TUSAL: April 2011

A half-gallon size Ball jar stepped up to become the new TUSAL bottle after the minor disaster that claimed the original apothecary jar. This one should be a bit more forgiving if it slips from my hands, but I'd best be quick to get toes out of the way since this jar is rather hefty.

Friend SU had a birthday recently. I made a book safe and a tin and scissor fob set for her. The book safe, at first, didn't go over well; I believe she really would have rather had the single volume from the 1957 edition children's encyclopedia. When I explained the original condition of the book (dirty, sooty, broken spine, pages tearing from spine etc), I think she understood why I did what I did with it. I promise I do not destroy any books of value when I make book safes. SU really loved the repurposed Altoids tin with the cute sheep on the front. The tiny scissors made her happy too since they are too small to use for anything other than snipping yarn or embroidery threads. She said she's infamous for ruining scissors by using them as screwdrivers or cutting up paper or tough fabrics like denim.

Late Summer/Early Fall Craftiness

Ok, first things first. Here are the pictures of the TUSAL bottle for the last three months. August is on the left and October is on the right. I thought I'd taken a picture of September but I can't find it if I did. It looked a lot like August except there was a huge blob of blue floss added. More on that later.





The first crafty thing to share is one of the more recent, but it is also seasonal so I'd best get it in now.

A while back, I made a biscornu out of some great purple fabric that came in a kit. The fabric really was awesome and I couldn't bring myself to throw away the leftover scraps after assembling the biscornu. The scraps turned up just in time for a make-a-scissor-fob desire to hit me. (I can always use another scissor fob because I own too many scissors.)

Purple is my favorite Halloween color -- especially when paired with emerald green. Thinking cap engaged for a Halloween scissor fob, I quickly found a small bat motif, tweaked it just a bit and had a bat. Instead of stitching eyes, I applied two red glitter chips from some glitter glue in the stash.



I wanted to put some words on the back of the scissor fob, but couldn't come up with anything pithy off the top of my head, so I turned to the Internet and started looking for batty things there. A wonderful poem by Frank Jacobs called The Bat turned up:

The Bat
By Frank Jacobs

Bats are creepy; bats are scary;
Bats do not seem sanitary;
Bats in dismal caves keep cozy;
Bats remind us of Lugosi;
Bats have webby wings that fold up;
Bats from ceilings hang down rolled up;
Bats when flying undismayed are;
Bats are careful; bats use radar;
Bats at nighttime at their best are;
Bats by Batman unimpressed are!

I fell in love with the line "Bats remind us of Lugosi" and knew that was what the scissor fob needed. The lettering style came from taking batty = deranged.



The scissor fob was assembled using the tag string from a Vera Bradley bag (love that emerald green!) and a bead from my stash. I had some black matte scissors that were just begging for this scissor fob. But, they would need a scissor sheath, too.

Again turning to my stash for inspiration, I found some supple, old boot leather and some pleather that came from gawd-knows-where, and some scrap black velvet. Yes, there was a bat in my future. This seemed to be the perfect sheath for these scissors with that fob at this time of year.



This really wasn't hard to make. If anyone has a desire for a tutorial, or just some instructions for making one, let me know and I'll be happy to fill you in.

The big blue floss blob that was added to the September TUSAL bottle was the orts from the (finally) completed Smokey Mountain Cats that I've been working on for a long time. I believe I started it around 2000, but one of my friends thinks it was around 2002 or 2003. Either way, it's been in the WIP pile for a long time and it was time for the final push to get it done.



This project is 184 x 140 stitches - a small one for many of you - but for your humble author, the ADD Kid, this was a mammoth undertaking and I'm pretty damn proud of myself for getting it done. And the funny part of it all? It's going to be given away. It's always been destine for AH and I hope it is appreciated.

Fall is my favorite season. I love the mild temperatures, sleeping under quilts with the window open, the changing leaves and the winds. Going to the Farmers Market is also a treat. All the produce looks great and there are colorful pumpkins, gourds and mums all around.







This is my friend SU. She is very talented with tiny knitting needles and crochet hooks.



She had come across the first tiny needles she'd ever bought and was bringing them to our stitching group so we could admire the beautiful rose wood handles on them. When she arrived at the stitching group, she discovered one of the needles had been lost - probably when she dropped them into her project basket. I offered to make a lining for her basket so it wouldn't happen again.




The happy ending to the story is that SU found the missing needle not far from her stitching nest. It really had dropped through the open weave of the basket. But that will never happen again.

Lately, I've been playing with felting sweater in the washing machine. After a couple of near disasters and some reading on the Internet, I learned to put the sweaters in pillowcases prior to felting them in the machine.

I'm still in the thinking stage on what to do with most of the felted sweaters. I've made cat toys with the cuffs



and some house slippers for Mama



but I've got a lot more already felted and ready to go - as soon as the inspiration hits me.

Skunk Drama and Other Stuff

For the past couple of nights, I'd been taking in the cat food bowls in hopes of getting Mama Skunk to go for the grape jelly in the trap.

Yesterday, the guy that mows the lawn managed to get grass clippings in the cat food bowls on the porch. Without thinking, I tossed the cat food out onto the lawn. Then, I refilled the bowls for the feral kitties.

After dark, I happened to look out and saw Mama Skunk eating the cat food off the lawn. I called Sunny and asked if I should move the trap from the porch (close to where the food bowls usually are but aren't since I took them in) down to the lawn where Mama Skunk was eating the discarded food. He said that sounded like a good idea. Mama Skunk ran away when I went outside to move the trap. I added a bit more food on the ground below the trap and waited.

It wasn't long until Mama Skunk came back and happily munched all around the trap -- but didn't go in. *sigh* I added a bit more food around the opening of the trap, covered it with black plastic, went to bed and hoped for the best.



I got up at 5:45am to check the trap and, if necessary, move it up to the porch to get it out of the direct sun. To my delight, the trap had been sprung! Yeah! Got a skunk! I called Sunny to come get Mama Skunk and carried the trap, still covered with plastic, up to the porch.



Sunny came on over. Imagine my surprise when he said, "You know there's two skunks in there?" Yes, we had Mama Skunk and skunklet #5. Holy moly! I had no idea there were so many! He said that five was an average sized litter and that this may be all of them. He didn't leave a trap this time, but said that if more show up, just give him a call.



On the assumption that this is all the skunks, the final score is Sunny 6, Skunks 1. Go Team Sunny & Trapper Jack!

There've been a lot of skunk drama lately, but I've been crafty, too.

A couple of weeks ago some of my stitching buddies got together for some noms, stitching and playing Stitchopoly (basicly Monopoly for stitcher).



While there, I gave AB a belated birthday present: a purse I'd made from thrifted Girls' size 10 Old Navy culottes and a L.L.Bean Ladies' size L sleeveless blouse and some purse handles bought from Jo Ann's. It was an interesting exercise trying to figure out a pattern and how to use the blouse the best ways to get the lining and pockets done. In the end, there were just a handful of small pieces left. AB really enjoyed the bag but wanted to add another pocket. So I gave her what scraps where left and she took care of adding that pocket on her own.







This cute notebook was a Make-it-and-take-it project from a Moonlight stitching get-together at the LNS last year (or was it two?). I'd never gotten around to finishing it but did so recently. A simple, yet charming, design stitched on banding and then closed with herringbone stitch on the inside - which doubles for a needlepark. Something like that would make a great little gift for a crafty buddy, or just for anyone actually. Who doesn't need a notebook from time to time? The kloster block are just perfect for a bit of fancy Hardanger work. Hmm, I may just do that. If so, I'll post pictures




I've really been busy finishing things I'd started and never completed. Lately, it's been a lot of projects from my favorite designer, Susan Greening Davis. I just adore this project. Isn't that a wonderful sentiment? I don't know about you, but I feel most complete when I'm creating and I love creating with a needle.



I finished the banding for the box that was created in the tutorial for the lined box with pincushion. The banding was from a Susan Greening Davis project that I tweaked a bit.



Saturday I'll be attending a class taught by Susan. I'm really looking forward to it as I learn wonderful techniques and stitches from her everytime I'm with her. If you ever get a chance to take one of her classes, go for it. She's such a wonderful, dear person and a great teacher.

This was the project for last year's class. Most of the actual needlework was done last year, but there were still a few small things to be stitched and the final finishing. I finished it this week -- just in time for the next class.



The needle book is my own design. The needle on the cover is secured by Jewel-It glue so it's not going anywhere.



Here's something you don't see every day:



This is the odometer from my 1995 Subaru Legacy Wagon on my way home from the office this past Thursday. With the exception of the 63 miles that were on there when Pookie and I bought it in September of 1994, and a couple of thousand miles Pookie's probably put on it over the years, I've driven most of that mileage. I'm on my way back from the Moon and still getting around 30 MPG. Not bad for a car that's almost 16 years old, no?

May TUSAL and various other things

Summer seems to have arrived this weekend. It's in the 90s and I hate it. Fall can't get here soon enough to suit me.

Again, I'm late. Here's my TUSAL progress shot for May. I'm worried about Yoyo, our gracious hostess for the Totally Useless Stitch-a-long. She hasn't posted since mid-April and I pray everything is ok for her.





My first feral kitty recently turned 3. She's the only one that I could tame because she came to us at two weeks old with wobbly legs and eyes barely open and a tilted head. She'd been abandoned by her mama. She went to the office with me so I could bottle feed her. With the help of the vet, she overcame her head tilt and grew into a very handsome kitty. She's a great pet and companion for Pookie. What became of Momcat? I was able to trap her and the two other kittens (a boy and a girl), got them spayed and neutered and they now live happily as barn cats in a rural town. Don't you love a tale with a happy ending?

This is my first attempt at framing. It turned out fairly well, at least on the front and for something I'm going to keep. If it were to be a gift, it would need somemore work on the back. If you're ever at my home, please don't peek behind it. Not pretty.

Here's a nature shot. I found Ms. Spider in the bushes and she agreed to having her picture taken. There was a red chevron on her back but it didn't show up in the photo. No, it wasn't a Black Widow, but I don't know what type it is.

I recently got a kumihimo kit from a mail order house. My ADD prevents me from telling you the name of the company. It has totally slipped my brain. This craft looks a lot like the friendship bracelets that kids used to wear. I can't say for sure because I was too old to be making them when they were in vogue. Now that I'm older and really don't care what anyone thinks, I'm trying this out as a new craft, mostly because I need some braid to go around the mushroom tin I made in Cincy with PP a while back.

This was a very relaxing craft once I got the hang of the pattern. This sample braid was made using cording that came with the kit. When I make braid for the mushroom tin I'll be using embroidery floss instead so it will be much smaller. The left side of the braid is the back, the right side, the front. For my money, I find the back side more pleasing and interesting than the front.

My lastest completed crafty endeavor was a purse/tote made from a very cool Tripp NYC mini skirt. This was a gift for someone I know. Most people at the party throught it was very cool, others had a more lukewarm resonse to it. Whatever, I thought it rocked pretty damn hard.


This is the interior pocket trimmed with aluminum dots. The pocket was lined but I forgot to get a picture of the lining.
All of the zipper pulls (two front pockets with zippers, and the zipper in the back) were these awesome skull & cross bones. I thought that the hot pink with skulls was a great, unexpected combination. The skirt was probably a once in a life time thrift find and I enjoyed making the bag.

Words to Live By

I'm so happy February is over. I grieved for the passing of Captain Phil Harris, watched my guy (Ryan Newman) get taken out toward the end of the Daytona 500 (on TV not IRL) and watched as much of the Olympics as I could, including the USA losing to Canada in the gold medal hockey game.

On to better things in March.

While watching the Olympics I started and finished a project that I designed a while back. Friend DP had given me some great overdyed fabric as a gift and I'd misplaced it for a, erm, let's just say a while. I really wanted to use it on this project. It had the look of old, damaged parachment. That, and dark brown overdyed floss (with the look of old ink,) seemed to be just the thing for my latest project.



These words I first heard from my late friend, ES. They seemed like good ones to hold on to and to permanently enshrine in stitching.

So, now I'll just get over February and look forward to the rest of March.

Baby's Better and Birthday Crafting

The baby netbook is all better now - and it didn't cost a fortune. Luckily, there wasn't anything on the netbook that wasn't on another computer or storage device somewhere else, so it didn't matter if I had to start from zero. My netbook had a recovery disk that allowed me to reset the netbook back to factory specs, as if it had just came out of the box. So that's what I did. And you can bet your boots that the first thing loaded onto the virginal netbook was anti-virus software!

Some of the December birthdays have happened so I can show off what I made for AC and DP, who happen to share a birthday. These were the items I was wanting to crow about in the November 30 post.

. . . . . . . .
AC is a lover of bright green and tchotchkes and I wanted to try my hand at blackwork and making a 15-sided biscornu. Anita, at Stitch Creations, had created beautiful patterns for blackwork squares and instructions for making a 15-sided biscornu. The pictures for assembling the biscornu were so perfect that it didn't matter I don't speak or read a word of Dutch - stitching is a universal language! So, I started the blackwork on the trip to Alaska and finished it last month. Thanks, Anita! AC loved it and I loved making it for her.












DP is fond of frogs and I'm fond of making quirky things out of the mundane. This cute little frog caught my eye last spring and I knew I had to make something out of it for DP. It was hollow and had a hole in the base so it just about screamed Orts! to me. I took a paper mache box, stained it with a food coloring wash, rubbed it with gold paint to pick up the texture on the box, varnished it, applied some rub-on transfers and lined it with cloth. A hole was carved into the lid and Mr. Froggie glued onto it. The lid lining was extended up into the cavity so it all flowed together. It looked good on paper, looked good put together, but I haven't heard from DP yet if it actually works as designed. Sure hope so but if not, it's still cute.

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*