So many hobbies!

More roses

I really don't like picking out stitches; it's rather annoying.  Most of the people I asked said the roses looked just fine and I decided I was being too picky.  Then my cousin Lucy suggested another stitch and that reminded me of the split stitch.  Split stitch would have looked much better, smoother, but I've embroidered too far to rip out.  Besides, they don't really look too bad.  Right?

I've started on the roses

Okay, I'm onto the roses and I'm not happy with how they're looking.  Any suggestions?  Also, see the lines inside the roses?  The plan was to stitch them with a darker pink color.  I'm not feeling that one either.  Again, suggestions?  I'm not feeling the love.

I'm home

Hi, guys.  Sorry I've been gone so much.  I blame my funk on the end of summer.  I don't do well when summer is over.

I had a great time at my sister's.  We watched movies, visited a quilt store, and crafted.  I started a knitting bag and sewed in my first zipper:

This is the front of the bag (actually this is the back according to the pattern but I like how it looks) and is actually 4 separate pieces.  The top with the zipper is the back piece and goes the full length.  Next down is the colored stripe across the whole piece; this is pocket A.  The triangle piece at the bottom is pocket B.  It's hard to see now but once I finish it this weekend, I'll post another picture.  Wait, go here and you can see a pic of a finished bag.

I brought 4 different projects to work on:  knitting, spindle spinning, embroidery and the knitting bag.  Okay, it was only for three days but I need choices!  All I ended up working on was the bag and the embroidery:

You may have to click on the picture to make it bigger.  This is what I did while watching movies.  All I have left to do is the roses.

One of the best things about my sister's place is the pets.  They have a cat named Tuxedo and frankly, Tuxie love me.  It might have something to do with the fact that whenever he wants me to, I pick him up and cuddle him.  He's a very nice boy.  This is Tuxie:

Isn't he handsome?  I don't know if you can tell, but I'm rather fond of Tuxie.  This is my niece's photo, BTW.  She's a wonderful photographer.

My long weekend was very relaxing and it was great to spend time with my sister and brother-in-law.  And, I learned how to sew in a zipper.  I was a bit nervous about that one.  How was your weekend?

Needle book

Finally finished.  I've already made changes to my design for the next one.  The button is an antique shell button from my mom's collection.  (Thanks, Mom!)

I was carrying around with me the pillowcase I was embroidering and it was kind of frustrating to have all the separate tools I needed loose in my tote bag.  A needle/sewing book was just what I needed.  The two dark green strips on the right and left sides pull back to reveal pockets to hold my embroidery floss.  My favorite part is the scissors pocket and ties.  This was a fun project and something I'll be using for a while.

Turns out the pillowcases I just ordered aren't good enough for me personal tastes.  The first pillowcase I embroidered was 100% cotton and nice and soft.  The new pillowcases are 80/20 cotton/polyester and they feel very coarse.  Not something I want to rest my face on.  So now I need to search for good, 100% cotton, and at least 200 thread count white pillowcases.  If I'm going to put that much work into something, the base had better be good quality or what's the point.  If anyone has any suggestions for purchasing good quality pillowcases, I'd love to hear them.

Less that 4 weeks until the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival!  The countdown is on!

It's possible I have ADD

I've started yet another embroidery project (before even starting the second pillowcase).  A needle book:

You only get a sneak peek of the front.  The inside isn't finished yet.  I need to make a stop tomorrow after work at Joann ETC to get some supplies.  I could kick myself because I was there today and forgot to pick up something that I really need.  Grr.

I did a Google Images search for ideas.  I'm combining a couple needle books that I liked along with some changes of my own.  Basically, I'm flying by the seat of my pants and making it up as I go along.  (I'm also making notes and sketches so the next one is better.)

The sky was looking particularly beautiful this morning.  I hope your monitor is bright enough to see it:

One down...

This went much faster than I thought it would.  I only started it Saturday afternoon and by Sunday night, I was almost done.  The only down side to the second pillowcase is it's not the same as the one above.  The "cuff" is only about 2 inches wide as opposed to this one which is about 4 inches wide.  See the seam above the embroidery.  Yeah, it's right in the middle of the embroidery on the second pillowcase.  <sigh>  I suppose once both are on pillows on a bed, you won't notice that they're not the same.  Let's see if the second pillowcase is finished as quickly as the first one.

The urge to embroider

Produced this:

I started working on it Saturday afternoon.  As you can see, I'm almost done.  It went MUCH faster than I expected.

I ordered two more pillowcases but I'm still waiting for them to arrive.  I wanted to make sure they match.  I couldn't wait to start, however, so I ironed the pattern on a pillowcase I had left and I'm hoping for the best.  Since the new cases are from the same place as the old cases, I'm not too worried that they'll match.  Instead, I'm wishing now that I'd done the flowers in a more contrasting color.  Purple maybe. 

The bin I keep all my embroidery stuff in is loaded so the storage cases holding the embroidery floss is on the bottom, which means I need to take everything out to get to the floss:

I had help loading it back in again.  Sort of.

Camping pillowcase

I needed a quick project for a change of pace.  I hadn't done any embroidery in ages and, over the weekend, felt the need for a new project.  Sublime Stitching sells iron-on transfers and all sorts of things to embroider them on.  I bought a pair of good quality pillowcases and some camping iron-ons.  The embroidery was started and finished Sunday.  This will go into my camping gear as a fun little accessory.  Fun and silly appeals to me.  Hmm, I'm kind of wanting to embroider a set of pillowcases for every day use.  Oh, my.