Blue Star Quilt

Hi friends and happy new year!

It's time to reveal another project. I kept this under wraps while I was working on it. It's another cross stitch quilt.

This one is shades of blue and tan. The variegated tan and light blue DMC floss makes it unique. I actually finished stitching it back in July just before Natalie was born, but didn't get a chance to show it until now.

I still have to wash it and do the backing, but I couldn't wait to share this. Size-wise, it's a tiny bit bigger than the red dahlia quilt, so I can use it on the shabby PB-style bed  with the blue ticking stripe mattress.

I have another cross-stitch project in the works, but progress is crazy slow because of kids and mom-type reasons and new job! I left the library and started up as an office manager.  Now, I'm not ruling out returning to the library in the future, but I have a few career things I need to take care of at the moment. Sometimes you have to take a sidestep to move forward.

On that note, best wishes to you all in the new year. Take care everyone and keep on making your hobby projects. Bye for now!

Sunny Miniature Quilt

Hello friends! I have been very quiet lately, lots going on. The kids are back in school which means homework, field trips, and football practice. I started,  and have already finished, a new cross stitch project. You know I have been on a quilt kick.

I was inspired by sunflowers. We grew some in the garden this year, so they were just outside the back door whenever we looked out. I charted some simple little blocks and tweaked the colors to be sunny. Then, on August first, the first night of football practice, I started my stitching.

After two weeks, I had this much done.

Ten days later, I was up to here. This was a slow stretch, but no giving up. I finished all the yellow, then went back and added the brown. Much more efficient that way.

Then I had all the little fussy little leaves to add. And I lost my favorite needle. I had to buy new needles, two different packs to test them out. All of them pale in comparison to my old needle. Some were too fat, some too short, but all were stamped weird so they were hard to thread. Bummer.

So here is the top. I still need to get some backing fabric and finish it.  It's small, not bed size. It's more like a wall-hanging art quilt. It's just a tad too big to be a half-scale quilt. The stitched area is about 3.5" square.

Now, I need to wash it, iron it, cut it out, find some backing fabric, sew it all together, and then it can be done.  In the meantime, I'm ready to start another quilt project. It's nice to have a portable project that goes to practice!

Thanks for stopping by, my friends!

New Cross Stitch Patterns

Hello friends.  I decided to branch out and try something new.  Since I'm a little bit good at cross-stitching (being modest here) I thought I'd try out making some patterns of my own.

I bought some software and I've been absolutely bonkers making up patterns. At this point I've made so many patterns, I will never ever have enough time to make them all. Ah, to dream happy little project dreams.

At the moment, I have two patterns for sale in my Etsy store. These patterns are meant to be "quilts" where you stitch the top and then sew a backing on.

First, is the simple blocked baby blanket. (If you'd like to buy the finished blanket it's also available here.)

Second, is Haley's Heart quilt.

I have a bunch more patterns in the works. If you have any suggestions, I'm open to them. Thanks for stopping by!

More PB style bed

Hi friends!

I hate it when I get clumsy.  Clumsy happens and it sucks. I was getting the Pottery Barn knock off bed out to give it a fresh coat of paint when I dropped it.

The headboard came off the rails.  At least it was a clean break at the joint, so it was easy to fix. I got it re-glued and managed to give it some more paint yesterday.

This paint job is so much better!  I even sanded down the edges to give it some wear and tear aging. I really like the ivory paint this time around. I'm considering just how much wear and tear I want. Maybe just a little. It is still a work in progress after all.

I'm not sold on the blue ticking stripe mattress. I might have to change that to red so it's more matchy-matchy with the redwork dahlia quilt. They clash when I turn down the quilt.

I have some solid red cotton and more of the red ticking stripe to work with. Maybe solid ivory sheeting?  What do you think?

By the way, I still haven't finished the dahlia pillows. Maybe when I nail the sheeting, I can finish the pillow backing.

Thanks for stopping by!

News for Now

Hello again, my friends. The weather here has been amazingly warm for February.  I was expecting more cold, dark evenings which are perfect for staying warm by the fireplace making minis.  Instead, we've had sunshine and weather in the 50-60s.

The boys have been in love with the new RC cars. Justin has made some ramps in the backyard and strategic rock piles for climbing with the cars. He's has even ordered a bunch of new aluminum parts to replace the broken plastic factory parts.  The Axial Wraith is getting red and orange new parts. They even have a plan to change out the body for a custom painted one with a 49ers logo and flames. I'm not sure what they have planned for the Vaterra Twin Hammers. It's been out of commission. They've had issues with the battery charger not charging. I think it's defective.We even made a special trip to Carson City's hobby store to get a new one. No luck there, though.

Anyhow, I've been trying my hand a few new things as well. I posted a few things on the Greenleaf forum, but I will share them here too.

I've been working on a scratch-built bed to go with my redwork quilt. Together, it looks like something straight out of a Pottery Barn catalog, which is what I was going for. I had the bed assembled, but the paint wasn't behaving so I took it apart. It will get re-painted and reassembled now. Here's before it was painted.

Of course I love my mini kitchen stuff, so I've been making some kitchen utensils. I've made some whisks, mashers, wooden spoons, pastry cutters, and a big strainer. Eventually a few sets will show up in my Etsy store, and I've even been thinking of doing a giveaway. Here's a shot of a few things to give you a taste.

I'm still working on Haley's heart quilt. I was hoping to be almost done now, but I was sick last week and spent three days home from work. My head cold was so bad, I couldn't even see well enough out of my watery eyes to cross stitch.

My poor head has been brimming with ideas for other projects, too. I keep telling myself not to get distracted from things I've already started. Must. Finish. Something!

Good luck out there. Stay warm (if you're in the East Coast freakish snow zone) and I'll see you again soon.

Heart Quilt Sneak Peek

I started another little cross stitching project at the end of summer. Once I finished stitching the red dahlia quilt, I immediately started a new one. I found some very pretty heart fabric at the store so it was my inspiration for this quilt.

I already had a white wire bed frame and pink mattress for Haley's Farmhouse. That bed needed some covers on top. I made up this pattern. Hearts, lots of hearts, and they had to be in shades of pink to match the fabric. I even have some pretty pink wallpaper that will look great with this.

To work out the pattern, I printed out some 22-ct. scale graph paper and messed around with colored pens. I practiced a few other things too but those are saved for another project.

I'm moving slow on this, mostly stitching during break time at work or when we have quiet time. I did a little bit at the cabin in Incline Village at Christmastime and a little last weekend in the Bay area. I'm roughly halfway.

This is stitched on 22-ct ivory Hardanger fabric. I'm tired of this material now. I had a scrap left and wanted to use it up.  It has an awkward weave that slips stitches a lot.  My next project will definitely use different material!

New Baby Quilt

My latest cross stitch project has been a bit of a secret, but now I'm ready to share it.

It was easy-peasy, two colors stitched into a checkerboard pattern with a complimentary backing. It's a nice soft peach with sage green and a slightly deeper green backing.

It's cute, isn't it? It's for sale in my Etsy store. Since today is Thanksgiving in the US, and this weekend is the start of the holiday shopping season, I'm offering a coupon code!  Use the code SHOPSMALL15 to save 15% off anything over $20.00.  This coupon code expires Monday, 12/2, so hurry if you see something you like!

Redwork Quilt, Part 3

I'm nearly done! I've toted this around with me in my purse, to work, on vacation in Arizona, to karate practice, to football practice, to different places where I'd have a few minutes of idle time.

I think I need to make two big pillows to go with it. Then, I will need to find a new portable project. I'm open to suggestions.

Redwork Quilt in Progress Part 2

The rework "quilt" is really looking good. I'm at a point that I have to move the hoop!

I think one more row or dahlias/stars on the left and bottom should get this to the size I want. Then for the lacy border! So exciting!

Redwork Quilt in Progress

I have been slowly making progress on the red star quilt. I've also seen this type of pattern called a dahlia quilt.

This is from scratch. I'm not following a particular pattern so it's a bit slow in the beginning as I decide what to do. I'm using ivory 18-ct Aida cloth stitched with DMC floss burgundy 221.

I'm only working on it during break time at work, so 15 minute increments don't let you get too far. This is roughly 2.5 hours-worth of stitching. Of course, I'm also chatting with my coworkers as I stitch, so I'm not going all that fast anyway. It's almost exactly 5 inches long. I'm planning on this fitting a 1:12 scale double bed.

How do you like it?

Cross Stitch Pillows

Today, I wanted to share some more cross-stitch information. Also, I finished the pillow that matches the baby quilt. Now I just need the perfect nursery to put them in.

The light pink and blue pillow, on the bottom left, is on Aida 14 ct. The design is 30 stitches by 30 stitches. It's finished size is about 2 1/8" by 2 1/8" and that scale works well for fashion dolls.

The center pillow in red and blue is on Aida 18 ct. It's finished size is 1 5/8" by 1 5/8". The design is 30 stitches by 30 stitches. It is identical to the previous pillow, just stitched on a different fabric.

The tiny pink and blue pillow, on the far right is on Hardanger 22 ct. The design is 29 stitches by 29 stitches. It measures about 1 1/4" by 1 1/4". The matching baby quilt is on the same fabric. These are scaled better for 1:12 dollhouse miniatures.

Today, I started designing my next project. I'm going to make another "quilt" in red on white. This one will be for a double bed. I suspect it will take me a long, long time to complete, but I'm not concerned about the time it will take. I will share my progress as I go.

Miniature Needlework

It's kind of fun having analytics available on this site's traffic.  I've noticed lots of hits related to miniature cross-stitch patterns.

I can't share any patterns that are not my own. I don't want to infringe on someone's copyright. I can share links to pattern books that I like. Some of these books I own, some I've borrowed through the library. Now, if your library doesn't have anything you want, don't give up! Here's my not-so-secret inner librarian coming out, just go and ask your librarian about inter-library loan.  This is a fine case of  "Ask and you shall receive!"

If you have the money, buy them from your local bookstore to support a local business.

There is just one disclaimer for the books I'm listing below. They mostly talk about needlepoint or embroidery. I'm a goof and have not tried actual needlepoint, although it's ridiculously similar to cross-stitch. I don't let these "needlepoint" patterns faze me. Just follow the chart and cross-stitch to your heart's content. The scale may be off, but you can adjust that by using a fabric with a smaller weave.  The things I've stitched, like the quilts, have been on Hardanger 22-ct fabric.  Anything larger (a smaller number means fewer stitches per inch, like Aida 14) will look out of scale. Although, if you're aiming for Playscale, Barbie or Blythe size, then Aida 14 works pretty well.

Also, there are a few interesting sites out there that share patterns. I really like Kincavel Krosses. Check out her binscornu and blackwork/redwork patterns. They are fantastic and could easily become mini quilts!

Good luck, fellow stitchers!

(Updated January 21, 2016 to remove bad links. Please check out Amazon for miniature books.)

Cross-stitch Minis

One of my other hobbies is cross-stitching. Mom started teaching me when I was probably in the third grade. I'm not exactly fast or efficient at needlework, but it's something under my belt. I've gotten to the point that it's really a means to an end. I say that because I only cross-stitch things for my dollhouse.

For example, the things I'm sharing today are all made by me to go in or with other things I have.

The patterns came from a very old cross-stitch magazine, the Sept/Oct 1988 issue of Cross Stitch and Country Crafts.

There is the "quilt" which was a very time-consuming bedspread stitched on 22 ct. ivory Hardanger. I think I used 4 skeins of blue DMC floss, by the single strand.  Thank goodness that one's done! I probably put in 50 hours to complete it. I think it turned out great! I used an ivory cotton sheeting fabric for the backside.

I also made the baby blanket.

Mom started the rug pattern, then left off the border.

I decided to make a rug too, but took some liberties with the pattern. I made up some more vines and tulips for the center instead of the pineapples. Also, the tan Aida cloth gives it a nice depth.

 I've made a few pillows on different fabrics.  This is one of the small ones. It has dusty dark pink fabric on the back.

I'm not done with this set yet. I want to make another pillow to match the baby blanket and some other pillows to match the blue and ivory bedspread. I'm even crazy enough that I was considering making another bedspread in all red to simulate a red-work quilt. I want one that's double size, since the blue quilt was only twin size.