Donovan's Dragon Bookmark

Tonight I finally finished the stitching on a bookmark for my son, Donovan. I think I started it back in October. Normally something small like a bookmark wouldn't take me very long to stitch, but this is no ordinary pattern. It is Dragon Knot Bookmark by Dracolair Creations (http://www.dracolair.com/). It is done in cross stitch, half cross stitch, and many over-one stitches too. Enough to drive a person crazy! It also uses blended threads, so even the over-one stitches have to be stitched with two strands of thread. I used 28 count black linen, first time I had ever stitched anything on black, but did not really find it as difficult to work on as I would have thought. To top it all off, I used Kreinik #12 Very Fine Braid for the backstitching to give it a little sparkle. Oh, did that stuff ever break and fray! I used a whole spool of it, with only about a foot left. Whew, glad I didn't run out before it was finished.

A couple of years ago, I made the same bookmark for my younger son, Kevin, and at the time swore I would never do anything like it again. Well, that was until Donovan saw it and wanted one in blues and oranges. I really do think they are trying to drive me crazy! When Kevin gets home from work, I will ask him to let me borrow his bookmark long enough to scan it, after which I will post it too.

Another Victoria Sampler contest - Winter Biscornu

Recently, Victoria Sampler had another contest, this one a Winter Bicsornu. I was preparing to submit my version of this design, but then got sick. Just a bad cold, but did not feel like doing anything, so did not get my stitching finished on time. But I still like the way my biscornu turned out, and thought I would post it here.

The front was done following the pattern, and for the back I used an adaptation of Thea's Holly Quilt Block free design. Since this needed to be on the diagonal, and the pattern was on the straight grain of the fabric, I really had to change it quite a bit, but it still resembles the original design.

The fabric I used was Silkweaver's Precious Metals, 32 count. This is a gorgeous light brown linen fabric with metallic flecks all through it, and is one of my favorites. For the stitching I used Kreinik Silk Serica, Silk Mori, and metallic braids. Made for a really sparkly design!

Cell Phone Pocket in new colors

After seeing my cell phone pocket, a friend asked me to make one for her also. So, this was my Christmas present to her. I just love the way the different colors look, and how it changes the whole look of the design. My friend has a pink Blackberry Pearl phone, so I had to adjust the size to fit the phone, and the color matches the phone. She is delighted with it!

My BIG cat, Annie

I just realized that I have not posted a picture of my fourth cat, Annie. Got all the others earlier. Annie is 6 years old, and is a really big cat. She has a very sweet face, but that is deceptive. Don't get me wrong, she is a sweet cat, but she is "my" cat as far as she is concerned, and she is very demanding. When she wants to sit on my lap, she sits on my lap. Whether or not it is a good time for me! Hahaha. She usually gets her way too.

This is my entry to the Victoria Sampler yahoo group's Fall Biscornu contest. This was a lot of fun! Thea designed the basic pattern and then left it up to us to choose our own colors and stitch it any way we wanted to. There were so many beautiful biscornus!

In looking through my stash, I noticed that I didn't really have too many fall colored threads. But then I started looking through my collection of Olde Willow Stitchery floss, and came up with some beautiful colors. Did the whole biscornu with Olde Willow threads, and I just love the way it came out. Then I found a little bee charm to put on the back side of it, in the middle of the sunflower. Perfect! Oh, around the edges, the original design had hearts, which I changed to Rhodes' Pumpkins. Actually just a variation of a Rhodes' heart, but it worked.

New Finish!

Been really busy lately, but still managed to get some stitching and designing in. I made a pouch to carry my cell phone and hang around my neck like a necklace. I don't always have pockets, and kept laying it down and forgetting where it was.

I was just finished with the stitching when I noticed that I made a huge counting error, and had completed the cutting and stitching so there was no chance of repairing it, only starting over. I decided to use it the way it is. I am so happy that I did because it is so useful, and now I don't lose my phone any more. I was planning to line it with white satin, but tried it out for size and decided to leave it unlined because I liked the way the phone shows through. Can you tell where the error is?

"All you need is love"

Today was the wedding of some very good friends of mine. So, I had to stitch something to commemorate the day. I found this "freebie" chart from The Drawn Thread, added the names and date, charted a little border around it, and sat down to stitch it. It was a fun piece to stitch, and only took a few days. Then made it into a pillow, what fun that was. I haven't done any machine sewing in a while, so it really was a treat.

The wedding was great, the couple is very happy, and I hope they like this little pillow as much as I do!