Princess Quilt for a Princess

Over the Christmas break I kept myself busy with piecing, and quilting, so that I could finish a princess quilt for this sweet princess.



I'd started this quilt well over a year ago (princess is now 9 months!) and would only work on this project sporadically.  As Christmas approached I decided to kick it up a notch and try and get this one finished and over to its intended recipient.  There were lots of blurry eyed late nights invested... but soo worth it.



For the quilt design, I wanted something that would allow me to feature the princess pictures out of this Alexander Henry 'Once Upon A Time' fabric.  I came across the 'Oh My Stars!' Quiltalong, which looked straight forward enough my for beginner quilt skills and would allow me to fussy cut those princess images for the center of different sized stars.  It is a great tutorial, and if you check out the Oh My Stars Flicker Group you will see some creative and diverse applications of this approach.



I composed the layout as I went along.  It took me a few shuffles of stars before I landed on a composition that was pleasing to me -- having a large central star surrounded by medium and smaller stars.



After I had pieced the quilt, I knew that there would be a strong probability that I would not be able to get it out to a professional long arm quilter for completing over the busy Christmas period.  So, I decided that I would quilt it myself!  I spray basted the quilt together and started by shadow outlining the stars in a Pearl DMC top thread - using this great tutorial for guidance.  And then further echoed that outline with Aurifil thread, until I reached the edges of the quilt.  It was a lot of work but well worth the effort.  I am enormously pleased with how this turned out.





I have my next quilt in the very early planning stages... more to come in a future post.

Wishing you a wonderful weekend.  What fun plans do you have?
Sam xxx

Halloween Prepping

Last weekend I had the opportunity to attend a talk by Denyse Schmidt at Fancy Tiger crafts. It was fascinating to hear how her crafting story unfolded, and also the business decisions she had made along the way. I love her quilts and fabrics and thoroughly enjoyed listening to her creative process.



While I was at Fancy Tiger I did a little window shopping. Which turned into actual shopping, when these beauties came home with me.  I'd been looking on Pinterest for a trick or treat tote to make for Naomi, and these fabrics are just the ticket! Loving the ouchy tooth image. Naomi got a kick out of that too!



The pattern I used is the Pocket Tote, Library Bag from Sugar Bee Crafts.  It is a great pattern - well written with clear supporting photographs (her selection of fabric is adorable too!).  I like that this is kid-sized and has some structure to it.  Naomi thinks the tote is awesome, so we have a winner!





In addition to this sewing project I've been working on a little capelet cardigan for Naomi in the fun Madeline Tosh yarn that has the 'rainbow paint splats' on it.  I am winging this one, so hoping that it works out nicely.



And of course continuing to plug away on the lace section of the rosewater shawl.  This is such a fun color for Halloween... not sure if it will be finished in time though.



Hope you are having a great weekend,
Sam
xxx

Fun Girly Poncho

Are you having a great weekend? Have you been watching, and enjoying, the start of the Olympics? We watched the opening ceremony on Friday, and then watched the swimming qualifiers, table tennis, women's soccer and the men's gymnastics yesterday.  Yes, I love watching the Olympics, and Naomi is also getting hooked... she is particularly fond of the gymnastics.  (We can't wait to see Simone Biles... and are watching the uneven bar qualifiers right now).

During the opening ceremony I was able to cast on, and finish this fun girly poncho:


The yarn is Knit Collage Gypsy Garden, in Shooting Star color way.  It is a bulky thick/thin wool and mohair yarn that has 'flair' spun into it -- glittery ribbons and colorful threads, little ribbon roses and flowers.  It really is a fun yarn!  My very thoughtful sister bought a skein for me when she was visiting the Purl Soho store in New York.  I picked up a 2nd skein on Ravelry destash to ensure that I'd have enough yardage for a project (each skein is 32 yards).


This didn't start out as a poncho,  It was intended to be a cowl.  For me.  I searched on Ravelry for a pattern that used a super bulky yarn, with less that 150 yards, and picked the Marian cowl pattern by Jane Richmond designs, which is a free Ravelry download.

At first I knit as instructed in the pattern, using a seed stitch.  However there was too much going on for my taste with the 'flair' plus the seed stitch pattern.  So I frogged and worked the cowl instructions in a simple stocking stitch.  That worked much better - you could really see the thick and thin yarn, and all the sparkles and embellishments.


I asked Naomi to model the cowl for blog photos for me, and when she tried it on it fell over her shoulders like a poncho.  She fell in love with it!  So there you have it - Momma's cowl, became a fun girly poncho for Naomi!

Wishing you a good rest of your weekend.
Love,
Sam
xxx

It has been a slow week...

This time last year we were back in the UK for my sister's wedding.

I had all good intentions to create a 1 year anniversary gift for her: A wedding portrait cross stitch, similar to the cross stitch portrait my brother had requested. Unfortunately it has been another couple of nutty work weeks so I didn't have the free/craft time to pull it off. The silver lining is that the traditional 2nd year anniversary gift is 'cotton'... so that can be the new goal! Sorry, Sis xxx
I have a reasonable start, and have been enjoying working on my Sis in her fabulous wedding dress. Pretty cute, huh! (She's ridiculously cute in real life too). I cant tell you how much fun these portraits are to work on.

Now I just need to keep this little fella from chewing up the threads!!!
(Isn't that a guilty look)

Wishing you a great Sunday,
Love,
Sam
xxx

Gnomes

I've been having fun putting together a couple of gifts for a friend that likes gnomes. First is a simple wooden box that is embellished with a cross stitch gnome on the lid.

The box is a Hand Made Modern wooden box from Target, and the gnome pattern comes from the Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery's Woodland Sampler (you have to decrease the height of the gnome hat to make it fit).  I started with cross stitch thread but wasn't getting the coverage I wanted, and then changed to use sock yarn from my stash.

I think it turned out pretty cute. Turns out that I wasn't the only one - Naomi asked if I would make a box for her too. For her box I opted for a simple initial in colours that match her room.

This is a simple, quick and easy project. There are some fiddly elements - dealing with the lid as you stitch and tucking in the end of each threads But otherwise it's a straightforward make, with a cute result.

The other project is a storage basket made from the adorable Heather Ross gnome fabric, together with some Michael Miller polka dots.

The pattern is a modified version of the popular, free pattern: One Hour Basket from Hearts and Bees. My modifications were to make it larger:

• I cut 4 pieces of fabric that were 17 x 21 inches
• The square cutouts for each corner were 3.5 inches
• I folded over approx 3 inches of the polka dot fabric at the top of the basket and top stitched across the top and bottom of this polka dot band

The storage basket is quite floppy - which could be a result of the larger size. But if I were to do this again, I'd probably use a stiffer interfacing. However, with enough yarn stashed inside, it stands up quite nicely :)

Hope that you are having a fabulous weekend.
Love,
Sam
xxx

Stitch People: Cross Stitch Family

After seeing the birth announcement cross stitch, one of my family asked if I would make a family portrait with cartoon type people and an uplifting statement underneath as a daily reminder to be grateful for all that you have. Well, of course I was going to say yes to that!

I enjoy the research process almost as much as the crafting itself, and it wasn't long before I found the Stitch People site. What a fantastic source of inspiration with numerous customized family and wedding portraits. Plus you can order their book to guide you through creating your own custom versions: The book includes the designs for multiple different hair, outfit and accessory types, plus it has a great section for different dog and cat types. Naturally I now own a copy.

I started by picking out some photographs of the happy family, and then looking in the Stitch People book for those characteristics and outfits that would represent the family members. Once I had the selected design elements I copied them onto graph paper - this became my 'pattern'. From there it was a case of picking from my supply of threads to create the portrait. I cant tell you how much fun I had with this process, trying to make sure I reflected some of the details of this family:

• Ooh she likes sparkle - let me stitch her a pink sparkle top
• I rarely see her without heels... yep, these ankle boots with a heel are perfect!
• Now for him, a black t-shirt is a frequent go-to top
• One of his arms is a multicolour sleeve tattoo and the other is sepia, let me build that in ...making sure I get the arms correct (yes, there are even hints and tips for how you add details such as tattoos into your design)
• The dogs are both German Shepherds but with their own distinct colouring that I was able to build in

As for the saying, I found this one on Pinterest - it is short, simple, but really conveys the desired feeling behind the original request.

I am grateful that I get to spend time with my family very soon, and deliver this one in person.
What are you grateful for?

Big hugs,
Sam xxx

Pretty in Pink Baby Cardigan

I cant even begin to tell you how much I love this project! It started with the yarn...  this pigeonroof studios gradient yarn is soo beautiful.  I had an idea in my mind of what I was aiming for, and used my 'go to' pattern for baby girl sweaters - Elizabeth Zimmerman February Baby Sweater - as the basis for the project.  It turned out exactly as I had envisioned... don't you love it when that happens!



Here are the modifications that I made to EZ's pattern:

• EZ calls out a number of stitches to cast on.  Instead of casting on this amount, cast on the number that it recommends that you should have after the first round of increases.  
• Follow the pattern for the garter stitch neck band and spacing of buttons
• Instead of using the lace pattern that EZ recommends, knit a simple stocking stitch, retaining the garter stitch edging and button spacing.  (I love the lace pattern, but really wanted the color gradient to stand out with a simpler stitch pattern)
• When starting a new color mini skein, work the first row as *Knit 1, Slip 1* repeated across the stocking stitch portion of the pattern - this results in a subtle zigzag between the 2 colors (vs a hard line shift from one color to the next)
• For the sleeves, work 4 ridges of garter stitch and cast off.

It's very simple, but I think quite effective as a result of the beautiful yarn.



The final touch was to add buttons.  These are a simple transparent, pale pink, gem-like bead from Joanns Fabrics.  Aside from being a gorgeous button, I liked that the transparency picked up on the color of the yarn that it was placed on.



All in all, it was a really enjoyable knit, and I am excited to gift it next month.  Ooh and who doesnt love buying dresses for little girls?  I found this super cute ballet pump design dress which picks up on some of the pinks in the cardigan.

I hope you are having a great weekend.  It finally turned into summer here, so I've been enjoying time outdoors.  Take care,

Love,
Sam
xxx

Pretty in Pink

A few weeks back I picked up this gorgeous gradient sock yarn from Pigeon Roof Studios.



The colors are precious, and perfect for a princess. I had an idea that this would make a gorgeous baby sweater and toyed between the Tea Leaves cardigan design and my go-to sweater: Elizabeth Zimmerman's February baby sweater.



The go-to pattern won, albeit a modified version of the original, using stocking stitch instead of the lace pattern. I chose to keep it simple so that the gradient yarn would be the star of the show.



This was a perfect project for this last week's plane journey to see my step daughter graduate from the University of Central Florida with a Biology degree magna cum laude. We are incredibly proud of her, and excited for what comes next as she embarks on a summer of research projects before heading onto post-grad study.





Congratulations to all the recent grads!  Happy Mother's Day!
Wishing you a great week ahead,
Love,
Sam
xxx

Habu Scarf

Its another snowy day in Colorado. That's right, May 1st and we still have snow. It looks pretty out, and when the sun starts to poke through the clouds it will be gorgeous. But I'm really ready for some warmer weather. In the meantime, I'll take advantage of another cosy Sunday indoors.

I have another finish to share - the Habu scarf:



The yarn is Habu N-80 which consists of 4 strands of merino that are wrapped in a very fine black silk thread. I had selected 3 colors that looked good together and worked them as color blocks (although I think it would have pretty to have alternated the strands of color too). The pattern that I started with was the fringe scarf from Cocoknits... but the fringe was kind of a pain to knit, and so I used the basic instructions for the shape of the scarf and simply omitted the fringe portion of the instructions. It was a good decision - there is enough interest in the yarn itself, and the simpler style feels more elegant.



As soon as I saw this yarn I knew who I was going to knit this for. And I had fully intended that this would be tucked away in the Christmas gift box for her -- I collect gifts for people throughout the year and store them away in a big ole box until Christmas or birthdays come up. But I am the worst when it comes to patiently waiting to give a gift... so my dear friend received a 'Just Because' gift this weekend! It was a winner :)



Stay safe and warm today.
In addition to some cosy indoor time, I anticipate there may be some of this!





Love,
Sam xxx

Birth Announcement

Have you seen how cute the penpals patterns are from Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery? These are beginner friendly, and a big part of that appeal is they are small enough that you can finish fairly quickly.

I had been working on Penpals 202, which I believe was originally a Valentine's release.  I bought this as a kit, with the polka dot linen and delightful cosmo threads, from The Cottage Needle on Etsy (I highly recommend them for your stitch goodies).  While I was working on this, I received the good news that a dearly loved couple were expecting a baby girl.  As the months went by I saw that they were decorating the nursery with pink and hearts.  That triggered an idea - this cross stitch pattern would make a cute birth announcement.

Once I worked the penpals design, I needed to add the personalization.  A quick Google search later I came across Stitchpoint - a site that lets you pick a font and type in the letters and characters that you want to stitch.  I opted for the Monaco font - I wanted the lettering to be delicate and not overpower the penpals design.  For the name I used the darkest of pinks from the design.  For the birth details I used the medium pink.  My thought here is that the name would stand out a little bit from the rest of the details.


For the finishing I found a frame at TJ Maxx that would work with the furniture in the nursery, and also complement the cross stitch design.  I cut some card and batting that would fit the frame (I like how the batting adds some 'poof' to the finished design, centered the design over the top and then laced up the back.  (There are a number of online tutorials showing how to do lacing...  this was my first time finishing/framing a project myself, and I was pleasantly surprised at how well it turned out).

Have you tried something new this week?

Wishing you a great week ahead.
Love,
Sam xxx

Delicate baby booties and hat

I started the baby booties and hat again using the new yarn. It was a good decision!


The previous colours were nice... they just didn't feel really special. These new yarns however - Wow! First the colours - I feel that they are classic and delicate. Perfect baby colours. The cream yarn is Blue Sky Alpaca Royal, and to use their description: A very rare quality of luxury alpaca fiber. You just want to snuggle with this. (Or as friend of mine would say, you want to have a complete body suit made out of this!) The peach yarn is Louise Harding Orielle in color Blossom. This one is 97% baby alpaca (more snuggly softness) with a silver princess sparkle that runs through it (and the sparkle does not detract from the softness). If there is any downside it would be that the stitch definition is not as crisp in the alpaca yarns compared to the cotton. But you could argue that this just adds to the charm of the alpaca. Always a silver lining :)


The pattern is Knitting Baby Set by Elena Mitchell (Solnishko43 on Etsy). The pattern is extremely detailed with a couple of size options: Excellent written instructions and accompanying photographs for each step. As I was knitting I felt that this must be a very talented knitter that created this design - there are some steps in the design, such as how each row starts and stops that give a very professional finish. If you have some baby knitting in your future I recommend checking out her patterns on Etsy. The finishing touch was to add the pearl beads as a final decorative element. These are fit for a princess!


Now, if only this snow would let up I could go and get them in the mail :) 
I am taking full advantage of the snow day - crafting, blogging and quality family time. It is a good day! How would you/do you spend your snow days?


Stay safe Coloradoans, and wishing everyone a great weekend,
Sam xxx

Road trip

Over spring break we took a road trip to visit family in Arizona.  The timing was perfect because we were able to catch a spring training game with the Rockies.  That's a win:win for my husband and I...  He gets to watch the game while I get to enjoy some great weather and solid knitting time :)


It was really good to get away for a few days, see family and enjoy some delightful weather (thankful to have missed the blizzard back in Colorado). I mainly worked on the Clapo-ktus scarf on the road trip and have been making good progress - almost at the half way mark!  I have since flitted between the other projects on the needles:
 The Habu Gauzy scarf (now on the 3rd colour):

Some baby booties:


Although I am not loving the dusky pink and have since been reworking them in this glittery peach and cream combination.

In addition to the knitting I was able to pick up some fabulous Blue Moon Fiber Arts yarn, which is soo bright and happy! I'm eager to get one of these skeins on the needles! But first, I need to finish those baby booties.

Hope you have had a wonderful weekend,
Sam xxxx