Craft projects · cross stitch · Fabric · Pillows

My Spring FFO


Hello blogging friends! It is a dreary day here today. The perfect day to be inside making a blog post.

So when I last posted about my Spring Basket piece, I was almost finished stitching it. I just had about half of the border left. Well, I did finish all the stitching and it turned out so cute.

Please excuse the wrinkles. I just love the colors in this piece. The pinks and corals are so pretty and the white really does pop on the Dirty Aida. So now that it is finished, my plan was to turn it into a pillow.

I had so much anxiety about cutting into this fabric. I pressed it and ironed on some interfacing and walked away. And walked away many times. But then I did it! I cut it out! Great! On to the sewing.

I was so nervous throughout this whole process. I didn’t get any pictures of the sewn piece and turning it outside right and using a chopstick to gently push out the corners. I was so afraid of poking a hole through my aida that my corners on the finished pillow are not pointy at all. And then I stuffed the pillow. I have stuffed things before, so I know how to pull apart the polyfil and push it into the object. I had no idea how much I needed to stuff it! I second guessed every step of this process including stuffing! I stuffed and unstuffed until I thought it was right. Then I stuffed in some more and thought that was too much. So I pulled some out. And then I pulled even more out. Then I Added a little more back in. I Pushed polyfil into each of the corners and added more polyfil. Then it seemed like the gap in the opening wouldn’t close nicley, so I pulled out some of the stuffing. Finally decided it was perfect and I sewed the opening closed. And it was finished.

My first pillow finish. It is not perfect. As I said, my corners could have pushed out a bit more and it definitely needs more polyfil, but it is what it is and I am happy with it. I definitely want to give a shoutout to @clevergirldesignsco. In a panic before I could cut into the fabric, I messaged her for advice and she was so helpful and encouraging. And very patient with me with all of my questions. So now that I have my first cross stitch pillow done, it should be easier the next time, right? At least I should feel a little more comfortable cutting the fabric? We’ll see. Here is how I have my cute little pillow displayed in plenty of time for Easter.

The details: Spring Basket by Crocette a gogo’. Stitched on 16ct Dirty Aida and fully finished by me, Ginny 😉

So that is what I have been up to. Did you make a special project for Easter or Spring?

Happy Stitching!

ginny

cross stitch · Give-away · Pillows · yarn

Stitch Progress and Day 5 Blogaversary Celebration


Hello blogging friends. This post will be pretty short as I am pressed for time. But I did want to hop on with my Day #5 giveaway. First a peek at my Spring Basket progress.

Oh this is looking so sweet! I am almost finished with the rabbit on the right and then I will start the border. I just love this little stitch! Do you recognize the pillow in the background? I purchased all of the month’s pillows from the Pine Mountain series back in 2007 I believe. I talked about finishing the rest of the pillows in an old blog post. Well, they all were somehow tucked away in a bag that I recently found. I still have 6 or 7 pillows to finish. So now that I have found them again, I will have to work on getting them all finished. Of course April-August for sure have not been stitched. Fingers crossed I can get the April one finished for display sometime in April.

Now onto the giveaway. You know I love hand dyed yarn. This yarn is from a local to me dyer. She makes the most amazing self striping sock yarns! I have no idea how to knit socks, but it may be on my bucket list 😉 I thought this skein would make a very cool pair of socks. Or anything else you would want to make with it. It is “400 yards of self striping Goodness”. Put the code Sock Yarn in your comment if you would like a chance to win this. I will draw winners on March 31, 2023 along with the drawings for the last 4 days of giveaways.

That is all I have for today! I hope you are doing something fun like stitching.

Happy Stitching!

Ginny

cross stitch · Fabric · Floss · Hand Dyed Fabrics · New stash!

Stitchy Haul and Stitchy Progress


Hello blogging friends! It is 6:39 and it is still daylight outside! The sun is still out there, the sky is blue and the clouds are big and puffy. This makes me happy!

A few weeks ago I shopped at my Local Needlework Shop for the last time. They are closing in just a couple of days and this makes me so sad. They have been my go to shop for all things stitchy for the last 28 years. They have been open for 32 years and have decided it is time to retire. I will miss them so much, but I wish them much happiness in their retirement. So I went and picked up my Nashville Market goodies and did some shopping.

I love all wonderful stitchy stuff I picked up, but shopping that day was bittersweet. Just look at all of those luscious threads! Like I need more. Um, yes I do! LOL I would have added more, but it was a little difficult getting to everything with so many people in there shopping at a discount. I am just happy I was able to get there and say goodbye to the girls. I will miss them. The shop was about 40 minutes from my house. Not sure how far the closest shop is now. Too far. There is always the internet, right?

I have made good progress on my Spring basket. It is looking so cute!

I am really enjoying working on this little project. I am leaning towards finishing this as a little pillow to display on a table or shelf.

Today is day 4 of my Giveaway. You know how much I love hand dyed fabric! I have 2 beautiful pieces of fabric that I will never stitch on because they are not 16ct.

This one is a 28ct Jazlyn solo from Silkweaver. It is 18 x 26 and in the photo it is folded in half. The green is lighter in person and the splotches are purple to brown. I am sure I purchased this for a mermaid if that helps with the coloring. If you would like a chance to win this fabric, please put the code word Jazlyn in your comment.

This fabric is also folded in half and is a 32ct Lugana solo from Silkweaver and is 16″ x 25″. If you would like the chance to win this fabric, please put the code word Lugana in your comment. I will draw winners on March 31, 2023 and announce them in a blog post that day.

That is what I have been up to. What are you crafting on?

Happy Stitching!

Ginny

cross stitch · Fabric · Knitted Shawl · Knitting · patterns

Shawlette Finish and a New Start


Hello my blogging friends! There is a lot of different weather going on outside of my craft room window today. Everything except the sun. It’s cold, very windy, raining, sleeting, snowing. The perfect day to be inside and hanging out with you 🙂 Since the calendar says it’s Spring, I am still hoping that it arrives soon.

So, earlier in the month I started the 22 Little Clouds shawlette using the February Wonderland Ocean series yarn. This is where I left off when I first posted about it.

The yarn was so nice to knit with, and the pattern was one of those that you really only needed to glance out every now and then. So I watched a lot of tv while knitting on this one.

I was so happy to see the subtle fade emerging. It is so beautiful and I couldn’t wait to see more. So I kept knitting.

Wow! I really love how this yarn gently fades into the next color.

I loved it so much I finished it about 2 weeks ago. It still needs blocking, but it is finished and it turned out so cute! It was a great, quick one skein project. I don’t have a new project on my needles, but I did start a new project last night.

After all of the Flosstubes I have been watching, I decided I needed some small projects in my life. Things I can finish rather quickly, and into something other than a framing to hang on the wall. Especially since I am really out of wall space. So I ordered this one and it arrived a few days later. I dug into my stash for a piece of fabric and found a piece of 16ct Aida. I believe that the color is Dirty Aida.

And in a hoop! Wow! I can’t tell you the last time I used a hoop. I am a 2 handed stitcher, so using a hoop or Qsnap makes me feel like I am stitching very slowly. But it is relaxing and I am enjoying the stitching while watching more flosstubes, LOL

This is where I am at with this one. I just love all of the colors in this one. I really would have loved to stitch this on a white or light fabric, but since the birds and bunnies are white, I needed to go darker. I think I will be making this into a little pillow, but I may try my hand at framing it myself. The design area is about 5.5″ x 5.5″ so a small table top frame would be perfect. I am hoping I can get it finished by Easter.

So that is a little bit of what I have been up to since yesterday. And that brings me to my Giveaway #2 for my 11 year Blogaversary.

Since I also like to Crochet, I have hung onto this yarn for a special giveaway. This one I will have to limit to the US as I don’t know how the International shipping will be. When I special ordered yarn for my Nature’s Walk blanket, I way over bought and had all of this yarn left over. All full skeins except for the light pink at the top, but I don’t have a use for it so I threw it in.It is Comfort DK from Berroc and is so soft and squishy. Use code word YARN in your comment if you are in the US and would like the chance to win this. Tune in tomorrow for another giveaway. Thanks for stopping by.

Happy Stitching,

Ginny