Quilts, Stitching, Cards...Oh My!

I have some project updates to share with you all today and it is a little bit of everything and some more.

First, let me introduce you to my quilt. This is the quilt I was talking about in one of my previous posts. The one that has a deadline to finish date of 12/25/11.

I do not take credit for the color choices. I purchased a kit with the pattern from an Ebay seller; however the hours of piecing I take credit for! As you can see, a few rows need to be added before the top is officially done. The pattern is called "Tic Tac Moe". There is a story behind why I chose this pattern and color choices but I will save that for another post.

Next! Here is a "Hello" Card I made this last week. It will be included with my Exchange piece that I will be shipping off this Thursday. Papers and Embellishments all came in a kit I bought from Cupcards to Go. The little "Hello" is a Dazzle sticker from Paper Wishes.

Next! I did some stitching this weekend. I worked on a few projects. First is my "J" Fairy. I finished her left wing and did the back stitching.

I also worked on my "Tree of Stitches" by Abi Gurden from The Stitch Specialists Yahoo Group. I stitched the trunk in Crescent Colors - "Hickory Sticks".

I also worked on my Halloween Exchange piece for the Stitched with Love Exchanges group. It is a secret. :) Can't show it!

Next! I will participating in a blog hop next month starting on October 24. (Button on my sidebar) It is called The Ghastlies Blog Hop hosted by Madame Samm over at Sew I Quilt Now. What are "The Ghastlies" you ask? Well...it is a line of fabric. A really unique line of fabric. I call it fabric with a bit of "personality" (or maybe lack of). Personally, I think they are cool. They make me think of the Haunted Mansion ride in Disney World.

For this blog hop, we are being challenged to make sewing projects out of this fabric. Quilts are not excluded but the point is to see what other sewing projects can be made using this material. Can't say what I'm making...that is a surprise. Hmmmm, I've been saying that a lot lately. I have many secret projects don't I?? I will tell you all a little more about the blog hop when it gets closer to starting.

For you cat lovers!

Finally, I was bad this weekend. I stopped at Joann Fabrics for one particular thing and look what I walked out with: 

I just love the bats. What am I going to do with all this??? Not a clue right now. I have that disease called impulse buying. Have you heard about it? Is there a cure? Never fails, I go to Joann's or Michaels, I buy. I go to my LNS or knit store, I buy and we won't even go there about a bookstore.

With these two fabrics, I am going to make a bag. The top will be the outside and the orange will be the lining fabric. Next month, I am going to the Mickey Halloween Party at the Magic Kingdom. I heard they give out tons of candy. I don't think my son's little bag will be enough so I am preparing a bigger storage medium. :)

Okay! That is it, at least till next week. I am so excited right now. Friday can not come fast enough. My boys and I are going on a cruise this Friday to Monday to the Bahamas. It will be our first cruise. We are sailing on the Norwegian Sky and we have a balcony room. Can you say heaven? I will definitely report to you all my trip experience with a few beach pics. Here's hoping that the weather behaves. All projects are staying home in case you are wondering. I think I will be too busy staring at the sea while enjoying good food and a few drinks.

Happy Crafting and Stitching my Friends,

Jen

IHSW Update and Other News

Hey Everyone! and O Look! I have new follower friends. **Hugs** and Welcome to my crafty blog space. Feel free to drop me a line anytime. :)

So! I guess you are all wondering about my stitching for International Hermit and Stitch Weekend huh? Well, I will be honest and tell you that I didn't do much. I did a little work on my Nora Corbett "J" Fairy. I stitched a part of her left wing, and added the beads on her head and around the outside of the other wing. That is about it unfortunately. Here's a closeup.

Here is a big shot:

Working on this design has started to become a struggle for me and I know why that is too. The lighting in my house is the problem. My eyes have a hard time adjusting when I stitch with the lighter colors. After about 30 minutes, I start getting a headache and I have to put the project down. I do have an OttLite, but I tend to get so hot stitching next to it. I know that is a common complaint with those things.

In brighter news, I did finish my Exchange piece for the Rotating Designers Exchange. Seriously...I actually "finished" the stitching into something and it looks great! I'm dying to show it off to you all, but I can't yet. I am really proud of myself because it is my first stitching project that was not finished with just a frame. I really hope my recipient likes it (and that it makes it to her). It has a long way to travel.

Oh and before I forget, look what I won today....

Okay, I know you are thinking "Mhmmm, it's a blue iron"...No friends, this is like the Jaguar of Irons! It is an Oliso Iron that retails for like $129 and I won it at Sew We Quilt. It was a great surprise to my day. The crazy thing is I just bought a new iron recently (a cheapie from Target) and opened it on Sunday. Crap! Anyways...If you have any inkling or desire to be a quilter or you actually do quilt, you have to go over to this blog. There are tutorials and prize giveaways everyday until the end of October. It is quite impressive.

That's it for me today...Happy Crafting and Stitching Everyone!

Jen

"Father Christmas" by X's and Oh's Designs

Yay! I can finally show you all the model I stitched for X's and Oh's Designs. It was released this month. It is called "Father Christmas." This is a scanned copy of the design so the picture is not real crisp. It really was a nice design to stitch. It measures 76W x 120H. It uses DMC threads, White Fuzzy Stuff, Weeks Dye Works threads and Gold Kreinik Braid. The model was stitched on 14ct or 18ct Aida (can't remember which), but it can easily be done on  Evenweave. There are instructions for the belt. The designer added that after I finished the stitching. BTW he does have gold glasses that are stitched with the Gold Krenik. You can't quite see them in the picture.

 Hope you all are having a fantastic week so far. International Hermit and Stitch weekend is this coming weekend. If you want to participate, head on over to Joyze's blog to sign up and join us.

Happy stitching and creating my friends!
Jen

An update on "J" Fairy

I wish Labor Day weekend was longer than three days. Don't you?? If I had a vote, I would make it a week long holiday, but then again that it just me. I did make the most of it though. I finished a great book, The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks. I wrote a review about it on my reading blog here. It was awesome. They are making it into a movie. To all you chick flick lovers out there, definitely put this one on your list. I'm only praying that Hollywood doesn't get smart and try to change anything important from the book. That would not be cool. I would be an unhappy fan.

Next up! I got some progress done on some projects. I made a Winter Wonderland card as you saw in my last post. I also managed to put about 4 hours into my Nora Corbett "J" Fairy design yesterday... so Hooray! for that. Now I officially have 1/4" of a fairy done. :)

(Don't ask me why my pics look blurry at first glance and then look better when you click on them. I have no idea)

I tried to take my picture outside to show the colors better since the lighting in my house is sucky, but it was so overcast from a rain cloud coming, it didn't make much difference! I anticipate I will be done with this design before the end of the month. Good thing too cause I'm planning on moving onto a different stitching adventure once I'm done with this. You see.... I need to finish a quilt for a Christmas present this year and I'm going to attempt to hand quilt the quilt...... Yea you read that right! Am I crazy? Maybe a little I think. I know I will definitely need a few months for that. The honest story is that this quilt has been a WIP for too long and I need to finish it. I keep telling myself, "I can finish this for the next occasion or next holiday"..etc. I told myself no more of the excuses. I'm giving myself a big kick in the pants to finish it this year by 12/25. So you all shall be seeing progress photos of that project real soon. ;) I'm sure I will pick up a cross-stitch project after "J" is done cause I can't just stop cross-stitching. I just can't! I also managed to do a little crocheting this weekend, but nothing worth photographing. That baby afghan I'm doing has a deadline for November. I've had it for too long too. I'll post a pic once I put a few more rows into it.

I did finish stitching my piece for the Rotating Designer's Exchange. I just need to actually finish it into something. I wish I could say what but I can't. :) I also signed up for a Halloween Exchange on the Stitched With Love Exchanges blog. I'm really loving these exchanges. They are fun.

That's it for now. I'm in the mood to make a card, so I will be back later with a card project.

Happy Crafting!
Jen

Midnight Card Making

I know I know...you are all probably thinking why am I up at 12:00am making a card?? I realize this is when normal people sleep yes, BUT on Saturday nights, I'm not normal. You see, I look forward to my Saturday nights because it is my craft time. My boyfriend is at work and my child is asleep. That leaves the house and more importantly the TV to myself without distractions! :D Plus I drink caffeine and that just gives me a boost of creative energy that needs to be let out somehow. So tonight's creative outlet was a card while watching Star Wars Episode One on TV. More like listening to it actually.

I made this card for my Christmas challenge over on the Paper Wishes Message Board. I challenged the forum members to make a Christmas card from Paper Wishes supplies that included a bow and real or faux stitching on it somewhere. Easy!

My card is a 5 1/2" X 6 1/2" using the following Paper Wishes supplies:

1) Papers from the Cardmakers Creative Christmas Pack
2) Image is Paper Tole Art from A White Christmas Paper Tole
3) Snowflake Dazzles and Sentiment Stickers are the Frosty Woodland Dazzles
4) Foam Squares for Paper Tole are these.
5) The Faux Stitching around the edges was made using the Easy Stitches Template
6) Ribbon for the bow came from my stash. It was a leftover piece I had laying around.

Thank you for looking! Now onto some stitching projects that need attention to.

Hope you all are enjoying your long weekends so far,
Jen