Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Pincushons


As usual, I am late in my posting. I had been busy making pincushions. It's fun to stitch and finish small projects. Look at the tray, I have 6 pincushions to show.

This one is actually a humbug Christmas ornament. The design is by Yvette Stanton from Issue 23 of The Gift of Stitching. I stitched it on 32ct Belfast using DMC Perle Cotton 8. Beads were added to 3 corners of the humbug as tassels.


I have seen many of this style of pincushion in bloggerland and decided to make one for myself. The chart is found in JCS Christmas Ornament Preview Issue, designed by Lori of La-D-Da. Again, I stitched on 32ct belfast linen. This time I using hand-dyed threads(Crimson Fire) from Nina.


This design should be familiar to many of you, it is from Blackbird Designs - Honeysuckle Manor. The base of this pincushion is crocheted by my friend Maria. The tiny pincushion is from Japan, a gift from my quilting teacher.

I stitched this piece some time ago. It is a freebie but sorry I had lost the source. The backing for this cushion is linen fabric, check in front and polka dot at the back. Sorry, I forgot to take a picture of the back.


Now, to show some Halloween stitchings. The first one is a freebie by Homespun Elegance. I stitched it on 36ct greyish blue linen and finished it as a long pillow. Love this style of pin pillow.
The next design is by Tonia of Oakhaven Designs. It is also a freebie. I really love the pumpkin fabric used for the pincushion.


Ok, this one didi not made it to the tray, I just finished it. This is another freebie by Sylvia. DMC colors used - 597 and 938. I have not find suitable buttons for this pincushion yet.



This one is definitely not made by you. I bought this beauty at a flea market. I really love that bear sitting on top of the stitcher's box. I want to learn how to make this. Maybe, I can bring it to my Cartonage Teacher and she can figure out how to do it.


Did I stitch anything besides pincushions? Yes, I did but not much. Here is a little progress on Lo, How a Rose sampler. I love the colors palette for this sampler. Hope to make more progress this month.


Next, is a picture of what I gave my friend for her birthday. The stitching is a design by LHN. "Joyful and Caring" describes my friend perfectly. I left the finishing to her, she is also a stitcher.


I hope to have more progress reports on my wips in my next posting. Thank you for visiting my blog. All comments are welcomed and appreciated.

Happy Stitching and Take Care!

Hugs,
Ellen

Saturday, September 11, 2010

Simple Joys

This is Simple Joys by LHN. I finished the stitching but yet to decide on the finishing. The colors are really lovely especially WDW Raspberry and CC Plum Paisley. I really love the red color, it's so rich. What are the simple joys of your life? I was reflecting on this while stitching this piece.
My family, my friends, stitching, reading, coffee and dark chocolate, these are the simple joys of my life.





Is this design familiar with you? You must have seen it many times in bloggerland. Yes, it is Lo, How a Rose Sampler. I took over the project from another stitcher. It is stitched on some hand dyed linen using DMC threads. I have been wanting to stitch this design for a long time. Here is another close up picture of the wip.



Next, an update on my OakHaven Designs Months SAL. I fell behind in my stitching, just managed to catch up at the end of August. I stitched June, July and August in one week as I was determined to get it done. I just got the chart for September, the month is getting longer.



I wanted to participate in Niky's contest. I got the chart from her and finish the stitching. As you can see, I did not made it to the dateline of Sept 6th. I have yet to do the finishing, maybe a pincushion. I changed the color of the bird to blue (DMC 926) and put my initial in place of the key.


Here are some exchanges I received, took me too long to post these pictures.

I participated in Swap 4 hosted by Nina. My partner, Ronel, stitched for me a beautiful Stitcher Book. Ronel is from South Africa, look at those stamps and the postcard. Her stitching and finishing are perfect, I really love this Book. Thank you, Ronel, for a lovely exchange.



I received this gorgeous mattress pincushion from Melissa for the "For the Birds Exchange". The design is from PS Prairie Year II and stitched on 32ct Ivory linen. Look at the side of the pincushion, Melissa stitched a phrase from the poem "Nest Eggs" by Robert Louis Stevenson.

Thank you, Missy Ann, for the pincushion and the poem. I love them.





Currently, I am stitching for exchanges. I plan to start new projects, there are so many designs I wanted to stitch and so little time.

Thank you, my friends, for visiting my blog and your lovely comments. All comments are greatly appreciated.

Happy Stitching and take care!

Hugs,
Ellen

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Seasonal Houses

Tonia of OakHaven Designs hosts a Seasonal House SAL for members. These designs are small, fun and quick to stitch. I stitched mine individually, to be finished into scissors fobs. Designs were stitched on 32ct Belfast using DMC threads. I had to change the fabric for Winter House because the white house did not show on the Belfast linen. Thank you, Tonia, for this fun SAL. I really enjoyed the stitching.








I joined HoE For The Birds Exchange recently. We can stitch any design as long as there is a bird in it. I chose a freebie by Carole D. Love this design, I had stitched it twice. Design was stitched on 28ct Cashel linen using DMC 335 and 3021. I am so glad that my partner, Lisa S, loves the pin cushion. The picture of the pin cushion was taken by Lisa.



The next picture is an update of my Eiffel Quaker. I am almost halfway with the stitching, really love the colors I have chosen. This design is by Nathalie of Jardin Prive.




I love French designs. The two designs below are charted by Dany of Danybrod. Both designs are for pincushions, one round and one square. The square one is only half done, don't you love the colors?




I had started another small project, "Simple Joys" by LHN. This design calls for crescent colors and WDW threads, very pretty colors. This should be pretty quick stitch, I hope to finish it soon.




August the 9th is Singapore's National Day. HAPPY BIRTHDAY SINGAPORE!

Thank you for visiting my blog. All comments are appreciated.

Happy stitching and take care!

Hugs,
Ellen

Monday, July 19, 2010

Flowers Show And Some Small Finishes

I took my mum to the Flowers Show last week. Here are some pictures.











I have not been stitching much since my last post. There is not much progress on my big wips, I had been stitching for exchanges and smalls.
I was in a Swap hosted by Nina. This is what I stitched for my partner Su. Picture was taken by

Su, she is very good with photography. She also stitches beautifully.

The theme for this exchange is French designs. I stitched for her a freebie by Les petites croix de Christine and finished into a pin pillow. Design was stitched on 32ct Belfast linen using DMC threads. Using the same backing fabric for the big cushion, I made her another smaller pin cushion. I was very happy that Su likes these cushions together with the goodies I sent her.


I love this scissors case when I saw it in blogland. I stitched it on 32ct Belfast linen using Nina's thread, Cherry Coffee. The chart came with a skein of turquoise silk but I decided to try Nina's hand-dyed threads. Lovely colors, please visit Nina's blog to see her beautiful hand-dyed threads.

Stitching is done but I have yet to do the finishing, hope to get it done soon.


I stitched another small, this it is designated for my next box topping. It's a freebie by Liselotte. Again, I stitched it on 32ct Belfast linen using DMC variations 4025.

Another small was stitched and finished into a pin cushion but I cannot show yet because it is for another Exchange. Will post when my partner receives it.


Here are pictures of progress on my Spring Quaker SAL. Very slow progress, I am only on page 5.


The SAL is currently on page 14. I have a long way to go to catch up.








Thank you for your visits and comments.

Happy stitching and take care!

Hugs,
Ellen