Snowman Zipper Pouch

This month, I created a zipper pouch using a bit of glittery snowman fabric I had in my stash.

Above is the front of the pouch and below is the back.

The bag was very fun and easy to make following this video tutorial from the Missouri Star Quilt Company.

You may see more items that other bloggers 

created at the 1 X-mas Item a Month blog.

Thanks for stopping by!

-Renee

Updated 9/1/17
I did an on-line search and discovered the fabric is 
Keepsake Calico Holiday Cotton "Snow Celebration".
I purchased mine at JoAnn Fabric a few years ago.

Fractal White Tiger August 2017

I am thrilled to share a page finish on my Charting Creations "Fractal White Tiger" cross-stitch that is based on artwork by Ricky Barnard. 

Page 6 is done!

3 of 30 pages and 21,712 of 174,300 stitches are complete. I will be filling in page 7 next.

1,818 stitches were added in August.

This is how it looked at the end of July. (The colors are more true in this photo.)

I seriously LOVE working on this piece. Once I finish one of my other large cross-stitch projects, Fractal White Tiger will be receiving a lot more attention.

(There is a complete photo of this project on the right sidebar.)

Note: There is now a Small Fractal White Tiger chart available at Charting Creations. I am working the regular chart. What is the difference? 
Regular chart: 350W x 498H (174,300 stitches) - 80 colors.
Small chart: 205W x 291H (59,655 stitches) - 64 colors. I believe the colors on the nose are toned down on the small chart, as well. 

Although I began this piece on January 1, 2016 to participate with stitchystart.blogspot.com, this is 71 days worth of actual stitching progress.

I am joining Monday Stitchery Link Party #125 at Super Mom - No Cape! I do hope you will pop over to see what others are working on.

If you have a blog and do any hand embroidery, I hope you will join the party!

Sun, Sand, and Sea BOM Blocks 5 & 6

Today, I finally finished adding buttonhole stitches to tack down the applique on Block 5 of the Sun, Sand, and Sea Block of the Month hosted by Amy at Sew Incredibly Crazy.

This darling block was created by Carol at Just Let Me Quilt. I used Therm-o-Web's HeatnBond Lite to adhere the applique to the block and then used buttonhole stitches to secure the pieces in place for future laundering. Stem stitches were used for the window panes and details on the lobsters. And, chain stitches encircled the middle window.

I really enjoyed paper piecing Block 6 for this BOM. The cute fish border was designed by Carla at Creatin' in the Sticks and the directions included options to paper piece or applique the fish. 

In the quilt assembly stage, I plan to add buttons for the door knobs on Block 5 and for the fish eyes on Block 6.

Now, I just need to make Block 7 - a super cute block featuring an appliqued crab that was designed by Amy at Sew Incredibly Crazy. Here is a link to a post on her blog featuring photos of each block and links to their patterns.

This is how blocks 1 - 6 look together. It will be such a fun quilt when it is finished! The ladies designing these blocks amaze me each month, making my first Block-of-the-Month experience amazing.

Related Posts:
Blocks 1 & 3 - here
Block 2 - here
Block 3 Progress - here
Block 4 - here

I am joining with Monday Stitchery Link Party #124 at Super Mom - No Cape! The free patterns available this week include some fun summer fruits. 

Thank you so much for stopping by!
-Renee

QS Red Hearts Update - August 2017

If you follow me on Instagram, you likely saw several updates on QS Red Hearts, the cross-stitch chart from Heaven and Earth Designs based on artwork by Ching-Chou Kuik over the past month. 

Thanks to the motivation provided by The Stitching Hour Challenge hosted by Ambitious Stitches on Instagram from June 1st - August 1st, I made a fair amount of progress in July. 

In August, the New Official Heaven and Earth Designs Facebook Group announced a challenge to stitch 10 grids of a chart in a diagonal or checkerboard pattern with a bit of feathering on each block.

I opted to park my threads along the way. About 4 blocks in, I nearly stopped and worked the parked threads in - I figured I could work the challenge on a project without as many colors. But I decided to keep going.

In the end, I added over 3,000 stitches just completing the challenge and working in the parked threads. Since my last update 7,026 stitches were added to this piece. 1,491 stitches were added in July and another 5,535 were added this month.

I will likely continue working the chart in a diagonal pattern. There is a lot of black in the bottom row that I do not want to become bored with. Working some of the darker colors below and then some of the brighter colors above should prevent that.

If I could keep up this pace, this piece would be complete within 3 months. I do not know how likely that would be, but I am aiming finish as many projects as I can this year.

The project is 59.62% complete. (It was 44.67%)

Pages 1-3: 100%
Page 4: 97.36% (It was 28.22%)
Page 5: 21.46% (It was 7.12%)
Page 6: 7.26%
Page 7: 14.77% (It was 0%)
Page 8: 0.04% (It was 0%)

I am linking with the Monday Stitchery Link Party #123 at Super Mom - No Cape! I encourage you to pop over to see what the free embroidery pattern is this week and to see what others have been working on. If you do hand embroidery and have a blog, I encourage you to join the party!

Thank you for stopping by!
Renee

Twilight Duel Update #21 - August 2017

On June 30th, this is how Twilight Duel looked. This is a Heaven and Earth Designs cross-stitch chart based on artwork by Ruth Thompson that I am stitching for my youngest son.

I feared the blue in this piece might become boring to stitch, but I love seeing all of the shades fill in the night sky.

5,504 stitches were added in July. Page 7 was completed and a bit of the gap on page 3 was filled in (on the far left.) Progress was also made on pages 13 and 19 along the bottom.

A photo of the full chart is on the sidebar to the right.

44,728 stitches are done. Only 102,872 stitches to go! (Only... I type with a chuckle.)

5 of 24 pages are complete.

Percent Complete:

Project:           30.3% (It was 26.57%)
Pages 1 & 2: 100% 
Page 3:            28.9% (It was 20.95%)
Page 4:         100%
Page 5:             1.83%
Page 6:             0%
Pages 7 & 8: 100% (Page 7 was 46.63%)
Page 9:             2.73%
Page 10:           0.25%
Page 11:           0%
Page 12:           0%
Page 13:         48.18% (It was 42.51%)
Page 14:           3.62%
Page 15:           0%
Page 16:           0%
Page 17:           0%
Page 18:           0%
Page 19:         13.03% (It was 0%)

Last month, I mentioned a potential splurge on a phone case featuring artwork by Ruth Thompson. Well, it turns out that goheadcase.com features a lot of artwork - including work by Anne Stokes and I also love her dragons. So, my son selected a phone case featuring Ruth Thompson's "Coldfire" and I chose "Kindred Spirits" by Anne Stokes. (I am not affiliated with the company, but my son and I love our new cases!)

I have been trying my best not to buy any more cross-stitch charts, because I have enough to keep me busy for the next decade or so (literally.) However, I have been sorely tempted to order either "Kindred Spirits" or "Mini Kindred Spirits AS" from Heaven and Earth Designs. It is such a gorgeous piece of art.

Although it is Tuesday, I am linking up with Monday Stitchery Link Party #122 at Super Mom - No Cape! (We had internet issues yesterday.) There is another adorable vintage pattern available and some lovely work has been shared.

Thank you for stopping by! 
Renee

August 2017

July had its ups and downs. One of the best memories of the month was participating in a Paint Nite event with my mother-in-law, sister-in-law, and my husband. I like the sunflower I painted last year better than my beach scene on a crate (mine is the one on the right), but I had a great time. And, I love the scene my husband created!

As for my July goals, here is how I did...

#4 A holly seam was embellished on the crazy quilt stocking I am making for my son. 

#5 A zipper pouch with a wristlet was created with my CQJP 2013 January block. This was my 4th finish with the APQ 2017 UFO Challenge. You may read more about it here. 

#8 Although I did not stitch every single day, I made a lot of progress and had a lot of fun participating with The Stitching Hour 2017  hosted by Ambitious Stitches on Instagram. You may see my posts on Instagram here.

Here is my updated list for the APQ 2017 UFO Challenge. (My original post about the challenge is here. It includes photos of all 12 items on my list.)

August Goals:

1. Complete 2 items for Etsy shop, including an under-the-sea eye glasses case.

2. Finish a gift for my friend's daughter. All of the pieces have been cut out now - it just needs to be sewn together.

3. Sew together the wall quilt with the 6 blocks from the CQI Hearts Round Robin. (This was #2 on my APQ UFO Challenge and was selected for May.)

4. Finish embellishing the stocking I am making for my eldest son. (It is pictured above. This was #10 on my APQ UFO Challenge and was selected for June.)

5. Finish the buttonhole stitches and other embroidery on block 5 of the Sun, Sand, and Sea Block of the Month hosted by Amy at Sew Incredibly Crazy and friends. And finish the fish border, which is block 6. 

6. Finish block 7 of the Sun, Sand, and Sea Block of the Month. It is super cute and may be seen here. 

7. For August, #5 was selected as the project to complete for the AQP UFO Challenge. So, I need to sew my May CQJP 2014 block into a purse. (You may read more about this block here.)

Top 5 Posts Viewed in July:

1. 4th Annual Piggy Bank Savings Challenge - here

2. July 2017 - here

3. June 2017 - here  (The #1 viewed post in June.)

4. May 2017 - here

5. Twilight Duel Update #20 - July 2017 - here 

Thank you for stopping by!

Renee