More from the jar

I felt bad on Monday because I could not find the website of the piece I showed, so I've been poking around trying to find it, and there it was, in my favorites: http://www.i-bead.com/ Today's entry is from the same company, a little thimble holder in the shape of a bumble bee. The head comes off, and there is a little space inside.




The main thing I would like to do to improve this item is to stiffen the wings some more. I had dipped them in Future floor wax (it's acrylic) once already, but the wings tend to droop over the body. Hopefully, if I dipped them again, they would get more rigid.

I have at least one more kit, and possibly two from that company. That is another reason I don't feel the need to go to the Bead and Button show this summer, I still have loot from the last time I went.

A Teenie, Tiny, Bead Bowl

This is a little tiny bowl made out of beads. It is just the right size to hold a couple of rings while you wash your hands. It was on the cover of one of the beading magazines a couple of years ago, I jumped at the chance to get it, since my friend had taken a class with the designer and had paid quite a bit.

The bowl has a very pretty spiral pattern. It is stitched in peyote stitch. The construction is a little like crochet, since the shape is formed from adding beads where you would do an increase in crochet.



My mother would scold because the last thread is still hanging. I wonder where my beading needles are so I could fix that?

"Smalls" Apothecary Jar

I cross stitched this weekend, so I don't have any progress pictures to post. I love to cross stitch, but it takes a long time.

I decided to show some of the things I have stored in one of my apothecary jars next to my stitchy chair. They used to be in a basket, but my dog has discovered that those are fun things to play with! The jar gives a little more protection.

This is an "amulet" bag (it is a pouch) done in peyote stitch. I got the kit at the Bead and Button show in Milwaukee last summer, and made it up right away. The kit was excellent. Your color guide is printed out on to a paper that you glue right on your bead support; after each stitch your needle points directly at the symbol for the next bead you need to pick up, no looking back and forth between your pattern and the project! It went really fast.




It is reversible, the red/coral on one side, and the blue on the other. It is a trifle big for a necklace, but it certainly makes a statement.



The fringe beads were included in the kit as well, and were easy and fun to assemble.

More stash!

I told you shopping on-line was too easy! These fibers arrived yesterday from Nordic Needle. Most of them are DMC #5 pearl, but several are Anchor brand (they were on sale!). The three skeins on the right are variegated; the middle one has a metallic thread running through it too. I got all excited when I saw that.

The three spools are linen thread in the same weight. That will give a very different texture on a temari ball. I hope the thread is not too rough, it looks like it might shred the wrapping on a mari. I only got 3 spools because I don't know how they will stitch up. I will have to experiment.



Did I mention that I love floss?

Stash has arrived!

I received my stash from Stitching Bits and Bobs. They had hand-dyed #5 pearl cotton on sale! I unwound a couple of the skeins to check how the variegation went. I think the blue/tan one (vertical on the left side) is going to look great on the pattern I have picked out.



I love playing with floss!

What do you do with Punch Needle?

I was digging through the (black hole) basket next to my stitchy chair and found this finished project. It is called Angel Train by Prairie Moon. I bought the specialty threads for the main elements, but I bought DMC black for the background, and probably saved $20!

There is one church, there are 2 houses and hands, 3 angels, 5 train cars, 6 moons and snowmen, 7 trees, and 8 stars. It was sort of fun to make. Last year at the quilt show I got a hoop stand that really helped a lot, almost the equivalent of another hand. One hand holds the punch needle, and the other needs to manipulate the thread, leaving no hands to handle the hoop.

So now it is done. It is big for a punch-needle piece, probably around 6x8; what do I do with it? I don't want to frame it. It would be nice as a box top, if I had a box the right size. That's one of the reasons it made its way into the black hole.



Don't get me wrong, I really like it; it fits my Christmas decor (angels), and I had wanted to learn to do punch-needle since I was in the the first grade. (I know it was in first grade, because we were living in Oklahoma.) I got a kit as a Christmas present from somewhere, and my mom and I could not figure out how to do it. Looking back, I know we were doing it right, but we just had to pile the loops on top of each other. We gave the kit to our (older) baby sitter, who said she knew how to do it. A couple of weeks later she showed us the finished project, violets. I think she made it into a cushion (black velvet?). I never had the chance to learn until my guild sponsored a class a couple of years ago.

I have tons of patterns (I won them as a door prize) but I do not find working on punch-needle very relaxing. Plus using non-DMC colors really adds up the cost. Am I ready to divest from punch-needle?

Sets of Temari

I have two sets of temari to share today. Both sets are the same patterns stitched on different divisions.

This pair is stitched on a 92 and 122 multi-pole respectively. I really liked the 92 center one a lot, until I finished the next one; now it looks clunky next to the delicate 122 centers. I wanted these for reference, so I could visualize the difference between the two divisions.



This was a SAL (Stitch-Along) where we stitched a pattern on a c8, and then adapted the same pattern for a c10. (C8 is the square, C10 the pentagon.) I wasn't terribly pleased with the c8, probably because of my stitching, but it is too busy, without a good focal point. So I made my C10 with heftier (wider) bands and left off the final step, and I like it quite a bit more. It is bolder and more simple. We are planning on stitching this pattern on more different divisions as well, so stay tuned.