Organizing "Fancy Floss"

I have started accumulating quite a stash of hand-dyed floss - mostly Gentle Art Sampler Threads (GAST) and Weeks Dye Works (WDW). They're a bit unruly to use and I was starting to get a real tangled mess on my hands. Trish from my Monday morning stitching group suggested getting the snack-sized ZipLoc bags from the dollar store ($1.25 here in Canada).

I punched a hole in each bag and used a reinforcement around each hole. I wrote the colour name on each one with a Sharpie - making sure the pen marking wouldn't rub off - it doesn't.

In fairly short order I had all the GAST and WDW flosses organized.

I now keep them in this pseudo-book that I picked up at Michaels.

I have a couple of random skeins loose in the bottom from Classic Colorworks but the two rings of GAST and WDW fit nicely on top.

I'm doing another model stitch for Teresa Kogut. It arrived last Friday and I started right in on it. It has a very large red brick house in the centre that I've been working away on. The fabric is 40ct Legacy Linen that looks like it's been tea dyed. As a result it's really 42ct. I'm stitching 1 over 2.

Here are the fabric and threads. There are two skeins of almost every colour. All but two colours are hand-dyed so the dimension will be amazing.

And here are the skeins all organized.

I'm using double magnification to stitch this. The 3x magnification of my Magni-Clips  plus the 1.75x of the magnifier on my OTT lite.

I'm looking forward to getting the big house in the centre done so I can start in on the flora and fauna of the rest of the piece. It's called 'Heaven and Nature" and I think it will be a big seller for Teresa.

I Need to Spend More Time in My Craft Room/Office

The last few days I've been finding UFOs under things, in piles, and behind things in my craft room. Today I found a bag of stuff I'd bought on my NY state road trip with my stitcherly friends last July. It was like Christmas again! Especially since 4 of that gang are on their way to a sampler workshop by Catherine Theron in Horseheads NY as I write this. (We're texting back and forth as they make their way there).

Look what I found!

A whole bag of 'loot' from A Stitcher's Garden. Several fabric remnants, a JBW pattern of a lobster and sea turtle (turtles are my third favourite animal), and a Plum Street Sampler pattern with all the 'fancy floss'!

Every colour is there except for Hickory Sticks which I already have in my stash.

For storing my fancy floss (aka hand-dyed threads) it has been suggested that I get the snack size Ziploc bags. It will keep them a bit neater than just on rings.

The fabric remnants are perfect for some of the smaller projects I hope to stitch. I love that the proprietor of A Stitcher's Garden writes down the name, count, colour, and size of the fabric. I have so much trouble remembering what fabric I'm using once I've finished a project.

I also found these things I got at another store.

I wonder what else I'll find in there.

A Wee, Felted Ornament

Someone (altho' I don't remember who) recently gave me a little kit for a felted, wool ornament. The felt is very thin. The cat appliqué had already been cut out and the cuff, heel and toe were already glued into place and ready for embellishing.

I did a leaf-like lazy daisy stitch on the cuff, heel and toe. I then appliquéd the cat in place. Then I attached the back to the front of the stocking with a buttonhole stitch.

It didn't take very long and I have another finished piece.

Three More Projects

I stitched this little piece the other night. It's Pumpkin from JBW French Country IV. 

It's stitched on 28 count mystery linen from my stash with one strand of WDW Sweet Potato over 1 thread. I have always liked how JBW designs incorporate little elements within the bigger piece. See the squirrel, birds, basket, jack o' lantern, cat, acorns, heart, etc? Not sure how I will finish it.

I unearthed this piece the other day. All the cross-stitching had been done and about half of the stars. It's actually called 'Stars' by Drawn Thread. I love Drawn Thread patterns as they usually incorporate a few specialty stitches.

The red ones are Leviathan stitches. There were 4 sizes of gold stars. I used a brighter gold colour than called for in the pattern as the original colour was too dull for my liking. She's holding the Extra Large star in her right hand and a Large star in her left. The Medium and Small stars are also shown.

I just need 6 4mm buttons that are attached to the climbing vines between the houses. Barb and I are visiting our LYS tomorrow so I hope to pick them up then. I have plans to frame this in the near future.

I had a hankering to do some Hardanger last week so whipped up this piece on some Monaco remnant. The red perle cotton was in my stash so I only needed to buy #5 green to finish it up. There are supposed to be gold beads in the white squares in the centre but I didn't have them in my stash so will find something suitable. It measures 4" across. I'm not sure how I'm going to FFO it.

Tomorrow night at guild I'm doing a little demo on how to make cording using various items around the house. I need to start gathering up all the stuff I'll need.

Feeling Better

I caught a cold last week and spent most of Friday to yesterday (Sunday) either in bed or napping on the sofa.

I had to miss stitching this morning so I could sleep in and didn't want to spread my germs. I have my spinning and weaving guild meeting on Wednesday and a stitching day chez moi on Thursday.

While I was clearing off the dining room table aka, my sewing area aka Geri's Sweat Shop, I found the sheepy pincushion that I needed to finish up. I had already stitched the heart on the square and attached the button with some matching red thread. I just needed to sew 1/4" seam around the two pieces of wool leaving a gap for stuffing it with fibrefill and crushed walnut shells - all of which came with the little kit. I got all the sewing and stuffing done and just needed to do the buttonhole stitching around the edge and got that done during the Federal Leader's Debate this evening.

It's simply two squares of wool fabric. The back is plain.

Thank you again, Marilyn for giving me the little kit.

I finally bought the frame for Cinnamon Stars. The stitched piece measured 5 3/4" x 9 1/2" - not quite right for an 8 x 10 frame. Then I realized there were frames for 8 1/2" x 11" documents. I saw this one at the $1.25 store and it came with a mat. The actual frame was 11 x 14 with with the 8 1/2 x 11 mat. I'm happy with the proportions. I struggled with signing it and finally gave up so will put a sticker on the back of the frame with the particulars.

I put batting on foamcore that fit the frame and pinned the stitching into the edges. I also used two-sided tape on the back of the foamcore to anchor the loose edges. I'm glad I had a 3" margin all around because I needed every bit when using the mat.

I love the little pumpkin button I used.

Kim at Kimat designs had many shapes and sizes to choose from. This was it before I sewed it on.

I should have waited 'til daytime to take these pics but I couldn't wait. I'm happy to have another finish (FFO).

Chemo Cap and Cottage

I'm knitting a chemo cap for someone I know who is losing her hair due to chemotherapy treatment for cancer. I found this pattern  and rummaged around in my stash of cotton yarns for something appropriate. Cotton yarn is recommended. I didn't want to use dishcloth cotton but remembered I had some nice pima cotton DK weight and I actually found it!

I modified the pattern by casting on 16 more stitches and going down a needle size.

This should whip up pretty quickly.

I spent the weekend at Marilyn's cottage. We spent a lot of time crafting. I worked on my diamond painting, knit a bunch on my latest crescent swallowtail shawl, and some stitching on my Quilting Bee. There was no Wifi and very poor cellular coverage. We watched some movies on DVD, napped a lot, took walks, ate good food, and gabbed.

I took a couple of photos.

From the deck.

Sunset from the dock.

Looking up at the cottage from the end of the dock.

It was very quiet and relaxing. The leaves are just starting to turn.

I am so fortunate to have friends who want me to visit their cottage. It was a lovely way to spend the last days of September.