Friday, July 29, 2011

Finish, Finish, & Finish-Finish

(Does this title remind you of a "Pete and Repeat" joke as much as it does me?)

What I've been up to (crafty-wise). :)

Finished the quilting on:





Fig Tree Quilts
Scrap Lab Table-Topper Quilt





The angle of my shot exaggerates it, but some of the colored bands ARE definitely longer than the others. lol! Good thing they are my favorites. ;)




This is my first-ever quilt finish: Machine pieced, hand-quilted, turned-bound, washed and machine-dried. It really does get nice, scrunchy, and wonderfully quilty after drying.











A Stitching Finish:





Nighttime Hearth Motif from PSBk150 "December"
Linen: 28ct. Natural by Wichelt
Fiber:DMC to spec.


Usually, I consider stitching Christmas ornaments to be a pain, b/c there are only 50 I want NOW and I don't feel Christmassy stirrings in the slightest until after Thanksgiving. I do look forward to stitching an ornament alongside the tree however. I'm ALL ABOUT The Tree. So, I'm pretty happy to be on a bit of kick for it lately. I consider PS with its easy-to-read graphs and good ol'
DMC to be the ultimate comfort stitching. Otherwise, I can't say I find stitching particularly relaxing. I'm too excited to own what I'm making!





This needs ironing and finishing, now. I'm so excited b/c I know exactly what fabric to use...now if only I could decide HOW.

Oh, P.S., I am SO excited about the new PS "Santa's Night"!!! I'd be stitching it right now if my order were in. :D But, what to do about the fabric??? The models us 18 ct. Aida to make them both small and black. How I wish Wichelt had a high-count black linen! What are you doing about the fabric choice? (All you other gotta-make-this-one stitchers.)

"The Finish-Finish"




Mary's Pin Pillow by Indigo Rose
Linen: Belfast Natural 32ct.
Fibers: DMC 4210 and AVAS unknown ruby color.


Some of you may recall this as a biscornu I was working on in the early days of this blog. I finished the stitching in 2009, and only did the finishing recently. You see, I LOVE this biscornu pattern, and I love biscornu, and LOVE (or did at the time) love that DMC variations color...but i didn't love them all together as much... Until I tried putting it with these items in my display case. <3










The spider web rosettes were really fun to make with silk!



A view with the door closed. You can see some of my "treasures" on the shelf above.





The Whole, recently reorganized to contain most of my tea implements which were just knocking around. You can see a teacup and saucer set is missing right below the biscornu; I need to wash it after my tea! (Yesterday's, shhh!)

I'm not really a drunk, btw. Nope. Not even because my treasure cabinet is full of empty liquor bottles. That's because I'm a little crow! lol! I love shiny things, and things made of glass, and packaging and typography. The St. Germain and Domaine de Canton are pretty good ( I used them; the St. Germain is an elderflower liqueur--wonderful as a syrup with soda, yup! And in Whipped Cream, too. DdC...well...I bought it because it was from the same Co. and with a parallel dress...it was just meh. But it was great in hot chocolate all winter! lol! I loved the Sapphire bottle as a kid, and swiped this from a friend who can't live without his "GeeAndTee". It IS good with the St. Germain and Soda, however.

Haven't convinced you, have I? Please, just check out the St. Germain bottle next time you're in a shop before sending them to take me away, m'kay? :D I still need to re-work this cabinet above the biscornu.





I'm also:

• Woefully behind on Blog Reading
• Compiling the final kits for FenceCat's Hallowe'een; Thanks to everyone who picked one up! If you are still "on the fence" (lol!) I've only got enough supplies for 12 more. As far as I know this linen is disco, so once they are gone there will be no more. :(
• Breaking in a new computer

Stay cool, enjoy your summer, and sink a few stitches into a project! :)

Yours in Stitching,
Berit

18 comments:

Margaret said...

Lots of lovely finishes! Good for you on your first quilt finish -- it's really pretty! NIce to hear someone is hand quilting too. I love hand quilting! Nice stitching finishes too. Love your treasure cabinet!

Christina said...

Your quilt looks beautiful Berit - really snuggly! Great for when your feeling 'under the weather' (not that I'm wishing this on you!). I imagine eating chicken soup whilst snuggled under this quilted blanket!
Oh yes, PS Santa's night has to be a must-stitch for me. I was thinking black Belfast linen. What so you think to 'Cats, Bats & Witches'? I like it but it's a bit samey samey! (if you get what I mean?!)

DonnaTN said...

Your quilt is beautiful. You put in a lot of stitches doing the hand quilting and it looks amazing!

Sweet Sue said...

Oh Berit, congrats on your first quilt, colors are so dreamy and calming. So now that it's done... I'll go stand by the mailbox, you can send it soon ~ right? LOL! Seriously, you should be very proud:)

Leeland said...

Oh my... Your quilt is amazing... The quilting is stunning! Congratulations!!!
So much to comment in a post... I love the stitching, stitch PS ornies all year long (lol! We French don't have Halloween nor Thanksgiving so after the summer holiday, we do need something cool to look forward to) and I'm totally in love with Santa's Night. Though the black fabric is putting me off a little. My eyesight being what it is, I would go for an 18 count black aida, or 16 count if I could.
You have a cool display there (love the biscornu!!!), and I think you've got a point: with the three cats and dog, I do think that my only chance of displaying beautiful objects quite safely is to invest in a shelf with windows, and forget my good old open glass shelves...

KarenV said...

Your quilt is gorgeous Berit! I love the colours and the way you've quilted it, just beautiful. I can't believe it's your first ever, you did an excellent job!

barbara said...

What great finishes! That quilt just makes me WANT it! LOL - it is stunning!!!!

I'm also doing some Prairie Schooler stitching. Very soothing. :)

Lynn said...

Really great finishes Berit! You've been one busy lady!

Giovanna said...

Beautiful quilt, and great stitching - congrats!

Sally said...

I absolutely LOVE your quilt and your stitching is lovely.

Anonymous said...

Love the quilt! It looks to be just the right amount of cool and cozy. Perfect for the summer! Your cabinet is fabulous. Very, very pretty. And I am a sucker for PS...that fireplace is darling!

Kathy Ellen said...

Your quilt is truely beautiful and I love the soft pastel colours. What amazing piece of quilting. I love to hand piece and hand quilt my quilts, although I haven't done one recently.

Love your Christmas ornament, and "Mary's Pin Pillow" is just gorgeous. I must find that pattern...love biscornus too! What a wonderful "treasures" cabinet!

Jan Gartlan said...

The quilt is devine. The ornament is as cute as. Well done!

Siobhán said...

I love your quilty finish! You go girl! You know I love me some Fig Tree! ;) Your ornament and pin pillow are both wonderful. I am the same--I rarely feel the stirrings of doing ornaments during the year but I actually have a PS santa in the works. I'm so proud of myself. LOL

Have a great weekend!

Sandy (miss Potter) said...

wow, it's wonderful, perfect!!!
Your embroidery is always beautiful! Finally I can see your lovely blog, now I shall read the previous publications, relax :)

Hug
Sandy

Carol said...

What a lovely, lovely quilt, Berit!! Beautiful soft colors in it... And of course I love your PS finish. Your description of PS as "comfort stitching" is perfect--guess that's why I love it so much myself :)

Kathy A. said...

That is a lovely quilt Berit. I love the soft, soft colors.

Unknown said...

fantastic your biscornu ! very great
Pat