Willing Hands 2

 

One of my favorite designers is Betsy Morgan. I've been to lots of her classes. She is a really nice person too. I have two sheves of her stuff in one of my curios. Inspirations Studios has just published her second book of Etui patterns.

These are all the patterns in the book. I have made about four of them.

There are two that I am especially interested in stitching. This is called Exact Change.

The other one I want to make is the Holbein Hexagon Etui.

This is just one shelf of my Betsy projects. I ordered the threads for these two projects.

Diamondc asked where I got the butterfly brooch. It was from an Etsy shop  called "Butterfly Brooch" and the shop owner is listed as Svetlana.  It is a shop in Russia. I actually didn't look at her other items until today. She has lots of other embroidered butterflies. I could waste a ton of time looking at Etsy offerings. 

Tomorrow it is time to change the calendar again. Wow, August went by fast!

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A Butterfly

 This week is all about haul. I saw a post with this brooch.

I went to this girl's Etsy store and it was available so I bought it. It had to travel halfway around the world. It is unique with sequins and pearls.

A better photo.

It is fun to wear.

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Saturday

 I finished the tomahto so now the whole project is done!

I'm working on the needlebook of The Garden Thief. I love this design.

My walking is done. I think next week I can post haul every day.

Have a nice weekend!

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Two Finishes!

 I finished the scissors case to The Garden Thief.  I was on a roll and also finished the little ort bowl. 

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Three of the parts are now done .

DH is back from the grocery store so time to go walking before it gets beastly hot. 

Goal for Thursday

 I am happy to say I finished Dreaming Girl and put together a package to my friend who makes project bags.

Today I want to finish the scissors case from Amy Mitten's The Garden Thief.

I had to remind myself how to do the hedebo stitch. There is a magnet that helps hold the scissors in the case. If everything goes well, I'd also like to get that tomahto all done too. We'll see how things go.

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Goal

 The goal for today is to finish Dreaming Girl. My friend Vicki said she would sew it into a bag for me. Thank you Vicki!

I am so close!

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New Magazine

I got another issue of the Italian magazine Giuliana Ricama. 

It has several articles about lace.

The table of contents:

I like when they include instructions on how to do a stitch.

Elisabetta Sforza designs beautiful things. I meant to order her latest book. I think Mary Corbet was out of it so I don't think I have it. Isn't that nice writing? Elisabetta does gorgeous monograms.

Beautiful butterflies suspended in a ring.

I have been trying to finish my tomahto. I keep making mistakes. I was supposed to close up the bottom but, of course, I did the top. I think I have to be in the mood and have a clear head. Too hot out today. Maybe I should stick with something simple.

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Smooth Passing Thread

 I choose smooth passing thread for the Elizabethan Plaited stitch based on Jacqui Carey's recommendation.  I originally started with Gold Wire. Both of these threads were in my stash.

 I'm not even sure where I got the threads. The threads look very much alike.  The gold wire (on the right) is sparklier. Many people haven't heard of passing thread. I decided to look it up. I have Allison Cole's book.

It says that smooth passing comes in sizes from #3 (finest) to #7 (thickest). It is "fine gilt wire wrapped around a core thread. Gold wire is also wire wrapped around a core. Ironically, gold wire is also referred to a passing thread. The core can be silk or synthetic. Here, one is yellow, the other white.

I found the smooth passing easier to work with. It bends and goes through linen better. 

I decided that I love Dunkin' Donut Munchkins. I tried their iced oat milk latte and I liked it a lot.

Wish Dunkin' was closer to my house!

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Changing Colors

 I decided to change colors on the tomahto. I don't like the Weeks Dye Works Flatfish for all the stitching on the tomahto. So I went digging. I chose a variagated green Oliver Twist thread that is more of a pearl cotton weight. So I used just one strand for the letters. Then I thought the flower shapes should be more flower color. So I went digging again and chose Gloriana Sunflower. I like how it looks and it's not exactly like all the finishes I've seen on FaceBook.

What do you think? 

I want to finish this one today.

Good for a Saturday.

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New Kit

 I got a club kit in the mail yesterday, It is a kit from Me and My Stitches designed by Hands On Designs.

It is a pocket for the wooden corner measure.

All the stuff for finishing. 

What is fun about this club is the special items included.

That is a needle minder in the middle made with folded fabric from Me and My Stitches.

I've heard of a Snap Nab It but I didn't have one - until now. I'll have to read how to use it. 

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My Queen

 Well, it's not really my queen as Amy Mitten designed her. I took out the thread I started stitching the borders with. I read in Jaqui Carey's book about using passing thread. I was using gold wire and it was difficult to work with. So I tried the passing and it was easier to go through the linen. The gold wire was almost too sparkly. I still wasn't sure about the border design. Was it too large? I am reserving judgement until I have more done. I think the addition of the black threads will make a big difference. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Although at this point it is what it is.

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A Girl Dreaming

 This is my progress on Dreaming Girl.

I have made it over to her face. It is harder stitching on a darker color of linen. I want this made into a bag just like Dreaming Frida. I have to talk to my friend Vicki and see if she'll do this. 

Walking is done. Let's stitch!

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Another Finish

 I got all the stitching done on the Tomayto tray.

I made a couple of changes in the finishing. There are various ways to attach the stitched part to the tray. But I wasn't keen on using double sided tape so I did a tacking stitch on each corner of the stitching. I think it is so clever to put a magnet under the big tomato that will hold the tomahto pin cushion which will have a magnet in the bottom.  I also tied the corner threads in a bow. I am waiting to start the tomahto pin cushion till after Thursday when I need something easy (something I'm less likely to mess up!) to stitch. The tomahto pin cushion is stitched all in Weeks Dye Works Flatfish.  I want to use different colors and maybe variegated thread. I like the red fabric it is to be stitched on.

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A Finish!

 I am so tickled to have finished this pin disc from Amy Mitten's The Garden Thief.

It was easy to finish.

It feels good to finish something and I was able to finish another thing, I'll show you tomorrow.

My walking is done. It's a nice day.

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Old Haul

 I bought a few charts on Ebay. I am a fan of Sharon Cohen designs. I really need to finish a mermaid of hers that is almost done. But then I would have to find it first. I got these charts:

It was so nice walking today. My goal for today is to finish the stitching on the Tomahto tray.

I've got a few too many projects going and need to finish some things up. 

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Etsy

 I went looking for a needle threader on Etsy. I saw this needle threader available from Australia. 

It was kind of pricey. I wondered if it was a available from somewhere in the US. I found it from a seller in California. Kimonomoma.I got a few other things as well.

This is a miniature temari that looked cute. 

I got this thingie. I think it is for beading.

I got some fabric that is used in the Inspirations magazine macrons.

I really wanted to know how to make the flower knot that is on the needle threader. YouTube has several tutorials. I found some printable directions too. The flower knot is made with paper cords called mizuhiki. I ordered the mizuhiki from Amazon.

These are some of my first tries. I need some practice.

Have a happy Friday!

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The Garden Thief

 I felt the itch to start something new and this was nearby. 

I wanted to start the pin disc with the rabbit on top. But the layout showed the needle book in the corner for the stitching layout. So I started the needle book. You can never tell what will be fun to stitch. I feared that I may not be able to handle over two on 40. I decided to try it. If I made too many mistakes, I would star over on 36. But I made a cardinal mistake when I started. The first rule of stitching is "Start in the right place". My very first stitch was wrong. I went over 5 threads instead of four threads. So when I was almost around I realized it wasn't going to match up. Luckily I tracked down my mistake and was able to fix that first stitch. As I stitched I found this design had charm. I am enjoying stitching it.

I started the pin disc too. There are several mistakes in it but it looks okay.

This is the sister kit of matching accessories and a little stuffed rabbit. 

Fun!

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French Needle

 One of my favorite places to order from is The French Needle. They keep careful track of what is in stock so when you don't order things that are out of stock. They have things I don't see other places. I seem to have a thing for Japanese embroidery books. I saw this sweet brooch book and ordered it.

These look like they would be easy and quick to stitch.

Lots of cute designs.

It's a good thing there are lots of photos in the instructions since it is in Japanese.

I have a thing for pansies.  This is why I bought the book. 

I also got this thread collection. Love the colors.

I was smart today and went walking before it gets oppressively hot. My friend and I went to Dunkin Donuts for lunch yesterday. Yum, and I got some donuts too.

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