Saturday, February 26, 2011

I cannot remember

the name of this pattern. So if you
know who the maker is let me know.
Bev (located in my comments) has told me
that this beauty is the work of Luan Callery.
It comes from Johnson Creative Arts Leaflet
No. 84013 and that the leaflet is not dated. This bird
is so pretty that Bev probably stitched it also around the same
time that I did! It hangs in her entry.
Thank you Bev for the information! The only
thing I did remember about this pattern is that I stitched it
around 1985. And why that date sticks
into my mind beats me. It is about 16 inches
across & about 26 inches in length. It was
found in my attic rolled up in a
cardboard tube.
Thank you for visiting me!
by Hopblogger

Friday, February 25, 2011

I WON, I WON!!

I won the giveaway from DiamondC's blog!
The red hi-heel is much prettier than the
photo gives it credit. Take a look at all
of the other nice things that Catherine
sent along to me in that same box.

There's also a very nice glittery card!
Yum-yum on those M&M's.

This red hi-heel is so stunning.
It is shiny like patent leather!

Some cute magnets. The linen
is so soft & creamy!

So many nice leaflets. Take
a look at all of them.



If you havent skipped over to
my friend Catherine's blog - you
should.
Catherine has some cute things
over there!
by Hopblogger

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Dont you just

love an easy pincushion. These take only
a few minutes to stitch up. There isn't
any glueing involved. Most of these
shoe pincushions are made with stiffer
old walking baby shoes. Those are adoreable!
But what makes these shoes differ from
the others is that one of these sets is
just crochet baby booties. This white pair
with pink ribbons are for a baby about
6 months old. If your baby has a set of
these crochet booties - just trace
around the bootie & cut out a pattern
from white cardstock. If your sock does
not have any lace on it - just hand stitch
it quickly on with matching thread. Now
insert the pattern inside of the sock,
Put the sock inside of the bootie & start
stuffing. Stuff only up to the edge of the
baby bootie. Cut out a round ball - mine
was from white flannel. Its so soft.
Stuff the round ball hard & just insert it
inside of the sock. Do not push it far
down. Try to keep it soft looking.
For the cute little baby black dress-up
shoes. All you do is stitch up a
pillow from sweet pink thin cotton
& stuff it inside of the shoe. Just make
sure that all of the seams are
stuffed under where you cannot see
them. If for
any reason you want to do something
else with these booties & shoes
then just pull out the pillows &
the round balls. My little embroidery
scissors fit right inside of the shoe.
by Hopblogger

Saturday, February 19, 2011

I am making

slow progress on my 'Stitchers Sampler'.
Still so much more to stitch! Not enough
time to stitch on it. Thanks for stopping by!
by Hopblogger

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Remember the Country Sampler

that I showed you a couple of postings ago.
Well, I did get the nerve to do what I wanted
to do with it. See, when I saw that Sampler -
my eyes saw alot of things! Ah - it took all
my strength to cut it! But let me tell you that I
am glad that I did it. If you decide to do
something like this make sure that you know
what you want to do with it so you do not
waste any part of that sampler. After all you
worked hard on it. I knew what I wanted
to make out of all of it but in the end the last
piece did not work out like I thought it would.
So I took that little piece & basically
stuck it to the inside of the fabric basket with
pins. When I do figure out what I want
to do with that piece then its still
there in the basket for when I need it.
This is what I saw out of that sampler.
I saw a nice pincushion just from the
center piece. It is backed with
soft red flannel. I could have used
matching thread but I didnt want
to. I zig-zagged all around the piece.
Talk about easy to stuff!
The sampler has greens, pinks,
yellow golds, purple & white. So
any color to stitch would be fine, plus
it helped give me the country effect
that I was after.

Pastel baby buttons of all colors
works very well embellishing it.

I was able to get 2 twin scissor cases.
Each of these pieces were on the left &
right sides of the centerpiece.

Here is the other twin
scissor case. Its identical,
except the button colors
differ. I have plenty of these
little buttons.

This is a little piece
that I wanted to wrap
around a small wooden
spool. Yea, I had planned
this also. It is a
bottlecap pincushion.

The bottlecap pincushion
has baby buttons around
the edges & a couple of
buttons going down the
one side of it.

It has the baby buttons
going around the top also.

And my small embroidery
scissors needed a wooden spool
to hold it. Yep I had planned
also to cover one of these large wooden
spools. The little design was only
about a half inch short of the wooden
spool but I knew that. Because I
had measured it before I even cut it.
I had to decide how I was going to
take care of that problem before I
cut any of the sampler.

Here is the photo going the
entire way around the spool.
The 3 dolls in the wagon was
so cute.

Here is some more of that
cute little design.

See how I attached it. All I did
was sew the little cross stitch
design onto some red flannel.

Then to finish it - I glued it
together. No, the glue is only
on the red flannel - not the wooden
spool. Then I embellished it with
2 cute little blue heart buttons.
Just to give that country touch.
So, this is what it looked like.
And to further country-fi it, if
you look at the first photo you will
see that I popped on a piece of red
flannel with a small green crochet
to top it off. Hope you like the little
scissor fob. This fob has now been
changed because I was able to get
4 scissor fobs out of that sampler.
The little rabbit fob & the little
pie are on the large scissors that
are in the scissor cases. These are
lightly stuffed. Since this photo was
taken, this little scissor fob was taken
off & the little house fob was put on.
It also was lightly stuffed.

This little heart fob is the
only fob left that is not
on a pair of scissors. I might
find a use for it later. It is
not stuffed. I think I like
the stuffed better. So if you
do this - lightly stuff your fobs.

Well, I didnt stop there. I had
to take it further. I had another
small 4 inch doily so I decided
to make me one of those
pincushion-needleminders. The
top is the pincushion. It holds a
little pink heart to keep in with the
country theme.

And just under the coat button is the
magnet for the needleminder.
And no - I didnt make a biscornu
for this set!

I had some small threads so
I placed them in a bag & glued
on just a couple of buttons. I didnt
want to go overboard with them.
Maybe it could use a few more buttons
but I am happy with just a couple
on it.

Well, as you can see I didnt stop
there! I threaded 6 little thread spools
onto some small chocolate brown
rick-rack. And I tied the rick-rack
onto those bows. All 4 sides of this
fabric basket are done this way.

Below is another photo of the
inside of the basket.

The last photo shows you the only
little piece that I have left. The
cow is pin stuck onto the basket.
If you have cross stitch that
you are no longer using or you
have outgrown it. Think about
cutting it. It is better to use it
then not. Yea sure its gonna hurt
your feelings but you will be able
to look at it every day & enjoy
a piece of your heart - that is
after you get over the fear of
FIRST CUTTING IT! That is
the hardest part of it all!
I have just now realized that the
little basket does not have a needlebk
so I guess that little leftover piece will
come in handy for that. I will leave
it there & just stick the needles to it.
Maybe I will glue a magnet underneath
the cow to hold those needles!
Keep stitching!
by Hopblogger

And the Winner is....

Marlene!
Hubby is out of town so I had
to do it myself. I picked one with my
eyes shut.
Email me your address so
I can snail mail it to ya.
by Hopblogger






Monday, February 14, 2011

Look at what Catherine sent me...

I had admired the clothespin angels
at christmastime on her blog.
The snowman dress on the
angel is adorable. And I just love the
halloween witches!! She also sent me
snowmen leaflets. When I finish the mice
then I am going to start on these!
I hopes she likes what I sent her.
Thank you so much Catherine!
by Hopblogger

Sunday, February 6, 2011

A VALENTINE'S GIVEAWAY

Hello friends & fellow bloggers.
About time - isnt it! Just about
everyone is having a giveaway.
So there isnt any better time for me
to start one - than like right now.
Its not easy trying to figure out
what to do for these things.
Sometimes I construct stuff at the last minute.
Do you do that!
This will be my first giveaway & its not a bad
prize.
If everything goes well with this
giveaway then I will hold another
different one for Christmas.
I went looking on the internet & couldnt
find a free pattern for a felt hat. Better Homes
& Gardens has one - but I cannot never seem
to access it. So I gave up on that one.
What I am going to give away is
a hat pincushion that I made from a
small old doily. The hat is a little
over 2 inches across. This makes the
pincushion which is the head part
just a tad over 1 inch. This is so cute!
Now its not just a pincushion - its
also a needleminder. The magnet is under
the coat button on the bottom. This is my own
design. Use it as a needleminder or a pincushion
or both. This pincushion-needleminder
is valued $10 to $15.
To enter there are 2 requirements. One is - you must
be a follower. And the second is - you must leave
a comment! I will put those names that leave a
comment in a hat & have my hubby draw one
on the 14th. Whoever wins will be notified on
the 15th & at that time I will get your address.
To all that enter - GOOD LUCK TO YOU!
by Hopblogger



I found more stuff

in my attic. Apparently I kept more than what
I thought I did. Funny how some boxes get
mislabeled when you are moving. Some things
get misplaced into other boxes. This comes
from the 1990 Better Homes & Gardens
magazine called Cross Stitch Country.
The title of the sampler is as you have
now guessed it - Happiness in a Country
Collection. It still is a cute sampler. Can
you see the yellowing around the edges.
Boy I sure was into country
stuff back then. And wasnt it still alot
of work to stitch this! Yes it was.
Well, at this time in my life
I view things differently. And I am definitely
viewing this in a new light. So cute - how can
I ever get up the courage! I just have to!
I just have to!
by Hopblogger


Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Just an update

on my sewing mice. I am getting there!
Just recently I finished their cheeks, noses,
eyes & their tail bows. Some of the scissors
will have to be restitched
because some of the glitter has
flaked off. See it on the right side of the handle.
Besides that - it is still looking so cute.
Hey guys - this is a rare pattern by Lois
Thompson. This pattern was started more
than 13 years ago and stopped because
of our moving. I sure do hope that I can finish
it in the next couple of months. Wish me luck!
by Hopblogger