Puppy's First Christmas Ornament

Puppy's First Christmas
Originally uploaded by PipStitch

This was made for the Christmas Ornament Stitch-A-Long. One of the the themes for January was animals. I had seen the chart for this one a day or two before I joined the SAL and was planning on doing it anyway, but I probably would have put it off for months and months. I'm glad it's already finished now and ready to be hung on my Xmas tree later in the year. (That reminds me I still need to add some floss for a hanger.) This was done on 14 ct Aida (I am trying to use it up) and I changed the colors a little. You can find the free chart for Puppy's First Christmas at The Chart Shop.

My House For the Bride's Tree SAL

House Sampler
Originally uploaded by PipStitch

I finished this ornament a few days ago and forgot to take a picture of it to post on the Bride's Tree Stitch-A-Long. The theme for January was House and when I saw the free chart on The Floss Box, I decided I wanted to make it for the SAL. It was stitched on 14 ct Aida and I used DMC 355. The fabric shown is what I used for the back of the ornament (in another life, it was a jacket of mine). I'm really happy with how this one turned out. Thanks to Emily at The Floss Box for yet another great freebie!

Cat In A Basket

I made this for my sister for Christmas because she loves cats. But I also wanted to make another one of the pincushions from Les chroniques de Frimousse. It was stitched with a few different shades of blue and brown floss that I had on hand and done on 14 ct Aida. The free chart for this kitty can be found here.

Winter Wonderland Hedgehog

Winter Wonderland Hedgehog
Originally uploaded by PipStitch

I originally was going to make this hedgehog for a friend but decided he was too cute to give away. He hasn't become an ornament yet but it's on my to-do list. You can find the free chart at The Chart Shop.

Autumn Heart Cross Stitch

Autumn Heart
Originally uploaded by PipStitch

I wanted to get some pictures of my two Stitch-A-Long ornaments and found some other things I've finished recently. The free chart for this heart can be found at Kissy-Cross. Not a full picture, I know, but this is the only one that turned out nice and clear. I still haven't decided what to do with it but I guess that can wait until next Fall. :)

Another Post I Never Finished

Here's another post I never finished. There was way more babbling about marshmallows but I've deleted it to save you from dying of boredom. I realized today that I totally forgot to mention the Winter '08 edition of the Bloggy Giveaways Carnival and I wish I had done it last week since some of the giveaways are already over or ending tonight. But, the giveaway at And She Can't Even Cook! is open until Feb 3rd (yay!) so leave some comments on the post and you'll be entered to win a cute Valentine's Day Apron. Another giveaway that's still open is for an adorable stuffed puppy from So And Sew Crafty.

I can remember watching Martha Stewart make a batch of Rice Krispie Treats on her old show but she used some kind of sweetened cereal (Fruity Pebbles?). I really don't want Coco Puffs or Fruit Loops mixed with my marshmallows so I've never tried making them with anything but Rice Krispies. Well, Cakespy recently held a challenge [link via Pop Culture Junk Mail] to see if marshmallow treats made with other cereals would hold up to the Rice Krispie version.

(I started writing this post a few days ago and ever since I have really been craving a marshmallow and peanut butter sandwich. You might know it as a Fluffernutter but I never knew they had a name until I read it online a few years ago. The first time I ever had one, I was in sixth grade and my friend Kelly made it for me. She was from Texas and I thought it was something they all ate there. We always made ours with Kraft Marshmallow Creme but it looks like you can get Marshmallow Fluff shipped right to your door. Hmm.)

Someone Stop Me Before I Start With the 80's

I have a feeling I'm going to be at this site for hours and hours. I just took a bunch of quizzes based on matching actors to their tv shows from the 70's. Now I'm moving on to music.

I scored 100%!
I got 10 out of 10 correct on the Songs from 1970 #2 quiz.

Donkeys Donkeys Donkeys

I don't collect donkeys but I kind of have a thing for them. It's probably due to reading Brighty of The Grand Canyon during my horse phase in junior high. Well, I just saw the cutest donkey stamp on Write, Mama, Write. There was a link there to where the donkey stamp had come from so I went to Green Kitchen expecting to see the stamps for sale but guess what? You can download the pdf (it's linked in the post) or get them on Flickr! All the stamps (originally from a vintage French set) would make great embroidery patterns.

More donkey excitement: Mrs. Stitchy Britches shares an embroidery pattern of a donkey here and here and here too (she has been sharing a whole busload of patterns lately so be sure to go look if you haven't already).

Pretty Much A Geek For All Food

This was posted on my old blog on January 28, 2006.

I'm a geek for grilled cheese sandwiches and I'll eat them made with any kind of bread and any kind of cheese, and enjoy them all, but Venetian Panino is one of my favorite versions. This recipe calls for turkey, but when Giada De Laurentiis made this on her show, she said theu used ham at Harry's Bar so I did too. But you could forget the ham altogether. In fact, forget the bread and just eat the cheese spread with a spoon right out of the food processor, making sure you share some with your dog because she really likes it too.

On the same show, Giada also made Zucchini and Carrot a Scapece, which sounded good to me because it involved vinegar, so I made a batch one morning and then snacked on it for the next few days. I've never cooked with mint before and I was looking forward to adding it to the carrots and zucchini, but my mint plant had very few leaves on it, so I left the poor thing alone. And, the pickled vegetables were just fine without it.

Pork Medallions with Balsamic-Honey Glaze took me longer to make than the 20 minutes it took Sara Moulton to do it but it's still a quickie. To save time, she put the cooked pork pieces in a casserole dish and poured the glaze over it. I added my glaze to the skillet that I cooked the meat in and reduced it for a few minutes before pouring it over the pork. And, if you don't eat pork, I'm sure this would work with chicken breast too.

Another quickie is Paula Deen's Chicken and Rice Casserole. I usually don't make a lot of dishes that have condensed soup as an ingredient because I know they're loaded with sodium, but every time I taste something made with it, it's so good. And, this recipe was just that.

I'm also a geek for macaroni and cheese. I'll try pretty much any mac & cheese recipe I come across. When I saw Martha's Stewart's Lighter Macaroni and Cheese, I decided to give it a try. I was not disappointed. They've lightened it up by using a combination of low-fat milk and chicken stock, but it's just as good as any recipe made with whole milk. I didn't bake mine in individual ramekins -- sorry, Martha, but I don't have any of those -- I just used a baking dish, and I left out the tomatoes, although I will add them next time since I'm geek for tomatoes too.

I did not make this Chicken Saltimbocca but my mom did and it was delicious.

Forgot To Post This One 3 Days Ago

I'm not a huge fan of clowns but this bear is cute. He's flipping a crepe. And, he's skiing in this one. (To help you Googlers, I'll add that these are free cross stitch charts.)

I'm pretty sure this blogger is a member of a Yahoo group for redwork that I also belong to but I don't think I ever linked to her blog (which I just found again through another blog that I did not save a link to). She has posted some of the embroidery patterns from the J.F. Ingalls catalog that John Governale put online last summer. There are owls, birds, peacock feathers, and what looks to me like Little Bo Peep since she's holding one of those curvy stick things. EDITED TO ADD: Some of the links no longer work. Please go to J.F. Ingalls for scans of the embroidery patterns that Mr. Governale shared a couple of years ago. Updated: April 29. 2010.

TipNut has started posting another days of the week (DOW) set of embroidery patterns. This time, it's puppies doing chores. The link to the pattern for Monday is near the bottom of this post. Thanks to TipNut for sharing these!

I found another cool link on my old blog: a knitted pie.

Did you know Kellogg's stopped making Hydrox cookies a few years ago? [link via Not Martha] I don't know if I ever even had one (and now I guess it's too late). I always was, and still am, an Oreo girl.

I saw the giant cupcake pan in the King Arthur catalog earlier tonight and now I'm not surprised I see it's on back order until February 18th.

The Panda Dog Link Still Works

How cute is this? You can find the original chart here. I really like Kathy's (the stitcher) version. It was done for this New Year's Day SAL contest. You can see all the entries here. You were supposed to start stitching on January 1st so it's too late to enter now but the blogger has a Yahoo group and will be having more SAL contests in the future.

It's a heart, it's made of felt, and it's a needlecase you can make: a Heart Felt Needlecase. I love it. Update: You can find the pattern and tutorial here.

It's linked in the side bar but in case you haven't clicked the link yet, all of you dog people should check out the photos on Riviera Dogs.

I saw Emily did that four things meme on The Floss Box. I had posted it some time ago on my old blog so I went back to look for my answers and found a link to Keith's Colouring Book instead. Back in June 2003, I thought it was great because of the Nancy Drew coloring pages but now I look at the index of them and all I can think is EMBROIDERY PATTERNS!!

Yay! The instructions and images to make the toppers on the cupcakes on the cover of current issue of Country Living are at the magazine's website.

There are some great vintage Valentine postcard images on SilverCollect Blog and for other holidays too. Garden Fairy also has free vintage graphics to use for scrapbooking or card making (or whatever you want to do with them).

One more thing from my old blog: a dog that looks like a panda.

Don't Put Your Bras in the Dryer

While looking for something else, I came across The Nickname Game on my old blog.

Make a list of your nicknames and who calls you what.

If you call me Patty Ann, you're my mother.
If you call me Pip, you're my sister.
If you call me Miss Patty, you're the kids at work.
If you call me Patricia, you're the IRS.
If you call me Susan, you're my grandmother (she had dementia).
If you call me Ms. Patty, you're Shauna.
If you call me Pat, you're one of my mom's relatives.
If you call me Pa-tree-sha, you're that elderly nurse in the hospital who woke me up at 2am to draw blood.
If you call me Pats, you're Kelly.
If you call me Blue Eyes, you're an ex-boyfriend.
If you call me New Cousin Patty, you're Beth.
If you call me Short Bus, you're Rob.

Also, from my old blog:

Three, count 'em, three things about me
4:06 p.m.
Saturday, Mar. 08, 2003

I keep seeing those "100 Things About Me" lists on other sites. I've
considered doing one, but so far, these are all I can come up with:
1. I like to eat Spaghettios out of a can.
2. I once climbed the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
3. I always let my bras air dry after washing them.

Fascinating stuff, I know.

If Superbuzzy Was A Man, I'd Marry Him.

Every night, my plan is to sign on to AOL and answer my email. Right now there are 300 emails in my mail box. Not that I'm really popular. I just let it stack up. I swear some are from as far back as last summer. But instead of answering any of it, I read blogs. And, I Google stuff. And, I click links. And, then I read more blogs. And, I click some more links. And pretty soon, it's 3 am and I am ready for bed.

Thanks to a link at Scrapscene, here's a project from Craft Chi to make your own floss bobbins (or embroidery cards or thread winders) out of paper. (I call them bobbins because I like the word bobbins. I also like the word bonbons. Can you tell I also like putting words in italics?) I love the fabric floss bobbins I've seen before at The Small Object and Casa Mia, (the Casa Mia site is being re-done so don't click the link expecting to see any floss bobbins because they are not there now. I don't think she had instructions on making them though. I think it was just a picture of them.), and of course, I have yet to make any. The ones from Craft Chi are cute and wouldn't involve me cutting fabric. I just worry about putting a manila folder into my printer to print them on. Is that ok to do? Won't it get stuck? What the hell. I'm going to try it anyway.

Craft Chi also shows you how to make an apron from a vintage pillowcase.

That reminds me that I forgot to mention what the winner gets for Handmade Parade's Vintage Pillowcase Challenge: a $50 gift certificate to Superbuzzy, Reprodepot or Sew, Mama, Sew! Here's some more info on the challenge.

And, look. It's 2:40 and I am ready for bed.

Woo hoo!

And, yet another blogger is sharing her vintage embroidery patterns. Here's a cute little chick. Thank you, doe-c-doe (I love that name!) And, check out her fantastic embroidered I Love Lucy! Wow!

Edited to Add: Once I hit the Publish Post button, I really should turn off the computer and get up and walk away. Instead, I keep reading blogs and finding more things to link to.

Not too long ago, I read on someone's blog that if you have a craft blog, you have to make an owl at some point. I guess I missed the memo on that rule but it made me think of several owl charts that I know of. Since I just stumbled across another one, I might as well link to them all so I can get away from this computer and go to bed.
La chouette pour Nannick (I can now add chouette to my ever expanding French vocabulary thanks to this French cross stitch blog)
Owl from Hobby Loco This one is 1" x 2" if done on 14 ct

I'm pretty sure I knew of another x-stitched one but can't remember where it was now. I'll add it when I find the link again. But, Anna Maria Horner has a cute felt owl ornament to make. And, you can watch Floresita's video on making her spooky Halloween owl.

Crafty Saints

This image was posted on the Subversive Cross Stitch blog last year. Thanks to the pop-pom fringe, Julie declared St. Mathilde as the Patron Saint of Crafty Goodness. I don't know why I didn't post her picture before this, given my fascination with both saints and crafts.

You can read more about Saint Mathilde (aka Saint Mathilda and Saint Maud) here and here -- that second page mentions how she learned needlework when she lived at the monastery where her grandmother was the Abbess. FYI: the patron saints of embroiders and needleworkers are Clare of Assisi, Francis of Assisi, Louis IX, Parasceva and Rose of Lima.

Speaking of saints, Happy Zombie posted a pattern for a stuffed Saint Joseph last year. I don't think I ever linked to it.

Some day you may want to make a something for your hen-loving friend so here's a biscornu with chickens for you.

Here's a great tutorial for making a mattress pincushion.

Handmade Parade is having a Vintage Pillowcase Challenge [link via Crafty Carnival]. Make something from a standard size vintage pillowcase and enter it to win a $50 gift certificate from some cool places that I am too lazy to link to now because all I want to do is go to bed since it's 3:34 in the morning. (Why did I spend two hours reading about saints???) The challenge goes from January 15 to February 15th.

Stitch-A-Longs

Emily has posted a list of Stitch-A-Longs at The Floss Box. She linked to a SAL at The Bride's Tree where every month there will be a different theme (like January's theme is houses). You choose the chart to use and then make an ornament for a bride. I've signed up for this SAL. I don't have any new brides in my life right now -- just a bunch of old ones, har har -- so maybe my ornaments will just go to friends who have attended at least one wedding in their lifetime.

I just went to the blog for the Christmas Ornament Stitch-A-Long (Emily linked to that one also but it's been in my side bar for awhile) and got all excited because they're doing themes now and the January theme is animals (and joy and poinsettias). There are links to free charts that you could use so I started clicking them. They're from The Chart Shop and one is the Winter Wonderland Hedgehog that I did before Xmas. And, two of them are dog ones that I happened to print out last night, Snow Days and Puppy's First Christmas. I even started stitching one called Comedy Dog because I couldn't sleep. I had planned to link to all of these cute free charts here today but I honestly forgot all about it. I'm glad they were linked on the SAL blog. And, I'm glad Emily blogged about the SALs in the first place.

My "Comedy Dog" so far:

Going Through My Saved Links

My project this month week is to go through my saved links to free charts and patterns, and post the ones that still work here.

Grilles et diagrammes is a French site with some free cross stitch charts. There are birds, alphabets, "Bienvenue" (that's Welcome, right?), a lighthouse, a windmill, and a couple with reindeer and trees. It's a great collection.

The Caron Collection has a bunch of kid's projects. I like the Sampler Bookmark. The instructions show you how to make fringe on the bottom of the bookmark too. I think this bookmark would be nice stitched all in one color, like red or blue. I might have to do that.

Hope Chest Legacy is an online store that sells books, embroidery patterns, paper dolls, and cookie cutters (and, other stuff as well). They have a page with a few free embroidery patterns (when you open the link, the pattern will be huge so use your arrow keys to see the entire thing), and instructions on making a pillowcase, a quilt block, and the one that got me all excited: how to do a snowflake stitch on gingham fabric. I have a pink gingham pillowcase that I planned to do some chicken scratch on. I really like how the snowflake stitch looks. (Chicken scratch is stitching on gingham. Read more about it at Pegasus Originals. There's a pattern for a chicken scratch heart there.)

Not something I had previously saved but just found via Write, Mama, Write: a knitting pattern for a mini mitten ornament. How cute is that?

I Embroidered Something

I embroidered some hankies for my dad for a Christmas present. It was really tough to find non-girly designs in my stash to use. The patterns I've bought or have found on the internet are either cute animals or pretty flowers.

I considered stitching something like "For your snot" on one of the hankies but I went with "Bless You!" instead. I used a font that looked like real writing for the words, but my embroidery looks just as sloppy as my own handwriting, so I could have just free-handed it.



A site with free Shih Tzu graphics provided this design. When I showed this finished handkerchief to my sister, she didn't know what it was (well, she is more of a cat person). I think the circle thing going around his head might have confused her but the Shih Tzu is supposed to have a top knot like they do in dog shows, and, like this one does.

I put my dad's initials on one hankie (no picture of that one because it's the most boring). I was running out of time and losing interest in the whole project, so I just embroidered a "D" on the last three hankies. I got the "D" from a free alphabet posted on Vintage Transfer Finds. (How funny -- I left comments on that post back in March, saying I wanted to go monogram something after seeing those ABC's. It only took me nine months!)



Shih Tzu graphic from

Another Apronista Giveaway, Woo Hoo

Apronista is giving away a copy of EllynAnne Geisel's "The Apron Book" and also two vintage aprons from Eren and Deanna (the Apronistas). I have this book and love, love, love it. To enter, all you need to do is leave comments on this blog entry.

Last night as I was sewing two pieces of felt (that I made myself) into a cover for Maggie's collar, I realized that if it wasn't for craft blogs, some embroidery floss, a needle, and a bunch of free patterns, I would have gone completely insane over the past year or so. Look at Britney Spears. Who knows where she'd be today if she knew how to knit, was a member of Ravelry, and regularly entered giveways for crafty goodness. Probably not having a psychiatric evaluation at the hospital.


My 300th post just came and went. I know I should have done some sort of giveaway but it's just not possible right now. Hopefully, by the time I post entry #500, I can actually give something away.

Gingham Fruit Embroidery Patterns Link

I know I didn't link to all of Tip Nut's most recent embroidery patterns. I think I stopped on the Friday grapes pattern. Links to all seven days of the week gingham fruit patterns can be found here.

Polly Wants a Home

Sometimes, I get the most depressing emails. Today, one was about a bunch of dogs that were at an animal shelter in Georgia and that needed to get out. Whoever wrote the email mentioned how the shelter was gearing up for the holiday dump -- the period after Christmas through February when new pet owners decide they really don't want that cute little puppy or kitten that was left under their Xmas tree and they take it to the shelter. I wish we had a law that would require pet stores and anyone who breeds a dog to tell new owners just how many animals are put down every year because there aren't anough homes. I would like to believe that people are just ignorant and would think twice about bringing home a dog or cat in the first place if they knew that when they changed their mind later on and took it to a shelter, it could mean that animal would be euthanized. I got another email about a different shelter in Georgia that also has a bunch of dogs in need of homes. What made it worse was most of them only had until January 2 which is today. Since it's after closing time at the shelter now, I wonder how many of them in the pictures I just looked at were adopted or rescued, and which ones did not make it out of there.

I did get one email that was much happier. Well, it was sad in that a woman had been in an abusive relationship but she was leaving the guy and moving to Texas. She didn't have much money and was traveling by bus so a Dachshund rescue group was looking for help with getting her two small dogs down there as well. It was nice to know she would soon be safe in a new home and have her little doggies with her too.

A great place to start looking for a dog or cat or guinea pig or bunny or horse, etc., to adopt is Petfinder. They currently have 251,491 pets on there who need homes. By the way, it's Adopt-a-Rescued-Bird Month. Here's an adoptable bird for you. (To see more birds or other animals, go to Petfinder and use their search function on the left-hand side).

Happy 2008!!!