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

Scissors Case Giveaway Winners!

Hello Everyone! Thanks to all the faces new and old who stopped by for my giveaway party! :D

I do apologize that I'm getting these winners posted up late; it has been quite busy in me-land lately, but above all the ruckus was the arrival of my new computer late last week! I was SO overdue for an upgrade and transitioning to the new system is eating my computer time. In a good way, though. :D

Without further ado, the Scissors Case Giveaway Results:





For the "Purchasers" Case, there were 5 people who bought a kit, and the winner is Barbara Sturtz! She will get first pick on the colorway (original blue or variant plum).

For the "Partiers" Case, Parsley wins! She will receive the other case. :D

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Ladies, I've emailed you to request shipping addresses.

Thanks to everyone who stopped by to enter and Special Thanks to my kit purchasers!!! You guys are the best!

Berit

P.S. Hope to see you soon with a small stitchy update!

Announcing Jaunty Fox Designs!

I am thrilled to finally begin publishing cross stitch design works with this first release, a freebie entitled

Fence Cat's Hallowe'en!





The chart itself is free for download from The Fox Shop.

I hope everyone will love stitching this as much as I did and display it with Joy this Autumn. :D





If you love the look of the model as much as I do, you're in luck because I had some extras and I'm compiling them into kits available here.(Same post as above.)

If you are "on the fence" about the kit because you hate fill-in stitching (like me), go ahead and get it! The properties of the materials along with a tip I'll share make this the easiest and most enjoyable fill you'll ever stitch! That orange silk is an overdye which glides along like paint; and indeed the color variation which turns up makes you feel like you're painting a beautiful impressionist painting. I had fun "Hiding" shapes in the background; rather like reverse cloud-watching. :) I think you'll find it a great way to cut loose and brush away your perfectionism; it's no-fail artistic stitching!




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Now, on to the Release Party!

I want to thank all my friends and readers for their support while developing this work; it has been a labor of love! Of course I'd love to give away as door prizes more of my own designs, but they aren't ready yet! Also, I really wanted to celebrate with something I made for you myself; So, I chose a Prairie Schooler pattern that reflects my love of scissors AND exact feelings about this launch project! (design from PS Bk 115 "Pins & Needles")





Both of these Scissor Cases (but not scissors) will be given away!


How to Win:

Case "A"

• Leave a comment on this post for 1 entry.

• Post about Jaunty Fox Designs and this Giveaway Party in your own blog along with a link for +2 entries!

Case "B"

• Purchase one of the LE Kits!

• The winner of this pool gets first pick (Blue or Purple) on colorways, the remaining case will be the one given to the blog party!

Closing date for these giveaways is Friday, 15 July 2011. A winner will be chosen from each pool and prizes shipped out!


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Everyone, for everything, Thank You! More than I can say with words, Thank You!

Yours,
Berit

Preview-Next Time, Your Chance to Win!

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Coming Next Post is my Big Announcement and your chance to Win one of these scissor cases stitched and hand-finished by me. :D

It is too long since I've had a giveaway, and I am SO excited!

Both cases (but not the scissors, sorry) will be given away, so please look forward to it and watch this space!~

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Autumn Leaves Finished~

Looking forward to it permanently joining these items!

Enough play; now on to Trim Attachment! :D

P.S. Do you think I need another brown bar above the "wind" at the top to echo the one beneath the grass?

P.P.S. Is there anything better than an Autumnal Prairie Schooler piece?

Whew! Springtime!

I hope everyone's been well--I've been away from blogging (and often commenting too) for a couple of weeks now! I do miss it, but maybe you'll understand when you see some of my distractions:



My progress on PS Bk 132 Autumn Leaves (Recommended Fibers on 32ct. Vintage Antique Ivory). I'm only planning to stitch this bottom vignette--so I'm almost done! This one gave some frogging trouble, but I kept picturing how good it would look grouped together with the Autumn PS goodies I've received from Edgar and Christina. :D I'm still not 100% on how much more to stitch--it COULD be finished now, right? ;)



I do not even KNOW how to tell you how much quilting and un-quilting both hand and machine I've done on this piece. lol! I *think* I'm enjoying it, however. I've pretty much come to the conclusion that it isn't possible to finish the edges before machine quilting---perhaps a long-arm is required?

It's quilted in the ditch up and down the aisles, and these two panels. (Which right now aren't "done", but maybe I'll decide they are. ;D) Not sure why the sun disappears when I try to photograph this item, lol!

Also, I want to thank everyone--quilters and non--who commented with advice and encouragement about my quilting foray. You guys are the best! :D

Finally, a tinsy bit on Kindred Spirits:



My orange floss came in (along with a pair of rabbit winders from Kelmscott and PS December), so I wanted to put in at least a little of it. Please excuse the waste knots!


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Finally, here's a sneak peek of what's REALLY been keeping me--you're looking at the trim I just finished making as the final part of trimming some GIVEAWAYS! Yup, I'm overdue to have some around here, so I decided the launch of my freebie and design line was a good chance! Please look forward to seeing what these belong to and your chances to win one soon!~

Yours,
Berit

More Kindred Spirits, Cooking, and a Quilting Conundrum

I forgot the chart when away from the house, but was still able to stitch--thank you border! :D Usually, I pack EVERYTHING but the Needle. :)



Out of season, but these steam-fried yams were so good! The recipe calls for a black sesame garnish, but I used fresh-grated nutmeg and cinnamon instead. I glugged in a little extra oil, and they did come out too oily! As the recipe says, it REALLY only needs one tablespoon. They won't get too oily if you do over-use as the potatoes are surprisingly non-porous.



I took the good advice of Myra, Nancy and others and tried making a little sample bit of finished machine quilting.



I think I really need some supplies such as gloves for grip and a slide-facilitating plate to put down around the plate. It'd be even better if I had a sewing table which puts the plate on the level of the whole table. I could only have one if it folds up, however, due to space constraints. I hope they make one, but have doubts due to the likelihood of stability problems for a collapsible table. Do you, gentle readers, know of any?



One side is muslin, and one cotton. The quality of the quilting is dubious and inconsistent, but it will hold and may make a decent needle roll. I told Marc my stars look scared. :)

But, here's my real conundrum:



This was the walking foot, which I tried in the hope of preventing this sort of thing from happening at the end of a row! :P



Here's the ditch-quilting foot which helps you follow a line closely, and it's a little cinchy. It was my first attempt, but it was "off" enough to make me try the walking foot.



Here's the other side of the seam; the problem here is less severe but can also be seen.

Do I need more pins? Did I not iron the top flat enough and so it's too large for the base? I begin to see why a binding is put on at the end of a quilt. :) But, this little scrap-lab called for a turned finish to conserve fabric. I may just resort to hand-quilting, although I wanted to learn/use machine.

Hope everyone's enjoying a fine and relaxing long weekend (US readers)!

--Berit