Sunday, July 29, 2012

Opus Gluei challenge time! Are you working on something seasonal?

Any stitcher worth her salt is knee deep in
seasonal projects by now, right?

Perhaps you are stitching Christmas presents for friends and family?

Making home decor items for Autumn?

Halloween ornaments?

Well, join the club!

Over at the Order of the Opus Gluei, we're working with the theme of

(click to be taken over to the challenge)

And any art form - stitching, quilting, cross-stitching, multi media, paper, paint, and so on.... is welcome.

*****

No, I'm not like the department stores and already decorating for fall.
  I'm just sharing this for illustrative purposes.
But I have big plans to actually start in September to make my home looking Fall-ish.  I can add and subtract elements as the season goes on to take us from late summer into early fall and then Halloween and finally into Thanksgiving.

Last year I had stitched one lone Prairie Schooler owl and now there's some friends to share the curly willow twigs with him.

Dry run in the dining room.


Prairie Schooler - Fall Fields
(it's not on the cover but it is on the back page of the leaflet)


Prairie Schooler - Thanksgiving Comes Again


Prairie Schooler - Boo to You


Prairie Schooler - Thanksgiving Comes Again

A lot of fun finishes - felt backing, buttons, ribbon, what's not to love?

Intrigued?

Okay, so go over and share some of your creativity (and projects) with us!

Sunday, July 22, 2012

July's IHSW - A Saturday SAL Finish and a Start

Well, it is already the IHSW time for July - I know, where has the entire year gone????

This weekend I am going to try and eke out a teeny bit of stitching time, I'm in the midst of a major clean, purge, and organize binge.  I have big plans for a home decor makover.  Woo hoo.

But I also want to stitch...a lot....

It's Saturday and that's when I work on Prairie Schooler projects as part of a SAL with Debbie and Linda, so let's see what I finished working on last weekend.  The August motif from the Summer and Winter Prairie Schooler leaflet is done.  Haven't made this into anything but like the way it turned out, this was fun with all the color changes and cute critters.

So, for the IHSW I am proposing that I'll make progress on a start - the September motif from the Prairie Schooler Spring and Fall.  This is what little I accomplished this morning.  Wayyyyy too early this morning. 




What?  You can't tell what it is?  I'm shocked (snicker).  It's obviously the flank of the little squirrel.  Still don't see it?  Okay, I'll sneak you a peek at what it is going to look like.



See?  Of course, you do.

Here's my helpful assistant, whom you can only see a glimpse of in the first photo.  His name is Taz and he's a Bengal and quite sure he is actually a Marine on temporary furlough.  He is short haired and quite a daredevil (some might call him reckless, but he believes he is simply very brave).  The ladies all love him too). 



 Thanks for coming by and I hope you are able to participate in the IHSW this weekend!

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Opus Gluei challenge - Where do you get your suntan?

Over at Opus Gluei, a fun craft challenge blog in which we come up with a theme every two weeks and post it with our creations and then challenge YOU to create something the theme inspires in YOU!  We love to see a range of artistic creations - from scrapbooking, paper crafting, wood, blogging, cooking, and yep - stitching!

This challenge (#135), created by the lovely Gini, is asking you where do you get your suntan?  Oooh la la....this could get cheeky eh?

Well, perhaps you are a gardener and you've got the farmer's tan to prove it!  Well, take some photos and write a blog post and then link it up.  Do you have some summer birthdays you are making cards for?  Perfect.  If you're a stitcher and like to make fingertip towels with a summer/beachy theme - let's see them!  Everything and anything that you're inspired to make, we want to see...pretty please?

Okay, for the challenge, I used a little quickie pattern that was included with the main project - from the Cross Eyed Cricket entitled "Sams and Stripes."  Look at those cute Uncle Sams.  That's another of my someday projects.  I stitched the little angel pictured on the cover at the bottom right.  she's an August Angel and I like to call her Aggie. 



Here's a little better look at her - uh oh, look out for the crab!!!!


She's got a cute little look about her that reminds me of motifs my Mom made on guest towels when she was in high school.  Kind of retro-ish and she's got that old timey swimsuit on and real glittery (water) wings, and I really don't have that many non-Independence Day summery decorating items so there you go.  Selected, stitched, finished, and displayed.  WHEW!  All in a week.  voila

So, after all this, you just have to check the Order of the Opus Gluei out and see if you feel inspired to create something stitchy for us to see!

Friday, July 13, 2012

Prairie Schooler - Saturday Stitch Along - Progress on August

Been a long while it seems since I've posted.  More a matter of having time at night to be coherent in a post after a long day at work and then dropping over to the hospital to see Mom.  Good news on that front, the hyperbaric treatments are working and she is improved enough to have been released from the hospital (3 weeks, poor dear) and back into her orthopedic rehab facility.  Next stop - HOME!  She can't wait, she's ready to click her heels and get out of the medical loop!  It's been 11 months, eleven LONG months. 

On the stitching front, I have been working on my Prairie Schooler Summer and Winter leaflet with emphasis on August.  This is a cute one, lots of little critter motifs to stitch and plenty of color changes to keep your interest piqued!




This is part of my Saturday Prairie School Stitch Along that I participate in with Linda and Debbie.  We're all on different projects but they are all Prairie Schoolers and it's inspiring to see what we get up to!  I hope to have this finished up soon and I'm going to start going through the various completed stitching projects for this and see what I can totally finish (you know, put in a frame, make a pillow, a doorhanger, etc.).  Was inspired by finishing July up totally and actually displaying it!

What are you working on?  Let me know in the comments and I'll be by to check out your blog!

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Happy Birthday America!

I've been hard at work on projects, some for home, some for work, and even some stitchy ones just for me (although they might end up at home or work).

I've been stitching a very pretty, ladylike sampler on linen but haven't gotten very far.  I tend to work on this in fits and starts.  It's from a leaflet (c. 1980's) from Pat Rogers - Hearts and Lace sampler. 





Since finishing my July Prairie Schooler SAL a bit early, I treated myself to stitch a Prairie Schooler Prairie Faery, a stitching fairy.  I'm already thinking of how to finish her once the stitching is done, she's going to adorn my craft area. 



Here in America it is our national birthday, our independence day, and I am sharing a lovely Fourth of July card made by my friend Anne and send all the way from Copenhagen.  She's so sweet and thoughtful.  If you would like to see more of her work; her crafts, thoughtful posts, and wonderful photography then check it out here.http://hotchypotch.blogspot.com/


I've even found a bit of time to stitch a little banner for this blog!

Sunday, July 1, 2012

Saturday Stitch Along - July!

Well, I actually got one of my Prairie Schoolers completed and fully finished/displayed.  (and before the month is over, no less!)

This is the July motif from the Prairie Schooler's Summer and Winter leaflet.  It is part of a stitch along that I'm participating in with Linda and Debbie

It also, happily, works for the Order of the Opus Gluei, the craft challenge blog that I host with dear friends.  The Opus Gluei theme is America, America, or wherever you hold allegiance (okay a little wordy but fun) and we're asking crafters to share (in whatever media they choose to work with) their national pride.  Which is perfect considering that there is Canada Day, Independence Day, Queen's Jubilee, and the Olympics to name but a few of the national and cultural celebrations taking place.  Now's the time to share your hard work and stitched projects.  I hope you click on the link and do just that!

So, here's the finish.  I have never handsewn piping into a project.  It was a little unwieldy and I was a novice but I pushed through to complete it.  Now, I need to go out searching for videos on piping....

the stitching itself was fun, colorful and very quickly pulled together, I didn't feel rushed and I actually worked on another project during the week as well, so this wasn't an exclusive stitching project.