Stocking #1 Week ???

I need to go to my calendar to determine how many weeks I have been working on this stocking. I didn't work on it at all last week. 

Those little individual snowflakes were a pain. I almost didn't do them, I wasn't sure it would add anything to the design, 

but I am glad I did. 

On April 19th I started making the Confetti Stitch for the individual snowflakes. This is the website where I learned how to do the Confetti Stich. Here are the pictures from that night. 

The very top of the stocking.

Close up of the middle.

Starting the toe section. I showed these pictures to my niece and she really likes them. 

I took a break to make more masks and work on my Yo-Yo Quilt and came back to do more. These little stitches are tine consuming and use so much thread. I don't travel on the back. 

This is how the look on the back.

So last night, 28th of April I made the last one!!!!

The middle section, you can enlarge to see better,

The Toe section.

The whole Stocking, you can see the individual snowflakes if you enlarge the picture.

The only things left to do are to sew on buttons on the snowmen and stars on top of the trees but I have to buy them. I also have two little white birds to do. but I can't see them to make them.

Where the needle is sticking up I have stitched half of the bird but I can't see my stitches to know where to go next. Frustrating. I will try one more time with a light brown and if that doesn't work I will have to do something else. 

It is 14 weeks since I started but I haven't worked on it every week. 

I am so glad to be at this point. 

Card Making

As you know I do other things besides quilting and cross-stitching. 

I made some Easter cards in the shape of a basket.

This looking down on the basket.

This is looking straight at the front of the card.

I made the purple in two different shades. 

Here is the dark purple.

I made this same card for Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentine's Day. My next version will be for Mother's Day. I think. I can also see it in Red, White, and Blue for the 4th of July. I don't usually make cards for the 4th but I might this year!

These baskets were designed by https://karenburniston.com/.

This next card was made by Lawn Fawn. 

Using their Magic Iris die set. It is easier to make than it looks.

This the Magic Iris closed.

Here it is opened!

The Magic Iris is fun!

Happy Card Making!

Yo-Yo Quilt Update And Masks for Cornona Virus

I know it has been a while since I have posted any progress on my Yo-Yo quilt. I finally made some progress since I had my sewing machine up to make masks for my family and nurse friends. 

But here is what you really want to see.  First I connect four rows of blocks together. 

Then I sewed two rows together. They are in the middle. I was thinking I can't wait to preview border fabric but my favorite quilt shop is closed for because of the Corona Virus! So, I have to wait. 

Feels good to be making progress!

This is just a small sample of masks I made.

Here I am styling with a mask on. Yes, I did make a quilt out of this fabric. 

And with a different mask on. 

Happy Stitching!

Stocking #1 Week #11

It has been 11 weeks since I started the first Christmas stock for my great-niece and her husband. I haven't worked on it for 2 weeks. And it has been 3 weeks since my last post. 

I did make progress and I also have done a few other things like dealing with teenagers who have been out of school for 4 weeks,

 1 week of spring break, and 3 weeks in quarantine.  New online classes for them. Interesting times. Plus I have been making masks for family and friends,  

So, the last time I posted the stocking looked almost complete. But there were a few details that needed to be finished. 

The first detail to finish was this little tree. It took me three tries to get those branches to go in the right direction. Then I had to make all those needles. I thought I was done and realized I forgot the two bottom branches. 

You may have noticed I am using my small embroidery hoop. I was tired of fighting with the big frame and it wasn't stretching the fabric enough to see the holes. Especially with all that fine work. 

The second detail work I worked on were these six fir stitches in the middle of this vine-like row. They also took several attempts to get them right also. They are good now! 

So now let me show you the whole thing now.

Doesn't it look great? But it isn't finished. There is supposed to be a bird sitting on the cat's tail and the snowman on the right side. Those birds are over one thread instead of two. I have made two of them and I am not happy with them. Let me show you.

I hit a snag when I start doing the second leg of the cross-stitch. It starts to look messy and I can't find my holes. I will try again and if it doesn't work for me, they aren't happening!

They don't look as bad here as I think they do in person. 

But I am still not done, I have a bunch of confetti stitches to make. Those are one stitch here and there to look like snow. I had to look up how to make them. Learning new things all the time. 

I will let you know how well that goes!

It might be hard for you to see, but you can click on the picture and enlarge it. The snow starts up in the words and goes 

to the toe of the stocking. 

Happy Stitching!

Stocking #1 Week 7

I made a lot of progress this week. I can almost see the light at the end of the tunnel. Yes, that is my needle poking up in that top row of stitches, right where I left off. 

In case you can't read the script, it says;

I'll be home for

Christmas

If only in my

Dreams  a bird and MB 

my initials.

I would still like to find a good spot to put the year. This designer didn't leave space for the year. To me, I like looking at the year a stocking was made. It adds to my memory of other things that were going on at the time. 

This is the pattern, so I only have to add Nick's name, the top row of designs, some snowflakes, and branches. Then the top will be done. I still have some embellishments and a snowbank to finish on the bottom. 

Making Cards Again

My Cousin and I are going to England in June to visit our 2nd Cousins. We are descendants of the same Great Grandparents. 

Since we will be staying with some of them, I decided to make cards for them to use as a thank you for letting us stay with them. 

Here are the first two batches I made. I made half of them when my scrapbooking group was here. The cards are blank inside for them to write their own messages inside. 

I better not see any of these sent back to me. 

Stocking 1 Week 5 & 6

Time sure flies by fast when you are having fun and are busy. Saturday the 29th I had my scrapbooking group here at my home. So I didn' get to post last weekend. 

The toe of the stocking is almost finished. I still need to put branches on the little tree on the toe part and add embellishments. I am saving the embellishments for the very end. 

Here is a picture of what is finished now. 

Here is a close-up.

I also did the snow around the house and big trees but I only went one direction. I am ready to move on to the other part of the stocking for a while. 

My favorite part, I rolled the stocking up to work on the upper part. I only have one page on the chart to complete. This will be the part with the words on it. 

Happy Stitching!