Stitching Progress

Although I found several mistakes I had to rip out, I made good progress on LHN's Garden Pleasures during my weekly stitching session with my friend on Thursday night. I'm growing anxious to finish this project, but I'll have to stitch a lot more (or faster) to do so in a reasonable amount of time.


Our storm earlier this week left snow and ice on the trees, which is very pretty. I took the screen out of our bathroom window to snap some pictures. It was snowing when I took them, hence the white "dots" in the picture.

Candle Craft

I've been meaning to do this for several years, and finally got to it while waiting for dinner. A friend gave me the cute blue plate many years ago. She had put some mini pinecones and other
items in the empty spaces; these disappeared over the years, along with the original candles. The off-white candle split when I dropped it, and it looked terrible, but I couldn't see throwing it out, so when I saw this idea in a magazine, I knew it was a perfect solution. I cut the two papers about 3/4" longer than I needed, glued them together, then put them around the candle, securing the ends with adhesive. I attached the sheer, gold-edged with a couple of straight pins. I also secured the blue decorative thread with one pin in the center back.

If the candles were unused, the arrangement would look much nicer, but for now, this works. Oh, and it probably goes without saying that the decoration should be removed if the candle is to be lit.

New Feature: Around My House (#1)

I thought it would be interesting to share photos of the various craft projects around my home. First up is one of the largest cross stitch projects I've ever completed; it hangs in my craft room. It is The Virtuous Woman by Leisure Arts (chart available here.) The friend Sarah and I get together on Thursdays to stitch with is also working on this chart. Enjoy!

More Fabric Folding

The fabric folding project I began here, I decided, needs to be finished, so on Saturday, I dragged another two tubs of fabric up two flights of stairs to the bedroom. I think I have now folded all the large pieces (except for fleece.) Oh, my gosh, I can't believe what I found. Can anyone tell me why I purchased nearly six yards of navy blue broadcloth? I honestly have no recollection of buying some of the pieces that now fill two of the large totes (in addition to the totally filled smaller one.) I did find a nice blue fabric that I think will work well for a slipcover for the straight chair that goes with my dressing table. I really shouldn't have to buy any fabric for a long, long time.

I still have three bags of smaller pieces to sort through, and I have to decide what to do with the fleece pieces, but I can see the end in sight. It is nice to be able to go to my tote labeled "pink and purple" or "blue" and find something I can use for a project.

Photos

As I promised yesterday, here are photos of my newly-completed projects. To the right is one of my fabric boxes (design from Sew Pretty Homestyle).










Next up is the wall pocket, also from Sew Pretty Homestyle. I was thinking today that the size could be varied - narrower and/or longer - and used for a dried floral arrangement, remotes (who doesn't have a pile of those?), etc. There is a variation in the book which has several larger pockets sewn to a single piece of fabric; the picture shows a magazine in one of the pockets. Might be a nice project for the bathroom.






This is Woodland Sampling. I still haven't decided where to hang it. Despite the picture, it is straight!










And finally we have Garden Pleasures by Little House Needleworks. I apologize for the blurriness of the picture; the batteries in the camera were dying and I had to snap the photo quickly or else the camera would turn off.

Hope you have a great (rest of the) weekend!

Finally! A Productive Day!!

I pulled out my copy of Sew Pretty Homestyle today and tried again to make one of the fabric boxes. I thought I blogged about my first attempt, but I can't find the post, so quickly, the pattern called for thick high-density felt-like foam. I tried using it, but it was just too thick to make the box look nice, so after thinking about it, I decided to forego the foam and instead use craft bond for stiffness and fusible fleece in place of the foam. The box came out much better, even though I forgot to use the fusible fleece and instead just used the non-fusible variety. After that, I took apart the first box, removed the foam, and ironed craft bond to one half of the fabric only (instead of the entire piece, as I did with the previous one. I honestly prefer the second box, but each one looks nice.

I also made one of the scalloped wall pockets to hang by my chair in the bedroom. I could have done a better job with the scallops, but other than that, it looks great and was a fun project. I will try to get pictures tomorrow during the day.

One other thing I completed the other day was the finish-finish (read that term on another blog) for Woodland Sampling. I haven't decided where to hang it yet, so again, I haven't snapped a picture. I am very pleased with the finish and still love the chart. Lest I forget, my hubby helped me choose the fabric for the finish; he has a phenomenal eye for color and I rely on him a great deal in that regard. Thanks, Phil!

My Cozy Corner

Several weeks ago, I realized I needed to do a thorough cleaning of the master bedroom. I did about half of it, moved a couple pieces of furniture, and let it sit. That is until the cable man came last week. We now get the channels 2 - 99 in the bedroom, something I hadn't expected. I realized I'd be spending much more time there, and since my husband theorized that my constantly sitting in bed at night to work on the computer and stitch was causing at least part of the back pain I've been experiencing, I thought I should move the recliner from its unused position (in the left corner in the second picture) to its present location (see the first picture.) That meant moving my husband's armoire (not shown), sliding the TV cabinet to the center of the wall, and putting the cedar chest in the corner where the chair used to be. There are still a few things to be cleaned up, but so far I am thrilled with the new layout and am enjoying the recliner. All it needs is a slipcover, perhaps in a navy blue or solid tan, which I will have to get on sale or with a coupon (perhaps at Linens and Things).