Last week I took a spend a couple of evenings reworking and finishing a few of my stitchy things. One of my recent finishes was Summer Whirligig by Heart In Hand. I picked up the chart at my LNS, Acorns and Threads, and popped it into my Stitch Maynia plans.
I carefully cut a couple of round shapes out of mat board and mounted my stitched piece, as well as a piece of black gingham fabric, onto them. Then I added yellow and red gingham ruffles around the stitched piece.
After that I made a black gingham bow out of some ribbon I had in my stash and added a white daisy to the center. Then I felt like the bow needed a little something extra, and I added a piece of burlap polka dot ribbon to the back of my gingham bow.
I used a simple wooden frame holder to display my finished piece. It turned out so cute! It kinda reminds me of those pretty State Fair ribbons...These little whirligigs are so sweet and fast to stitch up! I hope Heart In Hand decides to do an Autumn themed one!
A few weeks back I did a blog post about my color conversion...you can find it here.
I always feel like Memorial Day is that unofficial start to Summer...the weather might not always agree, but it sure is fun switching out the seasonal decor for Summer Time! This past week, I spent a few hours (late in the evening) giving a few of my stitchy Patriotic pieces a little phoofing. All of them I finished last Summer and had a blast stitching up!
This one is Lady Liberty by With Thy Needle and Thread, I stitched it on a 32 count linen that I tea/coffee dyed and used all DMC Threads. This year I added a new red gingham bow with a little Black Eyed Susan flower in the center...
Knee High by Hands on Designs was perhaps my favorite stitch from last Summer! I also stitched it on a piece of 32 count linen with DMC Threads. The fence was stitched with one of DMC's variegated threads. I also gave it a new red gingham bow (love gingham..it's my favorite color! LOL) with a sweet Sunflower attached to the center. I also grunged up the frame it's mounted into with a little bit of antiquing wax.
Last, but not least, is Hello Summer by Plum Street Samplers. Once again it adorns my vintage wooden box I found up in the attic last Summer. I stitched it on 36 count linen with all DMC Threads (2 over 2 because I like the stitches to be a little poofy) Then I filled the box with my favorite Summer flowers!
Happy Stitching
Olivia
xx
My newest Flosstube Video! Don't forget to enter my second Halloween In May Giveaway!!
This past week I had to change up my Stitch Maynia plans a little bit...mostly because I didn't check my notes to see what I was supposed to start. My new start could have also been because I'd recently taken a trip to up to Acorns and Threads in Portland. While browsing their wonderful selection of charts, I found Summer Whirligig by Heart in Hand and scooped it up! I've seen this particular stitch all over Instagram and had to stitch it for myself!
I started it on Sunday May 12th and finished it late on May 14th. Loved stitching it! I also have an idea of how I want to fully finish it...maybe over the weekend? I stitched it on a piece of 28 count Evenweave that I tea/coffee dyed ( used a few packets of apple cinnamon tea and the linen smell so yummy...just like Autumn!) I changed the color of my truck to DMC 503..I absolutely love it!
I ended up changing up a few of the called for colors...I followed for the most part the provided DMC conversion but for a few of them...
My color conversion
422 swapped out for CC Honeycomb
676 swapped out for 3820
3781 swapped out for 844
712 swapped out for DMC White
310 swapped out for CC Blackbird
The little blue truck is DMC 503
I really love how it turned out! I can't wait to get it fully finished and on display all during the Summer months! I wonder if Heart in Hand has plans for an Autumn Whirligig? Guess I'll just have to wait and find out!
I know that I'm a little late in posting my progress for last weeks Stitch Maynia, but things got a little busy for me last week and before I knew it..the week was over. So I thought better late, than never! LOL!
On May 5th I started Little House Needleworks, Summer ABC's. I'm stitching it on 28 count Summer Khaki with all DMC Threads. I've changed out a few of the called for DMC and will post my conversion after I finish stitching it.
I really love how it's turning out so far! All the colors pop against the Summer Khaki linen and I'm really glad I decided to stitch it on a 28 count piece. I worked on Summer ABC's until May 11th and am looking forward to returning to it once Stitch Maynia is over.
Happy Stitch Maynia!! I have so enjoyed seeing everyone's new starts this year! So many great charts and lots of enabling! Love it! This year I decided to dip my toes in the Stitch Maynia water with a handful of new starts...this first is Boo Bee Wordplay by Hinzeit. I started Boo Bee on May 1st and finished him on May 6th. It felt so good to have a finish after working exclusively on Queen of Freedom.
I stitched my Boo Bee on 32 count Lugana that I tea/coffee dyed with all the called for DMC.
Once I was finished with the stitching, I added the beads that came with my chart. So Cute!
My hubby is going to take my Boo Bee and find a frame for it. It'll be interesting seeing what he picks out. His plan is to have Boo Bee hanging year round..and with me loving Halloween like I do, I don't mind!
This past Christmas I received a set of beautifully stitched hand embroidered towels from my Grandma, and since receiving them I have been on the hunt for the perfect way to display them. I searched high and low for months, trying to find just the right thing. Typing in different keywords and searching outside the box...well one day I found a few pins on Pinterest that were perfect...and they used..of all things...a vintage cheese grater! In the first pin, they hung homemade candles from the handle and put flowers in the top. In the second pin they had a regular towel hanging by the handle...So I merged the two ideas in my mind. The only thing left to do was track down a vintage cheese grater! You would think that task alone would be easy, but it was harder than I thought! I even looked for the 'vintage looking' cheese graters at Hobby Lobby, but they didn't have any left. I'd begun thinking I would need to haunt the Senior Estates garage sales this Summer. Then about two weeks ago, I was having lunch with my Grandma and I told her about my idea. I didn't want her to think I didn't love and appreciate her hand stitched towels. Guess what? She had a cheese grater she was willing to part with!
She brought the cheese grater over a few days later! Boy did I do a happy dance! But then I got to looking in my kitchen and I felt like, I really needed some new curtains to go with it...so Amazon to the rescue! I scored some cute gingham curtains that are edged with vintage style lace...and I love them! Once my curtains were hung, I attached my cute cheese grater towel hanger...complete with one of the sweet hand embroidered towels!
I picked the one out that said 'Spring Time' to me! So adorable!!
My sweet daughter Allison helped me pick out the perfect flowers to go with it! They were 60% off at Joann's..a steal!
I love how it all came together!! I used a Command Hook to hang up my cheese grater, so as not to put a hole in my cabinet. Now I can change out the towels with the seasons as well as the flowers!
Looks like another busy week here in the land of Pumpkin Hollow! Between quilting for clients and sewing project bags for my Etsy Shop, life in my tiny corner of the world is flying by in a whirl of colors! But I did find a few minutes last week to FFO one little project...
If you've followed my journey here on the blog, you might recognize the wooden box! This is the box I found up in our attic last Spring and painted a light grey color. Then I stitched the various seasons put out by Plum Street Samplers(Hello Summer, Fall and Winter..etc).
I really love how it turned out! The linen is a 36 count Tarnished Silver by Lakeside Linens and it's stitched with a variety of GAST, CC and DMC Threads. I mounted it and a piece of black gingham fabric to mat board. I glued those pieces together with Aleene's Tacky Glue and hot glued washers to the back. Then it was ready to attached to the two magnets already on the box. I filled the box with flowers that I already had in my stash and a burlap ribbon.
The whole series was a joy to stitch!
I also realized that I forgot to post a picture of my Spring Seasonal Tree. It'll stay decorated for Spring for a few more weeks and then I'll change it to an Americana Tree to celebrate Summer!
I always mean to post more progress pictures here on my blog, but I almost always forget! However today I was sitting here thinking about what to say in my next Flosstube video and I realized it's the perfect opportunity to post a few pictures of my Queen of Freedom by Mirabilia progress.
I started Queen of Freedom a few months ago, and then she spent some time hanging out until late March when I decided it was time to work on her again. Luckily I'm stitching her with a wonderful Instagram friend Kristie, who is @crosshatchquilts! Together we are keeping each other motivated to finish.
If you follow me on Instagram, you might have already seen this latest picture of my progress. I've gotten a little farther since I took this pic earlier in the week. I absolutely love how she's slowly coming to life! I've decided that during Stitch Maynia, she'll stay kitted up...that way I can just grab her and stitch, so I can keep making progress. My goal by the end of April is to have the top half finished...I'd love to see her face come to life!
I'm stitching her on a piece of 32 count Vintage Sahara with all the called for DMC Threads and Krienik.
This past weekend I was able to carve out some time and finish a couple of stitchy things! I know not so long ago I showed you my April Word Play by With Thy Needle and Thread, that I'd finished stitching on..
On Sunday, after my quilty friends went home, I decided it was the perfect time to fully finish it!!
Didn't it turn out great?! It was the first time I'd FFO'd a larger stitched piece into a pillow, so I definitely was a little nervous about how the finish would look. I tried to find seam binding to use as my ruffle, but couldn't find any that fit my budget. So instead I found a sort of silky vintage style ribbon at Michaels and I really love the look of it!
I plan on stitching all of the Word Plays and finishing them into pillows, currently I'm waiting on May's chart to arrive at Acorns and Threads. I can't wait to go back!
Thanks so much for stopping by today! Today's blog post is all about the fun stitchy stuff I chatted about on my latest FlossTube video..If you haven't seen it yet, click on the link below!
Join Deborah of canopiedstitches and me for our upcoming stitch-a-long starting on June 1st! We will be stitching Blackbird Designs, Cherry Baskets, using the hashtag #bbcherrybasket on Instagram.
Then on July 1st we will start our second stitch-a-long Sally Spencer Sampler by Birds of a Feather! The hashtag for that will be #bofsallysummerstitching.
We would love to have you join us!
Finishes shown in my video:
Hello Spring by Plum Street Samplers - I did a blog post a few days ago and include all the color conversions I used...click here
April Word Play by With thy Needle and Thread..stitched on 36 count Winter Moon with GAST and CC Threads that I substituted for colors I was missing: Evergreen, Parchment, Lambswool, Soot, Burnt Orange, Flax, CC Blackbird, Ohio Lemon Pie, CC Honeycomb.
Flosstubers mentioned:
Megan The Wide Eyed Stitcher
Jo's Country Junction
Mischievous Stitches
I've been meaning to post my April Word Play finish for a few days now, but life in general has been a busy one. I feel like the days are just slipping past in a whirl of color!
I started April Word Play by With Thy Needle and Thread on March 24th. I decided to stitch it on a piece of 36 count Winter Moon that I had in my small stash of linen. I ended up changing about half of the colors, but used all hand dyed flosses by GAST and CC.
I was able to finish it on April 1st! It turned out so cute and now it just waits to be fully finished! I hope to work on that over this coming weekend. It's supposed to be a rainy one, so that's perfect for working on getting a few of my finished Spring stitches completely finished. After I finished stitching this one, I decided to spend a few days working on my Queen of Freedom by Mirabella. It gave me a great opportunity to use my new scroll rods, which I will talk about in my next FlossTube video...so stay tuned!
A Happy Good Afternoon to you! I'm so excited to have another little finish this month! I started Hello Spring by Plum Street Samplers on March 17th and put in the last stitches, very late last night, on March 23rd!
I love it on the piece of Lakeside 36 count Tarnished Silver linen that I ordered from 123 Stitch. I stitched 2 over 2 with mostly DMC Threads and one GAST in Maple Syrup.
The bunny was stitched with the Maple Syrup and I love the subtle variegation
Everything else was stitched in DMC. I did swap out two of the called for DMC...3363 instead of 3011 and 3712 instead of 950. I also changed the medium sized flowers to DMC 3078 instead of the called for Pebble Beach.
I'm very eager to fully finish it! It will replace Hello Winter on my seasonal wooden box. You might have noticed that I left of the words Hello Spring...I did it as a personal choice. I just like how it gives it a whimsical look to the stitched piece.
Well I'm off to fold a hill of laundry and begin cutting out more project bags for my shop! See you soon!
I can't believe it's been two weeks since my last video! Time is sure flying by! If you have come here from my latest Flosstube video, thank you so much for stopping by! If you haven't yet seen my latest video, the link will be below.
Work In Progress...
Hello Spring by Plum Street Samplers ~ Stitched on 36 count Tarnish Silver Linen with DMC Threads 503, 3363, 838, 3712, 3021, 3052, Ecru, 3078, GAST Maple Syrup.
