A card after a long absence

This is a card for a baby boy - an fsl design.

I was tagged...

Usually I do check my emails quite regularly, but these past couple of weeks I was not quite myself worrying for dh's ill health, several deadlines and etc.When I finally did check my emails, I was delighted to see some new comments on my blog and an invitation to play tag with Gayle of Embroiderymad. This was sitting in my "drafts" for quite some time, so I have updated a few of the things accordingly.

Here is what she would like to know about me.

1.  What is your favorite craft?

Undoubtedly it is 'Embroidery', but particularly it is machine embroidery at this stage of my life. I have been hand embroidering forever and all the inspirations were right at home. My mother is an avid sewer, knitter and an excellent embroiderer.

Here is where I have blogged about the inspiration that came from my home. Machine embroidery may be the broad topic, but really what I am most enthusiastic about is taking a piece of art work, digitizing it and stitching it out. Needless to say I also own tons of designs from various talented designers. I also love to sew and crochet.

2.   Do you have a special room  for craft?

Yes, I have my own small little room that is so filled with books, machines, computer, fabrics and threads that my work almost always spills out into the adjacent dining area.

3.   Do you live in a large city or a small town?

20 years ago Austin, Texas might have qualified as a small town, but not any more.

4.   What are your favourite colors?

I love the 'earthy' tones, which symbolize groundedness and reliability.

5.   Do you have any animals?

I would love to have a dog - but I am not sure if I will ever feel ready to take the responsibility. My daughter just adopted an 8 month old miniature pinscher and I have had the opportunity to enjoy her and even make her some winter clothing.

Adorable puppy!

6.   Do you like to cook?

I did at one point!

7.   Do you use recycle goods or do you always buy new ones for your craft?

I try to recycle as much as possible, as long as I can avoid the temptation of 'new'.

8.   Do you have a craft group or do you just do your own thing?

This is one thing I miss the most. I do teach a small group of PSW 2.0 (embroidery software) users at the local sewing store.

8.   Do you grow your own veggies?

It seems like the entire population of squirrels are feasting on my veggie patch! Thus the only yield is a shrub full of hot green peppers! Does anyone have any ideas on how to control these pests?

Spinach, okra and opo squash.

Watermelon!

9.   How many craft books do you have?

I have so many and I still want more and more and more.

These are a few books I picked up on my recent trip abroad.

10. What is your favorite TV show.

Big Bang Theory

11.  Do you check emails and blogs as soon as you get up in the morning?

I love to see comments on my blog, I think I should check it more often from now on.

11 things about me:
Digitizing and embroidery is my creative outlet. Hence this blog!
I am a Capricorn like Gayle. I follow the horoscopes of all my family members and find them to be entertaining and occasionally provide me with hope and courage.
I am a New Years baby.
I love roses. At heart, I'm a true romantic.
Dogs are my favorite animal. So trustworthy and they unconditionally love.
My favorite book is "It Does Not Die". In fact, I named my daughter after the main character.
I love spicy cuisine.
I love to keep a list of resolutions. A day to day, week to week, month to month and finally a year to year! With such stringent structure, I do feel very exhausted when I see I am behind on my to-do list. There's always something that doesn't get done or only got done halfway. I have changed my outlook since the beginning of 2012 and have tried to look at the work that I completed instead of what I didn't complete. I feel much more relaxed and this positive attitude has helped me accomplish a lot more this year.
Cheesecake is my favorite dessert.
For the longest time, I had a hard time accepting my first name.

Lace Jewelry

I was browsing some of the trendy lace jewelry, and I was inspired to create my own! I have combined a couple of lace designs from Stitch Delight and Sadia Sews to create this necklace.

The completed necklace! Added some blue crystals for a little shine.

Close up. The pendant design a freebie from Sadia.

Wishing Happy Holidays

Angels we have heard on high,
Sweetly singing over the plains,
And the mountains in reply,
Echoing their joyous strains.

As I was stitching out these angels I was singing this song in my head from my very old school days!
A friend noted that they looked like carved marble in twilight!

A beautiful angel ornament that is glowing and spreading its warmth and cheer during this holiday season. May the joys of the season warm your heart with goodwill, peace and love.
Wishing all a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.

My Wall Quilt

Jenny of elefantz gave away these wonderful BOM designs to create a quilt. I found her blog sometime in March and was completely hooked by the serenity of the designs. 2012 was a year of introspection and revelation for me.

The idea of putting verses inside the floral framework was a spiritual journey of love, hope and prayer for my family. In the mad rush of staying on top of everything we often lose sight of the path. We make mistakes that we never intended to make. But life has its way to remind us that we cannot always plan and control our destiny and that comes as an eye opener.

Creating the designs with my favorite quotes brought a sense of beauty, calmness, and healing that has ultimately strengthened my humility.

 I have deviated somewhat in the structure of the quilt too. Here is where I have talked about the other aberrations.  I lack the accuracy of a true quilter but finally putting this together as a wall quilt for my home has made me very happy.

 On a technical note - the quarter inch foot and stitch in the ditch foot has saved my life!

Once again Thank You Jenny from the bottom of my heart.

Anthropologie Rosette Duvet Cover - DIY

“Moving around every 3-9 months can make it difficult to feel like you have a home. There's always the family house that you grew up in, but sometimes you just need a taste of that when you are away at school. After years of having a typical college dorm set up, I decided that it was about time I updated my bedroom decor. A graduate school apartment should look more refined than an undergrad dorm, right? After some quick searching online, I came across a variety of lovely intricate textured bedding from Anthropologie. Unfortunately, the price tag, north of $200, was way outside of my budget. For the time being I pushed them to the back of my head labeled in a folder called "someday". “

That was my DD's voice. On one of my visits to see her, she conveyed these thoughts to me during one of our late night conversations. I was curious to see what it was, so she quickly googled the image. 

She asked me if I could recreate it, and I told her that it was simply too ambitious and couldn’t be done. Sadly we attempted to look for cheaper alternatives, but none of them could compare to the original. While searching, we stumbled across a blog where someone had posted their experience doing a DIY of the exact bedding we were interested in! We excitedly read through the part one and part two. Although it appeared to be quite a massive undertaking, we decided right then that we would commit to the project. We made a goal to complete the bedding during the Labor Day weekend.

Luckily, my well-stocked and underused stash contained two Italian flannel bed sheets, which I had bought during a great sale. We decided to use them to create our duvet cover.

Unfortunately, we wanted to create the cover for a full size comforter, and the directions on the DIY tutorial were for a queen size comforter so all the measurements were off. We did some quick math and searching and discovered the standard full size comforter measured 80" x 90". If we made squares of size 15" (originally cut the squares 19" and then the circle in the center reduces the square by 4") with a circular diameter for the rosette of 6" and made 4 pleats per side, we could get pretty close to the right size.

15x15 square with 6 inch diameter center

One complete block

Determining the correct size and creating a template took us 4 hours, after which we spent about 6 hours (two pair of hands) assembling the rosette squares.

Blocks joined to form the first row

Completed top placed on top of full sized comforter

We needed to attach each rosette square to some existing fabric in order to fashion a cover. We picked up two full size bed sheets in a coordinating color and arranged the squares leaving a 2" border all the way around to make up for the missing inches needed to cover the comforter.

Afterwards, attaching our quilt squares to the top sheet took quite a bit of thinking because neither of us are quilters. Because of this, we spent a long time using trial and error to figure out how to attach the quilt top to the top bedsheet without any puckering and preserving our 2’ border all around so that the final cover would be the correct size for the comforter. 10 hours later, we had assembled everything and created ties to close off the open end.

And the final product

And a closeup

In case you were interested in re-creating this yourself, I’ve included a couple of helpful hints that can save you the time we wasted.

• ·        2 Full Size Sheets for the actual cover

• ·        Flannel Bed sheets for quilt top -1 Queen, and most of 1 Full

·        When you attach the flannel to the top sheet,  use a disappearing ink pen to mark the square corners first before attaching. Once you have marked them, match the markings of the corners exactly with each corner of each quilt square (we did this using safety pins). Finally, secure each corner with tie stitches using thick crochet thread and a big needle. The attachment was from the center squares to the periphery.

Ties: 9 used

And the verdict and the most rewarding part of this project - quality time spent with dd!

 

 

 

Until I find my own words...

There is an unspoken balance
time has clearly explained
between what I've lost over the years
and all that I have gained...

Every trait that I surrender
as I slowly "lose" my youth
is replaced with a life's lesson;
traded for...
a Simple Truth.

I am the product of my years;
they have created what is me.
And every day that I have lived
has made me who I want to be.

Each person I have known or loved
is a part of who I am today.
Each left me something in my life;
each helped me find my way.

I've heard it said, "If I knew then
everything that I know now..."
But we are taught at the proven pace
that time...and life...will both allow.

These truths I've learned
from things I've done
and places that I have been...
what I'd give to take them back with me
and live my life again. 

An excerpt from

Simple Truths of Life
by Linda Ellis