You are being monitored.

While wist surfing a couple of weeks ago, I found the idea for this guy and just had to make him! He is hand stitched in felt. He went together very quick! I'll most likely be making another. Only instead of a bunny, I'll make a platypus for my husband. :D

A heart of many colors

Just a quick post...

I stitched this heart up for a dear friend. I loved the use of the different colors in its interior.

Stitched completely in split stitch!

I hope she likes it. ;D

Just singing in the rain!

Here's a bit of a secret about the Troublet.....I'm a closet puddle hopper!...and I'm not ashamed to admit it! LOL

I LOVE a light spring rain that leaves puddles that are just enough to jump in but not sufficient enough to create a bog. I hop in puddles. I taught my kids to hop in puddles. We hop in puddles together. We are some puddle hopping sillies!

Now, while perusing one of my favorite sites Feeling Stitchy, I noticed the April Stitch Along that a dear friend of mine, the most lovely and talented KittyKill, had posted. One look at this pattern was all it took. It's ME! I don't personally own a red umbrella, but the puddle hopping is all T.

So here's my version of the pattern...

And a close up shot

The grass is back/outline stitch. The girl is worked mostly in split stitch with fine detail worked in single thread back stitch. The flower stems are stem stitch. The drops are lazy daisies and the coat buttons and flower centers are french knots. This piece is crayon tinted.

It's in the Stars!

Having had spent so many years involved in historical reenactment and being trained to look at embroidery in both stitch and historical aspects, I now find (after no longer doing reenactment) that I'm beginning to see my needlework and its potential directions in a whole new light. I'm beginning to play with mixed media, different stitches, different uses for items that have been stitched, etc. I find a new excitement when I pick up my needlework knowing that I no longer have restrictions or expectations. Now, I just create for the love of doing just that.

Here's some of my experimentation. I love doing holiday ornaments but then they don't get to stay out on display all year, only during that particular season, so I created these embroidered stars. They can hang anywhere and any time.

The only thing that I had a pattern for was the cutting of the ground fabric (felt) itself. After that, I picked up my needle, chose some thread and just started stitching with no real plan. Just me and my needlework! In these stars, you can see chain stitch, button hole (or blanket), lazy daisy, feather, and french knots.

OH Wow!

I don't often post something like this, but I'm going to do so right now!

WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

I'm so excited to see that other people are finding my stitch tutorials useful! :D   Embroidery has been and most likely will always be my First Crafting Obsession. I'll be adding more to this site soon. All I need to do is survive this school year until the end of May so that I can indulge myself in creating more tutorial goodness.

If you have any suggestions or ideas for the next set of tutes, let me know! I love hearing from my readers and appreciate your feedback.:)

So THANK YOU! to you my readers...

And since I don't really care for pictures of myself, I thought I'd give you another visual of just how happy I am right now.

A Sewing Organizer

One of my favorite swaps on Craftster lately, besides the Hoopla!, is the Frugal swap. You have to pull up to 90% of your supplies from your current crafty stash. It can be a challenge and yet feel so very rewarding at the same time. For the remaining 10%, you are encouraged to recycle and reuse OR try your best to find the supplies needed at a garage sale or thrift store.

To make this sewing organizer, I used an old mismatched flat sheet, an unusable 3 ring binder (rings wouldn't meet up any more), a bit of ribbon and a single fat quarter!

I had my husband drill out the metal rivets holding the ring mechanism to the binder. Then, I cut out the sheet to make a slip cover. Then I used the fat quarter to create the free form machine embroidered tree on the front (a fav theme of the recipient) as well as the pockets on the interior. (This being my first attempt at free form machine embroidery, I learned the importance of stabilizer, which could have decreased the puckering on the tree!) The pockets on the inside are made for scissors, rulers, tape measures, etc. The two bows can hold things like rings of embroidery floss and the like. There are two large pockets for holding fabric or patterns. The middle strip is padded to act as a pin cushion.

Who you lookin' at?

I made this little guy for a mod buddy of mine at Craftster. He was super easy to stitch up!

I found the pattern at robotrish.com .

From Pants to Purse

Ok, I couldn't resist! I have to post something now! lol

Several months ago, I went on a recyle reuse renew kick and fell in love with the idea of using old clothing to create something new and useful.

Here's what I came up with!

First, made from an old pair of jeans that I just couldn't donate...a zipper purse.

Detail of the machine embroidery on the back

And from a pair of khaki pants, I made a messenger style bag. I even got a little feisty with the flower.

Detail of inside of bag

I have one more pair of pants that I destined to become a purse. I think I'll use that pair to write another tutorial. :)

I'm still here!

I've been laying low this Spring Break. I'm still crafting and cooking but I decided to give myself a wee bit of rest before I get hit with the storm that is End of School Year Madness. The count down to May 27 officially starts tomorrow. Once summer comes, I have a list of things that I plan to tackle!

I now plan to use my final day of this vacation preparing for next week and finishing up a swap item (pics forthcoming once this one has been received) so I'm going to leave you with a picture of what I can see in my yard. :)

Woka woka woka....bloooloop.

I am completely unashamed to say that I was a child of the 80s. I remember fondly going down to the local arcade during the summer to get my game fix. We played Centipede, Galaga and my all time favorite....Mrs. Pacman!

I was feeling nostalgic a couple of months ago and decided to make a tribute to Mrs. P. These are 4" hoops done in felt applique and the best part of this project is that they are all reversible! :D

Side 1

Side 2