September Show and Tell

Can you believe this is the last day of September?  I accomplished a ton of things this month, both around the house and crafty-wise, so I do know where the time went; but it sure went quickly!
I could almost call this month "Stitch-tember", I did so much cross stitching and sewing.  I'm certainly not complaining!

Let's start:  first up is Country Cottage  Needleworks September cottage.  I was still in an apple frame of mind when I picked this one.  I miscounted while cutting my linen and almost ran out of space.  Luckily I had enough threads to spare to sew a backing on for a pillow finish.  I had this cute blackboard ribbon in my stash and thought the little bell looked like an old fashioned school bell.

My next finishes are all by Prairie Schooler.  I had a great time using my own hand dyed threads with  two designs from the October Sampler:

I used the suggested DMC threads for these two pheasants.  I think this is my favourite stitch of the month as pheasants remind me of the farm where I grew up.

All of my September finishes together:

Near the end of the month I got the urge to crochet something.  The first thing up were APPLE coasters!  Are you suprised?!

These were quick and fun to stitch up in an evening.  The pattern is from a crochet calendar I got a few years ago at Costco.  They are perfect little coasters for hot, fall drinks like Maple Cream coffee.  I drink that when I get tired of paying for Pumpkin Spice Lattes.  To make one you put 1-2 tablespoons of real maple syrup and an equal amount of heavy cream in mug with a pinch of powdered ginger and pinch of cloves.  Fill with hot coffee and stir.  Whipped cream and a dusting of cinnamon are optional but highly recommended:)

I also started a blanket!  This one has been on my mind for a very long time now, and I finally just had to get started.  It's going to mimic a Canadian classic.  Do you think you can guess what it is?

I also have two scarves and an Autumn themed tea cozy on my hooks, so I will be crocheting for much of next month as well!

While buying yarn for the blanket I couldn't resist these scrumptious fall colours:

I have been looking up every single fall themed crochet item I can find to use it.  I found this beautiful maple leaf pattern on Ravelry and stitched up these leaves.  I thought they would look nice on a pillow, and I found the perfect upholstery fabric last week.  I stitched them on with the sewing machine, but if I ever do something like this again I will definitely hand sew the crochet item on.

The pattern was written by Michelle over at The Painted Hinge and it's very simple.  I stitched these all up in an enjoyable afternoon in the sunshine.  I used Vanna's Choice yarn in Rust, Brick,  Mustard, Honey, and Chocolate.

For once the family is not being neglected due to my crafty ventures, thanks in part to a new purchase at the thrift store.  I think I have been baking a loaf of something tasty about every three days in my new Corning Ware pan.

  When I was little I received a whole set of plastic Corning Ware play dishes one Christmas.  I thought it was so lovely:  everything was so real looking; complete with clear plastic lids on the casserole dishes and a removable rack in the roasting pan.  Until that point my play dishes looked like play dishes with their bright colours and little faces on the sides of the cups and tops of plates.  This new set took playing house to a whole new level.  So you can see why I had a very pleasant trip down memory lane when I saw this loaf pan and promptly put it in my cart.  The fact that it was brand new, and made in Canada didn't hurt also - oh, and the four dollar price tag!

So that's my month my friends and it was a good one.  Canadian Thanksgiving is in two weeks  so hopefully I can persuade My Favourite Girl to do a little fall crafting with me before the push for Halloween starts.  (No, I still have not gotten her to 'play' with me yet!)


Thank you for your kind comments and visiting my little crafty space.
Happy Days!
Jenn

Back to It

After an extremely long holiday my kids are finally back in school.  I don't think I was the only mom in our school district who spent yesterday cleaning house, getting groceries and just getting back to a routine.  I had forgotten how much work it is to keep my household in order:  last night I was trying not to fall asleep at 8pm!  Yes, such is life after two months of being a princess...

I had hoped to get a little crafting done yesterday as my mind is absolutely bursting with things I want to make.  Alas, I didn't have the time, but I had a pretty good weekend so I can't complain.
My Favourite Girl has discovered the joys of Pinterest, and asked me to make her a shark pencil case for school.  She specifically requested pink patchwork and I was only too happy to comply:

 The pattern is from Patchwork Posse, and you can find the tutorial here.  I had a bit of trouble with the zipper on the first one, so for the second shark I made a few adjustments.  I had not planned on making two, but My Favourite Boy wanted one as well and who was I to say no?

Another project from the Pinterest files is this poppy embroidery:

The original was for sale in an Etsy shop, but I don't see her making them anymore.  I would loved to make an orange one as well, but I could only find red fabrics.  This looks great with my poppy pillows!

I have had apples, apples, apples on my mind since we went apple picking last week.  I ordered this sweet chart from Little House Needleworks and started stitching it as soon as my order arrived last week.  

The fabric apple was a bit of an experiment.  I would say my pattern made a very successful pumpkin shape, so I will file it away for October!  It was fun to try something different though.

Isn't the school bus cute?  My Favourite Girl painted this rock years ago and I thought it was very clever of her at the time.  It's not often she pulls out the crafting supplies anymore, preferring to spend time on her iPad chatting with friends and watching videos.  I like to remember the 'old' days when self confidence and art projects never really had anything to do with each other!  She has started a craft board on her Pinterest account, so hopefully she will get back to creating things just for the fun of it again.  A mom can dream!

Now I see it's almost time for the kids to get off the real school bus so I must go.  Thank you for all the love on my last projects - I really appreciate you taking the time to get in touch.

Happy Days!
Jenn

Fall Projects

Happy September 1!  I hope you all had a great summer.  Ours was good:  we were lazy; enjoyed the sun; got away for a bit.  This is our last week off before school starts and I think we are all more than ready for a regular routine to start again.
I love summer, but it's not exactly a productive time for me.  I am learning, so this year I did not make any lists and just let things coast along.  If I made something: great!  If I didn't complete something:  no problem!  Now that the weather is shifting I feel like I'm back in the game, and have set myself on an autumn themed crafting course.  It's been wonderful to fill my evenings (and a few days!) with stitching and sewing again.

I wanted a door wreath for September, but I didn't want any acorns or colourful leaves or pumpkins on it.  Last April in Bustle and Sew there was a lovely embroidery of a fox and flowers mounted in a hoop.  I love it as is, but as soon as I saw it I knew I wanted to make it into a wreath similar to the rabbit pattern that was published the year before.  I enlarged the pattern and cut everything out from felt.

Everything is glued onto a wooden hoop that I stained and now graces our new front door.

Also from Bustle and Sew is the Appley Dappley Cushion Cover (September 2014).

The machine embroidery on this one gave me no end of trouble yesterday, but I persisted and finally got everything stitched on.

Here are two small stitching projects I worked on over the weekend:

The little pillow is a French design from le Chalet des Perelles.  She has another cute apple design I think I  will add to my list as well.

The sweet little toadstools are a free design I found a while ago, but I can't find the designer for it. It's a scissor fob that I finished flat as opposed to making it into a little pillow.

I am expecting some more autumn themed cross stitch charts in the mail this week and can't wait to get started!  I also have plans for s stuffed fox and a few more free motion machine embroideries if everything cooperates.

I will show you one project I finished over the summer.  This was another long-time-in-finishing project that I eventually christened the "Forever Project".

I made this quilt using fabric from men's shirts.  Some I thrifted, some once belonged to Mr. Crafty World.  The backing is a sheet I bought because it reminded me of shirting fabric.  Now that this project is finished  I have to say it will be a while before I start another quilt!  I was happy to cross this off my WIP list for sure.

Until next time thanks for visiting!
Jenn