Sinister Craftiness

Another Crazy January Challenge finish:  the Shepherd’s Purse by Shepherd’s Bush.   This is a beautiful little purse with a few rows of specialty stitches to keep it interesting, and it finishes up very quickly.

The purse is folded in thirds, and the ribbon ties around the flower button to hold the purse shut.  Lining fabric isn’t included in the kit, but this pattern from Moda’s A Morris Tapestry was a lucky find on the remnant table at the fabric store.  I’ll have to look for more A Morris Tapestry fabric; the small scale designs and color palette are perfect for finishing stitching projects, especially Shepherd’s Bush.

While I was working on the purse, the mail brought the new companion to the Take Joy box top I stitched during the holidays.

Warm Heart by Shepherd’s Bush
Dove WDW linen (30 count)
Stitched with WDW and Threadgatherer Silk ‘N Colors

Warm Heart is just beginning to be available in shops and can also be purchased directly from Shepherd’s Bush.  It’s matched with an antiqued white box (purchased separately) and the pair will make a nice set on my mantle next Christmas.

The project with which I began the Crazy January Challenge is finished!  This is Rose Garden by Blackbird Designs.  The pincushion is backed with Blackbird Designs fabric by Moda; I think it’s from At Water’s Edge.  The fabric is a great match for the embroidery.

I must have roses on the brain this week; I also worked on project #14, the Victorian Rose Sampler bellpull by Victoria Sampler.

All that remains is the Hardanger section at the bottom.

Have a great rest of the week!

May Flowers by Blackbird Designs
Lily of the Valley:  Sea Fog R&R linen (30ct)
Tulip Border:  Apple Brown Bindy R&R linen (30ct)
May Basket:  “Woo”steria Blend R&R linen (30ct)
Backing fabric:
At Water’s Edge by Blackbird Designs for Moda Fabrics
Stitched with:
Crescent Colours, Gentle Art Sampler Threads, Weeks Dye Works

After griping about nasty surprises with fabric recently, I have to say it’s fun to try out so many different R&R linens with these stockings.  My favorites this month were Sea Fog (green), and “Woo”steria Blend (blue-grey).  As for my favorite May stocking, well, it has to be one of my favorite flowers, the lily of the valley.

Vonna at The Twisted Stitcher has just posted a great tutorial on finishing these little guys.  (I must confess to the quick and dirty route of using a sewing machine to stitch them up.)

The Blackbird Designs blog reports that their new holiday project book, Joyeux Noel, is on its way, and the August stockings are not far behind.  As much as I love getting new things, I’d like to get June and July’s stockings finished before August shows up!  (If I don’t get distracted by all the cute Halloween stocking designs in the meantime.)

March of the Daffodils by Blackbird Designs
Spring’s Arrival:  Korty’s Special Blend R&R linen (30ct)
Quaker Fragments:  Linen WDW linen (30ct)
Wild Clover:  Linen WDW linen (30ct)
Backing fabric:
At Water’s Edge by Blackbird Designs for Moda Fabrics
Stitched with:
Crescent Colours, Gentle Art Sampler Threads, Weeks Dye Works

April Showers by Blackbird Designs
April Showers:  Old Mill Java R&R linen (30ct)
Oh Sweet Pea:  Korty’s Special Blend R&R linen (30ct)
Spring Wreath:  Old Mill Java R&R linen (30ct)
Backing fabric:
At Water’s Edge by Blackbird Designs for Moda Fabrics
Stitched with:
Crescent Colours, Gentle Art Sampler Threads, Weeks Dye Works

Two more months of stockings done!  I backed these springtime stockings with the pastels from At Waters Edge.  Between this set and the darker Madeira colors, the year of stockings should be covered.  My favorite of this set is the April Showers stocking:  the color palette is so delicate and pretty, I like tulips, and rain is a part of life here.  (In fact, it was raining while I took these pictures.)  I haven’t received the June and July stockings from my autoship program yet, so once I finish the May set, I can pretend I’m caught up.

As if there weren’t enough cute stockings this year, the soon-to-be-released Blackbird Designs book, Tis Halloween, features 13 stockings in addition to other Halloween projects.  Other Halloween goodies on their way in the mail include Just Nan’s newest Charm Garden pin, Pumpkin Jack, and the next tin in this year’s series, Spooky.  Not sure when the BBD book will show up; I think the Just Nan things are arriving in shops August 24 … but have forgotten where I saw that tidbit.

By the Chimney With Care by Blackbird Designs
Auld Lang Syne:  Parchment Legacy linen (29/30ct)
Winter Carnation:  Linen WDW linen (30ct)
Happy Birthday:  Natural linen (30ct)
Backing fabric:
Madeira by Blackbird Designs for Moda Fabrics
Stitched with:
Crescent Colours, Gentle Art Sampler Threads, Weeks Dye Works

Love is in the Air by Blackbird Designs
Sweetheart Sampler, February’s Violet, Be Mine
Parchment Legacy linen (29/30ct)
Backing fabric:
Madeira by Blackbird Designs for Moda Fabrics
Stitched with:
Crescent Colours, Gentle Art Sampler Threads, Weeks Dye Works

It looks like laundry day:  the January and February stockings are finished, and the March stockings are well underway.  Throughout the year Blackbird Designs will be releasing a series of little stockings, three designs per month, so at the end of the year there will be 36 stocking ornaments.  It would be easy to stitch up just one or two for a gift tag, posy holder, treat bag, or small gift, but they are all so cute and stitch up so quickly that I’m officially addicted and will try to do all of them.

They are all stitched on 30 count linen; the charts suggest various types of R&R linen, but my local needlework shop doesn’t carry that, so I used Legacy linen instead, one of my favorites.  For the backs of the stockings, I bought a Layer Cake of Madeira (a Blackbird Designs fabric, of course), so there are a lot of lovely patterns to choose from, and the colors coordinate nicely with the stitched pieces.  Finally, I attached loops of 4mm silk ribbon for hanging.

Meanwhile, The Gimlet is thrilled that an outdoor project has been removed from his to-do list.  Our dilapidated, lichen- and moss-encrusted fence looks like a mess from a distance, but the shabby chic photo possibilities are too good to pass up, at least until all these stockings are done.

After making Thing One’s quilt, I wanted to make another, but just couldn’t seem to find an opportunity when I’d have enough space and time to spread out quilt pieces.  That opportunity finally arrived this weekend when The Gimlet took Thing Two along with the scout troop for a “clampout” (camping and digging for razor clams) at Copalis Beach.  Check out GimletBlog for all the details, but in summary, they all had a wonderful time and we now have a freezer full of clams.  We’ll be having slow-cooker clam chowder every Sunday dinner for the forseeable future.

Anyway, while the guys were away, I took over the dining room table and the coffee table, and very nearly completed the Petits Fours table runner, a free pattern from the Moda Bakeshop.  It’s mostly comprised of one Charm Pack; I used Portobello Market by 3 Sisters.  At this point the quilt top is completely assembled; now the table runner needs to be quilted.

As I’m a complete quilting newbie, I’ve never done this before (Thing One’s quilt is tied), and wasn’t completely sure that my little Kenmore sewing machine was up to the challenge.  Sears offers a quilting attachment set, which at $25 was worth the experiment.  Happily, the quilting attachments are compatible with my machine, so I can start learning how to machine quilt.  As much as I’d like to finish off Petits Fours and begin a Jelly Roll lap quilt, I had better work my way through some practice muslin “quilt sandwiches” before treating myself to dessert.