quick update

I'm still here!!
I've have some life issues come up and they took up a good chunk of my time. But now I'm stitching again and working on christmas gifts. I promise that I will start posting pictures soon of the finished products.

I hope everyone has a save and Happy Halloween!!!!

Hoot!

I like owls, so I made some. I started out making a few tiny ones. I liked them so much that I made large ones. I am very happy with how these fellas turned out. I posted progress pics to share.



I love to make templates. It makes projects flow better for me, and I can use them over and over again.



I cut everything out first and place the piece where I want them to go. I used fleece and felt on these fair feathered friends. I have mixed feelings on working with fleece. It's too stretchy, and I had trouble lining up the front and back pieces.


I made a red and blue one. I stitched them like I stitch all my plushies. It gives them the handmade feel.

My favorite part of these plushies are their "eyebrows".
I plan on making more in various colors.
I'm thinking about putting them up on my Etsy shop.

No needle and thread today

I haven't been able to do any cross stitching for the past two weeks. :(
But I had a really good reason, really I did!
I helped my sister make wedding gifts for a couple that we are friends with. And they asked me to make their cakes along with cupcakes and cookies.
So I was pretty busy.
I am a professional cake decorator by trade so I jumped at the chance to do something fun. If you are interested, feel free to check out my Flickr account, to see what all that I made.


I am very happy with how things turned out and everyone loved my cake, that I want share with you all here.

Now back to stitching up Christmas gifts!!

Questions

I have a couple of questions for all those stitchers out there in stitchyland.

1. where do you get those fabulous frames?

I look at other peoples completed work and they have the coolest frames! Is it a second hand find or garage sale find? Or maybe a dollar store find? I hate to plop down a butt load of money for a frame. My project only cost me a dollar or two. I certainly don't want to spend too much more on a frame. Sadly most of my work isn't framed. They sit in a pile in a drawer, waiting for framing or pillow-ing. :)

2. where do you get your charts from?

Most of my charts and patterns come from the internets! Although I do have a large collection of books and magazines and such, but they are almost as old as me. But I do love to pick up a British magazine from time to time if it catches my eye. They seem to have more fun and whimsical content.

3. What does your significant other think of your hobby?

Mine likes it because it's sew (haha, get it? sew, so) cheap. And it produces cheap but handmade gifts for around the holidays. He wants me to make some sprites (old video game characters) for him.

And just so this post isn't just words. Face it, wordy blogs can be a bit boring looking. :)
Here is a photo of some hand bags that I have appliquéd.


It's only a few bags I have made more of time. They are fun and easy. My favorite is the heart and cross bones.
And since this my blog I will add that they can be purchased through my Etsy shop. :)

More on the shoe sign

I showed my sister the finished cross stitch and she LOVED it! That was a load off of my shoulders!
Then we took it with us to a couple of different fabric stores and picked out some vintage-y looking material.
We are going to make it look quilted. It will have little "pinwheels" to look like flowers to kinda frame it. I can't wait to finish it. I will most definitely post pics of the final product.

New territory

I have been stitching for about 17 years and I have never used even weave or a wooden hoop.

Today I can cross those items off my list of stuff I haven't worked with yet. In fact those two things are the only items on said list. (hehe)



I normally use metal tension hoops, and aida fabric.


This particular project I just finished is for a friend's wedding present. I can post it here because I don't think that she knows that this blog exists. It will be made into a wall hanging that my sister and I are working on together.

I use a free chart from DMC for the shoe, and my sister made up the little poem.
Our friend has a sign that hangs on the outside her door to her apartment that says something about no shoes allowed. It's just a piece of paper, and we thought that this looks way more classier.

I am very proud of how the lettering turned out. I really haven't done a project with words. And with this fabric was a bigger challenge, but a lot of fun.

Coin Purse

I made a coin purse in the shape of one of my Monsterously Cute monsters!



He is made just like the real thing. Felt and thread, but instead of stuffing him I lined him with green cotton fabric.


I'm not sure if it's something that I want to make to seel or it's just a one time thing. Still thinking about that one...