Finished For Friday: Little Blue House

Disclosure:  I finished this cross stitch about a month ago so I didn't actually work on this recently, and I still need to turn it into something (An ornament? A little pillow?  Something I've never ever made before so pigs will fly?).  Oh and looks like I need to iron it too.  But I wanted to share it for Finished For Friday because it's been way too long since I did one of those.

The chart was another freebie from Maryse. I had it in my stash for a couple of years and finally got around to stitching last month.

Head on over to Lit and Laundry to add a link for something you've been working on this week.

Finished For Friday: Donkey Pillow

For this week's Finished for Friday, I have a little felt pillow to share.

One night, I was looking at this pillow that I made...




...when a song called "I Will Dare" by the Replacements came on my iPod. The line that goes "meet me anywhere...meet me tonight...if you will dare, I will dare" just seemed to fit in with the two little dogs on the pillow. Except it was daytime on the pillow. So I decided to make a night time version.

I went with donkeys instead of dogs this time. I knew I wanted a moon and I knew I wanted the donkeys facing one another. The rest, I kind of made up as I went along.



Did you ever see moonflowers? They only open up at night. Mine look nothing like the real thing but I had to add something in a chain stitch so moonflowers it was.



The pillow top was all finished, except for attaching the bottom and stuffing it, when I got the brilliant idea to cut the piece of blue felt that the donkeys are standing on. Of course, I didn't cut it straight. So the black ribbon was added to hide the uneven edges of the blue felt. The ribbon came with the white stitching but I hand sewed it on and that took forever. Also, black floss on black felt will hide many of your mistakes but boy, is that a pain to sew. I had such a hard time seeing my stitches.

I typed the words out and then traced them on to my fabric. I forget which font I used but I really don't like the Y's.



I'm pretty happy with how my little pillow turned out. By the way, I used the same pattern for the donkeys in the pillow as I did for my blog header. It's originally from a set of vintage stamps and you can find it here.

If you'd like to see who else is sharing their finishes this week, check out this post on Lit and Laundry.

Finished For Friday: It's Tubby

Time for another Finished for Friday post!

My new favorite Facebook game is Pet Society where you create an adorable little critter and then feed it and play with it, decorate its house and visit its friends. Thanks to the cuteness factor, I am now obsessed with this game.

My pet is named Tubby and her turn-ons include guitars...

...making googly eyes at her stuffed horse (which is cute and creepy)...

...and lattes.

Recently, I decided I needed to immortalize Tubby in felt and ended up making a pillow with her image on the front. Sorry for the dark picture. When I lightened it up, it looked cartoonish so I just kept it as is.

I printed out a picture of Tubby and used that for a pattern. One copy worked for the body shape and then I cut up a couple of others for patterns for the eyes, nose and the white fluff on her head. The dress I cut out freehand but used the body as a guide. She's made from a combination of craft felt, eco felt and wool felt. (Jo-ann, if you're reading this, the felt for her dress came from you. Thanks again!)

Here's a close-up of Miss Tubbalicious.




If you'd like to share anything you have finished lately (a craft project, a book, a bag of Cheetos), head on over to Lit and Laundry and leave a link to your blog on this post so we can see what you've been up to this week.

FFF: A Few Recent X-Stitch Finishes

I was saving this post for Finished for Friday and I got so involved with playing Pet Society on Facebook, that I forgot all about posting it this afternoon. Luckily, it's still Friday in California.

Time to share some recent cross stitch finishes for Finished for Friday.

I took these two pictures right after one another (and without using the flash for either one) but look how different they are.



I actually stitched those back in 2007 and last week I decided it was time to add some felt to the back, a loop to the top and stuff them, because that's pretty much what I do with everything I cross stitch these days. The black spider chart may have come from the DMC web site and the others were freebies for members of a Yahoo group. Helga Mandl was the owner of the Yahoo group and the Halloween charts are now available for sale on her site. She has some other free designs there too.

When I first saw this Red Sweatered Teddy cross stitch chart, it was on DMC's Italian website. You can now find it on their USA site but you'll need to join the DMC Club to access the chart. (It's free to join and your log-in will work on their other sites too.) I used all the suggested colors of floss and stitched the bear on 18 ct Aida. And, I backed it with some blue felt, stuffed it and added a yellow loop. I am so predictable.

This Korean website has a ton of free cross stitch charts. Forty-nine pages worth! Since there are no thumbnails for each one, you'll have to click on the links. Google's English translation will give you some idea of what you're clicking on but it seems not all of the chart pages will translate. You can pretty mnuch figure them out anyway. I had no idea how to finish off the koala and or bear so I just added some felt to the backs, and I may stick an ornament hook in them and hang them on my Xmas tree this year. The pattern for the bear in the blue shirt is here and I'm still tring to track down the koala chart. (I'm up to page 20 so far.)

Thanks to Lit and Laundry for hosting Finished for Friday every week!

Finished For Friday -- Bunny SAL

Nicole announced her Bunny Stitch A Long back in early June and I thought it was such a cute pattern. I finally started working on it the other night, mainly because I found out Mary has been checking my blog to see what I've been making while recovering from foot surgery and I felt bad that there hasn't been that much posted.

My original plan was to cut the animals and leaves & acorns out of felt and attach them to the fabric, and then embroider the rest of the design. I stitched the squirrel's tail first and then, forgetting all about the felt plan, I embroidered the outline of his body. Mr. Squirrel looked very blank, and when I realized I didn't have enough gray floss to fill him in, I colored him with a pencil. I figured I may as well keep going and used crayons to tint everything else since my other pencils were pink, blue and purple. Can you tell I was coloring at 2 am in a dimly lit room? The craptastic crayon job aside, I'm happy with how this turned out, even though it's nothing like I originally wanted to do it. Woodland creatures frolicking in the forest -- how could you not love it?

I'm not sure what made me do a chain stitch with two strands of white and two strands of gray floss but I love how the squirrel's tail came out.



I think I could have done a little less of chain stitching on the hedgehog's tummy. Do hedgehogs have quills like porcupines do or are they called something else? I shocked myself by not following the lines to do these. Usually, I'm not such a rebel. (And, yes, I can see the spot I forgot to embroider.)

You can find the cute pattern for the SAL on Flickr and on Nicole's blog. And, be sure to check out her Etsy shop for more of her adorable embroidery patterns.

Technically, I am not completely finished with this embroidery but the stitching is done so I'm posting it for Finished for Friday. I haven't posted anything for FFF for weeks and I miss it. And, I miss blogging and I know you all miss me. [Insert sounds of crickets chirping here] Well, at least I know Mary does.

Show off your latest finishes for the week at Finished for Friday, hosted by Lit and Laundry.

Enjoy the weekend!

Finished For Friday -- Cross Stitch Pincushions

For today's Finished for Friday, I'm sharing my latest cross stitch finishes. Remember that biscornu that I sewed together incorrectly and ended up with a pincushion instead? Technically, a biscornu is a pincushion but biscornus have eight sides (or more) and my pincushion only had four. Well, I also stitched up a biscornu using the same charts since my original plan was to make one. Here they are side by side:




I used a varigated floss, DMC 57, for everything but the strawberry stems. I really like how it goes from light to dark. Both of these are stitched on 14 ct Fiddler's or Fiddler's Lite.



You can find the charts for the biscornu by clicking the last two photos in this entry on Les loisirs d'une Sablaise.

Finished for Friday is hosted every week by Lit and Laundry and it's a fun way to show off what you've been working on for the past week.

Finished For Friday: Remember Weepuls?

Lately, every time I see something cute to make, I add it to the list I have going in my head of things to keep me busy while I'm recovering from foot surgery (it's finally going to happen next Thursday). I just added the Bunny Stitch-A-Long to the list. It's an embroidery project with a super cute pattern from Polka Dot Bunny.

The other day I had planned to link to the Weepuls tutorial from Zakka Life, and also wanted to include a photo of the Weepuls that I've had for years. Well, I totally forgot to snap a picture of them so I held off on adding the link. So, today, in honor of Finished for Friday, I am completing my task by linking to the Weepuls tutorial and showing you mine.

I don't remember these little fuzzballs having a name. Thank you to Zakka Life for tracking it down. Wikipedia says Weepuls or Wuppies or Wuppets were invented in 1979 and became extremely popular in 1981. I don't know how long I've had mine but the whites of their googly eyes have yellowed over time so I think it's been awhile. Sadly, I don't have the supplies to make a Weepul tonight but I can always play with my old ones.

Be sure to check Lit and Laundry to see who else is joining in for Finished for Friday.

Finished For Friday -- Watch Pincushion

Every so often, I actually take a break from playing Farm Town on Facebook and make something. Behold my wrist watch pincushion.



This was fun and quick to put together. I did make one change. When I started to stitch the strap pieces together, my fabric began to fray so I cut another slightly larger piece of fabric, folded all four edges in (and ironed them) before I began sewing it to the felt piece. I also left off the winder.

You can find the tutorial to make your own wrist watch pincushion on LucyKate Crafts [link via Craft].

I finally finished something for Friday! See who else is showing off their finishes at Lit and Laundry this week.

Finished For Friday -- An Answer For Mary

MaryBT commented: "Woman! It's been 10 days since you promised to make something! What gives?"

How creepy. It totally sounds like she is keeping track of my lack of craft projects by marking off the days on her calendar....hey! That reminds me! I did make a calendar the other day. Over at Knick Knacks & Ric Rac are calendar pages you can download and print out, and then add your own artwork at the top. I would love to have some of Hannah's artwork but since I can't, I just used a photo of my dog planters because it makes me happy. Yes, dog planters work better than Zoloft. (By the way, so do Weezer videos.)

Thanks to Mary's comments, not only was I creeped out, but I was inspired to finish an embroidery that I had started last September. It was going to be a header for my blog but it was put aside because I found something else fun to stitch. But it's done now and it's up there and it's my Finish for Friday.

EDITED TO ADD: Well, I hate my header. The picture is too big and I hate the border and you can't see the wonky stitching very well and why does the orange floss look like it's glowing? I wanted to post something for Finished for Friday so I am leaving it for now. I am off to eat a burrito and then I will play around with the photo until I get it right. I'll also link to the coloring page that I used for a pattern. (Once I find it again!) Sorry for the half-assed post today.

Check out Lit and Laundry for links to other Friday Finishers.

Finished For Friday

Miri of Milk and Honey Quilts is sharing two cute Chanukah embroidery patterns and instructions on how to make a gift bag with one of them.

And, don't forget today is Finished for Friday over at Lit and Laundry. You have to see the project Elizabeth posted -- tutorial included. Edited to add: not only did Elizabeth show off a finish today but so did Sally. And, guess who commanded them do that? Me! I have the power.

I didn't finish anything this week. The only thing I made was my garland which I already posted about, but in case you missed it, look up at my blog header and you will see it in it's pre-garland stage.

Have a great weekend, y'all!

Links For Last Friday's Finishes

I wanted to link to the patterns & tutorials I used to make the things in the photo on Friday's post. But, first, a few other links.

Anne at Green Jello is sharing her holiday embroidery patterns and boy, are they really cute. I am definitely going to stitch the sugar plum fairies.

Jo the Crafty Stitcher is sharing instructions to make tags out of muslin and her cute embroidery designs. I really love the bird.

Over at The Floss Box, Emily posted some Xmas ornament patterns to use for embroidery projects.

And, you have to check out Jenn's extensive floss dyeing tutorial on her blog, Sweet Pea Stitches. I have to wait on doing this but I really would like to give it a try after the holidays.

I made this fabric flower back in June and it was on my dog's collar for awhile but I wasn't crazy about my sewing. So I decided to take it apart and put it back together. I also added a different button and a pinback so now I can wear it on my sweater. The material is from a sheet I have had for years but never used. Instructions for making the fabric flower can be found at Pink Paper Peppermints.





I wasn't happy with the hat I made for this snowman months ago and I finally got around to making him another one last week so that counts as a finish. You can find the pattern at Runo's site.

Well, I thought he was finished. I just realized I forgot to give Frosty some buttons. Oops.




One of the monthly themes for the Christmas Ornament Stitch-A-Long for September was penguins. So that's what I made. The chart for this cute little guy is from It's Daffy Cat. I had previously finished all the cross stitching on the Nativity ornament (one of the themes for May) but didn't back it and stuff it until last week. The last time I checked, the free pattern was no longer available.





I love this peony. I wish I had some pretty wool felt in pink or even white but I only have brown and black so I just used the craft kind. I turned my peony into a pin but the instructions will show you how to attach it to a hairband. You can find the tutorial at Yoonie At Home.





Here's another card I made, again using the Chi Chi Fever pattern from Sublime Stitching. I messed up his head and I don't really like the small stitches I took but oh well.






Have you been to Tricia Rennea's blog yet? (I believe I found it through a link on One Pretty Thing.) There is so much good stuff there, including the pattern for her Maddie Bird. I made this one last night. I did the tail a little differently since I didn't have any red or white yarn (in the instructions, the yarn tail looks like a heart to me so I just cut one out and sewed it on). I am not happy with where I stitched the wing -- I wish I had put it a little lower -- but take a look at that! I actually used a chain stitch on that wing! How unlike me! I think my blanket stitching is getting better too. Well, except for that knot near her right foot. Anyway, I plan to make at least one more Maddie Bird this week. I also would like to make Tricia's mittens. Now, go see all of her amazing and fun work. And, if you have any trouble printing things, just email her and she will send you the pattern.

Finished For Friday: Whipping Stuff Out

I just sat down at my computer to check my Facebook email and suddenly remembered it was Friday so I sprinted down the hall to grab my camera and the stuff I finished this week so I could post it for Finished for Friday, and took eight pictures, all of which were out of focus. The best one is below.

The felt snowman was done months ago but his hat was lop-sided so I made a new one last night. This one is lop-sided too but appears straight from a certain angle and that works for me. The penguin is for for one of the monthly SALs I've neglected, and you've seen the nativity one in its pre-ornament stage. I've also previously posted the yellow flower too, when it was attached to my dog's collar. She didn't appreciate it very much so I took it back and it's now become a pin for me. The red peony is also a pin. I'll post links to the patterns and charts I used later this weekend, and hopefully take some better pictures too. I just wanted to get this up while it was still Friday on the East coast.

Finished For Friday -- I Got Nothing But Links

Be sure to check the previous post for a link to Loralynn's Thanksgiving giveaway (apron alert!) and see the pretty biscornu she sent me.

Since today is Friday, I hope you'll participate in Finished for Friday over at Lit and Laundry and share any projects you've been able to complete this week. Sadly, the only thing I've finished this week was my bag of candy corn.

But I do have some links to share.

Check out these cute bookplates with vintage animal designs from Sweet Jessie [link via One Pretty Thing].

Not sure how I missed it but a couple of weeks ago Tip Nut had a list of twenty free softie patterns and tutorials, including this alpaca stuffie from The Shishi Girl.

Zakka Life is sharing her Cute as a Button ornament and boy, is it ever so cute!

There's a new cross stitch freebie called Jingle Sparkle Joy at Midsummer Night Musings that I just love and hope to start this week.

You have to see the super cute Tree Family embroidery pattern at Nini Makes. Joanie is also having a giveaway for some cool stash so go leave her some comments before November 17th.

I'm going to catch on some blog reading this weekend so have a good one!

(Did you notice I used cute four times in this post? I'm shooting for five next time.)

Finished For Friday Halloween Edition

I took a bunch of pictures yesterday so I could join in on Finished for Friday over at Lit and Laundry, plus I wanted to post some Halloween stuff, but the majority of the pictures did not turn out well. I had knocked my camera off my night table earlier in the day and was worried something was jarred loose inside and that was why my photos weren't in focus. Then I saw the pictures of the candy corn cards that I took last week and realized I'm just a craptastic photographer.

Here are my candy corn cards. I had planned to make more of these with different designs but then I ran out of time. Thanks, Anne, for the pattern!




I fell in love with Jenny's Dangly Spider this week and decided I had to make one. Since I didn't have any nice Halloween-y fabric, I stitched mine on black felt. It wasn't until I was completely finished that I noticed I had only done five "spokes" in the web, and not the seven you were supposed to stitch. Considering I read Jenny's instructions about 17 times before I started this project, it's weird I would miss doing two of them.




Here's a somewhat blurry photo of my spider. Check out his legs. I used the black yarn that Jenny had tied around my prize package (see previous post). Al Gore would be so proud.



Remember, you can click on any picture to see it larger and in all of its unfocused glory.

So, since last Friday, I started and finished the candy corn cards, and the Dangly Spider Picture. I also Mod Podged some orange tissue paper on to a jar and made a pumpkin whose face I copied from was inspired by a Mary Engelbreit illustration, but every picture I've taken of it has turned out to be a huge blur (how creepy!) so I am convinced it's possessed. (Damien!) Or maybe someone or something does not want it shown here. (The copyright infringement fairy, maybe?)

Be sure to visit Lit and Laundry to see who else is sharing their Friday finishes.


I hope you all have a very Happy Halloween!!