Sunday Thoughts - Blue, Red, Yellow

Stitch Meditations Done in Blue, Red, and Yellow

I am still working on my Stitch Meditations. I occasionally get behind but then I catch up only to get behind again.

I worked a series of red and white for valentines and then worked a series of white, cream, and beige. Then I went back to color.

I did an all blue one. Then I decided to do an all yellow one. Since those are primary colors I decided to do another red one. And then the thought came to me: isn’t it amazing that God took just three colors and from them created all the other colors we so enjoy today. That just blew my mind. And then I thought wow – Blue for heaven where God’s throne is, Red for His blood that was shed for our redemption, and Yellow for His Spirit, the light of the world. And really that’s all the color we need.

That’s my Sunday thought for this week.

Enjoy living in such a colorful world!

Rose

A Long Overdue Recap of WWW!

Wow the last WWW (What I’m Working On Wednesday) was in January and here March is coming to an end. Where does the time go?

Ok so I mentioned back then the Quilters’ Guild of Arlington’s postcard for the annual festival of quilts show. Done:

Then I mentioned crocheting drink cozies for the “Meet Samantha” party. Here are the photos of the drink cozies, the mini crochet dresses and some bunting made for the party:

The cloud and hearts mobile for her room still isn’t finished (just need to go over the hoop with another coat of white paint). Now how hard can that be. Not hard at all, just have to remember to do it!

About the fingerless gloves I had listed as a FIF project, they really did get done and turned over to my son to use.

At that same FIF I had mentioned some smaller microwavable fabric bowls. They were finished and the whole set was given as a gift.

So what else have I been up to? Well I made myself a needlework pillow to support my hands and arms when I’m hand stitching. Where’s the photo you ask? Well I left it where my stitching group meets so I will have to wait until I get it back this Thursday. I’m really pleased with it!

I finally got some headpieces finished for my granddaughter and a friend. Similar ones are being listed in my Etsy shop. 

Oh and I’ve also finally finished the little embroidered pendants and listed them in my shop also.

Recently I took a class on back basted needle turned applique. So I’m practicing that technique.

And I almost forgot the Wounded Warrior Quilt. I’ve finished piecing it together and will give it to a longarm quilter this week. I’m attending a retreat this week and will try and get a good picture of it while I’m there.

And I’m slowly (very slowly) getting my workroom back to some sort of order. And I think that’s enough for now, although I feel like I’m forgetting something!

Happy Stitching (on Wednesday and every other day)!

Rose

WWW Where Do I Start?

Should I just do a recap of what I’ve been up to since October 15, 2014? What? October 2014! Ok so I’ve posted some things in my FIF posts so I won’t bore you with those again but I have done some things during the holiday season that I will share with you.

First I worked at getting the bookmark for our 2015 quilt guild meetings designed and printed. I’m happy with the results. 

Me taking photos

I also took photos of the donation quilt that will be for the guild’s 2015 season. I needed photos for the postcard I create for the quilt guild’s annual festival of quilts show. When I get those I will post a picture of the front and back.

Besides working on those I crocheted 20 drink cozies for the “Meet Samantha” party. I thought I took a photo of them being used but I can’t find it so I will have to do with this shot.

Pink, Grey, White Drink Cozies

This was in addition to the 24 mini crochet dresses I showed in an earlier post. And then I put together some bunting/pennants/banners things for the party. These will be used to decorate Samantha’s room.

Flags getting ready to string together

 Oh that reminds me I made a cloud and hearts mobile for her room too (well that’s not completely finished but close!). And again, no photo.

In addition to all of that I managed to get the final blocks for the 2014 block exchange at our guild finished.

Christmas block

Civil War Reproduction Block

 Then my son asked me to make some finger-less gloves for the homeless they planned to feed on Christmas day. Well he asked for knitted ones like I had made as a gift for him last year but when I started I discovered it would take too long (this was a last minute request). Plus my right hand is not taking too great of a liking to my marathon knitting or crocheting. In the meantime my son and friends felt led to do a much larger scale meal for a low income housing unit. So he really needed more than 10. I got the bright idea to use fleece and so I made 40 sets of fingerless gloves for him to give away.

Some of the fleece finger-less gloves

 And let’s not forget there is the doll I’ve been working on. I have another one of those ready to embroidery the face and I’ve been playing with hair on the original one.

One other thing I started was some fabric microwave bowls. The test ones are okay but when I washed them they didn’t look as great as they did when they were first sewn. I’m still experimenting with the size for these. I did make one that is great to hold my small bowl of ice cream so I don’t freeze my fingers off. So they are good for other things than just the microwave. I’ll share more about those on another day.

Reindeer hats being worked on

Oh yes and I made some of these hats but I will share more about those on one of my Monday tips post.

Okay that’s enough I think to show I really have been working.

Happy Stitching (on Wednesday and every other day)!

Rose

FIF and Catch-up

Stitched and waiting for inspiration

I did finish the stitching on this as hoped but I was sitting in the hospital that weekend with my husband (he’s ok) so I didn’t get it soaked in water until later. But it did work and it has been dried and then damp stretched. Great! Now the embroidery is on my design wall waiting for inspiration. I’m thinking I may want to fill in some of the areas with free-form stitching. I’m also considering making it the center of a quilt that will feature my scribbling stitching.

Speaking of scribbling, my use of scribbles for embroidery is somewhat humorous and not very “artsy” to me. I started scribbling as “art” work when I was a child. I picked it up again when I reached 60+ (is that called becoming like a child again?). Then this last time I was at the local hospital I walked a corridor and glanced at the art work on the wall. To my surprise I saw scribbles incorporated in collages. Suddenly I don’t feel silly using scribbles as a basis for my embroidery work anymore.

Hospital Collage Art Work using Scribbles

Now for some catching up, I’ve been busy making things for my new granddaughter Samantha! First while I was still at the hospital I started making a cupcake hat for her (she hadn’t arrived yet). 

Crochet Cupcake Hats

I started using a pattern I found on Repeat After Me and used it as a guide for the top part. For the bottom (the brown section) I decided to do my own style using a crochet ribbing stitch. And I eliminated the earflaps also. If I make another one I think I will make some more modifications. I finished three tops while at the hospital (since that was all I had with me to work with). Later the bottom was added to one. 

Then after she was born I made a receiving blanket using a method a quilting friend had shown me (I also watched a Youtube video  by Missouri Quilt Company that my friend recommended. Actually I watched it several times and the only thing I can say is the video says it will only take about 10 minutes and my feeling is that may be true after you have made a dozen or so. 

Cupcake Receiving Blanket

So since the fabric was cupcakes and I had already made the cupcake hat of course I had to continue the theme.

Cupcake Sleeping Beauty

Yes that is my sweet Miss Samantha!

And then I moved onto roses.

And then she needed some mittens to keep from scratching her face.

And of course a sweet little yoyo and button band for her head can next.

Some sweet stitching for Samantha

Plenty more ideas of things to make but for my finish it Friday I think I will try and complete the other two or three cupcake hats I started while sitting in the hospital.

Happy Catching Up and Finishing Friday!

Rose

Hello there! WWW

Well I haven’t posted a WWW (What I’m Working on Wednesday) post in like forever – well not since May anyway. Does that mean I haven’t been working on anything? No of course not and if you’ve visited my Finish It Friday posts you know I’ve been doing a little bit anyway.

Okay so what have I been working on since May? Here’s a brief (I think) rundown of some of the works:

1. The butterfly vest – all embroidery is finished. I just need to add some sequins, beads, and maybe a few more stitches, and then maybe line it.
2. The monochromatic bird nest – some stitching has been done on the bird nest part but I haven’t worked on it in a while.

   

   Bird Nest Embroidery

3. The summer hexagon wall hanging – the hexagons have been stitched together and now I’m working on adding some border half hexagons etc. Again I put it aside for a while. I’m debating my choice of fabric for the final round. I thought it looked like shiny, sparkly beach sand but now I’m not so sure. I plan to use the same fabric for binding.

   

   Summer Hexagon Wall Hanging

4. The crazy quilt elephant block – a lot more detail has been added but I still have more to go. It gets picked up every now and again. I finally had to print out a copy of it and scratch some notes on it so I could remember what I planned to do to it.  Notice the upper left corner tie fabric. I couldn’t decide what to do on that seam allowance and so I tried to imitate the fabric. This is an idea I’ve been toying with, it isn’t perfect but it’s a great future reference.

   

   Notes

   

   Elephant Crazy Quilt Block

5. The crazy quilt blocks for “She Colored Everything Yellow” have also had a little detail added to them (well to one of them). Bullion loops, French knots, buttonhole stitch and more. I really need to get busy and give them some undivided attention.

   

   She Colored Everything Yellow Crazy Quilt Block

6. Embroidery has really taken over my creative life lately. Can you tell? All of my Finishes have been of small embroidery.
7. I’ve finished embroidering the Love sampler, just need to put it in the framing hoop and I’m done!

   

   Love Sampler Embroidery

8. The scribble “Elephant Bathing” that I did when I was a teenager has taken on a new life as an embroidered piece. Right now I’m just using it to test out a product. I have a feeling I will be doing more than one or two pieces based on that scribble.

   

   Bathing Elephant Scribble

9. In the mix is a scrappy quilt for our guild’s “wounded warrior project”. I agreed to do one that was all cut out from donated fabric. The pattern is Bonnie Hunter’s Pineapple Blossoms.

   

   Wounded Warrior Blocks in Process

10. What there’s more? Yes indeed. I have been busy making little tiny crochet dresses to be used as favors when my granddaughter gets introduced to the world (well to friends and family of the mom). She’s due to arrive in two weeks! Her ‘met the baby’ party won’t be until December though.

    

    Mini Crochet Dresses

11. Also crocheting some tiny doilies to finish off some already made needle “nabbers”. They just need to be added to the pots before they are glued onto a wood circle and little ladybug buttons need to be glued to the flowers. Then they are off to a quilt shop in Hawaii!

    

    Mini Crochet Doilies

12. Okay I need to make this an even dozen. What else is there? Oh yeah that’s right, I worked on trying to make my daughter a sleep mask. Wasn’t too successful in that department. The first one was too small and the second one was too tight.

    

    Sleep Mask

Not to worry though there are more projects waiting in the queue!

Happy Stitching (on Wednesday and every other day)!

Rose

What Am I Working On You Ask?

Okay so you didn’t ask but I’m going to share anyway…

So I said I’d post updates on my healthy eating habits. I’m still down 10+ pounds but I haven’t been being good so I’ve just been maintaining. I know, I know I’ll get back on track, you’ll see.

Now for some project updates:

SummerSewing Club

I’m still stitching away on this project. I’m caught up with the weekly embroidery and have started sewing some of the hexies (hexagons) together in rows. I think sewing the rows together will be a little tricky.

 Here’s the latest embroideries:

Picnic Basket

A sweet little picnic basket with a woven handle. I added a blanket to the basket so we can spread it out on the ground.

Shaved Ice

For the icee one I went for a shaved ice look with a fine French knot packed in nice and tight like the old-timers make for shaved ice in Hawaii. The ice is very finely shaved and packed well not chunky and loose like. My flavors, watermelon, lime and coconut. Yum, yum, you can’t see it but there’s a scoop of ice cream in the bottom of the cone.

Coconut Drink

Then we received a pattern for a coconut drink. I decided to try and make the coconut more coconut looking and put a striped straw with a fancy umbrella.

Lime Popsicle

Next up was an ice cream bar which I turned into a popsicle so I could share with a friend. Lime of course.

Radio

And finally a radio so we can have some music while enjoying the summer breeze. I went with a silver gray radio with black to represent the speakers and yellow in the dial area to show that it was turned on. I made the music notes colorful but I think music is colorful and I added a few more notes than the pattern had. I wasn’t sure I like this one but once it was done I rather like it.

I also started and finished embroidering a stitch-a-long that was published by FeelingStitchy. The pattern was supplied by Megan of Studio M.M.E.

Front of Pirate Hummingbird Print

Back of Pirate Hummingbird Print

If you visit the blog and see the pattern you will notice that mine has a different orientation. This is because I decided to print the design on some fabric that was prepared for printing (I found a roll of it in my stash when I was looking for something else). I cut off a piece 8.5 by 11 inches. I wasn’t paying too much attention to what I was doing and printed it so the design filled the piece. Second I didn’t adjust the intensity of the lines so it printed quite dark. Not wanting to have to try and cover the heavy dark lines I turned the piece over and noticed that the back was better, so my hummingbird faces the opposite direction. You can see in the photos the difference (sorry for the wrinkled state). I plan to turn this piece into a pillow that will go with my hummingbird chair once I cover the chair with hummingbird fabric. That project is still in the planning stage.

Stitch Along Reginald the Pirate Hummingbird

A neighbor asked a while back if I knew how to crochet and would I be able to finish a doily a friend's mother's mother had started and not finished before she died. Sure I said although I hadn't crocheted with fine thread for quite some time. It just needed one more large motif and then the joining motifs and the edging. Luckily she also had the directions for the pattern. I finished it and gave it to her the other day. She was thrilled. So that was my good deed for the month and another to add to my 1000gifts.
Being able to use my skills to bring happiness to a friend.

Crochet doily finished

Well that’s about where I’m at for now. I did finally start writing directions as to how I do my fabric yoyo’s for a friend who wants to do a vest similar to mine. This will also come in handy as I plan to offer kits for my button/yoyo flowers in the near future.

I’m behind on sewing some blocks together for the quilt guild I attend so I guess I’d better get on that next. Pieces are cut for them just need to clear the clutter from around the sewing machine. You know how that goes – lol!

Summer fun!

Happy Stitching!

Rose

What Happened?

Wow it’s March already! Well we’ve been sick at our household. Not much fun. But I thought I’d better pop in here and let you know I have accomplished some work.

For Christmas I made a pair of fingerless gloves for a friend. Oops forgot to take a picture She also received a scarf. The gloves were crochet, the scarf was knitted. Both techniques I haven’t done for a while so it was fun picking up the hook and needles again, especially the needles.

Another Christmas present was a pair of extra-long fingerless gloves for my daughter. I crocheted that too! Again I didn’t take a picture. Plus they came out too small for her so I have to redo. She did get a boot cuff that fit. Oh and also a knitted cowl. I’ve made a few more of those. My daughter said hers also came in handy when she was sick she used it to keep her chest warm.

I also made a hat for my grandson and a crayon roll up. 

Crayon Rollup

He also got a dapper outfit (well a onsie) from his tutu.

Polka Dots and Stripes

I’ve been testing out a new embroidery project, scribbles and such in pendants. I’ll be posting photos soon and also have a new tip to share (maybe tomorrow).

Tiny Violets

And I’ve started working on another Crazy Quilt for the CQ2013 Journal Project. I’ve constructed all of the blocks first, all 12 of them. Now to get the first three embroidered and embellished before the end of March. I’m using my “Oh look, she colored everything yellow” project for this so all my blocks are black, yellow, and white. I’m liking it so far. I think I will practice a different family of stitches on each block as I need practice in that area.

Finally I’m still trying to sort and organize my “stuff”.

Happy Stitching!

Rose

Three weeks and counting:

Oh my, it’s the end of January and I feel like I am behind already. I should have at least thee things completed and a start on finishing my fourth. OK here’s my second item. From the before photo you might be wondering what’s to finish since they are already packaged but if you look at the one in the middle you’ll see the difference.

Needle Nabbers Photo

I have these little flowers for sale in my online shop and also at a local quilt store, Kilauea Kreations, that is popular with the tourists. Well the owner of the store mentioned to me that people were finding them to be a little on the tipsy side. Now we don’t want that to happen, do we! She showed me how she had glued a piece of round cardboard to my sample and it was stabilized.

Completed needle nabbers photo

Well I couldn’t settle for a piece of raw cardboard so I had to put my thinking cap on. I found some wood circles, painted them to match the flowerpot but that still wasn’t good enough for me. So I decided to crochet some little doilies to top the wood circles. That solved the stability problem. Now however I ran out of the paint I was using and found that none of the local stores were going to carry that brand of spray paint so I was back to thinking again. I did find some of the paint while on vacation in Texas on clearance so I purchased what the store had left and stored it with my son. I knew I wasn’t suppose to carry it on the plane back home. So I still needed a temporary solution. I considered sending the wood circles to my son, have him paint them and then send them back to me. But I really didn’t want to wait and they were earmark as a need to complete project. So then I decided to try painting them to match the doilies and flower colors. That worked! So these are ready and will be going out as gifts soon.

Unfinished white button bracelet photo

Finished white button bracelet photo

Next I decided to finish one of my crocheted cuffs with buttons. That went quick although I did have to “scrounge” through my buttons to find some more creamy white ones that would work. Going through my buttons is always a tempting process that often gets me sidetracked onto another project. I resisted this time though and was able to finish the cuff.

Now on to my next project. I received a phone call from the same quilt store requesting that I send them some more of my Needle Candies as they had sold out of them and all they had left was the sample. Wow! Then I realized that I had some already started from 2010 so they would work in perfectly. However as I was working on them (I need to make a dozen) I attempted to make a change to the little holders that I made from fabric. The stiffener I used dulled the fabric somewhat and I wanted to try and brighten them up a bit. I also wanted to add a little protection to them so I brushed them with some gloss medium and shellac. But I put too much on and they became cloudy instead of bright and shiny. So now I had to make some more from scratch. This time I’ll use a smaller brush and just do one as a test. Yes, I did all twelve the first time! I’m still working on these but hope to have them finished and in the mail to the store by Tuesday at the latest.

Needle Candies started photo

You’ll notice I’ve added a slide show to show some of the UFO projects I’ve located while trying to clean and organize my crafting space. Not up to 52 yet but getting close. And actually I could list some that are now grouped together as individual projects. I decided to group some of them because I was stumped on how to do the next step so as I work on those I’ll let you know what had me stumped and hopefully how I solved the problem and moved on.

Happy stitching!