Incoherent Scribblings

Look at what I got back from the framer today!

Didn’t she turn out beautifully?! Thanks to Penny at Stitches from the Heart for doing such a wonderful framing job!

I decided it was time for a new scissor fob. Here is “Schoolgirl Lessons” by Little House Needleworks modified into a scissor fob.

Schoolgirl Lessons
by Little House Needleworks
May 26, 2009-May 30, 2009
28 ct Antique White Cashel Linen
Stitch Time: 11 hours
Gloriana “Bell Flower” Silk, Stitched over One

The stitching just doesn’t stop! Well, OK… Tonight I actually did some finishing, but the fact is needle and thread have been in hand.

I bet you had forgotten that I was doing a PIF, but tonight I finished the last two of my PIF gifts. I decided that for my PIFs I was going to make everyone scissor fobs. Now, I will be honest and admit that two of the scissor fobs I made last year. However, since I only have three pairs of scissors that need fobs I figured there was no harm in sending a couple of the fobs I have made in the past off to new homes. After all, this is my PIF and I make the rules!

And as part of my rules, although I won’t be sending the fobs to their new homes until after the holidays, I am showing them now but not telling who gets which fob until they are received. That’s the mystery!

From left to right, we have “Ring O’ Roses Biscornu Fob” by Periphaeria Designs stitched over two on 36 count Khaki Edinburgh Linen, “Woodland Joy” by Something in Common stitched over one on 28 count Lambswool Joblean, “Sunbonnet Sue” from the Nov/Dec 1993 issue of Cross Stitch and Country Crafts stitched over one on 28 count Antique White Cashel Linen, “Pumpkin on Gingham” by the Sweetheart Tree (in the 2008 JCS Halloween Issue) stitched over two on 36 count Khaki Edinburgh Linen, and “No Frogging Allowed” by Stitchy Kitty stitched over one on 28 count Antique White Cashel Linen.

One thing I have learned while making these fobs is a good rule of thumb for cording length: When making your own cording, use three lengths of DMC that are 30″ long a piece because once they get all twisted up into the cord you will have (in my opinion) the perfect fob-length cord of about 10″.

Well, I lost. I failed NaBloPoMo. I forgot to post yesterday. Oh well, that’s the way the cookie crumbles I guess.

But I have stitching to show today! I have a happy dance!

Originally I wasn’t going to show this yet, but the person that this is for knows that I am terrible about keeping secrets and she will be receiving it from me on Wednesday anyway.

Drum roll please…

Behold! I present the gift that I made for my little goddaughter, Megan Renee. This is a Lizzie*Kate design simply entitled “Baby Sampler.” This pattern has two versions of the baby sampler: One is long and contains the baby’s name and his/her birthdate and the other is square and just contains space for the name.

I was originally going to stitch the long one, but since I wanted to include the baby’s first and middle name and there was only room for the first name I had to get creative. (I just had to include the middle name! She is my namesake after all…) In the end I decided to do the square one, stitch it over one, and make it into a two-sided ornament. I substituted the word “baby” in the spot where the name was supposed to go and put Megan’s first and middle names and birthdate on the back. I then made it into a whipstitch ornament and added beads along the sides. I love the way it turned out and I know Dawn (and Megan) will too!

I am currently suffering from one the stitcher’s worst know afflictions. No, not a stitching slump… rather I am suffering from Stitcher’s ADD. I can’t seem to concentrate on one project for more than a couple of hours at a time and as a result, my stitching progress has been rather erratic and mostly non-picture worthy as of late.

Nevertheless, in all of this chaos, I finally have some stitching pictures to show.

First up is “Pumpkin on Gingham.” I took advantage of my day off and finally finished finishing it into a scissor fob today.

I have to say that this type of finishing normally only takes me a few hours, but apparently the fact that I haven’t done any finishing for a while has taken its toll on me. Although the cording turned out on the first try, I had to do the whip-stitching on every side twice because I was unhappy with the way it came out the first time. In the end everything work out though and I am pretty pleased with the result.

However, I won’t be keeping “Pumpkin on Gingham.” I have decided to send if off as one of my PIF gifts, but who the lucky recipient will be… that I won’t say.

After I finished the scissor fob, I pulled out “Summer’s Magic” and worked on it for a couple of hours. Sunday is technically my SAL day with Dawn, but lately I seem to do my SALing on Mondays instead. I guess Sunday just isn’t the lazy stitching day it used to be for me.

And finally, I also started Chris’s RR the other day. (Saturday maybe? I can’t remember.) Chris’s RR is Janlynn’s “Four Seasons Chairs” and while I considered stitching summer, I guess I must be ready for fall because when I sat down I chose autumn instead. My square isn’t picture-worthy at the moment because all I have is a tan blob to show for my efforts, but hopefully I will have something to show soon.

Since I am still in the mood to stitch I think I will keep on stitching after I finish this post. I should work some more on “Summer’s Magic,” but maybe I will work on my autumn chair instead, then again, maybe “Fairy Flora…”

See, I told you I have Stitcher’s ADD!