Finished Project: Chanukah mini-quilt

Last year when my dad visited us for Chanukah, we used a piece of cardboard under the menorah to protect the table from wax drips. This year, I thought maybe we could be a little classier and use something nicer than diverted recycling, so I made this star of David mini quilt to put under the menorah.

This was my first attempt at paper piecing, which I had read a lot about and still only vaguely understood. The pattern is from Leisure Arts’ 1,000 Any-Size Quilt Blocks, which gives a brief tutorial on how to paper piece, but I think it’s really a technique that needs to be done to be understood. The 60 degree angles were a little hard to wrap my head around at first, but once you figure it out, paper piecing is great. I love the tidy seams and matching points on the triangles.

I made the mini quilt with Modern Background Paper & Ink Collections from Fresh Modern Fabrics on Etsy for the star, and Robert Kaufman Blueprint Basics #14539 in Indigo for the background & backing.

And here it is in action, with fancy beeswax candles from Big Dipper Waxworks (I’m really excited about these).

Chag sameach (happy holiday), everyone!

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Finished Project: Itty Bitty Kitty Committee Hoops

I finished these hoops ages ago but never posted them, and that is a crying shame because look at how adorable these little kitties are!

These peeping kitten hoops are just 4 inches wide. My favorite is the calico, it just turned out so well (and I love calico cats in cat-form, too). They are quick to stitch, too, because they are so small.

Buy the pattern on Etsy and visit the pattern page on Textillia!

 

Finished Project: Pineapple mini-hoop

Long time, no updates, but I can assure you all, gentle readers, that I have been stitching away. I just haven’t had the time to take nice pictures to share with you! But now that’s changed and I am proud to present one of my recent finishes, this fun pineapple cross stitch.

I wanted to use some of my large collection of variegated and metallic threads, so I made up this pattern to use them up! I love the juicy yellows and oranges!

I also used the gold metallic thread (from DMC) to make a checkerboard pattern all over the fruit part, and framed it in a gold-painted hoop. Oh so shiny!

I covered up the back with this green and white printed cotton from a fat-quarter pack I got at Joann.

Both the pattern & the finished cross stitch can be had on Etsy. Click here for the pattern, and here for the finished hoop!

Finished Project: Let’s Blow this Popsicle Stand

It’s already August; I can hardly believe it. The summer here in Portland has been very strange — cold and rainy for so much of June and July that it almost feels as though we haven’t had a summer yet at all. Hasn’t stopped me from eating popsicles, though, or from designing and stitching this popsicle cross stitch.

This is one of my favorite ways to say “let’s go,” but I have never heard it used seriously. It is almost too ridiculous. There are also many variants: blow this pop stand, blow this hotdog stand, blow this popcorn stand. So many stands to blow!

I backed it with part of a variegated orange print that I got in a fat-quarter pack from Joann. It was the most popsicle-y fabric I had.

The pattern for this one is available on Etsy, as is the completed hoop.

Finished Project: Whiskey Tango Foxtrot

I’ve been waiting to send my latest cross stitch to its new home before posting about it here — didn’t want to spoil the surprise. But it is safe and sound with its new people, so now you can enjoy it too.

I backed it with some of the sailboat fabric I used for the big nautical signal flag sampler. The flags spell out “WTF” and the border is a visual representation of Morse code that reads “SRSLY WTF.”

The pattern for this one is available free here; kits with the floss, hoop, and aida fabric are available in my Etsy shop.

Incidentally, knowing the NATO alphabet is extremely useful if you ever have to take down people’s information on the phone. No more searching for words that begin with right letter when you’re spelling things out (none of that “so that’s ‘F’ as in… ‘frankfurter’? ‘U’ as in, uh… ‘underwear’?”) It should be required in schools.

Finished Project: Pineapple Mini-Quilt

I finished my first “quilt” yesterday, from piecing to quilting to binding. I put “quilt” in quotes because it is only a tiny thing — about the size of a piece of paper. But I wanted to start small before embarking on a bigger project. Here it is!

I was thinking of using it for a mug rug or trivet, but I added little pockets in the top back corners so it could also be hung on a wall. I’m fairly pleased with the final results, though I can see places where my stitching went wonky and where my 45 degree angles are not 45 degrees.

Here are some work in progress pictures.

The half-square triangles after ironing

 

Laying out the patchwork squares

 

Folding over the binding

 

Binder clips make excellent alternatives to pins for securing the binding! Much cheaper than Clover’s Wonder clips, too.

Tutorials/Further Reading

I got the instructions for the pineapple patchwork block from Sassafras Lane and followed Patchwork Pottery’s excellent tutorial for adding the hanging pockets.

The yellow and green fabrics are assorted fat quarters from The Stitchin’ Post in Sisters, OR, and the pindot background fabric is from Fresh Modern Fabric on Etsy (I bought a fat quarter pack, but this particular fabric is called Pindot in Graphite, from the Modern Background Ink Collection by Brigitte Heitland for Zen Chic for Moda Fabrics. You can buy it from Fresh Modern Fabrics here).

Finished Project: Magikarp

I finished another Pokémon on plastic canvas, to keep Oddish company.

I used a Magikarp pattern from Birdie Stitching. Magikarp & Oddish now hang out together on BMO, our laptop:

Finished Project: Sleepy Fox

After a long hiatus of not posting because I had no finished projects to share, I finally finished something! I’ve been working on this cross stitched fox for a long time (it was supposed to be for a friend’s birthday, which was in August).

I guess it will just be an early present for his birthday this year!

The pattern is from Daily Cross Stitch.

Finished Project: Oddish on plastic canvas

I’m still plugging away at the Simpsons couch project, but that’s going to be a while (and is waiting on me to go to the store for more floss). In the meantime I stitched up a quick Oddish at the request of my husband.

The pattern is from Birdie Stitching, your one-stop resource for Pokémon cross stitch patterns. I converted the Anchor threads to DMC with this tool, then substituted a bunch of colors because I didn’t have the ones the converter suggested. I stitched Oddish on 14 count plastic canvas with two strands of floss.

Right now he is a desk companion for my husband, but maybe later he will get a magnet and join the other Pokémon on the fridge.

Flower of the Month: February

Today I present the very last of the flowers of the month: the violet! The patterns from the series are from Ellen Maurer-Stroh, who has some great free patterns.

Violets usually flower in the spring. Even though they are usually violet-colored, the flowers can also be blue, white, and yellow colored. Violet flowers are used for scent for perfumes, flavoring for liqueurs and candies, and are sometimes candied with sugar for decorations for desserts.

Like the other squares, I added the month name in the border, using the chart I posted.

The stitching is done in two strands on 18 count antique white aida cloth.

This makes the last installment in the flower of the month series. Here’s how they all look together:

All the months from the past year:

March — jonquil

April — sweet pea

May — lily of the valley

June — wild rose

July — delphinium

August — gladiolus

September — aster

October — calendula

November — chrysanthemum

December — poinsettia

January — carnation