A Night Of Clicking Links

AOL has something called My Favorite Places which is where you can save links. I rarely use mine anymore but I have a bunch stored tonight I clicked on the very last link in the "Crafty Stuff" category and was taken to a tutorial for a vampire bat softie on Silver Bug Studio. That made me want to see what else I had saved. Some of the links are now dead but I found a few things to put on my To-Do list. Because it isn't already long enough.

How cute are these little felt chicks from Comfortstitching? As much as I love garlands, I totally want to make the version with a button and ribbon to hang them up. Filing this one away for next Easter.

Here's a huge list of crochet patterns to make sweaters, etc for your pets, I love this jingle bells dog collar.

You can find a tutorial make a dog pajama bag on Timeless Truths.

Did you hear me squeal when I opened this one up? A member of Craftster shared some vintage stuffed animal patterns that her grandmother had saved. I'm ready to go make a dog and a horse and an elephant and another dog . There are also patterns for a giraffe, lion, hedgehog, calf, ostrich, ape and two for ragdolls. I'll have to put the animals on hold until after I finish my Halloween stuff.

Happy Wednesday!

More Halloween Embroidery

If you're itching to stitch up something for Halloween there's a new embroidery pattern on Badbirds and this one is a Death Head.

And, if you have time to do even more stitching, see also Bat Boy (I love him!) and Pumkin Girl.

A Halloween Tipnut

Tipnut has a DIY Halloween website with lots of free craft projects, tutorials, recipes and costume ideas. Go check it out!

Vintage Embroidery Patterns From TipNut

The nice lady at TipNut is sharing another set of vintage embroidery patterns. This is a days of the week/household chores set. What I like about them is how the designs are surrounded by the letter of each day. I've never seen that before. You can find the Monday pattern here. The pattern for Tuesday will be posted next week.

Edited to add:
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday

Hey, Dog People Of Missouri

Edited To Add: It passed! Yay!

If you live in Missouri, please consider voting Yes on Prop B.

"The Puppy Mill Cruelty Prevention Act is a measure that will improve the lives of dogs in commercial breeding operations in Missouri. Specifically, the measure will require large-scale dog breeding operations to provide each breeding dog under their care with the basics of humane animal care including:

Sufficient food and clean water
Necessary veterinary care
Sufficient housing, including protection from the elements
Sufficient space to turn and stretch freely, lie down, and fully extend their limbs
Regular exercise
Adequate rest between breeding cycles"

Honestly, I don't see why anyone would oppose it.

By the way, this will not affect hobby breeders with ten or less breeding female dogs or those who raise dogs for purposes other than breeding them and selling puppies.

If you need more information, please go to the YES! on Prop B website.

Thank you!

File Under Hearts

I started blogging so I could keep track of all the projects I wanted to make someday. Here's one for a wire heart tutorial from The Prairie Girl that I love because it involves vintage buttons. And it's a heart. And it's pretty.

And, here's one for making a small felt heart pouch (good for stashing a piece of candy) from Woolnest.

I'm labeling these Valentine's Day so I can find them again.

Stuffed With Love Plushies

Over at Vanessa Fire is a tutorial for making a Plushpuppie stuffed with love. He has a little window in his belly with a heart in it. So cute! [Link via One Pretty Thing.]

And there's also tutorial for making his friend, the rhino.

Tree Cones And A Felt Bear

I love trees made out of pretty paper and here are some from Kind Over Matter. And, the trunks are toilet paper rolls.

And, look at this cute little felt Valentine bear. I love his glasses.

I found the Kind Over Matter blog via the Crafters Medley: 27 Neat-O Projects To Make post over on Tip Nut.

This Is So Wrong

On the left is chocolate candy corn and on the right is caramel candy corn. My sister got me a bag of each because she knows I am a candy corn junkie and I was really disappointed, even though I love chocolate and I love caramel. Plain old candy corn is fine with me. Well, as long as it's Brach's candy corn made with honey.

Speaking of Halloween, the other night I saw this cross stitched pumpkin on Gazette94 and started working on it right away. (There's a translation widget in the right sidebar.) I'm about 3/4 of the way finished with the stitching. It looks to me like you put it together the same way you make a biscornu. I like the heart with the squirrels design in the same post. She has some really nice free charts there.

I have few other Halloween projects started and who knows if I'll ever finish them. My problem is I keep seeing more things I want to make. There is way too much good stuff out there! Like the ghost walkers from The Small Object Steno Pad and Jenny's pumpkin treat bags. And these vintage looking paper decorations from Martha. I was actually going to make the pumpkin tonight but didn't have enough orange paper.

If you 're looking for Halloween ideas, check out One Pretty Thing. Click the Categories tab at the top and then scroll down until you see the Halloween links.

Have a good weekend!

Super Cute Printables From Orange You Lucky

Look what I found in my draft posts pile. Since I made this list, Helen has posted three cute "Property Of" labels. I just want to stick her printables all over my walls!

Illustrator Helen Dardik shared another super cute book plate at Orange You Lucky back in May. That got me thinking about her other printables so I'm linking to all of them to make it easier to find them.

May 2010 book plate [link via How About Orange]

Xmas 2009 holiday labels

Back to school labels

June 2009 book plates

March 2009 book plates

Michael What?

I was wondering why this didn't post on Sunday morning. I just noticed I had set it for Monday morning. At least I got the year right.

The other day Jenn posted a link on my Facebook to this Michaelmas dragon and I've decided I need to make one, especially when I read this line: "If you like, you could use embroidery floss and sew the seams using blanket stitch." Well, hello! So I'm adding the dragon to my to-do list, which right now is loaded with Halloween projects. By the way, in case you were wondering, Michaelmas is a festival that marks the turning of the seasons. You can read more about it on Rhythm of the Home.

After you read up on Michaelmas and make your dragon, head on over to inspire co. and check out the new Inspired Ideas magazine. I swear the cover alone made me drool. A few nights ago, I started making the kitty cat treat bag and I'm still working on the face. Maybe it's just me but blanket stitching felt pieces on to a small bag is a major pain in the butt. If I ever make another one, I'll add the eyes and nose before I put the bag together.

I went back to the orthopedic surgeon on Friday. I love when doctors show me x-rays and I can't see whatever it is they're pointing out but I nod and act like I know exactly what they are talking about. Anyway, he told me I could stop wearing the brace. My knee isn't completely healed but it's close to it. I think he was a little disappointed he didn't get to operate on me for this fracture, but hey, there's always next time, right? Har har.

Edited to add: Miri is sharing directions to make a bonnet girl quilt on Milk and Honey Quilts. Check out this post to see close-ups of some of the bonnet girls. When I grow up, I want to make quilts just like Miri. I love her work!

Dogs, Ikea Furniture, Cool Choreography And A Goat!

I know this has over four million hits on You Tube so you may have already seen it. But so what. Go watch it again. You know it will make you happy.

And, I totally missed the goat the first few times I watched it.

Hedgehog Bonanza

I was just over at the sewing blog on Craft Gossip and found links to three different hedgehog appliques. Woohoo!

Henrietta the Hedgehog from Izzy & Ivy designs

Hedgehog applique from Sevi Designs

And another hedgehog applique from Megity's Handmade

Those three blogs are new to me but I'm explore them more at another time. If I do it now, I'll never get to bed.

Ew, That Smell

Happy Birthday to you
You live in a zoo
You smell like a monkey
Because you've only bathed twice in the past four weeks. Ugh.

I have been getting washed as I best I can while standing at my sink so I'm not totally gross. Just a tad gross. But there really is no substitute for a real shower with hot running water. Although at this point, I would love to sit in a patio chair in the backyard and have someone just hose me off. (I go back to the orthopedic guy on October 1 and hopefully he will pronounce my knee completely healed on that day and I can set fire to the brace in the backyard. After I take a thirty minute shower. )

I just wanted to pop in and link to this porcupine pincushion over at Prudent Baby. It was on a list of thirty DIY pincushion links at Craft Passion. You probably already know some of the tutorials but maybe some will be new to you so go check out the list.

[Thirty minutes later] Well, this always happens. I find something to link to on one blog and end up visiting more blogs and discovering more good stuff.

Look at this chair! I love this chair and want to marry it. (But only if we can hold the ceremony in June so I can have peonies in my wedding bouquet.) If this chair is not a reason to learn to crochet, I don't know what is. Also, at About Mo and me is a tutorial to crochet a flower garland. I love that too.

How cute is this rolled felt peppermint pincushion from Polka Dot Pineapple?

There's a ton of great tutorials on Creative Jewish Mom, and even more on Sundays, but I especially love this pretty embroidery and felt applique picture.

I hope you enjoyed the extra links. Have a great Monday and may you always be able to shower whenever you want.

Why Am I Here Again?

Did you ever go to blog something new but get sidetracked by reading your draft posts and then forget what you were going to write about in the first place?

Maybe I should just come back tomorrow.

Wait. Now I remember. I wanted to link to these cross stitch charts of the planets, including Pluto, that you can use to make coasters from Nerdy Needle [link via Craft].

Also, I made this lemon pasta dish for dinner last night (except I used gemelli instead of fusilli) and I really liked it. By the way, the addition of broccoli and arugula totally cancel out all the fat in the two cups of heavy cream used to make the sauce. Really.

Just Shoot Me

Sunday night, my left foot slipped on something wet on the kitchen floor and I went down on my right knee and fractured my knee cap. The same one I broke three years ago.

If it wasn't for the pain, this would be hilarious.

I can't get into see the orthopedic surgeon until Monday and I seriously don't know if I will last until then. They put an immobilizer on my leg in the ER and that has really helped with the pain but it is still awful. If I keep my right leg straight, I can ease myself into a chair or my bed. (Plus I'm using a walker to get around and avoid putting any weight on my leg.) But to swing my leg up into the bed causes pain like you can't imagine. Last night I did just that and then laid in bed for five minutes waiting for the pain to subside. If someone is around, they can lift up my leg by the ankle and raise it until it's on the bed which is tolerable. But if no one is around to do that, I'm screwed. Of all the times not to have a personal assistant. Or a butler. Or even a husband.

Last time I did this, and no, I still can't believe I did it again, I was admitted to the hospital and they did surgery and after that I was pain free. This is different because it's still hurting three days later.

I'm off to see what other shows are saved on the DVR to watch. Unless someone wants to come over and pick up my leg and put it on the bed for me. I'll give you a dollar.

On the bright side, looks like I will have lots of time to make stuff. Including a sampler that reads "I can't believe I broke my fucking knee again."

FFF: Gingerbread House Ornament

Is anyone else as shocked and appalled and stunned and amazed as I am that I actually have something to post for Finished for Friday?

I saw the tutorial for this cute little gingerbread house ornament while browsing the Sew Mama Sew blog the other night and decided to make one. The window is wonky. . . shucks, all my stitching is wonky and my little felt circles are wonky but I don't care. I like how it turned out and I am now ready to eat candy canes and put up the Xmas tree.

At first I couldn't find the right ribbon in my box of ribbon-scraps-that-I-am-saving-because-you-never-know-when-some-day-you-just-might-need-one. I wanted red ribbon and all the pieces were either red & too wide or just the right width but not red. Fortunately, this little bit of gingham turned up in my other box of ribbon-scraps-that-I-am-saving-because-you-never-know-when-some-day-you-just-might-need-one. Some days it pays to be a hoarder.

You can find the tutorial to make your own gingerbread house ornament here.

To see other finishes for this week, please visit this post at Lit and Laundry.

Needlework Links

Jeez louise. For two hours now, I have been trying to put together a post full of links but my computer is sooooo slow. I have run countless scans and nothing is showing up so I don't know what is going on. I've reached the point of boredom. So here are some needlework links.
More to come later. Much later.

Over at Wooden Sails, there's a nice cross stitch freebie based on an antique fraktur . . . fraktur? Let me Google that. According to Wikipedia, a fraktur is "both a style of lettering and a highly artistic and elaborate illuminated folk art created by the Pennsylvania Dutch (also known as Pennsylvania Deitsch or Pennsylvanian German). Most Fraktur were created between 1740 and 1860." Interesting.

I love this free Fall pattern from Bird In The Hand. And, if you look in the right sidebar, you will see even more stitchery freebies.

Remember the Brutus and the Catalicious Quilt BOM over at Red Brolly? Well, the July block is out. (Can you tell I copy & pasted this bit from an entry that I forgot to post last month?) And, so is the block for August.

If I wasn't in the middle of this post, I'd go make this embroidered In Bloom pillow from Lark Crafts right now [link via One Pretty Thing]

You have to check out Funoldhag. Carol calls herself a quiltaholic and I know she's an embroiderer and gardener as well. Plus she is 81 yrs old. She recently shared some vintage transfer patterns of baskets.

Now I'm debating hitting the hay or embroidering something.

Links To Some Felt Stuff You Can Make

I was going to do a post of links for today but I'm tired and the dog is tired and we need to go to bed. So I'm going to break them up into separate posts and hopefully get them all up this weekend. Here are the felt projects.

Felt strawberries and more free patterns from Lit'l Brown Bird [link via How About Orange]

Free patterns from bread and buttons including felt strawberries and a Go Fish game that includes embroidery patterns (If I ever go back to teaching preschool, I will be making this.)

Felt Travel Sewing Kitty and Bits & Pieces Felt Ornaments from Sew 4 Home There are more projects under the tab at the top.

Happy Whale Pin from Sew Lovely Embroidery

Next time, I'll have some links to embroidery and cross stitch freebies. Happy Friday!

Wanna See My Yo-Yo

Wanna see my yo-yo?

The left half looks ok. The right half gets an OMG. By the way, that's the only one that survived my yo-yo making marathon back in early June. The others, like the "WTF is that?"one below, all had to be put out of their misery.

Some of them were even scarier than this. And, I swear alcohol was not a factor. Well, the yo-yo might have been really sloshed but I was totally sober. Which makes it all even more frightening.

Obviously, I need to work on my pulling-the-thread-really-tight skills.

An Embroidery Contest At Checkout Girl

When was the last time I linked to a contest? 1957?

There's a poetry/embroidery contest going on over at Checkout Girl. The embroidery has to be done by hand and include a poem or part of a poem. The prizes sound great: hoops, linen, floss and more. Melinda from Checkout Girl will be judging the entries along with Corinne from So September. All the details on the Embroidereading Contest are in this post.

After you read about the contest, go see this ring bearer pillow from Checkout Girl and also her Felty Shih Tzus. How freaking cute are they? [Link via Needlework News]

Back to work on a post full of links that I hope to have up by October Thursday.

The Stackable Cats And Me

First off, let me say THANK YOU for all of your comments about my dog, Maggie. They really meant a lot to me and made me feel better. Other than losing some weight, Maggie is still doing well. Please keep thinking good thoughts for her. Thanks!

Once upon a time, like nearly a year ago, I cross stitched a free pattern from Mochimochi Land called Stackable Cats. Then I put it away somewhere for months and months. Last week, I decided to finish it. (If you've just joined us, in my world, that means I attach some backing fabric to it and it either becomes an ornament or a small pillow.) So I did just that and stuffed it so full of stuffing that it looked like a sausage. I did a craptastic job sewing the opening closed, but other than that, I was really happy with my little sausage slash pillow. I planned to blog about it so I went to grab the link to the free chart from Mochimochi Land and noticed that the cats in the pattern had whiskers and mine did not.

Oops.

I know I could have added the whiskers after the fact (or just left them off and modified the title to Stackable Critters or something) but I don't do well adding facial features to anything that has already been stuffed). Instead, I opened up my little sausage pillow, pulled out all of the stuffing and ripped out the stitches on three sides so I could back stitch the whiskers. Then I sewed it all back together and once again had my little Stackable Cats pillow.


But here's the funny part. Before I stuffed it the second time, my sister saw it and said "Oh, is that an eyeglasses case for me?" just as I was contemplating that I could turn it into a small case instead of a small pillow. We both decided it would make a better case if it had a zipper across the top. Since I still don't do zippers (or use a sewing machine yet), once again it became the little sausage it was meant to be.


As you can see if you've clicked over to the original free chart, I changed it somewhat. I have no idea why I left off the birds or ball of yarn. Like I said, I stitched this about a year ago and maybe I was just feeling anti-yarn and anti-bird that day. And, I didn't use the suggested colors either. I think I was missing the orange one and felt brown kitties would be just as nice.

I totally love this design and I can see myself making another one into a case for my sister's glasses. Except there won't be any zippers involved. But that's why they invented Velcro. This is a freebie x-stitch chart and you can find it here, but if you're a knitter, check out the adorable patterns for the Stackable Cats and the Pile-able Pups. So cute!

Sad Maggie News

Thank you for the birthday wishes for Maggie! She was so excited over her birthday hamburger from Carl's Jr, that she walked a foot away from her dish and peed on the kitchen floor. Yeah, Maggie! (Even though she is 17 now, that is not something she does that often.)

Unfortunately, I have some bad news about my little dog. The vet found she has a large mass on her liver, which he is pretty sure is cancerous. There's also a lesion on a bone in her back leg and she has an enlarged heart. After he showed me the x-rays, he recommended having her put down. I was devastated because up until this, she has been pretty healthy for an older dog. I knew she wasn't going to live forever but I didn't expect this.

I know she has lost her hearing but maybe she somehow knew what the vet was suggesting because since that visit last Thursday, she has been acting as if everything is fine. She naps a lot but when she's awake, she is active and her appetite is really good. The other day, she was sitting on my bed and pawing at me to give her something to eat. I offered her a dog biscuit, a piece of Pupperoni and some other soft treat, and she turned all of them down but kept scratching at my arm and making this low growl. Finally, I realized she wanted a Sweetart. There were two of them sitting on my night table -- they're good for bringing up low blood sugar so I have them around -- and I gave her the blue one. Every try breaking up a Sweetart into little tiny pieces for a dog who doesn't have that many teeth left? I was ready to give her the whole thing and let her gum it.

So, for now, we're in a holding pattern. I've read some stories online about dogs and cats who were diagnosed with liver cancer and they seem to go downhill pretty quickly. I hope that doesn't happen with Maggie. I'd rather she passed away in her sleep after eating a Sweetart. But we'll see how it goes. We won't let her suffer but I don't think its time yet to do anything drastic.

Happy Birthday, Maggie

Happy 17th Birthday to my Shih Tzu, Maggie!

You Have To Go See This

If you haven't seen the animated embroidery on spool spectrum yet, go look now. It's really cool. Really really really cool.

Edited to add: And, it goes backwards too!

Testing Testing 1 2 3

None of my posts are showing up on Facebook but I think I fixed it so let's see if this works.

Something To Do With Embroidery

If I ever hit the lottery, I swear I am hiring someone just to think up titles for my posts.

Sometimes when I see links posted on Facebook, I forget to add them here because I figure everyone has seen them already. But maybe you aren't a fan of Wild Olive or DMC Threads on Facebook so you missed the adorable cupcake embroidery patterns that Mollie created for DMC.

Over at Bad Birds, you will find a huge list of free and not-so-free embroidery patterns. This is totally worth checking out. Go do it now. We'll wait.

Oh and Denise has another post with links to a bunch of embroidery freebies on Craft Gossip. I love when she does this.

And, here are the last of my already scanned patterns. Now I need to scan the rest of them and post them here.

A Few More Dog Patterns

I found a few more scans of some vintage embroidery patterns that I posted last year on a now-deleted blog. More dogs, of course. These are all from Artex 2200. Thanks to Barncat at Always Home, I learned how to clean them up a little.

This Makes Cry

I just read the latest post from Teresa on the Lone Star Shih Tzu and Lhasa Apso Rescue blog and it made me really sad. Teresa wrote about the twelve dogs that she has been asked to take into her rescue during the first six days of the month. Twelve of them. This doesn't include any dogs already facing euthanasia in local shelters, and trust me, there are plenty of them out there.

If you have ever considered fostering a rescue dog in Texas, please contact Lone Star.

P.S. According to Facebook, Teresa got an email from someone whose father needs to give up twenty Shih Tzu. It never ends.

Scotties On The Brain

This post could be a drinking game. Take a swig every time I mention the word Scottie/Scotty.

The other night, I went through the pile of papers on my bedroom floor and found over 40 cross stitch, embroidery and sewing patterns that I had printed out over the past couple of months. These are the tutorials and projects that I don't bother to download because I am going to start making them the very second I turn off my computer.

I'll give you a minute to stop laughing.

Anyway, in the pile was a pattern for a patchwork dog pillow on Ohdeedoh, which reminded me that Kellie had linked to a similar pattern from Denyse Schmidt on Facebook not too long ago. (I think it was Kellie. My apologies if it was someone else.) I must make one of those Scotties. Never mind that I don't know how to use a sewing machine or make a patchwork anything.

That patchwork Scottie made me think of the cute Scottie dog pillow over at Bustle & Sew? I must make that too. Never mind that I don't know how to applique.

Next, I somehow ended up on Flickr and found some groups for Scotties: Patchwork Scotties, Vintage Scottie Dogs, and also one for Scotty Stuffies, which I believe I joined after I actually made the AllSorts Scotty dog. And then pigs flew, hell froze over and the world exploded.



By the way, Jenny at AllSorts is having a giveaway for one of her Scotties. You have until "sometime next week" to enter so go do it now.

More Embroidery Transfers

All of the embroidery transfers that I've been posting are from Artex 2200 b. I had scanned these last year and forgot the cats, dogs and Poodles were all from the same pattern.

Kandra's Virtual Quilting Bee

Kandra of Sibling Craftery is holding a Sew Bee Wonky Virtual Quilting Bee on Flickr. I'm not joining because I don't quilt, although I bet I would fit in with the wonky part, but I'm looking forward to seeing the finished blocks that everyone makes. You can get all the details on Kandra's blog.

P.S. I just posted some more embroidery patterns so check out the last post for that.

Dog And Kitty With Yarn Embroidery Transfer

Time for another scanned pattern from my now-deleted other blog.

I had a little bit of trouble getting this one re-sized. Click the image for a larger version. Sorry about the crease down the middle.

Vintage Poodle Patterns

Enjoy the poodles!

Alert The Media

Don't have a heart attack but I actually finished a few cross stitch designs this weekend.

This is the hedgehog that's going to become an ornament as soon as I iron him & his little pal, find some fabric to add to the back and sew the pieces together.

And, this is the other hedgehog that will eventually become an ornament for my mom. When I told her I was stitching up some hedgehogs. she said she didn't like them because they reminded of her rats but then she claimed this one when I showed it to her. And, once she decided she wanted it, I didn't feel the need to stitch the entire design. (I still have to do the back stitching along the left edge.)

And, this is the hippo who will someday be a needlecase. That was my original plan for this hippo and I have an idea in my head how I'm going to do that but you never know what will happen once I start cutting fabric. I especially wanted to take a picture of this one in case there's a mishap during the needlecase making process.

Both charts are freebies from Olka's blog and you can find them here. She offers two different charts of each design and I did both versions of the hedgehog using her suggested floss colors. For the hippo, I didn't cross stitch the entire chart -- I just wanted the hippo part. I chose my own DMC colors (I wish now that I'd gone with a darker pink) and filled in the background because there seemed to be a lot of plain fabric surrounding the hippo.

All three are stitched on the same piece of 18 ct aida that was so blindingly white that I dunked it in a bowl of tea for a couple of minutes just to see what would happen. That left me with a slightly off-white aida with a few random tea splotches. Next time, I'll pay more attention to my "tea-dyeing."

I hope to totally finish these this week. On Wednesday, I'll post some more vintage patterns.

Sammy The Senior Shih Tzu Needs A Home ASAP

UPDATE: Sammy has been adopted. Yay!



Sammy is a 15 yr old Shih Tzu in Maumelle, Arkansas who needs a new home because his owners are moving to a place that does not allow pets.

My heart always goes out to senior dogs in shelters or with owners who can no longer keep them. It's not as if people are lining up to adopt the older ones. But I know there is that special person out there who can give Sammy a wonderful home for the rest of his years. We just have to let them know Sammy is out there.

For more information, please check Sammy's Petfinder page.

By the way, with a click of a button, you can post Sammy, or any animal from Petfinder, on to Facebook or Twitter. Spread the word! Thanks!

Embroidery Transfers

Remember when I started another blog so I could share scans of my embroidery transfers and I put a few of them up over there and then forgot all about it and the poor blog died a slow and painful death?

Actually, it's still clinging to life so I am going to go put it down and just add the patterns to this here blog and eventually I'll scan the rest of my transfers and post them too. And if I ever get a job and have an income again, I will get a pro Flickr account and add them to the Hoop Love group.

The end.

P.S. I found what could be a perfect job for me. It's working with toddlers and it's only a few minutes away by car and I could walk there if I was so inclined -- but I'm not -- so please think some happy thoughts for me. Thank you.

Enjoy these Artex kitty patterns! (I have no clue when it comes to scanning so I hope the size is ok.)

The Verandah Views BOM Is Back

If you missed the Verandah Views BOM the first time around, you're in luck because Cheryl of Willowberry Designs has posted them all on her blog once again. Yay! I think the only one pattern I saved from before is the The Buffet block where the bunny is surveying the vegetable garden. Because, you know, some day, I am going to stitch that up. (Yeah, right.) Go to this post for links to all the blocks and finishing instructions.

By the way, you'll find the Under the Sea BOM over there as well. Looks like Cheryl has shared four blocks so far.

Thanks, Denise!

More Freebie Links

Quite awhile ago, I found some free tea pot embroidery patterns on the Cathron Country Designs blog and printed them out but forgot to save a link to the blog or post it here, and I have been too lazy to actually pull out the patterns from the binders I keep them in -- hey, it's a huge accomplishment for me to go through the stacks of patterns on my bedroom floor and get them organized and filed away -- and check where they came from. Fortunately, I just found them linked on another blog, so here ya go:

tea pots & tea cups
baby animals
sewing items
ABC stitcheries
teddy bears

The blog I found the link on is The Best FREE Craft Articles which has a ton of interesting things that I'm still going through. For example, there are 53 links in the list for embroidery crewel cross stitch punch needle etc alone. If you have some free time, go see what all is there. And, please let me know if you find a pattern for a hedgehog, donkey or wombat of any kind. Not that I will actually ever make it but I still have some room in my pattern binders. :P By the way, I don't know if it's just me but each page takes forever to load.

And, if you have even more free time, Denise at CraftGossip has another great post chockfull of x-stitch freebies and one with free embroidery patterns too. I always check the sewing blog over there too. Lots of good links to tutorials and patterns there as well.

Happy Monday!

Matter Of Trust Needs Your Hair

An organization called Matter of Trust is collecting human hair and dog hair/fur to stuff into nylon booms that can be used to soak up oil from the spill in the gulf.

Seriously.

Watch this video:



Go to Matter of Trust for more information on getting your hair clippings and your dog's clippings to them.

They will also take wool from farmers.

I love this!

An Update On Things I Have Not Finished

I saw this finish of this little rabbit cross stitch on the Freebie Gallery blog and fell in love with it. I tracked down the site that had the chart and started stitching it a few days ago. And that's when I fell out of love with it. Only because my aida is too light and you can barely see the white floss. So I'm giving up on it. I might try it again if I get some darker fabric.

You can find the little rabbit chart here. Click the Free Chart link at the top and then click Petit Lapin at the top of the list in the left sidebar. (English translation)

I'm still working on the Victorine Sampler (Google's English translation). On the original, the needleworker stitched her name and hometown, so I'm going to have to chart my name and city in old-fashioned letters. Thanks to the internet, I know I can find a vintage French embroidery alphabet to use. I just haven't been in the mood to do that so who knows if I will ever finish the sampler. Like Scarlett O'Hara, I'll think about it tomorrow. Or next week.

Thanks to Denise at Needlework News at Craft Gossip for linking to the x-stitch freebies on Olka's blog. Her blog is in Russian but there's a Google translation widget in the left sidebar. To see all of the free charts in English, go here. She has some cute animal designs (I like the giraffe too). I finished stitching up the hedgehog a few days ago. I liked it so much, I'm now doing another one in different colors.

That's all for now. I've been doing a lot of reading lately and not so much crafting but hopefully I'll get something finished soon.

Another Embroidery BOM

I keep posting links to embroidery freebies yet I haven't actually stitched anything since 1957.

Here's another free BOM for you. This one is from a blog called The Contented Quilter and it's called "Take time to..." The first block ("put your feet up") is linked here. You'll find the second one ("smell the roses") linked on this post. I really like the designs.

Thank you, Deepa, for mentioning this one on your blog.

Edited to add: Check out Deepa's finished bedspread embroidery project. (Click the photos to see a larger version.) It took her 7 1/2 months and more than 35 different stitches and techniques to complete and she did a beautiful job!

And I Feel Fine

Gina Matarazzo has an Etsy shop where she sells her embroidery patterns and artwork. Check out her site for two adorable free patterns of kitties and hot dogs.

And Vicki over at Turkey Feathers is sharing patterns for a state flower quilt. I'm lazy tonight and don't feel like linking to the patterns she's posted so far, so here's a link to all the entries that are tagged with the State Flower Quilt label. I really would like to make this one.

Please get your affairs in order because if I actually make this quilt, it's the end of the world as we know it.

Haircuts

My check for jury duty just arrived. I got $105 for "criminal fees" and $61.88 for "criminal mileage."

Back when I knew I'd be going to report for jury service at the end of March, I thought about getting paid if I made it on a jury and how I could finally get a haircut and buy some highlighter for my hair.

Did I mention how the case was for vehicular manslaughter and DUI? One person was pronounced dead at the scene, one died of his injuries the next day, and one was seriously injured.

I look at that check now and think "People died and I'm getting a haircut."

I've tried to write about the whole experience a few times. I think I'm going to save the draft post and leave it be for now. Maybe I'll finish it later on. I'll just stick to sharing links to free patterns and the occasional whine.

By the way, we couldn't reach a unanimous decision so the judge declared a mistrial. You can read about the case here but please remember that some details have been left out and everything is not always as black and white as it seems.

Rest in peace Catherine Malloy and Frank Howd.

Time For A Few Links, Miri Finally Included!

Time for a few free cross stitch and embroidery links.

I think this cross stitched heart is so pretty. It calls for Anchor floss so you would have to figure out which DMC colors to use instead, but there aren't that many so that shouldn't be too difficult. For me, I mean. I'm sure some of you have no problems choosing your own colors. :)

I found that link on a blog called le blog friendstitch. Go visit when you have some time for lots of links to cross stitch and embroidery freebies plus sewing tutorials.

Have you been to the Liberty Primitives Needlework blog yet? Lots of really nice x-stitch free charts there.

Check out the Saints 'N Stitches post at Waltzing Matilda for patterns to make embroidered Catholic saints dolls. Right now, the patterns are on Scribd and set to Private so you can't print them but Charlotte of Waltzing Matilda is working on fixing that. I have a thing for patron saints and would love to stitch up a few of these, especially St. Clare since she's the patron saint of needle workers and embroiderers. And television.

There's a copy of a 13 page embroidery design catalog over at Maureen's Vintage Acquisitions Blog.

Over at No Pattern Required are vintage embroidery patterns for a lamb. a bunny and an owl, two Scottie dogs, another bunny and another lamb and a kitten softie. I love that blog. So much vintage goodness.

My friend Debra sent me a link to the freebie page at The Noble Wife. There are patterns for a quilt, an apron. a tote bag and cute embroidery designs.

I've been meaning to link to the Sleeping Bunnies embroidery pattern for awhile (or maybe I did) and now I see that there a bunch of other cute free patterns on the Sew Charitable blog. Go see! They're all listed in the right sidebar.

Back in September of last year, (Yes! September!), Miri of Milk And Honey Quilts shared her Bonnet Girl With Umbrella pattern and I have been meaning to link to it ever since. (I always have great intentions. Just not the best follow through.) She had traced the pattern from a vintage quilt that she found on eBay and then used it to make blocks for her own quilt. How cool is that? And, in December, Miri finished her yo-yo quilt, which, I swear, I would go steal if I knew exactly where she lived.

That's all for now. Have a great Thursday!

My Latest WIPs

Remember the cross stitch from the French blog that I've been working on? This is it, so far:


After the row of numbers, there's room for a name and hometown.

And that stuffed little Dachshund? It still needs to be finished.

For the past few weeks, I was on jury duty and didn't get to work on anything. I thought I could take one of these projects with me but the court house has "airport style weapons screening" and things like scissors or knitting needles are not allowed inside. I was doing to ask one of the deputies if sewing needles were ok and then I forgot all about it. We spent a lot of time just waiting around and I would read or people watch or chat with some of the other jurors so I had something to do and didn't even think about what I could be stitching. Well, that's not totally true. I actually wished I had experience altering clothes after I saw a TON of lawyers wearing really ill-fitting suits.

I'm sorry. Did I say "airport style weapons screening"? Oh, that must explain why one of my fellow jurors walked in with a knife one day. Or maybe it was a box cutter. She had to stop off at some place before she headed to court to set up her daughter's science project, which had been entered in some kind of competition, so she had duct tape and something to cut it with in her purse when she walked through security at the court house entrance and didn't set off any alarms.

Jury duty. Good times.

(Actually, it was very interesting. More on this later.)

P.S. I'll post links to these patterns as soon as I track them down.

P.P.S. I posted a bunch of embroidery links yesterday (Yes! I blogged two days in a row! Alert the media!) so be sure to check them out if you like that kind of thing.

Egads! 1200 Emails!

Right now, I have 1200 emails in my mailbox. This is what happens when you completely abandon reading your email and spend hours on Facebook instead. At least 800 of them are new and have not been opened yet. I would love to just delete them all and start from scratch but I can never do that. So my goal for this weekend is to open, answer and clear out as many as I can.

Before I go on a deleting spree though, I want to blog since it's been awhile, so here are a bunch of links from some draft posts that I never finished. Did I mention I've been spending hours on Facebook?

There's a French blog called Broderie d'Antan, which is loaded with a bunch of old embroidery patterns (monograms, alphabets, flowers). You can probably figure out the categories listed on the right by looking at the illustrations, but if you want an English translation, use the Yahoo Babelfish widget in the left sidebar. By the way, the blogger writes that Canalblog will sometimes automatically reduce image size so you should enlarge the patterns on a copy machine. [Link via Needlework News.]

Denise at Needlework News also linked to the Alice in Wonderland embroidery patterns from Anne over at Green Jello and some pretty flower patterns from Willowberry Designs. Don't forget there's a free BOM called Under the Sea going on at Willowberry Designs too.

Speaking of things called Under the Sea, I forget how I found them now, but Tigerpup Embroidery has some cute embroidery patterns for sale, including one called Under the Sea with a cute squid. Now, there's something you don't hear everyday: a cute squid. You can also find some freebies (including a kitty) at Tigerpup Embroidery.

Stitchy Britches is sharing an owl pattern originally from the late 1960's for crewel work. It's nice to see her blogging again over there.

And, here's one I discovered a little while ago on a new-to-me blog (which is what prompted me to post something today): a vintage embroidery transfer of some children and toys at Just-a-mere. And a second one with animals that might have something to do with nursery rhymes. Or not. (Drunk clown alert!) And, if you have some time, check out Jan's blog. She quilts, embroiders and buys vintage fabric. I love her already.

Ok, I am tired of linking so this is it for now. Why can't Blogger give us the option of allowing all links to open in a new window so I don't have to add the code in every time. It's such a pain.

Postcards For Satori

There's a little girl named Satori who's having surgery at UC Davis on March 31st, 2010. Everything is taken care of and nothing is needed but her mom wants to make Satori's hospital stay a little more fun so she's requested we send her daughter a postcard. All the details are on Mom's blog.

Please include the date of her operation if you post this on your blog or Facebook. Hopefully, that will keep most people from copying it to an email and forwarding it to all 719 of their closest friends for the next 27 years.

Thank you!

Once Upon A Time I Used To Blog

The other night I was sorting through a stack of free patterns that I had printed out because I was going to make them ASAP [insert hysterical laughter here], and decided to make a list of the patterns and the blogs & sites they were posted on so I could link to them here. The following day, I knocked a full plastic cup of iced tea over on my night table and the list got wet and the ink ran so my plan to post the links went out the window. The good news is I didn't file any of the patterns anywhere -- they are still in a pile on my bedroom floor -- so I'll just make another list and then post their links here. In 2012.

I also promise to take some pictures of what I'm working on just to prove I am actually doing something. One is a cross stitch design that I found on a French blog that actually came from the blogger's grandmother. Or maybe it was her great-aunt. I only read the English translation once and now I don't remember all the details. I also started making a stuffed Dachshund a few days ago. The original pattern was for a flat Doxie with a top body piece, a bottom piece and one ear. But I wanted to make him three dimensional so I added an under body piece and he will have ears on both sides of his head. Hopefully, he will stand up on his own. (I stole the idea of the under body from the Scotty dog at allsorts and used part of the Doxie pattern to make it. I have no idea how this will turn out but I know I'll learn from it no matter if it's good or bad.)

Have you ever been to Karens Variety? Karen sells new and vintage patterns, pattern books and pdf's for cross stitch, embroidery, crochet, knitting, dolls, toys and sewing. I haven't yet bought anything from her but I do get her monthly newsletter and have printed out some of the free patterns she's shared like this one for an adorable Bunny Bib. You can go here to subscribe to the newsletter. There's also a contest every month for a $50 gift certificate to her store. To see all of the free patterns so far, check out this page (many are for crochet and knitting).

Over at Red Brolly, you'll find an embroidery pattern for Brutus the Cat [via Freebies for Crafters], which is the first block of The Catalicious Quilt. Every month, another design will be posted. Block #2 is on this post.

Look at the cute Baby Bunka and her little dog at Fantastic Toys! How do I find out if I have an ink jet printer so I can make this? Looks like I have a laser jet. :( I also love the adorable Pom Pom Bunny and Mushrooms over there. Some day, I will make the Cupcake Softie from Fantastic Toys and shock and appall myself.

Ok, I'm going to work on that stuffed Dachshund. Happy Tuesday!

Score!

On Saturday, I sold some old and broken jewelry at one of those cash for gold places, and on my way home, I stopped at the local thrift store because I had 97 dollars burning a hole in my pocket. The store has some nice stuff -- pretty dishes and glassware -- but I never find any vintage treasures there like some of you do when you go thrifting. The last time I stopped in, they had some sewing patterns on the shelf, but other than a few books on sewing, there isn't a whole lot of craft-related stuff. But I like to go look anyway because you never know what you will find, right?

I headed for the shelf where the sewing patterns were the last time and guess what I found in a basket? Twelve or so Ziploc bags of embroidery floss!! SCORE!! It was all I could do not to jump up and down and make a scene. Some of it was wound on cardboard bobbins and some of it was still in skeins with DMC labels on them. I was sooo excited!

The large Ziploc was $1.00 and the smaller ones were 50 cents each, and I was so tempted to scoop them all up. I thought I should be nice and leave some of the floss for another stitcher, but I made sure grabbed the four bags with the skeins still wrapped in the DMC labels. I also took four of the Ziplocs with the cardboard bobbins. Most of the bobbins are hand-labeled with numbers and they appear to be DMC colors. (I compared some to floss I already have and they matched.) A few of them have Coates & Clark printed on them but I think it's still DMC floss.



This is not vintage floss. The DMC labels are very similar to the current one except they're using a different font now. Some of the skeins are only half full but a bunch look like haven't been used at all. I love how they grouped them by colors.



I've been wondering about the former owner of the floss and how her thread ended up in the thrift store. Did she have to give up embroidery or cross stitch due to arthritis or failing eyesight, or did she just lose interest in it and move on to some other craft? Or did she pass away? I know it doesn't matter but I think about stuff like that. And as thrilling as it was to discover these goodies, it was even better because somebody took the time to write the color number on those bobbins, and made sure the labels were still on the skeins she hadn't yet wound on bobbins. Obviously, a girl after my own heart because I would have done the same thing. And I do. I wish the rest of my life was as organized as my floss boxes.

It's crazy but I'm still so happy over this. I feel like I hit the embroidery floss jackpot and for only for $4.50. I keep taking the floss out of the bags and looking at it for awhile, and then putting it back inside. Some day I may actually use it.

Happy Day After Valentine's Day!! Plus A TUSAL Report

Since it's now the day after Valentine's Day, I'd figure I'd show the little heart I made awhile ago specifically for the holiday. Oh, wait. I'm now remembering that it's supposed to be for next year. Yeah, that's right. I made it for 2011. Am I ahead of the game or what?

I love my little felt heart. :)

You can find the tutorial here on The Creative Place. I'm pretty sure I found this project linked on One Pretty Thing.

I've also started a felt heart garland weeks ago but put it aside after I ran out of the red floss (DMC 498) I was using and three different Michael's didn't have any in stock. I finally found some the other day at Tall Mouse, which I think is a store that's only in Southern California but it's similar to Michael's except they sell drool-worthy fabric as well.

My other recent finishes will have to wait until I track back to the sites the patterns were on, so how about a TUSAL Report for February? (The new moon was yesterday). These are my collected thread ends for 2010 so far.


If you'd like to join the Totally Useless Stitch-A-Long, go to the sign-up page on Dragon My Needle and sign up. Then post a picture of your TUSAL jar on the day of the New Moon each month.

There's a little Shih Tzu who keeps coming in here and staring at me as I'm typing this. I think she wants a snack so I'm gonna go take care of that. (She's 16 so she pretty much gets what she wants these days.) Have a great Monday!

Thank You So Much!!

Thank you all sooooo much for the comments and emails you've made and sent after my last post. It really helped a lot to read what you wrote and made me feel all warm and fuzzy. I'm happy to say I am doing so much better now. For one thing, I now have access to my parents' cars -- just like when I was sixteen -- so I FINALLY was able to get out of the house on my own. I've been out to my own personal crack house aka Michael's to use up a gift card I got for Christmas, to In N Out with Maggie for lunch (we had burgers and yes, Maggie is a Shih Tzu) and to Starbucks for iced tea. Next up, I need to go back to work. And after that, I'll marry Johnny Depp and my life will be complete.

Once I get a job and start getting a paycheck again, I can finally have a giveaway. That has been a goal of mine since I started this blog, even back when no one was reading it. Before I run off and marry Johnny Depp, I promise to hold a giveaway or two.

See? I'm not only happier, I'm also delusional.

I just realized it's Friday and I have some finishes to share...which I will do as soon as I take pictures of them.

Thanks again, everyone! You all are the best!