Summer Crochet

Graduation Cat for Michelle

Cup of Coffee for Mom

Rag Rug approved by Pearl

2 cups of Coffee and a Cup of Cocoa (w/Marshmallow)
for Theron, Tyler, and Tucker

 

July, What a busy month!

I have no real excuse for not blogging.  I have been really busy with vacationing in Abbeville, Louisiana with my friend Sharon, Vacation Bible School, and working the lab on Wednesday and Thursday.  I have been trying to clean my house of all the clutter.  But it seems to get worse instead of better.  Well, let me be more specific.  My bedroom and bathroom have been cleared of clutter.  These rooms are comfortable and organized.  There is very little "stuff" sitting on the counters and nothing extra on the floors.  My office is completely empty waiting on getting rid of the desk.  Well, all the stuff from my office is in my kitchen, which looks like a cyclone hit it.  I hope to have everything organized before I go back to work on the 8th of August.  We shall see.

As for last week,  I didn't complete any new projects.  I did, however, finish a few old projects.  I got my sister Jennifer to come over and show me how to make pillows.  I have several small projects that would look good as pillows.  The pillows are actually a little larger than I planned but they are cute.  I finished 4 of the 8 that I have (see below).  A couple of them I finished as ornaments.

Lizzie Kate - Flip It Blocks - January

Rainbow Gallery Freebie - England, Ireland, & Scotland Blackwoork

I don't remember.  I finished it in 2006

Raise the Roof - Wise Old Owl

Next week is "camp" week.  I hope to have a lot of things to post then.  This week is preparing for camp.  I plan on bringing 7 new cross stitches, the Halloween Pudgy Needlepoint that I have had for at  least 10 years, and several amigurumi characters that have been crocheted but not put together.  I am very excited about the trip.

Well I am off to choose what to bring.  Thanks for stopping by

Sharon

July, What a busy month!

I have no real excuse for not blogging.  I have been really busy with vacationing in Abbeville, Louisiana with my friend Sharon, Vacation Bible School, and working the lab on Wednesday and Thursday.  I have been trying to clean my house of all the clutter.  But it seems to get worse instead of better.  Well, let me be more specific.  My bedroom and bathroom have been cleared of clutter.  These rooms are comfortable and organized.  There is very little "stuff" sitting on the counters and nothing extra on the floors.  My office is completely empty waiting on getting rid of the desk.  Well, all the stuff from my office is in my kitchen, which looks like a cyclone hit it.  I hope to have everything organized before I go back to work on the 8th of August.  We shall see.

As for last week,  I didn't complete any new projects.  I did, however, finish a few old projects.  I got my sister Jennifer to come over and show me how to make pillows.  I have several small projects that would look good as pillows.  The pillows are actually a little larger than I planned but they are cute.  I finished 4 of the 8 that I have (see below).  A couple of them I finished as ornaments.

Lizzie Kate - Flip It Blocks - January

Rainbow Gallery Freebie - England, Ireland, & Scotland Blackwoork

I don't remember.  I finished it in 2006

Raise the Roof - Wise Old Owl

Next week is "camp" week.  I hope to have a lot of things to post then.  This week is preparing for camp.  I plan on bringing 7 new cross stitches, the Halloween Pudgy Needlepoint that I have had for at  least 10 years, and several amigurumi characters that have been crocheted but not put together.  I am very excited about the trip.

Well I am off to choose what to bring.  Thanks for stopping by

Sharon

End of June

Happy 4th, a little late.  I was suppose to post on Monday but got sidetracked with all of the celebration.  My brothers, sisters, parents, in-laws, nieces and nephews got together for the 4th.  We enjoyed hamburgers, sausage, and corn grilled on my dad's father's day gift.  We had a great time.  My nephew Theron saw the coffee cup I made for Jen and wanted one.  This child has been drinking coffee since he was 2. (He will be 13 in September).  Once my other nephews saw the coffee cup, they wanted one.  So I made one for each:  Tucker, Tyler, and Leif.  Each one wanted a specific color.  Tyler wanted the orange.  But he told his mom that he didn't like whipped cream and wanted a marshmallow.  (Aren't children wonderful, :}).

I finished my rag rug.  But, the cat (Pearl) has taken it over.  Actually I think she thought I was making it for her since the beginning.  Every time I looked at it she was asleep on it.  The pattern called for 6 yards of fabric.  It took 12.  But I think it will look great in my craft room.  (Once I get rid of the desk).  I started with pinking shears but the last 6 yards were cut with a pinking blade.  It was quicker

This is my progress on Sam's Socks, Shorts, n Such.  I haven't been able to do much on it.  Every time I pick it up, I have to stop and do something else.  I hope to finish it soon.

Thanks for stopping by

June 20 - 26th -

So this week I have been sort of busy.  I have been cleaning my office/craft room.  I have decided to get rid of the desk (it only works as a catch-all).  Instead I am going to get a futon from my sister and put in the room instead.  I have on one wall two of the 9 cube units from Target.  I am going to move them to where the desk was by the window and buy 2 more.  That should take care of all the mess.  I think I will the use of space would be better.  Below are pictures of my before and after 1 hour of work.  I am still working on it.  I have to sell the desk first to get it out of the way.  there is not much space in the room.  (You are seeing most of the room in the pictures.) 

Before

After

I have also completed my secret project for the girls trip at the end of July.  I will post pictures then.  I had a good time making them but I don't want to sew on a sewing machine for a while.  They turned out relatively well considering I can't cut or sew a straight line that is perfectly square.

Below are two projects that I finished this weekend.  Up first is the coffee cup with saucer for my sister Jennifer.  I got the coffee cup pattern from crochetjp.com .The cups are really cute.  I got the saucer and whipped topping from Annoo's Crochet World.  My sister Jennifer loves the cup.  My nephew Theron, who has loved coffee since he was a baby, wants one but in blue.  Theron chose where to put the whipped cream. He did a great job.

Cup of Coffee with whipped cream

The next project that I finished was for my cousin, Liz's, daughter Michelle.  She graduated from Pearl River Community College's Cosmetology School today.  She wanted a "wildcat" in a graduation cap to give to her instructor.  Here is the a picture of the "wildcat".  It turned out really cute.  The cat pattern came from bethsco website.  I Frankensteined the graduation cap using patterns from  Petals to Picots and one of my favorite amigurumi designers Stephanie Jessica Lau (she made the spring bunny pattern that I like to crochet).  Michelle loved it.  I hope her instructor loved it also.

Graduating Wildcat

This week I am working on my rag rug (18 rows left to go) and  Sam's Socks...Such cross-stitch clothesline.  I plan to finish both this week.  Especially since tomorrow is the end of my summer class.  I will post more on Sunday.

Well thank you for stopping by.  I appreciate the visit.

Sharon

Clean, Clean, Clean

This week I didn't get a lot of stitching done.  I worked really hard but not much to show for it.

Each summer the girls that I stitch with try to take a trip.  In the past, we went to scrapbooking conventions.  We had a great time but we can no longer find any nearby.  Then we went on stitching retreats.  Last year we didn't get into the retreat we normally attends.  So, we decided to have a "Crafter's Camp" (sort of like Girl Scout Camp).  We went to Birmingham for a week and stitched.  Each day one person cooked supper and had a taught a craft to everyone.  This year we were going to go back to Birmingham, but the place where we stayed has closed.  So we are going to Gautier (Go shay), Mississippi instead.  This time each person is Camp Counselor for the day.  They have to provide lunch, supper, snack/dessert, drink, and a craft.  Well I chose to have a Greek theme for my food.  I was looking for a craft when one came in the mail from my Darby Smart DIY box.  Also, I was surfing Floss Tube and came up with an idea for my goody bag that I will give out.  I have been working very hard on making my gift for the goody bags and am half-way through making what I need.  I can't post any pictures since my sisters might look at this and see what they are getting.  We will go to "camp" the last week in July.  I will post pictures of their gifts when I return.

On the other hand,  I have also been trying to organize/clean my house.  During spring break I found the book "The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up" by Marie Kondo.  I have really enjoyed this book.  It is very practical and useful.  I immediately cleaned my closet using this method and cut my wardrobe in half.  I also cleared out some books, but I can't get rid of books without attempting to read them. I have gotten hung up with getting rid of paper items.  So I have been working in my office trying to clear away the paper.  I have completely filled 2 kitchen garbage bags but I scan them to my computer before I throw them away.  I am trying to overcome my physical hoarding but have become a digital hoarder.  Well at least they don't take up much physical space now.

So this weekend I reorganized my office.  I have a large L-shaped desk that takes up most of the room.  I have decided to get rid of the desk and replace it with a futon.  Right now I have two of the 9 square cube shelving that holds 11-inch boxes in my office.  When I get rid of the desk, I am going to get 2 more.  Then I will have a wall of boxes that contain all of my crafting supplies.  Or at least I hope.  I will post pictures of that when I finish.

Well I'm off to get my brother to fix my AC.  It's 85 degrees in my living room.

Thanks for stopping by,
Have a great day,

Sharon

The first full week of June, what did I do?

 My stitching/crafting group decided to do a different craft each month this year.  I found this craft at Michael's; one of the freebie sheets.  So in January we started it.  Th craft is a shag rug made using fabric, latch hook, and latch hook canvas.  Only 3 of us decided to do it.  The hard part was cutting out the fabric in 1 inch by 6 inch strips with the pinking shears.  I bought 6 yards of fabric like the pattern suggested.  Well at first I was putting a strip in every column but every other row.  It was really thick but used a lot of fabric; I had put in 3 rows.  So I put it aside.  Then this week my cats kept laying on it and scratching on it.  So, I decided that the rug would be one of my next finishes.

 I took out all of the strips that I had put in and restarted.  This time I put the strips in every other column and every other row.  At the same time I staggered the columns for more coverage.  I worked on it for 3 evenings.  This is what I have so far.  I ran out of fabric strips and had to buy more.  While I was getting my fabric at Hobby Lobby, the lady who works there asked me what I was going to do with the fabric.  I told her I was cutting it into strips using my pinking shears.  She showed me a cutting tool that uses the bigger heavy duty ruler and makes the pinking shear cut.  Tomorrow I will cut up the strips for the second have of the rug.  I will let you know how the cutting system works.

 The second project that I completed this week was a punch needle Christmas kit.  I think my sister-in-law Mari or my sister Jennifer bought these kits.  They decided that they didn't like punch needle and gave them to me.  I'm thinking that it was Jennifer because Mari gave punch needle ornaments in our family exchange one year.  Well anyway,  I started this a year ago on our girls retreat in July.  It was about halfway finished.  I'm still learning on this it is not as easy as you would think.

Yesterday Jennifer and I went to town to buy the supplies for our groups project today, String Art.  I wanted to buy a kit but we couldn't find one.  So I bought my thread and wood.  When I got home I varnished the piece of wood with mahogany.  Then last night I found my picture.  I love daisies.   I decided that making the vines would be  complicated, so I am going to use my cousin Liz's wood burning tool to make the vines.  I had a good time, making this.  I am going to make it into a key rack. 







The last completed project was for my sister Bridget.  I don't think that I have crocheted her an amigurumi.  So while I was surfing the net for my string art pattern, I came across this cute little coffee cup on crochetjp.com.  It is a really quick crochet only three parts, the cup, the coffee, and the handle.  I gave it to her today at our stitch group meeting.  She loved it and now Jennifer wants one. 

I made progress on a couple of my other projects.  Here is the progress on Sam's Socks, Shorts, N Such by Raise the Roof and on my needlepoint Halloween Pudgy.  I have 3 more panels to complete for the Pudgy.  This was a needlepoint kit that I bought only.  There are five panels.  Each month I received a stitching guide and the threads to work on the panel.  Two months of kits completed one panel.  I completed one panel last year at the stitching retreat and started another one.  I want to complete this panel before the stitching retreat so that I will start on a new one at the retreat. 

 Now I don't know about you but I have like 6 bags in my living room and/or office with stuff started.  One of my goals is to only have one bag.  I bought fabric for my sister Jennifer to make a tote bag for me.  It will be a large charm bag with about 4 long pockets and about 4 to 6 square pockets, and a pocket on the side.  The idea is that each long pocket will contain a needlepoint, a cross-stitch, a punch needle, stuff like that.  The square pockets will hold my crochet yarn.  The side pocket will hold the framed project that I would be working on.  I hope that we finish it before our retreat.  I would love to use it as the bag to carry all of my crafts for the week.

Well thanks for stopping by.  I have to go, two of my nephews want me to build a tent in the bed while they watch Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and the Lego Movie.

Sharon

Completed Projects for 2016 So Far

This is Hip Hob by Lizzie Kate.  I started the new year with a new project.  I want to make sure that I complete each project.  So, if it is supposed to be a pillow then I make it a pillow.  I also want to frame as many projects as I can.   I completed this project in 3 days using the materials that came with the kit.  When Easter came around I used it as a decoration.

My parents had their 50th wedding anniversary in March.  So I decided to stitch a wedding sampler for them.  This wedding sampler is in Leisure Arts' Marriage Keepsakes Leaflet.  I have stitched this a couple of times for friends.  Once in a deep purple and in mauve.  This time I use an old gold color on a cream linen for Mom and Dad.  My sister Jennifer framed it and my mother loved it.

I bought this needlepoint owl tablet cover from Hobby Lobby for really cheap.  I used the thread that was provided.  I used the basket weave stitch to do the background while using a regular tent stitch to stitch everything else.  I haven't been able to use it yet.  Every time I put it on my tablet, my nephews remove it and"steal" my tablet to play Minecraft.

I also worked on a project from my mother's WIP's.  It is Welcome Friends from the Welcome Silhouettes leaflet.  At first I thought my mom wanted the pineapple silhouette, but she had already stitched it.  She wanted this one.  It is stitched with DMC Ecru on blue fabric.  I don't think I will be stitching on blue fabric again for a while.  It is hard to see.

Terri's birthday gift

Just for fun

Jacki's birthday gift

Cheri's birthday gift

Last spring break I was waiting on my family to enter the condo for the week.  I was walking around Michael's on the coast and came across some Zentagle materials on the end cap.  They were on sale, so I bought them to try it out.  I have since come to love it.  This year I have given some drawings as gifts to my friends and co-workers.  Everyone has loved the pictures.

Every year since the early 90's the girls of my family exchange homemade Christmas ornaments.  Well this year (the first time in a long time), I didn't finish my ornaments until the new year.  Actually, at the moment I am ahead of schedule.  I decided to Zentangle some wooden ornaments then varnish them for my 2015 ornament.  But, I put 2016 on them and I forgot to take a picture.  So I had to make ornaments for 2015.  So I did the ones above.  I punched circles from Christmas scrapbook paper and pinned them to a Styrofoam ball.  They turned out really cute.  The picture shows two of them but I made 6 of them.  They weren't very hard to do once I got a thimble to push the pins into the ball.  I am very proud of them.



Now, every year I try to set a goal of something to complete.  This year my goals were to complete Mirabillia's Rose of Sharon and to complete all of the clotheslines by Raise the Roof.  I have completed 3 of the 10 that are available.  I completed Turkey Dressing last year, Clean & Green, and Peter's Cotton Knits this year.  I started Sam's Socks, Shorts, and Such yesterday.  I will post a picture later.  I didn't have the Love's Laundry before Valentine's Day or it would also be complete.  I will work on it after I have completed Sam's clothesline.

Turkey Dressing completed in 2015

Peter's Cotton Knits completed May 21, 2016

Clean & Green completed March 19, 2016

Another of my goals is to start posting on a regular basis again.  I plan on posting every Saturday.  So come back next Saturday to see what I have completed.

Rose of Sharon is finished!!

01-31-2010

THE START

I started this project in 2009 or 2010.  I used leftover linen from a project that I did about 15 years before and DMC floss.  The dress used as many as 5 colors of yellow.  I had made it this far by January 31st of 2010.

11-14-2010 to 01-02-2012

The Lull
I have two pictures of this part.  One is dated November 2010 and the other is dated January 2, 2012.  So between January 2010 and November 2010, I made this much progress.  I don't know why I didn't work on her for the next two years.  I may have been working on other large projects.

01-26-2013

Very Little Progress
From January 2012 to January 2013, I only put the bow at the back into the project.  Again, really slow progress

06-2014

The Oops!
For this picture, as you can see I made some progress in a year and a half.  At some point I dropped my pink highlighter on the light yellow part of the dress and had to pull out the stitches and redo them.  I became a little discouraged and put it away.

09-15-2015

Lots of progress
At some point, probably January of 2015, I decided to work on her again and finish her in 2015.  I made great strides on her, as you can see here.  But I didn't make the 2015 deadline.

01-10-2016

Goal is Set!
This is the progress that I made between September 2015 and January 2016.  So, I decided to complete it in 2016.  At first I wanted to complete it by March but I missed the deadline.

05-24-2016

Home stretch
So when classes let out in May, I was determined to finish it by the end of May.  I worked every day on it.  Here you can see the greenery around the top with the missing flowers.

05-27-2016 - My Birthday

Goal missed, but mustering on
While here (3 days later), I have most of the greenery finished and half of the flowers

05-31-2016

Almost there. I got all of the greenery below the face and the flowers finished.  The face is nearly finished and there is some greenery and flowers above the face.  Missed the end of May deadline by 1 day.

06-01-2016

Complete!!
Finally on June 1st, I completed the project.  I washed her and ironed her.  I will have my sister, Jennifer, frame her for me when I choose the frame.  Right now she is hanging on a hanger on the curtains in my living room.  She is beautiful.