Cold, rainy, ugly gray day!

It's cold, ugly and  raining today....supposed to continue on into tonight.  I'm glad it's not snow but is everybody else as tired of being cold as I am?  I know, I know, the winter's been snow free and I've been able to get out of the house, but man! am I ever tired of being cold...the cold just makes me ache all over.....brrrrr!

Got to start on the backpack for my step-gdaughter, but still trying to work out the how to's on putting a drawstring back pack together....like the straps and stuff...

I've still not put stitch one into the K monogram, although I think I'm finished with the design.  the K by itself seemed kind of lost so i put a circle frame around it.  i think it finishes it off a little bit instead of just leaving it levitating all by it's lonesome.  is it balanced within the circle?

I'm now in the process of picking what type of threads i want to use.  Do i use DMC or do i go to silks?  do i go with bright and bold colors or more subdued?  what stitches do i use?  do i fill in the area around the K or leave it bare?  do i fill in the arms of the K or just outline them and only use satin stitching for the shaded areas?  do i add a bit of bling by using beads or crystals insteal of french knots?  do i use just a tad bit of real gold metal thread?  if i add gold i'll need to fill in the arms of the k to give some contrast to the gold.....what to do?  I'm trying out various flosses and stitches on a piece of the same fabric so until i have these questions answered i don't really know when I'll start stitching on this.  

i want all these details fixed in my mind before I print the design out and put it on the fabric.  I've only got one sheet of the Sticky Fabri-solvy to play with at this time and don't want to waste it on something I'll change my mind on....lol.....

I'm also thinking about making some drapes for my family room window.....boy does all this thinking make my brain hurt.

Cold, Ice and Storms

It's cold and icy today and yet they're talking about thunderstorms tonight....go figure!  Wish I could soak in somebody's hot tub!!  Although the weather is crappy, I've been busy over the last few weeks.

This is a bad pic of the back pack I made my youngest gdaughter for Christmas.  She LUVS piggies. 

Here are pictures of the finished diaper cake for my daughter's baby shower.  It was a real experience putting this together but I am pleased with the results.  It was a real culture shock to be buying baby items again.  My youngest gchild is 4 1/2 and it's amazing how things have changed in only four years.




As we do not know the sex of the baby it had to be gender neutral...lol....

It currently has the Hey Diddle Diddle and Jack and Jill nursery rhymes embroidered on the fabric.




Each little embroidery is on a 10" x 10" piece of fabric and once the shower is over with, I'll take the embroidered panels apart and make them into a quilt.  As there are only six little panels on the cake, I'll add Jack Be Nimble and Mary Had a Little Lamb to make the quilt larger.

I received the Hardwicke Manor hoop I ordered on Thursday.  It is very nice.  Very substantial, 8.5 x 5/8" and the wood is satiny smooth.  I need to dress it, which means wrap the inner hoop with twill tape.  They tell me this will eliminate getting hoop burns on the working fabric.  We'll see how that goes.  As you can see by the cd case I put inside it, it is a thick hoop.

I've purchased wooden hoops in the past and they were flimsy and splintery.  Also, they would bend out of shape and the hardware would fall apart.  I don't think this brass hardware is going anywhere and nobody is going to bend this hoop out of shape.  I hope it's as good to work with as it has the potential to be.

I'm also working on a three dimensional stuffed velveteen rabbit for the baby shower.  So far, so good but I don't have pics of it in its disassembled state. If it turns out ok I'll post pics then.  Wish me luck, it's the first time I've tried to make a stuffed animal.

This is the Stargazer Bouquet I purchased from Solaria Gallery.  Absolutely  fell in love with it and can't wait to get it done.  It's about half done. It's worked on 18 ct fabric so the design area is only 8.5 x 11 but it will be really pretty when finished and it is moving along at a good pace.

Of course I have other things in progress and will post more about them as they reach a recognizable stage....lol.

Keep warm, keep busy and pray for spring!!!

Jan 13, 2012 Snowy and cold.....brrrrrr!!!!!

Today, i'm starting to start a new project.....lol.....which means i'm still doing the prep work.

As you can see, it is a monogram that i got from the Antique Pattern Library website thanks to Mary Corbet at Needle N Thread who posted the notice of this alphabet on her site. At the left is the original pattern.  i fell in love with the entire alphabet.   Quite a piece huh!  although i love love love it, it is too ornate and busy for my skill level, so i have simplified it.

I've collected my tools and supplies:  scroll frame, fabric, floss, and a product that i'm trying for the first time.  it's called Sticky Fabri-Solvy.  It's a sabilizer manufactured by the Sulky company in their line of fabric stabilizers used in machine embroidery and quilting.  The main advantage that this will hopefully give me is that it can be run through a desk/ink jet printer which eliminates the need to transfer the design to fabric by any of the traditional time consuming means.  It runs about $16 for a pack of 12 sheets, IF you can find it in stores, which I couldn't.  Not sure how it would work and counting pennies, i found a website that was willing to send a "trial sheet" for a nominal price:  Bird Brain Designs. Once the design is on the fabri-solvy sheet, you peel the backing off of it and expose the sticky side, then finger press it to the fabric you want to embroider on and then you embroider right through it.  after completing the stitching, you place the fabric and fabri-solvy sheet in warm water and the solvy dissolves. This will be the first time i have used this product and i'm anxious to see how it works. 

So, my tools are ready and i'm getting ready to get ready to start but I need some advice.  I've never really done much "hand embroidery" that was not in kit form where the floss and stitch key were included so i'm somewhat at a loss on where to start and what stitches to use.

Here is the revised simplified version of the original monogram.  I've simplified it to match, I hope, my skill level.  It's going to measure about six inches high and will be placed in the lid of a wooden box.

so far i'm thinking that the little diamonds would look good in satin stitch and i'm thinking of couching some kind of gold metal on the line in the lower right leg of the K.  I thought maybe doing a long and short buttonhole stitch in for the petals of the large flower.  that's about as far as i have got.  does anybody actually KNOW what the shaded areas are meant to signify or are they just window dressing for the black line drawing??

If anybody has any suggestions on what stitches i can use for this gift, please let me know as i'm completely open to suggestions. even if your thoughts differ from my few thoughts i've already listed, please share them.   i need all the help i can get.