The Bunny I Made in 2011

In January 2011, a tutorial for a Fluffy*Stuffy Bunny was posted on Allsorts.  I made one in April of that year and blogged about it months later.  I just found a May 2012 draft post with some photos of my bunny. I'm posting that now in case anyone wants to make one for Easter.  Thank you, Jenny, of Allsorts for keeping your blog up so the links still work!

I think my bunny looks more like a bear but I still love her.  Here's my dog, Pumpkin, with my bunnybear.

Cross Stitch Ice Skate

Every Christmas, I make my mom some kind of ice skate ornament for the Xmas tree.  I think I'll make this cross stitch one from Kissy Cross this year.

Back in 2007, I made two biscornus from one of Kirsten's patterns for her Kissy Cross blog.

The tops:

And the bottoms:

You can find the biscornu patterns here.

February's Post

I told myself if I was going to start blogging again, I HAD to finish at least one new project a month. I also decided I HAD to follow through with the Totally Useless Stitch-A-Long (aka TUSAL) and post a pic of my orts jar every time there was a full moon.  So here's a photo of my orts jar.

Want more info on the 2015 TUSAL? Click here and Sharon will explain it.  By the way, the date for the TUSAL was February 18 so I'm late but at least I did it this month!

On to the project I finished this month.  Since this is February, I wanted to make something for Valentine's Day. I thought I had a small stash of vintage Valentine cards in a box under my bed so I decided I'd make a heart-shaped holder for them. Something I could hang from a door knob.  And, I wanted it large enough for this big card.

By the way, those are the only two cards I found in the box under my bed.  I really thought I had a few more.

The heart-shaped card holder I wanted to make is here at Plum Pudding.  It was posted on that blog SEVEN years ago  and I linked to it on this blog SIX years ago.  Wow, how time flies!

So here is my card holder.  It's made out of craft felt and a few odd buttons I had in my jar.  Oh and a piece of some pretty red ribbon.  I knew hoarding ribbon would make sense some day.

The funny thing is I made it large enough so the big Valentine card would fit but when I put the card in the heart, it kept flopping over. I still like my card holder though. Except the purple flower bugged me, which is why it's kind of hidden behind the other ones.  And, not clear in the photo.

The scalloped edge on the pocket is crooked -- I think I subconsciously have something against straight lines because I can never cut them -- and FYI, I have the dullest scissors in the world.

One more shot of my card holder in action:

So, we have a TUSAL pic and a project I started and finished in the same week. Pigs must be flying.

Edited to add:  I did have three vintage Valentine's card at one time.  I posted about them here.  The
big one is from 1946.

2015 TUSAL

Yay!  The 2015 Totally Useless Stitch-A-Long is once again underway thanks to Sharon at It's Daffy Cat.  

What is the Totally Useless Stitch-A-Long aka TUSAL, you ask.

Basically, you'll save your orts (that piece of floss you're left with when you're done stitching that's too short to do anything with) in a jar, and every time there is full moon, you'll post a photo of the jar on your blog.  More info here.  Thank you, Sharon,for hosting the TUSAL once again!

The first full moon was January 20 so here is my orts jar (I'm never on time) along with a Valentine bag I started making the other night:

(More on the heart in my next post.  Hopefully, I'll blog again before the year is over.)  (And, I know there is no cross stitching involved but I used embroidery floss to sew the hearts together so in the orts jar it goes.)  (And, yes, I know the red heart is not centered on the pink heart.)

I believe there was only ONE year where I actually posted a picture of my jar every time there was a full moon.  In 2014, I posted pics of my orts jar three times. I'm shooting for four times in 2015.  Go, me!  Really, I'm hoping the TUSAL will get me to not only blog more often but also make more stuff this year.

This was my jar at the end of 2014.  Those are threads from the past few years.  

I'm starting with a new jar for 2015.  

Edited to add:  I have no idea why some of this post is highlighted in white.  I did not do that. Also, I can't get the font to change.

First Post Of 2015, Woo Hoo!

On Halloween night last year, I was bored and looking online for something to make and found a tutorial for making a felt sugar skull sachet at Adventures in Making.  So I made one but without the sachet part.  [Link via Craft Gossip]

I was happy with it until I stitched the teeth.  I tried to do them freehand at first and that did not turn out well so I traced the pattern on to some tissue paper and stitched right over the paper on the felt. This is the second time I've tried that method and once again I was disappointed in the final result. Maybe it's me but when I remove the little bits of tissue paper that get stuck under my stitching, I end up pulling on threads and then it looks like crap.  I'm also not thrilled with the blue whatever-they-are below the eyes.  The tutorial sample had three lines and I did four and I think it's too many.  But hey, at least I finished something.  Alert the media!

The other time I used the tissue paper trick, I made this strawberry scissors keep from Red Brolly last year.  This was another night where I just had this strong urge to make something. Red Brolly's scissors keep is made from fabric but I made mine with felt.  I used floss to make the strawberry's seeds, instead of pearl beads, and did not add a bow at the top because I forgot.  The green is regular felt but the red is super thick felt so the pointy end of my scissors does not poke through.  By the way, while I was making the sugar skull on Halloween, I realized I have the dullest scissors in the world.

I used tissue paper to stitch the embroidery design on the stem and then loosened the threads when I yanked out removed all the little bits of tissue paper.  I think I did a crappy job of removing the tissue paper and it messed up my stitches.  I hate this method.

My scissors keep in action:

After looking at the original, I think it needs that bow on top.  And speaking of cases for keeping your scissors, I love this one from Feeling Stitchy.  Maybe I will make that one the next time I need to make something.

Have We Met?

Hey, blog.  Remember me?

I spend lots of time on Facebook these days, posting photos of shelter dogs that need homes.  A few months ago, I started volunteering at my county animal shelter.  I still don't have a job (or even a car) but this dog thing has really made me feel like I'm doing something with my life.  It's often sad (dogs end up on the euth list and don't always get saved) and frustrating (adopters return dogs to the shelter for lame reasons), but I've met some great like-minded people and many of the dogs and cats and rabbits and guinea pigs and snakes do get adopted or rescued.  And, as meaningful as it is to me, I know I need something more.  

I NEED TO MAKE STUFF!!!


Every so often, I end up on Pinterest -- not pinning anything but just looking -- and it really makes me want to, not only make something, but also blog about it.  I have made a few two things recently. And, by recently, I mean last December and this past April.  Let's see if I can find some photos.

I embroidered the kitties on a kitchen towel for a friend.  The design came from the Sublime Stitching book.  I was happy with my embroidery, but boy, does my photography and ironing need some work.

Pardon me while I laugh my ass off.  I just discovered I already posted that photo in February.  I do not care.  At least I am blogging again.

The other thing I did was embroider an Easter egg on a kitchen towel.  Now I need to track down a photo.  Until I find it, enjoy this one:

Be back soon!

You Can't Get Rid Of Me That Fast

So I posted four times in four days and then kind of forgot to come back.  Oops.  But I'm back now and I'm totally going to cheat by posting a link to a tutorial from 2009 and a pic of my version but it's for St Patrick's day and cute so it works.

Jenny made a felt shamrock pin a few years ago and shared how to make it on her blog Stitcher Scribbler.  Here's my shamrock pin with a felt guinea pig I made in 2009.

Nice blanket stitches!  Mine totally suck now.  I need more practice.

March 1 is a new moon so I'll be back soon with a TUSAL update.  (Details on the TUSAL are here.)

Three Posts In Three Days

If you look to the left below the cow, you'll see something called 2012 WIPOCALYPSE LIST, which shows the unfinished projects I was going to complete before the end of the world on 12/21/12. Remember that?  Let's just say I started off with good intentions but didn't finish anything on the list.  Maybe I knew the world wasn't really going to end then and I would have more time to work on everything. And maybe that's why none of the items of the list are done now.  Numbers 2, 4 and 5 have been cross stitched but need to be turned into ornaments or little pillows or needle books or whatever else I like to do with cross stitched designs. And, number 5 just needs a little more blanket stitching around the outside of the cover and then stuffed to make a pillow.  I really don't know why that one isn't done yet.  I loved the cushion cover when I saw the pattern on Bustle & Sew and had great time using Heat 'n Bond on my applique Scotties.  Here's a pic of one of them: 

The pattern for the cushion cover is no longer available as a freebie on the Bustle & Sew blog and I can't find it for sale in her store but you can see Helen's original version on Facebook and that might inspire you to come up with something similar.  (I'd love to do one with hedgehogs.)  Maybe this post will inspire me to finish my own Scottie cushion cover.

Number 1 on the WIPOCALYPSE list is a cross stitch that I started in September 2011.  I'll work on it for a few days in a row and then out it away for months.  It's called Ready for the Morning Ride and was created from a painting by John Emms.  It features a donkey and a dog, and my goal now is to complete the donkey.  Here are a few pics of my progress:

November 2011 -- two months in

January 2012 -- donkey's hiney (left) and the wall

August 2012 -- there's the saddle on the donkey

September 2013

And here's one I took yesterday:

That orange in the middle really stands out and at first I thought it was the donkey's eye and he was possessed but apparently it's a flower on his bridle.

You can get the chart for Ready for the Morning Ride from Artecy Cross Stitch.  I have a feeling this will be the only x-stitch I ever do with this many stitches!

By the way, the WIPOCALYPSE at Measi's Mussings is still going on.  Check out this post to find out more about it.  You can join in at any time and share your progress on your UFOs and WIPs.



So that's three posts in three days.  I'm not sure if there will be a fourth one tomorrow but I promise not to stay away for another nine months.

Two Recent Finishes

Before I get to my finishes, let me say if I had been blogging back in December, I would have posted a link to Rudolph the Felt and Sequin Reindeer  [via Craft Gossip's Felting blog] and encouraged everyone to make one. This totally reminds me of Xmas ornaments my mom bought in the 60's and 70's.  It was a sequin kind of world back then.

And, if you like the Rudolph ornament and/or you heart sequins, check out the other tutorials from Thrift Store Crafter (love the name of that blog).  Some day I will make the trees and little bird ornaments.  (Stop laughing.)

File this under This Always Happens:  I went looking for the link to the Rudolph ornament on Craft Gossip and found these super cute Peekaboo Reindeer Stockings from Handmade Charlotte.  Oh wow, I want to make them RIGHT NOW.

I recently did make something.  Two somethings.  Both were for my friend Mary. Once upon a time, I had a plan to make things for the friends I had made through blogging. Mary was my first victim.  I had asked for her address in December 2012, and a year later, I took a padded envelope with her name on it to the post office.  I swear it didn't take twelve months for me to embroider a dish towel and cross stitch a little pillow. My problem seems to be in getting started.  I also realized that I truly HATE transferring embroidery patterns.

Here's a bad picture of the dish towel I embroidered for Mary.  The kitty pattern is from Sublime Stitching (the book).  Nice ironing job, Patty. 

I also made this little cross stitched pillow for her.  You can find the free pattern here at The Primitive Hare.  I wish I had made it look old like the Primitive Hare did.  I believe I used all the suggested floss colors and I stitched on that 18 ct fabric I always use that I now can't think of the name of.

So, that's two posts in two days.  Color me impressed.

Memo to self:  Helvetica

"I Knit So I Don't Kill People"

"I knit so I don't kill people."  I love that.  I saw it on a list of crafty quotes on Buzzfeed.  Or would that be a list of quotes about crafting?  Whatever.

So, yeah, I am still here.  And I actually worked on a cross stitch the other night so I thought I would check in and say hello.  Here's a not-so-great picture of that cross stitch.  It's not finished --two of those toadstools do not have stems yet -- so I'll take a better pic when it's done.  And I hope to finish it soon.  And then hell will freeze over.

That chart is called The Brown Dog and it's from Bent Creek.  The Bent Creek web site is undergoing construction but you can find lots of online needlework shops that sell this pattern.  I got mine at 1-2-3 Stitch!

Be back soon with an interesting potholder I got at the local antique store.

Something I Made In 2011

Happy 2013!!  Time for my daily weekly monthly whenever-I-get-the-urge-to-write-something post.  I haven't made anything in quite awhile -- not even for the holidays -- nor did I finish anything over on that 2012 WIPocalyspse List over on the left.  (The idea behind the WIPocalypse was to complete your unfinished projects before the world ended on 12/21/12.  Good thing the world did not end because I have a bunch of crap to finish some day!)  This was not my year for crafting!  So here's a post about something I made back in December 2011.

Back then, I decided to make felt Christmas stockings for both of my dogs.  I gave myself plenty of time to do it.  And then waited until the very last minute to get started.  I did not finish Lucy's stocking until Christmas morning at 2 am.  I was too sleep deprived to notice I had put the loop on the wrong side of it until my sister pointed it out.  Lucy didn't care but I did so it has since been fixed.

.
This picture bugs me because the letters are done in dark green and you can't really tell. At least I can't.  (Maybe it's just my bad eyes.)  I think I used a stocking pattern from Martha Stewart's website but you can find tons of free ones out there if you just Google it.  You do know how to Google, don't you?  (I'll save my rant for another post but I'm convinced the majority of people on Facebook wouldn't know Google if they fell over it.  I do believe bloggers are way smarter though.)

Here's a close up of Pumpkin's likeness, which I love because it so cute, just like Punkie herself.  (Pumpkin = Punkie = Bunka Bunka.  Don't ask.  That's just how it is.)  I think the pattern was an embroidery freebie from Annie Oakleaves and I have been searching online for it so I could link to it but no luck finding it so far.  And, the hard copy that I used has gone missing.  Unless I stuck it somewhere so I could find it easily when I was ready to blog about it.  Ahem.

And, here's a close up of Lucy.  The pattern came from a site with free coloring pages (beware, there are lots of pop ups on that site so I hope you have a blocker) and I thought it was perfect because Lucy HATES having a doggy sweater on her, but she does kind of prance like that.   The coloring page is here.

So there you have my final project of 2011.  Woo hoo!

 

Going back to that list on the left, I have been working on the Scottie pillow.  I've started attaching the top piece to the bottom piece so it should be done soon. There's a lot blanket stitching so I do a little and then get bored.  Hey, maybe I could use one of those nifty sewing machines instead!

 

Happy New Year!!  (she said on January 12th)

 

A Mushroom Needlebook Made By Me

I just read this in the latest newsletter from the Toymaker:

"Then I had a thought that if I spent more time actually making and doing the things that I wanted instead of just looking at pictures then I would be a lot happier in the here and now. How about we take a deep breath and make the things we want to have and do the things that actually make us happy, even if it is in a small way?"

I love that.  So from now on, there will be more making things and less drooling over pictures going on in my life.  (I swear!)  To get on the right track, I just ordered two embroidery patterns from Penguin & Fish.  Remember the giant hedgehog pillow?*  I  am so going to make one.  (You can get the normal sized version of the hedgehog pattern on Etsy and then just blow it up on a copy machine.  I once asked Alyssa from Penguin & Fish if it was ok to do that and she said yes.)


large pillow versions of alligator and hedgehog embroidery patterns
Originally uploaded by Penguin & Fish

The other pattern I got is the Maltese puppy one.  I love Alyssa's adorable patterns.  I ordered the paper patterns but they're also available as pdf's.

While going through some pictures today, I found some of the mushroom needlebook I made back in February.  I know I did something a little different than the tutorial but I have no idea what that was now.  When you put the original together, you machine sew the spine of the needlebook.  I did mine by hand so maybe I put it together in a way where you wouldn't see the back of a back stitched seam.  Or something.

You can find the pattern for the mushroom needlebook here over on Generation Q. 

*You probably don't remember the giant hedgehog pillow since I can't find a link for it here so I bet I only posted it to Facebook.  Yay for Flickr!

Vote Early! Vote Often!

I've used that post title five times now.  I am so creative.  Anyway, I just wanted to remind you to vote in case you forgot there was an election happening today.  Because you just came out of the coma you've been in for the past four years.  Personally, I don't care who you vote for.  I really don't.  Just do it.




The pattern was a freebie from Urban Threads four years ago but looks like they no longer have it.  Sorry.

Even If It Kills Me

I just saw this cute Christmas project on One Pretty Thing and got this urge to link to it so here I am and here it is: Merry and Bright Garland from Kojo Designs.

It has been awhile since I made anything.  I had plans to make a couple pumpkins or ghosts and finish a few things for Halloween that I had started last year but I got sidetracked by other things.  Important stuff like googling random crap.  My sister got me an e-reader for my birthday so I use it for Facebook, checking email and Google while lying in bed.  Have I downloaded any books yet?  No.  But I do use it to place holds on real books at my local library.  Oh and I have been taking pictures with it too.

I did embroider this towel but I had transferred the pattern on to it months ago.  It was starting to fade away.  Sorry for all the wrinkles but I'm actually using it in the kitchen so I didn't bother to iron it.  This is towel number two of three.  I'm hoping to finish the last one before the pattern transfer is completely gone.  It's Aunt Martha's Adorable Puppy #4015 pattern.  The towel is also from Aunt Martha and I got them both at Hobby Lobby.  It has red stripes down the side that you can't see thanks to my nifty camera work.

I so want to go iron that towel and take a new picture now.

Here's something else I need to iron.  A set of towels that I got at our local antique store back in July.  

This will not be my only post in November, I promise!

Hello, October!

I love how I am always saying how I am getting back into blogging and then I never do.  The thing is I REALLY do miss it.  And, it's not like I don't have anything to write about.  I can always find something. Even if it's just to post another dog picture.  (I'll wait until the end to do that.). 

Back in April, I made this bunny.  Yeah, I know, it looks like a bear.  And, the dress is not reversible like the one for the Fluffy*Stuffy Bunny Jenny made.  (Get the bunny pattern here.)  After I sewed the dress pieces together, turned them right side out, and then tried to sew the opening closed, you could totally see all the stitches.  I can't do a blind stitch or a hidden stitch to save my life.  So I just left it open.  Then I didn't add a yoke because I couldn't hide those stitches either.  So my bunny not only looks like a bear but she also can't show off her two sided dress and isn't fluffy like the original.  She probably hates me.  And, I just realized something after looking at Jenny's Fluffy*Stuffy Bunny on her blog: mine has no tail.  Oh yeah, I am quite the crafter.

By the way, the dress fabric came from Mary and the buttons are from Barbara.  Thank you, ladies!

I found this cute pot holder at the local antique store back in July.  I've always loved that bee pattern.   It's Vogart 293 and you can find it by checking Google.  (Some day I will use a different comforter when I take pictures, I promise.)

Cute dog picture time!  "Nice bear" says Pumpkin.

Next time I post, in May 2017, I'll show you want else I got from the antique store that day.  Happy Monday Night!

Iron Day

Writing that last post reminded me that I had picked up some Aunt Martha's patterns and a pack of kitchen towels at Jo-Ann's back in March.  So far, I have only stitched one of the towels.  And, here it is.  It's funny to me that this has "Iron Day" on it and it's wrinkled and has a couple of creases in it.  I'm actually using it (alert the media!) in my kitchen so I didn't bother to iron it.

My original plan was to do the letters in brown and red with couching.  I was about halfway through when I realized I was doing them in black and red.  (I really should write this stuff down.)  .  And, I was not consistent with my colors.  Sometimes I used red as the surface thread and sometimes I used black.  If I was making this for someone, I would have been more careful, but I wasn't so I just considered it good couching practice. 

I'm thrilled that I not only finished the towel but that I'm using it too.  It's Aunt Martha's 4015 Adorable Puppy pattern and the towels were from Aunt Martha too.

Speaking of embroidery, you can find a Days of the Week set of patterns with bees doing chores (I love the bee with a broom) over on Tipnut.  I've seen a couple of these patterns before but not the whole set.  Thanks, Tipnut, for sharing them!

Easter Embroidery

I know it's June but I haven't been able to post pictures for awhile so I have some catching up to do.

There was a tutorial for an adorable fabric Easter basket posted on Red Brolly back in March.  I wanted to make it and only got as far as doing the embroidery, but hey, at least I did that.  Now that I can upload my pictures again. I'll take a better one as soon as I iron this.  And, thank you to Sarah and Mary for the floss.  Other than the brown for the bunny and the white for his tail, everything else is the variegated stuff you both sent me -- Cosmo Seasons from Sarah and Janlynn from Mary.  (Hard to see in the picture, I know.)

I have a bad relationship with French knots.  I hate them and always will.  My first one will turn out fine and sometimes the second one will be ok too, but then everything goes downhill and they end up deformed and I have to start over, which is frustrating.  I think some of these are alright but I can see which ones are too loose.  (Sorry for the lousy picture but I just cropped the one above.)

WIPocalypse February Update

Last summer, I stitched up a free chart called Little Blue Bungalow from Blue Ribbon Designs and did not like some of the colors of floss that I used.  The original was done with floss from Weeks Dye Works but I only had a few colors of WDW (that I bought a few years ago for yet another project I never did) so I went with DMC instead.  Picking out floss colors is always a big deal for me and I always second guess myself afterwards.  This time, I wasn't totally happy with some of my choices and didn't feel like doing it over, so Little Blue Bungalow was stuck in one of the tote bags I have with all my other WIPs and UFOs and pretty much forgotten.

Enter the 2012 WIPocalypse.  While looking in that tote bag for things to finish for the WIPocalypse, I discovered Little Blue Bungalow and decided to rip out what I didn't like about it and re-do it.

Here's the before picture:

And here's the after:

 

I re-did the scrolly orders at the top & bottom, and the line that begins with Y, and the flowers are now pink instead of white.  (If any of the other colors look different than before, it's just my camera.)  I stitched it on 18ct Fiddler's.

Now I have to figure out how to finish it. Which, in my world, is code for "Add some backing fabric, stuff it and there's little ornament #357." (Some day I will do something different and shock you all!)

The Little Blue Bungalow chart is a freebie from Blue Ribbon Designs and can be found on the Weeks Dye Works website.  (Scroll down to the very last link.)

By the way, I've also been working on Ready For the Morning Ride but you still can't see the donkey or the dog so I didn't bother to take a picture this month.

Thanks to Melissa from Measi's Musings for hostiing the 2012 WIPocalypse!