A Couple of Pincushions

I've been having a little fun with my Bernina, and it's about time too!

For my 50th birthday the year before last, Colin bought me my new sewing machine, a Bernina Aurora 440!  I absolutely love it, but I'm ashamed to have to admit that I've not played with it very much!  At the moment I don't have anywhere where I can keep it out permanently, so that whenever I have a few spare moments I can have a play and learn new things.  A lot of the time it's just not worth setting it up and pulling out all the other paraphernalia just to have to pack it all up and put away again!   

I'm not very experienced with machine sewing, only ever using one for taking up hems, and for finishing the little pillows and drawstring bags/pouches which I have pictures of here on my blog.  This is the first time I've followed patterns for sewing with a machine and I'm so happy I didn't have any disasters, because it's now given me the incentive to try some of the patterns I've been collecting.  I know they're only a little something, but I'm so pleased with how these two little pincushions have turned out.

The first is 'Petite Gateau' a pattern by Fig Tree Threads.  I used four different prints from At Water's Edge by Blackbird Designs.  The second is called 'Square Deal Pincushion", a free pattern by Heather Bailey which you can download from her blog here.

Thank you for visiting and have a lovely Easter weekend.  Colin is still away working but should hopefully be home next weekend for a few weeks...YIPPEE!! :o)

For My Pinkeep Collection

Bet you didn't expect to see me back again so soon...lol!

This is a little angel I stitched a couple of years ago for my Mum, and have been wanting to stitch it again for myself.  I've used Orchid Belle Soie Silk, 1 over 2 on 48ct cream Gander Linen, so she's turned out a lot smaller this time.  I'd thought of a few different ways I would like to finish her, but eventually decided on a quick pinkeep for my pinkeep collection.  I attached the pretty ivory ribbon down the side, with tiny pearls that I found while rummaging through my stash!  The pink ribbon trim is some gorgeous taffeta ribbon which I've recently started collecting from Stampin' Up.  It won't be long now before I have all the colours they do in the ⅛" width.

When I last stitched this angel I thought it was a freebie, but I'm not so sure it is now, as I know it can also be found in the book Rouge published by Marabout. If anyone out there has any other information about this little angel I would love to know.

Thanks for visiting again, I love to read your comments.  :o)

A Couple of Finishes!

It's been a while again, but at last I have a couple of finishes I can blog about!  I'm trying hard to get myself motivated and back stitching regularly again, and hopefully posting a couple of quick finishes will help, along with purchasing a couple of new additions to my stash...lol! I just couldn't resist the new A Stitcher's Journey and the Basket of Memories, Reward of Merit Pincushion from Blackbird Designs! 

First to show is Peek a Boo, a freebie from Wal D'Champs. Unfortunately the Wal D'Champs website has changed since I downloaded the chart a few years or so ago and I can't find the link to it any more!  I've finished it as a little lined pocket, a finish I've seen a couple of times and have wanted to do.  I've stitched it 1 over 2 on 40ct Newcastle Pearl Grey with DMC 3865.

Below is Miss Mary Mac's Pins and Needles Pincushion by M Designs.  I've used the listed Picture This Plus 40ct Legacy Linen and Crescent Colours Threads, and the fabric you can see in the picture is what I've used for backing the pincushion.

I hope to be back again soon with more to show, until then thank you for popping by.  :o)

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone!  I'm a little late, but still wanted to wish you all a Happy New Year for 2011!  I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas too!  Mine was more then a little different this year and very quiet with just myself and my youngest Matthew.  This was the first year that my eldest Jason wasn't home for Christmas.  At the beginning of December Jase and his lovely girlfriend Nic became engaged and spent Christmas on Holiday in India.  This was also the first time in nine years that Colin had to work away for Christmas too.  He had a flight booked to leave for work on the 20th, but due to snow and flight cancellations at Heathrow he didn't get away until the 23rd.  He was on standby for a seat on one of the next flights out and secretly I hoped he wouldn't get one, but sadly it wasn't to be! :o(  Matthew arrived home late that night on the 23rd and we did have 3 lovely days of Mum and Matthew time together!

I can't believe how long I've let it go again since my last post, I think my New Year's resolution should be to post more regularly don't you, as well as getting a lot more stitching and finishing done!  I've not done a stitch since October, when I started but didn't manage to finish a little something for Halloween.  Although it's not stitchy I do have something I can show, which was a beaded fob I made for Halloween.  It's pictured below with the Halloween stitching I didn't quite finish, a design by C Mon Monde.

Thank you for popping by!  :o)

Fabric Giveaway Winner!

Sorry for the delay in announcing the winner for my fabric giveaway!  My niece Charlotte helped me pick a winner for my last giveaway, and I had promised my nephew Ben that it would be his turn to help this time!  Yesterday was the first chance we had for Ben to draw the winner! 

Ben drew number 39!

CONGRATULATIONS JANE P! Yours was the 39th comment left for my fabric giveaway.  I will be emailing you soon for your mailing address, so that I can send your fabric to you.

Thank you to everyone who entered my giveaway, and a BIG thank you to Ben for helping to pick the winner!  :o)

C is for Cure and a Fabric Giveaway

My pink stitching for this year is C is for Cure, a Lizzie Kate design from the Sept/Oct 2010 issue of Just Cross Stitch.  It's also free to download from the Just Cross Stitch website here.  This is my first flanged pillow - I've wanted to make one for ages and I'm really pleased with how it's turned out.  I've used the listed Crescent Colour threads, except for the flower.  My Ripe Melon and Carrie Berry looked so similar so instead I used DMC 761.  The fabric is 28ct evenweave which has been in my stash for a few years, the colour is Nude and is from the Dye Pots of Jayne's Attic. The fabric for the pillow is by designer Karen Neuburger, which I eventually found after a long Google search!  It's the same fabric that was used for the banner, for the model pictured on the chart.  I was so excited when I managed to track it down because everything about it is just perfect for the design!  I've also been able to find the same print in pink, which I will put away to use another year.

After making my pillow I still have plenty of the fabric left over, so I thought I would hold a draw to give a FQ (18" x 22") of it away.  If you would like to be entered for a piece of this lovely awareness fabric please let me know in a comment to this post.  The giveaway is open to anyone and will close next Thursday, 4th November.  If you don't have a blog, or if your email address isn't with your blog profile then please leave it with your comment so that I can contact you if your name is drawn. 

Thank you for visiting!  :o)

Pink Beaded Scissors Fob

This time last year I had a blog giveaway with my first try at making a beaded scissors fob.  I was going to make another for myself last year too, but never did, so this one is for me!  It's delicate with a little bit of bling and I think it's just perfect for these gorgeous Wasa Scroll Embroidery Scissors that my sister Sarah bought me for my birthday last year!

It's very similar to the one I made last year, using Swarovski crystal, silver plated and Spiral Rose Murano Glass Beads. I've threaded it a little different this time using bicone Swarovski beads and Swarovski spacers. The breast cancer awareness ribbon charm is different too. I didn't use the tutorial I used last year either, this time I threaded the beads on to 49 stranded Beadalon silver plated beading wire and used crimp beads, which I attached with my Magical Crimp Tool which you can see in the picture below. I was really pleased with the result using the beading wire and will definitely use it again for any future beaded fobs I make.

Thank you for visiting my blog! :o)

Sew Blue

This is Sew Blue one of Carol R's (iStitch) lovely complimentary designs, which I requested with a purchase some time ago.  Like the pincushion in my last post this was also finished a couple of months or so ago, all except for making up the floss tag that is!

I've stitched it 1 over 2 on 40ct Flax Belfast Linen with Babbling Brook Belle Soie Silk.  The design has a border which I have left off so that the finished mattress pincushion wouldn't turn out too big and also because I was stitching a little bit of a border around the edge too.  I didn't have any ribbon/trim in my stash that I thought went well enough to use for attaching the hoop to the floss tag, so I decided I would make my own, finishing the edges with Nun's Stitch.  I was really pleased with how it turned out.

I hope you've all had a lovely weekend.  Earlier today Colin and I video Skyped, which we do most days when he's away.  My brother also Skyped this afternoon, which was a lovely surprise, so I've had a little company, so to speak!.  

Thank you for popping by and commenting on my stitching, as always I really do appreciate it and enjoy reading each and every one of them!  :o)