Some Handmade Goodies

I'm going to show a few of the Holiday gifts I've made 

because I am pretty sure these people don't read my blog.

First is the Tardis potholder for my son's teacher.

He says she is a huge Doctor Who fan. She even has a Tardis sitting on her desk at school.
I've never seen Doctor Who (this may shock some) so I had to google what a Tardis looked like.

Next is a little 'Peace' ornament I made for my best friend. The pattern is a free one over on 'Krissy-Cross's' blog.


I know my best friend doesn't read my blog... I am actually pretty sure she doesn't know I have a blog (this may shock some too). LOL  But we are more like 'camping buddies'.  She doesn't sew and when we get together we talk about where and when we're camping next and what the menu will be.

I am about 99% sure my daughter doesn't read my blog... so here is a peak at her chemistry / math love pillowcase...


She loves chemistry and math and is studying it in school.  It will go with the 'Keep Calm and Graduate On' quilt I made her. She keeps the quilt on her bed at college.  The body of the pillowcase is a math print called "Back to School" by Timeless Treasures.
 I had my husband google chemistry things and draw them up for me. I then took my handy dandy light box and traced the images onto what fabric, then embroidered them in black.
The two chemistry glassware have colored  fabric fused on them, then I machine stitched them down.


The molecule is Caffeine... she loves coffee.



Lastly... is my son's Horned Owl...

His favorite!
I will be making this sweet owl into an ornament for him.
The pattern came from the booklet 'Woodland Birdies #3' by Victoria Sampler.

So there are a few of the handmade goodies I've been working on.  I'm still working on some and others I can't show yet. teehee hee

In My Hoop ~ and lots more

I can't show you all the things I'm working on because most of them are Christmas gifts...

but here is my start on 'Frosty Forest'. 

I had to work my way down to the raccoon because I couldn't wait to stitch him.
LOVE

My recent purchase is 'Woodland Birdies' by The Victoria Sampler.  If you didn't know, I am a little bird crazy / obsessed.


I am going to try to stitch the owl for my son for Christmas. His favorite owl is the Great Horned Owl and this little guy looks like one!

Back in November I entered a blog give-away over at 'A Whole Lotta Latte'. Jacki likes to scrapbook and stitch too and she is very sweet and generous. She gave away 4 pieces of 40 count linen.
And guess who won...  me.


I'm so happy! I can't wait to stitch all kinds of things.  Hop over to Jacki's blog (she's also on instagram)  and check out her stitching. She is working on a Quaker Christmas design that is so gorgeous. I'm going to need to stitch it too one day.

Our Family Tradition
Every year we go fetch our Christmas tree in our 1958 VW Delux bus.


This year the kids talked me into letting them have a bigger tree. It's twice as big  as the trees we usually get. The deal was that they had to put the lights on because that's usually my job (and taking them off).

They did great!!

In my backyard,


My sweet girl! Isn't she beautiful?!

Mary's Sampler

I hope all my American blog readers had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I did!  We had Thanksgiving and Christmas on the same day with my in-laws this year. I gave them 'Mary's Sampler'.


 I participated in the Mystery stitch along called 'Mary's Sampler' over on Plum Street Samplers blog. She is a wonderful designer and I love your work. I also took another finishing class last week at my local quilt shop and finished my piece in a flatfold... I love how it turned out! My in-laws loved it too. :)

Funny story~ When I showed the finished piece to my husband he asked me why I had fling Princess Leias in the sampler. I turned it around and looked at it again... and laughed so hard. My angles do look like little fling Princess Leias. Super Cute!!

Happy Stitching Everyone!!

What's NOT In My Hoop

Santa's Village

Santa's Village is complete!
Super Adorable.
Stitched on 32ct lambswool linen.
I've changed a few things like adding a dove to month 3 and making my elf look like 'Buddy' from the movie "Elf" in month 11.
But mostly I used the recommended threads.



The design /pattern is from Country Cottage Needleworks.
There is a new series coming the end of this month and I can't wait..."Frosty Forest".
I'm an animal lover and I can't wait to stitch up cute little woodland creatures.
I am secretly wishing / hoping for lots birds and a frog,
but I'm not holding my breath on the frog since it is called 'FROSTY Forest'... the frogs are probably hibernating.
Until it comes out I'll be stitching up some Christmas gifts. I'll post photos of those after they've been given out.  I am working on an adorable gift for my daughter and I don't think she reads my blog... so in a few days I will post pictures of that.

Happy Stitching


From my kitchen window...

Do you do this too?

While I was stitching on my Mary's Sampler last week my husband and  I watched 'The Seven Year Itch'. This week when I started stitching on it again my brain immediately thinks of that movie.

 

My husband says it happens to him too. When he works on a metal piece that he has worked on in the past he'll think about what ever he was watching or hearing from way back when.

Every time I stitch on my Hocus Pocus Ville I think of Sherlock Holmes because a while back we watched that movie while I was stitching on Hocus Pocus Ville. 

Do you do this too?

Grateful For...

My goal was to finish my 'Grateful For' table runner by the beginning of November and I did it! And I love it! Here is a quick but picture heavy post of my finished table runner....

Machine stitching the binding while watching 'The Sound of Music'...

Outside on a gorgeous day (Oct 31st) hand stitching the binding on..

And here it is finished by November 1st.


I didn't have a plan for the pattern and no measuring was done while I was making it so I was shocked when I laid it on the table and it fit perfectly.
Some close ups..

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I added Alvin, the chipmunk that lives in our yard.

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And my son has named all the squirrels in our yard Jeffrey .. so I added them too.


My label on the cutest pumpkin fabric..surrounded by bees.



If you don't know the story behind my runner... last year I had my little family list a few things that they were grateful or thankful for. I wrote them on muslin and hand embroidered them. I was hoping to make them into a table runner last year for Thanksgiving but they sat in my sewing bag for a year.  So this year I was determined to get my table runner done by the 1st of November.
Done!
And I'm in love with it!


I may even keep it on the table year round. 

Buddy the Elf

Yesterday I finished up "Elves' Workshop' which is block / month #11 of Santa's Village.

 
Just in time for November and our last month.
BUT... while stitching my Elf  all I could think of was Buddy the Elf from the movie "Elf".
I LOVE that movie.
So, after I was finished I stepped back and decided I had to change him.  Call me crazy but I love him.


Yes, I frogged some of the stitches out of my elf and changed him.



Here's a photo of my whole Santa's Village so far...

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I am pretty excited about the next series called 'Frosty Forest'.