Catching Up

I have 3 different things going on in this posting.  

1st is the finished Fair Isle quilt I made for my friend Pat for Christmas. I gave her the top on time but had to take it back to send out to the quilter.  I finally got it bound the first week of the new year.

Pat is the person who pushed me into knitting as I pushed her into quilting. This quilt tied the 2 together so nicely.

She knits me Christmas gifts and I quilt hers.

After all of those solids I had to get some dots for the backing.

I just love the way it came out.  For me this pattern was challenging primarily because so many of the pieces were 1 1/2 inches.  Way smaller than my comfort level.

Love the colors 

this pattern is by Lee at Freshly Pieced

http://www.freshlypieced.com

you can find it there.

2nd, I am retiring at the end of this month. While cleaning out my desk I found this tiny little cross stitched ornament.  It's on perforated paper. 

And last but not least

I have finished the tops for the 2 Little Letters quilts I started on September 7.  The pattern is by Temecula quilts and can be found here    

http://temeculaquiltco.blogspot.com/2014/09/little-letters-getting-started-and.html

The patterns for the letters were released every Wednesday and Sunday for 13 weeks.

The blocks were so easy that I decided from day 1 to make 2 quilts  The one with the lime green inner border is from the kit I purchased from Temecula Quilts.  The one with the the dark dots in the outer border was made from my scrap bin.  They measure 39 by 45

I thought it would be a great day for photographing them but the white outer border on the one with the green inner border kind of got lost on the snow and when I used the pines as a contrasting background the breeze wouldn't cooperate.  

It's OK they will be back once they get quilted and have a little more weight to them.  Hope to get to them some time next month.

I've also made a couple of post cards for a Valentine swap due to go out in the mail next weekend. Can't post until they get where they need to be.

Have a great week and thanks for stopping by.

Tammy for All Seasons

I should open with Thank you s to the wonderful ladies who made this Hop possible,  Mdm Samm & Mary Winegar for their motivational and cheering skills and Cori of Chitter Chatter the designer of all of the lovely Pinneys and Brooke Nolan for her wonderful cross stitch designs.

Now on to the Oops.  I have not done any counted cross stitch in maybe 20 years.   I pretty much stopped when I started to quilt.  I find I am more of a speed stitcher than a slow stitcher.

While I remember the basics I find that my eyesight was the biggest hurdle to overcome.  I started using the recommended Monaco Linen but even with my prescription glasses, my cheaters and Michael's even stronger cheaters I couldn't count threads.

I ended up taking myself and a coupon to Michael’s and picking up some Aida cloth.  Bless DMC as they are a full service cross stitch company, floss, frames, needles and blessed Aida cloth.  Once I got the Aida cloth in its frame and my floss organized I was off.

I was also very sick.  This might have been a good thing since it was Christmas week which is usually very hectic in my life.  Being sick slowed me down to a crawl and had me sitting still for large periods  over a couple of weeks.  Perfect way to get back into slow stitching.

So this is where the oops came in to play.  When I switched to Aida cloth the stitches got bigger therefore, the entire project got bigger (I’m blaming this oversight on the cold).  Too big in fact to fit on the front of a Tammy Bag properly.  I took my plastic template of the pattern piece and laid it on the stitching and it just looked like I was trying to put the stitchery on a 2 size too small bag. I’m really sorry I missed the Tammy part of the project. I have a couple of other Tammy bags and they are wonderful.

My interpretation of the spirit of the original project was to make the Tammy bag holding "stufff"  for upcoming stitchery projects so  I went with that concept.  I figured out exactly what type of bag would suit MY cross stitch needs into the future.  

My needs included being able to fit the entire project into one bag.  That meant big enough to hold the snap frame as well as the floss and glasses and scissors etc.  I used Noodle-Heads wide mouth zipper tutorial so I'd have complete access to the contents.  I also wanted a place to keep the pattern safe and unrumpled.  And of course a place to hang the the sweet Fall  Pinney.

Now that I’d gotten this far off track I just kept on going.  I just didn’t feel the ruffles on Cori’s Pinney went with the new bag interpretation.  My new bag is very straight and contemporary not at all feminine  like the Tammy.  Loved Cori's fall embroidery  and applique design so after doing the applique I squared it up.  I did add a spot on the back for needles and pins and I also added a loop with a clip so it could be attached to the bag as needed and unhooked and stashed in the bag during down time.

Coordinated the background to match the tote front and back.

So I guess I’m kinda sorta back into cross stitch.  Probably more into smaller designs  for the time being, but definitely back.  I enjoyed this hop and what I managed to accomplish within it’s guidelines.  Lots of different stitching in addition to the cross stitch.  A little embroidery, a little Blanket stitch and some quilting. I do need to acquire one of those Beam and Read hanging lights.  Base on all of the comments I've been reading that may be the answer to the vision issue.

So thanks again  Cori, Brooke, Mary and Mdm Samm and all of our sponsors, especially DMC.  Thanks also to all of my visitors.  Without you this wouldn't be nearly as much fun.   Please take the time to go and visit all of the other creative stitchers participating in this hop.  Here is the list of today's other stops.

January 16, 2015

Kwilt Krazy

Selina Quilts (you are here)

Hill Valley Quilter

Lakeshore Stitches

Malini's Quilting Adventure

Julia Plunkett will post on Sewwequilt

It Seams To Be Sew

Christmas 2014 Almost done

This is just about the last of Christmas 2014.  I am in fact done but won't have the last of the photos posted until later this week.

My long time friend B and I both have our birthdays in December  and we are both generally into making our gifts for B'day and Christmas exchange.

This wonderful table runner is the end result of me signing up for more than I could handle.  This is the first row of the 2014 BOM from Cindy at Quilt Doodle Doodles.

I got 2 months in and life got in the way.  So I turned the great row into an even greater Table Runner. I had it all done except for the quilting and binding months ago. All done now.

This is the back.  It would work for a summer runner this side up.

This little credit/gift card holder  was made from a tutorial by Jodell at http://modestmaven.blogspot.com/2012/02/bi-fold-wallet-tutorial.html

The design is set so the cards slide to the middle and not the top.  Making is less likely they will fall out of the wallet.

It was a great tutorial to follow. Once I picked out the fabric I'm thinking it took under an hour and a half to complete.

It's the B'day part of B's gift.  It will only have the DD gift card in it when she receives it.  The rest are there for the photo only.   I am making a second one just a tiny bit larger for myself.  I must take a bit more in my seam allowances then called for.  My cards all fit but snuggly, which may be for the better.

Least I forget there is all a space to hold your green money.  

In the mean time I have been working on my cross stitch for the next blog hop, Tammy for All Seasons.

I'm really out of practice.  It's been close to 20 years since I did any cross stitch. I also have been fighting a wicked cold for just over 2 weeks which hasn't helped with the focus necessary.

I did get my threads wound and organized.

I've even managed to get most of the cross stitch done, maybe not exactly perfect but way better than I had hoped for.  The big reveal is in a couple of weeks. Stay tuned.