Dying Floss and New Project!

Yes, I said new project. I get the newsletter from Dover Publishing and every week they send free samples and this one was perfect for a candle mat. I wanted to make it as a gift for my daughter, but I didn't get it done in time, so we shall see what I do with it, after I finish it.

I wanted to try brighter colors for her and I do love the way my hand dyed pink, looks in this piece. You can see where the shades go from dark to light on the flowers. The green is a solid, so I need to over dye some green for future projects.

And, here is the floss that I used for the pink that is in the flowers. That is, the floss before I over dyed it. The beauty of using this floss is that it comes in a package and it is cheap. With a coupon, it saves a lot of money and perfect for over dying.

I usually soak it in tea or walnut, but I thought I would wet the floss and then use walnut spray. It was easier and faster, but it didn't saturate into the middle sections, as well. But, it still came out nice, now I have various shades in dark and bright, so it will be fun to see how this would look in a punch needle piece.

The photo is a bit darker than the actual floss, but you can see how it went from bright to prim with a bit of walnut ink. You can soak it overnight in walnut and then sun dry it, now that it is getting warmer.
If you do not have walnut you can use tea or coffee, but remember that the acids in tea can destroy cross stitch pieces, over time.

The Watering Hole: New EPattern

I have been working on a new pattern this week and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
It is based on an old quilt appliqué, that I had made into a small quilt a few years ago.
This piece was made into an eyeglass case, but I think it would be nice as a pillow, hooked or in wool appliqué.

I have a link to the left, if you are interested in buying this pattern. It is in a pdf format with a color photo, black and white pattern and some basic instructions and color choices. This is an epattern, once payment is made, you will receive the pdf file in your email.

As usual, my camera will not read the colors and the shading, no matter what lighting I use. My piece is a bit more prim and not so bright and bold, as in the photo. Those are my husbands glasses, I need new ones since my last pair was stolen with my purse, last summer.

I always love feedback, tell me what you do and don't like about the new pattern and what you would like to see in the future.

Antique Dog and Bird Punch Needle!

I finished a new piece today, this is based on the design I made for my quilt. I wanted to try it as a punch and I really like how it came out. I do plan on making a pattern for this piece, just didn't have time tonight, so hopefully I can have it up tomorrow.

This piece was based on an antique quilt block. It measures 6" x 5" and is a mix of Valdani and dmc floss. The dog the the red shades are valdani and slightly raised in height. The green is dmc floss, that I over dyed myself. The piece was antiqued after I finished it, but it is hard to show the true prim look with a camera. For some reason, my new flash isn't working, so I had to lighten them with photoshop which makes the colors appear brighter. The edge is a combination of new and vintage wool yarn.

Punch Needle Eye Glass Case!

I finished my eyeglass case today. I use another Laurel Burch design and reduced it to fit the size I needed. I had fun using some of my hand dyed threads. I use DMC and over dye it and see what colors I get, and these were too bright for my prims, but perfect for this. I used three strands of floss to outline the design and 6 strands to fill. The problem is, the needle for 3 strand is slightly longer, and some of the lines are so close together, that the colors got lost.

I sewed a piece of fabric to the punched piece, front sides facing. Then I turned it right side out and tucked in the open edge, that I left on the bottom and hand stitched that. Then I cut a piece of wool, in the same size and attached it with a blanket stitch. It is a fun way to make something practical with punch and custom design to fit your likes.

Now I have something to put my reading glasses in.

We had to go to Sears for a tractor belt, so I thought it was a good time to stop at Savers and see if they had any goodies. I found this prim candle shelf that I can use for display or a candle. I put it on a wall to take a photo and stuck one of my kitty collectibles on it. This is a vintage music box I found on ebay, years ago. One of those things, no one was bidding on, so I got it for a steal;)

Would you love to own a piece of folk art? Visit Babycakes and enter her new giveaway featuring artist Kim Owens.

iPhone Case!

Yesterday I rested and wanted something easy to keep my hands busy, so I made a new punch needle piece. I used Laurel Burch design from my book and reduced it a little to fit the size I needed. After I did the punch, I sewed on a cotton lining and left an opening at the bottom, so I could turn it. I didn't really plan it too well, I wanted to sew the entire piece but need to figure out how to do that. So, I used a piece of wool for the back and used a blanket stitch to attach it to the front piece. It works and it fits my iPhone, so good enough;) I wanted something I could keep it in when it is in my purse to keep it from getting banged around.

The floss is dmc that I over dyed, so a bit bright. I decided to antique it to tone it down. Of course the flash lightened it back up. It is sitting on a mesh chair, not a great background choice.

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.

Antique Pin Keep!

I finished my pin keep, and then I went to take pictures. The moment I turned on my camera, it started making a funny motor sound and it wouldn't let me take a photo. Everything else works, but not photo taking, errr. I was cleaning it before hand, so I thought I might have done something to it, then I remembered our kayak trip. Bringing back my gear, I was swarmed by mosquitos and I dropped my gear to grab the bug spray. What I didn't think was, I had my camera case too and that got thrown to the ground, duh. So maybe I broke something. I am getting a nice new one next month, but I can't go without a camera that long, lol. I have an old sony, so today I figured out how to use it again and too some photos with it. At least it works and I can work on my settings to try and get better photos, but for now, you will have to put up with grainy photos. This was on night shot, it was the only way I could get it at night and still be able to see it.

The original idea came from an antique pen wipe, the hearts and hands. I loved the old look and wanted to reproduce it.



Then I decided it needed more items, so I added inner pockets. This is going to be a gift, so I sewed on the wool floss applique, at the tops only and left the middle section open, then I wound the real floss around them. This way she will have some hand dyed floss to use and she can store some of hers, that way too. The floss is a lot nicer looking than the picture.



For the other side, I went with a long pocket, so it can be used for skeins or whatever she wants to put in there. I will be adding some goodies to it later, before I send it out.



I added a strip to the outer, middle edge to give it support and a button closure, with a little extra room for when it is full of goodies. I made an applique on the outside and wondering if I should add her name to it too. I hope you like it and wish I could show the true prim look, it has been antiqued with walnut, as well. Tomorrow I will have to see if I can get better photos outside.

Giveaway Winner!

I wanted to have my new, finished piece to show today, but I got lazy and still need to finish it.
Today I got a prize that I won from CT Publishing. I won a bundle of wool felt and the ebook, "Faniciful Felties". I got the ebook and have been having fun looking through the designs and trying to decide what to make first. There are so many fun characters with accessories, I can make a whole town of people and animals.

Today I got the wool felt so now I can start a project, it is beautiful felt, much better than the regular felt in the craft stores. Check out their Blog, there are lots of wonderful tutorials and great contests for all types of crafting.



Since I was in a lazy mood today, I decided it was a good day to organize all my loose floss. Most of it was a giant nest, so it took me all day to pull it out and rewind it. I thought it would be good to use on my new felt projects and also other ones for christmas ornaments to get a head start. Maybe this weekend I will try some items, after I finish my punch, the stitchery and ......;)

One box has loose strands still, but I use those when I need a small piece for an eye or something small, so not worth winding those.



And now for the winner! The winner was number 1 today, Linda of The Quilted Pineapple! Linda, please email me with your choice of an epattern, from my ecrater site. I should have showed you a better close up of Moki, my thought was, "Call 911, he's going into seizures". LOL, he is really funny looking in that pose with his tongue hanging out. Thank you all for participating and commenting.

Lady Bug Quilt!

I wanted to make something fun for my dauther's new place and found this design. It is a free design by Sandra of BabyCakes.
I wanted a saying and found this one, it fits the piece and a good message for my daughter who is of the, I want it now generation;)

I started out with watercolor pencils and then went over it with as little water as I could, so it wouldn't run out of the area.
I used a bit of art pens to enhance some of the designs and shadow, then went around the designs with different flosses. The yellow around the flowers is a beautiful hand dyed floss that I won from Laura at Artfabrik! The green lettering and ground, is presencia thread that I won from Jane's Fabrics and Quilts! The rest of the floss is basic dmc and the green stems and leaves are one of my hand dyes. For the border I used a fabric I won from Pat Sloan!

It was fun to do and I like how the watercolor pencils worked on the kona white. I got mine from Jo anns with a coupon, so great fabric to play with and I want to try some dying with it. I had a hard time getting the blue out on this fabric, so it is still wet, as you can see. Tomorrow I will look at it again when it dries and hopefully I can get the rest out. With watercolor, I can't get those areas wet or they will run. I am not sure if I should leave it as is, or dry pounce some blue for the sky and green below; what do you think?

New Punch Needle: Easter Cat and Chick

I decided to remake the rabbit into a kitty, for all of the kitty lovers.
I gave this one a different background and still keep the antique look.
I will be offering the pattern for the two designs, next week.
I think this would be really fun to hook up, too.
It looks great with a basket of primitive eggs.