Stocking Details

The closer I get to being organized and settled, the more stitching mojo I find. It helps that my littlest angel has developed a bed time routine and is getting to sleep before I'm exhausted. I added another motif and some layering on a couple of seams. For the first bit, I added beads and sequins to the bovine princess seam. The sequins are not obvious unless you look very closely. They're only 2mm and a bead was used to sew each one on. Some of them are hiding behind the silk ribbon loops, but they help the ribbons stay flowing in the right direction.



For the other seam addition, I used metallic threads, burgundy and gold, doubled so that I was stitching with four threads. I added a running stitch along the center curve and detached chains with straight stitches in the dips along the sides. I wonder, though, if those look more like elongated fly stitches.



The motif is a trio of thread crocheted flowers. One was made with cotton pearl, most likely a number 8, but possibly 12. The other two were made with a fine silk/cashmere knitting yarn. All of the threads were dyed by me before the crocheting. I used the newer DMC linen floss to make the French knot centers. I really like the feel of the linen floss and enjoy stitching with it. It behaves very well.

Harvest & Inspiration

The garden produced quite a bit today. This is the most I've harvested. Usually, I might get a cucumber or zucchini and a few green beans. Today was the first of the broccoli, eggplants, jalepeno, and acorn squash. Along with that, I've got zucchini, cucumber, a pickling cucumber, chili peppers, a couple of cherry tomatoes, basil, parsley, and coriander. The cherry tomatoes are just starting to ripen, but the basket needed a bit of color. There are a few plants not represented here, but it seems that most of what I'm growing is green.

I don't know if I'll follow through on the inspiration, but I'll be taking more pictures of the various veggies I pick from my first garden. The theme for next year's Quilting Arts calendar contest is "Fresh Picked". I have ideas, but I'm better with creating ideas than creating finished projects. We'll see how it goes.

A finished project

Okay, so it was a small project, but it's still a project completed. I intended this small doll blanket to be more scrappy to use up some small bits of yarn I had dyed. It took on a life of it's own and turned out quite nice. My littlest angel is enjoying it. The baby hiding under the blanket is becoming known as 'Frankenbaby' to the rest of the family. Hubby suggested the baby was in need of a good washing a while back. The body houses electronics and the clothes are sewn on. I thought I could just snip the threads at the back of the neck and slip the clothes off, but I was mistaken. I knew the legs were encased in the clothes and not attached to the body. I didn't know the clothes were not made and then attached to the body. The seams around the neckline and sleeves were sewn to the body as well. Taking it apart made a real mess of it. My little angel didn't seem to mind and was thrilled with her clean baby. The poor baby has since lost an arm, and my angel still loves her baby.

Her second birthday is fast approaching. Time just flies right by when they're little and growing so fast. Her birthday is in October, still a couple of months away, but I am notoriously slow . She needs a new baby. Maybe I just want her to have a new baby. Either way, she's getting a new baby for her birthday. A proper baby with clothes that can be changed and washed and sewn for her.

I spent months looking at any store I shopped at before buying the first baby. I wasn't too thrilled with that one, but it was love at first sight for my little angel. There really aren't many adorable dolls in the stores today. So, what's a Mom to do? I splurged and ordered a quality baby online. This little doll is one of the Bitty Twins. She hopped out of her box to model for this photo during nap time. I have patterns for her new wardrobe and plenty of supplies. Now I just need to finish my organizing. Then I'll have two months of naps to sew a wardrobe for her before the birthday.

My organizing is coming along slowly. I haven't put too much energy into refolding fabric, but it's still taking a fair amount of time. I have four more buckets full of fabric to go in the cabinets, plus a bit. It's actually nice being able to put the fabric in before the doors go on. This way, I can see everything all at once. As I suspected, the yarn and laces just won't fit in the cabinets. For now, they'll stay in the buckets stacked under the window. All in all, things are starting to fall into place.