Happy Halloween!

I was halfway through a post about my lack of blogging but it depressed me too much so instead I'll just show you my recent finishes and wish you all a happy and safe Halloween.

Here's a little bag I made because I wanted to embroider Tubby* as a pirate on a pillow. Somehow she morphed into a witch on a little felt bag.



I used a picture of Tubby for the pattern for her body and Anne's bat & spider patterns (click the pdf to get them) but everything else, I just kind of did on my own. That's why her eyebrows are not even. I'm still not sure what the chain stitch around her neck was supposed to be. (A lace collar?) It's against my religion to cut in a straight line as you can see. And, yes, the purple felt needs to re-glued where I unstuck it so I could attach the handles.

I also made this little pumpkin pillow out of felt. For the original, you used a t-shirt and a sewing machine. (Ooooh, scary!) I planned to make a larger version and also his little kitty friend but I ran out of time.



The Friendly Ghost pillow pattern can be found here at Value Village. [Link via One Pretty Thing.]

One more thing: My mom got this witch somewhere a few years ago and I've always liked her. She hangs on the front door around this time of year. I don't know what she's made of but it's something hard (clay?) and I worry she's going to break when she bangs against the door as someone closes it. You can't tell from the photo but her face is all glittery.


I just realized she looks like the model for Tubby as a witch even though I hadn't seen her since last year. And, here, I thought a pointy hat, a black dress with a lace collar, striped socks and a pumpkin bag (at first, Tubby was going to have one of those) on a witch were so original. :)

Have a Happy Halloween!!

*Tubby is from the game, Pet Society

Yoo hoo!

I am not leaving this computer until I come up with a post for this blog. Oh, wait. Is that lasagna?

(Be back later!)

You Can Embroider These For Next Halloween

Yeah, I know I should have posted this a month ago. Halloween is practically tomorrow but there's still some time to whip out a few spooky scary projects, right? Or, to get started on making stuff for next year. I'm re-posting some of last year's embroidery freebie links because I totally think they are worth sharing again.

Pumpkinhead girl, candy corn, owl, bat, kids in costumes from Green Jello

Bunnies in costumes from Craft Blog

Pumkin Girl from Andrea Zuill at Bad Birds

Witch and vampire from Quixotic Pixels

Ghosts in costumes from Annie Oakleaves

And, I can't forget Jenny's adorable Dangly Spider.

And, thanks to One Pretty Thing, here's a prim Fall Stitchery (pumpkin head with cat mask) from Cash Strapped Crafting (I totally need to check out that blog) and Bat Boy from Andrea Zuill. If you don't regularly visit, One Pretty Thing, you really need to start NOW. Rachel posts so many great links to freebies there.

I haven't done anything for Halloween except for turning some older cross stitched designs into ornaments, but I made a garland of felt leaves last week and I'll share it on Friday. (Have to take a picture first.) And I am almost finished with an embroidery of Tubby as a witch for a little bag. (For those of you just tuning in, Tubby is my Pet Society critter. Here she is hanging out in her back room where she pretends to sell baked goods and lemonade while wearing fish nets and a witch hat.) (Why, yes, I do live vicariously through Miss Tubbalicious.)

Here, Have Some Links

Remember when I used to post links here all the time? Yeah, me either. I just put a couple up on Facebook and wondered why I wasn't posting them here as well.

CakeSpy is giving away a $50 gift certificate for Bake It Pretty. You have until Friday October 16 at 12PM PST to enter. Check this post for details. By the way, Bake It Pretty has a blog and I was just there for the first time and saw this recipe for Ginger Tea Bread. I think I need to make that.

Speaking of recipes, last week my mom and I made this Asparagus, Artichoke, and Mushroom Saute with Tarragon Vinaigrette -- well, I made the vinaigrette and she did everything else because I was dealing with some evil antibiotics that made me nauseous every time I moved my head -- and it was really good. I love anything with a vinegar dressing on it and I love tarragon so this was perfect for me. It's served warm and it was totally fine that way but it was even better the next day after it sat in the fridge overnight.

Jenny over at Allsorts, renamed Owlsorts for now, is sharing some free patterns for making Halloween spinners. How fun!

Edited to add: I just came across this thanks to Denise at Needlework News at Craft Gossip: The Gum Tree Designers are sharing a free Christmas pattern every Monday in October and November. The first one is a gift bag that I just love. I'll definitely be checking their blog every week to see more of their freebies.

Some Links For Wednesday

Thanks for the nice comments about my Pekingese embroidery! :)

I have a few links I wanted to share:

Here's a super adorable fabric dollhouse tutorial from UK lass in the US. If I ever learn to sew, I will make one of these.

I found the dollhouse tutorial from this list on Blue Bird Studio and I just realized that I have been to Blue Bird Studio in the past because I remembered her embroidery patterns of dollies, eggs and bunnies & chicks, and the wall hanging she made with them. I even commented on that post. I swear there are just too many blogs and projects and free patterns to keep track of. (Hey, Patty, isn't that why you started a blog in the first place? To keep track of them all?) (Shut up, voice in my head.)

Heather of Blue Bird Studio also put together a nice list of free BOM patterns.

And, here's a tutorial for a super cute Little Letter Needlebook from Skebba.

Did you see the Apple Tree Applique block from Wee Folk Art? I really want to try that woven spider wheel stitch now.

There are two cute Vintage Pots embroidery transfers over at No Pattern Required. There's lots of other vintage stuff on the blog that's worth checking out. I especially love the posts in the Mid-Century Menu category. You have to read the one about the Welch's Grapelade Cake. Um, yeah.

Pekingese Embroidery

A few years ago, I found a coloring page with a Pekingese and thought I could use it for an embroidery pattern. I printed it out, filed it away and forgot all about it. When I finally did get around to stitching it last year, I ended up tossing it out not long after I started working on it because there was a scorch mark from the iron from when I was transfering the pattern.

Not too long ago, I decided to embroider it again, and even though I wish I had used more of a variety of colors for the lanterns, I am pretty happy with this.

It seems like every time I take pictures of this embroidery, I notice more marks on it. First, there were several pencil smudges on the material (I had traced the pattern with a regular pencil and not a transfer one the second time around). Luckily, they came out with a little spritz of Spray N Wash and a little rubbing with a toothbrush. The second set of photos showed some pieces of floss left behind. I thought I finally had it all cleaned up for the latest round of pics but look at this lantern. See the mark on the lantern near to the pink symbols? (I think it's from a pen.) That was not there last time. I swear this thing is possessed.

Unfortunately, the URL for the Peke coloring page no longer works, and I can't find a similar drawing. But the patterns for the lanterns came from Hoop Love on Flickr.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do with this embroidery now. I'd love to make a pillow from it. That is, once I make sure I got ALL the the spots out and cleaned off all the thread ends.

I Love You, System Restore

For the past several days, I couldn't get on the internet. Windows suggested I shut off the modem for ten seconds and then turn it back on. I decided I would try that during the following day when there was enough light to see which cord was which under the desk since the flashlight was not where it was supposed to be. I should buy a miner's hat. It would really come in handy at times.

Well, then my sister got involved. There were phone calls made to Cox Cable, which were of no help, so last night, one of their techs came out. He looked at my computer and said something along the lines of "Sorry, I've never seen this before so I can't fix it. It's a hard drive problem."

After he left, the System Restore button caught my eye and I said "What the hay" and clicked on it. I followed all the steps and changed the settings back to September 14th. Guess who's back online now? That would be me, thank you very much.

While my computer was refusing to be friends with the internet, I was using my sister's and all I did was go on Facebook to play Pet Society, so I now have a ton of email to go through and a bunch of blogs to read.

And, for reading this entire thing that has nothing to do with crafting, your reward is a link to The Stitcherhood. Thanks to April Mechelle for posting her finish of one of their freebies. I hadn't heard of The Stitcherhood before I read her blog. I love their designs and they have some nice free charts too. I think I'm going to start one later today.

Enjoy your weekend!

I Swear It's A Caterpillar

Before I get to the crafting, I need to ask this: Can Kanye West be any more of an a-hole?

Ok, moving on to something that would never think to interrupt a Taylor Swift acceptance speech.

This eyeglass case from Betz White made me drool (Argyle sweater felt! Rick rack! Pretty fabric lining! Caterpillars!) so I made one that looks absolutely nothing like hers. I shrunk the pattern a little bit because I wanted a smaller case for my cheapie magnifiers. Which, by the way, were less than three bucks at Michaels.



I used some nubby eco-felt which is stiff enough to protect my cheapie magnifiers when I toss the case in my purse, but the dark color made it tough to see how far apart to place my blanket stitches. However, the softer white craft felt that I used for the lining makes it easy to see how uneven my blanket stitches are.



What's that? You want to know what's up with the random buttons. Try squinting a little. See the caterpillar now? No? Squint some more. Memo to self: use a darker colored floss for the antenna next time.



I also used the same felt to make this little bear. Here he is balancing on one foot in my TUSAL jar.



I keep calling it eco felt but it's felt made with Eco-fi which is a polyester made from recycled plastic bottles. It comes in a variety pack in an assortment of textures and colors. The brown felt that I used for the case and the bear has a rough surface and it's not as flexible as regular felt but you can easily get a needle through it. It's perfect for the eyeglasses case.

If you're not a regular reader of It's Daffycat, you may have missed Sharon's cute Elephant Hello cross stitch freebie.

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.

Vintage Thingies Thursday: An Old Book

There was a link to "a recipe for roast beef" on a great new-to-me blog called Bookmark Collector and I HAD to click it. (I'll click most anything to do with a recipe and/or food.) That led me to this post on my new favorite blog, Forgotten Bookmarks. The recipe had turned up in a book by Louisa May Alcott called "Eight Cousins." It looked like the one I have, except the color on the spine and cover was green and mine is orange-y. That reminded me it had been a long time since I did a post for Vintage Thingies Thursday so I thought I'd share my copy of "Eight Cousins" today.


"Eight Cousins" is one of the books in a set that my mom gave me in 1974. (Or was it 1975?) (And, boy was my handwriting sloppy when I was 11 or what?) The set includes "Little Women" and "Little Men." After the Little House series from Laura Ingalls Wilder, they were my favorite books when I was a kid.



I remember being fascinated by the color illustration before the title page of each book. (You can click the image to see a larger version.)




Visit Suzanne over at Coloradolady to see who else is sharing their vintage treasures this week.

Bookmark Collector is full of links to bookmarks you can buy, ones you can make, to bookmark contests and collections, so go take a look if you have a thing for bookmarks.

And, be sure to check out my new favorite blog Forgotten Bookmarks for more random ephemera (postcards, post-it notes, credit card receipts, etc) found in old books by someone who works in a used and rare bookstore.

A Day Without You Know Whats

Today, 09/09/09, is A Day Without Cats on the Internet, so please enjoy I Has A Corm. The hammie is not playing the piano but it still cracks me up every time.


see more Lolcats and funny pictures

My Life As A Hamster

I've become nocturnal -- sleeping all day and up all night -- so I keep missing opportunities to take more pictures of my Tubby pillow in daylight-- the first round did not turn out well -- and of my TUSAL jar. So, tonight, I am just going to share some links.

There's a cute 1960's kitty embroidery freebie at Primrose Design. That blog was one of the first "crafty" ones I ever read. I still refer to Janet's Stitch School posts when I need a reminder on how to make certain embroidery stitches.

Look at the cute cute cute Jingle Owls from Eileen's Attic. I have got to make one of these! And, have you seen the adorable Kokeshi stuffie from Melly & Me? [Both links via Freebies For Crafters.]

Speaking of softies, it's once again time to make one or two or seventeen and send them off to Pip at Meet Me at Mikes so they can be donated to The Mirabel Foundation, and then given to kids who have been abandoned or orphaned due to drug-abusing parents. For all the details on making softies, where to send them, and links to free patterns, go to this post. I actually made a small bear last night for this project but I used some eco felt which is kind of rough and scratchy (and would make lovely carpeting in a doll house) and I would rather my softie be, well, soft. So I'm considering him a practice run. My goal is to make at least three softies for Mirabel.

Stop laughing, you guys.

I Really Do Make Things

I still have about two inches left to stitch up the opening on Tubby's pillow and then I'll be done. I was working on it earlier today while listening to the radio about the fires burning in Los Angeles County. Forget the earthquakes. It's the fires that scare the crap out of me. And now that I live a street away from hills full of dry brush, it's even more scarier. Anyway, I hope to finish my pillow tomorrow.

I usually don't post anything on Flickr until I'm ready to blog about it but sometimes I put pictures of things I've made on Facebook and forget all about blogging them. Like my Revoluzzzionary monster. The pattern & tutorial has been in my stash for awhile but one night I ran across it on two different sites and I thought that was a sign it was time to make one. Here he/she/it is before I stuffed it. I like his/her/its fang. I used patterned eco-felt. (If you enlarge the photo, you can see the butterflies in the felt. The ones I didn't notice until after I took the picture.)

Remember the Little Pink House Tutorial posted on Sew Mama Sew a couple of weeks ago? Here's my version. Which I hate. Apparently, cutting out round circles is beyond my capabilities. So is sewing a running stitch. (And, trust me, doing a halfway decent whip stitch is out of the question.) I didn't have a seven inch hoop so I made a pillow instead. I'm much happier with my monster than my pink house.



Speaking of embroidery, did you see the cute redwork pattern on Loobylu? [via WhipUp]

And, the two embroidery projects from Mollie at Wild Olive: her August workshop is all about making Button Buddies (hedgehog and owl alert) and her Tasty Paste pattern (scroll down a little) over at The Sampler? I don't remember ever eating paste when I was a kid but I do remember my friends and I coating our hands with Elmer's glue and then peeling it off when it was all dry.

One more thing before I go: Raspberry Buttermilk Cake. Make it. Simple, quick and really good. I'd share a picture of mine but it wasn't around long enough for me to take one but you can see Barbara's here. I'm making it again later today.

Tubby Doesn't Have Sexy Boots

My new favorite Facebook game is Pet Society and I have no doubt it's because the critters are so freaking cute. Here's a video someone made of their pet, Bamboosha, dancing to U2.

By the way, my pet's name is Tubby and I am in the process of making a felt Tubby pillow. I have to embroider certain features of her face and will have to wing it so I've put off getting starting on it but I'm hoping to get it done today so I can post it for Finished for Friday.

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!

Vote For Mya!!

Is this not the cutest goat you ever saw? Please vote for Kellie's dog, Mya! Thanks!

Please Vote These Dogs

For two days now, I have been meaning to take some pictures of my recent cross stitch finishes but haven't gotten to doing it yet. I've also received some care packages recently and wanted to post about them but not until I re-take photos of all the great stash that was sent to me by some really nice and generous people from Blog Land since the first round of pics didn't turn out so well. I truly am an expert at taking pictures out of focus.

You may have seen already since the Little Pink House Tutorial since it's been linked all over the place but go have a look at it over at Sew Mama Sew if you've haven't seen it yet. This afternoon I cut out all the house, flowers and leaf pieces, and then I ate pizza and watched poor pitcher Hiroki Kuroda get beaned in the face/head with a line drive during a Dodger game on TV, (I just read online that did not suffer any bleeding or fractures which is pretty incredible), and then I was on Facebook rearranging my farm on Farm Town for about 17 hours so I haven't had a chance to stitch up my Little Pink House just yet. I'm resisting the urge to add a John Cougar Mellencamp figure to it.

So I have nothing to share tonight but I know of a couple of dogs who are trying to win two different contests, so I thought I'd try to get some votes for them. You don't have to register to vote. Just click the links. Thank you to any and all who vote for these two pups!

First up is Buddy who is entered in the Doing More For Pets Rescue Stories Contest. I can't give you his background story because I voted once for him already and now they won't let me get back to his page but it looks like the rescue group who saved Buddy -- that would be the American Lhasa Apso Club Rescue --- will get $5000 worth of dog food from Purina Pro Plan if he wins. Try going here and then clicking on the Return To Voting button. If that doesn't work, my apologies to Buddy for not drumming up some more votes for him.

Voting for Stanley is easier. Just click the graphic below. I love his picture.

Happy Wednesday

Hey, did you guys know Sew, Mama, Sew was doing a month of hand sewing on their blog? Monday's post is from Margie of Resurrection Fern and she's doing a tutorial on a nature- inspired easy embroidery sampler. I love the pattern she is sharing and I'm eady to go stitch it up now. And, she mentions a new-to-me way of transferring designs to your fabric which I have to try out.

Be sure to check out the previous posts on Sew, Mama, Sew to see more photos and tutorials on embroidery, working with felt, hand piecing, chicken scratch and cross stitch. (All my favorites! Woo hoo!)

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!

Remember Me?

Surprise, surprise. I am still here. (My new FB addiction is Hatchlings.)

The other day Mary mentioned on Facebook how she has been checking my blog every day to see what I've been stitching since I had my foot surgery. That made me realize how I had planned to make a bunch of things during my recovery but have only finished a few. That put me in the mood to make something, so last night, I traced the design for the Bunny SAL on to some fabric and began to embroider it. All I have left to do is the hedgehog. And, if I wasn't sitting at my computer writing about it now, I would be working on it this very minute.

I did a little blog reading the other day and found a few embroidery freebies that I wanted to link to but I have to do some back tracking to find them again. For now, the August pattern is up on Bad Birds. and it's a buffalo.

See ya on Friday! (I actually have some finished ornaments to share. Alert the media!)

July's TUSAL Photo

Last Wednesday, I happened to read on someones blog that it was time to post a picture for the Totally Useless Stitch-A-Long. Once again, I had forgotten all about doing that and thought I'd go take a photo of my orts jar as soon as I was finished with the super important work I had left to do online. (Farm Town, much?) And, then I completely forgot all about the TUSAL and my jar of threads. Until now. So here you go.


After a craptastic episode this morning with a huge-ass spider in my bed and a bunch of deaf relatives who I can't count on for much of anything, I decided to hang my orts jar -- from my walker, of course -- instead of hanging myself. :P

How about a link to a giveaway over at Craft Gossip to cheer us all up? The prize is a super-cute mini-cross stitch kit from Miss Woolly, which I am sure will perk up whoever is lucky enough to win it. Go to Needlework News to enter the giveaway. You have until 8 AM CST on July 31st so go leave some comments now.

And, if you'd like to join the Totally Useless SAL, check out this post on Dragon My Needle and read all about it.

Needed: Animal Craft Patterns And Projects

UPDATE: I've decided not to do the Blogathon but I'm still going to put together a post with some links to animal patterns soon.

Since this is a craft blog, I'm planning on posting links to craft patterns that feature animals during next weekend's Blogathon. I'm going to go through all my saved and blogged links but I'm sure you all know of some great projects I can share. Anything to do with embroidery, cross stitch, knitting, crochet, felt, and fabric would be great. Free or...uh...non-free.

If you know of any animal patterns, could you please send me a link at nahnahnah@aol.com?

If you have made something with an animal pattern and want to show it off, send pictures.

If you sell animal patterns in your Etsy, send a link to your store.

Thank you!!

Blogathon 2009

Happy Friday, people! I've been working on a cross stitch and a felt pillow this week but neither one is done so I have nothing to share for Finished for Friday over at Lit and Laundry, so instead, I will tell you about the Blogathon.

The Blogathon is an online event where participants update their blogs every thirty minutes for 24 hours straight to raise money for charity. Bloggers collect pledges from sponsors before the Blogathon and when it's all over, sponsors send their donations directly to the charity.

This year the Blogathon is being held on July 25th. Sorry for the short notice but it's not too late to sign up. For more information, check out the website and the FAQ pages. Or you can ask me about it. I've done the Blogathon four times since it started. And, since I just decided to do join in this year, I won't start hitting you guys up for money until tomorrow. :)

Two Cute Embroidery Patterns

Since I'm supposed to stay off of my foot, I haven't yet figured out how to transfer an embroidery design on to some fabric so I can stitch it up. I can't see myself standing on one foot at a window and tracing a design on to my material nor can I see standing at the ironing board...wait a second. I've been doing dishes while resting my knee on my desk chair for support. I'm sure I could iron in the same position. It only takes a couple of minutes to transfer a design so I wouldn't have to stand there for that long, right?

Yay for blogging! If I hadn't decided to link to a couple of cute embroidery designs just now, I wouldn't have discovered a way to transfer some patterns in my current unable-to-put-both-feet-on-the-ground-at-the-same-time state.

Over at Babalisme, there's a super cute tabby cat pattern and a sweet little girls' dresses one at A Print A Day. I love both of these. [Both links via Sweet Tidings.]

Have a great weekend, y'all! I'll be embroidering my little heart out. And, if I fall while at the ironing board and break my hip, you guys will come and vist me, right?

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.

Vote For Chone Figgins

Click the button to vote for Angel Chone Wiggins to help him get enough votes to play in the All Star game. Or vote for another player. I don't care. I just like adding widgets.

The Not Finished For Friday Post

Next week, I will have something to share for Finished for Friday. I just need to track down where I found the pattern for an embroidered dog that I finished before my surgery. This was my second attempt at stitching it and I do believe Version #2 is jinxed. Every time I take pictures of it, I find a hair on it (I know it's not the same as one in my salad but still, ew) or a piece of thread or a mystery spot or two that wasn't there last time. So, I'll be showing it off next week. Unless it spontaneously combusts one night and burns down the house.

Speaking of embroidery, do you like kitties? And anthropomorphic silverware? And Santa? Well, check out the vintage patterns over at Green Jello.

And, in more embroidery news, when you get a chance, go take a look at Martha's ABC blocks (that's the main page of her blog so just keep scrolling down to see more). I promise you will swoon over them. I tend to drool.

Hope everybody has a safe and super fun 4th of July!!


(That's about the only semi-patriotic picture of one of my dogs that I could find in my stash. I have no idea why I added a green background to it or how I even put that hat on her.)

Hoot Hoot

I'm fresh out of witty titles.

Not that I ever came up with witty titles.

You can find the Wee Folk Art applique pattern that I used for my owl here. Since I don't applique, I decided to stuff mine so I cut out two body shapes and two sets of wings. I used regular craft felt and attached the eyes, nose, feathers and feet (talons?) to the top body piece before I sewed the top to the bottom body piece together. The wings were added last.



I've been working on a biscornu and I was nearly finished with closing it up, when I remembered biscornus have eight sides. Oops.



To see what the biscornu should look like, go here. I still can't believe I did that! I've made a few biscornus in the past so I know how to put them together but I guess I wasn't paying attention to what I was doing until it was too late. I've already started another one and hopefully, I will remember to assemble it the correct way next time.

For the charts for this biscornu, click on the last two photos in the entry.

The TUSAL Report For June

I'm a little late with this but there was a new moon on Monday (and a firedance through the night) so it's time to post another picture of my orts jar for the Totally Useless Stitch-A-Long. A lot of floss in that jar was ripped out from mistakes I made while putting that owl together (more about him in a later post) so it was fitting they hang out together for the photo shoot.

The TUSAL is the easiest SAL ever. All you do is save your leftover bits of floss (and anything else you want to add) in a container and share a photo of it once a month. For more information on the TUSAL, check out this post over at Dragon My Needle.

And, on a serious note: R.I.P. Farrah Fawcett, Michael Jackson and Ed McMahon

The First Finish Of My Convalescence

Thank you all so much for the comments on my last post!!! With all of you wishing me a speedy recovery, it should be no time before I am back on my feet again (pun intended).

I had planned to make tons of "stuff" while recuperating from my surgery but so far, I've been too busy reading and playing Farm Town on Facebook to get many projects done. But I did make a cross stitch ornament a few days ago.

There's a monthly pinkeep SAL at Les grilles de Maryse [link via LaGattaC]. I doubt I'll be stitching them all (then again, I do have time and I think they're pretty) but I wanted to do the the June design because it has cherries. As you can see, I didn't finish it as a pinkeep. It has red felt on the back because it was handy and I didn't feel like searching for some fabric to use instead. I used all the suggested floss colors and stitched it on 18 ct Fiddler's (or Fiddler's Lite -- I forget which one I've been using and who knows where the label is at this point). My mom's already claimed my ornament even though I didn't get the loop smack in the center. (Let's blame it on the Vicodin, even though I haven't actually needed to take any.)



Go here to see the pinkeep charts for January through June. And, check out the January 14th post where Maryse shows how to make a pinkeep. The directions are in French but I think you can figure it out. I might try making one with the January chart.

Thanks again for the get well soon wishes!!

Bunionectomies Are The Best Medicine

I'm supposed to keep my foot elevated and I've been on the computer for a few hours now so I'll make this quick: I had my surgery last week and was awake for it, which was interesting since I got to hear all about my doctor's love life. In case you just tuned in: I had an operation to remove a post-traumatic bunion that had formed after I broke my foot nearly two years ago. Even more backstory: in August 2007, I had broken my knee and it wasn't until after that healed that it was discovered my foot had been fractured in four places, most likely when I fell and fractured my knee. By then, my foot had healed on its own and this gigantic bone was curving out below my big toe which made my foot so wide that I could no longer wear regular shoes. My doctor recently decided it was time to do surgery on the humongous bunion so that's what I had done last week when I got to hear all about her current boyfriend while lying on a gurney and listening to Bon Jovi and Depeche Mode on the radio.

On Wednesday, I saw my surgeon and they removed all of the bandages and I wanted to do a happy dance after seeing how normal my right foot looked. It's still a little oddly shaped -- she couldn't do anything about the toes that curve to the left now but the giant bunion was all gone. Woo freaking hoo! I now have a plate and some screws in my foot, which match nicely with the metal plate and screws in my knee. (Does anyone know if I'll set off metal detectors now? I keep forgetting to ask.) I still can't put any weight on my foot for quite awhile -- the bones need a chance to mend -- but knowing I will eventually be able to go back to wearing regular shoes has cheered me up considerably.

I still have a chronic wound on my other foot that is just not healing and she is talking about doing surgery on that too but I'm still on the fence about having that done until I hear more details. Anything with that requires more than a week of recovery is not something I'm ready to sign up for. Between losing my drivers license and dealing with broken bones, it will be three years in October that I've been housebound and I am truly sick of it and ready to have a life again. And, to wear cute shoes while doing it.

Please cross your fingers, say some prayers, and think good thoughts that my foot will heal the way it's supposed to. I won't get my stitches out for another 11 days so infection is still a possibility, but I'm staying out of the shower until then (ugh) and fortunately my circulation is still pretty good for someone with diabetes for over thirty years.

I've only finished one cross stitch during my convalescence but I've read at least 6 paperbacks in the past week. If you like stories about amateur detectives who solve murders AND bake cookies, check out Joanne Fluke's Hannah Swensen series. The books are fun and a quick read, and loaded with recipes.

Back to putting my foot up and reading another Hannah mystery.

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.

Yet Another Post (Shocking!)

When you have some time, you need to visit Freebies For Crafters, a blog loaded with "patterns, tutorials and links for free crafting, sewing, quilting, scrapbooking, stitchery, embroidery, cross-stitch, redwork, knitting, crochet, dolls, primitives, and much more!" I spent over an hour there yesterday and will go back when I have more time. [Link via Niki.]

Check out the Garland Along going on at Creative Breathing. How fun!

I keep forgetting to mention I've added a few more vintage embroidery transfers to my other blog. The latest are from the same sheet of Artex dog & cat designs. Will I ever finish getting them all scanned and be able to move on to a different set of patterns? Stay tuned.

Look at this cute cross stitch doll that Annie made for the Comfort Doll Project. Handmade dolls are collected and sent to women's shelters in all fifty states and New Zealand. What a great idea. Thank you to Pat for starting it!