IHSW and Other Project Finishes

So who is ready for Thanksgiving? I know I am. I love Thanksgiving and all of the yummy food that comes with it. And of course, the wonderful time spent with family. This year will actually be the first time I am traveling away for Thanksgiving. I have never had to deal with airports around the holidays so I am sure traveling this week will be mighty interesting.

Today was a very productive crafty Sunday. So productive in fact that I completely forgot I needed to go to the mall today to pick up some new clothes for some picture day at my office this week. Not sure why they are doing that, but professional (not business casual) attire is required. As luck would have it, I can't seem to find my black blazer jacket. Yippee for me! So a trip to the mall is in order....unfortunately. I hate the mall.

This weekend was International Hermit and Stitch Weekend, hosted by the lovely Joyce. Yesterday, my crafting mojo was just completely non-existent. I tried to do some stitching and the little bit I did, I ended up having to take out. That was it for Saturday. Today on the other hand, I did some stitching, hand quilting and some french beading.

Nora Corbett "J" Fairy - I did the beading at the top of her dress and finished her left arm. ( Click for clearer close up )

I also worked on my exchange piece for the Winter Wonderland Exchange over at the Stitched with Love Exchanges blog. This one is a secret so I can't show it yet.

I started the quilting on my quilt this week. Here is the quilt in case you missed my last post.

I decided to hand quilt this instead of machine quilting it. I have machine quilted my quilts in the past, but I wanted to do something extra special for this one. This is my first time hand quilting at all, and I'm teaching myself. I've pretty much got the motion down. Although would you believe I have tried four different thimbles and can't STAND the things. I'm not kidding....They get in the way! I just keep one nearby in case my needle gets stuck, but other than that, I don't wear them. The metal one falls off cause my finger sweats...the plastic one is too tight...the fingertip ones don't stay stuck on my finger...the leather one works okay unless the needle slips and goes through the slit to jab me underneath my fingernail! So...yes I have a love/hate relationship with thimbles. I use them when I absolutely have to, but I hate the things.

I've created my own quilting patterns for the patch blocks and the blue blocks. I'm using two different color threads; white for the patch blocks and blue for the blue blocks. Since you can't see the stitching on the top of the quilt in a picture, here is a picture of the back so you can see the pattern I made on the patch blocks. I would show you the blue block pattern, but the stitches don't show in the picture.

I'm really not going for the smallest stitches award or most consistent length award. I'm just going with the "Do I like it award?" The answer is Yes...Yes I do. :) I love feeling the texture (puffiness) I am creating with the stitching. That is really the effect I am going for. I don't want to take away from the pretty pattern of fabrics on the front. I find that hand quilting is truly rewarding. I love having the quilt in my lap. I feel all cozy in it while I work on it. I hope my step mom loves it too. I'm actually hoping her 4 cats don't mess it up.

My last project I finished today was my step mom's overdue birthday present. A little arrangement of French Beaded Roses I made.

I made two roses out of glass seed beads and wire. Each rose bloom has 25 petals (except the small one). I also made leaves as well. I used a pattern from the book French Beaded Flowers by Dalene Kelly. Originally, I had planned to make a bigger arrangement, but my fingertips just can not take the abuse anymore. Working with floral wire is tiring on the hands not to mention you stab yourself over a dozen times in the process. These flowers are actually quite top heavy too. I had to add stones at the bottom of the vase to give it some weight. I hope they are enough to keep it from toppling over.

That is all for me now. My fingers are achy so that is my cue to end my night of craftiness today.

To all my sweet followers and new comers (in the US), I wish you a safe and wonderful Thanksgiving Day with your family and friends.

Happy Crafting,
Jen

Quilting Advice Please...

Happy Tuesday Friends!

I need some advice from you master quilters out there today. :)

This is my current quilt in progress. This quilt top has been a WIP for about 4 years. It has been an off and on project only because I don't have a lot of space for quilting. I live in a little apartment. I only have a small dining room table to work on. So you can imagine that working on big quilt tops is challenging and can be somewhat frustrating too. I just don't have adequate space to sew them on. What I wouldn't give for my own craft room I tell ya! Here is my quilt top all pieced together:

This quilt is a special project in the making. I will tell you the story behind this. My parents and I went to Pennsylvania about five years ago for a family reunion. My stepmother really wanted a handmade quilt from an Amish store. Little did she know how MUCH handmade quilts from an Amish store cost. She saw some for $500 - $600 dollars and was floored. We literally drove around to different stores for about 2 - 3 hours the day we were leaving back home. Needless to say, she didn't buy one. I could tell she was disappointed. So I set out to make her one myself. I thought this patchwork design was perfect and I really liked the colors. Thankfully, I found the fabric and pattern as a kit from a seller on E-Bay. I'm so indecisive when it comes to picking colors out for a quilt. That part of the process is stressful for me.

Now I ask you quilting ladies, besides quilting in the ditch, do you have any other suggestions for how I should quilt this? I'm hoping to finish this for Christmas morning for my step mom.

Thank you for your suggestions. :)
Jen

We have a Ghastlie Winner!

Alright you Ghastlie fabric fans! It is time to announce the winner of my giveaway from The Ghastlie Blog Hop. Thank you to all that entered. We had 182 entries. I wish I could send you each a fun package of this fabric for your collections, but alas I didn't win the Powerball this weekend so I can't.

Mr. Random.Org has spoken, and the winner of this is:

Commenter #13 

 Patticakes! 

Her Comment: "Love all your Ghastlie projects and would love a chance to win your generous giveaway!"
This is such a fun blog hop!

I guess the number 13 is not an unlucky number all the time is it! 

Okay Ms Patticakes! You have three days to get into contact with me. I replied to your comment that you left me on my Ghastlie post last Wednesday. If I don't hear from you by Tuesday, November 8. I will have to re-draw another winner.

Thanks again everyone for participating. This giveaway was my first one and it was really fun. I have ideas for future ones so be on the lookout. In fact, I have one planned for Christmas time.

Enjoy your weekend everyone and I hope you all get some much needed creative time in.

**Editors Note** - Ms. Patti responded to her win. This giveaway is closed!

Jen :D

Getting Back to Other Projects...

It certainly feels nice to get back to working on some of the other projects I was working on before I caught "The Ghastlie flu". That was a "flu" I really enjoyed though. I won't deny that. I'm sure I will catch a "flu" when I see another cool fabric line out there. ;)

I worked a little bit on my stitching project. The design is called "Tree of Stitches" by Abi Gurden. I realize I have gained many new followers in the past week (of all different crafts), so I will back up and explain this project I'm working on.

For those who don't know who Abi Gurden is, she is a designer that creates patterns using Speciality Stitches. She also creates Hardanger designs, Drawn Thread Work designs and Pulled Thread Work designs. She runs a private group on Yahoo called The Stitch Specialists Group. The focus of this group is to educate stitchers on learning speciality stitches, Hardanger,  Drawn and Pulled Thread Work techniques. If you need a visual of the stitching I am talking about, here is an example of a Hardanger Piece:

( Pic came from here)

Beautiful and intricate right? I agree. A craft that takes a lot of patience...(one can only assume!)

Here is my progress to date on my "Tree of Stitches". So far I have learned how to do the Smyrna Stitch (green stitches) and Eyelets (the orange ones with holes). I chose my own colors for this project.

**Editors Note: Eyelets are a pain in the back side to pull out should you A) stitch them wrong or B) stitch them in the wrong place. Just wanted to throw those two cents out there.**

Time to go back to working on a few other pending projects. One being a special "non-sewing" present for my stepmother. It is kind of overdue.... Okay not exactly true.... IS overdue. It was supposed to be for her birthday and that has passed. Yikes! When I post pictures, you will understand when I say it is not a quick project....No it is not a quilt. I'll give you all a hint. It is made out of Seed Beeds....No its not Jewelry either.

Care to take a guess what it could be??

Happy Crafting/Stitching/Sewing Everyone!

Jen :D