Stuff

Hello! I'm back with two FFO's, a WIP finish, and more.

FFOs-This first one is Batty and me, I think, by Keslyn's, made into a small cube..

I had the bow and the footies on the wrong side of this, forgetting that the bat is upside down! Luckily, the bow is held in with pins and the footies came off really easy. I found that nice black wired ribbon at Joanne's and I tried to make it look like the top of a tombstone. If I could get out of control on my FFO'ing, it would be hoarding ribbons and trim! I saw so many gorgeous trims at Joanne's. 

My next one is A Sprig of Holly from the magazine Primitive Punchneedle and Needlework, Winter 2017 I think..

I stuffed this to make it lay somewhat flat so the design shows up well. Added that batik fabric on top and bottom and for the back. Added a white pom pom, the aged bell, and red burlap-y ribbon and the white trimmed ribbon for the hanger. Love how it turned out.

And my WIP finish, yay!..

This is Halloween Quaker by From the Heart NeedleArt. I used the called for 30ct Straw linen and most of the floss except for a DMC substitution. Back story! I lost my stitching bug/mojo after my last post. I did not pick up a needle for 5 or 6 days and for me that's unusual! The two FFOs are the only stitch related things I did. Walking back and forth from my craft table to the ironing board, I kept looking at the Halloween Quaker half in its project bag. So last Sunday, I picked this up and just finished it this morning. My mojo/bug is back with a vengeance! Haha. I made a mistake when I started this Quaker. The black row at the top was to be stitched every other with a middle stitch. As you can see, I filled the whole line up except for the two empty diamonds on the ends. It was too late to frog when I discovered it. So the last band is done the same as the top. Fudging at its finest! I love the colors on this. The fabric should be darker than the picture shows.

I'm doing the Maynia on FB tomorrow. You can start how many new starts in May or half WIPs or whatever. I have new starts lined up and WIPs for 17 days for 2017. Here's my first three..

That top picture is Happy Owlidays from Barbara Ana from one of the cross stitch Christmas books, you know. Since I rarely stitch for the 4th, I decided on the left design on the Cross the Lilliebridge chart and the ornament WIP called Merry Moose Wishes from a JCS ornament issue. Here is what it should look like..

Unfortunately, I didn't stitch on my Frosty Forest at all this month. I think the house that is in the next block is freaking me out! I like stitching houses but there is something about that house, lol!

That's it gals and guys! It's been cool in my corner of the world. Had some crazy winds for awhile there and my allergies were horrible. Swollen eyes, big thick head. It was awful. Almost no wind today.

Thanks everyone for commenting! I read them all. I miss responding to everyone but it seems that when I attach an email to my blog, I get hit with a huge amount of spam emails. I don't get that so for now this is how I have to do it. 

Have a great week and stitch on! 

Happy Easter! In which Jack makes an appearance and more

Hope you're all doing great on this fine Spring day and enjoying the traditions that Easter brings!

Here we are halfway through April already. Just crazy! I have progress to show, a finish, new stash, an FFO, and something different this time around.

I think I picked up Jack the last week of March and stitched him until the Friday that the Halloween SAL, never mind, I'm getting my times confused, just like I've been these past weeks. So anyway, here is Jack before..

This is Jack's Bash by PSS and here is where I'm at now below..

I hope it's not blurry on your side. It would help if I put my glasses on! I love this. See Jack there? And see the skulls in the black stitching in the urns? I'm not sure if those are flowers or globe lights. So I've made my decision on how I'm stitching the verse, (drum roll, please)-full 1 over 1! I hemmed and hawed about doing tent over 1. Either way is going to be intense! In the end, though, I decided the verse deserved to be noticed. Paulette Stewart has said before that she makes up a lot of the verses that go on her designs. So there we go. I can't wait to get back to this. I know I'll have it done by Halloween.

Umm, what's next? I have a finish. Last post I mentioned doing the Buttercream Frosting sampler for a SAL that I joined in FB. Here she is..

A tad dark but at least the lighter stitching shows up! As I was stitching this, I kept thinking that I should've searched for a darker light floss. Finished up it doesn't look too bad and I just noticed I left out a stitch on that berry near the bottom of the cake stand. Ugh. Stitching the cake and the doily took up some time. I started it on the 1st and just finished it a couple days ago. It's been in my stash since 2007 so I'm glad it's finished.

Speaking of the Halloween SAL, here is how the first section will or should look..

And my start..

32ct Abracadabra linen from Ship's Manor. I'm doing 1 over 2. I like the coverage so far. I'll pick this up after I post this. E.A. Poe approves!

Stash! Just one chart and a few of the floss needed. I saw this announced on FB and had to get it..

This is based on a semi autobiography (not sure if it's auto or biography!) of the authors' grandmother or great who came from Texas I think, in a wagon to Southern Arizona. It's a great trilogy with the first book called These Is My Words which I read the first two in the series, part low key love story, part strong woman historical. Author is Nancy Turner. Calls for Lambswool linen but I think I'll use something else. All the Lambswool I ever bought I could use as a frisbee! I like the linen but not the stiffness and the weird stuff they put on it.

Here's my FFO..

Merry by PSS. I sewed on the chenille trim. Not bad considering I usually glue trim onto everything! Haha. Nice and puffy. Then I added the wire ribbon with a button through it. I'm calling this my Christmas ornament for April. I'm keeping up!

Yesterday I tried my hand at a project bag and this cute Saguaro pillow with big pom poms. This pillow took me 4 hours to put together! Ended up with a headache after!

Please ignore my messy craft table! I'm trying to think of an easier way to sew these. The huge pom poms make it hard to sew. What I did was first machine sew the pom pom to one piece of fabric and then I took the second fabric and carefully sewed it onto the first piece. It's cute. I found these on Pinterest and just cut out a pattern on wax paper using my imagination. I have another Southwestern fabric and red pom pom that I bought and since I'm a glutton for punishment, I will tackle that one next weekend. We'll see. I could always glue the pom poms on! 

Here is my project bag..

I used cotton batting inside and I think that was too thick for my poor sewing machine. As you can see, I didn't sew the flap at all because my 'new' sewing machine was laboring through all 6 layers on the sides. I don't remember my old machine having that much trouble. I'll have to break out my owners manual for the new one and see how I can fix that.

Alrighty! I feel like I was quite chatty on this post! Don't know what it is, exhaustion or my early morning trip to the laundromat because my washer sprung a leak. At least my dryer works fine. If it ain't one thing, it's another:(

I splurged on a set of all 8 Harry Potter movies and at the beginning of Deathly Hollows right now. Still addicted to Flosstube also and if I can find a way to film, I may do a Flosstube myself! I did some test videos but my iPad ran out of space after 10 minutes and I really don't want to empty my iPad of everything I have on it. So I'll see if I can do something on my laptop. We shall see. I found that I don't mind talking at a red button! I'm normally an introvert but it felt nice. I think the attraction is no one wants to hear about my stitching, namely my family and friends. I have all of you and I'm glad I do. 

Take care everyone! Please have an extra slice of Easter ham for me!