TUSAL for September and Tennessee State Fair

While cruising in Alaska, I was working on a Susan Greening Davis design on mushroom Lugana with 738 #8 perle cotton - just about the same color as the fabric. The stitching involved pulling threads from the fabric for hem stitching. This meant lots of orts were generated and they were saved in this bag.

I managed to moosh the orts into the small bottle I'm using for Yoyo's TUSAL by compacting it all with the eraser end of a pencil. The label from the ball of perle cotton can be seen in the upper right side of the bottle.





Well, would you look at that? My sampler won second prize at the state fair! I think that's the second ribbon I've ever won. (The first was a blue for a poster in 9th grade - and that ribbon was stolen from the teacher's desk. phbbbt!)
Annnd...I entered a second, smaller piece that also won a ribbon - white for third place. If you'd asked me before this what color was used for third place I couldn't have told you, but now I know.

On the Road, er Sea, Again

The Wonderful Mr. Fidget, aka Pookie, is taking me on an Alaskan cruise for our bazillionth anniversary. I'm taking several stitching projects with me for working on while flying across this great land and while sitting on our balcony cruising up the Inside Passage. The TUSAL bottle can't/shouldn't go with me so I'm taking a backup travel TUSAL container: a lowly plastic zippy bag. The accumulated orts can be documented and then poked into the official TUSAL bottle.

My new baby netbook is travelling with me so perhaps a post or two may happen while I'm visiting the 49th state. We'll see.

TUSAL for August

Today is the new moon for August, and just to prove I'm not just a creature of the night, here's a day light shot of my TUSAL bottle. Newly added are a band from DMC #5 perle cotton 4060 (used to make the scissor fob and needlebook), clippings, odd threads, and blue felt from said fob and needlebook, a bit of gold blending filament and some white linen thread used to complete the piece below, and some DMC #8 perle cotton 957 that I was going to use on a new project but have since rejected that choice. To join the fun on Yoyo's Dragon My Needle blog click here or on the TUSAL button on the right.

This is a piece from The Victoria Sampler one of their Beyond Cross Stitch Learning Collection. This one is Level Six #8 -Curled V in a Fan. I love all of Thea Dueck's designs, she's so talented!

This kit was purchased back in 2005 or 2006 so you may have trouble finding it. Most of it was stitched last year; I just recently got around to putting the beads on it. "I've got plans for how to finish it but it will have to get in line," said the Queen of Unfinished Projects.

Here's my beloved Bob, looking all sauve and debonair. Is it any wonder he talked his way into the house a year ago? Can't imagine life without him now.

Weekend crafting

When I made the fob for my new scissors it took two tries to get the Hardanger how I wanted it. The first attempt was abandoned because, in the zeal to try out the new scissors, I cut all the threads inside the blocks. Rut-row. No wrapped bars for me. At least on that one. Made another, bars were wrapped, beads were added; you know the story. The other one seemed too cute to waste so I made it into a needlebook. Right now it just has one lowly little sewing needle (which is also useable as a beading needle), but now, I've got a set. Ain't that cute?

To celebrate our bazillionth anniversary, Pookie is taking me up to Alaska. I wanted to make a new something to take with me on the trip and for once didn't wait until the night before we were to leave. This time I made a travel wallet to hold all the confirmation papers, my passport and driver's license. I didn't have a pattern or much of a plan, just kinda cobbled it together as ideas came to me. It's not what I'd imagined when I started, but I'm happy with it. The original idea involved a lot more sewing, the finished product involves a lot of Stitch Witchery and glue.

The wallet includes a bit of recycling. The green snaps were from the 1970's stitching stash of a friend's late mother; RIP Mrs. E. And the form of the wallet was achieved by cutting and using bookboard from an old children's book. PP had thrifted many children's books and used the innards for paper crafting. She sent me a nice lot of book covers to use. The original purpose was for covered boxes, but the travel wallet was their first use. Boxes will come later, PP, I promise.

New Scissors, New Fob

My sweet sister gave me a gift certificate to the LNS for my birthday. I've had it a while and was waiting to use it for some really, really nice Hardanger scissors. They said they had some nice ones coming in early August and, sho'nuff, they did!

Anyone who's read this blog knows I love my Dovos and these are no exception. Their finely honed tip snips right down to the point making cutting the holes in the fabric a breeze. Stitchin' buddy DP doesn't understand how I can take scissors to something I just worked so hard on, but I don't think she gets Hardanger. Or, perhaps she's just afraid of making a bad cut.

New scissors calls for a new fob. The LNS had some pretty yellow 22 ct Hardanger fabric that I picked up on the same shopping trip. The pattern is my own original design, doodled from my imagination. On one side, there are clear Mill Hill Petites nestled between the Scottish stitch/Reverse Scottish stitch blocks; in real life, they look like drops of dew. Once that side was embellished, the other side was calling out for some beads, too. It began with clear AB seed bead inside the Algerian eyelets and inside the Dove's Eyes. While digging in my beads I saw some pretty bugle beads that looked like just the thing to drop next to the wrapped bars. The fob was finished off with a Swarovski AB tear drop and some Delica beads.

I'm pleased with the fob and tickled pink with the new scissors. It's good to create something. I've been in a bit of a crafting funk so this makes my soul happy, making something - actually finishing something - again.

New Finishing Skill

Last year, I completed this sampler, shown here freshly ironed and taking up most of the ironing board. The sampler, it's a big 'un - 18" x 30" - and there's a lot of stitching in it. And not just cross stitch. All the grass is long and short satin stitch, the center flower is Turkey work and the vines are crewel, the top and bottom bands are rice stitch, the other dividing bands are various other stitches, and I finished it with an antique hem stitch around the whole magilla. It's on 32 ct Glenshee linen and stitched with Rainbow silks (except for the Turkey work and crewel which were done in wool.)

Since the piece was hemmed, it would have to be sewn to a mat board, instead of stretched, to be framed. I decided to try to tackle this myself and Cathy, the framing artist at the LNS, gave me a quick lesson in sewing on to mat board. A couple of weekends ago I started the (seemingly endless) measuring and pinning (and measuring and pinning) of this booger to the mat. (Note: this makes for some sore thumbs.) This morning, I decided to quit piddling around and finish the job.

It soon became apparent that the most important tool of this job was the handy-dandy paper piercer that I found in the scrapbooking section at JoAnn's. See it? It's at the bottom of the picture, between the pin cushion and the mat board and next to the glaring metal ruler. It made poking all those bleepin' holes a much nicer task than using a pushpin or a T-pin. So, with #22 needle and Gennie Thompson Ivory Linen Thread in one hand and the paper piecer in the other, I commenced to marrying sampler to mat.

Here we see one side (and a bit around the corner) done.

Yippe! Twenty inches down and only 76 to go!







And four hours later...taa-dah!

I meant to take the sampler to the LNS tonight to have Cathy the Great complete the framing, but the sampler failed to make it to the car. Rut-row. So now it will have to wait until Monday. Stay tuned to see the final pictures!

TUSAL for July

Tonight's the new moon and time to post my progress picture for the Totally Useless (but very artful) Stitch-A-Long hosted by Yoyo at DragonMyNeedle. Not a huge amount added this month. I've been stitching mostly with Caron Waterlilies (Jade) and stitching over one on 28 ct (or perhaps 32 ct - I haven't stopped to count it) even-weave. So one ply goes a long way; hence, not a lot of ortage.

I want to show off a beautiful scissor fob my dear friend SU made for me. Isn't it just darling? I'm in total awe of anyone that crochets or knits at all, but start doing the tiny stuff with thread and the little hooks and needle with multiple 0's I just swoon. For Christmas, SU had knitted a mini sweater scissor fob for me. When summer rolled around I took that fob off -- not the season, you know. The next time I saw SU I apologized for not having it on the scissors, it being summer and all. The next week, when I saw SU again, she surprized me with this lovely summer frock with pettycoat and matching hat with flowers. How dear a friend is that??

I call this "Still Life with Orts". *snicker* I crack myself up some times. Remember, all the pictures are clickable if you want to get an up-close look at something.

Kitteh break

After all the heartbreak in the last week or so, it's time for a kitteh break. Sweet ol' Bob doesn't meow a lot, mostly he trills. It's adorable, but it would be nice if he'd talk like Cosmo in this video I found at ICanHasCheezburger

Khen Moore

The world lost a great guy this week: Khen Moore passed away. Start the swill, big guy, and one day we'll all join you in the ConSuite in the Sky.

Happy birthday, America.

TUSAL for June

Tonight is the New Moon so that means it's time to post my June Totally Useless SAL photo. Come join the fun over at Yoyo's Dragon My Needle! The floss ball from last month has been flattened (via tamping down with the eraser end of a pencil) and more orts, a bit of belending filament, one DMC band and a broken finishing needle have been added to the stash. The needle met its demise while I was finishing the peacock chair. The scissors are my pride-and-joy Dovo's with the blue blades. I love my Dovos!

First day of Summer

...and boy, was it a hot one: 97 and muggy. Yuck. I take comfort in knowing this, too, shall pass and fall will come again in due time.

Don't have any finishes to share today. I've been piddling around on a couple of minor projects but nothing to show for it.

So instead of finished projects, here are a couple of pictures of Bob from this weekend. Two of his favorite places: in the bath tub and snoozed out on my bed. I just adore the way he sleeps with his feeties all curled up. :o)

44 Cent Swap, part II

Mama made a contribution to the envelope going to my swap partner: three chicks in sunglasses and calico cloaks. She did not stitch this; it was in a container of stuff she got for $2 at a garage sale. The original piece was a bit larger and would not fit in the envelope, so I thought to cut it down into a bookmark. A bit of Stitch Witchery later and it was done. The backing fabric also came from Mama's stash.

I'm planning on including several skeins of overdyed floss, some trim, a tiny pastel striped binder clip, some beads and a beading needle, and a magnetic smiley face. Some of this may come out if the weight is over 1 ounce.

[Note: The tiny binder clip had to come out. :o( The envelope was just a smidge over weight. How much is a smidge? The weight of a tiny binder clip. The envelope and contents, sans binder clip, was 1.0 ounces.]

[Note II: Partner received her envelope - with postage due! :o( Seems the contents shifted during the mailing process and it no longer met the 1/4" thickness requirement. Just like cereal, some settling ocurred during shipment. Guess I need to remember to tape everything to the inside of the envelope next time.]

44 Cent Swap

I've signed up for the 44 Cent Swap over on Craftster. The idea is to put as much as you can into an envelope to send to a partner and still stay within the limits of a single 44¢ first class stamp. One of the goodies that I'll be sending to my partner is a needlebook I made this evening. It's about 2.5" x 2.25". I designed the chart for the owl this afternoon at the office while I was waiting for a test to complete. (Busy hands are happy hands!) I'll also be including some over-dyed floss, some ribbon and some hand-tatted trim. No, my hands didn't do the tatting.

This is the inside of the needlebook. Have I said how much I love Stitch Witchery? It really saves a lot of time putting a backing on a piece. It doesn't take a real long time to do a nun stitch or a buttonhole/blanket stitch around a needlebook, but the Stitch Witchery is fast. And the fused fabric really does look good.

Wine and Hearts

Yesterday was a milestone birthday for my dear friend RL. I got her a nice bottle of wine but was unable to find a suitable wine gift bag, so I made one for her from some ultra-suede I had in my stash. The gift was well received and R had a very happy birthday and a great party. It was good to see many members of her extended family that I hadn't seen in many years. You wear it well, R! Many happy returns.

Today I finished stitching on a piece called Heart Quartet. It came from a 1997 kit designed by Studio B with Nancy Whitley and put out by Anchor. This has been my recent take along project when having to sit and wait at doctors' offices and/or hospitals. Once it is framed, it will probably go to my sister since she admired it while I was working on it. The original design did not call for widgets in the cutwork kloster blocks, but I thought they looked nekkid and in need of some widgetry. You can click on this picture (and others on this blog) to get a closer look at the details. C'mon...go ahead and click it! You know you want to. *wink*

Make it and take it

This is the make it and take it project from the Moonlight Stitching event at the LNS from two weeks ago. It's a needle park that can be draped over a couch or chair arm. The original design didn't come with a backing fabric but I could not resist this batik print.

Some catching up

Here are some smalls I've completed within the last month or so.

First, this initial M was stitched on perforated paper for M (a stitching buddy and scrapbooker) for her birthday. The pattern was taken from a kit, whose name I forgot to note, and the initial was stitched using Kreinik #16 Cable and Silk Mori from my stash so I was able to give her the whole kit for use as she pleases. She also received the whole pack of perforated paper as I stitched the M in the lower left hand corner on one sheet and did not cut it out. This seemed to be the best way to let her scrapbook with it.

Oh,and this needlebook was also gifted to M. The chart came from one of the many cross stitch books in my library and was stitched over one on a scrap of linen using flosses from my stash. Don't you love Stitch Witchery? I find it is invaluable when finishing things like this where you don't want the back of the stitching exposed.

Next, this is my first attempt at making a floss tag. This project was inspired by all the cute ones out there on the web - a great source for inspiration. The patterns were taken from Debbie Draper Designs "A Cat's Life" - with the exception of the mouse I added and a bit of modification to the yarn ball from the original chart. This was stitched on linen with an over-dyed from my stash.

This needlebook was made on a whim because I came across some colorful stash floss that made me happy. It just moved me to do something with it so I went along for the ride. A bit of Hardanger and some buttonhole stitching later (and some finishing) and this was the results. The material that was used for the lining is about 40 years old. It was a remnant from a piece of material Mama used in making a dress for me back when I was in grade school! It's amazing she has hung on to that material for so long and it looks like it just came off the bolt.

This scissor fob was stitched over one using DMC on linen from a design charted by Jean Smith. Look familiar? Yes, it's the flower basket from the Whitman's Sampler box. This will go with another project that I've got waiting in queue for finishing, one that involves a Whitman box.

Finally, here is a lining I made for a little basket that I have. The bottom staves were just a little wide-spaced and needed some help keeping things from leaking out. The fabrics were cotton scraps from Mama's fabric stash.

Peacock chair and a new tape measure

Well, I missed posting on Saturday by a few minutes. So shoot me. :P

It's been a busy day. I finally finished the finishing on The Cat's Whiskers Peacock Chair that I had begun back in October, 2008. *happy dance all around the house* Wanna see? Of course you do!








So many folks are making cute decorated tape measures I felt like hopping on the band wagon, too. Here is the one I put together today. In the future, I may do some embroidery with perle cotton on the button (plain felt) side.




I'm still working on the make-it-and-take-it project from last weekend's Moonlight Stitching at the LNS I shop. It should be finished by tomorrow and then I'll post pictures;it just lacks nun stitching and fringing. That should be easy to complete while watching the race on TV, or I should say listening to the race. Please tell me I'm not the only one who mostly just listens to the television.

Time to say good night, Gracey. "Good night, Gracey!"