Americana Stitcheries

Summer isn't too far away, so I thought it would be fun to do some patriotic pieces.
Both pieces are designs by Tiffany of Twigs N Sprigs. I decided to reduce them and make smaller pieces.
I think they will be great for gifts, though I do love them myself;)

This one was fun and I think it would be fun to do in colors too.
The blue marks are from my chalk pencil, that comes off when I wet them.
I also used a darker tea stain, more like a coffee color, so it gives it an aged look without using walnut spray.



I love the primitive angels, they make wonderful pieces and are so fun to work in any medium.
I used fabrics that my friend Kelley sent me, so I cannot tell you what maker they are from. They were perfect for these pieces.

My entry for IHAN's Giveaway

Kelly, from IHAN is having a wonderful giveaway and we had to pick one of the things to do, to be entered.
I choose showing my sewing room, without cleaning it first.
Kelly is giving, on lucky winner, the chance to win an Accuquilt Go fabric cutter and I want one!
Even though I don't want anyone else to win, check out her contest and her store, she carries a lot of wonderful notions and supplies, all at discounted prices.

This is my sewing area. My machine, a really fancy embroidery machine, that I have no idea how to use and don't ask me what possessed me to buy it, that is another story;) It does sew like a dream and I will learn how to use it, someday. I hang unfinished projects on the chair and on the ladder. I find old cabinets at the consignments and use those to store my sewing items in. And I use plastic, it isn't pretty, but it is functional. I have large basets on the floor too, to store yarns and wool in. That is my chair, my favorite tool to use, lol. I can wheel around the room, while I am working.



This is most of my stash. I really need to organize it again. I take things out and throw them back and now it is all mixed up.
I love cabinets with shelves for things I like to see and doors to hide everything else. As you can see, there are cats everywhere.



And this is where I do my main work, cutting and piecing and ironing. I do like to iron and press my seams as I go.
The table is really too low for cutting on, but would be easier with a Go cutter;) I have baskets on the walls to hold my scraps, scraps on the table and a mix of this and that in boxes and plastic under the table. Since I couldn't clean, you can see my rulers hanging. They go with the basket area on push in hooks. It is a great way to store them and easy to grab. Of course my radio is there too, I love to listen to celtic music when I am creating.
So, now you know what my room looks like normally, especially when I am working on a bunch of projects at once. One of these days I will organize better so I can find things and some curtains would be nice.

Kitty Kapers

Today I got a scratching pad for the kitties. Basically cardboard and catnip, but worth a try.
It seems all the kitties cared about, was the catnip. Rolling in catnip is what my kitties love.
Izzy is the calm one, she rolls and makes happy faces.



Dora is another story, she is way to smart for her own good. I was doing something and when I came back, I found her and the bag of catnip on the bottom shelf.



Dora really gets into catnip, rolling is the first step, she has to rub it all in her fur.



Then some more frenzied rolling and contortions.



To falling in love with the object holding the catnip. At this point, I had to get my penny rug, before she went into her claw mode. I think l need child prove locks on the cabinets, but I can guarantee, Dora would figure that out too;)

Bomb Scare

We had an interesting morning today.
Yesterday I was digging around the fence for flower beds and I unearthed a metal object.
The dog grabbed it and tried to play with it, so I put it up on the fence.
Today we were out digging the vegetable garden and I remembered the object, and showed it to my husband.
Well, after shaking and banging it to see what it was, he decides to call the police.
They come over and decide it was something dangerous and being a beautiful sunday, no one was available.
( I would hate to think what would happen, if it was something really dangerous;)
So, we had to wait half the day and not go in the back yard, till someone came and took it away in a bomb box, lol.
I still have no idea what it is, so hopefully they will let us know and I will be more careful when digging the rest of the yard;)



We finally got out for a bit and took a walk at Ninigret park. I always love it there, nice paths and cool ocean breezes. The park in inside of the salt water pond, but past the dunes, is the ocean.

This is Bill enjoying the views.



This is me, wishing I had bought the boats for a nice paddle in the coves.

New Adam and Eve Cross stitch

I finished my newest cross stitch piece and not sure if I like it.
I messed up with my count as usual, lol.
I originally started with an idea to make a long pin keep pillow, so I tried to keep the design in that size.
Part of it started from an antique adam and eve and then I added and changed, as I stitched.

I think for the next one, I will draw and color the design on paper, then bring it into the pattern maker.
That way I can see the layout and design before it turns into cross stitch. I really admire people who make the large cross stitch patterns, there is a lot more work in them, then we realize.

Stray Cats

Kitty was lonely, so he went out and found some buddies to keep him company.
One kitty looks a bit like him, with pieced scraps for his body.
The other kitty is done with a real cotton ticking.
Both pieces were stained with java ink. It is the black version of the walnut spray.
I thought I would try the darker stain on these guys.
Looks like there is room for one more, so I have an idea brewing for something a little different.

Scrappy Kitty

I recently saw a photo, that had a box filled with kitties and I love it.
So, I thought I would make one of my own. I have a box and nothing in it, so perfect to fill with kitties.
First I drew out a kitty shape. Then I took scraps out of my basket and sewed them together to make two pieces a bit larger than the cat pattern. I did make sure that the face area would have a neutral shade, so the features would show up.
I used freezer paper and traced the cat design and cut it out, then placed that right sides in with the other piece. I sewed it by machine and cut off the excess, making a snip at the curves for turning.

I used regular stuffing and sewed him at the bottom. I went without a tail, since these will be box sitters. He is 10" tall.



This is the box he will go in. I love how it came out and will make a skinny and fat one, to have a variety of kitty characters.