Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Just a little something

to share with you. My daughter stitched this for me
back in 1991. It is a Paula Vaughan
pattern. I made it into a large pillow and edged it
with some lace. Isnt it beautiful!
Happy Thanksgiving and May God Bless
You!
by Hopblogger


Friday, November 19, 2010

I wanted to share with you

ON HOW I STORE MY FLOSS.
My floss was stashed here & there, in boxes,
on rings, in bags. I disliked the rings because it
would not hold all of my floss. It was bulky,
often the floss got caught on the rings when it was
opened. It was a pain to take off those threads to get to
the one you needed. I even tried putting the threads
in bags & then on the rings. And when I placed them on
the large rings in order of color & not the number - well
I couldnt find what I was looking for. This great idea
did not work for me. So I have spent alot of time trying
to get my sewing area organized. I am far from being
finished - but I did get my floss organized. After months
of trying different boxes or places of where to store it all -
I finally came up with an idea
that works for me - & possibly it could work for you!
Who likes to wind floss on those bobbins? Not me.
These photos are what the top half of my sewing table
looks like. However it is far from being finished & I just cannot
bring myself to take a photo of the rest of the room just yet.
Its too messy!
I invested in these zip-lock SNACK size plastic bags. To be
precise - I bought at least 8 of these. They are the perfect size
for storing your floss. Also get you lots of index cards that
you can cut to fit inside the small bags. On the index cards
write down the floss number in one of the corners. My numbers
are on the upper right hand side.
Next, use your plastic see-through scrapbooking boxes!
Look - I even show you the sticker thats on top of the plastic
box - so you can be sure to get the perfect size. Now
fix the boxes to where you have 2 rows inside. Each row
holds about 30 bags - that means according to how much
floss is in each bag - you can store at least 60 floss bags
in each plastic box. As you can see I have 12 of these
scrapbooking boxes. 8 boxes holds my DMC floss. The other
4 boxes hold more DMC floss like the linen, satin & variegated
threads. The last box is literally empty - but I am sure eventually
I will have more floss to put inside.
On the left side - the 3 small plastic boxes with the purple lids
hold other floss like
some anchor, some coats & clark, & some floss
that is left over from kits. On the far right side of the shelf are
some small plastic boxes that stack on top of each other. This is
where I store those rings, needles & other things belonging
to cross stitch. That entire shelf is devoted to only cross stitch
threads. I even took some legal size manilla folders & cut
them long enough to make dividers inside each of the boxes. That
divider doesnt have to be made of thick cardboard.
Now these scrapbooking boxes also have carts with wheels on
them that store these plastic boxes. That would be a great
way to travel with your floss. Just make sure that these boxe sizes
fit inside that cart & then you are good to go! In fact, if you need to
you can permanetly store your floss in that cart. It would take less room
to store everything in that cart then it would be to store it all
on the shelves. At one time I remembered I priced that cart
& if I am not mistaken I believe the cart & about 6 plastic
boxes that go with it - sell for about $50. But do not quote me
on that price. I am so happy that ALL OF MY FLOSS is stored
where I can find it! The only thing left for me to do now is to number
the outside of the boxes. At this point I do not know how
I want to do that. No more winding floss for me anymore!
This system holds all of my floss.
I do hope that you really do look at this idea. I am sure that you
will like it.
Enjoy your weekend. Happy Stitching!
by Hopblogger


Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Another Letter finished and

this one is for my sister. L stands for Lori.
She requested that when I was done with it - if
I would make it into a pillow. Yes I will and hopefully
I will finish it soon once I find some matching
fabric. I will post a pic once I am finished.
These Alphabets are no longer at the address
that is printed at the bottom of the pattern page.
Click here to get these beautiful patterns in PDF
http://www.uneaiguilledansunebottedefoin.net/28-categorie-641086.html
Happy Thanksgiving!
by Hopblogger


Saturday, November 13, 2010

A cute little Santa Star

is a pattern by Sam Hawkins. The design comes from
his book called '520 Christmas Cross-Stitch Designs. It's located on page 9.
It stitches up very quickly. I hope to be able to
stitch up many little designs & then make them all
into ornaments. Next year I plan on starting early.
Hopefully I can stitch up at least 1 or 2 ornaments a week.
And then in November I can fix them in order to display
them on my tree. So I have a goal - lets hope that I can
stick to it & do it while stitching up other items as well.
by Hopblogger

The Enchanted Sleigh

is a pattern by Susan Brack. My daughter stitched this for
me back in 1993. I absolutely adore it. As you see, it still
has not been made into anything nor has it ever been framed.
I just love to look at it. I cannot find the pattern for it although
I know that I have it somewhere.
by Hopblogger

Saturday, November 6, 2010

Santa Moon

This is the beginning post for NIGHTCAPS.
This label is reserved for
small cross stitch items that you stitch
while riding in the car with someone,
waiting at doctors office's
or just before you retire for the night. It doesn't
matter how long that it takes to complete these
small projects - just that you do. I just
love these small Stitch-n-hang ornament,
greeting card kits. This one is called 'SANTA MOON'.
They are easy &
quick and this kit had never been opened.
This is first kit that I encountered that
some thread was missing. And I didn't catch the
mistake until after I finished it. Normally I never take
any of these small kit threads & sort them out. Mainly because
there is never alot of threads. Mostly you can see them at a glance.
It never dawned on me to make
sure all the threads were there. Well, the light blue thread
was not there and so I accidentally stitched it in the
medium blue not giving the lighter blue color another
thought. What was I thinking? Anyway that was the only
trouble I had with this kit. And you know me I will not pull
out that mistake. I will only work with it the best that I can.
It will have to be really bad for me to pull out those stitches.
So, dont you agree - its not a big deal.
I didn't back stitch the entire piece. I didnt want to make any of
the greenery stand out. Also I almost forgot. I stitched
the blue cap a little further down than intended & I left out those
white dots. But all in all its not too bad. Unless you
have the pattern you are not going to see any of the mistakes anyhow.
I hope you like Santa Moon.
by Hopblogger





Thursday, November 4, 2010

Here are the patterns

for Heart of the Rose and Rose Fields.
My initial intention for this biscornu was
to make it lacy & to call it lacy rose. However after
many months of bad attempts I could not get it to
look like I wanted it to. So my idea was abandoned.
This was the best that I
could come up with. Once I saw that it created a
heart, hence the name change to the Heart of the Rose.
You will notice on Rose Fields that there
isnt any green. That is because I decided at the
last moment to add the green while I was stitching.
There isnt any pattern for adding the green X's.
Just add them randomly or to all of the little roses
as I did. The choice is yours. I also do not mind
if you change the colors.
by Hopblogger


Monday, November 1, 2010

The Heart of the Rose,

you see why I couldnt help but to call it that. The
back is called Rose Fields. This is two separate
patterns that I have placed together to make a
biscornu. I didnt intend for it to look so Christmassy.
It just happened that way. There are 4 points
at the corners of the Roses. This would be a great area
to attach 4 pretty rose charms or tassels. I will
post the patterns soon. This would be a great
pattern for Valentines Day!
by Hopblogger