Thread Keeper

Our sweet Mouse celebrated her blogoversary with giveaway prizes and I was one of the very lucky winners! Just look what arrived in my mailbox:

Mouse (knowing how much I love my ORTs) stitched this lovely design and sewed it into a fabric bowl thread keeper for me. I opened it up so you could see. I also received these great finishing goodies and a pretty piece of pale purple fabric.

Thank you, Mouse! Happy blogoversary and wishing you many more to come!

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox

Pop!

I fished a waiting-to-be-finished piece out of my box and started playing. I even went shopping for more patriotic fabrics to be sure I had a good selection. Then I started sewing! Once I had it together and it was getting stuffed I thought it looked an awful lot like a firecracker. I measured a length of DMC and double twisted it, tied a knot in the bottom and with a giant-eyed needle pulled it through the top seam a voilà! One cute fuze to turn it into a firecracker!

Design ~ Pop!

Designer ~ Bent Creek

Fabric ~ 32 count Lugana, tea dyed

Fiber ~ DMC

I embellished the design with more of those star buttons I purchased a while back. At this rate, maybe I should go get another package! I hope to have a bunch of tuck pillows for a darling patriotic basket finished this year! Already working on another...

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox

Totally Useless Update Wait

When you turn on your computer to write your ORT report and this happens:

Then the black screen mirrors your desk and looks cool so you have to take a picture.

It is the New Moon again and time for the Totally Useless Stitch A Long! My ORTs are awesome! I had lots of stitchy ORTs from ornaments, shown here with a new finish and a new start that is nearly done!

My quilting ORTs got buried with finishing ORTs but that's okay! I like finishing ORTs!

I wonder why all these patriotic fabrics are out??? There is even some in the ORT pile! Hmmm, more on that later, I promise!

=^..^=

Now it is YOUR turn...we want to see your ORTs! Leave a comment on this post with a link to your May TUSAL post so we can come visit! If I hold a Totally Useless giveaway your comment will earn you an extra entry.

Wondering what a TUSAL is and why all these people are posting pictures of rubbish? Click here to learn more and join the fun!

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox

A Quilt for My Mama

Tomorrow is Mother's Day and I made my Mama a little quilt. I chose soft colors and low volume in fabrics that reminded me of her and a simple square block I could quilt myself. 

I used bits of leftovers for a scrappy binding.

The quilting is all straight lines on either side of each seam. This was the most fun I've had quilting, ever. I will use this again as it was such a pleasure and so relaxing.

I took the quilt to my parent's house and used their pretty brick wall for some photos.

You can see the soft, butter yellow backing fabric.

It is a very little quilt, only 42 x 60 after washing.

It might be small but it's perfect for my Mama.

Happy Mother's Day, Mama!

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox

Plaid Greetings

I saw someone on Facebook posted a picture of their finish of this design and I had to stitch it myself. When I went to kit it up, I found I didn't have any blue 32 count fabric. What? So 9:30 pm found me pouring royal blue RIT dye, salt and boiling water into the kitchen sink...all trying to be quiet because Dash was already in bed asleep! A quick 30-second dip and a good washing with laundry detergent gave me the perfect sky-blue shade. I ironed it dry so I could start right away!

Design ~ Plaid Greetings

Designer ~ Ladybug Lane Designs

2009 JCS Ornament Issue

Fabric ~ 32 count Daffycat Dyed Lugana

Fiber ~ DMC

I used one of the buttons I bought for the "Joy" ornament and the called for Mill Hill gold beads. I had never done the rice stitches called for in the border and found them to be a lot of fun. After futzing around with all kinds of bows and trims I settled for the simple ribbon hanger.

Have any projects had you dying fabric (or something similar) late at night after everyone else was abed? 

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox

Bee Keeper

I was bored last night so I started a new project...and finished it! (Surprise! It isn't a Christmas ornament!!!) A sweet, tiny scissor fob with a charming bumblebee. This is an old Drawn Thread freebie, still available: click here. 

Design ~ Bee Keeper

Designer ~ The Drawn Thread

Fabric ~ 32 count tea-dyed Lugana

Fiber ~ DMC

Isn't that the cutest fob? Best of all, you can finish it in an evening. I, the Queen of Slow Stitching, was able to complete it during breaks from house cleaning. I stuffed mine with crushed walnut shells and fiberfill. 

Have you stitched this one? Want to?

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox

Two Red Birds

The first red bird is this cutie decorating his house for the season. White bows blow ALL the light back in your face when you take a snap. I love how the birdhouse has an actual smoking chimney. Not that birds decorate for Christmas either, right? SIGH, I was sewing on the last of the cording when I realized I had forgotten to stitch all the falling snowflakes...

Design ~ Waiting for Santa, 2008 freebie

Designer ~ Helga Mandl Designs

Fabric ~ 28 count tea-dyed Lugana

Fiber ~ DMC

Our second red bird is so sweet! This isn't a Christmas design at all. This is Bent Creek's Plum Berry Sampler! I stitched the bird in red and added a topknot, the charted bird is bald and blue. If you look close, I stitched my initials in green. Stitched 1 over 1, I stitched the little sampler bands only in Smyrna stitches. 

Design ~ Plum Berry Sampler, modified

Designer ~ Bent Creek

Fabric ~ 28 count tea-dyed Monaco

Fiber ~ DMC

The teeny tiny micro buttons rock this design. I can't wait to decorate my Christmas tree this year!

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox

An Unexpected Visitor

We had a visitor the other night a 3:54 am. He triggered our Ring Doorbell. We didn't open the door because we don't answer the door that early in the morning, even if you are a cute cat. 

The cat is staring at a birdhouse that is hanging on the wall next to the door. Currently, the birdhouse is full of sparrows and they must have been rustling around...

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox

Can't Keep Up!

I'm running about 12 days behind on my blog reader. I've only made four posts so far this month. I haven't finished or finished-finished either of the two cross stitch pieces I showed you on Tuesday. My studio is in disarray, as happens when I create. Dash and I spent hours at the Apple Store getting the batteries in our phones and my iPad replaced. They broke my phone when they were working on it so I got a brand new one and a new iPad as well since they don't replace the batteries in those on site. This had me spending hours getting everything set back up, remembering passwords and waiting for updates and all that. I got to have lunch with a friend last week and we sat in Olive Garden for four hours talking! I get a little ahead on some things and way behind in others!

I did get the little quilt basted:

I set up my 8-foot folding table in the front room, clamp everything tight and pin the layers together. The quilt gets shifted to pin the sides, careful to not get the layers wonky.  A little quilt like this doesn't take long at all. The tool you see helps close the pins. Lots of people hate basting. I don't mind it at all. I've quilted all the ups and downs on the long rows and I'm ready to do the short ones, maybe today.

Miss Molly is still ornery as ever. Sometimes I stay up late and craft and Molly keeps me company. She will happily chew her bones or nap. Unlike while watching TV she's pestering constantly to play fetch! But often, late at night as I'm stitching and it's quiet, Molly lets out a long, low, snarling growl behind me for possibly thinking of stealing her bone! OMG! You crazy dog!

Mom! Stop coveting my bones!

I get a couple years of life scared out of me at least twice a week.

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox 

Yesterday Was Totally Useless

I missed our Totally Useless Stitch A Long yesterday because I spend most Mondays at my parent's house. This gives my dad a chance to mow the lawn or run errands without leaving my mother alone. My sister goes on Saturdays and my daughter on Thursdays. I wish we lived closer so I could go every day. But it was the New Moon and I have ORTs to share!

All these Christmas ornaments are really filling up my ORT jar! I am having to pack them down. 

See? Such a full jar! I have one completed ornament and another started. I'll get you all the design info when I get them finished. 

Lots of sewing/quilting/finishing ORTs in my leaf bowl too. This is a sneak peek at the quilt I've been working on. Working on this has slowed down my ornament stitching but as long as I'm creating I'm happy!

A day trip on Saturday, antique mall shopping, netted me some quilting book stash! The book on top, Scrap Quilts has a lovely pattern to make a quilt called Cathedral Window, I'm dying to try. It doesn't have batting or backing as the blocks you make create it all at once. A king size quilt calls for 35 yards of backing fabric. 35! Those of you that don't quilt...that is an astronomical amount of fabric! Oh, but the construction of the quilt is amazing and I'm longing to give it a go!

Does anything have you stirred up to give it a go right now?

=^..^=

Now it is YOUR turn...we want to see your ORTs! Leave a comment on this post with a link to your April TUSAL post so we can come visit! If I hold a Totally Useless giveaway your comment will earn you an extra entry.

Wondering what a TUSAL is and why all these people are posting pictures of rubbish? Click here to learn more and join the fun!

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox