Monday, February 29, 2016

A Finish

I finished up the Berry Bandit last night.  The Oscars weren't very distracting and I was able to get it all done.
Here it is all stitched:
I put french knots on some strawberries and on the darker strawberries, I put cross-hatching.  I added a couple of stripes to the bees.
I cut it out and serged the edges:
I sewed up the back seam and a gathering seam at the top:
I stuffed it and made a few adjustments.
I cut out the green wool top and added a few stitches to it.
Voila!  It is done!
 Well, it is almost done.   I would like to make a twisted cord loop for the top.  So actually there is one more part to do.  I don't have enough left over threads to do the cording so I have to go looking.
The bathrooms are clean and the walking (outside!) is done.  We have a winter storm watch beginning tonight so I'll probably go to the Y tomorrow to walk.
A

Sunday, February 28, 2016

By the Numbers

To do the flowers on Berry Bandit, it took 50 bullion stitches.  Two bullions per petal, 5 petals per flower and a total of five flowers.  Now bullions aren't my forte but I got them done.  Now I'm working on the 13 strawberries, each with two leaves.

 I'm more than half done.  I will probably go back and add little gold stitches to each strawberries for the seeds.   Then all that is left are three bees.  My goal for today is to finish stitching Berry Bandit.  I'm sure I can get it done.  If I'm lucky, I'll have time to start the finishing.  I so want to cut this baby out.

It is 50 degrees here today.  I love it!  I walked outside and it was glorious. A lot of the snow is melting.
Wishing you a happy Sunday.
A

Saturday, February 27, 2016

Inching

I worked on Monica's skirt yesterday.  I am almost half done.

It's looking good.  Here are the apron and skirt together.

I finished up the birdie.

Now on to his fruits and flowers and vines.  I was a little worried about the bullion stitches.

 They are tricky.  But I've found you must use the correct needle and then it works out better.
I think this will be done before too long.

I was tickled to get the notification that my Queen's Crown kit has been mailed from Canada.  Yeah!
I also have a special little dolly coming in the mail from England too.  Cool.
I walked outside today. Luckily the whole trail was clear.  It is supposed to warm up later to the 40's.  It is wonderful to have some respite from the winter.  Technically, spring starts in about 22 days.  Where I live, it takes longer to get here.
A

Friday, February 26, 2016

Birdie

My Berry Bandit bird has been sitting across the room begging to be stitched for over a month.

 Poor naked birdie.  So I picked him up yesterday.  I had seen him on other blogs and was jealous that I hadn't had a chance to work on him.  I dug out the directions and started.  It was fun but my index finger is a bit sore today from that crewel needle.

I have to watch myself because I have a tendency to take shortcuts and say "Nah, I don't have to do it that way."  Birdie is coming along nicely.

Then closest to my stitching chair is Monica's skirt.  So I put a few stitches in it.  This is also an enjoyable stitch.

I didn't walk at all yesterday.  I had plenty of excuses.  But when I went to the Y today, it was hard getting my steps in.

Amy Mitten is sending out the Queen's Crown kit on Monday and the instructions will be posted on Thursday.  It may take a while to get it in the mail but it is nice to have something to look forward to.
I'm tempted to start reading another book,  We'll see. . . .
A

Thursday, February 25, 2016

Snow Day

It's a snow day here.  All the schools are closed.  There is too much snow to walk outside even though the temperature isn't bad.  DH says that shoveling the snow is like trying to shovel cement.  I'm glad I don't have to do it.
Am I being a lazy bum today?  Sort of.  But I have a huge finish.  I am totally done with the Quaker Bag.  I did it!  Yeah!
So here it is:
It is quite a complex bag.
I finished up the notebook and put it under the hedebo for it.

I sewed on the four buttons.  One button was white.  The buttons look vintage or homemade.
Here are the four sides:



I learned a lot from working this project.  It isn't perfect, there are a ton of mistakes in it as well as a ton of mistakes that I had to fix.
The biggest mistake I tended to make was starting in the wrong place.
I changed the fabric, colors of floss and the silk.  I am happy with how it looks.  I am just not a green person.  I learned that I must use my strongest glasses to be able to see well enough to not make mistakes.  I remember thinking at one point that I wouldn't be able to finish it, it was just too hard.  But I pushed through and keep going.  As with several other Amy Mitten projects, I can't believe I made it.
Now what to work on?
A

Wednesday, February 24, 2016

I Will

I will finish two things today.  One is my book.  I only have less than two hundred IPad pages to read in All the Light We Cannot See.  It is a good book and I didn't want to stop reading it yesterday.

Then I want to totally finish the Quaker Bag.  I stitched together the front cover of the note book.
Note the nifty hand made pencil.
I made some progress on the stitching of the back cover.

I even found the paper pages that go inside.

I folded them and punched a tiny hole so that they can be laced to the front and back covers.

I got my walk in before it started snowing.  The forecasters are still saying six to twelve inches of snow.  Ugh.
I saw the new things that Just Nan is releasing at the Nashville market.  I love 3 out of 4 of them.  One is a little hedgehog.  How cute!  Silver Needle already has my name for the limited edition needlebook thing.  Why do I worry that nothing nifty will come along and then too many nifty things come along?  Silly me.
A

Tuesday, February 23, 2016

A Storm is Coming

Today is a lovely day.  The sun is shining and I walked outside in spite of the fact that it is pretty cold.  That is five days in a row I could walk outside.  But that is going to come to an end according to the weather man.  But depending on the track of the storm we could see rain or snow, a little or a lot.  A foot of snow is way different than some light rain.  So we will wait and see.

I read a lot of All the Light We Cannot See.  I am almost three quarters through this book.  I'm enjoying it a lot but very glad to not be in a war-torn area.  The chapters are short and alternate between two totally different characters.  Will they meet in the end?  Will they be okay?  What happens to the father?  That is what I want to find out.

Because I spent a lot of time reading, I didn't get much stitching done.  I finished the front of the note book and started the back.

I got lots of good mail yesterday.   I finally got the poster I ordered back in January.

 Now I have to frame it.  It is a riot of color.  I'm hoping it will look nice in the mud room, like a window above my desk looking out to a garden of flowers.
A


Monday, February 22, 2016

We Have Drawstrings

When you do fingerlooping drawstrings they have to be done in one go.  So before you start, go to the bathroom, adjust the angle of the TV, moisturize your hands, get comfortable and then start.  I was delighted that I didn't have to start over and didn't mess up horribly.  I got both drawstrings done.
  I timed myself.  It took about half an hour to weave each one.  I am very happy with how they turned out.  I have woven drawstrings several times in Amy Mitten's projects.

I sewed the needle felt page and its partner together and then to the bag.  (This was so exciting!)
Then I sewed the large panel to the small panel on one edge.  That is hard to see.




Anyway, it all folds up.  I still have to sew four buttons on the bag, one for each flap to button to.
But before I do that I have one more part (actually two) to do.  I have to stitch the front and the back of the notebook.
I started:
The notebook fits under a huge hedobo, see where my finger is?
So until I get the notebook done and put in, I don't know exactly where to sew the buttons.
I can't believe that I am almost done with the Quaker Bag.  Wow.
After all that, I discovered a new offering from Amy Mitten.  It is a pin keep with a world map on it.  I have been wanting to stitch a small fabric globe with the continents on it.  This is close.  I asked the question, "Do I love her new kit?  and the answer was "Yes".  So I ordered it.  It comes out in April.  Something to look forward to.
A

Sunday, February 21, 2016

Lickety Split

Terri said I will be done lickety split and I am hoping she is right!
I made good progress yesterday.  I backstitched the bottom of the bag/top of the box and interfaced it.  Since I didn't follow directions, I was not sure if lacing this piece to my machine stitching would work.  But it did!
Here is what it looks like when you look down into the bag:
Then I slaved to get the rest of the panel stitched.  So I went from this yesterday
to this today:
Done!  It is now ready to be laced to its partner:

When this is laced together I can join it to the bag.  Happy day!  Somebody mentioned that they had a hard time envisioning how this goes together.  I hear you.  I was puzzled by this also.  After reading the directions, I think that the large panel will be joined on one side to this panel and not directly to the bag.  Hopefully, I'll be able to show you that tomorrow.
It is a sunny Sunday.  Our snow is almost all gone and I could walk outside today.  
A

Saturday, February 20, 2016

Pocket

I finished the pocket off!  Yeah, one more piece done.


The bottom edge of the pocket will be laced to the bottom of the box somewhere.
I cheated and sewed the bag together on my sewing machine.  I am tickled to see this piece take shape.

It is sitting on on the panels to be be attached to the bottom of the box.


There will be buttons sewn to the sides of the bag to button up the panels.

There are three things left to stitch on the Quaker Bag:  the panel I'm working on that goes on the back of the needle felt page,

the top to the box that is inside the box (it only has backstitching on it), to cover up this


 and lastly, the front and back of the notebook.  Oh, and the drawstrings, I have to fingerloop those.  I can do this!!
A

Friday, February 19, 2016

Coming Together

I am tickled with my progress yesterday.  I sewed the spool compartments.  I always wondered how the spools stayed in their compartments.  Now I know.  They fit in very snugly.  They actually don't go in all the way.


I have a box!  I sewed up the sides.  I have to put some roving inside the box before sewing the bag and the top to the box on.

I read through the directions to see how everything else comes together.

I only got the smallest start on the next big motif.

I am getting closer to finishing this thing!
Here is what is left of the pumpkin pie.  It was great.

A