This is Beardsley...

I finished another Santa for my Shanty Claus web site, although I haven’t uploaded him, yet. His name is Beardsley. The origin of his name is Old English and it means “bearded one” – and so he is! I have a couple more Santas ready to be dressed, so I’m hoping to get them finished soon. I had to order more lovely Cotswold wool – my favorite wool for beards.

Beardsley is holding a neat old (1899) leather-bound Catholic prayer manual that belonged to a priest named William Brody. I’m also including the souvenir card of his ordination at St. Catherine’s Church in PA on December 12, 1915. I do love these pretty little pieces of the past. And I think they lend an aura of history to the Santa dolls.

Another One Done…

and added to my Etsy shop.

Floral Soirée

I’ve been on a “finishing up” tear, lately. Here is a postcard finished for my Etsy shop. The front was done awhile ago – I just needed to add my printed postcard back and the zigzag stitches around the edges. Feels so good to get things done…

Another Felt Pin…

Here’s a cat brooch I started last winter – and just got around to finishing today.

Have a Heart...

I finally finished up another of the pins I had started last winter in Susan Sorrell’s Funky Felt Pins class. These just look so cute on denim jackets. I had bought a Liz Claiborne jean jacket in Macy’s on sale last spring for my sister’s birthday and pinned one of my felt pins on it before I gave it to her.

She was delighted.

Instant Gratification is Good…

I made these sun prints last week because I wanted to try using Jacquard Dye-Na-Flow paint instead of Seta Soleil paint (an experiment I read about here, in Vicki Welsh’s wonderful blog). I’m rather pleased with the results and will be using Dye-Na-Flow in any future sun printing. I used ferns and leaves that I had pressed in a dictionary last summer – and had forgotten about…

A Yummy ATC from Scotland!

This beautiful card is from Frances, a wonderful textile artist who lives on the Isle of Lewis, Scotland. She also sent along some lovely samples of Harris Tweed, hand-woven by local artisans – and a sample of Misty fuse so I will finally get to try that...

Another ATC - Available for Trade

I know why I am so drawn to this small format. It is relatively quick compared to my other projects - and it is undeniably satisfying and energizing to actually put the finishing touches on something! While my Santa dolls look simple enough, there are so many steps to completion – they seem to take forever…

This girl with big hair ATC was made on the embellisher machine using Kunin felt, commercial batik cotton, wool roving and rust colored dryer lint. Yep, you read that right – dryer lint… I used black perle cotton for the running stitches. And I had so much fun it was downright scary…

Buttonhole Stitch Floral Motif

I wanted to break up the rows of stitching on my sampler, so I cut a piece of felt, basted it down and used buttonhole stitches to appliqué it to my ticking background. I used buttonhole wheel stitches to embellish the felt flower shapes. The fern-like stems were done in my favorite variation of the fly stitch.

Still More Buttonhole Stitch Variations...

The first row consists of reversed buttonhole bar stitches. Next, I worked a row of rosette of thorn stitches. The last two rows are fly stitches used to couch down novelty yarn. I still have lots more buttonhole variations to go…

A Beautiful ATC from Ati!

This lovely card arrived this afternoon from Norway! That was quick! I love the stitching, the color combination and the fabric with the fancy type font! Ati also included a little surprise gift – a gorgeous piece of fabric with gold accents and some pretty lace with heart designs. Thanks so much, Ati!

Wanna Trade, Anybody?

Here are my first three ATCs, ready to trade, if anyone is interested.

ATC Test

I wanted to make a quick test of my printed watercolor paper backings, so I zigzagged one to the back of a small stitchery from last year’s TAST.

And Baby Makes a Baker’s Dozen…

Just when we thought we were going to get through the summer, unscathed, Mary Frances (a possibly feral stray we’ve been feeding) gifted us with this bundle of joy, Briar. We think he is about two weeks old. DH picked him up, had a good look-see at his nether regions and proclaimed him a little boy. There goes more of our retirement savings...

A Finished Postcard...

A little while back, I blogged about the postcard backs I had printed on fabric using an inkjet printer. Here is an example of a finished back with zigzag stitched edges.


And here is the front (which some of you have seen before).

This is available in my Etsy shop (which I finally opened last night!).

Printed ATC Backs...

Been über busy, lately - with business stuff and family stuff… Anyway, I finally designed a backing for my ATCs. That was something else on my to-do list. Here is a page of backings ready to be cut out and zigzag stitched to fabric ATCs (or glued to card stock ATCs). The backings are ink jet printed on heavy watercolor paper. I like the idea that I can change the background color behind the logo to coordinate with the fronts of my cards. (I have been toying with the idea of customizing my blog for quite some time and originally designed the logo for that purpose.)

Elizabeth’s Three-Pronged Up & Down Buttonhole Stitch

I went googling for more buttonhole stitch ideas and found this wonderful post by the always inspirational Elizabeth from her blog, Quieter Moments. It is her original buttonhole variation – and she provides clear, photo illustrated instructions on how to do it. I love this stitch! I think there’s an old world, regal elegance to it. Thanks, Elizabeth.

The Sampler Thus Far...

Who Knew…

that the buttonhole stitch formed the basis of so many stitches? I worked a little more on my sampler, adding the crossed buttonhole stitch, the whipped buttonhole stitch, the Berwick stitch, the double feather stitch, and, my new fave, the coral stitch. I’ve covered six inches of my sampler, so far – only fifty more inches to go!

I’ve noticed that my upright stitches tend to slant a little to the left – sort of like my handwriting…

A Few More Buttonhole Variations…

First up is the barb stitch, followed by the bonnet stitch. The bonnet stitch is easy but, being left-handed, it felt a little awkward working each stitch from right to left. Next, is the slanted buttonhole stitch and, finally, the knotted blanket stitch, also known as Antwerp edging.