Hey It's Cold Outside

Brrrr!  Woke up this morning to very cold floors as predicted the temps dropped into the 30's last night, as I type this it is currently 38 degrees.  Mind you I am not complaining, I am thrilled!  It's the time of year I wait for, that brief period of respite from the heat and humidity.  While this cool weather passes in a few hours or days its wonderful, it's also the time of year I don't mind working on a large quilting or crochet project but for now I am content with the little stitchery I have been working on.

I finished the hand embroidered Gail Pan design I mentioned in my post yesterday, it's of of 3 small pieces I want to make to get a little Christmas making out of the way.

The finished project is supposed to look like this cute little ornament but I was thinking of doing something a little different.

Speaking of Gail Pan, yesterday I pre-ordered her newest book set for release May of 2018

I pre-ordered the book from https://www.amazon.com/ 

I just love her designs from the first project I made a few years ago while taking a hand embroidery class at a local quilt shop.

This is one of my favorite pieces and I have come a long way with those french knots, back then they resemble tiny cauliflower heads, today they are much neater.

The finished project is a cute pincushion. The other project I made is the needle book which I take with me when I carry along a project.

That is mine next to the book's cover, I chose not to use rickrack and opted not to do the big stitch embroidery as you can see my corner pieces are a bit smaller than they were supposed to be.

I am looking forward to the new Gail Pan book just looking at the cover I already have plans for the projects with the butterfly and the bunny.
I am linking up to Super Mom No Cape today https://www.supermomnocape.com/vintage-embroidery-monday-stitchery-link-party-134/

The Last Slow Stitching Sunday for October

We are once again at the end of another month and the last Sunday in the month means it's time to post a slow stitching update.  I love to hand stitch whether I am doing an embroidery, piecing a quilt or just sewing a button or a hem, I just love passing a needle and thread through fabric.  I was taught at a young age to sew by my grandmother and it's been a lifelong passion ever since. 

As I grew older I wanted to learn  more about sewing so once I entered junior high school (middle school today) I enrolled in Home Economics and learned how to sew on a sewing machine it was love at first seam which would carry over into High School for all four years.

Embroidery and quilting weren't taught in school so I taught myself how to hand embroider and quilt with books, I must have checked out every craft book both the school and public library had and believe me there weren't that many.

Over the years when I move  one of the first things I do is get a library card. As the years pass my needlework skills have improved, most libraries have a great selection of books and videos for all kinds of crafts and there are classes offered at most local quilt and needlework shops.  But in my heart I still prefer the slowness of hand stitching.

This week I have projects in process and several traced a ready for stitching, I will be linking my post at Kathy's Quilts https://kathysquilts.blogspot.ca/2017/10/slow-sunday-stitching_29.html
And on Monday to Super Mom No Cape https://www.supermomnocape.com/
The first in progress piece is my Lady of the Forest design the tree branches came out just as I had hoped.

Lady of the Forest

I also have the start on block one of the I Love Home project hosted by Jacquelynne Steves you can check out her site here https://jacquelynnesteves.com/

block 1

I was going to start block two after I finished block 3 but decided to do the first block, the fourth block will be posted in November.  Here is a look at some upcoming projects I want to get stitching for Christmas

This cute snowman pattern was sent to me by a friend a few years ago I had some dotted fabric leftover from a project and thought it looked like falling snow so I thought give it a try.

I used the same fabric scraps for the star snowflakes which were templates for paper crafts again from several years ago.  The last pattern is a Gail Pan pattern which from 2012 and is still a free download which you can get here:http://gailpandesigns.typepad.com/my_weblog/2012/11/aurifil-blog-hop.html

The finished ornament should look like this the photo below is from the website listed above.

I love Gail Pan's designs and that little bird is such a familiar motif in many of her designs. I know I have made several of them from her books  Patchwork Loves Embroidery and Christmas Patchwork Loves Embroidery so I am looking forward to making this one too.

I came across some new marking pens for tracing patterns for embroidery, I have always used the Micro Pen .05 but I have had trouble using them on fabric with a print (like the dots I used above) chewing up the points.  I'm trying both of the Pilot Frixion pens with a .05 point.

ball and point style

pen tips

The pen tip on the left is the Frixion ball style the one on the right is the Frixion point style which is similar to the Micron pen.  I have used both on the patterns above, both flow smoothly and didn't run or spread and according to the Ads I've seen and read the Frixion point ink lines are suppose to disappear when ironed with a warm iron which is one of the reasons I wanted to try them, I'll test both pens and let you know. I purchased the Ball style from Amazon and the Point style for Nancy's Notions.

Another change I made is to the iron on transfer pencils I've used in the past this red transfer pencil from Aunt Martha came in handy before Micron Pens and other similar products were available.

I still have several packs of these pencils but I haven't used them for quite sometime, they work well but the lines tend to spread once ironed.  I came across this new pen from Sublime Stitching it has a .5mm tip so I am hoping once the design is ironed onto the fabric it doesn't spread which is what happens with the red pencil.

I purchased this pen along with my order from Forth Worth Fabric Studio.

Autumn weather has arrived to Ocala this week with dry cool sunny mornings, pleasant afternoons and cool evenings. We had some rain last night and today it's a little rainy and breezy, I have heard the tinkling of my wind chimes non-stop all morning long. It's the perfect time for a nice cup of tea and some slow stitching.

Cool Temps and a Collection of New Floss

Fair

46°F

8°C

Fall has finally arrived to Ocala as you can see by the temperature the morning is quite cool. This is the weather I wait for through the long hot summer, I know it's coming and when it finally arrives I welcome it with open arms and heavier socks on my feet, the one draw back to having ceramic tile throughout the house.

We may not get all those lovely colors of autumn like in the photo above we at least get some cooler weather and I can always add color to my home.  Last night the newest collection from DMC arrived at my door in a collectible tin, a true artist palette of colorful floss.

The new colors are numbered from 1 to 35 which I think is great, the collection of colors are lovely and just ready and waiting for the next project.

The collectible tin is slim enough to slip in your carry all bag for projects on the go and comes with a free cross stitch pattern.

I am in no way affiliated with DMC I just love the products

The Collectible Tin is $24.99 and the shipping was free. The new color collections can be found on the DMC site: https://www.dmc.com/us/collectors-tin-with-35-new-colors-9004429.html

'I Love Home' and Slow Stitching on Sunday

Autumn weather has finally arrived to north central Florida, the early mornings and evenings have been much cooler and this week we are supposed to have a cold front come in and evening temps are to be in the mid forties, if only.

This week I stopped in at Brick City Cross Stitch to pick up some embroidery floss and an issue of the Country Register, a lovely periodical listing various needlework, quilting shops and events going 
on throughout Florida, if you visit local yarn, quilt or needlework shops you are probably familiar with the Register which is available throughout the US and Canada the content is the same the only change is the cover and shops and events which are region specific.  Recently the register was re-named as the Florida Register, other states have also renamed the paper happily it still has the same great content.

I have been picking up copies for years, its where I discovered the creative work of Jacquelynne Steves, for years I have clipped out or scanned her free pattern designs included in each issue,  I signed up at her website a while back and I am currently working on her I Love Home project which consist of 4 house blocks with the option to either applique or hand embroider them, I chose to embroider them but I am thinking of making applique blocks too. It's not to late to join in the fun.  You can check out her site here https://jacquelynnesteves.com/

I came late to the party so to speak so I am working the blocks backwards here is block number 3 with just about all the embroidery done.

I still have to finish the window trim and the flower then I'll start block two, I joined the Facebook group too and I just love seeing the different ways these blocks are being made.  In between the 3 house blocks I plan to work on this latest pattern a cute little pumpkin that was included in the current issue.

If you don't have access to the Country Register you can get the pattern right from the Jacquelynne Steves website https://jacquelynnesteves.com/   just click the link and follow the instructions or pop on  over to see the wonderful things she has made with another pumpkin pattern.

On another note yesterday afternoon I was able to snap a photo of  one of the ever elusive cardinals that enjoy the trees and shrubs in my yard.

a quiet perch

scratching an itch

still sitting pretty

I was thrilled to get the photos and thankful for the zoom lens on my camera otherwise I'm sure I would have only gotten a flash of wing as the bird took flight.  On the Ocala Rocks front I found two more painted rocks and have since hid them in a new area for someone else to find.

lady bug

car

I love finding these cute little rocks as soon as I spot one I know exactly what it is and a big smile hits my face.

This photo is of a spiderweb I snapped early on Friday morning while taking out the trash can to the curb.

It still has the morning dew and for once I noticed it before walking into it and getting a face full of web which usually happens.

I mentioned above that I visited the Brick City Cross Stitch shop on Friday to pick up some floss and the Register I also picked up a sweet little kit and a few pieces of hand dyed fabric.

I love overdyed embroidery floss Weeks Dye Works and Gentle Arts are two of my favorites.

I love this little kit though my cross stitch skills are not great I think I can manage to work the kit.

I will be linking my post today to Kathy's Quilts https://kathysquilts.blogspot.ca/2017/10/slow-sunday-stitching_22.html

UPDATE Monday October 23rd
I am happy to say I spent most of Sunday evening doing embroidery and I have finished block 3 of the I Love Home project.

I will start working block 1 or 2 later today and hope to have them both done before block number 4 is released.  One of these days I hope not to be late to join in on these stitch along projects. I will be linking at Super Mom No Cape today follow the link to see what other bloggers are embroidering today.
 https://www.supermomnocape.com/vintage-embroidery-monday-stitchery-link-party-133/

Give Away at Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe

For all of you that do embroidery Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe is having a give away for some embroidery floss

Here is a link to the give away in case you would like to enter too.
http://victorianmottosamplershoppe.blogspot.com/2017/10/pick-your-favorite-box-of-floss-give.html

If you win you get to choose the color selection , I just love those autumn colors don't you?

No stitching this week, just a bit of spirit doll crafting

It don't have any embroidery projects to post today, nor do I have any quilting projects to share, this has been a creative week in another direction.  Hand crafting spirit dolls, also known as goddess dolls or healing dolls. 

This lovely goddess of nature is my newest and I must say she is quite nice to look at.

here is a close up of that face, made using air dry clay and paint.

and a look at the back, yes that is a large sea shell behind her head to represent the moon

there are small seashells, charms and dried and silk flowers and leaves too

bits of ribbon and cloth to create clothing and her headdress

she carries a staff made from a twig and is attached to a wood base.

Here's a look at two more clay crafted faces for up coming spirit/goddess doll projects.

blue

sunset

I just love the colors of Fall!

My entries may be scarce and short over the next few weeks while I attend the various Fall Festivals in and around the city, county and state of Florida.

While we don't get much in the way of leaves changing color we do add enough of our own color in the way of decorations and produce much like those in the photo above.  There is a Scarecrow festival this weekend I plan to check out though I sure hope they aren't as creepy as this one.

I am feeling particularly homesick for the change of season his year so I am going out and finding it here in Florida.