Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Kitties and a bunny

I've finished the Garden  Bunny Buttoned & Beaded piece stitched by my friend, Phyllis.

Once the piece is stitched, you have cut it out from the perforated paper square.  I always dread this part.  I am one of those people who tends to hold my breath when I'm cutting something.  If there is a lot of cutting involved, this can lead to some serious light-headedness.  I just have this feeling that I can really damage something when I cut it.  It's not like stitching with the wrong floss where I can just frog my stitches.  Cutting the paper - and even worse, a thread - is way more permanent than making a few stitches.  You should see me working on a hardanger piece.  At least I don't turn blue-ish any more once I learned that you can weave in threads if you make a mistake.  But, it is still nerve wracking.  Using a serger is likely to kill me.  Sewing and cutting the fabric at the same time!

So, all that being said, I find that it is easier to cut while looking at the back of the piece.  The distraction of beads and buttons is not on the back of the piece.  I have also tried cutting the paper on my own pieces after the stitching is done but before the beading.  It worked well on the pieces I have done, but I can see how it might make the beading tougher on some pieces where it would be nice to have a little extra material to hold on to.
Garden Bunny after going through the Xyron

The new cartridge for my Xyron finally arrived and I was able to get the back of the stitching good and sticky and apply the light blue felt.  I stitched right through the felt to attach the little bowtie.  Then I added a magnet to the back rather than the pin backing that comes with the kit.  I think a lot of people are more likely to use these little pieces as magnets than as pins.  Isn't he cute?
Garden Bunny all done

It's been a busy week so I've made only a little progress on Moonlit Kitties.  Now there's a moon to go with my spectral kitties.
Moonlit Kitties

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Still need to squint

You still need to squint to see the cats, but I've made some progress on the moon.

I like this design.  It reminds me of cool fall nights (or the cool full moon with clouds floating by that we saw after the Harry Potter movie this weekend).  Given how hot it is here now, those cool fall nights are looking pretty good.

This Moonlit Kitties kit and a whole bunch more are available at NeedleartsGallery.com



Saturday, July 16, 2011

You have to see this! Cross stitch iPhone case

I just had to pass this along.  It's a cross stitch iPhone case - the back is much like plastic canvas so you can personalize your iPhone case.  They refer to it as the iPhone 4G case so I am pretty confident that it won't work with the older iPhones, but someone out there can probably figure out a way to make one that works with other phones.  It does come in other colors besides pink.

Thursday, July 14, 2011

If you squint...

If you squint, you can just about make out my two Moonlit Kitties.  This is another Buttoned & Beaded kit from Mill Hill.  There are a lot of beads in this design so the image won't look complete until the beads are added but it is coming along nicely.  I love how easy it is to stitch these designs - stitching on the perforated paper doesn't require a hoop and it is easy to pick up and stitch a couple lengths whenever I get a few minutes.  I have the navy blue frame ready and waiting for this when the stitching is done.

Here is what the piece will look like when it's complete.  You can see more of the Buttoned & Beaded designs at NeedleartsGallery.com.

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Yep - another rabbit

This time the rabbit is French Country Rabbit from JBW Designs.  This is also stitched by my friend, Phyllis.  I'll get this one finished off as well.  We have to work out whether it will be a pillow or an ornament.  Either way, it will have some nice coordinating dark red fabric as a backing and some cording or trim of some kind.



Isn't he cute!

Happy Stitching

Sunday, July 10, 2011

Lots of bunnies this year

This is a Mill Hill Buttoned and Beaded kit stitched by my friend, Phyllis.  Phyllis is one of those incredible people who manage to work during the day, raise a family, remain active in community activities, and pursue incredible crafting projects.  She crochets at incredible speed and produces the most wonderful blankets, shawls and other adorable items as well.

She stitched up this little bunny this past Spring and I will get it finished for her as a magnet.  He just needs his little bowtie and then I'll put him through the Xyron, attach a nice felt backing and a magnet rather than the pin backing.

It looks like Phyllis's son has shown some interest in some small stitching projects as well.  They are from a very musical family so I think I'll send over one of this year's Mill Hill releases - Music from the 2011 Autumn series of Seasonal Ornaments.

Happy Stitching!  Stay cool.