Manic Mushroom, Halloween and Birthday Card

So I was once again totally charmed by Fairy Wool in the Wood.  I'm so pleased that a newer, fun designer like Cassandra had some good exposure in the Oct, 2017 issue of JCS.  I almost immediately grabbed a needle when I saw  this "Manic Mushroom"  Halloween ornament design.  It's quirky like all of her designs.  I hope you can see the expression on the face of that large mushroom after he has discovered that he's destined for the dinner table.

This is stitched on 32 count linen over-two.  I finished it up as a pouch for a 6" embroidery hoop.  The backing fabric is the same as the bottom fabric.  It's lined as all mine are and has a snap closure in the inside center. Turned out pretty good for me.. less wonky than some.

Durene Jones shares a freebie on her FB page every Friday.   For some reason, this particular  one caught my eye, even though the heavily back-stitched designs that are so popular in the UK are not to my taste so much these days.  This is called "Pumpkin Boy", but I think of this as a female character.   When I wrote a message on the inside of the card, I referred to her as "Pumpkinette".   I think I liked the way those vines twisted around her arms giving some kind of feather boa effect.  I wasn't sure I loved her after the stitching was complete, but the card showed her off and it's in the mail.  This is stitched over-two on 28 count Summer Khaki Cashel linen... easy on the eyes!

I think THIS LINK will take you to Durene's photos, with this chart included, even though you may not be FB member, but I'm not sure.

I needed a birthday card for an early November birthday girl.  I send a stitched card to this person every year and it gets harder each time to think of something different to stitch.   This time I selected a snippet from the free design,  Snowflower Diaries Pumpkins for Cathey. 

I'm not usually a fan of yellow, but it worked out well for this card I think.  It's stitched over-2 on 32 count linen.  

Octagon, Ghost Carrots, and Joyful World SAL Finish!

Had a flurry of stitchy energy in the last few weeks.   My eyes are feeling better and I'm feeling better in general after some much needed meds finally kicked in and did their job.   I'm showing photos that have been on FB and IG, but I know not everyone sees those and besides, I like to have the chronological record that blogging provides.

First up is this adorable four seasons freebie design from Lori Brechlin of Notforgotten Farm.  She gave this to the members of the FB Primitive Stitchers Society.  The original had red and white striped candy canes for winter, but I substituted a teacup with steam rising from it.  That little motif is courtesy of one of the Little Stitcher's designs.  I decided to try and bind this in an octagon shape.  I almost ruined the piece in the process, but did manage to rescue it.  I had planned on a much wider border originally.  The backing is the same as the border fabric and there is a layer of quilt batting for the sandwich. This may be the last octagon I ever attempt. It's basically coaster size now and I rest my glasses on it when I take them off.  The fabric is 36 ct Edinburgh Dirty Linen.

I recently discovered an adorable Italian designer who goes by the name of Cassandra FairyWool and sells her designs on Etsy in the "FairyWool in the Wood" shop.  Her designs are primitive style that show-off her quirky, humorous side.   I fell in love with one of her recent designs called "Rabbit and Ghosts".  The rabbit looks very much like her real-live pet rabbit.  He's digging up carrots from the garden while ghost carrots are flying all around him.  I stitched it up and made a pouch for my newest wooden hoop.  It's stitched on 36 ct HDF linen.  That's a little wooden heart button in the bottom right corner, added for symmetry.

 

The finishing urge struck me and I completed the final five (count 'em, 5!) pages of the Joyful World Calendar SAL.  So all done now and nothing to do but wait for each month to 'turn the virtual pages'. Each used a different fabric, all from my stash.  Here are the final five:

 

And here are the ensemble photos:

May Basket Pouch & Secret Egg Hunt

I recently saw someone stitch "May Basket" by Blackbird Designs, and I fell in love with that little piece.  Not sure why I singled that one out, but I decided to stitch it up.  The finish I saw appeared to use a mix of hand-dyed threads and DMC.  Mine is all DMC, but some different colors.  I made it into a 4" square pouch to hold my earbuds.  I don't use earbuds much so I just keep them close by.  When I browse the web using my Nook and want to view a video or something that makes noise, I need to use them temporarily.  The Nook volume is way too low, even turned up to high, without the buds.  So now they have a nice home.

I used rick rack again as a trim, this time pressing the piece so the trim faces the border and not the linen.  I substituted three little buttons instead of stitching my initials.  It's done on 36ct Edinburgh Dirty linen.  A cute little thing, no?

I always wanted to stitch "Secret Egg Hunt" by the Trilogy.  I just never had a reason to do it or a use for  it til now.  WOCS started a "Spring is in the Air" quilt and blocks with bunnies and eggs were welcome.   I left out the boring one row border.  I don't think it's necessary for a quilt square like this.  I stitched it on 25 ct. Platinum Lugana.  All the colors really popped on that color.  And 12.5 stitches to the inch?  A dream to stitch with.  So easy to see.  I can stitch so quickly on fabric like this.  I think 2 strands still covers it very well too, making the loop method for starting off still possible.  I also think the designs on these quilt squares can look nicer when the aren't so teeny weeny.

Interesting tidbit time.  You may remember that about a year ago I stitched a portrait of my brother.  I used a photo of Larry David since my brother looks so much like him and is often mistaken for him.  Click here to see that post.  Well, it turns out that Larry David went to the University of Maryland at the same time that I was there.  The Washington Post had a recent article written by the sweetheart of his fraternity.  Turns out that I knew a few of his fraternity brothers, one of whom was sort of my stalker.  I would never go out with the guy, but if I had known that it might lead to meeting the soon-to-be famous LD, I might have said 'yes'.    Click here for a link to the article.  It's a good read if you are an LD or Seinfeld fan.  If you scroll down you can see a photo of a reunion they had some years ago at the writer's house.  I may recognize my stalker in that photo, but I'm not sure.  It was a long time ago.

Primrose Maiden

Would you believe we are anticipating an ice storm tomorrow?  This weather just goes on and on.  So meanwhile, I stitched something to make me think of warmer days.  This design is "Primrose Maiden" by  Laura Rimola, The Little Stitcher.  It can be found in the April, 2015 issue of  Just Cross Stitch Magazine. I finished it up into another little pouch for a spring tension hoop.  This one is for the 4" size.  The last one was the for the 6" size.  It's stitched on scrap piece of 36" ct hand dyed linen.  I had that rick rack already so I made use of it as well.  Not much else stitchy going on so I took several photos to flesh out the post.  

My sewing machine seemed to have a mind of its own today.  Mine is an old machine with a knee-activated start and stop control.  I don't think they use those much anymore, but they were very popular in the Stone Age when the machine was new.  Today it seemed to get stuck and keep going after I released pressure.  I had to pull it back by hand to stop the machine.  Only happened when I was running the machine at high speed.  Kind of frightening the first time is occurred -- like some weird scary movie.  This may be a sign that it's finally time to consider an upgrade. 

Hare's Lucky Day

There are so many designs I want to stitch, but I hesitate to stitch them because I can't think of a use for them.  Or sometimes I'm saving them for just the right purpose, and that purpose never seems to show up.  "Hare's Lucky Day" by Plum Street Samplers, a freebie you can find here,  is one of those designs.  No one I know had the right combination of kids to make this an appropriate design for them.  So finally, I stitched it up anyway.

I have a number of those spring tension hoops stored in a tote bag.  They are forever getting entangled with each other, so I decided they needed separate pouches.  Any old zip lock bag would do, but stitcher-tunity visions started appearing before my eyes.  So I sewed this design up into a little sleeve that just fits the 4" hoop with a snap closure to keep it in place.

I thought the hares were supposed to be white, so I had cut a piece of my favorite go-to fabric for white, 36 ct Summer Khaki Edinburgh, before I noticed the hares are supposed to be light brown.  I just changed them to DMC 3865 and I was good to go.  I added a little extra gold DMC on the kids' clothes as well.    Plus I changed the Mom's dress to a darker green for better contrast.  Looked a little plain at the end so I added a couple of heart buttons .. after all, yesterday was Valentine's Day.   The rest of hoops are jealous now, so I'm sure I will make more of these.

 

Truer colors:

Back of sleeve:

Inside with snap showing:

Stay warm everyone... it's wicked cold in these parts!

I've Got the Horse Right Here.....

Just in time for GW's birthday, I finished this  Paul Revere piece.  I was singing the whole time I was stitching..

I've got the horse right here, his name is Paul Revere, and here's a guy that says that if the weathers' clear, can do...can do...this guy says the horse can do. If he says the horse can do...can do...can do.

For those that don't recognize the lyric, it's from the most wonderful show, Guys and Dolls. 
You can watch the opening number to the show to see it performed if you care to on this You Tube Video.

The design is from the July/August 2012 issue of JCS.  I remember thinking it was interesting when I first saw it, but I recently saw a finish of this on Hildi's Good Life.
It made made me want to stitch it immediately.

Mine is stitched on 28 ct Cashel linen in Summer Khaki I think.  I love the little petit point/over-one stitching for Paul.  The grass is in long-leg cross stitch and gives a nice textured effect.  Just a fun little design.

I finished it up as a pouch to hold my small quilting ruler for want of knowing what else to do with it.  My cutting, sewing and centering are shown up for all their wonkiness here, but the ruler fits quite nicely inside.