Mostly Sewing

Dear Stitchy Friends,

I thought to share two of my sewing projects with you. I learned about making ORT keepers from another blog. Here is the link: Instructions for Ort Bag Basically, its a triangular shaped container made of out fabric. I cut two pieces of fabric 9.5" on all three sides, sewed the two sides right sides together, turned it inside out, closed the opening, and then sewed the sides together only half way so that I could turn the points down, and tacked with a button. I made  a bunch (about 5) and have given them all away. Here is a pic of the one that I kept for myself.

Here is a pic of a little pillow that I made...I've got another two turkey designs waiting to be turned into pillows. This was a new way of finishing a pillow for me. I liked how it turned out but I thought it was too long.

OK, please be forewarned, this next pic is of a dead hamster...just kidding!!! Its a pic of a very happy, content and peaceful hamster. Aahhhh...the good life. Who knew a hamster could have it so good, huh?

On the family side, the girls' last day of school was today and they are feeling a bit blue about being away from their friends. Now comes the pressure of finding them something to do all summer and keeping their brains from turning into mush. When I was a kid, we spent the summer running around the neighborhood, being fed by neighbors and running errands for them. Back then, the city (Brooklyn) didn't hassle folks for opening up the johnny pumps and we kids would spend hours running and splashing in the streets! The ice cream would come at the same time every day and we were always assured a treat by a generous neighbor willing to pay for all of the kids' ice creams. The cute Italian guys in their muscle shirts would wash and wax their TransAms and we girls would just swoon as we would watch them. At night, the parents would pull out lawn chairs onto the street or sit on the stoop and tell stories. Sometimes, the Puerto Rican boys would bring out their congo drums and the rhythms of drums and timbale would fill the hot, steamy night air. The little ones would fall asleep on a lap to  the soothing clicking of dominoes. The 70's in Brooklyn were hard times, we never went on vacation, but they were good times, too. Filled with friends, real neighbors and the assurance that we weren't alone and could always find a helping hand.

Anyway, hope your summer is filled with not just the old memories, but also the magic times that will make for new memories and stories to tell.

Hugs,

Christina

Stash for Sale and other tales

Greetings to all, Hope everyone has had a good week so far. Thank you to the followers that keep track of my little blog and special thanks to those of that leave comments.

For starters, I've added a Stash for For Sale Page (you should see the tab above on the title). It's a few things that I have had laying about that I thought someone else would like to have. Its mostly kits and leaflets. I invite you to browse.

On the stitching front, I have been working like a fiend to finish "As the Crow Flies". As is typical of me, I am bored with it already and just want done with it. I am plotting along and it won't be too many days until it is all stitched up. Here is a pic of it to date.

This next pic is one I started just about the same time I started As the Crow Flies and its called Berry Patch Rabbit by Cedar Hill. It calls for R&R Sea Fog but I've put it on Charles  Craft Light Sea Foam 14 ct Aida. It's turning out rather interesting, don't you agree? (Interesting is the adjective I use when I don't want to say STRANGE.) It is a rather handsome rabbit, however. Wish I could get better pics but can't with the camera that I have. Soon, I shall get myself one that can zoom all the way in.

We've got cows in my town that stay on undeveloped land to protect the agricultural designation of the property. I thought to share a few pics of them. We like to feed them apples and carrots but they prefer the carrots. They have different personalities and preferences and are just so lovable. The reason why we Miami Lakers are so enamored of our cows is that this is one of the last places in the entire county where one can find cows.We had lots of cows all over the town on agricultural land but as developers purchased these for building homes, the number of cows has decreased. Miami Lakes is on property that was owned by the Graham Family and they used to be dairy farmers, so its part of the town history, as well. One of the roads is called Graham  Diary Road. The Graham family still owns bits of land, I believe. We urbanites are just tickled pink by these cows.

I took the cow pics in the hopes of charting one but then I thought, gee, there must be at least a gazillion charts of cows out there...I am sure I can tweak one to better match the background of my town.

OK, now on to my hamsters, which I haven't discussed in a long time. Well, they are just as much fun as a barrel of monkeys...NOT. Sure, they are cute and all, but what a racket they make on those gosh-darned wheels in the middle of the night. Of the three I have, one has become an escape artist and has managed to be able to open the top of their tower...yes, she pushes it around with her snout until it's lose and then she pushes up and off it comes and out she goes...aahhh, freedom at last, sweet freedom. Of course, I find her again right quick cause of the racket and pop, back in she goes. Today, I found her and the other one breaking out. Seems she taught her sister how to escape. I finally used tape to keep the top on - a weight won't work as the top is dome-shaped and a weight falls.  They are also fighting, well, the one sister and the mommy are. Vicious horrible fights wherein they must be separated, so...yep, you guessed it, I have purchased yet more habitats and trails for them to live in and be able to escape each other if need be.

Here is a pic of one of the hamsters....aw, isn't she cute all sleepy, sleepy and peaceful. This one actually burps and passes a lot of gas so it doesn't get held too often, poor little mite.

Well, that's it for now! I have to go to bed but really really would rather stitch until the sun came up!

Comments are welcomed and enjoyed! Hugs to all. xoxoxoxo Chris G

A UFO finished and Taking the decorations down

Hello friends! I have joined a Challenge which is to work on UFOs on Tuesdays. Well, below is a before and after pic of my first finish of the year. It was a very small area that needed finishing but I have had these mats for years and just couldn't get to them. Now that they are done, I feel mighty good about myself!

Here is picture of finished mats, pressed and ready for business!

Below is pic of unfinished mats...what a chore to finish but they are done. 

This picture is another of my UFOs, a freebie from Jane Greenoff..I will be a very happy camper when this is done!

Well, then, tomorrow is January 6th and the official end of the Christmas season. I am sorry to see it go. I shall drag out the task of taking the decorations down and it will likely take at least 3 or 4 days! (I could do it in 1 hour but won't!). The Holly and Mistletoe Wreaths on the door shall stay on much longer, usually until the end of February.  I  have a lamp that burns scented wax and I love the scents of winter, and those will keep burning as well. We are enjoying a cooling of temperatures here in Miami which means the leather jackets are out as well as my flower scarf, which I rarely get to use...see pic below.

I shan't ramble on any longer! Have a lovely stitching time!

Crochet, Silk Fibers, Tabloid and Hamsters

Here is a pic of She-ra and He-man, while they sleep. I've always been a dog woman, but these little fellas are just too cute!

This is the most complicated piece of crochet I have ever made. Crocheting is easy, it's the instructions that make no sense, since they assume one understands how to construct garments and what-not, but these instructions were fairly logical. I am very happy with the result. I got this as a free pattern from FaveCraft.com. It's called Belle Fleure Scarf.  I used less expensive acrylic and darker colors as I wanted more of fall look. I have made many flowers to decorate purses, sweater collars and all sorts of things. Just pin the flower using a safety pin and you can change the flower whenever you please. Here is the link to the scarf crochet instructions: http://www.favecrafts.com/Crochet-Hats-Scarves-Gloves/Belle-Fleur-Scarf/ct/1

Janet, the proprietor of The Cross Stitch Station, in Doral, Florida introduced me to this quarterly publication "Spool". Each issue includes interviews with designers and creators, and provides patterns for needlepoint, crochet, knitting, cross stitch, felting, sewing and other needle arts. The current Winter Issue has mostly knit and crochet projects so I was bit disappointed, but the prior issues had a nice balance of projects. I was unable to procure the Fall Edition, unfortunately. I highly recommend this publication if you like to do different types of needle arts. It's modern and fresh! Check it out: http://spoolmag.com/

This design was a shop freebie from Blue Ribbon Designs. I used Vicki's Hand-dyed Fibers, in Caribbean Reef. For a while, before the economy took a dive, I subscribed to Vicki's monthly floss club where she would send about 12 tags/spools of her silks.  I built up quit a nice stash that way and now am able to use silk for virtually any graph I want.

This little guy is from Tams Creations, Autumn Variations Biscornu Pattern No.3. I substituted the DMC floss with Hand-dyed Fibers. I used Beehived, Old Maid of the Sea, Marquie de Cercles and Gandy Tango. The pattern did not call for any outlining but in hindsight, the acorns around the middle should have been outlined, especially the acorn caps (or whatever they are called).

This came from The Gift of Stitching, its the Assisi Pin Cushion but I turned it into a scissor fob. I also used Hand-dyed Fibers, Garnet and Magpie Warbles. Its on 18 count Aida and I used 2 threads for the cross stitches.

 This is one of my favorite pieces. Its the Oriental Fish designed by Marie Barber and published by Just Cross Stitch in the May/June 2009 issue. It's stitched on Golden Sand, 32 count using DMC floss. Who stitches fishes? Me, that's who! I love oriental themes but was tired of the the geishas and vases with flowers and then I found this. POW! It reminded me of the Japanese paintings done on gilded wood panels. Lovely.

Well, that's if for now. I will be dyeing some fabric this weekend and will post results of that experiment next week. Thanks for visiting and have yourself a wonderful week end.