Hare's Christmas, Revisited

Hey Blog Buddies,

If you've been reading this blog for a while and have a good memory, you might recall that I stitched Plum Street Sampler's Hare's Christmas during last year's holiday season. I finished it right at the end of December 2012...

...so there was absolutely no reason to

finish-finish it immediately, right?

It languished in my to-be-finished pile

all year long--until yesterday.

 

I was procrastinating because

I wanted to finish it as a pillow with ball fringe,

a technique that I had never done before,

and had no clue how to attempt.

 

I searched the Internet and found this tutorial,

and decided to give the finishing a try.

(I was on the verge of

outsourcing the finishing up until that point.)

I really had no expectation of a good outcome

since this was my very first time doing ball fringe,

but I followed all the instructions,

including using the zipper foot on my machine

and, of course:  pin, pin, pin

and voila..

 

I'm pretty happy (and relieved)

with the way it turned out.

Even DH pronounced it "cute."

If I can do this, anyone can!

But I couldn't have done it without that tutorial.

 

I used crushed walnut shells as a stuffing.

They can be found at pet supply stores

here in the United States.

The crushed shells are very fine, so I  thought it best

to sew a muslin lining into the pillow, too.

(Another first, a lined pillow!)

 

That's it from here.

(Still haven't finished

all my Christmas stitching,

have you?)

Thanks for visiting.

Hare's Christmas

Hey Blog Buddies,
Hope you all had a fun and safe New Year's holiday.  As for me, I was asleep before midnight, and prior to that I completed my final project of 2012:  Hare's Christmas by Plum Street Samplers.  (The partying never stops here at The Southpaw!)

This piece had a stitching misadventure.

There were some ugly water spots on the fabric,

just above the lettering--don't ask!

Even though all the floss was overdyed (GAST Simply Shaker),

I had no choice but to wash the piece and hope for the best.

The labels on all the skeins of floss said "colorfast."

The red bled just a tiny bit (around the "l" in the last "Jingle")

which wasn't surprising--

not very noticeable in this photo--but it's not ruined (IMO)

and it's a vast improvement from the water spots.

Here are some close-ups:

I just love these little guys, they're so silly.

Did you think that Mama Hare has a reindeer?

No, the horse has tied-on antlers

and a wreath with a bell around his neck!

Every time I look at this piece it makes me smile.

And now it's all ready for Christmas 2013!

(Well, I just have to finish-finish it--heheh.)

I made a new start yesterday:

Erica Michaels' Thoughts of Winter.

Didn't get too far--

I'll show it when more is completed.

That's it for now.

Thanks, as always, for visiting!

The 2012 WIPocalypse-Final Report

Hey Blog Buddies,
For those of you celebrating the holidays, I hope you had a wonderful time.  I did.  I even managed to carve out time to stitch!

In an effort to catch up with the actual calendar month, I stitched two months' worth of Crabby All Year this month.  If I do the same thing in January, I'll be caught up.  October you've already seen--here is November:

That cat is awfully fat!

I don't know if he's a relative, too, or just a friend...

I've also made progress on my Circle Dance quilt top this month:

I've been sewing just three blocks per day.

As the tortoise said in the fable:

"slow and steady wins the race."

About a week ago I decided to sew

what blocks I had into rows.

Above are four of the five rows I've sewn together.

If I keep at it, this should get done

in a couple of weeks.

I've also made progress on Hare's Christmas.

I'm hoping to finish it soon, and

will show you a photo when that happens.

We survived the Apocalypse and even the WIPocalypse, too!  This was a fun SAL, and though I didn't complete everything on my list--it was a really ambitious list--it kept me focused throughout the year.  I had 22 projects on my list, 12 were finished, 3 are WIPs in my current rotation, and 7 are (cough, cough) still UFOs.  Of those seven, there are only two that are still calling my name.  I'm working on my 2013 to-stitch list, and it's really hard to get it down to a manageable size.  I'm trying to be more realistic about what I will actually have the time to stitch next year!

All of my 2012 WIPocalypse before-and-after photos are on a separate page.  If you have some time and are so inclined, grab a cuppa and click here to peruse them.

Have a good weekend!

And thanks for visiting!

December IHSW - A Finish and A Start

Hey Blog Buddies,

This is the last IHSW for 2012, and it was a good weekend here for indoor activities such as stitching:  chilly, gray and rainy all weekend.  I did do things other than stitch:  got my Christmas cards done--another indoor activity.  But Christmas card writing is not what brought you here.  Let's check out my finish...

This is my fifth (of five) Laura J. Perin canvaswork ornament.

The first four were from her

American Quilt Collection, Holiday Ornaments-Series 1.

Not wanting to have to stitch a duplicate from there

(I plan on finishing the five as a cube),

I discovered a bonus ornament chart to go along with

her Red Hot Peppers chart which I also have.

I switched the colors around to make it Christmasy.

Here is a collage of the first four charts

to refresh your memory...

All five of these charts are at the finisher's as I write this.

They won't be ready for Christmas,

but I've got a headstart on the holidays for 2013!

Recently, I've been kitting up a lot of things for next year,

and I had a hankering to start one of them.

But I was good (surprise!) and went off of my 2012 list

and started Plum Street Samplers' Hare's Christmas.

I got more done than I expected...

The fabric is a pretty buttercream,

but the lighting was bad for all the photos.

I decided to stitch this one in hand,

and I think the stitching went faster.

Back in the day (waay back in the day),

I stitched most projects in hand,

but then went to Q-snaps.

Anything bigger than 6" x 6" is a little too heavy

(for me at this point)

if you don't have a gizmo to hold your work.

I have priced a couple of systems out,

and they are quite expensive.

So for now, this will be my

stitching method of choice.

Thank you so much, Joyce, for hosting

this fun SAL this year, and I'm looking forward

to joining in again in 2013.

To see what my fellow hermitters have been up to,

go to Joyce's blog.

That's it for now.

Thank you for all the wonderful comments,

and thanks, as always, for visiting!