Another Project Done - Many More to Go

I've been working away on my Gnome Snow Globe wool felt appliqué piece these last couple of days.

I finished it last night by sewing on the holly, buttons, and blinging it up with HotFix jewels.

I only had white micro buttons which didn't look big enough for the tops of their hats. Button down collar buttons did the trick.

Things might have gone better if I'd fused the pieces down to the background but I like the 'puffiness' when they're just basted down and just stitched around the edges. My buttonhole stitching wasn't the most consistent but this is a somewhat rustic craft so the non-machine-like imprecision doesn't really detract.

The piece is almost 5" in diameter. I have at least two more kits and a panoply of patterns from the Ornament Extravaganza book I can do. In the meantime, I push ahead with Christmas preparations.

Scooter has been abroad touring various areas of Europe while working online. Last month he decided to extend his stay an extra month until December 8 but we just got word this morning that he's coming back to Canada tomorrow. Things in England with the new Omicron virus are very uncertain right now. His father and I highly approve of his decision. We'll be glad to know he got home OK.

Gnome Snow Globe

I got all the pieces cut out and tacked down yesterday. The Buttermilk Basin Ornament Extravaganza book has great instructions and recommends 3 strands of floss if perle cotton is not being used.

I'm going to baste with thread before attempting to appliqué the edges with buttonhole stitch. The only piece missing is the holly on the gold band which I'll attach later. Then I'll sew a bunch of beads as snowflakes and embroidery sprigs of foliage and detail on the trees.

Here's a better photo of the sheep ornament taken in daylight (albeit gloomy daylight).

Skip thinks the eyes (colonial knots) look menacing.

I organized a couple of cupboards today. I needed to sense some accomplishment. There is no end to things I can busy myself with and will tackle more of them with crafting as my reward.
 

Wool Felt Appliqué Sheep

Yesterday Barb and I ventured up to Uxbridge to the Quilter's Cupboard. She needed fabric to finish a quilt and I was interested in getting some little buttons and perhaps some more wool felt appliqué patterns or quilts. We both came away with what we wanted.

Last night while I was Zooming with the Whitby Spinners, I was tracing wool patterns onto freezer paper and cutting out pieces. I needed to flip the images so they'd be right side around as I'd be cutting them out from the right side. When I was putting the pieces in place, I realized I needed to affix them somehow and basting stitches wouldn't cut it. I tried WonderUnder and that didn't work either so I just dabbed a bit of fabric glue to anchor the pieces. 

On the next little project from the Buttermilk Basin Ornament Extravaganza 

I used some HeatNBond. This worked pretty well and I didn't need to reverse the image.

I worked away on it during today's Zoom chat with my crafty friends and got a lot done. I finished the little sheep ornament just now.

On the back I used some fusible batting,

and #5 Ecru perle cotton for a hanger.

This was my practice piece for the blanket stitch around the edges. I now will tackle the gnome snow globe that I got cut out and ready to stitch. It came as a complete kit with all the required wool pieces.

One thing I prefer about the patterns in the book is they indicate where extra felt should be cut out which will tuck under and adjacent piece. Those indications aren't in the line drawings in the individual patterns purchased separately.

Lots of Little Things

I got the ornament for our guild's ornament exchange fully finished today. I can't show the front but will give you a sneak peak at the back.

I was given a bunch of 2020 charms last January which inspired me to order some 2021 charms for this year. They come in packs of 100 so I've been handing them out to lots of folks since then, I've already ordered charms for 2022.

I finished another ornament this afternoon. I can show this one.

I've had it stitched for months. I used beads for the stars, HotFix jewels for the snowflakes, and a gold star button.

The cording is the same floss colour as the windows and the stitched stars. Basically I measure out the length that I want with all 6 plies of floss and multiply it by 6 or 8 - depending on how thick I want the cording. This cording was 8 - 6 ply strands.

I didn't have any fabric that matched the dark terra cotta but I did have fabric with the same colours left over from placemats and napkins I made a couple of years ago.

I painted more Christmas cards and attached HotFix jewels to them this evening. It took a while because they're itty bitty. Next step will be to crop the artwork and glue it onto card blanks. I had a pack of 25 card blanks and envelopes in my stash. Then I will start some Christmas baking.

During my Monday morning stitcher's Zoom chat I started this week's blackwork SAL flower - dogwood (bottom left). I finished it shortly thereafter.

I have 5 flowers to catch up on. Then there will be two more weeks and we'll be done! I have enjoyed the weekly installments but probably won't FFO the piece. Instead, I'll select another blackwork project that interests me. Which reminds me, I still have the faux sashiko piece to work on.

Hygge*

I ordered the Hygge full kit from Evertote a couple of weeks ago. It came last week.  

* Hygge [pronounced hoo-ga (with a hard 'g')] is the Danish art of coziness, health and happiness. I just checked my local library and there are several books (audio and print) on the subject.

The fabric on the project bag shows a wintery scene of Scandiavian-style houses.

The lining is starry.

The house charm was attached to the ribbon that had the contents beautifully wrapped in tissue paper. I'm using it as a zipper pull.

Caroline also includes a little pouch in coordinating fabric.

Inside, is the Moonshine Cabin pattern designed by Jacob de Graaf of Modern Folk Embroidery,

and the Leo and Roxy flosses. There is also the exclusive Hygge needle minder. The little antler floss piece is holding the little bit of red floss that is required - just not enough to warrant a whole skein.

There were several options of fabric. I chose the 36ct so I (hopefully) will only have to use 1 thread to stitch over 2. 

I will start it soon. I doubt I'll get it all stitched before the end of the year. My idea is to use my HotFix tool and adhere jewels on all the single 'star' spots.

This collaborative kit is an exclusive from Evertote. There's still time to order one. The pattern can also be ordered on its own, with or without the flosses.

Evertote's CEO, Caroline, is also the organizer of StitchNorth, a big stitching retreat that will take place next April 1 - 3, 2022 in Brampton ON. It was supposed to happen September 2020 but because of COVID, it had to be cancelled. It was hoped it could be held last April (2021) but we were still under a lot of restrictions in Ontario. We have to be double-vaxxed (and hopefully also have the booster shot) to attend and all provincial and local COVID protocols will be observed which may include wearing a mask any time we're not seated. The registration is $145CAD + tax and does not include hotel or meals other than the pizza party on the Friday night. Folks on the first waiting list got accommodated. There may be a new waiting list. Contact hannah@evertote.com if you're interested in registering.

Our embroidery guild has an ornament exchange every December. We picked the names via a secret Santa app last month. 

I've had the ornament stitched for months. Truth be told, I had several FOd ornaments to choose from. For some reason it's been bugging me that I hadn't FFOd it. Today I got it finished except for gluing the cording around the edge. Glad to have that off my list of things to do.

I have so many crafty things I want to do. Christmas is coming. The tree is going to go up at the beginning of December and all the festive decorations will follow. I have several boxes of Christmas stuff I don't even bother to put out anymore that I need to go through and set aside to donate for someone else's decorating next Christmas. Bit by bit, stuff is getting sorted and organized but I have a long way to go before I'll be finished.

On Friday Marilyn and I went over to Jeanette's to check out some of her collections (buttons, stamping supplies) and organized some of her flosses, etc. It was a thoroughly enjoyable day - so nice to spend time in person with like-minded folks. We have been meeting twice a week on Zoom for over a year but actually meeting in person was so nice.

On Tuesday morning some of us are meeting up at the Quilter's Cupboard to peruse the wool felt and fabrics. I do not need anything and have not even touched the fabrics and kits I purchased there a couple of months ago but I'm always up for crafty shopping with friends.

Tiny Sweaters, etc.

I've been watching Arne and Carlos' Sit and Knit for a Bit videos on YouTube. They're getting ready for Christmas and have designed another 24 Christmas balls and 24 Advent Christmas Mini Nordic Jumpers. The patterns are for sale on their website and they'll reveal daily in December. They have released the entire 2021 Christmas ball pattern already. I spent an entire evening adapting the large ball patterns to smaller ones - the size of the mini balls from last year - using cross-stitch software. Yes, it works for knitting, too.

I liked the idea of Christmas sweaters but didn't want to get involved with knitting them. In the past, I've knit lots of Christmas balls and advent mittens.

I really enjoyed Arne and Carlos' recent video on how they met. The kickoff to their great success happened when a stylish Norwegian newscaster wore one of their sweaters on air. All of a sudden everyone wanted to know what fashion house they were from. It was surprising to know that all this talent didn't come from Oslo but a converted train station high on a mountain in central Norway. It was a very sweet and interesting episode.

On one of the Facebook knitting groups, someone posted pics of tiny Christmas sweaters they had knit. The pattern is Tiny Sweaters by Malia Mae Joseph. I was inspired and quickly knit a couple of them.

I still need to embroider on the red one and possibly create little coat hangers. It's a free pattern on Ravelry and there are others as well.

My attention span is very short these days so I appreciate being able to whip up a project quickly and move on.

I stitched last week's Steady Thread SAL flower - Dutch Iris.

I downloaded this week's last night. It's narcissus but I will stitch them like daffodils.

I was commissioned to make three project bags for Jeanette. I have one completed 

and the fabric for the second one prepped and ready to cut. 

The William Morris fabric by Moda is beautiful. I sure wish I had been aware of it last year when it was widely available. I would have bought a bunch for myself.

I installed our new Samsung TV yesterday. I can certainly understand why technophobes get so frustrated. I had to Google how to raise and lower the volume on the light-powered (solar or indoor) remote control with no number pad. I also got a couple of apps installed on it that weren't already programmed so Skip can watch The Red Zone on DAZN on Sunday afternoons for 7 hours. It's the male equivalent of 'Happy wife, happy life'. 

More has been done on Token of Fall. The greens and dark blue are silk threads. The rest are DMC.

It's another gorgeous, sunny day and I can hear a neighbour's incessant leaf-blowing. I'm going to head outside and get some Vitamin D.

Happy weekend, y'all!

I Don't Know Why I'm in Such a Hurry

I got quite a bit of stitching done yesterday,

and finished the bird last night.

I like the swirly light blue motif. I still need to finish the light blue DMC 932 in the tail for the bird to be really finished.

I haven't decided whether I'll do the letters with one thread or two. The 'e' is done with two. 

I have selected an ornament to finish for our Trillium Guild ornament exchange at our December meeting. It'll be a pretty plain ornament finish but I'll jazz it up with cording.

When I was dropping something off at the library last week I noted that the plexiglass container for the Red Scarf Project was filling up. 6" x 60" scarves are created with red yarn and donated for HIV Awareness Week the last week of November, when the scarves will be tied around the city with tags that say "Please take this scarf if you are cold".

I have a bunch of Mary Maxim acrylic DK yarn that I bought at a tent sale with the intention of weaving a bunch of them like I did back in 2015.

This time, I decided to crochet at least one with a big hook (5mm) and double crochet so it would go faster. 

I chained 24 sts, then am doing 24 simple double crochet stitches back and forth. In just a couple of hours I am almost half finished.

It's a loose weave but I like the softness and drape. A smaller needle would have made it bullet-proof, which probably would be handy on city streets but doesn't make for a snuggly scarf and would have required about double the crocheting. This way I'll be able to knock off a couple of these while I'm sitting watching TV over the next few days.

I have been looking for my box of sewing threads for the past week or so. I've hunted high and low to no avail. Finally yesterday, I was picking something up from the dining room (aka Geri's Sweat Shop/my sewing area) and I found the container WAY back under the cart that I keep my sewing stuff and ironing board on. Thanks goodness I don't have to replace all those spools of thread. I have been commissioned to make some project bags and now have all the materials I need. I just need to get off my behind and get started making them. Once I get going I enjoy the process, it's just a matter of tearing myself away from stitching that is my challenge.

I used my nifty carpet cleaner to clean part of the family room carpet yesterday - the spot where I had spilled chocolate pudding. I can't believe how dirty the water was that I pulled out of that little  bit of carpet. I then cleaned a bit of the dining room carpet (which is when I found my box of threads) and it's amazing how good the carpet looks. I will have to do more of it sometime. It takes quite a bit of effort hauling the machine around and I work up quite a sweat. But with the furnace on, the carpets dry pretty quickly.

I have lots on my crafting 'to do' list:  * are 'must do' items

• make one of my wool felt applique ugly Christmas sweater ornaments
• *finish the ornament for our guild ornament exchange.
• make the wool felt applique sheep and mitten piece
• *sew three project bags
• *crochet some more red scarves
• bind the quilt Sue quilted for me on her long-arm over a year ago
• *think of a treat I can make for my closest crafty friends for Christmas and make it.
• find my Cinnamon Stars pattern to give to Barb
• rummage through my pattern stash for other giveways
• rummage through my pattern stash for projects to kit up and stitch
• stitch the companion piece to my Strawberry Thief
• start my Three Pumpkins project.
• *get caught up on my Steady Thread SAL
• plan some projects to start to whittle down my yarn stash 
• assess the yarn stash for skeins to give away to knitters or to charity.

I'm sure there are lots more things to do but that's a start.

Skip and I are looking forward to our little trip to Niagara Falls for his birthday in December. I sure hope our COVID numbers stay low enough for us to feel safe enough to go. I'll be really disappointed if we have to cancel again because of a surge in COVID cases.  I so enjoyed staying in the hotel at Elim and hope we can start taking more little trips - I LOVE staying in hotels.

We've even discussed flying down to TX for the spring bird migration. I told Skip it had to be between April 4 and 27 so we could fit it in between two stitching retreats I'm planning to attend. Again, much will depend on if we still have to get PCR tests to re-enter Canada and what the COVID numbers are in the Rio Grande Valley. I most certainly don't want to get sick down there.

There certainly is lots to look forward to.

Fall Elim 2021

We had a lot of fun at the Elim stitching retreat this weekend. It went by quickly because we were only there Friday to Sunday.  Trillium Guild usually books from Thursday to Sunday but this one wasn't our retreat. We were filling out the numbers for the Ganaraska Quilt Guild. 

Jen1 and I drove up Friday morning, arriving at about 10:15. We went to our assigned rooms in the motel. They were very comfortable, double bed, table and chairs, efficiency kitchen with kettle, toaster, microwave oven, full fridge, plates and utensils. It was very cozy. It's such a treat to have a room to myself.

We took up most of one side of the chapel; one per table because of COVID spacing. We could remove our masks if we were sitting down but wore them any time we were standing up and moving around the room. It wasn't all that conducive to a lot of chitter chatter but was conducive to getting lots done.

Likewise, the quilters had lots of room to spread out.

I had decided to stitch on a rotation on Friday so every hour I switched projects. First, I wanted to finish up the little bits of my Strawberry Thief piece.

I then got a good start on the companion piece. It's not a great photo but the fabric matches the photo above.

Then I did the outlines of the peace lily which was this week's Steady Thread Blackwork SAL flower. I outlined the 'white' flower with grey and finished it up this afternoon by adding the green stem and yellow interiors.

Later on that day I started my Token of Fall by Hello from Liz Mathews.

I had a few issues deciding which light blue I would use. I did have a Dinky Dyes colour Ningaloo but it didn't go well with the darker Gloriana Northern Lights so I defaulted to DMC 932 for the lighter blue. I'm liking working with the silk threads and am stitching 2 over 2 to get the best coverage on the 36ct Zweigart Cream and Sugar fabric. The darker green is a bit fuzzy after stitching so I'll try my SnagNabIt tool will help that. I'll have to be careful with the silk threads and stitching in hand.

The rest of the weekend was spent stitching Token of Fall, perusing books and magazines on the giveaway table, setting up the raffle of donated items, 

snacking on the many treats provided, eating meals, looking up future retreats online, visiting in Jen1 and Poppy's 'suite' after hours, setting up a Show and Share table, doing the raffle, etc., etc.

After lunch yesterday we vacated our rooms and Jen1 and I got home by about 3. We did take time for a group photo before departing. It is a lovely setting in the fall.

Jeanette, Siobhain, Sue, Mary, Poppy, Janet, Shelley, Immy, Phyllis, Geri, Jennifer, Sylvia and Marilyn.

I was really pooped when I got home and had to have a nap while Skip prepared a delicious roast beef dinner. We had 20 trick-or-treaters, the most we've had in several years and turned out the lights at 8pm. 

This morning I have what Jennifer called a retreat 'hangover'. I didn't do much except a bit of stitching and unpacking. 

I have a couple more projects I want to kit up, inspired by a couple of the magazines I got from the 'giveaway table'. Kim has the supplies so I will be making an order soon. 

I also want to get my ornament done for our guild's Christmas ornament exchange. JenP found a Secret Santa app so we've picked our recipients. Mailing deadline is December 1. If delivering in person, it needs to be done by Dec. 13, (preferably anonymously) so the ornaments can be opened and the Secret Santas identified at our December meeting via Zoom on December 15. The exchange was very successful last year and we have as many participants again this year.

Several of us are very excited about StitchNorth which will be held April 1 - 3, 2022 at the Courtyard Marriott in Brampton. Our guild's April Elim retreat is tentatively the last weekend of April.

So we have lots to look forward to and hopefully by late spring it will be safe enough for us to resume our road trips and not have to have a costly COVID test to return home.