1 X-mas Item a Month August 2016

I was not sure I would have a finish this month, but I managed one!

Last December my son and I saw this no-sew fleece blanket kit at JoAnn Fabric and it was marked down 75%. We bought it with plans of completing it before Christmas. In February, we found it in the "safe place" we stored it in and realized we both completely forgot. Oops!

This was my first no-sew fleece blanket. The panels were not quite the same size, but almost.

About 2 hours later it was done. Now, my son and I just need to remember it is hiding in its "safe place" this Christmas.

Thank you so much for stopping by! I do hope you will visit the 1 Xmas Item a Month blog to see what the other elves have accomplished.

Renee

TAST 2016 Stitch 48

TAST 48: Knotted Feather Stitch

I found some time to stitch this weekend and worked in a TAST stitch!  

The green vine was created with the knotted feather stitch, using variegated DMC size 5 pearl cotton #4045.

Using variegated blue/purple DMC size 5 pearl cotton #4215, I added raised cross stitch flowers and bullion stitched flower buds to the vine. 

This is a combination of stitches I do hope to use again in the future! 

TAST stands for Take a Stitch Tuesday. It is a personal stitching challenge offered by Sharon B. on Facebook and on her blog, pintangle.com. You may read more about it here. If you follow the TAST Facebook group, you know there are some incredibly inspiring examples of these stitches being shared. Anyone may join at any time during the challenge. Thank you, Sharon, for offering TAST!

A Surprise in the Mail

Just look at the beautiful surprise I found in my mail today!

My sweet blogging friend, MA from Magpie's Mumblings, made this beauty.

Pictures do not do it justice!

It arrived beautifully packaged, too.

I love the way the pretty silkie was attached and check out that button!

Hearts are my favorite shape, so I love the charm.

And the seam work is all exquisite! 

I believe MA recently shared 19 gorgeous postcards on her blog. 

You may see this lovely postcard at Magpie's Mumblings HERE.

She also shared a series of seam treatments recently. You may check them out HERE. (And you may see some featured in my work when I find time to play with a needle and thread again!)

On another note, I apologize for falling out of the blogging world. Life has thrown us a few curve balls this summer. Stressful ones, but we are counting our blessings! 

To balance out the stressful bits, we have also been lucky enough to have Dutch relatives come and visit. We are truly enjoying their company. We have been crazy busy playing tourist, but it has been the highlight of the summer. Here is a list of some of the fun places we have gone with our guests this month:

Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum in McMinnville, Oregon
OMSI - Oregon Museum of Science & Industry in Portland, Oregon
Big Al's in Beaverton, Oregon (For those of you eating gluten free please note: the online menu differs from the restaurant menu in some respects. For example tater tots are not gluten-free as indicated on the website.)
Build-A-Bear in Clackamas Town Center in Happy Valley, Oregon
Pike Place Market in Seattle, Washington
Seattle Center in Seattle, Washington (The International Fountain was a big hit!)
Future of Flight Aviation Center & Boeing Tour in Mukilteo, Washington
Woodburn Premium Outlets in Woodburn, Oregon
Aurora Colony Days Parade in Aurora, Oregon
Clackamas County Fair in Canby, Oregon - My Mother-in-Law really wants me to submit an entry next year. ;)
Jimmy Mac's Roadhouse in Everett, Washington (This is one of the 4 restaurants that I have been to with amazing food and that have been wonderful about dealing with my dietary restrictions. I wish every waitress could be as knowledgeable and informative as ours was. And the steak... Goodness, I need to stop thinking about it before I begin drooling... However, this is not the place to go with peanut allergies.)

I also apologize for being late in responding to comments made on my last blog posts. I may get to them by September - I hope! I have been able to check in on Facebook with my iPad here and there, but computer time has been limited. (I could respond tonight, but I've only put 3 stitches into a project since July 30th. I need a stitching fix and have a date with my needle and thread tonight! As far as addictions go, embroidery is a pretty safe one, right?!)

Wishing you all a fabulous August! In September, I look forward to catching up with my favorite blogs. :)

Thanks for stopping by!
Renee

Fractal White Tiger July 2016 Update

My camera is taking somewhat grainy photos today, so I apologize for the photo. (The lighting this late in the day could be a factor, too.)

This month, I added 1,145 stitches to my Charting Creations Fractal White Tiger cross stitch based on artwork by Ricky Barnard. 

I finally passed the 10,000 stitches mark and the project is 5.95% complete.

This photo shows how it looked last month.

I did not have much time for crafting this month, but I did manage to surpass my goal of 900 stitches a month.

I began this project on January 1st as a part of A Stitchy New Start. I do hope you will visit to see what everyone else is working on!

1 X-mas Item a Month - July 2016

Yay! I finally finished a couple of projects to share with the 1 X-mas Item a Month blog! 

In May, I shared the embellished front to this stocking. Today, I carved out enough time to stitch it all together.

I completed the cross-stitched center over a decade ago and tried to make a wall quilt for my husband. (The pattern was in the book Alma Lynn's Country Cross-Stitch.) 

The wall quilt did not turn out well, so I set it aside. Last year, I pulled it out of my pile of UFOs (unfinished objects) and decided it would be fun to use in a crazy quilted stocking for my husband. I am happy to say that he loves it!

Some time ago, my husband mentioned he wanted a new pillowcase, so I found these fun beer prints. Unfortunately, I did not think about the print and grain running in the wrong direction...

This was my first time making a pillowcase using the "roll up" or "burrito" method.

I followed the tutorial I found at The Seasoned Homemaker. I also watched this YouTube video by The Crafty Gemini to make sure I understood the method first.

His pillow fits in it perfectly and I think he'll like it - even if the beer is all sideways.

The body fabric is Cheers by Martin Irish. The cuff fabric is by Hi-Fashion Fabrics, Inc. - Pattern HJG-C3867. (I wanted to share links, but could only find the Cheers print with a black background and could not find the cuff fabric on-line.)


Are you working on any handmade Christmas gifts?