Jenns Case is Finished

I had posted that I was going to make Jenn a case for her set of Harmony needles like mine and I just finished it.  There are some differences though.  On the outside of the case I used a design from Tante Zolder and placed Jenn's initials in the center.  She loves teals and browns and I was lucky enough to find a beautiful collection of fabrics which incorporated these colors.

 The next picture shows the outside of the case and the beautiful striped fabric I used.  This has teal, brown, olive greens and tans and in between the stripes are tiny stripes of gold metallic.  I love this fabric!!!

 The next pictures shows the zippered case at the bottom for her cables and I included a small case above that for her crochet hooks.  This I didn't include on mine and how I wish I had.  Oh well.....

 The next picture shows the place for her needles.  The bottom row will hold her straight needles and the top row will hold her double pointed needles.  I even found a pair of scissors that have the colors of this case in them so I made a place for them also.

 The last pictures shows the small case at the top for her little markers and such.  This was alot of fun to make and I love it when a plan comes together.  LOL

And now I'm faced with finding something else to work on.  Back to my sewing room I go.  LOL

I hope all of you are having a lovely week so far and that you've gotten plenty of stitchie time in.  I find it helps me maintain my sanity.

Blessings as always,

Barbara

New Starts and Updates

As you can see I'm making some progress on Rhonda's Ort Bag.  She told me she was in no hurry for it which is good because she knows how much I hate stitching a design twice, let alone 4 times.  I'm hoping to have the second unit finished this weekend while watching the beginning of Nascar season.

The above design I saw on the HDF forum and fell instantly in love with it.  I'm stitching it on 32ct. antique white linen using two HDF silks.  You can find the pattern here, on the Better Homes & Garden Australian site.

From my dear friend Rhonda comes this absolutely beautiful gift.  She sent me the BBD design Hedgerow Birds project bag, the linen and all the fibers it calls for.  She knows how much I love BBD designs and I cannot wait to start this.  Thank you my sweet friend!

Many of you know how much Jenn loves sheep.  Well this past weekend when I was at The Sewing Studio, I came across this beautiful red cotton fabric with sheep on it.  I thought it would make her the perfect project bag.  I'm stitching a Cricket design for the front and I'll show that when I'm finished with it. It will also have her name on it so 4 little boys know it's mommy's and not theirs.  :o)

I've added to my Drawn Thread pattern collection.  I sincerely don't know why I keep buying these because I can't tell you the last one I stitched but it's in the Stitcher's genes to buy when first seeing something we love.....you never know when it won't be there and then you're stuck without it.  Right??

Above is part of my collection of Hand Dyed Fibers silks.  I have 7 of these containers plus what I have hanging on my silk wall.  Do you think I need anymore?  (please say yes so I don't feel so guilty when I order more :o))

Above are two pincushion patterns I picked up and I can't wait to make them.  They don't show any cross stitch but you know I'll add some.  I want to find some really pretty summer fabrics for them.

Well that's what I've been up to this past week to stay out of trouble and to help the economy in any way I can.  Doesn't that sound good?  Think DH will buy it?  I doubt it too.  :o(

You all have a great weekend...have lots of stitchie time and I hope that pesty frog doesn't darken your door.

Blessings as always,

Barbara

Giveaway in honor of Jenn's Birthday!!!

Jenn's Birthday is coming up on the 28th of August and I made this Halloween Biscornu as a giveaway in honor of her birthday. I stitched it on a hand dyed black 32ct fabric from Picture This Plus and I used HDF silks in all the stitching. The design is a sweet design from "The Floss Box" who if you have never visited her website, you are missing out on some very sweet patterns. I finished the edge with a tulle ribbon and then tied it into a bow. The center is decorated with a cute little pumpkin button. This would make a great addition to your Halloween decorations so post your name and email address in the comments section and we will have a drawing next monday night.

Good luck to all.

As always, Barbara

P.S. I forgot to mention that this is available to anyone who is a follower of my blog.

Very Proud News to Announce

My very talented daughter entered a contest that a major quilting magazine was having. You were to design and make a Mojo Doll. Well she did and came away with 4th Prize. I think this is great for a nationwide contest and I am extremely proud of her. Below is her entry:

The big Mojo Reveal will be in the October/November 2010 Quilter's Home, which it hits the newsstands starting mid-September. Please join me in congratulating her on her win.

As always, Barbara

Some Treasures to Share

You all have heard me talk about my daughter, Jenn so I thought I would share with you ladies some of the treasures she has made for me.

First up is a quilt that she designed, pieced and hand quilted. It's all done out of whites, creams and tans and it is just remarkable. The picture does not do this justice at all and I wish I was a good photographer so you could get a real feeling for this.
The above picture is a close up of the hand quilting. She has remarkable small stitches compared to my big ones....I never could learn the hand rock method and do mine totally different. Her and I are alike in that we love the hand quilting part. I hate piecing and would much rather applique a quilt.

The above picture is a hand knitted shawl she did for me this past fall. It was knitted on very tiny needles in a full circle so it lays on your shoulders very nicely. I've always wanted a beautiful shawl to throw over my shoulders on a cool evening and she did herself proud on this one.

Above is my bear, Otto. She knows how much I love bears and this one was added to my collection. My collection has grown smaller since the 5 grand babies were born....for some reason, they like to take my bears home with them.

I hope you enjoyed looking at my treasures done for me by my daughter. I take great pride in the fact that she loves needlework as much as I do. It's a tradition started with my grandmother, Anna Grace, who I think of often when I pick up a needle.

As always, Barbara

I Just About Fainted

Just in case you didn't know, Leftsox (or Jenn) is my daughter and between her and I, we come up with some doozie ideas. Well we were talking yesterday on the phone and she happened to mention this quilting show she was watching. Without giving away too much information, by the end of the conversation we had everything planned. Above you will see her stitched piece by Mirabilia called Fairy Idyll. She really didn't like the finished piece so we were throwing around different ideas on what she could do with it. As you can see, part of it was cutting the stitched piece into pieces. Now I know right now you are going "Noooooooooo" but believe me when you see the finished product you are going to be amazed. Her blog is http://leftsox.blogspot.com/ and you can see the entire process there. What I am going to do is similar but just a little different. By the time Jenn and I are done, we will have something that is unique and completely different than anything you have ever seen. Stay tuned to my blog here and to her blog, to see what we are talking about.

As always, Barbara

Hey Jenn....I finally finished it!!!

This beautiful stitched lady with the letter B was designed and stitched by my very talented daughter, Jenn. Believe it or not, it is stitched with 1 thread over 1 on 40ct. linen. I have no idea how she does that and I'm very envious. I finally got around to finishing it into my sewing case that I have wanted to do for several years....yes I said years. When it comes to making things for myself, I have a hard time doing it but when it's for someone else, I love the entire process.

That is one thing I guess I'll have to take lessons in.

As always, Barbara

An Update on the Letter J for Jenn

I thought you might enjoy seeing what my daughter, Jenn did with the Mirabilia J that I stitched for her. She comes up with some of the neatest finishing ideas and this one was no exception. I love her choice of coordinating fabrics that she used to finish the journal. You can see the rest of her pictures of how she went about the finishing on her blog at http://leftsox.blogspot.com/.

As always,

Barbara

A Sewing Case for Jenn

Our daughter Jenn, seems to be the vocus of my posts this fine saturday morning and this is a sewing case I just finished last nite for her. She loves the colors blue and brown together and when I saw these fabrics at my local quilt shop, I knew what I had to do with them. The cross stitch pattern was a freebie from AMAP and can be found on her website. The case has places for your loose needles as well as packs of needles, scissors and anything else she might need.

J is for Jenn

I decided before Christmas that I was going to stitch this Mirabilia design and mount it onto a journal for our daughter, Jenn. Well I never could find a journal big enough for it and the other day Jenn and I were talking about it, and she's found one. So I thought I would show you what it looked like before and then when Jenn gets the journal finished, I will show you how she did it. This design was fun to stitch but Lordy did it have beads, beads and more beads.