Catching Up

 This patriotic project was stitched by a Festival Stitchers club member for sale at EXPO after I finished it into a flat fold.

HO, HO, HO. Is a Toni Gerdes Project I was working on just before cataract surgery and I have not picked it up again. Of course, now I have many more months to get it done! I got as far as the border, so I am almost done!

Happy Stitching!

New Sewing Cabinet

I bought myself a birthday present and my hubby put it together while I was visiting family in California. When I came home, my beautiful Harriet Cabinet made by Arrow Sewing Cabinets was ready to go. We put it under the window in the library and there is a lot of light as plenty of room, when I open it up. I purchased mine from Sewing Parts Online, but there are other sellers out there, including directly from the manufacturer. 

I also purchased a clear insert for my machine. The cabinet comes with a removable wood insert to match the cabinet and fill in the space for the machine to keep the surface area flat. My first project using this new set up was a case to protect the wood piece since I have the clear insert to match my machine. All this may make more sense to sewers with a similar set up, sorry if you are confused.

Pretty basic, but I discovered my cabinet puts my machine at a better height. I have been sewing on my desk top all this time and the machine was higher. When in the cabinet and flush with the top (thanks to the clear insert) my line of sight is much better, and I can see what I am doing. Who knew? Someone else, I am sure.

Thanks for stopping by!!

Stretcher Bars

 How many stretcher bars does a person need??

Of course, I don't have the ones I need (10" mini or 14" regular)! But I am wondering if I really need 8 pairs of 12" or 6 pairs of 8" etc. Please post your ideas in the comments. Thanks.

What I am working on this week

I am back to working on Moonlit Desert as part of my rotation system. I developed this system a number of years ago to help me reduce my stash. I have six categories of projects (different from the last time I used this system). Within each category is a list of projects, which are numbered. I use a random number generator to pick a project to work on. This helps me pick something when I can't decide what I want to stitch. But it is not cast in stone; if the number that comes up does not quite trip my trigger, I pick a new number.

The plan is to start a project each Sunday and work on it for 7 days. If it is not finished, I pick it up when the category it is in comes up next. If I finish something during the 7 days, I can go back to something I am already working on or pick a new project from the category. Or basically whatever I want.

When I last posted about this some people thought it was too confining. But it does help reduce my stash, help me decide on what to stitch if I am undecided. Also, it is my system, and I can do what I want with it, so if I decide to work on something off the list, I do. Stitching should be fun after all.

My categories are: WIPS (1-31), Bins (1-264) White Cab (1 - 43), Flowerboxes (1-81), Studio (1 - 78) & Stitchers Choice. You can see by the numbers I am doing a fine job creating my SABLE (Stash Acquired Beyond Life Expectancy). Although to make life easier on me, when I finish a numbered item, I cross it off rather than renumber everything, so I don't have quite as many projects as it seems.  The categories mostly relate to where these things are stashed and are either complete kits or partials. They do not include my file cabinet full of just charts. So, I guess this is my confession of being a stitching addict - SURPRISE!!! 

That was a long way to tell you about Moonlit Desert. I am at the point of filling in the background - not super fun, so I may work on something else periodically to keep me from getting bored. 

Happy Fall All Y'all

Gift Stitching/Baby Quilts

Well, I am back from my trip to California to attend two baby showers and can now show you the gift stitching.

My nieces are each having a baby girl a week apart in November, and had their baby showers a week apart. So, I spent 9 days in California to attend each. Did I tell you they are fraternal twins?

Twins or not, they are still very different people and one has a dinosaur theme, while the other has a woodland creatures theme.

I found two cute stamped cross-stitch "kits" (tops only) from Jack Dempsey Needlework:

Dinosaur is a quilt top I stitched, and I wasound some cute fabric for the backing. There was approximately 113 hours of stitching. It was a bit slow because it is one big piece of fabric to work with. Finished size is 32" w x 48" t, after trimming. 

Next is Woodland Creatures. It came as one sheet with 12 squares. I cut the squares out to make it easier to stitch and it took me a little less time to stitch (approx. 89 hours) but a tad longer to make into the quilt. I had to turn the 12 stitched squares into blocks then add sashing, etc. It is 34" x 35". I did not follow the finishing instructions and added the corner squares to make it easier to line up - as suggested by my more experienced quilting friends.

 

Not counting a few placemats and table toppers these are my 3rd and 4th quilts I have ever made.

I had a great time making the quilts and celebrating the good news!

Happy Stitching!

Shimmering Shores

I signed up for a Shining Needle Society class, Shimmering Shore by Patricia Hartman. We have had two lessons so far, and I have finished them. Wow, I am up to date!

We had three color choices. I chose olive and maroon on ecru 18-count mono canvas.

The border was the first thing we put in (the dark green) and makes the size approx. 8.5" x 4.5"

There is a nice variety of stitches and fibers used so far. I am enjoying it and can't wait for lesson 3!

Happy Stitching!

Halloween Stitching from Mill Hill

I finished my gift stitching, but I can't post about it yet. I did pick up some fun Halloween projects from my stash to work on this week and continue my stash reduction quest. Try not to laugh. 

All are from the Tiny Treasure Diamond Series (set of 6) with finishing instructions and (c)2009.

Each is approximately 3"x 3", not including the hanger and tassels and is lightly stuffed with poly fill..

Above, from left to right: 

Pumpkin Duo MH22-9201. Trick or Treat MH22-9201 & Starlight Ghost MH22-9205 (includes glow-in-the-dark thread).

Above, from left to right:

Goblins Welcome MH22-9202. Kitty Witch MH22-9204 & Spooky Spider MH22-9206.

The instructions for finishing and making the hanger and tassels were easy to follow. I did make the hanger quite a bit shorter than the instructions listed.

Happy Stitching!