Cross Stitching

So I haven't been doing a lot of sewing - I've been doing a lot of cross stitching.  Mom took me to this great place in Utah - Craftcenter of Fine Stitchery while I was there all summer, which got me thinking about all the cross stitch projects I have unfinished.  So I've been working on finishing some of them and starting some new ones.  I then found Acorns & Threads in Portland, OR when I was there for Mid-winter break.  (I have visiting a couple of times).  This is what I've finished:

 This is a project I've been working on - well for a long time.  It's a blackwork chart done in green.  I worked on it a lot this summer and during Christmas and finally finished it last month.  It will be a while before I get it framed, but I'm glad I finished it.

The project above and below I got at Acorns & Threads.  They are cottages of the month designed by Nikki Leeman of Country Cottage Needleworks.  I'm almost done with March.  I'm hoping to get a frame that I can change out each month. 

Baby Gift for Sophia

In January, my sister-in-law gave birth to my first niece Sophia. I made a play mat for her. I got the idea from Moda Bake Shop. I've never made anything with a Cathedral Window before & this technically isn't how you make a cathedral window, it was a great learning experience for me. I used Bliss (at least I think I did) by Bonnie & Camille for Moda. It's not perfect, but it was a lot easier than I thought it would be.

I think it turned out okay.  I hope she likes it.

New Zealand Christmas gifts

For Christmas, I wanted to come up with something for the Mackereth girls.    For Tyler Rose I made a scarf with different textures (that I somehow forgot to take a picture of).    For Mackenzie and Keanna I made Drawing books.  I used a tutorial from Two Crafty Critters.

For Andrea I made a Christmas table runner from a tutorial at Diary of a Quilter.  It was perfect for the Christmas fabric I had.

I really enjoyed making the gifts!

Baby Quilt for MKE

Earlier this year, I found out that my friend from elementary school, Tracie Moore (now Egelston) was having a baby girl.  I needed a distraction from serious things going on in my family, so I decided I'd make her baby quilt.  I asked her what colors, etc.  She said her husband picked out a pink cowgirl theme.  I spent the rest of my summer in Utah trying to find fabric I thought would work.  I combined fabric from lots of lines and from my stash. Once I got back to Washington, I got to work.  I decided on a disappearing nine-patch.  The top came together easily.  Then I decided to hand quilt it instead of machine quilting or tying it.  I had a brilliant idea to add "brands" to the quilt and special touches.  It took two months to quilt it (mostly because I had just started the school year).  I loved how it turned out.  It arrived just a day or two after Tracie's daughter was born.

finished quilt at my house

If you turn this image counterclockwise you will see Tracie & her Husband's first initials put together like a brand in the quilting

Last initial

turn clockwise and it's big brother's initial

Baby's initials

 

I used an awesome pink and brown plaid on the back

MKE & her quilt

MKE

Coloring Bags for my younger nephews

This year I decided to make coloring bags for my younger three nephews.  Sawyer got a sophisticated one for his birthday, but these boys needed big crayons, washable crayons - so I adapted a pattern I made a long time ago for Holly's girls.  I bought the pattern in a quilt store in La Habra?, but I've seen the pattern other places.  Here's how they turned out:

Scarf

I was trying to come up with something for my friend Holly for Christmas.  She mailed her Christmas present to me early, because she was having a baby sometime before Christmas.  She didn't want to take her baby out in the cold.  That got me thinking of maybe a scarf that would be soft enough to help keep her baby warm, if she was holding her and the blanket slipped, etc.  I also had these mini charm squares from Moda when I made star squares for a veteran's quilt project. The squares came from the Buttercup line by Fig Tree for Moda.  I bought some soft light blue flannel to make the inside of the scarf and sewed the squares in rows of three and then all together. Then I sewed the squares to the blue flannel, trimmed, turned right side out and stitched all the way around to close the seam.   It's probably a little long for a scarf, but it's a bright scarf and would definitely bring a little sunshine on a dreary day.  Holly & I were obviously on the same wave length because she sent me a beautiful, ruffly scarf for Christmas:

I wore it to visit Temple Square.  That's me and my nephew Sawyer in front of the Maori nativity & I'm wearing the scarf Holly sent me for Christmas.