November in a Few Hours!!

This year has flown fast, and it will be November in a few hours when I wake up! This is the November Birthday Crazy Quilt heart. Now I need to get busy and finish "January," as I put it down two years ago and never got it back out to do the silk ribbon carnations. Ouch.

Be sure to go see Possibilities, Etc., as I have started another cookie with "icing" - this time solid sugar sprinkles in the form of clear beads!

Stitching the Shamrocks

I have started the stitching on the Shamrock cookies on Possibilities, etc., so you can take a look and follow along if you wish - and do something creative and original of your own!! Experiment!

Also, I'm offering for the duration of the cookies, my E-booklet (at half price) with lots of different cookie cutter shapes that I have used for many years for playing with new threads, stitches, and techniques - and have also added a mini-stocking. Lots of stitches diagrammed, and color pictures as guidance and inspiration.

Cookie Cutter Needlepoint

That title could have double meaning - and I had to remind myself of just that when I was fooling around with the drawing. I had to remember that these are to be "cookies" shaped like Shamrocks, and that I probably would only have one cutter in the drawer. Decorating them is the fun and imaginative part that will make each one different.

Anyway - I started this odyssey on the other blog (Possibilities, Etc.), so you can go there to see what's happening. This pattern is about 4 1/4" across at the widest part, but you could always play around with the size and suit yourself. I used 18 mesh canvas, but 13 would work as well.

The idea is to replicate icing and do such things as you would do with a pastry tube/cake decorator type thing, using lots of fun things and great stitches. It's really a good way to try out new stitches too, and new fibers in your stash. I'm showing the drawing on canvas to illustrate the orientation of the tracing. Use the orange line as a reference.

Please refer to other posts about canvas preparation and drawing for instructions for doing this. I've pointed to places where one must be sure to draw on the THREAD and not slip down between them into the groove - makes it much easier to stitch.

October Again Already!!

The "Birthday Crazy Quilt Heart" for October was finished in 2008, with its opals and calendulas and glorious Fall colors. You can see the other months (some not done yet, though) on the other blog under the label Birthday Crazy Quilts.

There are lots of freebies on this site from last year for Halloween, so don't miss the napkin rings and other small, fun things.

I've never designed a lot of needlepoint for Halloween, as there seems to already be more than enough "out there," and it's also not really my interest for designing painted canvas or for stitching - I leave that to others who excel.

However, I have recently found a web site while cruising on ebay, that has just about sent me over the edge to be stitching on Halloween things!. These pieces are so much fun and so full of originality and personality, they are quite different from any I've seen. I've shown these on the other blog, but to be sure you don't miss it, I'll give you a link here for her Halloween page: Nenah's Needlepoint.

I won't show any canvases here, as that would spoil the surprise. Also, these aren't Freebies, of course, but the prices are so much less than they would be if offered in a retail store!! I love finding these wonderful things that I didn't know were available.