Friend Gifties

I was originally going for pink...but this yarn with it's shades of berries and plums kept waving to me from the shelf of the yarn store. I knit these for a dear friend who is fighting breast cancer. She is a knitter-extraordinaire and a well of creativity and generosity. She's an inspiration with her courage and strength, her grace and good humor...

Feather and Fan (with a few minor changes)

by Judith Sumner

from the book "Socks, Socks, Socks", by Knitters mag

yarn: Happy Feet, Plymouth Yarn Co

color #5

needles: Lantern Moon, sz 2 dpn's

size: women's med/lg

I stitched this fob for Becky, as a little get well bouquet. Becky has always been very kind, helpful and generous to me (as well as many others.)

motifs taken from

Be Glad Soujou freebie, found here

fabric: 32ct linen remnant

fiber: DMC variation #4210

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Thanks for stopping by my neck of the woods and for all of your wonderful comments~~it really makes my day!

Quaker me happy!

I finally finished my Quaker sampler into a pinkeep, and I'm lovin' it!

Quaker 2008 freebie

by Gazette94, found here

fabric: "staci-dyed" 32ct evenweave

fiber: WDW, Swampwater

I knew my favorite quilt shop would have the perfect fabric! It's really hard to catch the colors of this batik, so you'll just have to take my word that it really does match Swampwater perfectly :)

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The pearls and gold beads are recycled from a piece of costume jewelry...a very 80's necklace, lol!

Thank you everyone for your wonderful compliments on "By the Grace of God"! Here are my alternative WDW colors:

Olde Willow/Weeks Dye Works

205/Navy

212/Raspberry Parfait

223/Lambswool

087/Dolphin

219/Brick

220/DMC 310

001/Whiskey

045/omitted

230/Dark Chocolate

Hope you're having a great weekend everyone, Happy Stitching!

Awww, you guys!

Sally, Jessie, Hazel, and Paula C have all nominated me for a Kreativ Blogger award! Thank you a million times over......I'm blushing and completely tongue-tied! All of you wonderful bloggers out there are my inspiration and a never-ending well of ideas; without you, I'd be here all by my lonesome :)

Here's the project I was stitching on the 4th of July, very appropriate I think :)

By the Grace of God by

Sarah Ullman/Olde Willow Stitchery

Just Cross Stitch, Feb 2004

fabric: 32ct antique ivory Belfast linen

fibers: WDW, my own substitutions

Here's a pic of the original, which calls for Olde Willow threads (which I have none.)

Mine looks quite different doesn't it??? I'm really not good at color substitution, I usually just use whatever the pattern says (or whatever alternate threads it lists.) I also decided not to stitch an inner border because I didn't have a multi-colored thread that went with my other colors. I'm pretty pleased with the way mine turned out though...and a big thanks to Carolyn who helped me out with the color decisions :)

I was lucky enough to find the frame at Target. And while I usually like to use glass (you know, to keep the dust off and make it easier to keep clean.) I decided I wanted this to look a little "padded" and framed it with a little batting behind the stitchery.

Thanks for taking a gander at my little bit of cyberspace and for all of your great comments :) Stay tuned......I've got a few more finishes to show you!!!

Embroidery Q and A

I am no expert, by any stretch of the imagination, about vintage linens or embroidery. And I'm sure I probably break every rule when it comes to caring for/using them. But since there have been several questions, I'll share what I do with mine.

I always look vintage linens over carefully before buying to see what kind of shape they're in...if there are any frayed threads or excessive wear and tear. I also keep in mind what I plan to do with them~~will they be getting washed frequently or are they just for display. Sometimes the condition of the item decides what type of use it will get.

All of my embroidered pillowcases get washed on a heavy duty/long cycle in warm water with regular detergent (I swear by Tide because I have 2 boys who are dirt magnets and usually look like they've wrestled pigs by the end of the day.) The first wash of all of my vintage pillowcases includes a splash of bleach, then I only use bleach when they start to look dingy. I'm sure this is a huge no-no but I've never had any fall apart (knock-on-wood!) And I haven't noticed any excessive fading with the threads either. I also just throw them in the dryer with the rest of the sheets (and I only iron them for photos, lol!)

I will add that because I have a number of pairs of vintage pillowcases, I rotate them so each pair probably only gets used every 3-4 months.

The current set of pillowcases that I'm stitching are pre-printed. With plain pillowcases, I've done: iron-on patterns, traced patterns using a light box, and also traced patterns with an iron on transfer pencil (if you're unfamiliar, you trace your pattern onto tracing paper using an iron on transfer pencil and then you iron the pattern onto your fabric~~this will reverse the design.)

I only use DMC thread when embroidering pillowcases (or anything else that will be washed.) And I've never had any trouble with the color bleeding.

I hope this helps you :) I can understand anyone's hesitation about using vintage/embroidered pillowcases, I used to feel the same way. But I've come to realize that even if something fades or wears out~~the bit of joy I get every day from seeing and using them is far greater then knowing that they're tucked away in the closet.

As a post script......this isn't how I treat all of my vintage linens, just the bedding ;)

TGIF!

Happy Friday everyone! It feels like I've won the lottery since the surprise envelopes outnumber the bills :) AmySC stitched up this cute Blackbird Designs stocking......it's absolutely perfect because I love BBD (and we all know how I feel about attempting a stocking finish!) Thank you so much Amy, my tree is going to be so well-dressed this year!!!

"Candy Cane Stocking"

by Blackbird Designs

JCS 2003

stitched by AmySC

Here's one of the projects I've been sporadically stitching. I find embroidery to be a nice change of pace from x-stitch......it's great to stitch without a chart ;)

I've had quite a few questions about where to find the colored rings. The package on the left can be found at Wal-mart (with the office supplies.) The package on the right is from Office Depot (Target sells some exactly like these too.) Neither Office Max nor Staples stock the colored rings on a regular basis...I guess they sometimes carry them as a seasonal item. I've never seen colored rings at any of the craft stores around here (ie. Hobby Lobby, Michaels, Joann's, Hancock's Fabrics.)

The charms I find anywhere that has a beading/jewelry section. The star charm is from Hobby Lobby. And the star eyelets are from Michaels; they carry a wide variety of novelty eyelets with the scrapbooking supplies.
Thanks to everyone for the compliments on my header. I have absolutely no idea how to do it......my clever and creative sister does it and then emails it to me and all I have to do is load it. I am completely inept at techno-stuff like that!
Hope I haven't missed anyone's questions~~if I have, leave it here in the comments and I'll try to get to it :) Have a great weekend everyone!

This 'n That

Look at the cute, cute ornie that Jill stitched for me! I love sheep and have a small collection of them (seems I have a lot of collections, lol!) This ornament has been on my "stitch for me" list ever since the JCS 2006 ornament issue came out, and how lucky for me that Jill chose to stitch it up! I love the colors that she chose and how she used Whisper to make the sheep fuzzy...thank ewe Jill, it's perfect for me!

"Winter's Eve" by Country Cottage Needleworks

JCS 2006

stitched by Jill F

I've been doing lots of stitching and here is a small finish to share with you today...

Good Morning & Good Night freebies,

by The Sampler Girl, found here

fabric: 28ct remnant, 1 over 1

fiber: WDW, Bethlehem

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I kind of goofed up the back side of the eyelet......I placed it too close to the corner where all the excess fabric is, so it didn't close up nice and tight (or neat.) But I figure, since it's for me~~I'll just replace the eyelet if it falls out ;)

And I keep forgetting, here's the link for The Useful Needle freebies. The Humble Home chart is on this page if you were looking for it. And I can't remember who asked about stitching with DMC 115~~but I always complete each stitch before moving on to the next. That's what I do with all of the variegated DMC's and the DMC Variations (and all other hand-dyed or over-dyed threads.)

Tonight, we're going to go to one of the free concerts in the park with a picnic dinner. I've already got dinner figured out, now I just need to figure out if I'm going to bring stitchin' or knittin'!!! Hope your week is going well. Thanks for all your nice comments and for stopping by :)

Food, Fireworks and Fun!

We spent a very happy 4th picnicking in the mountains...the kids romping around, playing in the river and generally just getting dirty!!! I did quite a bit of stitching that I'll show you another day ;) Full of sunshine and fresh mountain breezes, we came home and enjoyed watermelon, fudgesicles, and fireworks. There were several neighbors up and down the street that had fireworks in addition to the city's display, so it was quite fun!

Last week I received my PIF from Mary Kathryn. She stitched up this sweet little pin pillow...thank you Mary Kathryn, I love it!

I stitched a couple sets of replacement squares for the Fair and Square and Margaret and Vonna both rec'd them last week...(sorry that my pics are so dark, you can see better ones on their blogs.)

Friendship Sampler freebie
by The Goode Huswife

fabric: 32ct oyster linen

fibers: DMC as charted

for Margaret S

Humble Home freebie

by The Useful Needle

fabric: 32ct lambswool linen

fibers: DMC as charted

for Vonna

I closed the PIF early and oldest drew names on Wed...

cj~~tea-n-stitches

Judy M~~crazee4books

Sandra Ree~~bubblebabble

Jean~~nightstitcher

Congrats and thank you to everyone who left a comment, I sure appreciate it :) Hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend, thanks for stopping by :)