Vintage Button Bag

First of all, I want to thank every lovely person who left a comment on my last post, they were so fun to read and I appreciate them very much!  I was also lucky enough to gain 7 new followers last week, that just warms my heart!  Now to show you my latest project:

This is what I made with my flower basket embroidery.  It was made using a vintage pattern, so I thought it would be appropriate to decorate it with some vintage buttons from my collection.  I think most of us have these button collections, don't we?  The floral fabric is the same as our living room curtains, I had some left and thought it looked pretty good.

And for the pocket on the back I found a little vintage mini flower basket pattern that coordinates with the big one.

The lining on the inside is the same blue and white checks fabric as the pocket and the checkered trim on the front and the handles is some bias tape I had on hand .  Here's another embroidery that was finished the other day:

The pattern is a free one from The Floss Box. She has a very nice blog and if you go there you will see links to free embroidery and cross stitch charts as well as ones that she sells for a very small price. The ladybug design was done with Gloriana silk floss, my all time favorite silk, I just love it!  I'm working on an adorable little house cross stitch chart of hers  right now that I will show you next time.   I will also show you another project using the new Valdani silk floss that I've been trying, it's wonderful!  I hope you are all having a great Memorial Day weekend, it finally looks and mostly feels like spring here and we are loving it!  Thanks for stopping in again!

Tulip House Stitching Set

I decided to make a needlebook and pincushion set from the Tulip House Stitching Companion chart from The Stitcher's Journey by Blackbird Designs.  This makes 5 sets of these things I have now, I just can't seem to stop myself.  I mostly used the recommended Sampler threads, except for changing Melon Patch to Copper for a little more contrast.  Here are some more views:

I've also been doing some embroidery, here's one that was done from one of the vintage patterns I've been collecting, it was fun and it only took a few days to get it done.  Here's a slightly closer picture:

Just one kitty picture today, it's Cricket doing his arm stretching exercises, a kitty has got to keep in shape, you know?

Yikes, it looks like we need to get a new couch, it's becoming rather threadbare along the bottom, that's what happens when you have so many cats, but we wouldn't change that for anything!  

I'm happy to say that I'm now off work for most of the summer, except for an occasional day here and there.  I'm really looking forward to getting a lot more stitching done with all the extra time and it's also finally starting to look like spring here, too!  Thanks so much my blogging friends for stopping in and taking a look at my blog, I hope you're having a wonderful spring!

Spring Bag

Just a quick one project post, I stitched this design a few years ago from Helen Philipps' book, The New Cross Stitch Sampler Book.  When looking through my fabric stash, I noticed that this one had all the same colors as the stitched piece does, so decided that it would be perfect for making a purse.  It hasn't been very spring like around here yet, but these colors cheer me up every time I see them.  I love the birds on the fabric!

I used DMC threads throughout, and DMC Color Variations for the checkered border and the house and a DMC variegated green for the verse.

Our primroses have only pushed up some itty bitty leaves so far and the daisies are a long way off, but at least I have this as a reminder that they are on their way!  Thanks so much for stopping by!

Hayfield Cottage Stitchery

 

I just finished this embroidery of a farm scene from a pattern that I got from the Flickr group, Hoop Love.  I thought it would be fun to name it Hayfield Cottage because there are haystacks and hayfields in the picture.  This is probably the largest embroidery I have done yet, I learned a few new stitches and had a lot of fun stitching it.

I used several different types of threads, just going with whatever took my fancy as I went along.  The next thing is a Blackbird Designs pincushion, one of their Reward of Merit small designs. 

It was done with Gentle Art Sampler threads and the backing fabric is the same as the one in the background.

Now, my post wouldn't be complete without a couple of kitty pictures, would it?

Harley sniffing a flower from our crown of thorns plant.

Cricket, looking rather majestic while soaking up some sunshine.

Thanks, again, for taking the time to visit my blog and thanks, also, in advance for any comments, I always love them.