The Peacock's Feather

Finishing in Progress

So, finishing is in progress this weekend.  I was sort of dreading this--but once all the backstitching was done, the actual assembly has been going very smoothly.  I really like this sort of finishing actually.  As this is my first 'mattress' pincushion, I do have a question--what should I stuff it with?  I have lots of the sort of wispy stuff that goes into pillows and I have some quilt batting which is thicker.  I was wondering if anyone uses matte board inside to give it a little more structure and weight?  I contemplated using the stuff you iron onto the back of the linen as well, but I opted not to (as I would have to dig through bins to find the stuff).  Any suggestions?  I will hopefully finish it later this afternoon after I get chores out of the way, so any input is welcome.

Endless Backstitching!

I've wanted to post here for days now, but it's hard during the work week.  I don't seem to have extra time for either stitching or posting, but maybe it's better that I waited a bit, as I actually have something to share.  I've been working on the finishing for my Prairie Schooler, "Rain, Rain" design.   So much backstitching tends to make my head ache a little, but I think the worst is behind me.  I've just got one more strip left and can start constructing my mattress cushion--this will be my first time trying this.  I've counted and recounted and I think everything matches.  When I lay the front and back side by side they don't look quite the same size, but I am assuming that is due to the linen threads not being the same size and I'm sure I cut the two pieces from odd angles of the same piece of fabric.  Fingers crossed that it will all line up in the end. 

I've also done a little work on my "February" sampler.  I had to pick out the tree next to the log cabin as I miscounted, but I think I am back on track now.  This middle section seems to be taking me an inordinately long amount of time to make progress on.  I am enjoying it, though I dread all the filling of white that it calls for--snow!  I think when I finish this I will definitely have to look for a spring design to work on--something nice and colorful, and maybe with a nice green garden!

I want to learn this...

I really want to learn "cartonnage"--or in English--making those cool, lovely little boxes.  I guess I should start with something small--like stitching something for the top of an Altoid tin.  Victoria Sampler has a few freebies with instructions on how to finish them as tin tops.  It seems as though there was a designer who had quite a few charts out at one time that were solely for tin tops (the name escapes me at the moment, but I will search around for that one).  I am sure some of you have already seen this link to this Tin Can Gallery!  How lovely and how creative. It seems as though there is also a book out in English by Judy O'Dell (perhaps?), on making boxes--that is what I need!  There are so many things I want to learn--I hope next year to accomplish more of these things (like the bags Merumo stitched for Vero and Sylvie)!  First things first, however, I hope to finish stitching ornament #2 tonight!  Tomorrow and Saturday I hope to finish stitching the birthday gift I was working on (fingers crossed!).  Then I will take the last ornament to work Mon-Wed and hopefully stitch that.  Finally the Friday after Thanksgiving is for my mailart!  And that leaves lots of finishing--maybe next Friday and Saturday.  With any luck everything will be in the mail by the Monday after Thanksgiving!!!  And all before Dec 1!!!  If I stay on track--I am allowing myself to stitch something I want on Thanksgiving.  I will be going to my sister's house, and I am sure I will be able to get in a bit of stitching while chatting.  I am already contemplating what I will work on....Such big decisions!

Surprises in the Mail

Today I received some surprises in the mail!  From my "not so secret stitcher" (the program through Shakespeare's Peddler).  I got a copy of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring.  This has been on my Amazon wishlist for absolutely ages!  My friend was on vacation in Maine, and she also sent me a lovely notepad and postcard with a lighthouse on each as well.  Rachel Carson was a marine biologist and my friend stayed very near her salt pond in Maine.  This is great timing as a book I recently finished, The Highest Tide, talked about Carson in great detail, so my curiosity has really been piqued!  I am really looking forward to starting this book!

I also received some glass head pins from Mercedes in Spain!  I had mentioned that I was having a hard time finding any nice ones here (just very bright yellow ones, or boxes that have bright multicolored pins), and she very kindly has sent me a wonderful selection of them!  I thought she was only going to send over some nice white ones, but she surprised me by sending lots of different colors--including some that are more oval in shape--that I have never seen here locally!!  I can't wait to use them.  I have been spoiled today!  This has certainly been a nice way to start the week!

Time for Finishing

I just finished stitching on my Halloween project for my next exchange.  This is the fabric I chose for the finishing.  I hope it all looks okay when I am finished.  I always have such a hard time first deciding on a design to stitch, and then on the materials for finishing.  I am always second guessing myself--will the recipient like it???  Part of the reason I chose the design I did was the cute little embellishment that is used.  I am finishing it differently than how the chart shows it, however.  I have errands to do soon, and then a birthday party to go to later, but I am hoping we will get home early enough that I can drag out the sewing machine. Of course I will share a photo of it when I can!

Many, many thanks for all the nice compliments I was given on my little pinkeep.  Maybe this photo is sharper?  Anyway, it is from a freebie by BrightNeedle.  I was surprised that so many people had not seen this one before.  If anyone would like a copy, I would be happy to share (as it is a freebie, I didn't see any note on the design asking not to copy it).  Just send me an email with your address and I can pop a copy in the mail to you.  Have a great weekend everyone!

My First Pinkeep!!

Okay.  Here it is.  I know the recipient received it.  I hope she had a chance to open the package!  This is a Brightneedle freebie called Elizabeth  Stone Pincushion.  Elizabeth Stone published the first book on needlework, so this is a little tribute to her.  For this exchange we could use any freebie design and finish it anyway we wanted to. 

I stitched her over one on 32 count fabric using DMC and overdyed floss.  This was definitely a learning experience!!!  Stitching over one was a big challenge for me, and more than once I wanted to give up entirely on the project.  In terms of finishing I backstitched around the stitching, and then stitched the front and back together.  I inserted two pieces of skirtex inside along with thin batting.  I actually followed (loosely) the instructions that came with This Too Shall Pass II.  When I do the finishing for that pinkeep, I think I will modify it a bit and pull out my matboard (it turns out it was a good purchase--at the time it seemed expensive and for such a large piece!).

I think she turned out cute and I am glad I stuck with it, but in the future I plan on using matboard.  I prefer the stiffer look.  I think it is easier to pull the fabric taut over that, and the ribbon lays much nicer on a flat, straight edge.  That said, I hope the recipient likes my little pinkeep and is not disappointed with her.  Given the chance to go back and do the finishing over, I would use the matboard technique.  However, finishing for me is always a bit of a struggle the first time around!!

One little note:  sorry the photo is not in very good focus.  I think the camera was focusing more on the things behind the pinkeep, and then I enlarged it--it is fairly small--about 2" x 2-1/2".  I need to see if I saved a better, crisper photo...but you get the idea. :)

Lessons Learned on Making My First Pinkeep

This is the aftermath of my pinkeep finishing session.  Sorry, I can't show you the pinkeep in question, as it is for an exchange (such a surprise, eh!).  For me finishing has always been an uphill battle.  I have learned everything on my own--well, through books, online classes, and with the help of other stitchers.  I am such a visual learner, though, the first time around with something new is usually pretty rough for me.  So last night I undertook the finishing for my freebie exchange.

I chose a design that calls for over one stitching.  That alone was difficult, and I am sure you heard me agonizing over the process as well--LOL.  I stitched it on 32 count fabric, and some of the floss was very close in color to the linen, so it was hard adjusting, but I managed to get through it.  On more than one occasion I thought of scrapping this project and choosing another design, or stitching this over two.  I am now happy I stuck with it, though.  In the future I will choose my linen very carefully for over one projects.  I think for me, maybe 30 count would be great, or even 28 count!  Also a nice stiff linen would help!

As for finishing...I decided to base my finishing on the instructions from the This Too Shall Pass II Pinkeep kit.  First I backstitched around the design.  Then  I sewed my batting into place, overlapping the edges over the batting.  I cut two pieces of skirtex for the inside.  When I backstitched I stitched only over two threads, with floss the color of the linen--once again it was quite hard to see the stitches--I won't do that again.  At least had I stitched over four threads, I could have maneuvered my needle better.  Once it was enclosed came the ribbon and glass head pins.  I had a hard time keeping the ribbon very taut--it tended to buckle.  And the bow at the top was almost the hardest part--LOL.  So, in the future, I will be using Vero's instructions that she posted on her blog.  What I am not happy about with my pinkeep--it is not nice and flat, and the ribbon also does not lay completely flat!  In the future I plan on using mat board, as I think that will give it much better definition.  Let's just hope I can cut the mat board straight now!

On a happier note, I started my Hillside Samplings Strawberry Fields bag and accessories.  This is a SAL over on the Legacy board that I joined.  So far we are just working on he top of the bag--backstitching the lattice design.  I hope to try and keep up.  We are taking this slowly, just doing the stitching and saving the finishing for the beginning of 2006!  I love this design and I hope I can manage it!

And lastly, while I was out doing errands yesterday I picked up some Halloween fabric.  I thought I better while there was a selection as the closer we get, it will be all picked over.  I am not sure what I will use, but this way I have something to choose from.  It shouldn't take long to stitch up!  So far, not problems on this project!!

My First Tin Pin

Here is the first Esmeralda's Friend kit all stitched up and finished.  I guess it doesn't look too bad for a first try on this sort of thing!  I am not really a pin person in terms of wearing them, but I will find a place to hang/pin it or otherwise display it.  It looks a bit off center, but I pinned down the fabric according to the basting lines.  The leaf on the left side hangs over the little white box on the bottom, so really I guess it is basically centered.  It was a very quick stitch and also a fast finish.  It only took me about half an hour to finish it, and I am generally a slow stitcher/finisher!I think it turned out rather cute, and I am looking forward to seeing what the next kit will look like!

I had high hopes to accomplish so much more today stitching-wise, but the weather was so lovely, I had to work out in the yard this afternoon.  Once again it is going to heat up again, so it is just as well everything was cut, trimmed and watered today!  I did manage to pull out floss for some projects, and I went through my freebie bin to look for a good chart for another exchange I am in.  I found several I might stitch up!  Deciding what the stitch is really hard for me.  I hope to get going soon on some of my exchanges!  I also received my recipient's name for a redwork exchange I am in.  I looked through her online album and blog, and she has really lovely stitching.  It always makes it harder seeing these things up front, as then I sort of feel under pressure to choose something really good--but it is really the finishing that makes me nervous!  There are so many excellent stitchers/finishers in my groups, it is hard to keep up!

Another Sweet Bag

I haven't had much to post lately--sorry.  I have been working on my two exchange projects.  I am almost finished with the Sampler House one, and I am making progress on my Summer project.  I have not had time to work on much else unfortunately.  Saturday night we went to a cookout at a lake (it was hot and sticky, but the food was good and my niece had fun), so not much in the way of stitching over the weekend.  Sundays are always catch up days for chores--yuck.

In the near future I will be working on another exchange project.  It is for Halloween (okay a bit far away still, but I noticed Michaels already has a Halloween aisle!!), and we are making sweet bags.  I think I am going to use a Drawn Thread Halloween design, and perhaps use the instructions for this bag to finish it.  The Precious Moments design is cute, but it is not really my cup of tea, so I will fill in that space with some DT design.  It looks like it calls for the nun's stitch again (I am working on that for my bookmark!), and some hem stitching and a chain stitch.  I think I will be able to finish it totally by hand.  I have made two other sweet bags, but this will be a new way to finish it.  This one even has beads around the outside of the bag, which I like.  By the way this design appeared in Just Cross Stitch October 2003.  It is amazing what great things you can find in back issues!  Anyway, I like to plan ahead!!

Really Finished!

This is how I spent the majority of my afternoon.  I had today off from work, and after getting errands done in the morning (Vero one of your magazines is winging its way to you now!), I pulled out all my stuff to work on getting some things really finished.  I am very bad about putting stuff in a plastic bin rather than taking it to be framed or finishing it myself.

Here is my finished scissor case.  Doing this has really been a confidence builder for me as this was the first accessory I have completed totally by hand.  I bought this kit last year, but I was a bit put off by the hand sewing that was in the instructions.  You have to sew in the batting, and then sew on the silk lining.  First off, just working with a silk lining was scary, though the dupioni is really great to work with.  Then it had to be laced up to close it, which wasn't as scary as the hand sewing.  And then finally the dreaded cording. 

Here is the flip side.  Everything stitched up perfectly.  I tend to ask a lot of questions in the various bulletin boards I visit, and I have gotten loads of great hints.  I guess really you just have to sit down and do it for it to really make sense. The cording I had to do more than once as it has been so long since I have used my little machine, but I am quite pleased on how it all turned out.  My niece was quite taken with my corder, so I taught her how to use it--she was having a good time!

Since I had all my finishing things pulled out, I decided to finally complete my Just Nan scissor case that I stitched last year.  It is from the Silver Needle.  This was a special piece only available from them for their 20th anniversary.  I stitched this last year, but I only partially finished it.  I used the sewing machine for this one.  I was really struggling with it.  Even today I didn't think it was going to turn out.  It is rather bulky and sewing it closed was really stressing me out.  So much for tiny stitches and all that.  Now I see why it calls for cording!  Thankfully it covers all my messy stitching to close the case!!

I didn't get the little fob stitched.  I do plan on working on that one.  It is stitched all over one, and I have had an aversion to over one stitching.  As it is not terribly large, though, I am going to get that done this summer as well.  It feels really good to get a couple of things completed.  Maybe now I won't have such a fear of finishing, and I hope to learn some other techniques as well.  I have already ordered (as my reward!) This Too Shall Pass II, which is a pinkeep!  And I have pulled out the Just Nan companion piece to this, And Many More, which is a needle case.  Tomorrow, though, I think I will work on my exchange projects, and I really want to get back to my John Foster sampler as well!