Christmas Punch Needle!

This week I received my issue of Primitive Quilts and Projects. One of the patterns was a rug design by Tonya of Mad Hen Primitives. I thought it would be fun to do as a punch needle and this is how mine came out. I kept some colors similar to hers and some of my own, since the original was done in rug wool.

I used some hand dyed floss for the green leaves and for the outer edge, I used scraps from my floss box to get a hit or miss look. I started out with 3 strands of floss for the design, then used 6 strands for the rest.

Amish Fraktur Quilt

Today I decided to finish my bird stitchery and I had added the borders yesterday.
The plan was to do amish quilt designs in free motion.
That was the plan..... as you can see, it is a mess.

My machine started acting up and I am assuming it has something to do with the bobbin.
The stitches are not nice and you can see the bobbin thread in some places and in some, the snip feature pulled the black threads up to the front.

I was going to machine quilt the middle, but the machine went completely haywire, so it got hand stitched.
The idea was a sun with rays, think it looks like a spider web, lol.
I decided to spray it with walnut to hide the flaws, and I like it better aged.
The photo picks up a lot of the threads, but luckily it doesn't look as bad in person.
I will have to take the piece to the store and ask her what is going on, so I can fix it.

The ric rac was an after thought, lol. I messed up my seams, so they didn't match. The ric rac was my attempt at covering it;)

New Stitcheries and Surprises

I have decided to take some time to fool around and see what I can come up with. It has been a while since I have made any of my own creations and thought it was time. Of course I need to get back into that mode and one way is to sit and doodle. I was thinking of Izzy, who loves to stalk the mice in the garden. The mice love the mini pumpkins my son put in, so the original idea was to make a fun scene, but my ideas need more work.

So, I made a doodle of Izzy with a pumpkin with her silly crazed face and made it into a stitchery. A bit silly, but fun to experiment. I started out with oval eyes and it didn't look right, so I checked out her eyes and realized, she really does have round eyes.



Then I made up a little pillow to match the punched piece I made, since it goes out this week.
I think it needs a date in the corner.



Today I got a surprise in the mail. We did a swap on our ebay group, USAPRIM. We didn't know who got our name until we received our package. I got one from JO and she made me this beautiful pillow.



And that wasn't all, I got two sets of dyed wools, love them. They are so much nicer in person, the colors are gorgeous and will be perfect to use in a shaded piece. I plan on working in smaller cuts again, so they will go into a special project. Plus I got some wonderful patterns, fabrics and the cutest little clay ornaments, that I assume her granddaughter made for me.

Amish girl and kitty rug and punch

I finished off my pieces and I think they look better than the first time I showed them to you;)
I will need to fix a few things, things you don't notice at first glance, but the camera shows things you might miss.
I changed the kitty to a lighter shade so he shows up. I wanted to do the whiskers on the outside of the hooking, but wasn't sure if they would stay in, so I went with hooking them. I fixed her face too, so she didn't look so lopsided and depressed, but I need to fix the mouth again.



This is the companion piece. I decided to sell them as a set. I think it looks better aged, do you?
I will be listing them on ebay tomorrow, but I am willing to take offers if anyone is interested in buying them before I list them.
The pictures did not come out well, so I will do more tomorrow for the listing, hopefully outside in the shade and the true look will come through.

Wash Out Markers

I have used a few different things to make my stitcheries and finally found something I liked.
I have tried chalk pencils. They do well, but you do have to push harder and the blue ones don't come out without soap.
I would recommend using freezer paper underneath, to stabilize your fabric.

I got two markers, disappearing ones. A purple and a pink one. They are great, until they start disappearing, lol.
If you wanted to use them for a quick design on machine quilting, but they do disappear fast.

Then I decided to use a Pitt artist pen. It makes a nice fine black line, so if you are working with black, it gets covered.
The benefit is it lasts, so you can make up your projects ahead of time and do them without worrying about the ink. The drawback is, if you make a mistake while applying it, you either have to stitch over the mistake, or redo the design.

Then I got two blue wash away markers. One is fine line, one is a small soft tip. The fine line is made by Dritz, water erasable. The other, made by DMC is an embroidery transfer pen. The fine line is nice especially for detail, but the small tip is a bit stiff. The Dmc pen has a softer tip and goes on smooth, but leaves a larger mark and I made more mistakes. But, it didn't matter, they both washed right out. All I had to do was run the piece under cold water and the marks disappeared, no rubbing needed.

This is the piece after stitching, you can see the blue marks. I used the fine line on the lettering and hive, and the soft tip on the rest.



Here is the piece, finished and stained. No marks reappeared after drying. I had that happen with the blue chalk pencil.
I got mine at Jo anns and used a coupon, so the cost is minimal. Both work great, it is up to you whether you like the fine or soft tips. The only thing I didn't have time to test was, how long do the lines last, will they stay if I make ahead for a trip and if I leave them on for weeks, will they still wash out. I guess I have to do a test on that too;)

Hanging small stitcheries

" First of all, I want to mention..... no comments on my last post? Are you all chicken, lol. I put those up to show you the works in progress and that is why I usually do no show them. They need work and fixing, but I thought you might like to see how a piece evolves. I am still working on the rug, a few changes sure make a difference. Now I am working on how to get the cat's whiskers, the way I want. So do not be afraid to comment, good or bad, I love feedback and opinions."

I finished this piece yesterday and wanted to show you a new way, I found to hang my smaller pieces.
My husband got me this tape for the new stair treads, but it wasn't the right type. But, I found it holds onto fabrics and walls, without damaging either.

I am not sure what it is called, or the brand, but there is writing on the tape, so you can look for that in the stores. I cut small pieces, leaving the paper on. If you don't, it sticks to you and balls up. Once you have them placed, you can take off the tape, by using your fingernail on a corner and pulling up.



Then all you have to do is, position it on the wall and press. It is a wonderful way to hang without anything showing and great for small areas. The stitchery was done with a design from Primitive Blessings. I am taking this saying to heart and slowing down on all of the crafts I do. I would like to spend more time working with quilting and making art quilts too.



The tape will work on other items too and it is a great way to place things that you may want to change. I have this candle holder and was thinking how fun it would be to put a punched piece and change them out for the seasons. With the tape you can. But..... if you mount this way, make sure the piece has a backing on it. You do not want to put the tape onto the punching or it will pull out the loops. ( I thought it was safe to do for a demonstration, since I was taking it off right away, but the tape is strong enough to pull them out;) This piece is a pattern from Brenda Gervais, that my friend Kelley sent me. I plan on mounting it on something for my sewing room. I just haven't decided yet.

I will be making more small quilts for myself and I love using this to hang them. It is a great product and easy to use, and no mess. It is also nice, since it doesn't damage the quilt or leave marks, in case you want to gift it in the future. I am working on a matching mini pillow using new wash away pens, so once I am done, I will let you know how they work out.

New punch and rug

I thought I would try a simple, smaller design this time.
It is one of Tiffany's new designs, from Primitive Blessings.
I did this one in a stitchery and decided to try it in a punch.
I just finished it, and not sure if I want to stain it.
I used two contrasting red, medici wool threads on the dress and valdani on the kitty, the rest is done with dmc floss.
Not thrilled with the way it came out, but too late to change it now;)



Then I got the idea to make a small rug to match. As you can see, I made a mess, lol.
Luckily with hooking, I can take out what I don't like and redo it. I outlined the outfit in a darker shade, but nothing matched for the inside, so I ended up using the plaid for the whole dress. I had to lighten it up, so the colors look like they pop out, but they are more dark and prim. I guess I will have to take out the border lines and use black to make the outline show better. That and fix the faces and mess ups. That is another nice thing about hooking, I can hook in details and then see what looks right or not and redo those parts.

Amish Autumn Punch Needle

I finished a new piece and with one of Tiffany's new designs. The original says autumn and has another pumpkin, but I changed it a bit to fit the pillow shape. On this piece I used a mix of two contrasting threads, to get the tweed look, on her dress. My hand was acting up this week, so I just made it through this piece. Now I need to give it a rest, so I don't mess it up again.

It will be for sale on ebay, later tonight.
If you would like to make your own piece, you can find the pattern at Primitive Blessings.
I think this and some of the others would make great hooked rugs and applique pieces too.



Here is a close up of the dress, you can see the mixed colors better.

More Stitchery Pillows

I think I am getting carried away with these stitcheries, lol.
It is helping my hand though, it still hurts, but less than before.
I may do some pennies and wool pieces next, need a break soon.

These pillows are both from Tiffany of Twigs n Sprigs.
I decided to add a border on these to make them into quilted pillows.
The one of the left is one of Tiffany's designs.



Then I decided to try another gravestone. This time I used two layers of batting, but still not the look I wanted.
I might have to try a different thread, maybe something thicker. I still have pieces to finish and two new ones I drew up, so I might take a break and do some finishing on my other quilting.

One thing I am doing differently with the designs, is that I am using my black ink pen to put the design onto the fabric.
I am using my faber castell artist pen, an older one, so it goes on black but not as heavy as the new ink does. I also ironed on a piece of freezer paper, so that I could draw the lines more smoothly. This way I just sew over the thin line and you cannot see it. Much easier than trying to get the blue chalk off and it will be great for making up pieces to take on my trip.

New Stitcheries

I have been working on finishing stitcheries, but still not finished with the little quilts.
Sometimes I am lazy and just want to sit in my chair, so I make more stitcheries, lol.
Tiffany sent me some of her newest designs that are coming out and I decided to make two of them into small pillows.
I used floral material this time and left them under stuffed to have that feed sack look.

I love the look of these and think it would be fun to do a wall hanging and there will be punched pieces too, so look for them in the future. I think they would be nice with dates and stitches around the edge, but I forgot about that, lol.