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Umm...I really don't think I can top 2010's productivity ever again (nor do I want to). This is definitely proof that shopping for craft supplies and engrossing myself in projects are major stress relievers for me. I'm hoping to remedy this by working with only my stash (for real!) this year.
So, here's to a 2011 filled with relaxation, great books, and a handful of knitting and quilting projects!
I won this embroidery pattern giveaway from Rosamaria earlier this year (I'm too embarrassed to go back and see how long it's been!). She and her sister started up this darling etsy store, Mi hermana y yo, that sells bags, pillows and embroidery patterns. I got to pick my favorite embroidery pattern and I went with the Frida Kahlo pattern (of course, as I'm a big Frida/Mexico fan). The embroidery pattern came with three designs, and so far I've stitched up the first design in the set.
I patterned my Frida after this photograph and my favorite part of this design is all of the flowers in her hair and, of course, the unibrow. I think I stitched her nose around 8 times before stopping the madness and calling it good. I'm planning on turning this piece into a tote bag to house one of my crafting WIPs, so stay tuned!
It's been quite a while since I've done any embroidery, but I think it's such a fun warm weather hobby. I still want to do some more embroidery this summer and I even have a few Sublime Stitching patterns ironed on to some tea towels and in my crafting queue already (I'm thinking the Sexy Librarian pattern is definitely appropriate now considering my new degree). Plus, I still want to stitch up this adorable buffalo pattern.
I finished up my first woven scarf on Saturday night. I'm glad to have my practice scarf out of the way as the sloppy selvedge edges and uneven tension are bothering me a bit. At least now I know what I need to improve on for the next project, right?
(All of the details for this project are in my ravelry project page if you're interested).
It's become my yearly tradition to post these project mosaics (see 2008 and 2007). So here is my 2009 project mosaic:
You'll notice that I ramped up the knitting projects considerably this year...all I can say is that knitting has been a great stress reliever (ahem!).
I'm looking forward to turning 2010 into a "use my stash" year and I've got plenty of projects to keep me busy. I'll be staying away from retail stores in 2010 and unsubscribing myself from email sales blasts to keep the temptation at bay. Wish me luck!
I've been eyeing this Elf Stitchette pattern from wee wonderfuls ever since it was published a few years ago and finally had an excuse to stitch it up and turn it into a stocking.
I based the pattern for the stocking on these stockings that I made a few years ago. The stocking is lined with a green polka dot fabric and a layer of thin cotton batting. I had fun in the trim aisle and used an iron on rick rack and a pom pom trim that I secured with a zig zag stitch. For the foot and toe, I used fusible webbing to adhere it to the stocking base and then used a zig zag stitch to applique it to the fabric.
My embroidery has fallen to the wayside as I've gotten into knitting more. I've got lots of patterns from sublime stitching waiting to be stitched up and I recently found this fun embroidery site, Badbird (via QuiltDad). I heart the buffalo pattern and would love to stitch that up someday.
I have a hard time doing embroidery because I'm just not sure what to do with the finished piece. Do you have any suggestions for me for cute, finished embroidery projects? So far, I've incorporated them into a quilt, made a pillow and made some fabric backed tea towels.
Day of the Dead is almost here and I've been seeing lots of fun DOTD embroidery popping up on blogs. Here's a collection of some of my favorite pieces:
1. Memento Mori necklace, 2. Marigold Sugar Skull, 3. Front - Day of the Dead mirror case, 4. details, 5. Day of the Dead Portrait, 6. Sugar Skull Brooch, 7. Day of the Dead Magnets, 8. Sugar Skull Softie Stack, 9. WIP
And here is my favorite Day of the Dead themed embroidery project of all time:
Carissa's package arrive last week and now that I've made a trip to IKEA to pick up some frames, I can share what she sent.
Our swap was set up to by my knitting for her needlepoint. I requested a pear needlepoint project and she came through in flying colors!
When I first opened the package, I was looking at the back of her needlepoint. I was really impressed with all of the texture she added to the project. I held up the pear to show Jon and that's when I noticed that I had been looking at the wrong side. The front is even prettier than the back!
Her package contained lots of fun goodies! A beautifully printed tea towel (available in her etsy store, Pidoodle Designs), a cute sticker sheet and a thoughtful card.
Thanks, Carissa!
Here's the framed artwork hanging in our kitchen (complete with the reflection of our pan rack). It's so nice to be able to spice things up in here.
Jon's quip of the day: "It's ap"pear"ant that this will be perfect for our kitchen." *har har har*
In keeping with last year's tradition, here's a mosaic of the projects that I completed in 2008. Although I was busy with school for half of the year, I still managed to complete a lot of projects.
And, what's on tap for this year? I've been stocking up on some yarn for knitting projects, so I hope to finish a few sweaters and my zig zag afghan, and learn how to do stranded/fair isle color work. I've found that knitting and embroidery are the two most compatible projects with my school and work schedule, so look for lots more of those projects in 2009.
Happy New Year!
We celebrated Jon's birthday on Friday night with dinner out at our favorite sushi place, a cupcake cake (thanks to my Grandma for giving me this cute pan for my birthday) and present opening. Now, Jon and I are both the same age again and officially in our late 20's.
I tried making this cake from scratch, without cake flour, which was a big mistake. After I had put the cake in the oven, I went back to read the recipe reviews and it only got 1 out of 5 stars. I need to make sure to check little details like that before starting a recipe. And, after attempting to frost this, I realized that I need some lessons from my mom! She puts me to shame.
I've been on a reading rampage over here, both for school and because of the Twilight saga, so not much crafting is going on. I did finish Betty's block, just in time, for the Common Thread's Quilt Bee, though. This was my first attempt at applique with fusible web, and I'll definitely be using it again for some other projects.
I had a relaxing weekend up north with my friend, Catherine, and her mom at her mom's lovely home in the woods. There was lots of napping, Olympic watching, reading and sewing going on.
We had lots of fun watching their 3 (or 4) hummingbirds fighting for the feeder.
And I finished this sublime stitching embroidery pattern (from the Craft Pad) while I was there and turned it into a tea towel this afternoon. I was a little burnt out on embroidery after my stitchette mania last winter, but it's so much fun to break out the bright thread and play around with color combos.
Jon and I went to the Shadow Art Fair in Ypsilanti last weekend and came home with these two darling treasures:
Gladys, the Chimean from the morninglorivine
and this adorable mole print from Tugboat Printshop (so ugly it's cute). Jon picked this one out and now we have to find a floating frame for it so that we can hang it up.
And, it was my birthday on Friday. Jon's mom is so great about sending cards for every holiday imaginable...and she always manages to find a card to "son and daughter-in-law." Before seeing all of her cards, I had no idea there were so many cards like this available! It's fun to get happy cards like this every once in a while.
Jon gave me this adorable Miso Soup tote bag that I fell in love with at the japanese bookstore last weekend. It's now home to my embroidery works in progress.
Because it's my "birthday month," I took the liberty of stocking up on a few new treasures for my craft collection...
I'm on an embroidery kick again with these new patterns from Sublime Stitching:
Here's my bird embroidery in progress (everything around here these days is in progress, hence the lack of posting)
And, I bought this stack of Kona Cotton fabric from Pink Chalk Fabrics
and I've got the fabric cut and ready to go for my Plain Spoken Quilt. This is actually the quilt pattern that first inspired my desire to start quilting, so I'm excited to put this one together. It was so easy having all of the colors chosen for me with the fat quarter kit, so I'm all set to go.
I finished my first class for library school on Friday and now I have a month off before I start the fall semester. My crafting to do list is long and I'm hoping to fit everything in before I have to return to using my free time for paper writing!
