PEEP! done

So this is another Lizzie Kate, "Peep", finished for my spring shelf. Is it weird how much pleasure it gave me to see it was a limited edition chart, and I have #1113 out of like 1400. I normally don't buy kits, but this one was so cute, and quick to stitch. This border fabric I found at Jo-Anns for 40% off already for Easter sales. And the ric-rack came from Hobby Lobby (which normally is not my first choice for sewing stuff, but they do have a nice selection of ribbons and trim).

And another shot of our neighborhood wildlife. Yesterday afternoon there were 6 of them perched on top of our tame ones cage. Of course by the time I fumbled my camera out they took off. I think some of them must have started out tame and were escapees. It is amazing how close a few of them will let me get. Hope everyone has a great weekend ahead. I will be trying to get my spring garden in the ground, before it reaches 100 degrees and boiling here in Arizona.

when all else fails...

So when all else fails my answer is to ask/plead/beg with my mom. I was so frustrated with trying to sew on the eyelet trim to this little pillow, that I finally stuffed it all in a ziploc bag and said "FORGET IT!". I then turned my ziploc bag of failure over to my mother. Bless her, she didn't laugh when she had to rip out multiple rows of tangled thread. Nor did she question why I was using red bobbin thread with white top thread (sheer laziness). My mom is of the generation where sewing was a necessity and not just a hobby to learn. Sewing to her is a skill for mending/making things, not just for creativity. So this, what was a mountain of impossible for me, was simple as pie for her. Thanks MOM!

And this is my spring shelf. I mentioned it a few posts back, how I wanted to fill the towel bar with ornaments. And I have, just in time for spring, with a little help from mom of course.

This is the only one of my spring ornaments finished by my own hand. Prairie Schooler, I think the name of the chart is "Bunnies & Chicks". I outlined the border of it with little white seed beads. This has been hiding in my "done but not done" box since 2 springs ago, so I am glad to have it out and displayed for this year.

Lizzie Kate "Happy Spring". I love her smaller patterns for ornaments. I have Spring Crazy and the Fall Crazy charts. Below is also a Lizzie Kate.


And this is Bent Creek "Are you my Mother?". The circle mat around it was custom made by me with some scrap booking papers and a very sharp craft knife. I laugh at the frame. After my last post bragging about how I find such cute frames at Goodwill I bought this one for $1.50 at Goodwill thinking how hard it is to find square frames. So I get it home and turn it over to pop the back off of it, only to find an orange clearance sticker on the back saying it was sold for .99 cents at IKEA. I'm counting the .50 cent mark up as the gas I saved from not driving to IKEA.

Found Cross Stitch

So if you have read my blog for a while now, you may know I often shop for my frames at Goodwill and other assorted thrift/consignment stores. I love finding something unique for a good deal (ok I admit I really really like the thrill of finding a good deal). And I have found some pretty cool frames there. But also while browsing I normally find at least one piece of stitchery among the assorted "artwork". And I always feel a little sad to see someone's hard work and time and love donated away. Especially the ones that have some loving inscription on the back. I try and restrict myself from buying ones I wouldn't actually hang in my home (strangers birth sampler from 1982--yes those ones). But anything else is fair game, and I have actually found alot of ones I would have stitched myself, recent designs from designers I have even heard of. So here is my tour de Goodwill. None of these have been stitched by me, but all have found a place in my home. The one on top is a Bent Creek design, done in 2000 for someone named Kris. Very nice frame and matting, as are most of the ones I discover.


This one I am not sure you would call it cross stitch, maybe more embroidery. It's done on a cloth like material, but isn't stamped. The stitches are HUGE. The centers of the flowers are all french knots, dozens and dozens of tiny french knots. This piece measures about 3 feet tall, and I love that it has a bird for each season. No inscription on the back of this one.

This one was done in 1987 for "Grandma and Grandpa from Sandy". No idea who the designer was, but love the pinks of it.

This one is obviously a Shepherd's Bush design, I love the light green frame with it.

Another huge one, professionally framed and matted. This one is about 2ftx 2ft. The colors are a little dated, but bright and cheery none the less.

These two are I think Sweetheart Tree? Very intricate stitching and beading, and beautiful frames on both. I definitely would have stitched these ones myself if I had seen them finished. Some designs are just "Meh" when you see the chart, but once you see them stitched they are "wows". That's how this designer is for me.


And this last one was stitched in 1988. It is about two 2 1/2 feet wide. Thanks to my assistant my oldest daughter for so patiently holding up all my "found" cross stitch. Hopefully if I raise her with a love of crafting none of my stuff will ever see the inside of Goodwill.

Giveaway winner

This is my own little random number generator, home sick from preschool with a tummy ache brought on by too much Valentine's Day candy I think. So I wrote everybody's name down on slips of paper and let her pull one out. Linda you are my Valentine's Day winner (picked two days late of course, when am I ever on time...sigh someday) Also someday I fully plan to wear makeup to go grocery shopping instead of baseball caps and jeans, and also to have a clean backseat in my car with no crumbs/snacks/toys/or crayons stuffed in the cracks. Someday. Anyways congratulations Linda! Email me with your address and I will try and get it in the mail by this weekend.

And this is a WIP that was pulled from the depths of my sewing baskets. I have about three different 5 qt tubs filled with WIP. But this is a more recent one that I started last year and didn't get done in time. So this year I have added it back in to my rotation (I say rotation like there is some kind of planning going on, HA!). I didn't really decorate too much for Valentines Day (such a short holiday time) so for spring I want to go all out. Bunnies and Chicks and Lambs, oh my! I'm sure sweet boyfriend is reading this and wondering how much pastel one guy can handle.This one is Lizzie Kate's "Spring Alphabet". I like the colors and design of it, but for some reason it is a pain to stitch. Probably just because of all the thread changes (10 stitches of one color and then 10 stitches of another and so on and so on.) So far not a fun stitch, but one of those I know I will love once it's done. I hope everyone had a great Valentine's Day spent with everyone you love (and love's you!)

A chicky-quicky

**Just a reminder- comment on my last post to enter my V-Day giveaway**

Forgive me for taking fuzzy over-exposed pics with my cell phone again. I was just excited to share my quicky finish. It is Bent Creek's "Are you my Mother?" I thought it was so cute, and it only took me about 4 hours of stitching to finish it. I am trying to get a bunch of spring-ish ornaments done to hang up in time for Easter. I found the cutest white shelf at Goodwill for $6 bucks, and it has a towel rack underneath of it that I want to fill with ornaments (who needs towels!) Anyways I changed all the colors on this one of course. In case you wanna know, I used Crescent "Purple Aster" & "Magnolia Blossom" Gentle Art "Shutter Green" & Gentle Art "Nutmeg" and Weeks "Sally's Sunshine" with "Curry" for the stripes on the little chick.

And this is my progress on "Lord's Blessing", I am really enjoying this one and have been neglecting all my other Crazy January projects. I think I am just going to have to get this done before I pick up one of my other bigger pieces.

Love is in the Air

Well actually its on my back porch! In the form of a flock of wild love birds that love to come and visit my tame lovebird Kiwi-wi. So I thought ala Garden Grumbles, who always has such cool nature pictures on her blog, I would snap a few of my own. Surprisingly the wild lovebirds let me get almost within arms reach of them to snap these photos. These birds originated in West Africa, which is why they are able to survive here in our warm climate with mild winters (it's been in the seventies the past two weeks here, beautiful weather!)Kiwi-wi though only goes outside when the afternoons are warmer, she has an inside cage too. As soon as I put her out in her porch cage she starts calling loudly to her wild friends, and within a few minutes these two are on top of her cage. There is actually a flock of about thirty birds or so that live in our neighborhood, but I think it is the same two that come to visit her each day. I put a dish of sunflower seeds on top too as a treat for them.

This is my progress on Diane Arthurs "Give Thanks", it's stitching up pretty quick. Though my fingers are itching to pick up another spring project. I have not been brave enough yet though to attempt finishing Lizzie Kate's "Spring Alphabet" again, i'm not sure i'm up for the frustration! So it is still sitting in a Ziploc baggy with all the pretty eyelet trim. Would it be wrong to just hang up the Ziploc bag as my way of displaying it?

And now something exciting. I wanted to do a little Valentines giveaway. So here is Bent Creek's Stoneware wishes "Be Mine". I did the "Peace be With You" one last year and loved it. I am including all the threads needed to finish it and some little heart buttons from my stash (the chart I ordered didn't come with Bent Creek's buttons.) To enter my giveaway just leave a comment! I will pick a winner on Valentines Day.

Somewhere out there....

Somewhere out there my 7th grade home-ec teacher is laughing at me. You see in 7th grade home-ec short-sighted me never imagined I would want or need to know how to sew eyelet trim onto a pillow. In 7th grade the only thing I remember caring about was 7th grade boys and when school would be over with and whether I liked my outfit that day. In 7th grade I laughed at girls who sewed their own clothes or did anything crafty. Now I wish I had paid attention when we were learning how to sew pillows. It probably would have saved me about 2 hours of frustration last night! So after multiple attempts to sew the trim on correctly I finally gave up and stuffed it all away in a bag, and cleaned up all the thread I had ripped out over and over from this little pillow.On a happier note I did find a cute little bunny button at Hobby Lobby, and am quite happy with the little bunny gazing wistfully up at my giant carrot.

And this is my 15th project of the challenge. I originally thought I would be organized and stitch in a very strict order days 1-15 and then start over at day 1. I have quickly realized that is not how it is going to go. I can't do organized, but I can do whims. So each morning I peruse my stitching basket of all 15 projects and pull out whichever one calls to me. I like this one, it is definately top 5. Of course I may be biased towards anything with bunnys. I re-dyed the fabric on this three times! I originally started with Chartreuse (pic on the right) which looked spring green on the cover of the dye box but turned out BRIGHT green on the actually fabric. So that piece got tucked away in my linen box, it might work for a later halloween project instead.