Peeps!

I made this cute little pillow for my Easter display. Sadly, I do not recall where I got it. 

 

Elements by Carolyn Mitchell

I told you a bit about this in this catch-up post from September 15, 2021. I have worked on it here and there since and finally finished it! I am not sure I will be brave enough to finish it as a tray, but I put the snaps in the corners just in case. There are so many long thread stitches, I am afraid to use it and catch them!

The colorway I chose was Fire and you can see it is well named!

It was an ANG Cybercourse that I was happy to take since in person classes were still not very common then. 

That about covers it for now!

Beaded Bermuda Reef

 Hello!

Last Friday and Saturday I was so thrilled to attend an IN-PERSON workshop given by my local ANG Chapter, Saguaro Stitchers. Kathy Rees of Needle Delights Originals taught her Beaded Bermuda Reef. It was a very fun project and not too big. We used 8" x 16" stretcher bars. It is full of lots of fun thread colors, stitches and textures.

Here is the teacher's piece:

I enjoyed it so much that I kept working on it and it is finished! Now to find a good framer. 

The following photos show progress as the class went on and I as I stitched at home. 

First steps. It is so fun to be in class with other people and the teacher!

Notice the zig zag pattern close up below. The top one has been outlined, the bottom has not. What a difference it makes!!

All the stitching is done, now to add the beads!

We made the beaded fringe in class. Below is my progress to see if it is long enough.

Here is a close up of the beginning of the beaded fringe. Cool how it looks so much like coral!!

Here is my finished piece. WOO HOO!!

This workshop attracted me because of the colors and the beading in the middle. It did not disappoint, and the teacher/designer was wonderful as well! I would definitely take a class from her again.

I have some virtual classes to catch up on and I am taking classes at the ANG Seminar this summer in Tucson. It is the 50th Anniversary of the Guild and I can't wait!!

Happy Stitching!!

Happy Valentine's Day

I finished this fun little stitched design from the Rainbow Gallery by Erica Michaels. It is a free chart from Rainbow Gallery, part of the 2000 Stitcher's Surprise Series. It is not stitched as designed, I used it as a monochromatic challenge where we use one color of thread. I did it all in DMC Variations #4210. I used bee charm I had on had (shown in second photo). I used some rose colored 28 count even weave I had in my stash and stitched it over two.

I finished it into a little pillow to put out as part of my February display. This is the first time I sewed on rick-rack. I think I did ok, if I may say so myself.

That is all from here!

Happy Stitching!!

A Couple of Flat Folds

 Last month I taught a workshop to my local needlework club on how to do a flat fold finish.

I had 4 students and it went quite well, all but one had their pieces all put together except for the cording. We have started back our monthly programs and February we will be making twisted cord!

Here are two pieces I finished in the flat fold manner. The cactus has purchased cording and the heart has cord I made using two colors!

The Saguaro is from a Banar designs kit from the 1990s and the heart is from a local Littleton, Colorado needlework shop retreat. So, I do not have a lot of information on either of them other than that.

I had planned to put the Saguaro in our March expo sale, but I like it too much and I am keeping it!! But I have the chart someplace and can make another one for the sale. Maybe not for March, but there should be one or two sales in the fall. 

What's for Dinner?

Tonight, I decided to use my Pampered Chef Rockcrock Dutch oven to make Chili!

It was super easy. I first saluted some onions in the pot:

Then I pretty much followed the recipe on the package of Pampered Chef's Chili Mix. 

My personal touches were to use 2lbs of ground sirloin. Next time I may try the recommended 1lb, but I wanted leftovers - boy do I have leftovers!!!!! I chopped the beef up using one of my favorite tools, the Mix 'N Chop.

I also used two 15 oz cans of beans - one can of red kidney and one can of pinto, original recipe only called for one can.

It passed the hubby test. He asked when I would be away for lunch this week so he could have the leftovers!!

Shop with me 27/7 here: Home | Pampered Chef US Site

That is all for now. For my next post, I plan to show you a couple stitched items, so please come back.

New Cooking Gadget/Adventure

Hello, I recently became an Independent Consultant for Pampered Chef. You can find my website on my ABOUT page. I wanted to share with you this fun new product. I think it is my new favorite!

Now, before you groan and wonder if this will turn into a cooking blog, NO, this will still be primarily a stitching site. I just might throw in a few fun cooking things once in a while. I just navigate and tell stories better via a blog than on facebook (I do have a separate FB page for my Pampered Chef business by the way). Also, the company does not want us to have a dedicated Pampered Chef blog, but they do allow mention of product in our lifestyle blogs. I guess no hard sales either. So, since I tend to be a boring rule follower, I did not create a separate blog, I will just use this blog.

Here goes:

My new favorite cooking tool is the Rapid-Prep Mandoline. I have (but not for long) a traditional mandolin and as you can see there are blades and lots of chances to get cut with this one. I always worried when they were in the dishwasher, fearing them getting grabbed the wrong way and gave alerts to my hubbie that sharp stuff was in there.

Now for some photos of the Pampered Chef Mandoline:

I did not pull the cover down all the way, but the blade is below that white part and behind the gray slider. There are dials on the back to let you set the cutting type and thickness. You never handle the blade. Big plus for me!!!

It fits nicely in one of my pull-out drawers in the kitchen, right where my other mandolin used to be! There are some good product information videos etc. on the Pampered Chef website if you want more information.

That is all for now, back to stitching!