Fractal White Tiger January 2018

This month, 1,040 stitches were added to my Charting Creations Fractal White Tiger cross-stitch, based on the artwork of Ricky Barnard.

I hit the 25,000 stitches milestone this month and hope to finish page 7 in February.

Thank you so much for visiting!
-Renee

I began this project on January 1, 2016 to participate at stitchystart.blogspot.com. The top photo shows 81 days of actual stitching time.

To see the progress others are making on their projects, click here.

Twilight Duel Update #24

This month, I completed page 19 (a partial page) of my Heaven and Earth Designs Twilight Duel cross-stitch project. That completes the bottom row of this chart, based on the artwork of Ruth Thompson.

The photo to the right shows how it looked on January 1st.

If you follow me on Instagram or on my Facebook page, you saw this sneak peek on the 18th.

Here is a full photo. 

7 of 24 pages are finished.

1,928 stitches were added this month, passing the 35% complete milestone. Only 95,677 stitches to go!



Percent Complete:
Project:         35.18% (It was 33.87%)
Pages 1-2:  100%
Page 3:         32.26%
Page 4:       100%
Page 5:           1.83%
Page 6:           0%
Pages 7-8:  100%
Page 9:           2.73%
Page 10:         0.25%
Pages 11-12:  0%
Page 13:     100%
Page 14:         5.02%
Pages 15-18:  0%
Page 19:     100% (It was 43.47%)
Page 20:         3.72% (It was 0%)

Thank you for visiting!
Renee

Pink Snowman Mug Rug

Today, I finished hand sewing the binding on this mug rug. 

The "Snowman" is a digital stamp from The Paper Shelter. After reading on-line that the black ink in most inkjet printers is permanent, I printed the stamp onto a sheet of cotton fabric. Then I colored the design with crayons and heat set the color (using the same process described with these Valentine fabric postcards.) 

I do plan to wash this mug rug before adding it to my Christmas gift stash for December, just to make sure the printer ink is colorfast. I hope so, as I plan to finish a similar mug rug next month. I will let you know how well it washes with that post in February!


Thank you for visiting!
-Renee

This is my 4th year participating with the 1 X-mas Item a Month Blog. You may see what others are working on here.

Sun, Sand, and Sea BOM 2017 - Block 8

Block 8 of the Sun, Sand, and Sea Block of the Month was a challenging one for me. 

Finding a color scheme that would work for the flamingo and still fit with the orange and black theme of the quilt was a little tricky, but I think I pulled it off.

As much as I loved the border option using small squares of various colors of fabrics, I felt this border option in the directions would fit better with the theme and with the other blocks I have made.

"Beach Boy Freddie" is adorable and was fun to work on! This block was designed by Carol of Just Let Me Quilt. You may see her post sharing this block here and the pattern is on Craftsy here.

I used ThermOWeb Heat-n-Bond Lite to attach the appliqued pieces to the block and then secured each piece by hand with the buttonhole stitch and 2 strands of matching DMC floss. The straw was hand embroidered with a stem stitch.

I have 2 more blocks to complete for this quilt top. You may find the blocks I have completed to date on the Sun, Sand, and Sea 2017 BOM page at the top of my blog or by clicking here.

If you are interested, Amy and her friends have organized another Block of the Month for 2018. The theme is: It's a "Wild" Life. You may find the schedule of designers here and Amy shared a post with supplies you will need for the BOM here. Each pattern is free the month it is released.

Thank you for visiting!
Renee

Love You! Tote Bag

I have been using the Have a Latte Grab Bag that I made in 2015 so much that it is literally falling apart.

So, I had a tote bag made through Printful.com using a photo of the "Love you!" crazy quilt block I made for the Crazy Quilt Journal Project earlier this month.

It was a learning experience. I had to enlarge the photo a bit too much to fit the bag, so the image is slightly blurry.

I love it anyway! 

And now I know what to do differently if I try this idea out again.

Now, I just need to make a few small zipper pouches to use in this spacious tote.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Thank you for visiting!
-Renee

Crazy Quilted Artist Trading Cards Finished!

I finally finished my Artist Trading Cards (ATCs) for the Crazy Quilt Quarterly Magazine's 2018 ATC Swap.

If you are participating in this swap, please remember ATCs must be received by Pamela Kellogg by January 31st. 

More details about this swap may be found here, at Kitty and Me Designs. 

The tutorial I shared to make crazy quilted ATCs begins with this post.

I am looking forward to seeing the special edition of the Crazy Quilt Quarterly Magazine featuring the ATCs created for this swap. (I will share photos of the 3 I created after the special edition has been released.)

Thank you for visiting!
Renee

Note: I am not affiliated with the magazine, but do love to read it! Editions are available through Magcloud, here.

TAST Weeks 3-4

Week 3: Fly Stitch

For Week 3 of TAST, I added a fly stitched seam to the crazy quilted messenger bag I am making.

(Click on any photo for a larger view.)

Mill Hill Magnifica #10026 Old Rose Beads were added above each fly stitch to create small flowers. 

Week 4: Detached Chain Stitch

Detached Chain Stitch is also known as a Lazy Daisy Stitch. It is incredibly versatile and may be the one I use most often. 

Clusters of 5 detached chain stitches with colonial knots in the centers create simple flowers.

A third seam was added to my messenger bag using straight stitches (flower stems), pairs of detached chain stitches (leaves), and sets of fly stitches (heart flowers.)

Here is a photo of this seam in progress. The hearts are made with two fly stitches (like the pink one here) that meet in the center.

Thank you so much for stopping by!
Renee

TAST stands for Take a Stitch Tuesday. It is a personal challenge to learn a new embroidery stitch each week. The challenge is offered by Sharon B. of Pintangle.com. Anyone may join in at any time. This link will take you to the TAST FAQs. Find the TAST Facebook Group here.

QS Red Hearts Update - January 2018

My goal this year is to add at least 1,290 stitches a month to my QS Red Hearts Heaven and Earth Designs cross-stitch project. Meeting that goal will mean a finish this year. 

I love this piece of artwork by Ching-Chou Kuik!

This is how she looked at the beginning of the month.

981 stitches were added between January 19th and 21st for IHSW.

(Learn more about IHSW below.)

And this is how she looks now.

2,158 stitches were added this month. 

This completed another diagonal row across the chart.





The project is now 71.74% complete. (It was 67.15%.)

Pages 1-4: 100% complete.
Page 5:      65.15% complete. (It was 45.43%.)
Page 6: 17.71% complete. (It was 7.44%.)
Page 7: 56.13% complete. (It was 47.09%.)
Page 8: 0.11% complete. (It was 0.09%.)
Page 9: 0% complete. 

Thank you for visiting!
Renee

International Hermit & Stitch Weekend (IHSW) is an event hosted at Random Ramblings that is held the 3rd full weekend of each month. You may find more details here. The IHSW Facebook Group is here. And this month's link party is here at Random Ramblings, along with photos of a gorgeous finish.

Donation Made by Mom

My mom crochets the most beautiful doilies. This year, she crocheted a few hats for Christmas. She made this one to donate for a raffle my son's drama club will be holding this weekend to raise funds for their annual trip to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland.

The pattern was found on a skein of Red Heart yarn. Mine is yellow and quite warm and cozy. I hope the new owner of this one enjoys it! 

Thank you for visiting.
Renee

TAST 2018 Weeks 1-2

Week 1: Running Stitch

The first stitch introduced through the new round of Take a Stitch Tuesday (TAST) was the running stitch.

I worked the stitch as a flight path for a butterfly on the crazy quilted messenger bag I am making.

And, I used it to couch down a ribbon.

Week 2: Buttonhole Stitch

I woke up at 4:30 this morning and could not get back to sleep, so I checked my emails and learned the buttonhole stitch was introduced for TAST. Then, I picked up a quilt block to finish securing the applique and pondered how I should use the stitch this week. I think it took me 5 minutes to realize I was sewing the applique onto the block with the buttonhole stitch. (I blame it on not finishing my first cup of coffee!) 

I frequently use this stitch to create flower stems.

Today, I added this seam to my messenger bag. It includes a buttonhole stitch with detached chain stitched leaves and French knot flowers.

I also enjoy using the stitch to create fences in landscape crazy quilt blocks. Straight stitches make boards connecting the fence posts.


Thank you for visiting!
-Renee

TAST stands for Take a Stitch Tuesday. It is a personal challenge offered by Sharon Boggon at Pintangle.com to learn a new stitch each week. Learn more here.

This year there is also Beyond TAST for those that have completed TAST in the past or those familiar with the basic embroidery stitches. Those participating in Beyond TAST are encouraged to explore the stitches in more depth. Some of the work already shared on the TAST Facebook group has been incredible.

Crazy Quilted Swan Tote Bag

This crazy quilted tote bag is my first finish of the year!

I am so excited to have it finished. This weekend, it will be raffled off at a Dessert Theater by my son's drama team to help raise funds for their annual trip to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland.

It is not perfect, but it is original! Of course, there is also a matching tissue cover case.

This project became a UFO (unfinished object) back in December of 2015. As a relative novice, I accidentally sewed the handles on wrong. Of course, I did not notice until it was turned right side out and the lining had been sewn shut.

After debating with myself, I opted to replace the blue straps with white webbing. (On the bags I have made for myself, I found the webbing has held up much better over time.)

Here is a close up of the pocket. You may see the post shared when the block was embellished here. And the post where I shared my oops with the straps is here.

If you follow my blog regularly, you may recall this was #12 on my 2018 American Patchwork & Quilting UFO Challenge. 

One project is drawn each month and #12 was selected for January. You may find more about the challenge here. 

My UFO list posted with photos may be found here.

Thank you so much for visiting! I hope you all have a wonderful week.
-Renee

Happy Mail!

Just look at what arrived in my mailbox on Friday!

My friend at Createology sent me this lovely tatted wreath ornament.

My photo does not do it justice. You may see more wreaths she has tatted here. She also does lovely crazy quilt work.

Thank you so much, Sherry! It is a treasure.  

Hugs,
Renee

Embellished CQJP 2018 January Block

CQJP 2018 Block 1 "Love You"

If you follow me on Instagram or on Facebook, you have seen a few sneak peeks of this piece. This was such a fun block to embellish! 

This is a photo heavy post.

If you want to know how each part was embellished, keep reading. If not, feel free to skim through the photos!

The heart was created with white fabric that I colored in with shades of pink using crayons. (The process is better explained in this post.) It was applied to the block with Therm O Web Heat-n-Bond Lite.

After adding basic stitches to the 2 seams, I covered the edge of the appliqued heart with a whipped chain stitch. There were a few fibers along the seams that were not caught beneath those stitches, so I couched down a strand of black perle cotton. That almost solved the problem. Couching 6 strands of variegated pink embroidery floss covered those last few fibers.

I wanted to add the spider web to the pale pink section before adding the flowers to the feather stitched seam. (You may have noticed, I added detached chain stitch leaves first.)

The heart center was created with fly stitches extending from the 3 points of the heart to the edges of the pink section. 4 more long straight stitches were added to give me more spokes to attach the central web to. 

Cast on stitches created flowers along the seam. A spider was made with 2 silver beads (one 2mm and one 3mm). The legs were made like a fly stitch without the tail.  

"Love you!" was added with a stem stitch and black perle cotton.

Raised cross stitch flowers were added beneath the chevron stitched seam.

Straight stitches with 2 detached chain stitched leaves were worked above the chevron stitch, and 2 detached chain stitched leaves were added to each flower below.

Flower petals were created with sets of 3 detached chain stitches or with a fly stitch added to the top of each stem. 

This butterfly was added with detached chain stitches and a straight stitch. The running stitch made a flight path.

A similar butterfly was added to the second motif. 

Beads were added to both seams and a few more detached chain stitch leaves were added to the second seam to complete the block.

I am incredibly pleased with the results! 

Thank you so much for stopping by!
-Renee

CQJP 2018 January Block Seam 1

CQJP 2018 January Block Seam 2

CQJP 2018 January Block Motif 1

CQJP 2018 January Block Motif 2

CQJP 2018 January Motif 3

Related blog posts:
CQJP 2018 Block 1 Pieced - here
CQJP 2018 - 2 Basic Seams - here
CQJP 2018 seam and motif photos are beig saved to this Pinterest board.

Click any photo above for a larger image. (I am not sure if it is a Picassa issue or a blogger issue, but the images are blurrier in the blog posts. The enlarged view is better.)

CQJP = Crazy Quilt Journal Project. It is a personal challenge to embellish a crazy quilt block each month of the year. You may see work of other participants here.