Stitching, Stitching Goals, Sewing, Fair Entries!

STITCHING

I picked up the Mystery Sampler by With Thy Needle called Birds of a Feather.  The picture just does not do the piece justice as the inner part of the frame pulls out the golden colors and the red in the frame really pulls out the red.  I finally figured out I stitched this on a 35 count piece of linen but have no idea what color.  You can see my post of April 13, 2014 to see my color changes to accommodate my choice of fabric color.

I also started and finished this piece in just 3 days.  It is Madonna by Springberry Kreek Designs.  I stitched it on Twilight Blue using all Kreinik metallic braid #8.  The colors are not photographing well at all as it is all in shades of blue.  It has been left for framing so 3 more weeks to wait.

GOALS

As I said in a previous post, my stitching year runs from the time my last piece is done for the Fair (1st of July) until next Fair.  My goals for the year include stitching my stash of Prairie Schooler designs.  The first one I pulled out to stitch is called Harvest Time.  I'm using most of the DMC called for colors but I'm stitching it on a fabric called Copper Penny (28 count) which has a green base and therefore a couple of the greens may need to be swapped out for something else.

I've also updated my goals to include stitching a few WIP from my stash as well.  There are several that are 1/2 to 3/4 of the way done and I'm thinking this is the year for a few of those to go from works in progress to completed projects.  I have one Mirabilia that is screaming at me to be done!  

SEWING

I also spent a little time at my sewing machine making this gift for a family member.  It is a placemat which is the size of a charger plate.  I do like how they turned out but am rethinking how the quilting is done.  I quilted it as the pattern called for but am thinking something other than straight lines (or not so straight lines in my case) might be more interesting.  I'm thinking of doing something different in each individual square.  I have a set already cut out to put together for my family.  Again made a design change from a 9 square to a 20 square for a little more interest.  Can't wait to see how they turn out.

I decided during this project that my self-healing mat was no longer self-healing and it was time to purchase a new one.  It seemed to me that my self-healing mat didn't last too long so set out to do some research on a better mat.  After reading hundreds of reviews I ended up purchasing a professional self-healing mat by Alvin.  I also opted to purchase a larger size (2'x3') as my current size I found to be a bit small.  I have to say the price on this one was about 1/2 of the price I paid for the one I currently have.  I received it in a couple of days and I'm telling you when I went to cut out fabric for another project there was a noticeable difference in how well my fabric cut on this one.  I am so pleased with my selection.

FAIR ENTRIES

Today was the day to drop of my entries at the Iowa State Fair Fabric and Threads where judging will begin on Monday.  A big thank you to my SIL, Jodi who went along and entertained Keith while I was checking in my entries.  It appeared it again was NOT like the good old days when the line went down the hall and out the door.  We walked in an were 6th in line to drop off my entries.  Sadly just not as many people are entering in any of the divisions of Fabric and Threads.

Here are photos of my entries for the 2014 Iowa State Fair.  I really hope to find ribbons on The Way to Happiness and Birds of a Feather.

Home/Heart Afghan

Valentine Pillow

Miss Peepers

Live Laugh Love

The Way to Happiness

Birds of a Feather 

Home Sweet Home

I celebrated a birthday recently and will share some of the lovely things I received in a future post.  Off to make homemade chicken and noodle soup and then an evening of stitching!