Which Hobby Now

Cross Stitch: Mush

2011-02-21T10:13:00.001-05:00

This is the beginning of Mush By Merideth Mark. I love her style and have bought many of her designs. She has a new web page just google her name and it will come up.
It's on sparkley fabric.

Keep on digging snow

Cross Stitch: Afghan

2011-02-21T10:06:00.000-05:00

Here are two completed additions to the afghan. The next block is a rather boring woodpecker. That is why I started a Merideth Mark design instead.
Keep digging snow
P

Absence

2011-02-21T09:01:00.000-05:00

I hAve not been blogging due to health issues. I am currently working on the afghan and a Merideth Mark design, and a crochet afghan. Pictures to come soon.

Cross Stitch: Celtic Piranhas

2010-10-23T15:31:00.000-04:00

Here are what I call my Piranhas from a Celtic cross stitch book. This was made into a tissue bag holder. The idea came straight out of the book on how to finish it. It is the first time I finished a tissue holder and it came out really well.
Keep stitching
P

Cross Stitch: Celtic Cross

2010-10-23T15:21:00.000-04:00

This cross stitch I made for my mother. This is pre-framed, obviously. I gave it to her a few years back. I took her to Michael's to have the framing done so she could pick out what she liked. And it came out good with a arched matting.
This picture was taken at my grandmother's house for some reason. That is her marble table.

keep stitching
P

Blackwork: Scissor fob birds

2010-10-23T15:11:00.000-04:00

I made this fob using a varigated brown thread. I made the twisted cord also. I sewed the whole thing together as a pillow with polyfil filling.
Blackwork is relatively fast for me. Alot of bang for buck.

keep stitching
P

Cross Stitch: Welcome, Willkommen

2010-10-23T15:03:00.000-04:00

This is a cross stitch I made for my grandparents years ago. My grandfather was from Switzerland so I put the german version of welcome on the design. It hangs in their house through today.

Keep stitching
p

Polymer Clay: orange kitty

2010-10-09T16:40:00.000-04:00

Christi Friesen styled kitty cat. These are faster and easier to make than the lions.
As usual with Christi's designs right on the first shot.

Patty

Polymer Clay: dragons and bird

2010-10-09T16:01:00.000-04:00

These are Christi Friesen style creations. The first is a dragon, the second is a dragon on a pile of gold and the last is a bird. Really fun projects. I used the dragon on the gold as a monster in a game of DnD that I ran.

Patty

Polymer Clay: Inked beads, tile hearts

2010-10-09T15:54:00.001-04:00

These are translucent beads with two colors of adirondac inks. They were put in the tumbler and then buffed. I made these a year or so ago and they looked boring and I did not do anything with them. But I Finally figured out how to tumble and buff and they look great now.

Patty

Above are curvey beads from a mistake. I tried making a cane that looks like glass tiles and grout. but I made it too small and the effect did not work. I eventually made a large cane and I used it to make hearts.

These are beads using the bad cane from the previous picture.

It just goes to show that even mistakes can be used for other stuff when working in this medium.

Here is the good cane used to make hearts. The one on the left did not come out good but the one on the right came out good.

The one on the left had the cane put on the round ball before the heart was formed so it stretched significantly. The one on the right had the cane slices put on the cone shape that leads to the heart shape. No stretching here.

Patty

Crochet: Blue Hobo Bag

2010-10-09T15:37:00.000-04:00

This is a single crocheted bag. I have been using it as a purse. Only one person so far has commented on the fact that I made it and I have been caring it around for three months now.
Fun fast project. Lion brand yarn has tons of free patterns to download and this was one of them.

Patty

Polymer Clay: Mayan croc cane

2010-10-09T15:31:00.002-04:00

This is an attempt at caning and reducing. This is a mayan style croc inspired by some pictures I found by googling images of mayan art. It is not perfect but I still love it and did a good job reducing. I think I finally have the hang of caning. I had at some point last year given up on caning images as impossible. I managed to reduce a cane recently and I got back into it. My mistake was that I did not stretch enough during the process.

Patty

Polymer Clay: Brown casablanca beads

2010-10-09T15:22:00.001-04:00

Here is a casablanca style bead and several swirl beads using different canes and scrap from the casablance bead. These are inspired from desired creations. I hand sanded these and buffed them with the buffer. The complaint I have about these is that they have too much black in them. It is possible to do this by making the black layer thinner.

Patty

Polymer Clay: Book cover dragon eye

2010-10-09T15:14:00.001-04:00

These are the front and back covers for a journal. On the back cover is a dragon eye inspired from items I have seen on etsy. The eye ball itself is from a cane I made. On the front cover is my first wack at putting letters into metal, patina'ed, and polished copper. The lettering says spell book.

The are swarovski crystals in the corners. I tried a cheapo glue on crystal but it was plastic and it melted when I tested it in the toaster oven.

The dragon scales are slices of cane.

Patty

Polymer Clay: malachite faux

2010-10-09T15:05:00.001-04:00

first cut at a malachite from Making Polymer Clay Beads by Carol Blackburn. Mine looks more like a flower than a random stone. But it is fairly pretty. When I cut the rectangles I put saran wrap on top then pushed down making nice curved sides. I put a layer of black on the back and black strips along the sides. I am trying to get better at finishing.
I put them in the tumbler with soap water and river rocks (1/2 inch size or less) then polished them with the buffer.

Patty;)

Beading: Apache tears

2010-04-21T20:06:00.000-04:00

I made this necklace for my grandmother. The stones are Apache tears. Merconite obsidian. My grandparents picked these up years ago rock hounding and finally they made it into jewelry. It was a pleasure and an honor to do this for her. These were the first to get done beause she made it a point that they were special.

Keep the faith
p

Polymer Clay: Lion

2010-04-21T19:59:00.001-04:00

Christi Friesen style lion.
From the Cats book.
Next up I want to make dragons. They might be useful for DnD if I make them on scaled miniature bases.

Keep an open mind
p

Polymer Clay: Bird

2010-04-21T19:47:00.000-04:00

Christi Friesen style bird of paradise. This is from the Mixed Media book she wrote. She did a great job texturing the feathers. Mine are passable but not as good. Had some problems with the tail feathers. I flattened them too much. To fix it I put more rounded feathers on top and covered up the mistake. At first I used too much clay for the body and had to remake it. I also did not get a feel for how thick the body should be to get the wings to lay on each other. I also did not get a hang of making feathers. With some problems it came out nice in the end. Her instructions are very good and my problems come from me not her.

Keep trying, clay can always be mushed up and done over.
p

Crochet: Blue scarf

2010-04-16T18:18:00.000-04:00

This is blue scarf made from a Lion Brand pattern. I think it is a waffle pattern. It is fun, quick and easy. Some time I will make matching pieces.
The next thing to make is scarf pins out of Polymer clay.

p

Crochet: Hat

2010-04-16T18:13:00.000-04:00

Here is my first hat. It just barely fits and my gage is tight. It fits loose. This is a pattern from a learn how to crohet book. None of my projects match each other. I have been going to a knitting group at church they are not doing any group projects. I am working on a stitch sampler afghan using some expensive yarn.

p

Crochet: Socks

2010-04-16T18:04:00.000-04:00

I made this pair of socks from a Lion Brand pattern. I did not get the color I wanted but they came out nice and actually fit me.
I got help from the Local Yarn store as I did not understand the pattern. I had made them half way by myself. The lady said I made them wrong and had to rip them comepletely and started over. It took me quite a while to get the first rounds right. But after that I was on a roll and finished them.
If you don't at first succeed...
p

Polymer Clay: Buttons

2010-04-16T17:56:00.000-04:00

I made buttons to match a piece of fabric for my friend. I mixed all of the colors and marbled the clay. She wanted basic round buttons. Nothing funky.. I have seen some cool buttons at bas relief on etsy. Oh well. She reports that she likes them and will make an outfit with them. Hopefully I will get a picture that I can share here.
p

Polymer Clay: Savannah

2010-04-16T17:50:00.002-04:00

The lion is Christi Friesen style. My mom gave me some polished stones from my grandfather's collection. (This might even be pertified wood.) She asked me to team it up with the lions in a creation. This is what I came up with. I used my extruder to make the grass. I think she is getting this for mother's day.

p;)

Beading: Knot bracelets

2010-02-07T11:23:00.000-05:00

These bracelets show off the Josephine knot and the half hitch with beads. These designs came out of the Celtic Knots book by Susan Millodot.
To make some of the knots in the book I made a foam board to pin into while constructing the knots. I think its a necessity to have the pin board.

keep knotting
p

Beading: Celtic Black Dragon

2010-02-06T16:17:00.000-05:00

This is a dragon pendant I picked up years ago. I decided it needed a pick me up from being on a basic chain. So I grabbed my Celtic Knots for beaded jewellery by Susan Millodot and came up with a necklace. It is very difficult to see with the black satin cord.

Keep knotting
p

Beading: Green knots

2010-02-06T16:07:00.000-05:00

This is a necklace with knot beads. The large knots are seperate beads, done in two colors. The knot on the end with the loop closure is made on the main string. There are two slip knots at the ends of the strung beads. This necklace was made based on a book I have about Chinese knotting called Decorative Knot Craft by Kim Sang Lan.

keep knotting
p

Beading: Shell Lariat

2010-02-06T15:54:00.000-05:00

I made this necklace based on the dolphin abalone pendant that I got when I was little. It is all AB (oil slick) seed beads. The colors don't really pop in these pictures. I wore this necklace to a wedding and got compliments on it. It is always nice to hear comments on something you make when unsolicited.

Keep beading

Cross Stitch: Barnegat Light House NJ

2010-02-06T15:30:00.001-05:00

I made this project for a friend from work. They have a vacation house down near there. I left the framing up to them so they could match decor better.

Keep stitching

Crochet: Granny Squares Class

2010-02-06T15:15:00.000-05:00

Here are my Old American Granny Squares from Crochet Bible. I learned how to make them in crochet class. Next week I will learn how to sew them together. Next week we will start socks that I found at Lion Brand see them at Lion Brand Socks.
I like learning crochet from a person better than books. I have too many detailed questions to ask that a book does not cover. Most things I can learn from books.

keep crocheting
p

Cross Stitch: Santas

2010-02-05T21:31:00.000-05:00

I framed this one. The design is from Leisure Arts Santa's Great Book. For some reason I love Santa designs although I haven't made many. It was stitched on aida fabric.

This is my other Santa. It is done on sparkley aida fabric.

Keep on stitching.

Cross Stitch: Indian Totem Afghan Beaver

2010-02-05T21:06:00.000-05:00

Here is the fourth square of the Indian totem afghan. The beaver. Next up is a deer that I started. I have been crocheting with a little polymer clay thrown in. So I don't think I have stitching mojo back.

Don't lose your mojo
p

Polymer Clay: Steampunk Critters

2010-01-31T18:35:00.000-05:00

I finished the blue afghan today and it is now in use on my bed.

Here are two projects I finished today. Steampunk elephant and dragonfly. These projects came out of the new Christi Friesen book Steampunkery.

I bought a bag of watch parts, searched the house high and low, and tore apart a watch I found to add parts to these two critters.

These projects were fun to make but the elephant had its difficulties. I did not get the trunk, ears and eyes placement right. But it looks ok. I will have to try again.

keep claying

Crochet: Blue Afghan

2010-01-31T08:37:00.000-05:00

This is my current project. An afghan of double crochet stitches. The panels are 8 rows and the connection is chains. This is a free pattern from lion brand. The yarn is homespun Montanna sky from lion brand. I have to attach two more strips to finish it. I started the project last Friday. So it is pretty fast to make. I am using a size N hook.

This yarn is hard to work with. It snags and splits constantly.

I am currently taking crochet classes from a local knitting shop. We reviewed the basic stitches- single, double and treble, and she showed me shells and v's, ribs and popcorn stitches. She said my tension was good and nothing to worry about. Next week we are going to do granny squares.

Lion brand has a free pattern for a sampler afghan where it has squares of stitches. Popcorn, v, shell, etc. I think that would be a good one to attempt.

Keep crocheting

Beading: Progress gray stone

2010-01-15T22:07:00.000-05:00

This is the progress I made on the stone. But the experiment is not working out. It slips off. I am going to try a wire backing to stabilize it. I don't think row after row of beads is going to help capture the stone. The beads against the stone are very slippery. I picked out the beads on the internet by picture alone. The pictures seem true color enough that I got what I wanted. The beads look good next to the stone.

Keep trying
p

Cross Stitch: Progress Indian Totem Afghan

2010-01-15T21:57:00.000-05:00

Here is the finished falcon. I finally finsished the outlining and the flower. I plan on starting the next square tomorrow which is the beaver. I might have my stitching mojo back.

Keep stitching

Beading: Beaded gray stone

2010-01-09T17:50:00.000-05:00

This is the start of the first stone to be surrounded with beads to make a cabachon. This is one of the stones from my grandfather's rock and mineral collection. The idea comes from Beadwork magazine Feb/Mar 2009, article Chained Elegance by Julie Walker. If this one works I'll have a good idea on how to do the rest of the stones.

Keep beading

patty

Polymer Clay: Acrylic Ink sheet

2010-01-01T13:39:00.001-05:00

Using acrylic inks I made a multi colored sheet with a sponge. I circle cut using different sizes so I could get a center circle to bead. The layers are very easy to see. Maybe I should paint the sides black.

I used yellow, orange and chestnut colored ink.

patty

Polymer Clay: Inked Sheet pendant

2010-01-01T13:34:00.001-05:00

Using the same inked sheet I made this pendant. It was sanded and buffed.

Keep experimenting

patty

Cross Stitch: English Garden

2010-01-01T12:23:00.000-05:00

I bought this design at a cross stitch festival years ago. This design was fun to make. There are many different types of stitches and motifs. This design uses Madiera threads. Which are nice to work with.

Keep sewing

patty

Polymer Clay: Ripped open

2010-01-01T12:10:00.000-05:00

This pendant starts with a silver textured layer, then a decorated sheet. The center is punched out so that bead strings can go through as a lariat type of necklace. I saw this type of necklace on another blog. She did a much better job at ripping out the center. The silver textured sheet was acrylic black painted and wiped. This could use some steampunking!

Don't forget how to play

patty

Polymer Clay: Ripped Layers

2010-01-01T12:02:00.000-05:00

I saw a pendant on the internet somewhere with ripped layers. So I took some sheets and tried it. First layer is inked, second layer is gold wood grain, third layer is rainbow striped, and fourth layer is the gold wood grain again. I made a clay tube for the back. I did not do a great job putting it together but it came out ok.

Keep experimenting
patty

Polymer Clay: Inked Translucent Pendant

2010-01-01T11:55:00.000-05:00

This pendant is three layers of clay. First layer is a gold and ecru striped sheet wood grain technique. Second layer is black and third layer is ecru base with translucent alcohol inked on top. The inked layer is thinned in the pasta machine to help thin the translucent. There is a jump ring clayed to the back. The inked layer is based on techniques from The Polymer Clay Art book.

Have fun

patty

Polymer Clay: chaos blue

2009-12-29T17:20:00.000-05:00

I was trying to make a surface made of strips of sheets I have previously made. It came out terrible so I scrapped it. In the mean time I made scrap clay and I made a block and ripple cut it. I came out with a nice blend and made the slices into pendants. So for a complete accident this is the result.

Make mistakes they can be cool
patty

Polymer Clay: Heart two

2009-12-27T20:05:00.000-05:00

Well I experimented today to fix the one with too much sanding/polishing and it came out terrible so I trashed it. This red one came out really well. I froze the cane and was able to slice thinner and get an overall translucency effect. The hearts are large pieces, so I will have to find large beads to go with them. I wish I could finish a necklace right away but just don't have the supplies. Love this project, and I have a ton of cane left to play with.

Keep experimenting

patty

Polymer Clay: Hearts

2009-12-26T21:55:00.000-05:00

I received a large stash of books this Christmas. And one of them was Polymer Clay Art. I saw this project and had to try it right away. This is a cane method of covering a base bead. The cane uses translucent clay so the base shows through. My results were not as good as the book because I am not good at thin slicing. But I am still pleased with how mine came out.

I had a few problems: 1. browning of the clay, did I bake it too long? Temp was ok. 2. Sanded the layer right off and the base color popped out. Watch what your doing while sanding. 3. There is jeweler's rouge on the buffing wheel and it discolored the clay. I scraped it off and repolished by hand. The buffing wheel I have is old, from my grandfather, so the wheel is old and used. Buy a new wheel.

Also Christi Friesen has a new steampunk book out, I must have it.

Keep experimenting

patty

Cross Stitch: Bambi

2009-12-25T23:45:00.000-05:00

One of mom's Christmas presents.

Merry Christmas

patty

Cross Stitch: Marshall Point Lighthouse

2009-12-22T19:22:00.000-05:00

My mother brought this cross stitch design home from a trip to Maine. She was charmed by the story "Nellie the Lighthouse Dog". So she wanted me to stitch up the design. Which I did and gave it to her as a present. I just went digging through my designs to find Pemaquid lighthouse, which is near our vacation house in Maine. I should make this for next Christmas or her birthday in March.

Keep stitching
patty

Cross Stitch: Pilot in Training

2009-12-22T18:59:00.001-05:00

I made this for myself back when I was taking flying lessons. I logged 20 hours before I found out I could't get license because I'm bipolar and would not pass the medical exam. You can't be on mood altering drugs.
I cobbled this design together with different lettering and a picture of a toy plane from a Christmas cross stitch book.

Keep trying new things
patty

Cross Stitch: Purple dragon

2009-12-20T20:26:00.000-05:00

This dragon was started in England where I bought the pattern. It took a year to complete. I worked on it during visits to the hospital where my cousin was dying of lukemia at the age of 29. So it is dedicated to him. This one is hanging in my dining room. There is a matching design to this but the other is much more Asian design which is not my cup of tea. I like the medieval style more. The other thing I like about this design is the border. Just love borders. I love TWentzler borders.

Keep stitching

patty

Drawn Thread: Hemstitching

2009-12-20T20:15:00.000-05:00

This project was a big experiment as I have never done these stitches before. The design is from Beginner's Guide to Drawn Thread Embroidery. This project is one big mistake, the entire thing should be smaller so I had to add filling stitches. As you can see I have raggedy corners. I tried to do them correctly but the fabric frayed. Even so I am very happy with the stitching.

Keep experimenting

patty

Cross Stitch: Towels

2009-12-20T19:56:00.000-05:00

Two of the towels I gave away as presents. Not sure who has them though. I have no memory. I kept the two Celtic ones for myself. Michael's used to have things like this but I haven't seen them around any more. I should look through my stash to see if I have any but I doubt it. I see that Charles Craft has some but not in Christmassy colors. Joann fabric seems to have some too.

Keep stitching

patty

Polymer Clay: Flintstones

2009-12-19T08:02:00.000-05:00

I got the idea for these "stones" from my step mother who found some colored stone beads in various shapes and I wanted them but she bought them all. I got the granite polymer clay by sculpey and made these beads. You must be careful when mixing the clay that you don't handle it too much or the flecks disappear. As you an see in the green one on the right bottom corner.

Play with clay
patty

Polymer Clay: Shields

2009-12-19T07:51:00.001-05:00

The design for these shields came from Polymer Pizzazz by Bead and Button Magazine. A multi step process which was not too hard. I guess the hardest thing for me was that I didn't get them to all the same. I have many irregularitites. They have some kind of gloss coat finish which I did not put on. I think they look good with the gloss coat so I am thinking of putting it on.

Play with clay
patty

Polymer Clay: Slates

2009-12-18T17:43:00.000-05:00

When I wear this necklace many people think it is made out of metal. But this is painted black polymer clay. I got the images from etsy off of other people's designs. I made a carving in a piece of scrap to use as a stamp. I painted them with acrylics. The bunny and the fish are painted with white and then blue. Then I got very rough sand paper and sanded the dried paint off to give it a used look. They were easy to make and I get loads of compliments for this necklace.

Play with clay
patty

Cutwork: Bunny

2009-12-10T19:30:00.001-05:00

This rabbit pillow is made from a design by Sherri Jones. I don't know what style of sewing this is but it involves cut work and filling stitches. All of the instructions came with the pattern and I was able to make the project from them. This pattern was picked up at the cross stitch festival down at Valley Forge years ago. The date on the pattern is copyright 1996. It goes bak 3 yrs before I was diagnosed with bipolar.

keep trying new things
patty

Blackwork: Snowflakes

2009-12-10T19:18:00.000-05:00

This design was made with the help of Beginner's Guide to Blackwork by Lesley Wilkins. The snow is falling on the birds and on the flowers. I received the fabric from Nordic Needle in one of their grab bags. I also received the bell pull from them. Blackwork works up rather quickly and is a constant puzzle solving mission to choose the best path for a return path. One trick I picked up from a web site somewhere is to choose a main path and do side trips as you come to them then get back on the main path.

stay on the path

patty

Crochet: First attempts

2009-12-06T22:16:00.000-05:00

This is my second attempt at crochet. It is mostly double crochets with some singles thrown in.

Close up of some single crochets.

Close up of some double crochets.

Close up of the puppy, Dr. McCoy. Who is actually going on 4 yrs. He will be getting a hair cut Tuesday. I think he can't see.

I made this scarf once and unravled, frogged, the whole thing. It was all uneven edged. I here it is common mistake. My boyfriend told me to count stitches. So I started it over again and it is better but not as good as I would expect it to be. Maybe it is tension on the yarn. The top is still looking bigger than the bottom. Here is a good website to see how to fix the problems:
http://crochetme.com/blog/demystifying-double-crochet-beginners

but even with that knowledge I am not doing as good as I would hope.
I am trying to finish the thing for Sunday the 13th Dec so I can give it to my grandmother for her birthday. She will be 94.

Keep stitching
patty

Punchneedle: Leaf

2009-12-03T15:00:00.000-05:00

here is my first punch needle project. I framed it myself with no glass.
This is a strange medium compared to cross stitch. You have to get used to the spacing between rows it is wider than you would think compared from going stitch/punch to stitch/punch. I have two more projects in the to do pile a horse and a rooster.

The horse did not come with fibers and did not come with a DMC conversion for the fibers listed. I probabley just have to look around the internet. The rooster came with fiber and fabric.

Punch away
patty

Beading: Bead storage

2009-12-03T14:30:00.001-05:00

Project Tray

Boxes in boxes

Tool sleeve

So this is how I store my beads. I made the tool sleeve out of a canvas and sewed sections into it to seperate the tools. I used to keep the tools in a freezer bag so this is a great improvement.

I bought the other containers from Michael's. The project tray is from the dump, it is some sort of medical equipment. It fits the rectangular beading mat. There is a Klutz Bead loom book in there right now as I am playing around with the bead loom, I started a bracelet which is lying along the left hand side.

Go beading

patty

Polymer Clay: See a Scene

2009-12-01T21:44:00.002-05:00

See a scene in a sheet of mixed colors.
Chipmunk, dolphin, spaceship.
Use texturing to pop the image and scratching to make outlines or details.

I saw this method somewhere on the internet or maybe a book. It is rather interesting what you can get out of scrap clay. And I am no artist. I let the clay make the picture for me.

I may give these away mounted on cards or as ornaments or keep them, they are too cool.

play with clay
patty

DnD: The RPGA character sheet for Living Forgotten Realms

2009-12-01T19:19:00.001-05:00

====== Created Using Wizards of the Coast D&D Character Builder ======

Thamior, level 2
Eladrin, Ranger

Build: Archer Ranger
Fighting Style: Archer Fighting Style
Background: Dalelands
FINAL ABILITY SCORES
Str 13, Con 10, Dex 20, Int 10, Wis 13, Cha 10.
STARTING ABILITY SCORES
Str 13, Con 10, Dex 18, Int 8, Wis 13, Cha 10.
AC: 18 Fort: 15 Reflex: 19 Will: 15
HP: 27 Surges: 6 Surge Value: 6
TRAINED SKILLS
Stealth +13, Nature +7, Acrobatics +11, Perception +7, Athletics +7, Heal +7
UNTRAINED SKILLS
Arcana +3, Bluff +1, Diplomacy +1, Dungeoneering +2, Endurance +1, History +3, Insight +2, Intimidate +1, Religion +1, Streetwise +1, Thievery +6
FEATS
Prime shot
Defensive mobility
Level 1: Hunter's Aim
Level 2: Lethal Hunter
POWERS
Ranger at-will 1: Twin Strike
Ranger at-will 1: Nimble Strike
Ranger encounter 1: Two-Fanged Strike
Ranger daily 1: Hunter's Bear Trap
Ranger utility 2: Agile Recovery
ITEMS
Adventurer's Kit, Longbow, Longsword, Arrows (30), Dagger, Leather Armor, Climber's Kit, Short sword, Tanglefoot Bag (level 2), Alchemist's Fire (level 6), Elven Cloak +2, Potion of Healing (heroic tier), Alchemist's Acid (level 1), Blinding Bomb (level 3), Dragonfire Tar (level 3)

Go adventuring
patty

Tatting: the poor man's crochet

2009-12-01T18:58:00.000-05:00

In this picture is a hardanger christmas tree and two tatting projects. These are the only pictures I have of my tatting projects. There were a few more but I don't know who has them or what they were.

I call tatting the poor man's crochet because needle tatting (as opposed to shuttle) is not unlike crocheting except you only use one knot over and over in interesting patterns. Crochet has many different knots.

I learned needle tatting from a book I picked up at the cross stitch convention in Valley Forge PA years ago. They were available from Nordic Needle for a while also.

I am also the proud owner of several old tatting books my grandmother gave to me. Many of the projects are needle-tatting-able, although they were designed for shuttle tatting. What is the difference? I forget because I haven't tatted in a long while.

Try something new

patty

Polymer Clay: Casablanca beads

2009-12-01T18:44:00.001-05:00

These beads were designed by desiree. They were fun but took awhile to make. They require a good eye for color which I don't have so that is why I used the original colors from the example. These beads were hand sanded with four grits and denim buffed.
I have since aquired/inherited a buffer that belonged to my grandpa and was used by my dad to polish his army uniform silver. The buff is shinier than hand buffing. So I will use this from now on.
I have no seed beads or beading design elements for these beads. I would like to make necklaces.

Play with clay
patty

Polymer Clay: Butterfly beads

2009-12-01T18:34:00.002-05:00

The butterfly beads designed by desiree are fun to make. Mine came out quite large. I made one into a necklace of three strands to make it weightier. I made a silver spiral head pin. I found matching string and seed beads for the other beads but have not finished another project. These beads were hand sanded with four grits and hand denim buffed.

Play with lay
patty

Beading: scissor holder

2009-12-01T18:16:00.001-05:00

This scissor holder from DMC screamed for a beading.
This was one of the first projects I made. These are glass beads and seed beads.
This was made with beading wire for strength.

Keep beading
patty

Beading: Surrounded cabachon

2009-12-01T18:04:00.003-05:00

This project came in a kit. The kit instructions were next to useless. This was hard to figure out but once mastered easy to make. It took a lot of "frogging" before I finally came up with techniques that would work.
Here is generally how to make this thing:
glue cab down to a hard stiff material (stiff stuff).
sew a base of beads around the cab.
make a wall around the cab using peyote stitch.
using smaller beads sew rows around the cab and reduce at the corners.
cut the stiff stuff close to the sewn base beads.
cover the bottom edge with a fringe of your choice.

The instructions did not include describing how to reduce at the corners or how to peyote stitch or how to start/produce a row of smaller beads. Everything was guess work and I don't remember what I did and probably can't reproduce it. Very detailed instructions are needed to make one of these.

I have seen other examples where large beads are used on top but I have no idea how they did that and got it to hug the top of the cab

The stings can be unhooked and cab worn pinned as it has a pin on the back.

Keep beading
patty

Beading: Chatelaine

2009-12-01T17:50:00.001-05:00

This Chatelaine is good for holding 6 tools. It was beaded with blue stones.
Making one is better than buying one. To keep it strong use a good beading wire.

Keep beading
patty

Coss Stitch: Celtic deer

2009-10-13T20:28:00.000-04:00

I made this deer from a design I found on the internet I believe. I love the rustic frame around it. (You can see a reflection of me in the bottom taking the picture) This project was done on large evenweave fabric, over two, to make big crosses. My friend and I went to a cross stitch festival down at Valley Forge one year and bought fabric from the vendors that were odds and ends on sale. So we picked up some unusual colors and weave sizes.

Keep stitching!

Cross Stitch: Canvaswork box

2009-10-13T20:18:00.000-04:00

This represents the first and only canvaswork project I have done. I have two more I believe sitting on the craft shelf to do. This project is special because my friend put this project together as a kit for me to make and gave it to me as a present. She picked out all of the colors and beads for the project. I don't know how she could pick out such a perfect project for me. I found a box for it and took it to the framer to be framed and matted in the lid.

Keep stitching!

Cross Stitch: Celtic Horse

2009-10-13T20:07:00.001-04:00

This horse was sewn onto some thick kind of cloth -evenweave. It is sewn over two to make large crosses. This horse an be made different ways. I made the easy outline version. There is a filled version also. I used the buttonhole stitch around the outside to keep it from fraying. Then I hand sewed it to the bag with a matching thread.

Keep stitching!

Stained Glass: Confetti glass trees

2009-10-13T19:54:00.000-04:00

I made these trees using that cool confetti glass. I planned making them for quite a while and finally made them in a bipolar fit of energy (hypomania). I used the diamond saw to cut the sketched shape. Four shapes per tree. I had a hard time soldering them together and was never happy with how they fit together. Unfortunately they did not last long as I smashed them in a bipolar fit of mania same time I threw the sea horses to the ground. Not to worry I can live without them. I can always make more if I want. Although I have a tendency not to make projects twice. I get bored to easily.

Happy blogging!

Stained Glass: Sea bird

2009-10-13T19:33:00.001-04:00

This bird was designed from a logo of a South Carolina community. I made this design twice, once for a boyfriend's parents and once for my step brother. It is fun and easy to make being only eight pieces.

This is the first mosaic piece I made. My friend designed the lizard. We each made one of these. We used a terra cotta bowl as the base. This thing is really durable. I have been using it for years. It is more likely to break something than break itself.
I can't remember the process we used to make this. It is possible that she drew the lizard directly onto the bowl and we glued the glass to the bowl. After the glue dries add the grout and after the grout dries clean the glaze off of the glass.

Happy blogging!

Stained Glass: Sea Horses

2009-10-12T20:04:00.000-04:00

My friend and I made two of these seahorses. My friend designed them from a cross stitch design. I am constantly amazed at how she is able to do that. She is also really good with color picking. I am hopeless. This design is delicate and airy. But very strong. In one of my rampages of mania (bipolar) I threw it to the ground edgewise and there is not a crack in it. Thank goodness. It is one of my favorites. For some reason I have both of them, my friend did not take hers home. Between the two of us we set up a stained glass workshop in my basement. She could come here any time she wanted to work. And some how we never got in each other's way. Two years ago or there abouts she moved up to Maine. And I had to "buy" her out of the workshop. So I sent a workshop care package up to her that was enough to get her going. I made out on the deal because I sent her the old grinder and bought a new one for myself. Now she's all set up in her basement.

Don't drop anything!

Stained Glass: dragon

2009-10-12T19:34:00.002-04:00

I made the dragon for a boyfriend's son. The crescents are a panel I made/designed for my kitchen. Here it is installed in the bottom of one of the doors. I was supposed to make four of these but never completed the project. Bipolar and depression intervened. So I took the panel out and put a solid pieces of green colored glass into the doors. Another depressing thing that happened when I was working on these crescent panels. I had a second panel for the most part cut out and sitting on a board. I was cleaning the basement and I dumped the board and the glass fell and broke.

I made these two candle holders one for me and one for my friend's parents. I kept the orange one.

Keep Creating!

Stained Glass: Rose

2009-10-12T19:00:00.001-04:00

This rose I gave to my Grandmother. It has the best soldering job I have ever done.

Here are some suncatchers. Two butterflies, a walrus and a bunny. I gave the two butterflies to my mother. And I gave the bunny to my sister. I still have the walrus.

This flower is the second project I made in stained glass. I took a basic class first and made a tiny suncatcher sailboat that I gave to my drummer. My friend and I took classes together. We both did this flower project and I have hers. I gave mine away to my sister.

Keep Cutting!

Stained Glass: Fish

2009-10-12T13:26:00.000-04:00

I gave this fish to my dad and it is now hanging in their new lake house. Of course I think they need a window designed to fit in this shape but they insisted on hanging this fish in there instead. Customer is always right.

The fish is back lit with a flashlight in this last photo.

The background glass is blue with green streaks going thru it. which adds depth to the green leaf strands by the fish. I have been looking for more glass with these streaks for years and never found any. I love the effect and wish I could make more projects with it. It is hard to realize at the time that you should buy more of what you're using just to have on hand for later.

Keep Cutting!

Stained Glass: Bat Signal

2009-10-12T13:02:00.000-04:00

Here is the stained glass version of the bat signal. I pulled the pattern off of a comic book. I made it using a stained glass diamond band saw. It took some effort to get the pieces to fit together. It also was not easy to foil tape since the tape rips in sharp corners. Then you have to patch the bare spots. It came out pretty good.

Some people don't understand the stained glass process. First off you don't stain the glass. Unless you actually make the glass. You buy colored glass that you want for your project. Then you cut the glass to the shapes in the pattern. Then since I am not an old timer I grind the glass to fine tune the fit and take all the sharp edges off the glass. From there I assemble it using foil or "Lead" method. Next solder it. Clean the panel. And possible patina the solder. And polish the solder. Then hang it up! It is tons of work but with mind blowing results!

Keep cutting!

Cross Stitch: Bat Signal

2009-10-12T12:40:00.001-04:00

I got this Bat signal design somewhere on the web. I decided to do it in pure black and white although I have a yellow design somewhere. I framed it myself and painted the frame silver. I think it was a wood frame originally. It could use a mat. It came out nice and it was a fast project.

Black Aida and DMC floss.

Keep Stitching!

Band: First CD by Torn Down

2009-10-12T12:24:00.000-04:00

Our band, Torn Down, two guitar players-JD and BC, bass- PV and drums- RS, went into the studio to record a cd. It was 95% live recording with no edits. We did every song in one take. And paid 45$ an hour. It took maybe 6 hours with the little bit of editing and over dub we had to do. On the fly we changed the lyrics to one song and over dubbed the lyrics. The song is much better and worth the extra time.

It was hard working with the studio manager/editor and we won't use him in the future.

We are currently planning to do a CD of all originals. But one person, the lead guitar-B.C., quit. For a while Torn Down had gotten another guitar player- B.E. and we had 3 guitars playing-JD,BE,and BC. The sound was good for outdoors but not so hot for indoors.

Since the band has changed so much without the lead-BC, we are changing our name to We3R, which has two meanings. When we are a three piece it reads "We three are" and when we have the other guitar player it is "We three and Robert." We are possibly working on another project with another guitar player-G who writes originals. He wants to do a recoding too but apparently only has one song.

This is the line up:

Drive

I Need You

Running Away

Quit Your Bitching

Kicking Man

Bird

I don't know what to say

J. Buffet style song

Eagles fly

The 80's style song

Pull the wool over

Dog

I would give it 6 mo before we go to the studio. We only practice once a week. And 4 of the songs are brand new.

Keep Practicing!

DnD: The Heroes

2009-10-12T02:16:00.001-04:00

These minis represent a core band of heroes from my Greyhawk campaign. These guys made it to 12 level.

From left to right they are: Alabern human cleric, Thamior elven fighter/monk, Eleros halfling rogue, Larian human wizard, Erky dwarf fighter.

Later in the campaign they are joined by a barbarian and a young silver dragon They are unpainted minis though.

These are Reaper minis except for the elf which is Games Workshop from the LOTR line. Reaper minis are great because they are so iconic to DnD or fantasy gaming.

Thamior is played by my step brother. And Thamior meets each of these characters on his adventures. Thamior saves Alabern from some orcs in his first adventure from the basic box. He later meets Eleros in an adventure in the basic box. He meets Larian and Erky in the sunless Citadel. Eric played all of these characters when he couldn't find anyone else to play. We played for about a year.

The game was played in 3.0 and 3.5 edition of DnD. Now 4.0 is a year or so old and I just got the books. I can't convert all the characters over to 4.0 because there is no monk class in the game yet. What a bother. It is just a way a forcing you to buy more books. The monk may be in the soon to come player handbook 3 or it is in the Forgotten realms book. Who knows? Can anyone tell me?

Enough of a rant. The 4.0e is good, it is different, but it is good. The fights should be much better. Everything seems easier for a beginner DM and new players. It has enough combinations to make experienced players happy. Although customization for characters is lacking.

The Wotc website has a link for podcasts that are of a beginner game. I have been listening to them and learning. I have been reading two blogs. One is the Chatty DM and one is the Newbie DM. They have some great articles that teach you how to DM.

I might be able to get in a game as a player at the local game store. It is Living Forgotten Realms open game. The next thing I want to do is start my own game. There are two groups I can approach for players but I doubt I'll get any takers. Maybe the forgotten realms group has some players. Last resort is to advertise at the game store. But I don't like the idea of total strangers.

Go Gaming!

Beading: Scissor Fobs

2009-10-12T01:34:00.000-04:00

This is a group of scissor fobs I beaded. These were the first beading projects that I made. Short and sweet. One of them features knotting and the last is "weaving" over four pronged tool with beads thrown in. Its a good way to use up left over beads. As is making earrings.

A fob is an item latched onto your scissors preventing them from getting swallowed by the couch.

Go Beading!

Cross Stitch: Afghan

2009-10-11T22:25:00.002-04:00

This book has the designs of the indian clans/totems/zodiac I am using for the afghan.

Here is a glance at the afghan.

Hawk. Up at the right top you can see the magnet I use for parking the needle.

Otter.

Wolf.

Wolf closeup.

I have been planning to do a wildlife afghan for years. I have two afghan blankets that have been sitting around for years. One of them will be Christmas themed and I have picked out patterns for that one. But the special one had to be wildlife and I did not want it to be too real or too cutsy. These designs fit the bill perfectly. The designs work so well because they are all the same size and fit in the blocks on the fabric the same.

I have been using contrasting thread to mark the ten stitch squares to I don't lose count on this difficult to see fabric. I am stitching over two with DMC floss.

I will post progress on this project when I get around to it. It is a wintery project. But I don't know when I will be in the mood.

Happy Stitching!

Polymer Clay: Sunset

2009-10-11T21:58:00.001-04:00

These are polymer clay sunset pendants. I made these using a technique based on Skinner blends and Look At blends. I took 5 colors overlapping and ran the sheet thru the pasta machine on 1. I folded several times so they would mix paying attention to the results until I saw a picture I liked. I also made a layer of black clay for the back to thicken it. I used a cookie cutter to make the shape. I made twisted loops and inserted them into the clay layers. Baked. Pulled the twisted loops out and crazy glued them back in. I made wire links with glass beads to make a necklace with one of the pendants.

I found some blue and purple beads that match the pendants closely and will use them in the future to make necklaces.
I sold two of these, I made five total, one to a friend and one to my step mother. Cool!

Happy Claying!

Polymer Clay: swirl beads

2009-10-11T21:34:00.000-04:00

Here are swirl beads that I made the right way. I sold one of these that is like the yellow and brown on on the top right. Which I think is pretty ugly. I like the other ones better. You never know what other people will like. The person who bought them is the owner of a bead shop. She said she would display them in a show case. Cool!

Happy Claying!

Polymer Clay: More Dungeon Tiles

2009-10-11T21:17:00.001-04:00

These dungeon tiles are made of polymer clay. All scrap. The left mimiature is a dwarf fighter and the right miniature is an animated statue.

The picture above shows some blocks I glued together as half walls and with a kind of rubble/ruined feel to them. The mini on the left is a wizard human and on the right is a halfling rogue.

This is a picture of a mini I made out of polymer clay. He is an earth elemental. I know it is pretty goofy. And on the right is a human cleric. One wall is made of blocks layed onto polymer clay using liquid clay and on the right are blocks glued together to make a wall.

Happy creating!

Polymer Clay: Grey Dungeon Tiles

2009-10-11T21:00:00.000-04:00

Here are the grey dungeon walls and floor tiles made of polymer clay. The miniature on the left is a elf sorcerer and on the right is a mordor orc that I painted. It is a challenge to get good pictures of miniatures. The best way right now is to put them on the printer and scan them in. But I wanted to pose them on this dungeon tiles.

I suppose I could just buy dwarven forge dungeon tiles. But what would I do with all of that scrap clay.

http://www.dwarvenforge.com/store/home.php

They have really nice stuff. I have seen their models at the local game store. Nice! I hesitated buying the dwarven forge tiles because I didn't want to store them.

Happy Creating!

Polymer Clay: Red Dungeon Tiles

2009-10-11T20:44:00.000-04:00

This is a picture of the dungeon wall and floor tiles I made from scrap polymer clay. The miniature on the left is a LOTR elf archer and on the right is a mummy. Both of which I painted. The walls and floor did not need painting as they look like marbled stone. The red adds to the fantasy flare.

I ordered a pound of white and black clay from amazon so I can make more dungeon tiles. I want to be able to make at least one room to play a fight in.

Happy Creating!

Polymer Clay: Turtles

2009-10-11T17:40:00.000-04:00

Christi Friesen Turtles. Almost done with these posts on Christi style. Actually only one more. These turtles are addictive also. They are a little harder to do than the lions for me. ut you get bang for your buck. And again instant success from her instructions. She has a neat way of making water came for the waves on the left of the project. Which at the moment I can't recall. But that is what the books are for. I made the turtle first and was going to leave him that way. But The backgrounds really finish off the project so I added it. You use Liquid clay to "Glue" the turtle onto the background.

I put both of these projects in shadow boxes to avoid dust. I used a glue gun to glue the project to the back of the shadow box. And added beach pebbles to the bottom of the box.

Happy Creating!

Polymer Clay: Ocean Bookmarks

2009-10-11T17:25:00.000-04:00

Christi Friesen style bookmarks. I just could not put down her books down and made all of these different projects. Here is a good example of the "look at" blends. I used gold pen to draw on the bookmark. I added a hole with strings and beads knotted onto the strings. When I baked them, the clay did not lay perfectly flat. So, when they were done they had a curve to them. This is not what I wanted in a bookmark. So I put them under heavy books to flatten them out. And it worked fine.

I used thickness setting 1 on the pasta machine. In hindsight I would probably run this thinner, 5, so the bookmark is thinner and sits in the book better.

Happy Creating!

Polymer Clay: Ocean

2009-10-11T17:13:00.000-04:00

Christi Friesen style ocean scene. I believe this was baked in one long step. My favorite technique that Christi teaches is the "Look at" blend. It is a method of ripping and folding sheets of colors of clay and running them through the pasta machine and seeing what you get. This is how to make the background ocean water of the sculpture.

Her instructions are so clear I had instant success with my projects. Her books are fun to read due to her casual, joking style of writing. I put this project into a shadow box frame from Michael's. No dust on this baby!

Happy Creating!

Polymer Clay: Lions

2009-10-11T16:52:00.000-04:00

Hello Christi Friesen design lions!

These guys are so fun to make. But what to do with them? Christi considers them focal beads. Her designs are pretty wild. Check her out at http://www.cforiginals.net/index.html

I decided they would be good as Christmas ornaments. Her books are available on AMAZON too.

My cousin works at Big Cat Rescue down in Tampa. And all I can think of are her and her cats when I make these.

http://www.bigcatrescue.org/

I've been wondering if I send them to her she could sell them as charity. I guess I would have to check with Christi first. I don't think you can sell someone else's designs!

Happy Creating!

Polymer Clay: Fuchia Swirl

2009-10-11T16:35:00.001-04:00

This polymer clay bead is my first attempt at swirling. I did not get it right but I still made some really cool beads with the technique. This style bead is the first bead I gave away as a present to my step mother. She is an artist working as an art teacher in a local high school. She is really into the beading hobby and is an excellent designer. Maybe I will feature some of her work here some time.

This necklace is my first attempt at an assymetrical design. I wore this necklace to a wedding recently. But got no comments on it.

Here is a closeup of some more of these messed up swirls. I ended up watching a video on youtube, I believe, to get the technique right. At any rate I eventually understood the technique and made some more beads I will show you later.

Swirl beads are a stage that polymer clay artists go through. They are fun and easy. They make great beads.

Happy Creating!

Cross Stitch: Tool and Scissor holders

2009-10-11T15:16:00.001-04:00

Scissor Holder

Tool holder- some of the colors are not right in these pictures. The borders should be dark green and the vines should be in dark green-not red

Here are two designs for scissor and tool holders. The fronts and backs are shown. The design is based on a border from "Creating with a full deck, Border design charts for counted cross stitch" by Bucilla. It is a 52 card playing deck with cross stitch designs on the cards.

I got the ideas for these holders from a magazine called "Gift of Stitching" which is a downloadable pdf magazine. Excellant magazine with plenty of projects. http://www.thegiftofstitching.com.au/ They have the type of projects or style of projects I like. They are not the "Precious Moments", pink style that I don't like. They also have instructions on how to finish the project. And that's how I learned to make these holders.

The third item on the bottom right is a counter. Two needles are attached to a pillow. The needles can be kept in the pillow while not in use. The two needles are used as hopscotching counters while you work on your cross stitch.

Happy Blogging!

Stained Glass: The kitchen cabinets

2009-10-11T14:19:00.001-04:00

This is my biggest stained glass project I have made. These are cabinet doors in my brother's house. They wanted clear see-through glass with no colors at all. And they wanted simple lines. Well you have to do what the customer wants.

I had great trouble doing these doors because of the bipolar and the depression. I had no confidence of being able to make these panels. One thing I did to make life easier was to have the center glass cut for me by an expert- who by the way closed his store. I made the border pieces and assembled the panels on my own. The reason I did not cut the center pieces is because I do not really know how to cut large straight edges.

The glass is clear german antique. The expensive stuff acording to the store owner.

The panels came out straight and beautiful. They fit perfectly into the cut outs in the back of the door. I am a mechanical engineer and know pretty well how to dimension things to get them to fit.

These doors were made with the copper foil tape method. I used 1/4 wide tape to make them stronger. I did not use any other form of reinforcement that I can remember.

I am very upset right now as my brother is looking for a new house and who knows what will happen to these doors. It is very upsetting. I can just see them getting ripped out and chucked. But maybe most people will just think they are factory installed and leave them thinking they belong there. How many people would commission new stained glass doors.

It is hard to believe that I was entrusted to make such a grand project with the little experience I have.

I gave these as a gift and did not get payed for them at my request. I have a hard time with having people pay me for things I make. I give them as gifts. The only thing I recieved money for is polymer clay. When my camera batteries are charged I will start taking pictures of my clay items.

Happy blogging!

Cross Stitch: Sherlock Holmes

2009-10-11T13:44:00.000-04:00

This is a design I made from importing an image into Digistitch 2000. This was also designed with the intent to make "small is better" instead of large and detailed. This design required a lot of cartooning of the image to make it look like something. It came out really well and is one of my favorites.

I framed this one myself. It looks pretty good and straight. The matting came with the frame. I have not started doing mats yet but have a mat cutter. I don't know why I bought it. Impulse buy. I believe there are many people who frame their own work. Are you one of them?

This was done on linen over two with DMC floss.

Happy blogging!

Cross Stitch: Lord of the Rings

2009-10-10T18:24:00.001-04:00

This is a design my friend made from a coloring book. I wish I had a copy of this coloring book. But I have Star Trek ones instead. She did a great job with this thing. I believe it was graph paper tracing paper that she used. No computers back then. Although I don't think she would use a computer program now to design something.

She made this and I had to have one so she gave me the design and I made one for myself. We argued about what Frodo's hair color is since she thinks he is fair haired and I think he is brown haired. I especially love the round gold frame to represent the ring.

I seem to be posting all my fravorite projects first.

This was done on 14 count aida with DMC floss.

Happy blogging!

Cross Stitch: 73 Keller Ave

2009-10-10T17:51:00.000-04:00

Here is a design made on Jane Greenoff version software. This is my house- a large version and a small version. I would like to put these in a pattern with a house in it to personalize it.

I put the dogs and the snowball bush/tree in the front. The dogs are a Westie and a Keeshond.

I hope this inspires you to make your own house and add it to a Home Sweet Home cross stitch.

Happy Blogging!

Stained Glass: Leaded

2009-10-10T17:14:00.001-04:00

This is my first leaded stained glass project. In the past I have made many "foiled" stained glass projects. Foiling is a process in which you put copper foil tape around the edge of the glass and then solder the edges together holding the parts together. The tape has a sticky side and a copper side. The leaded method uses metal came that is I- shaped or U- shaped to insert the glass edge into. The edges are soldered and the glass is held together.

Leading was a fun process compared to copper foil tape. It was like putting a puzzle together. Foil tape is tedious because the tape has to be centered on the edge of the glass then folded over onto the front and back of the glass, then it has to be burnished down to stick to the glass.

This project was easy to do. I picked a pattern that had simple lines and large pieces. This makes it easier to bend the came around the shape. I believe I pulled this pattern out of a catalog by enlarging a picture.

I did not patina the came afterwards which saves several steps. And I can't remember if I even polished it. Polishing helps prevent the solder from corroding.

Happy blogging!

Cross Stitch: Lonely Mountain

2009-10-09T21:20:00.001-04:00

Here is a close up of Lonely Mountain from the Hobbit

Here is an in progress picture of the Mountian

Here is a picture with the lettering and the dragon complete

Here is a closeup of the lettering under the mountain

Here is the progress of the border.

Close up of the border

Finished

Chart of the border runes

This is a chart of the runes around the border of the map. The runes came from the front cover of the leather bound "The Hobbit". The runes can be translated. "The Hobbit or there and back again being the record of a years journey of bilbo baggins compiled from his memoirs"

I have always wanted to make a map cross stitch. But I have not found a design I like. I wanted it old world with sea serpents and monsters on it. I also really wanted to do something Tolkien-ish. The only thing in my mind to do was to take one of his maps and convert it into a cross stitch. Appeasing two desires at once. The easiest map to make was the Lonely Mountain. Even this portion of the map is not complete- it is a portion of the original.

I used cross stitch software, Digistitch 2000, to help convert the image. It needed extensive editing to get clean lines. I would say the sizing is always the hardest since the smaller you make it , it loses detail. But if you make it too big the cross stitch finished product would be enormous and take a year to stitch. I sized it to about an eight and a half by eleven inch paper. I completely redrew the lettering and details.

I also chose to make it sepia colored monotone to replicate a parchment drawing. The border has color in it, a dark green.

The border was never completely charted. Just the corner. I did the rest simply by looking at the book cover. I am too impatient to do all of that charting work.

It came out great and I love it. Next I have to get it framed.

Has anyone else had any experience with designing cross stitch? Was it hard to chose a size and level of detail?

This was done on linen over two with DMC floss.

Happy blogging!

Cross Stitch: The Castle

2009-10-08T21:46:00.001-04:00

Here is the completed Teresa Wenzler "The Castle". This took 10 years to finish. It is the first cross stitch project I ever started. Why did I pick such a hard thing to make? I just had to have it. But it certainly was not instant gratification. I made other projects in between including another dragon that I finished in a year. This project was hard because it has tweading and very fine shading. Tweading requires you to thread two different colors onto your needle. The shading requires many color changes. Requiring you to keep threading your needle.

Many people have come up with work arounds for this type of design. Some thread needles ahead of time and put them in a card with the graph symbol. Some people use parking. This means they leave the needle threaded, park it somewhere out of the way and start a new needle to sew a new color. Some people just leave the thread hanging loose while they start another color on the needle. These methods make it easier to go back and forth with the colors.

People also sew a 10 by 10 grid into there fabric with contrasting thread. This helps you follow the chart solving counting mistakes. I use this method on almost every project now since I always make counting mistakes. I have also tried the parking method. I use a strong magnet in the corner of the fabric and stick the needle to it while I stitch with a new color.

Lately I have worked on smaller projects and I also tried my hand at framing them. Saving at least 50-100$ a piece for custom framing. I was surprised how well I did. But I still have several special projects that need the royal treatment.

This was done on 14 count aida with DMC floss.

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