Fairies, Guinea Pigs and Pumpkins

*Whew*

The gift sets are  D O N E and listed.

If you'd like to see close up photos

you can see them in my shop HERE

Have you ever started a project that seemed like a good idea

in your head,

but it actually turned out to be SO much more than 

what you anticipated?

When I thought about embellishing the fairy fabric

I had forgotten how much I dislike working

with metallic threads.

What a pain in the pattootie!

I'm glad it's done

and I'm happy with the outcome.

My very talented friend Cherise Smith

made these gorgeous custom scissor fobs to match!

You can see her work HERE 

And of course I have to share a few shot of my lovely grands

from yesterday's trip to Zoomers Petting Zoo's

annual Pumpkin Patch.

Evie was in heaven with her little Guinea Pig friend :)

And David was making a friend of his own!

If you could see how small this pumpkin was

you'd laugh because next to Evie

it looks pretty big!

And David did such a great job decorating his pumpkin!

I can't wait for next week

when we head out to Irvine Park's Pumpkin Patch

and all 6 of the Minions grands will be there!!!

Busy Needles :)

I spent the majority of my day yesterday 

sewing the Fairy bags that I have been

beading and embroidering for the past several weeks.

I should have the gift sets complete by tomorrow.

I can't wait to show you the finished sets!

I'm also stitching up some more mug organizers for the shop.

These are the ones I finished yesterday.

And here is a stack of project bags 

that are cut and ready to sew.

I guess I've got my work "cut out" for me :)

But today my machine will be quite.

I'm off to have a fun day at the pumpkin patch 

with my beautiful daughter and her Minions :)

I love this time of year!!!

Feelin' a Bit Scattered.....

"Autumn Sampler" by Waxing Moon Designs

I don't know about you,

but I don't like to start a new cross stitch chart

until I have completed the last one.

I've been working on this fun Autumn Sampler

and I need a specific Weeks floss for the corn,

and a DMC substitute just wouldn't do it justice.

I haven't had a chance to get over to 

Needleworks Ltd to pick it up

so I did the unthinkable......

I started another project!

*GASP*

I know right?

AND I've also been working on the fairies

that I showed you earlier this week.

I feel a bit scattered.

It's funny because I have no problem

with multiple sewing projects all at the same time.

But there is something about cross stitch

that makes me want to finish one, before I get into another.

"Red Crockery" kit by DMC

I'm not usually one to buy kits,

but this one came with the linen and

all the DMC floss already sorted out.

And the best part is

I found it on ebay for $9.99!

How could I NOT buy it?

Do you see those chickens?????

How cute are they?

The chickens are stitched 1 thread over 1

and the rest of the chart is 2 over 2.

Do you see all the red?????

I really had no choice,

but to buy it :) 

So are you like me,

a one chart at a time girl?

Or are you a 

throw-caution-to-the-wind-mutltiple-project-girl?

Circa 1969

My mom gave me this photo on Sunday.

It's me in 1969. 

(Thanks Mom for the Oh so flattering Pixie haircut...sigh)

I was 8 years old.

Sewing in my jammies.

Which, oddly enough

is still my favorite way to sew :)

I still own this machine. 

It's a Singer Industrial Model 329.

I inherited it from her

when she upgraded to her monster industrial machine

that takes 2 grown men to move.

I can't remember a time when there wasn't thread

all over our house.

I fell alseep every night to the comforting hummmmmm

of her machine.

I've owned a few machines since then.

But I have to admit,

I haven't owned another machine that can match

the speed and beauty of the straight stitch

that this old Singer still delivers.

My daily companion these days 

is my Husqvarna Viking Emerald 118.

What is your machine of choice?

A bit of Needlework.....

It's been a while since I posted.

I've been sewing and stitching 

but not a whole lot of time for blogging.

I have to admit,

I miss it.

I miss you guys.

I miss hearing from you.

I'm going to try to keep up with my blog posts.

I wanted to show you one of the projects 

I'm currently working on.

I'm embellishing 4 fairies

with Mill Hill beads

DMC metallic and silk threads.

It's been fun to let my imagination flow.

No rules,

just go with what I like.

I'll admit I've taken out quite a few stitches and beads.

I'm hoping this all turns out the way I see it in my head.

This red fire fairy if my fav.

She's red, so I know that's a big surprise, right?

That being said,

if you know me,

you know I'm not a fairy fan.

But these girls just called out to me.

I'm looking forward to showing you 

the completed project very soon :)

My fire fairy still needs some work.

I just started on this purple one last night.

What projects are you guys working on????

Polka Dot Progress :)

I finished the quilt top on Friday.

Not too bad for a day's work :)

This was my first every diamond pattern.

Why didn't anyone tell me how challenging

it is to sew everything in diagonal lines?

Well I guess the sewing diagonal lines wasn't the challenge,

but lining up all the intersections was the real challenge.

I had to get up close and personal with my seam ripper

quite a few times to get those little diamonds to line up.

Now for the really hard part......

trying to decide exactly how to quilt it.

Don't you just love all those polka dots?

I do :)

And I had to throw in some gingham just for good measure!

Today it's back to work on project bags.

I'm hoping to get started on the hand quilting in the evenings

while the hubs watches his 

"shoot-em-up-everyone-dies" kinda movies :)

A Perfect Day to Start a Quilt :)

I've been so busy with the shop lately

that I haven't had any time to quilt at all.

Well today that will change!

I promised to make a quilt for my darling 

grand-daughter Sofie a while back.

I thought it only right that I finish it before

she starts college. (She's 2 now :)

My beautiful DIL chose this free pattern

from Riley Blake.

Can you believe that they offer over 100

free quilt patterns?

Seriously....how cool is that?

You can find them HERE.

The fabrics she chose are just so yummy!

I have my templates cut out.

I have a big pot of Teeccino brewed.

(Teeccino dandelion g/f coffee replacement)

I have a new blade in my rotary cutter.

The weather has finally changed to cooler temps.

Lets do this!!!