely that is.

The sampler has actually been finished for months now.

And while I was stitching it, I decided what I would do with it.

A pillow.

I thought a pillow would be the perfect something to turn it into.
A pillow for a certain somebodies.
Who happen to live on a certain beach.
Of a certain island.

Certainly the best function and place for it.

PS. This is the first pillow I've ever made. It's really not much different than making a sachet... which I've made lots of.

PPS. Note to self: use smaller piping next time... sheesh!

Three Blocks Left....

and some water.

I haven't had a whole lot of time to work on it.
Which is a bummer,
because I've really enjoyed the times I have sat down with it.
But I'll take what I can get and be happy.

You can still get one too and help save a turtle, right here!

A Stitching Journal

One of the very first things in Alicia Paulson's Embroidery Companion
that inspired me, was her pattern illustrations.
They are crisp, clean and colorful.

Often times, while out and about, I will notice the flourish in a corbel or the pleasing plant composition in a garden and think how pretty it would translate into stitching.
So I tuck the image away in my mind for future reference.

However, my memory is not what it used to be!

After seeing the illustrations in the Embroidery Companion,
I decided I needed a stitching journal.
A place where I could keep inspiring images, favorite stitches and color combinations.

So I made one.

It's just the right size to tuck into my purse when I'm out,
in case I see something inspiring
and it also fits perfectly in my stitching case to be referred to any time I need.

Now comes the fun part...
filling it up!

New Stitching

You know I love to stitch.
I always try to have a project on hand.
I like to have something to work on while I'm sitting and waiting
and also during the times I find myself in front of the television.
Which is not often...
Two nights a week for maybe an hour each (and that's usually at most) and then there is the occasional family movie night.

Last week I finished up the stitchings I've been working on and needed a new project.

As luck would have it,
Charlotte Lyons has a lovely, little pattern available in her shop.
75% of the proceeds will go to the Sea Turtle Conservancy.

The weather has been SO beautiful here this weekend,
I've gotten to spend a wonderful amount of time in the hammock stitching.

Life is good!

What I Did On My Summer Vacation

While on the island, I spent a lot of time just sitting back and relaxing.


But I'm a fidgeter and sitting still, not doing anything is not easy for me.


So I took my stitching case with me.


It was the perfect activity for me while there.


And I finished my Spring Sampler...


just in time for Summer.


Now I'm contemplating a Summer Sampler.

"There Is a Place."

"Like no place on Earth.
A land full of wonder, mystery, and danger!"
~the Mad Hatter

Okay, so the only danger, for me anyway, is that I'm so intrigued that I can't seem to leave in a timely manner to go take care of the things I need to be taking care of.

It's a place called Plays With Needles.

If you have the slightest interest in Alice In Wonderland and/or sewing, stitching, beading, crazy quilts, then you must go see Susan.

DMC asked her to create an Alice In Wonderland crazy quilt block, using their products.

Everytime I go take a look at the newest layer she has added, my jaw hits the floor.

After you have awed over this amazing piece, slip over to her Flickr and take a peep at her bead work.... OMG!

(all photos belong to Plays With Needles)