Ok, I Couldn't Stand It...

I had to iron it. (grin)

Birdie Stitches BOM - October

This one is one of my favorite ones so far!  I'm geeked I had it stitched in time for Halloween!

Again - white background but overcast day

I'm thinking I might not join these 12 into a larger quilt, after all.  I just finished something very similar for Christmas, and I can't bring myself to use my embroidered quilts.  Instead, I have one of those fabulous wire quilt frames that holds a 12" quilt.  I may finish each of these as their own mini quilt and have a different one for display each month.  What do you think?

Happy Halloween!
Elisa

Birdie Stitches BOM - June

Ok, I know it's well past June, but I've had a lot on my plate this summer.  

Finished June's block - woot! woot!  Haven't decided if I'm going to use it for June or for the label.

Background is white, but today is very overcast.

Happy Stitching!
Elisa

I'm Stitching! I'm Stitching!

I love this SAL and have loved spending my evenings stitching away.  Here is the completed top.  I'm not sure I'm keen on how the borders turned out - got a little too fancy.  Think I should've left out the smaller "circles" border and went right from cranberry to green.

I missed the deadline (Sept 30th) but I'm plugging away - Chooky won't let me join round 3 until I'm done.  Round 3 is Anni Down's Some Kind of Wonderful and, probably much to my friend Ann R.'s amusement, is filled with the "A" word!  Guess I'm going to learn applique!

Stop back in a day or two and I'll share how I achieved the perfect 1/4" border/sashing.  Very neat!

Sew Happy Sewalong

It’s just amazing all the talent in the quilt blogging world! 

Check out this new Sewalong from Sew Happy!  Each Friday, for seven weeks, Lesley Boost will share a one-of-a-kind Christmas embroidery pattern on her blog for all of us!  Week eight will have the assembly instructions for this Christmas bunting!

Here’s a picture of the finished project from her website:

I’m joining!  Because we all know I need another Christmas Stitchy project right now!

Happy Stitching!
Elisa

Tis the Season - Blocks Done!

Woo hoo!  Just 2 weeks behind but I finished block 12 and the label! 

My least favorite block turned out to be my favorite one!

Santa looks wonky but the block is actually square!

The goal is for all of us to have it assembled and quilted by end of September.  Oh well!  Late again!

Happy Stitching!
Elisa

And Still She Waits....

Second full day without power. Sitting in a wi-fi free coffee shop checking emails and blogging.

Able to get some stitching done. Here is my July block for my Tis the Season SAL - finished via candlelight. Too bad I can't run my iron but flame, as they did In the old days!

Rumor has it power is supposed to return tonight, but we've seen no one from the power company & they need to replace 1 pole and 2 transformers. At least the weather is on my side!

Happy Labor Day!

Elisa

Roll Call - Fall Embroidery Edition

As promised, here are a few more that didn't make it yesterday.  Here are some great, free (last time I checked) embroidery patterns and tutorials!



One Wee Home - Cinderberry Stitches



·         Backstitching by Cinderberry Stitches

·         Bird Brain Designs - All their Free Patterns! Sign up for their email list!

·         Celebrate Freedom! Pattern

·         Child of God Pattern

·         Embroidered Christmas Basket

·         Flower Sugar Woodland Faeries by Cinderberry Stitches

·         Jolly Halloween (Hudson Holidays)
·         Joy Hope Peace by Gail Pan Designs - love these!
·         Merry Christmas by Gail Pan Designs - love these!
·         Nasturtiums Pillow (Alex Anderson - Shadow Embroidery)

·         Joyeaux Noel by Gail Pan Designs - love these!

·         One Wee Home by Cinderberry Stitches

·         Retro Flowers Patterns

·         Sheltering Tree by Allie Oops

·         Stem Stitch Corners – Tutorial 

The above list does not include all the many amazing embroidery BOM out there:

·         Little Miss Shabby (Birdie Stitches)

·         Bunny Hill Designs(Henrietta Whiskers) - applique or embroidery

·         Elefantz (Give Thanks)

·         Gail Pan Design (Christmas Wishes) - LOVE this!

·         Hugs from Helen (Stitching Around the Block)

·         Painted Quilt (Raggedy & Friends)

·         Quilt Happy Quilt Often (Home Sweet Home)

·         Raspberry Rabbits (12 of Hearts)

There’s also some amazing web “embroidery schools” right now:

·         Clover and Violet - Embroidery 101

·         Hugs from Helen - Stitched Sundays

·         We Love French Knots

Happy Stitching!
Elisa

p.s. You can see by the skewed bullet points that blogger is having issues again - sigh!

Back to Work

Today is the last day of my vacation. I had tons to do and major, life-altering decisions to make. I did none of it and time is running out. Disappointed? No. Which is funny since time-management could be my creed. I guess I just needed seven days to de-stress and relax enough... silence life enough.... to enjoy the sound of peace for a change. Funny that when I finally have a clear head it's time to return to work!

Isn't this pretty? It's St. Martha's Episcopal Church in Detroit, MI. I snapped this while out waymarking. The Ford Cemetery is out front - final resting place of Henry and Clara Ford (and many of their relatives).

I am making great headway on my Tis the Season blocks (if you get a chance, click the TIS button on the left. Many of my fellow quilters are finishing their tops and quilting - they're all so different!). I have 1/3 of the 12th block to complete and then the wreath label before I can sew them all together. I'm glad the humidity has receded so it's comfortable enough to sit and stitch.

Once I finish these blocks I can focus on Birdie Stitches next. Next year I'm only participating in one BOM.

Happy Stitching!
Elisa

Utterly Crap-tastic!

I heard "crap-tastic" for the first time today and had to chuckle. Yep, that would be today!

A local landmark burned down overnight (come to the local state fair to see the world's largest stove!), someone poisoned my grapevines, my nephew spilled his grandfather's beer all over my flip flops & bag, my cat vomitted in my good shoes, and I think I have poison ivy.

So, to cheer myself up, I'm eating Edy's Gourmet Slow-Churned French Silk ice cream, listening to the crickets, and looking at pics from my weekend. This is from Lower Huron Metropark.

On the bright side, I'm tracing my last two Tis the Season SAL blocks, and hope to share shortly!

Hoping tomorrow isn't another "Monday"!

Elisa

July Tis the Season SAL

Phew! Completed my July blocks! I would've posted it yesterday, but it was overcast (pics still came out darker than reality - hmmph).

11 blocks completed - 1 block and 1 stitched label to go!

Now onto Birdie Stitches!

Happy Stitchin'
Elisa

Tis the Season Block 9

Wow! Can't believe I've completed 9 already! I'm all caught up for June in my Tis The Season QAL. If you get a chance, click the sidebar and visit the incredible work completed by the rest of the group!

Happy Stitching!
Elisa

May Birdie Stitches

Ok, I'm catching up! Here's May, and I'll start June's tonight. Just have to add my sashing for June's Tis the Season!

Happy Stitching!
Elisa

My Embroidery Kits

Have I mentioned how much I'm loving my BOMs? That is one of the most fabulous surprises when I started to follow quilt blogs - BOM groups and free patterns! Luckily I decided early on that I can't participate in everything (even though I really, really want to join that Farmer's Wife Flickr group - control, girlfriend!)
I have been saving patterns for one day... And have joined in a few. I really do feel they've enriched my life and made me re-think my methods. I've learned SO much and they've really motivated me to finish some projects for myself!
A friend asked me how I keep track of all the different embroidery BOMs (I have several embroidery samplers in progress and I'm LOVING my Tis the Season and Birdie Stitches!) and I told her I have a kit for each project.

For each project, I have a Ziploc bag with floss, needles (note those wonderful Bohin #7 embroidery needles I bought from Raspberry Rabbit), scissors, tea tin (for thread snips) and index card. That index card is most important:

Each card contains the project name, start and end date (on back), motif, number of strands, stitch type, and floss number. It will also note floss source, sashing measurement, embellishments ("fill apples with French knots"), make/color of background fabrics, etc. For my Tis the Season, one card will last the entire project. For Birdie Stitches, where motifs/colors change monthly, I'll make a new one each month.
This way, I can pick up and work on any kit at any time without worrying about accidentally deviating from my original game plan. At the end of the project, I'll file away the card; if I decide later to make a stand-alone project, I can pull out my card for later reference.
If you get a chance, visit Tis and Birdie and see all the fabulous work these ladies have already completed! I'm hoping to post my June blocks this weekend.
Happy Stitching!
Elisa

It Was a Dark and Humid Night

Snoopy would be so proud of this reference -LOL!

I live in Fabulous, Fashionable Ferndale, Michigan (a quick two-step from the northern Detroit border). It seems like myself and most of my fellow Michiganians (or, Michiganders, depending) are running their a.c. tonight. There's not alot of power to go around. I've already blown several fuses (yes, I still have those) and the lights are not at full brilliance. So, I unplugged my TV, my a.c., my computer, and my sewing machine.

Luckily, minutes before I plugged in my last spare fuse, I was able to transfer my May Birdie Stitches embroidery, my June Birdie Stitches embroidery, and my second June Tis The Season Stitch-Along embroidery. They are stating that we'll have another heat advisory tomorrow so at least I'll stay on track with my BOM's.

Nothing like returning to our roots, eh? How're you surviving this heat?

Take care, Elisa

Birdie Stitches BOM - April

Birdie Stitches Block of the Month

Just a little late.... onwards to May!

Having the hardest time photographing in this house, in all this rain (very gloomy).
It's hard to believe this is a white background.

I'm kind of regretting the order of my greens.... should I have used the lighter one as grass and the darker one as branches?  This will look great when I sash it with my fabric choice, Dilly Dally by Me and My Sister.

Four months down - eight to go!

May Stitch-Along

I'm so excited!  I've completed my May (and half my June) Stitch-along blocks!  Woot!

These are SO much fun, but my time has been so limited.

Angel: as funny as it sounds, this block reminds me of my late mother.  She was just so sweet, always had a kind smile, loved the holidays, and is now an angel.  She'd like the snowmen surrounding her!

Penguins: now this one reminds me of my sister.  She is a docent at the Detroit Zoo, and last year she treated me for my birthday a trip behind the scenes at the Penguinarium!  It was SO cool!  The birds were loud, stinky, and utterly adorable!

Elf: makes me think of all my nieces and nephews.  We have a VERY large family so, when we gather for the holidays, the kids will scurry to and fro passing out the gifts from under the tree!

I can't wait to see this quilt completed!  Winter sounds pretty good in this hot and humid Michigan!

Elisa

P.S. If you get a chance, visit the Stitch-Along site and see how wildly talented these women are and how wildly diverse is their fabric choice!

Weird Day

Spent the day outside dealing with this:

Which, apparently, is the only thing I can successfully grow. When I really wanted to work on this:

This is from my Tis the Season Stitch-Along. Did I mention that I stitched the wrong block for this month?

Where's a good dandelion patch when you need one?

April Stitch-Along Blocks are done!

I really had a fun time stitching these over the last few weeks - my fabric choices probably don't make sense to you now, but when you see these with the other 10 blocks - WOW!  You can see my March blocks here.

Tis the Season Block 4

Tis the Season Block 5

The pictures look a little wonky.  In the future, I'll have a nice covered board that will hold them upright and flat so I can snap some decent pictures.  I just have my Birdie Stitches block to complete, and I'm done with April.

Take care!
Elisa

March Stitch-Along Blocks are done!

March is done!  Look at these beauties!  These are my three blocks for the Tis the Season Stitch-Along.

You can't tell from here but these blocks are a little lighter and square - too excited to wait for morning to snap these :)

 I realize that I still haven't mastered the straight stitch so I stuck with my friend, the stem stitch.

The sashing fabric is from Moda's Fruitcake line.

WOOT!

Elisa