My Stitching Friend Double Heart Design

The design is charted for regular DMC floss - use whatever colors you like - but it would be a really quick stitch with overdyes. Buttons or charms could easily dress it up a bit.

April Away!!

Either days are getting shorter, time is moving faster or I'm living in a time warp of some kind. How can it already be the end of April?!? I am just squeaking in a post before the end of the month, yet again. I have taken in a few baseball games (I love baseball!) and I've been busy stitching and project planning, chart designing, working and doing various other activities that seem to make the days fly by much too quickly. Most of my stitching has still been for exchanges and gifts, so not much to show yet. I can show a picture of the replacement I stitched for the HoE Biscornu exchange for Annette because her original partner has gone missing (I hope everything is okay with her - I think she is in the military, so maybe she has had to be away on assignment). Anyway, Annette posted yesterday that it had arrived. I hope she likes it, I didn't have much time to figure out what she really likes. I seem to be stuck on purples, pinks and periwinkle blues right now - so I hope she likes the colors.

I had planned to post some charts this month - one each week. It's a little late for that now, so I will just post them all at once. These are more of the old charts that I designed for a monthly kit series for a local needlework store several years ago. I have taken them out of mothballs and updated the charts a little. I still have the needlework set so I took some photos of it to post but the Best Mom Needleroll model was never returned to me so I don't have a picture of it.

Busy Bees Needlework Set

Scissor Case and Scissor Fob
First up is the scissor case and scissor fob.




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Busy Bees Needlecase

Here is the matching needlecase.

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Busy Bees Pincushion

And here is the final part, the pincushion.

Best Mom Needleroll

This was designed as a needleroll on wide linen banding with a design woven into the edges so there was no need to finish the ends. The original was stitched with hand-dyed variegated thread - Caron's Wildflowers Aurora - and co-ordinating DMC flosses(500, 501, 603). The two lines at the top and bottom indicated the area where threads were removed and hemstitched so ribbon could be woven through to close the ends. I used a Swarovski Crystal Heart for the center but a button or charm could be substituted. With all the beautiful overdyes available these days - I suggest picking colors you like and go at it - have fun!

New and Old

First, thanks to everyone for the lovely comments you have left on the exchanges! I have enjoyed doing them and I'm happy that my partners have been pleased with the ones I have sent as well.

I have had several requests for the chart for the Dragonfly Fob I did for my friend Beth last year. The dragonfly on that one was an adaptation of another chart and even though I made several changes to it I didn't feel I could post the chart. Months ago I started over and made my own design and made it a smaller size more suitable for a fob. I hope this will be okay for those who have requested the chart. I would have posted it sooner but I kept forgetting to pull out the leftover threads to figure out which ones I used. I'm not 100% sure which of the ones I settled on using so I will list the ones I had pulled for the project and you can choose what to use. I know I used DMC Variations 4050 blended with DMC Light Effects E135 for the upper wings. Now here is the tricky part - I pulled DMC Variations 4030, Anchor Multicolor 1345, and Weeks Dye Works 2136 Caribbean - I'm not sure which I finally settled on, but I think I used the Anchor Multicolor 1345 and I blended it with the Light Effects E135 for the lower wings. I used DMC Light Effects E384 blended with the Weeks Caribbean for the body and the Light Effects E384 alone for the legs. The lettering on the back was done with DMC Variations 4030 and the cording and tassel was made with the Anchor Multicolor 1345. I used Mill Hill Magnifica Glass Beads #10104 for the eyes and around the edges and I added a few Swarovski crystals around the dragonfly. See why it has taken me so long to post the chart? The chart was easy but listing the threads wasn't!

Long story short, if I was going to do it again I would just use the two DMC Variation flosses and the two Light Effects colors like this: DMC 4050 blended with E135 for the upper wings - DMC 4030 blended with E135 for the lower wings - DMC 4030 with E384 for the body - E384 by itself for the legs and specialty stitches - E135 by itself to outline the wings - DMC 4030 for the lettering on the back, the backstitched edges, the cording and tassel - Mill Hill Magnifica Glass Beads #10104 for the eyes and edging.



***Edited: I forgot to mention, I used opalescent fabric to stitch on - it really gives it that special sparkle! And I have added a second version of the back - I realized I used the version without the apostrophe the first time.

Another Exchange Reaches Its Destination

Cathy B sent a message that my biscornu for her did arrive yesterday, so it is okay for me to post the pictures now. I'm sorry to say my pictures don't really do it justice, the Swarovski crystals that add so much to the beauty of the piece don't show very well in the photos. It was the first biscornu I have ever made and I may make more some time. I would much rather maker scissors fobs though.

And here is a picture of the entire exchange package that I sent. The Little House Needleworks chart was from Cathy's wishlist - I was hoping she hadn't already received it from someone else.

March Marches On!

It is so hard for me to believe this month is almost gone! I think the older I get the faster time passes....and it's leaving me in its dust. I have been busy stitching, mostly for gifts and exchanges. A few of them have arrived at their destinations, though, so I think I will post a few pictures. I have received some lovely things as well, so today is Show & Tell!

First is the Hooked on Exchanging Scissors Fob package I put together for Nela in Venezuela. It was my first exchange and I had great fun checking out her likes on her blog, shopping for her and choosing the design to stitch. I used a chart from a kit, changing it a little to look like her cat, Minina. I gathered from her blog that she really liked cats, roses and the color pink, so my theme was set. I was so excited to get it sent off to her, posting it a little early and sending it International Priority so it would arrive in 6-10 days.....and the weeks dragged on....and on....and on......I began to panic and decided to start over and resend. The very day I had decided to start restitching the fob, I heard that the package was being held in customs so I had to send Nela a list of everything in the package so she could claim it. That was no problem, but I felt like it somewhat spoiled the surprise for her. I 'm so sorry it was such a hassle for her to receive it - I hope that she feels it was worth it. And finally, today, I have word that she actually has it all in hand!!!

While I was waiting for my scissor fob for Nela to reach her, my own fob exchange package arrived from Melissa. It's a Drawn Thread design stitched on R&R fabric with silks. She also sent some extra goodies - some calico fabrics, Dark Chocolate Peppermint Stick Cappuccino mix and some cute Mary Engelbreit notecards and sticky notes - way too cute! THANK YOU, MELISSA! Here is a picture of the whole package and one of the fob attached to a pair of my scissors.

Now I'm waiting for my biscornu package to make its way to my exchange partner. I thought it might arrive today or tomorrow. In the meantime, I received my biscornu from the exchange from Perri in Australia. It came in a brightly colored gift box with purple stripes and circles in several shades of pink. She sent a beautifully stitched and finished biscornu using a design from one of my friends (and favorite designers!), Barabara Ana! I read on the HoE blog that this is Perri's first exchange and she did a wonderful job putting together a special package. Along with the expertly done biscornu (Her blog tells me this is the first biscornu she has made, but you wouldn't know that from looking at it!), she also included a very generous piece of 32 count Summer Khaki Belfast linen, a skein of beautiful Australian hand-dyed size 8 pearl cotton, a package of Size 26 (my favorite size to use) Piecemaker needles and a really cute "Twisted Whiskers" spiral notepad. Thanks for everything, Perri!!

And speaking of Barbara Ana - she has some new designs out - you can preview them here. She also has a new freebie design available here.

Design "Trailer" from Faby

In the movies they call them trailers - those film clips they release to build your anticipation for a new film. Well, Faby is doing the same thing with her new design she is working on. And it's working!!! I can hardly wait to see the whole thing! If you want to join me in the suspense, visit her blog and preview the delightful new design she is working on. She not only has free charts for you, but her blog is visually stunning as well. I know you will enjoy the trip.