It ain’t pretty

I spend a fair amount of time watching “floss tube,” drooling over incredible cross stitch samplers and everybody’s haul, WIPs, and even the pretty floss drops many stitchers use to keep their floss beautifully organized and picturesque while they work on a project. And while I do appreciate the many lovely ways to keep floss, I haven’t gotten on board with pretty floss drops because, well, I’m cheap.

Or should I say, I’m frugal, and somewhat thrifty. When I’m working on a stitching project, my main goal is to get the piece stitched as neatly as possible, even though I have let go of trying to be a perfectionist about it. I also like to focus on making sure the right floss is with the right project and that the floss doesn’t turn into a bird’s nest while in a project bag. Years ago, in the early 90’s, I was dating my now husband and we were at a local mall where I purchased a cross stitch pattern called Teddy Bear Reunion. It had over 50 colors of embroidery floss in the pattern, and I purchased all those DMC colors. Then I enlisted my future husband’s help to “bobbinate” all those flosses onto those little white cardboard pieces and stick them in a plastic box. I would pull out the color of floss I needed as I was stitching the many teddy bears.

Fast forward all these years later, and I am back into cross stitch like so many fellow crafters who used to stitch in the 80’s and 90’s. Cross stitch has made an enormous comeback and there are hundreds of talented designers creating beautiful patterns, hundreds of dyers creating all sorts of lovely linens and other materials to stitch on, and so much more than just DMC or Anchor floss available.

So, in 2023, I decided that I needed to get my flosses better organized. I still had the plastic box from the 90’s! I still had flosses my husband wrapped up on bobbins way back when. It’s easy to recognize his printing. I don’t have that much in the way of a floss collection because I have never gotten into any silks (yet) and I have only used DMC, Classic Colorworks overdyed flosses as well as The Gentle Arts overdyed flosses and Weeks Dye Works flosses. I also have literally 4 or 5 spools of Anchor floss. I tried to make my own cute floss drops with scrapbook paper glued onto stiff cardboard then die cut with my Sizzix machine, but this was tedious and not worth my time. So then I would just die cut plain old paperboard, or chip board. After I finished a project, I would just throw all the overdyed flosses into a small bin. After all, I didn’t have a lot.

But this was not working for me. I had flosses in about three or four separate containers. I had no list or database of colors (still don’t!) and I needed a better system. So one night while browsing Pinterest, I came across an image of flosses organized in a hanging file box and I decided that that could work for me. So I got on Amazon and purchased two file boxes, a whole bunch of ugly drab green hanging file folders, and several hundred of little metal paper fasteners. Then I got to work cutting up the file folders, punching holes, and inserting paper fasteners.

As you can see from the photos, these aren’t pretty. They are functional and for now, that’s what I care about. I have a variety of ways that floss is kept, and I’ve used a lot of leftover file folder material to make little floss drops. They are pretty ugly! But I don’t mind for now. My overdyed flosses are kept in alphabetical order and my DMC flosses are in numerical order. When I went through all my DMC floss, I did throw away the 30 year old flosses where I had very little left, or I had a newer skein to compare color with and there was so much difference that the old stuff went in the trash. All the floss I own is contained in one file folder box.

Lastly, here is another look at The Bramble and The Rose by Ink Circles that is getting close to completion. I am really enjoying the stitching on this one and it is going to look fantastic once it’s framed.

I wish I could remember where I found the vintage camper needle minder. Sorry about that!

And one more pic to hopefully brighten your day: my houseplants.

It’s May 2, and we are inching closer to more appropriate spring weather here in Minnesota. It’s been a very, very long winter. I look forward to sitting on my deck and stitching!

Thank you so much for stopping by! I hope you have a wonderful day.

It’s always stitching season!

Disclaimer: I get no benefit from providing links to websites with products or ideas. I simply add them so you can find things if you’re interested.

Hi everyone! Sorry I’ve been so incredibly lame when it comes to updating this blog. Here’s what I’ve been working on lately.

I’ve just finished stitching my first A Year in the Woods cross stitch. Here is The Fox by Cottage Garden Samplings. I stitched mine on 40 ct Newcastle Stormy Night. I purchased the pattern, the fabric and the called for threads at my local needlework shop, Stitchville USA.

I have very limited experience with 40 count linen and let me just say, I do love stitching on it. You need only one strand of 6-strand floss, and your stitches look so nice. I do need a magnifying lamp to stitch. I actually look through the magnifier in order to stitch.

I have purchased The Woodpecker and The Little Brown Bat. I’m not sure when I’ll start them, but I know they will all be stitched on 40 ct linen. I would love to do all of them in the collection. They are all so beautiful to me.

There is also a mystery project I’m working on that I cannot share much about at this time because it is going to be a birthday gift. Here’s a peek:

Next, I was looking through all the cross stitches I have begun and ignored for a while and pulled out this beautiful sampler called Oh My Bird by Teresa Kogut Creative Whims. This was one of those impulse purchases, and honestly, so many of the patterns I’ve purchased are impulse buys, usually from watching Flosstube! I have very little progress but I am enjoying stitching it. I am stitching this on 32 ct. Laguna that I purchased from Stitchville USA. I would say two strands of floss it a tiny bit tight on this count, but it could be the fact that the fabric is Lugana, and not the count. Anyway, I am going to love this so much when it is finished and hanging up in my house.

I had a dear friend stop by for a night on her way back from Canada, and she brought with her a partially finished cactus that she was making for her daughter. She needed help with it, and since I have years and years of crochet experience, I was able to finish the cactus and make two more from the book and kit she had. They are so adorable and I would definitely make more some time. There are many designs in the booklet and I have the yarn!

And lastly, I have been bit by the sewing bug since I had a role working with the local middle school on their spring musical, Beauty and the Beast Jr. I worked on lots of costumes. I really enjoyed it and so started looking for patterns for handbags and such and came across this pattern on Etsy, which I purchased. I have made two bags and here is the second one, which I am using daily. This is called the Madison Ave Mini Backpack by The Sew Fox. It has adjustable straps, a zipper pocket on the bag, a drawstring as well as magnetic enclosure, and an interior pocket. Her instructions were fabulous and I had a question about some part of the process and was able to reach her thru her Etsy shop and got a quick response. She is in the UK.

Finally, a word about seasons. It technically became spring here in Minnesota around March 20. However, we still had more than a foot of snow on the ground and bitter cold temps to go with it. Then we got another snowstorm for April Fool’s Day. It has been the longest winter I have every experienced and I was over it! We all were. Prior to the April snowstorm, our area had already seen 80 inches of total snow fall since the season began in late 2022. Sure, there have been many pretty days. I love a fresh coating of snow on the trees. But it just kept coming and staying cold. And we didn’t go anywhere for Spring Break so here we were….

I definitely have been crafting a lot because of the weather, and that’s ok with me. But now we are ready for warmer temps and for walks outside without the fear of slipping on the ice. Today it is unseasonably warm at 83 degrees but we are not complaining! Even the cats have been tired of being cooped up. Now they are enjoying the sun on our screened in porch. We are holding off on putting the cushions out because it’s supposed to get cold and rainy this weekend. Boo…

Thanks for stopping by! Hope you had a wonderful Easter and have a terrific spring.

Pretty little accomplishments

(I get no revenue from any products I mention. I simply mention products and stores to let you know where I got something and what it is.)

Hi all! Well, I’ve done it again. I’ve managed to let months and months go by without a blog post. I guess what I need to do is put a reminder in my phone calendar because that is literally the only way I get stuff done. If it’s not it my calendar, I forget.

I have recently finished some projects that I will now share. And as I state at the start of nearly every blog post, I don’t have any affiliated links. I don’t get paid for including links to patterns I’ve purchased or products I’ve used to complete projects. I just add them so you can quickly find what you need if you’re interested.

So this cross stitch piece is certainly not my first cross stitch, but it is the first piece I’ve ever stitched on 40 count linen. The linen is called Tin Roof and it’s by Weeks Dye Works. I purchased it at my local needlework shop (LNS) called Stitchville USA. The pattern is called Crow Friend, although I believe at one time the designer called it Wicked Siblings, as it is so named in the PDF pattern I purchased from them. MamaWitchxStitch is the designer, by the way. And here it is! Ta-da!

I framed this piece myself, having been given a crash course tutorial by the owner of Stitchville USA. I used foam board, two pieces of extra loft quilt batting, silk pins and double-sided archival quality tape. I purchased this frame online at Custom Frame Solutions. I am very happy with the quality of the frame. I think it’s perfect for this piece.

I also started and finished a project that I’m so happy with, as it is a sweater for me! I made this sweater using Blue Sky Fibers Woolstok brown wool, a raw wool I purchased from the NY Sheep & Wool Festival in 2019, and a Knitpicks wool blend (shown in the gold color). The pattern is from byKaterina but I did edit the pattern as I made the sleeves. If you’re interested in her free pattern, you can find it here. She provides wonderful instructions as well as a video tutorial of the entire make! This sweater is made using Tunisian crochet, which some say is a mix between knitting and crochet, but I don’t know if I would describe it that way.

The designer, byKaterina, designed her sleeves with no taper. I wanted a tapered look so I just did some decreasing to achieve that.

I am already working on a second sweater for me, using the brown wool again but this time, I’ve joined in some beautiful Malabrigo Rios. Wow, I am kind of designing this as I go! I purchased all of this Woolstok and Malabrigo at a local yarn store in Edina, Minnesota called Harriet and Alice. Love that place!

Also, here are a few stitching WIPS that are nearly finished. I work on all of these here and there. Every single day I work on projects. It’s what I love!

Primitive Pumpkin by Ewe & Eye & Friends

Ok, lastly, I would like to share with you my list of cross stitch projects that are either in progress, kitted, or simply purchased:

Will I live long enough to complete these?? I sure hope so!

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you got some inspiration today!

Much crafting

*please note there are no affiliate links in this blog post. I simply add links to patterns or tutorials that I used to make things.

Fall and winter of 2021 was a season of so much crafting for me! It was really fun and productive. Many projects were to spruce up my home for the holidays. There were also a few gifts made!

*Here are just nine things I’ve made in the fall and winter of 2021*

Starting from upper left corner, here is my finished Three Witches by Barbara Ana Designs. This was so fun to stitch and I finished it onto a board from Michael’s with some spooky ribbon, a wooden mushroom from Germany, some large rick rack, and mounted the stitching on a piece of chipboard with a fabric covered board behind it.

The next two photos are three punch needle ornaments from an issue of Punch Needle and Primitive Stitcher Magazine. I used floss I had on hand, including some fancy flosses and finished the ornaments with wool trim. I have a little pencil style artificial tree I keep up year round and I had it all decked out with autumn decor.

Middle row left is a photo of my spooky owl lantern, designed by Christopher Hiedeman. I love watching his YouTube videos, whether they’re about his beautifully decorated Victorian home or a tutorial on making something vintage-looking. I found his video on how to make this paper mâché looking owl and loved creating it. The eyes are so brightly colored in this photo because there is a battery operated tea light inside the lantern. It looks so neat on the front porch with other autumn decor.

In the very center of the collage is my finished and framed Feast of Friendship cross stitch by Blackbird Designs. I am in love with this piece and am so happy with the framing. I purchased the design and flosses at Stitchville USA in Minnetonka, MN and also had them do the framing. I had coffee-tea dyed the 28 ct. Monaco fabric myself and I’m very happy with the overall look of the piece.

Middle row right are two knitted ornaments I made. I have this wonderful book called Colorwork Creations: Knit Woodland Inspired Hats, Mittens and Gloves by Susan Anderson-Freed. I used the patterns for the cardinal and the nut hatch to make these little pillow ornaments.

The little heart ornament on the bottom left is just a creation I made after browsing thru Pinterest and seeing a similar felt and needlework ornament.

Bottom row middle pic is my finished Merry Chalkfull cross stitch which is one of several design collaborations between Priscilla Blain of Stitching with the Housewives and Cathy Haberman of Hands on Design. This was a gift for my mother-in-law. I’m trying to make all of the Chalkfulls for her.

And the last pic is of my Christmas tree cones made with poster board and yarn and some little pom poms. I see these in stores and I refuse to pay for something I can easily make on my own with supplies I have on hand. I did have to buy school grade poster board, as the only board I had was too heavy to be manipulated.

Seems like a lot of crafting, right? It was! But that wasn’t all. In my next post, I will go into detail how I made a painted sign for my bedroom for Christmas decorating.

Flying into fall like…

There are no affiliate links in this blog post. I simply add links so you can go to the sites where I got information, patterns or tutorials.

This is a photo of myself and a friend on a raft being towed by a boat on a lake. We are airborne above the water while looking frightened.

I was literally flying last week. Flying in a plane, then flying on a raft across a small lake in Michigan! I didn’t expect the latter type of flying but it was thrilling for sure! I don’t often experience a lot of thrills in my life, so it was a welcome experience.

I keep telling myself I have to get better at more consistent blogging. If I could be as consistent about blogging as I am about crafting, I’d be set! Today I’m going to share a few things I’ve made and also what I have plans to work on. As usual, I do have quite a few projects going at once, but I’ve also managed to complete quite a few things, one of which is a large project, one that I didn’t know if I would finish.

This is a photo showing part of me wearing a cardigan sweater I have knitted. — _{The Ribosome cardigan by Carol Feller at http://www.stolenstitches.com}

This Ribosome cardigan caught my eye because of the cables that seem to be floating atop a striped garter stitch pattern. And the yoke cables are traveling horizontally while the body of the cardigan have them traveling vertically. I just loved it and knew it would be the most complex project I’ve ever attempted. When I attended the New York Sheep and Wool Festival in the fall of 2019, I purchased the yarn for it from Artisan Yarns. The yarn is a scrumptious baby alpaca from Hampden Hills Alpacas. The color brown is called Macho and the white is undyed natural white. The yoke is shaped using German short rows. The pattern is well-written and accomodates 7 difference sizes. I knit mine with a 48″ bust circumference. I love the way it turned out and it’s very warm. I’m looking forward to wearing it for some better photos this fall!

This is a photo of two knitted socks on blocking forms. — _{Simplicity Socks by Melissa Morgan-Oakes}

I also managed to knit a pair of socks for myself this summer. I had purchased the yarn by Hedgehog Fibers over a year ago. This pattern, called Simplicity, is from the book Toe Up 2-at-a-time Socks by Melissa Morgan-Oakes. You can find the pattern in this book, and you can find the Ravelry link to the pattern here.

This is a photo of a glass head and neck displaying a Tunisian crochet cowl I made. — _{Tunisian Tubular Cowl by Beatrix Snyman}

I also made two cowls for the Broadway Youth Center in Chicago. My dear friend, Sacha, has organized a drive to have knitters and crocheters make an infinity scarf or a cowl that will be given to LGBTQ+ youth in the area to keep them warm this winter. She has even procured beautiful superwash yarns that you can use to knit or crochet with. The first one, shown above, is Tunisian crochet. This is crocheted in the round with a double-ended Tunisian crochet hook. If you’d like to try the pattern, you can find it here.

This is a photo of a glass head displaying a knit neck warmer I made. — _{Phoenix Neck Warmer by Drops Design}

The second one is the Phoenix Neck Warmer by Drops Design. Both of these were quite fast to work up. If you want to make a cowl or infinity scarf for this group, you still have time! Here is some information I found on Facebook to help you.

Happy Pride! We are looking for knitters and crocheters to gift 100 infinity scarves or cowls this holiday season to the LGBTQ+ youth at Broadway Youth Center, a program of Howard Brown in Chicago. All styles and yarn weights are welcome, but please use washable (super wash) yarns. Think: warm, cozy & comforting. We’re looking for a range of styles and colors — things that pop and more muted pieces. Feel free to include rainbow color and motifs. Drop off dates are week of Nov 28 at Knit 1 in Chicago (3856 N, Lincolnwood Ave) and Wool & Co. in S. Elgin, IL (1687 N. Lancaster Rd, South Elgin, IL)

This is a photo of a crocheted doily I made. — _{Capri Table Center doily from Magic Crochet, 1982}

Look at this next little beauty. It’s a little crochet doily I made while helping my friend work out a crochet pattern drawn in diagram form. I really love the diagrams for crochet. This little one I made is called Capri table center from a 1982 edition of Magic Crochet. I used No. 20 Omega crochet thread and a 1.25mm steel crochet hook. It took a lot of pins to block it, but look at the result. I immediately put it in my hutch cabinet for safe keeping and display.

Next up is my Bohemian style fairy light chandelier crocheted using kitchen cotton, two embroidery hoops and the Solomon’s knot stitch. This was made for my tent! I’m going camping/glamping this month and really wanted to create some ambience for my little abode. I made this up as I went along, so sorry, but there’s no pattern. I added fringe at the bottom, and it was just what it needed. The lights are battery-operated so no need for electricity.

This is a photo of a Bohemian style chandelier I crocheted with off-white cotton yarn. — _{My Bohemian chandelier for “glamping”}

And lastly, for completed projects, here are some Rustic Crochet Pumpkins I literally just made a day ago. I am making some fall decor for the group home where I volunteer. The home has two lovely stone fireplaces and mantels that would look so nice decorated for the fall season.

This is a photo of two crocheted pumpkins I made. — _{These pumpkins are crocheted but look knitted!}

I found this pattern via Pinterest, which led me to Yarn + Chai, where a talented woman is designing and providing not only well-written patterns, but in some cases, very helpful video tutorials. Her name is Rebecca Langford and I will definitely be looking more into her site to see what else I “need” to make. I just love how these turned out. The larger brown pumpkin was more challenging because my yarn needle is considerably smaller than the height of the pumpkin so it was difficult to get it through the piece the several times required to shape the pumpkin. I believe a doll making needle will solve that problem. The larger pumpkin was crocheted with a bulky acrylic yarn by Knit Picks and the smaller one was made with a DK weight discontinued yarn by Mary Maxim. Don’t you love the cinnamon stick for the stem?

What’s coming up

I have recently gotten back to work on a Halloween cross stitch design I began last fall. I’m nearly finished and have run out of the Weeks Dye Works color Onyx. So I have to make a run to my local needlework store this week. I am also close to finishing Three Witches by Barbara Ana Design. I admit, I hadn’t worked on any needlework for months. For a while I was bit by the English paper piecing bug, then I went back to knitting and crocheting. But between these two designs and Feast of Friendship, which is to me a Thanksgiving design, I have plenty to complete for the season, and it’s all doable. All three of these were shown in this blog post.

Lastly, I am also very close to finishing this amazing crochet blanket called Mystical Lanterns by Janie Crow. I am so in love with this project. Here is a progress photo. I am using Cotlin yarn by Knit Picks. This is a DK weight yarn in cotton and linen. There are two or three colors of yarn in my blanket that are StyleCraft yarns I got on eBay. I only had one of each color but I’ve managed to include them in the overall project.

This is a photo of a crochet blanket in many bright colors that is nearly finished. — _{Almost finished!!}

Well, I must sign off for now and get back to crafting. It’s a beautiful Labor Day Monday and I really want to set up my hammock between two trees and listen to the birds and the crazy squirrels running overhead. Thank you so much for stopping by! Happy crafting to you!

Jenny

Cool WIPs and Finishes

I’ve been terrible about blogging lately because I keep so busy working on various projects!

However, it is time that I took advantage of the WordPress app on my phone to assist me with some posts. So let this be my first post written and published on my phone.

The title of this post may confuse some people who are not makers of things. A WIP is a work-in-progress. And I have a lot of WIPs. Many people who do what I do also have WIPs in excess of 2 or 3. That’s why you’ll sometimes see a YouTube video titled WIP Parade or a blog post about WIPGO which I have never participated in, but stay tuned.

So today, on this gray and chilly Sunday, I will post about my WIPs. But first, let me share with you a few finishes that I’m very pleased with.

The blackwork embroidery shown here is my first ever. I stumbled upon the designs at The Steady Thread on Etsy, and purchased the pattern here called Deco Cornflowers. I tried this on 28 count Monaco fabric and completed nearly one side of the intricate border then it all fell apart because somewhere I miscounted and therefore made a mistake which threw off the entire thing. I tried fixing it by picking out the mistake but it led to confusion, anger, heartburn, and a general malaise so I put it in time out. And I realized that the designer called for Aida cloth, not an evenweave such as Monaco, so I began again. And this time, I began from the very center out, and voila! It was a pleasure to stitch and I ended up visiting The Steady Thread website and purchased 4 (eek!) more designs.

Next finish is this quilt, which is called a string quilt. I started this within the last 5 or 6 years when I lived in Illinois. It’s another first for me. I had never been involved in a string anything–quartet, theory, bikini–okay maybe string cheese but I digress. I pieced this quilt in Illinois and then neatly folded it and placed it in a corner of my closet. So here in Minnesota, I dug it out and went, gee, Jenny, it’s time to finish this quilt cuz it’s really pretty and very nearly finished! So I attempted to quilt it on my regular old sewing machine and I literally couldn’t even manage a straight line. So I just happened to mention this project to a crochet acquaintance and she said her mom had a long arm quilting machine and she would do it. So I shipped it off to Nebraska and probably started 10 more new projects, because that’s what I do!

When the quilt came back from Nebraska, I purchased some binding fabric (twice, because I used the first fabrics for yet another project). I made a non-bias binding because I needed the stripe to line up in a perpendicular fashion to the quilt and I finished it. And man oh man, I love it.

Next up is an Easter quilt that I started and finished within a very short amount of time for me. My mother-in-law was mentioning that she didn’t have a wall hanging quilt for spring or Easter so I decided to get to work planning one using fabrics from my dear friend and talented designer, Sharla, and other fabrics I purchased at Joann’s. I discovered the amazing foundation paper pieced designs by Made By Marney and purchased a few bunny poses. This was so fun to put together and quilt

Next up is a small foundation pieced and hand quilted project, also for Easter, for my dear friend. This was yet another bunny design by Made by Marney that I modified to have three dimensional ears and “grass” in the basket. This was really fun to make. I simply affixed a ribbon to make it into a little wall hanging.

One more finish is one of the Chalkfull cross stitch patterns by Priscilla of Stitching with the Housewives and Hands On Designs called Hip Hop. This is also for my mother-in-law who has already received two other Chalkfulls mentioned in a previous post.

Okay, now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, I present to you my cool WIPs…

Foundation pieced quilt blocks made years ago and now finally made i to a quilt top.

English paper pieced stars to be made into a large tote bag. I’m making one star per day with these 30’s Playtime fabrics by Moda.

English paper pieced hexagons to also be made into a tote bag.

The Bramble and The Rose by Inkcircles. This is my second start. More on that later.

Chalkfull design Bloom in progress for you guessed it, my mother-in-law. (She’s a lucky girl!)

I’m also working on Feast of Friendship by Blackbird Designs. I’m nearly finished but when I took it out to work on it last night, I realized I overstitched because that Dutch method of stitching is so nicely repetitive, I find I stitch more than I needed to. So I need to fix my error. I will have plenty of time to finish this and get it framed by Thanksgiving, which is my goal.

I have a few other cross stitch designs that have small starts but not a lot of talk about here. Basically my days lately have consisted of some English paper piecing, a little work on Bloom Chalkfull, and also work on the Inkcircles design as well as Feast of Friendship.

Next post I want to cover more in depth the English paper piecing I have only recently learned about. It’s so cool. It adds even more “cool WIPs” to my life.

Thanks for stopping by!

A plethora of things!

(I get no revenue from any links. I simply add links if you need to see a pattern or product or video I have used.)

Hello there! I hope you are all doing well. We are doing just fine here in my household. Life is certainly strange and precarious, isn’t it? For a homemaker like me, staying home all the time is not a big deal. I have been cooking a lot more for my family, and also crafting a whole bunch. I realize my situation is ideal for my family, but it’s not for so many millions of others. Hopefully we can all keep doing what we can as individuals to stop the spread of Covid so we can eventually get back to what we once knew as a state of normalcy!

In the past several months, I have been infected with a different sort of bug. It’s called the cross-stitching bug, and it works its way into your system and doesn’t let go! Before you know it, you are digging through long-forgotten supplies, purchasing instant downloadable patterns online, and attempting to coffee/tea dye fabric. It’s a doozy, I tell ya.

So yes, there’s a partially completed knit cardigan on needles, there are two partially crocheted blankets, and who knows what else! This type of ailment seems to get me every once in a while, and even though it causes more “mind clutter” and sometime more physical clutter, I just end up embracing it, and not beating myself up over it. Since my last post, when I showed off a cross stitch I made for my mother-in-law, I really didn’t think at that time that I’d be doing a lot of stitching projects. But I can tell you what happened. It’s called “Flosstube.”

Flosstube is the name given to YouTube videos that are about cross-stitching, or I suppose any type of stitching with floss or threads. You may know how YouTube works: you view a video about cross-stitching, it suggests a bunch more. And the people who make Flosstube videos always talk about fellow stitchers and their Flosstubes, so this is essentially the most fun rabbit hole I’ve come across this year! I now subscribe to many Flosstubers and there’s never a shortage of things to see, techniques to learn, and in general, time spent with genuine people, albeit through my computer monitor. It’s quite a community!

Clockwise from upper left: “Happy Halloween” by Silver Creek Samplers; “Mr. Green Jeans” by Teresa Kogut; “Three Witches” by Barbara Ana Designs; “It’s Halloween” by Foxwood Crossings

Above you will see the Halloween or fall themed projects I’ve either completed or am working on. I made my first dye attempt with the Monaco fabric in It’s Halloween. First, I dyed the fabric orange with Rit dye, set the color in the oven, then I coffee/tea dyed the fabric and set it in the oven again. I learned to do this wonderful thing from the Real Housewives of Cross Stitch, Priscilla and Chelsea! Here is a link to their video tutorial on dyeing fabric. It was easier than I thought it would be, and I love the results you get by scrunching up the fabric on a cookie sheet (lined with parchment paper) and setting the color in the oven at 200 degrees.

The punch needle project is a wonderful design by Teresa Kogut, a lovely artist and designer who resides in Michigan (where I’m from!) I really enjoyed punching this design, and I used an Ultra Punch Needle. I find I punch very close, or tight, and I like the way it looks. It probably took longer than it should have, but I am happy with the results.

The little pillow design by Silver Creek Samplers was stitched on an Aida cloth called Fog I purchased at Fat Quarter Shop (online). I had some scraps of homespun fabrics from a thousand years ago that worked perfectly to finish this pillow.

And lastly there’s Three Witches by Barbara Ana Designs. I just love her designs and wonky alphabets. This project would be going better had I chose a better fabric. But it’s nearly done so I must go on!

I am also working on some random stitching projects, as seen in the next collage.

Clockwise from upper left: “A Night in India” by Clouds Factory; an unknown pattern found on Pinterest; “Deco Cornflowers” by The Steady Thread; “Feast of Friendship” by Blackbird Designs.

A lot of people are stitching Feast of Friendship. I actually purchased mine (before I even knew how popular it was) at my local needlework shop called Stitchville USA in Minnetonka, MN. I also purchased the floss for it. I learned that there’s more than just DMC floss for stitchers. There are many wonderful overdyed flosses out there, and they give such wonderful texture to the overall design. It’s very evident in Feast of Friendship.

The very graphic A Night in India is going to be a biscornu, which is a lovely decorative pincushion or little pillow in a geometric finish. I have the other side to finish stitching, then I can turn it into a biscornu.

The little winter scene with houses is just something I stumbled upon while looking at my Pinterest feed. The pattern seems to be from a German magazine. I was able to figure out what colors it called for, but in some instances, I chose my own colors. I am a sucker for winter scenes!! I love them so much. I finished it using a piece of sticky board and some batting, and stuck it in a little shadow box thing most likely from Target’s dollar spot, that said something, I cannot remember what! I had the tiny rustic snowshoes in a drawer with other random crafty things, and they turned out to be a perfect addition to the piece.

Lastly, the stark black and white stitching is called “Blackwork” and I love it so much. I found the design on Etsy and the shop owner has so many intricate designs to choose from. I am working on the border to the design, which is quite involved. So what you see in my photo is just a small portion of the entire design. If you click on the link in the caption, you’ll be directed to the Etsy shop where you will see so many great Blackwork embroidery designs. I can’t wait to finish it and get it framed. It’s gorgeous. I’m using one strand of black DMC floss.

And lastly, I’d like to discuss how I did not purchase any Halloween candy to pass out this year. I knew in my neighborhood, the kids were going to a few houses then congregating down the street in the cul-de-sac to visit for a bit. I decided not to pass out candy this year because we all had colds in my house, and I know if I had kids of trick-or-treating age, I wouldn’t want a sick neighbor handing out candy. I knew the neighbor kids would get plenty without me. Besides, I always buy candy that we like, and frankly, I don’t need to be eating all those Reese’s peanut butter cups, as much as I’d like to.

So to get myself in the Halloween mood, I ended up making some “haunted” Putz houses! I got my ideas from Lucy at Paper Glitter Glue. She is a very talented maker of Putz houses and other amazing crafts. I learned so much from her website, like how to push modeling paste through a stencil to get stone and brick textures. I also learned how to make the sweet twisted trees. My workspace was a total mess, as was my floor. But I ended up making three houses, although the first one was my attempt before consulting Lucy’s website for helpful tips and tutorials. I am so pleased with how these little miniatures turned out. A simple battery-operated tea light gives them the perfect aura of spookiness.

I did splurge and purchase a Sizzix machine to die cut rows of shingles for the roofs. This was a great idea, and not only did I end up with dies for shingles, I purchased some dies to make cards and such. I actually think it’s amazing that I have been crafting all my life, and I only just bought some type of die cutting machine in 2020. I have cut out a lot of little detailed things with an X-Acto knife, but I knew my right arm would never hold up to cutting out shingles from cardboard. For the windows, I used transparency film for inkjet printers but instead of printing on the film, I used black fine tipped art markers to draw images. This was so fun, and one of my favorite things about the finished houses. I also lined the inside of the houses with varying shades of torn yellow and orange paper that really make a bright glow when the tea light is on. I used air dry stone clay to make the little pumpkins, and I purchased some moss from the craft store for the shrubs.

I hope you saw something in this post to make you smile! I also wish you the very best in these trying times. I know I will miss seeing my family at Thanksgiving and Christmas, but it’s just not possible and could be quite dangerous to expose older folks and people who are more vulnerable to illness. Please take care!

Jenny

I’ve been a bit busy!

(I get no revenue from any links. I simply add links if you need to see a pattern or product or video I have used.)

Cross Stitching

My mother-in-law just had a birthday! And I was so thrilled to be able to stitch this piece quickly, get it fully finished and mailed to her in time! This is one of several lovely design collaborations by chalk artist and all-around fabulous stitcher and decorator, Priscilla Blain, and one of my favorite designers, Cathy Habermann of Hands On Design. I’m not a super fan of country decor, but I do love a Mason jar here and there. And these Chalk Full designs by the two women are perfection in my eyes.

Behold, Chalk Full Harvest!

I am so happy with how this turned out. I stitched mine on 14 count black Aida fabric with the called for “fancy floss” by Classic Colorworks and Gentle Art threads. I was concerned I didn’t have the right fabric to embellish the piece but I kept searching in my fairly small fabric stash and found this kind of batik-with-dots-style fabric I once purchased to make myself a night shirt. Well thank God that didn’t work out! (I am not a seamstress, after all). I simply cut strips of fabric 2 1/4″, attached them to become a longer strip, folded in half the long way and pressed. Then I used a good old needle and thread to make a large basting stitch along the unfinished edge and pulled gently to ruffle the fabric. Next, I glued it along the back of the finished stitching, which was wrapped and glued onto a piece of mat board.

Next, I crocheted a little sunflower and then added darker brown accents to the center of it with DMC floss and French knots. I cut some burlap, as well as a few ribbon pieces to make a bow. The bow and the stitching have magnets glued to the back so they can be easily removed from the metal cookbook stand, which I purchased at Hobby Lobby last year. This way, when I stitch more Chalk Full designs, I can put magnets on the back and my mother-in-law can simply swap out the designs as she sees fit.

Trash to Treasure

Pinterest, you sultry gal, I got sucked in again (happens daily) and this time, instead of a new idea popping up on my feed, I was browsing thru pins I already added to my Garden and Yard Board and found this: Giant Garden Alliums! I don’t remember when I added the pin that led to this delightful website, but it didn’t matter. The way my brain works is this: I looked at the photo of the crafted allium, I clicked to get to the instructions, I saw that a softball was needed, then my brain went: there’s a softball rolling around on the garage floor. Someone drew all over it with Sharpie. Your boys don’t play ball. GO GO GO!

So I went to my local hardware store, masked and hungry for supplies, and purchased nails, a 3 foot long threaded steel rod, and spray paint. And I made this!

Collage photo of the process of making a giant garden allium and a finished one

And it’s super cute but one isn’t enough. So I put out a call for more used softballs on Nextdoor and was able to get 11 more. Yay!! I also returned to the hardware store for more nails, rods and spray paint.

Quilts

Next up, something old. Not as old as me, but still. I don’t always finish projects right away. I may have mentioned this before. This first little gem is probably one of my very first attempts at piecing a patchwork quilt. I began this process when my first son was an infant. That was 20 years ago. Twenty.

I didn’t do a great job piecing and matching up all the angles, but it’s not terrible either. I was brand new at all these triangle pieces. Truth be told, I will always be brand new at it. I love the way they look but don’t really enjoy the process so much. Then at some point, I made it into a quilt sandwich and let it sit. I haven’t decided yet how to quilt it, but I did notice that I started hand-quilting it, which I don’t really remember…

Collage photo of a baby-sized calico quilt I began making twenty years ago

This is sized for a baby. I must have been thinking it would be for MY baby, who was just a wee little babe back then. Now he’s twenty! I love the variety of calico fabrics in this quilt, and maybe I will continue hand-quilting it at night while watching something good on TV.

The next UFO/PhD (unfinished object/project half done) is a larger, more modern string quilt! I made this when we lived in Illinois, so that means between 2009-2018, or something like that. String quilts are fun to me. You just grab some fabrics you like and piece a bunch of strips, or “strings” together, and then there are literally endless ways to incorporate blocks into a quilt. Again, get lost on Pinterest when you search for string quilts. I wish I could remember where I got the idea and/or inspiration for this one. It’s really fun, and it is a quilt sandwich now, meaning quilt top + batting + backing material. I dragged it out last month and then last week, I cleared off the ping pong table and set up my machine, thinking I was just going to quilt lines in one direction, maybe about 3/4″ apart. Well guess what. I haven’t quilted something this large before and thus I had a very difficult time managing that much fabric, even just to sew relatively straight lines! I did maybe 5 or 6 lines, then looked at my work and it was crap. It was not going to work out. So I painstakingly used my seam ripper and picked out all those stitches. Then I began again. And that’s where I left off. At the beginning.

Photo of a string quilt I am in the process of finishing

Collage photo of the string quilt and what went wrong as well as what might work.

I guess stay tuned??

Cards

Lastly, I want to share with you some cards I made. I was in need of some birthday cards for some dear loved ones and since I have a ready supply of basically everything paper craft-related, I consulted Pinterest for some ideas. (Do you detect a pattern?) Here are the cards I made most recently.

I like the simplicity of these cards. This is a great way to use different papers from the same collection, as well as mixing and matching to see what works. In some cases, I distressed the edges of the papers with an antique brown ink designed for such a purpose. I love to add tiny flowers or buttons as embellishments. You can see also that I added some hemp string as embellishments. This does make the card bulky in the envelope. I may need to get some thinner material next time. I used rubber stamps to add the words.

Oh one more thing

I ordered a custom paint-by-number kit of my younger cat, Dewey. It took a really long time to arrive but it did! And I unrolled it, gasped, had a bit of buyer’s remorse, then sucked it up and began painting. I cannot let this take twenty years. I work on it a little bit each day.

Photo of a paint-by-number in progress of my cat Dewey.

That detail! The kit of course came with tiny pots of all the colors I will need, which amount to shades of grey, brown, beige. I maybe should have thought more about which photo to submit to the company. In the photo this kit is based on, Dewey is in front of my stone fireplace. Hmmm….

Well, time to get back to work. Those softballs aren’t going to get filled with nails themselves! Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you are all safe and well. — Jenny