Now I know my ABC's

Remember this project?  Ya know, this one.  Well it's finally finished!

I actually completed it just before Penelope arrived, but I didn't get around to framing it until as of late.  It's now hanging in her completed nursery (well, as completed as it's going to be) that will be revealed tomorrow!  Yay!

This project was my first go around with crewel and I am utterly smitten.  I'm hoping that Alicia will come up with a new kit sometime in the future, but until then her Winterwood cross stitch sampler is looking very enticing....

Handwork

It's becoming more and more uncomfortable to sit at my sewing machine for long periods of time, so I saved a lot of embroidery and other handwork pieces for the end of my pregnancy.

I was never really into cross stitch  until I discovered the most darling patterns by Gera.

I made this Hansel & Gretel one while I was pregnant with Phoebe, and I enjoyed it so much that I thought new baby should have one as well. 

I ended up purchasing the Little Red Riding Hood pattern, and as you can see - I've still got a ways to go.  Since I was new to cross stitch when I made Phoebe's, I used 18 count Aida cloth.  However, this time I figured, "Oh, I'm an old pro at this", and went with some 28 count (28 stitches per inch).  Oh boy, does that make for some tiny stitches - and much slower stitching!

Little Red herself is barely bigger than a quarter - and the pattern actually calls for 32 count, so I can't even fathom how teeny that would be!

I'm also still plugging away at my Daisy Chain Crewelwork Sampler, and wishing that Alicia would come out with another one sometime in the future.  This has been such a fun, relaxing project to work on.

And when I do get a little burst of energy here or there, I find my way back to my sewing machine and sew up some blocks for new baby's quilt.  Now who wants to come over and baste it for me?

Crewel Summer

 Ugh - I hate to leave the blog sitting unattended for so dang long, but our days have been so busy that by the time I finally get Phoebe into bed for the night, I want to do nothing more than crash on the couch.  Not only am I behind on posting to my own blog - but I'm super far behind in my blog reader, which bums be out.  I've been telling myself that I really need to edit down my subscriptions, but I haven't really had time for that either.  Sigh....

Another thing hindering my posting is that my trusty old Nikon has finally kicked the bucket - hence having to refer to Shake It Photo for blog pics since a new camera is nowhere in our budget.  But anyways, onto more lovely things.  

For mother's day this year, my mom ordered me Alicia Paulson's Daisychain ABC Sampler Kit.  The kit is no longer available, but you can purchase a pdf of the pattern here.

 

In case you've been living in a hole, Alicia writes the loveliest of lovely blogs, Posie Gets Cozy.  This was the very first blog I ever started reading, and is still my favorite to this day.   

This is my first foray into crewelwork and I am loving every minute of it.  I'm especially enjoying working with the Appleton crewel wool, which is so amazingly soft and really makes your satin stitches look much more polished than they actually are :)

I've been curling up on the couch with this on evenings where I'm just too tired to drag myself to the sewing machine, and it has been so calming to just stitch the night away.

My only wish is that there were more than 26 letters in the alphabet!

Past Project Friday

Every Friday I will be posting some sort of crafty project that I have completed in the past.  It could be anything from baking, to sewing, needlecrafts, art, decorating, etc.

So back in the day (okay, 3 years ago) someone posted this embroidery pattern on CuteOverload.  I went ahead and stitched the pattern and turned it into this sweet little market tote.

I sent a photo of the completed project back to CuteOverload and they ended up posting it up on their site.  I opened up an Etsy shop purely for the purpose of selling this bag - which I did in a mere 10 minutes of the post going up.  I ended up making 4 more bags and sold 3 of them before closing down shop.


Have you ever tried to explain Caturday to someone who's never heard of it?  People would ask what I was working on and they'd stare blankly at me as I jarbled on about lolcats and icanhascheezburger.

Anyways, I recently found that last Caturday bag while unpacking and decided to go ahead and relist it in my Etsy shop.  

And I apologize for the bare bones nature of my shop, I've really only used it to sell those couple of items.  I've been wanting to get it up and running lately, but I really need to sit down and think about what I want to focus on selling.  My difficulty with crafting is that I like to jump from crocheting to quilting to cake decorating to apparel sewing to scrapbooking, etc. etc.  It's hard for me to settle down and focus on just one medium.  

Well, baby's in bed and I've got the night to myself!  Heading down to the studio to cut out the pieces for a new duvet cover.  Enjoy your weekend and Happy Caturday! 

Past Project Friday

Every Friday I will be posting some sort of crafty project that I have completed in the past.  It could be anything from baking, to sewing, needlecrafts, art, decorating, etc.

I pretty much had to feature a past Halloween project today, right? 

This was one of the very first quilts I made about 5 years ago, so please don't look too closely at the seams, quilting, embroidery, photo quality, etc.

At first I thought it was kind of silly to spend all of this time on a quilt that would only be out for one month a year....

.....but now it's apparent its short lived appearance on our couch makes it all the more special.

Even my husband always makes a comment that "Oh, I know it's that time of year again when the Halloween quilt comes out of storage".

This year it has become even more special since Phoebe loves pointing out all of the kitties and pumpkins in all of the different squares.

Wondering about the abundance of cat hair in the photos?

Here's the culprit.

Past Project Friday

 Every Friday I will be posting some sort of crafty project that I have completed in the past.  It could be anything from baking, to sewing, needlecrafts, art, decorating, etc.

This project came to mind after one of the blogs that I frequent, Little Dear Tracks, asked all of their readers the question "What is your favorite embroidery project?".  It wasn't hard for me to choose.

 My husband and I had a very difficult journey to become parents.  After a year and a half of trying, we found out that it would be pretty much impossible to get pregnant on our own.  Thankfully we have some amazing family and doctors, and we thank god, modern medicine, and Robert Edwards everyday.  So after a very stressful and miraculous round of IVF, we found ourselves expecting our first baby!   

 

The entire time that we were trying to conceive and going through IVF, I refused to craft or even think about making anything for a future baby.  I think it was a defense mechanism for me by not wanting to get my hopes up.  Well, once I was pregnant and past the first trimester, I let myself start to get excited and this was the first thing that I made for Phoebe's nursery.  

The design is a free patten from Follow the White Bunny, surrounded by a quilted patchwork of the colors that were to be incorporated in the nursery.

Each time I look at this, I remember the feelings of pure joy and excitement I felt as we waited for our first baby.