Spring Finishes!

I made a new needlebook and pincushion set for spring from a design by Dany.  She has wonderful designs that you can buy from her blog, which is a gorgeous blog, too!  I really love her designs, you should check them out, you might, too!

 

Here's the inside view of the needlebook and the bottom of the pincushion.  I chose my own colors of Gentle Art Sampler threads for the stitching instead of the DMC that Dany used, and stitched it on a very light pink linen.

The other side of needlebook.

This is an ornament for my friend Melanie who collects beehives and things with beehives on them.  When I saw this pattern I knew I had to make it for her.  If you're reading this, Melanie, Happy Birthday!

The next two pictures are of two of my co-workers--Josh and Cynthia-- in their St. Patrick's Day finery. 

How fashionable!  All the rest of us were green with envy that day!
I want to say thank you to the recent followers of this blog, it makes my day when I see some one new on the list!  And thank you also for the kind comments you leave, that makes me very happy, too!

Stitching Bag, Stash and Warm Buns

Hello everyone, I was finally able to come out of my blogging slump long enough to do a post.  I made this stitching bag a few days ago, and used some designs from my little book--Schone Alte Stick-Ornamente.  If you don't remember this book take a look at my July 29, 2010 post to see a picture of it.  I chose my own colors of Cosmos Seasons floss and used up some of my ric-rac  to trim it.

 Here's the design on the other side of the bag.  Even though one of the designs is horizontal and the other one is more vertical, I thought they would coordinate well as long as they were on opposite sides of the bag from each other.  And because the Cosmos thread is colorfast, I can throw this in the washer when it gets dirty just  like all my other bags.

I recently received some new Nashville stash including my favorite, A Stitcher's Journey by Blackbird Designs.   Do you have yours yet?  If you've been thinking of getting a copy, I wholeheartedly recommend that you do, I think it's the best one they have done yet and that's saying a lot!  I literally want to stitch  every design in that book!  The view on this page is of a reproduction sampler, isn't it lovely?  I got my copy from Anita, her's are only $22.50 compared to $27.00 elsewhere.  

Now, I want to show you a kitty picture.  I had gone out the door the other day to go to work, decided I couldn't remember if I had turned off the coffee pot and when I came back in to check here's what I saw:

 Apparently, a recently used Mr. Coffee is a warm and cozy place to sit if you're a kitty!  Trixie's expression was so nonchalant, as if sitting on a coffee pot is the most normal thing to do!

Thank you, my blogging pals, for listening to my babble once again, come back again soon!

A Bluebird, a Wishing Well and some Kitties

I recently finished off "Singing the Blues" by Little House Needleworks into a stuffed ornament.  I changed it a little by making the alphabet and border pink.  Although I think it was really pretty the way it was designed, I preferred to balance the colors out a bit more.  

The pattern for this design is another one from the Flickr group, Hoop Love Vintage Transfers".  I really love some of those older designs and they are fun to stitch.  I used  Cosmos Seasons and DMC Color Variations on this and I'm not sure what to do with it yet, maybe I'll make it into a summer purse.

This design came from a wonderful site called Homeberries.  There are bunches of free patterns like this one in a primitive or whimsical style.  I made this for my friend Choral who's a kitty lover like me.  And speaking of kitties, here's a couple of recent pictures of our spoiled babies:

Harley, being the silly boy that he is.

Tigger, with Harley in a head-lock.

And Trixie trying to sneak a cuddle with Tigger.  That's it for now, thank you everyone for looking at my blog once again and thanks also for all comments, I love to hear from you!

Heart Swap Part Two!

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 This is the heart that I received from Ann as part of the heart swap that I mentioned in my last post, isn't it gorgeous?  I love the ribbon roses, I'm going to have to learn how to make those.  She also very generously sent me an array of other lovely treasures that I will enjoy very much!

All of these items are laying on an apron with two large pockets that's meant to be used while sewing or crafting.  On the right there is a matching sewing case with pockets inside for keeping threads and other things.  On the left you will see an eyeglasses case with a booklet of designs for decorating it.  In the middle are a beautiful hand made card and gift tag and towards the bottom are little bags of beads and sequins, some of which are flower shaped.  And last is yards and yards of lovely white lace.  All of these gifts are so thoughtful and I will absolutely enjoy using them!

Here's a close up of the card and tag and I wanted you to see the button on the sewing case, isn't it adorable?  Thank you, Ann, for making this swap so fun, I will always remember how exciting it was to open the package and see every beautiful thing that was inside it!