Please Vote! Only 4 days left!!

Only a few days left to vote at the poll on the right sidebar. You can read more about the Q-snap "issue" that led to this question in my previous post.

Best Stand For Q-Snaps?

I've had my needlework stand, the original Gazelle by Artisan Design, for about 20 years. My frame holder will not hold Q-snap frames. I've tried a few tips, such as using the rubber jar openers as a barrier in between the frame and the Q-snaps, but it still slides around. I called the manufacturer and inquired about a Q-snap adapter (like the one for the Gazelle 2). They told me I should be able to use the frame holder that came with the stand, but I would just need to turn it a certain way. I tried it, but the Q-snap frame still loosens up after a short time, even if I can get it snug at first. I'm a "flipper"...I flip my stitching over to the back side a lot when I'm cross-stitching so I need a stand that will accommodate that without having to re-insert the Q-snap frame repeatedly.

I've created a poll to get feedback on the most popular needlework stands. Please vote (top/right sidebar) for your favorite!! I would like to know what stand you prefer and why. Can you use Q-snap frames with your stand? Give me your thoughts. I love comments! (I don't have any stitching buddies locally, so I'm depending on my blogger friends!

Reach Total Care Floss - Product Review

I purchased Reach Total Care Floss over a month ago and I actually enjoy flossing now! The floss has ridges that grip, is flexible, and is comfortable to use. The floss hasn't shred even once. One of Johnson & Johnson's claims is that Reach Total Care Floss removes up to 2 times more plaque than Glide (my previous brand). All I know is my teeth feel cleaner than before! What a life-changer!

Johnson & Johnson are offering a coupon now for the floss, so give it a try. I think you'll like it.

(Please note: I'm not getting paid to review this product. I just happen to LOVE it and want to spread the word. Doesn't everyone want a clean mouth?!

Linky Parties

Check out these great linky parties:





So many great ideas!

Beauty Rest

The divine Miss Lucy, sacked out on the sofa...such a diva!

She usually sleeps in my lap while I cross stitch. I call her my 4-legged heater.

First Attempt at Felt Food

Here are the first of the felt foods I made recently. You can't beat a couple of  Swiss rolls, donuts, bacon and eggs all with no calories! These were gifts for my granddaughter's birthday. I've seen beads sewn as donut sprinkles, but I chose to use DMC floss instead to prevent a choking hazard.

I use a combination of the Escape Artist tutorial and Skip to My Lou's tutorial for the donuts and Swiss rolls.

The egg tutorial is found on Day to Day. Some of the links to the tutorials were found on Ucreate. I just winged it for the bacon. Easy peasy!

One more great site with many links to felt food is Ohdeedoh.

Day 2 of New Year...Round 2 of Deployment

My DS/24 just informed me he was deploying to Afghanistan this summer. This will make his second deployment (first one was Iraq). He was supposed to finish his 4+ years in the army in a couple of months, but he re-enlisted. I've been looking forward to him returning home. Now, there will be much praying, mailing of care packages, and keeping the news on 24-7.

Happy New Year with a Strawberry on Top!

The holidays flew by without a single blog post. No looking back though. 2011 is here...so...Happy New Year with a strawberry on top!

I found the tutorial for these sweet felt strawberries here. I think they may look more realistic with a different shade of green felt, but I used what I had on hand. The tutorial is great and easy to follow. Once the red pieces were cut, I just ran them threw the machine and cut them apart later.

Of course, they would also make wonderful clown noses at this point...just saying....

The rest of the sewing was by hand and the "seeds" took the longest to sew. I finished that part while watching TV. If I sew any more, I think I will enlarge the pattern a little just to have more than one size and maybe use fabric instead of felt. Moda Bake Shop has a different tutorial for a larger strawberry sewn in the fabric they offer.

Crossing stitches and counting blessings

Finally picked up "Gathering Honey" again. I need to knock it out but just haven't felt very creative lately. I'll share an update pic soon.

I've been job hunting so that has been the priority. I recently had a great interview with a senior executive for exec. administrative assistant. Didn't get the job though...they went with the interim candidate instead. Still, it was a neat blessing just to get the interview.
  

"Promise me you'll always remember: You're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think." ~Christopher Robin to Pooh

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."  ~Jeremiah 29:11 NIV

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."  ~Romans 8:28 NIV

"I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed...nothing will be impossible for you." ~Matthew 17:20 NIV

 And this just puts a smile on my face...my granddaughter....Miss P

Missing My Soldier

He has less than a year left before he can return home for good (unless he changes his mind and re-enlists). I don't think he's going to do that though, but you never know.... I miss him. He sure has aquired a lot of "bling" on that uniform!! I'm so proud of him.

Contest For Handmade Planner!!!

I ran across a contest for a neat day planner at Make It and Love it. The planner is handmade by Much Ado About You. The contest ends on May 18th, so hurry if you want to enter! You can see Make It and Love It's blog by clicking on the button in my sidebar, too. There are lots of great projects and ideas there. Check it out!

Loudly Silent

I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day!

I know I haven't blogged lately, but a lot has happened recently. My daughter, son-in-law, AND granddaughter, moved almost 8 hours away from home in April. It's been quite an adjustment for everyone, but I think things are settling down now. I plan to visit soon. :)

No stitching lately, but DS/13 gave me a new pair of purple victorian cross stitch scissors for Mother's Day, so I'll be picking up the "Gathering Honey Sampler" again very soon! DH and DS/13 also gave me a gift card to Marshall's. I love gift cards! DD gave me perfume (the same scent she wears) and a soup mug! She actually had it delivered to me by a friend of hers that lives in town. So sweet!

DS/13 recently took a trip with his school choir to Disneyworld in Orlando. He also has a mission trip to Ohio coming up with the church choir in a couple of weeks. This week he received the William H. Sweet award for maintaining a high grade point average all year and having good conduct. I'm so proud of him!

I also have been blessed to have some work coming in this month after being laid off since July of last year. It's still slow, but any work is better than no work! Just not sure when any housework will get done...LOL!

So, when I'm silent and not blogging...I'm still here...just living out loud.

Another Pillowcase Dress

This was a fun project! I used the notes I had written before when I helped my DD made the previous pillowcase dress.

She provided the fabric (1 yard cotton)
I purchased the grosgrain ribbon ("shocking electric pink" color) 2 yards
I had vintage brick red rick rack and threads to match in my stash.

Tutorial:

NOTE: Make sure you have your iron handy! There is quite a bit of ironing for this project!

Cut 2 panels (RST-right sides together) 18" wide x 22" long
Press under 1/4" on all 4 side seams (the 22" sides are the side seams)
Press under another 1/4" on all 4 side seams and stitch close to edge.
Pin the 2 panels (RST) at the side seams from the bottom edge up to 16" from the top. (mark with a pin).
Sew 1/2" side seams from bottom edge up to the 16" mark and STOP. (these will later become armholes.)
Press seams flat.
Press under bottom edge 1".
Press under bottom edge additional 1" and pin.
Sew hem close to edge.
On front and back panel, fold under 1/2" and Press.
Fold under another 1 1/4" and Press, pin and Stitch close to edge. Either lay the 36" ribbon in tunnel before sewing or feed through the tunnel afterward...just be careful not to catch it in the stitching if you do it the first way!)
Gather the fabric to the middle of the ribbon leaving 7" of gathered front and back panels and equal amounts of ribbon (approx. 14" of ribbon on each side).
Sew the fabric to the ribbon on the edge to keep the ribbon in place.
I cut the ribbon at an angle and burned the edges to keep it from unraveling.

Baby Doll Bed & Coverlet

I recovered a doll bed mattress and made a new coverlet for my granddaughter's antique baby doll bed that belonged to her great grandmother. The nursery is painted yellow and has shabby chic pink accents, so my daughter chose a floral print that would better match the room than what was already on the doll bed.

The "Before":The "After":
I added antique lace and satin ribbon trim. The coverlet originally had been 2 pieces of fabric sewn together and tied to mimic a quilt. I chose to add a layer of batting to the new coverlet and quilted around the edge, tying only in the middle. As you can see, I also stitched up a pillow for the doll bed. Doesn't every dolly need a pillow?? I made a pillowcase for the pillow and added more lace and ribbon trim.

I was pleased with the result since I had no idea what I was doing!

Pillowcase Dress & Recycled Shirt Dress

I'm teaching my DD, at Moms the Word, to sew. She wants to make things for her daughter who is one year old (my granddaughter). I took measurements from a purchased pillowcase dress she had and added seam allowances and showed her some basic sewing techniques. All the sewing was straight stitching which was good practice for her on the sewing machine. She had white satin ribbon in her stash that we used for the ties. This photo was taken before the ends of the ribbon were trimmed and treated, so please overlook! The photo doesn't do the dress justice. Hopefully, I'll have one with my beautiful granddaughter modeling it soon!
Here is an earlier project I sewed a few weeks ago for my granddaughter. My DD found a tutorial on Waldeck Dry Goods blog for a dress made from a shirt with fabric added to it. I didn't follow the tutorial exactly, but it is the same result.Of course, it looks much better with my sweet model in it! I used one of my granddaughter's Gap shirts that was getting a little short. She's ready to go shopping!

Black Spray Painted Frames and Glittered Candles

I "shopped" my home to decorate this holiday season with picture frames and candles. I had saved all my used pillar candles and old nicked-up frames for a "future project". I got an opportunity to pick up some black spray paint at Wal-mart. I also bought Modge-Podge because I was out. I l-o-v-e that stuff!

Here are some of the "Before" items that got the spray paint treatment.

I propped the items on anything I could find...from rocks to pieces of wood, just whatever was handy.
And "After"....













I plan on sanding the edges of the frames and candle sticks, but I still need to get sandpaper!

For the candles, I cut the melted tops off and smoothed out the edges. This part is NOT kid-friendly! However, once that's done, the rest is child's play! : ) I used a sponge brush to paint Modge-Podge on the sides of the candle. Next, I took the top of a shoebox and sprinkled glitter (Sulyn Brand) and rolled the candle back and forth in it until it was completely covered in glitter. I know that the finer grain glitter is very nice for this project, but I didn't have any on hand. The regular glitter gave the candles a more retro look in my opinion. Another idea I've seen is to use Epson Salt instead of glitter to give the look of snow. I think I will be glittering a few Easter eggs this year, too!!!

Special Christmas

My son (who is in the army) was finally able to come home for Christmas for the first time in 3 years! It was so good to have all three children home again for the holidays!


















Also, my granddaughter (who turned 1 yr. old on New Year's Eve) really made it special this year! Grandchildren are such a blessing!

My gift from my DH was a Brother CS-6000i sewing machine! I am really enjoying having a portable sewing machine after 30 years of using one in a cabinet. I love it! More on that later...

Baby Legs

My daughter asked me to make my granddaughter some "baby legs" leggings from knee hi socks. I had found several good tutorials here and here. The ones with the "lettuce edge" hem is great for girls and the cuffed edge is good for boys. Target has 3 pair of ladies socks on sale for $6. That's $2 a pair if you're doin' the math! Much better than the $12+ price at Gap and other retail stores. Of course, I grabbed some up.

I basically just cut the foot part off each pair of socks and set my machine to sew a moderately close together zig zag stitch. I stitched along the raw edge and gently pulled the fabric as I sewed. This created the ruffled lettuce edge hem. The next thing I knew, I had sewn up six pair of leggings in no time at all. This was so easy. The only thing that slowed me down was simply threading bobbins and rethreading the machine to match the different colors in the socks!

Ta Da!








Edited to Add:
And here is Miss P modeling a pair!

Gone TOO Long!

I actually MISSED my 5th year blog anniversary (November 22)! Everything has been pretty busy around here, and my office/sewing studio has been turned upside down (again) because DS/12 reclaimed his shelves. Boo hoo for me, but great for him!

We had the family over for Thanksgiving (minus our son who's still in army). It went well, except for missing him. Hopefully he'll be home Christmas.

I hope all of you had a great Thanksgiving!

Where The Wild Things Are Furry Frenzy

I don't get many requests from my DS/23 for sewing projects, but he asked if I could make him a costume of "Max" from "Where The Wild Things Are". (It was one of his favorite books as a kid.) Of course, I told him I would make it for him. It was shipped it to him today. Sure hope he likes it! It's snowy where he is stationed in the army, so I don't think it will be too hot in all that fur!

The Jockstar (love him!) modeled the hood part of the costume for me to get photos. What things we do in the name of love!

The costume is made of light grey fur. The lining of the hood is showing a little, but it can be tucked in. I was in a time crunch so I didn't have time to tack it to the hood. :( I designed the ears in a cone shape (like the "Max" costume in the book). Black pipe cleaners were used for wolf whiskers.

As for the crown, I would have probably use felt or gold poster board to make one. DS/23 wanted to buy his instead.

Here's the front and back. I would have liked to have altered the pattern for the front and put a placket and buttons (with velcro closures), but I had already cut into the fur before I realized I hadn't modified the pattern yet! It was late at night and I just got carried away with the cutting. That meant I had to go with the pattern and put a zipper in the front. Oh well... By the way, the zipper zips all the way up (I just forgot to do it before snapping the photo!) Arrrgh...
The back of the costume has the "wolf" tail. You can't tell in the photo, but the tail turned out quite realistic. Hancock Fabrics has just enough of brown/black fur for just the right touch!
I cut 2 rectangles of fur for the hands/paws. I used white craft foam cut into triangles for the claws. I sewed them upside down onto one long edge of the fur, then flipped them the right way and top-stitched. Next, I sewed 3/4" elastic (from my stash) to each side. The are a little big for me, but should fit DS/23.
Pattern Review:
I used Easy McCall's Pattern M5956. It wasn't a difficult pattern to sew, but the fur made it tricky. If I was sewing this for a child, I would probably make it in fleece instead of fur. That would make the costume lighter (weight-wise) and I would modify the front as I mentioned earlier (but only if I was creating a "Max" costume, though). Also, the pattern instructs to "clip curves as necessary" in the general info. However, it isn't mentioned again in the numbered instructions. So beware.... if you sew this pattern, don't forget to clip each and every curve! On another note, since the movie "Where The Wild Things Are" just came out, why aren't "Max" and monster ready-to-wear costumes available? I think they would have been a big hit this year! Here's the trailer, if you're interested.