Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Stitching Gifts...Freaking Out!!

Hello everyone!

So here we are in November.  I am sad to say good bye to October since it was such a lovely month of glorious weather, beautiful colours and not so much rain.  I still have high hopes for November though.  Yesterday it was a decent day, albeit blustery, but nice. 

With November beginning, so does the FREAKING OUT!! Eeek!! I feel as though there are FAR too many things to stitch up in time for Christmas.  Yes, I mentioned the "C" word! Maybe I should take a deep breath and focus on one thing at a time.  Perhaps I should set myself a schedule so I won't be freaking out!! I want to stitch ornaments for my mom, sister, Dad, friends, and of course for me and my hubby. The problem is every time I want to finish something, I don't have the materials?!! Yes I have some fabrics, like those cute reindeer ones I bought last week, but they don't match with any of my stitched pieces.  So what should I do with them? I've been wracking my brain thinking of how to use those darling fabrics.  I wish I was a master sewer, or at least have my mom around, since she's an amazing sewer.  If you have any ideas for simple/easy sewing projects, let me know!


Ok, freak out done...onto some stitchy stuff.  First off, since I didn't post a progress pic of TBF (Tea Bath Fairy) in the last post, here's one now.  I've managed to really tackle it over the past few weeks and am pretty pleased with the progress.
Yes! I can see the outline of the cup!!
Seeing as my eyes can handle only so much of teensy stitching, I began to work on two personalized gifts for my girlfriends.  I am using two of the Valdani threads I ordered and I really love the deep wine red colour a lot!! The threads aren't too bad, although I do notice a tad bit of fraying at the ends, but what thread doesn't?! I still have to put in an order for HDF threads and I asked my husband if I could buy some more "strings" that will only cost xx amount and he said yes, if the STRINGS are needed for a project...hehehehe!! And I also mentioned that I need a smaller Qsnap frame and if I could buy that too...you know to help out my wrists.  He's agreed! I love that he's become more agreeable!!
Valdani and DMC threads stitched on 32ct.Sandstone linen
The above design is from the Sajou alphabet.  J'adore SAJOU!!!  The second gift I won't bother posting a picture of because it only has a few stitches on it and is basic black on white.

Now  I started doing another cute Christmas ornament from the JCS magazine.  This one is from Victoria Sampler. It's the squirrel one.  Pause for a squirrel story:

Me and Squirrels

Ever since I was a young girl, I have been know as the squirrel whisperer.  It takes time and patience to become one and only a few are called to this. (Insert sarcasm here).  Anyways, one day, as I was traipsing around the woods behind our home in Prince George, I heard a squirrel chatter nearby.  The squirrel seemed to be trying to tell me something.  Perhaps a secret he wanted to share with a 10 year old girl? As I strolled back to the house, the chattering followed me from behind.  I slowly walked up the stairs,  grabbed some of the chickadees seeds and held it in my hand and crouched down low. The chattering stopped.  There he was, Chippy.  Me: waiting quietly, patiently. Him: unsure, skittish.  Slowly he climbed the stairs to check me out.  I flinched! He skedaddled!!  Sigh...I suppose I'll try again.  For the next few weeks, we played this game...but with each day, he approached closer, and closer, until one day, he ran up to me, grabbed a seed and took off!! Serious patience here for a young girl of 10!! It wasn't until the second week that Chippy found his courage and managed to take seeds from me and NOT run away!! I was ecstatic! After a few more days of building trust, Chippy let me pet him! Then, after more days of gently petting, he let me pick him up!! We became good friends, Chippy and me.  When I would walk around the house, I could see him following me around.  Of course it was just for the seeds I was giving him, but as a young girl I thought he just really wanted to be my friend.  Ever since then, I have been able to feed and pet wild squirrels, not the city squirrels that we have here in Vancouver.  Those squirrels are a different breed altogether.  Like they are part of a squirrel gang called the Tuff Nut Gang.  Those squirrels I wouldn't mess with!!

So with that, I leave you with a picture of The Victorian Sampler's squirrel, which I started yesterday and made me think fondly of Chippy and the other cute squirrels I have fed and petted.

Finally, here are my photos of the pin cushion I stitched for Valerie.  She posted pictures of her package on her blog, so now I can post mine!!

Stitched on unknown 40ct linen with Waterlilies thread Amethyst

I kind of went NUTS with pictures since I LOVE purple and have a lot of purple things to take photos with!!

Take care and happy stitching!!

Anne

19 comments:

Unknown said...

Nice progress on Tea Bath Fairy! The pincushion is beautiful, congrats. :) And don't stress too much about the gifts, you stitch and sew what you have time for and make the rest for next Christmas. :)

Dani - tkdchick said...

Wow the shading/detail on Tea Bath Fairy is awesome!

What a great parcel you put together for Valerie (followed her link to your blog).

Hazel said...

Gorgeous wips and finishes. I love that pincushion. The colours are lovely. I have the same problem with my own ornies and finishing them. I have every colour of backing fabric except the one I need. x

Annie said...

Good progress on the fairy.

Love that pincushion gift! Such beautiful strings!

I'm not necessarily a 'squirrel' person (squirrely is a different thing), but I have my eye on that ornament in the JCS issue too. It's just so darn cute!

Sounds like you have DH under control!

cucki said...

woww great progress on the fairy..i love the colors so much..
i love the pin cushion so much..very sweet...and the little squirrel is so cute too..i love them so much.
dont stress for the christmas stitching..i think u can do it..finger crossed for u,
happy stitching xx

Maggee said...

Hello! I know of a really simple sewing project--a table runner! I have a pattern and you can get it too. It takes very little fabric and is very nice. If you are interested, just email me. Off to visit your blog! Hugs!

valerie said...

Great progress on the Teacup Fairy! The detail is great. And the Sajou Initial is great. Can you tell me how you find the initials? I pushed the link and there were so many attachments to choose from! I love the initials but can't ever find them when I look.

I adore my pincushion and goodies! Thank you so much!

Try not to stress about the gifts. Then it's no fun...all the pressure to create. I'm making no gifts this year. Ha!

Mouse said...

oooo don't stress there is always next year ..lol love the pin cushion .... and cute squib story as well ... and mmmmm projects .. what about some little bags to put some christmasy goodies in >>> ??? love mouse xxxx

Parsley said...

Ditto. Freaking out here too.

Love the items you've shown.

Blu said...

I'm freaking out because time is just rushing past! I'm nowhere ready for another year to be over.

Your WIPs looks gorgeous. The saucer bit looks lovely.

Pauline said...

Beautiful pictures!

Carol said...

Gorgeous gifts for dear Valerie!! I love those pincushion colors!! And thanks for the link to the Sajou alphabet page, Anne--I wasn't familiar with that blog...

Such a cute story about you and Chippy :)

Veronica said...

I was just commenting on Valerie's blog how I love that hand-dyed floss you used on the pincushion. Gorgeous shades of purple! Thanx for sharing that cute squirrel story :) Oh the Sajou alphabets are lovely.

Hugs,
Veronica.

Sally said...

Lovely progress on the Tea Bath Fairy and I love the pincushion you made for Valerie.

Love the initial. So pretty.

The squirrel is so cute!

Lynn said...

Thanks for the link to the Sajou alphabet. I wasn't familiar with this at all.
Your pincushion is so very pretty! I love the colour of it. Valerie must have been thrilled!
I enjoyed your squirrel story and look forward to more of the ornament.

Siobhán said...

Oh my gosh, that pincushion that you did for Valerie is fantastic!! I love the colors on it.

Nice progress on your WIPs! I love that alphabet. Thanks for the link.

Gifts--yeah, I'm there with you. I do this every year--say that I need to get with it and drag my feet and then November happens--just like every year--and just like every year, I am freaking out because the 100 ornaments I want to stitch for friends and family haven't materialized in my finished pile. Oy.

Joysze said...

Love your fall pics, Anne. YUMMY pin cushion. Don't you love that Amethyst thread??? I used that once and it's so purdy. :D

Awwww, what a cute Chippy story. I wonder where he is now. Ahahahaha, I'd imagine your Vancouver squirrels are like the NY rats. Don't get too close!!!!

geeky Heather said...

Glad to know I'm not the only one who likes to talk to the squirrels. =) My sorority mascot is a squirrel, and I love the little critters. My oldest sister had one at her house that would climb up on her lap and eat seeds on her leg. Skippy was adorable and I got to have her eat off my lap one time when I was there!

Chippy's adorable...I have everything I need to start this one! I love the way you finished him!

Meari said...

Beautiful pin cushion, and I know Valerie loves it.

Enjoyed reading about your squirrel story and internally I was giggling because my sister has a HUGE dislike for squirrels. She's says they're evil, lol. (Call it traumatic childhood experience, and that's all I'm sayin!)