Another try at explaining...

And I am going to use my internet resources to see if I can come up with another way of explaining yo-yos! LOL

The following information came from Alaska State Museum

Yo-Yo quilts take determination and perfection because each individual circle
must be exactly the same size in order for the quilt to be pieced together correctly.

The Yo-Yo quilt was a popular style of quilt making in America from the
1920-40s. Yo-Yos, or tiny circles of fabric, were gathered up at the
edges and sewn together to create a three-dimensional effect. Yo-Yo quilts
were popular because women could carry the little circles of fabric with
them and make Yo-Yos whenever they had a free moment.

Yo-Yo — a novelty quilting technique in which circles of fabric are gathered into flat pouches and sewn together to make bedspreads or other items. The technique has
roots in nineteenth-century handwork, but became very popular in the twentieth century.


At the above website, there is also a picture of a finished quilt. It might give you a better idea of what I am talking about.

Hopefully this helped...if not, expect another explanation tomorrow! LOL

Yo-yo pictures...

And a better (I hope) explanation of them for Helen! LOL

Okay, this is the only picture I can get to load today. Blogger is not letting me load the other one.



These are about 1 inch in diameter and they will be sewn side by side like the picture above. Once they are sewn together, it can be used! LOL There is no backing on it or batting in it. It is just these circles side by side. I am making a twin size blanket, which means I need to make 6336 of them...not many, huh? LOL LOL

A ticker at the top!

You will notice that I have added a ticker at the top of my blog. That is the countdown for the yo-yo's that I have to make for a twin size blanket. Not too many, just 6,336! LOL Under the ticker it says scrapbook ticker...well, it's the only ticker that I could find that would let me do a countdown the way that I wanted to! So, watch me sew these yo-yo's as fast as my fingers can fly! LOL LOL

A picture of my 901 completed yo-yo's will have to wait. Blogger won't let me upload the photo right now! LOL

Check back for another bad photo by me!

I won! I won!

What did I win?

I won awards from the county fair! LOL



(apologies again on the bad photography...perhaps a disclaimer on the side of my blog would help? LOL)

I won on my picture called Backyard Beauty--It took a first. My Santa cross stitch won a second place. My tatted doily took a first! I am so proud! They are all labeled as Prize Winner...so you can click on the label link at the bottom of the page and it will show them to you!

Currently, I haven't been working on cross stitching...I have been making a yo-yo quilt. I have made 300 something 1" yo-yo's. It's fun! No pics yet...I will post some another day! LOL One horrible picture in this post is plenty!

Enjoy your evening!

Lots of new things to share!

First thing--I took the Lizzie*Kate picture and made it into...well, something! LOL. I don't know what I will do with it, but it's cute like this. I am going to add some yo-yo flowers in the corners and some leaves. I'll decide later what it is! LOL


This is a needlecase that I made from a pattern I found at Cinderberry Stitches

I really thought that this was a cute pattern. Of course, I veered from the pattern a little bit...the cover is supposed to have some embroidery on it, NOT yo-yo flowers. LOL Oh well, I like it! :)

Cover:


Inside: The blue strip is some felt for placing needles in, there is a pocket at the bottom of it.


Back:



Here is an update on the quilt picture:

Got visited by the "frog" last night! UGH!

Sorry it's so dark...seriously need to consider taking a photography course! LOL

The upper left hand square has that nice plaid pattern in it...well, I used the wrong color in the now yellow squares! OOPS! Had to rip it all out and use the right color! The symbols on this chart are all so similar--some of them are the same symbol just a different color. Anyway, mixed my \ up with /. *sigh* But, now things are back in order and all is well!

I would also like to apologize to Amber...I didn't list you when I listed my blog readers. Thanks for reading! LOL So, that makes 4 people that read this! HA HA HA!

Okay, here are those other pictures...a little late!

So, I didn't get to the pictures as fast as I would have liked...but here is an updated picture on Family Tree:



This is the picture that I had waiting...it was kitted up and ready to go--now, it's on the go! LOL I think I am going to enjoy this one! There is a TON of backstitching though!

Shocked with myself!

Has it really been almost 2 months since I last posted! Anyone who reads my blog must assume that I have dropped off the planet (I guess that would be Jackie, Karen, and Helen, right? LOL)...

I HAVE been stitching...and will post an update of My Family Tree picture tomorrow--okay, later today since it is after midnight! LOL

Here is my Round Robin piece for the Cross Stitchers Forum. This design is by Margaret Sherry. There are 4 gals in this all together...so I picked the Winter cat, and the other girls get to pick their season to stitch!

More on Family Tree...

I started stitching on the Family Tree picture again...since I finished Amazing Grace.

I think that progress is slow--I am just not a fast stitcher at all! LOL

Here are some current pictures:

Amazing Grace is DONE!

I finished! I finished! LA LA LA LA LA!

Well, here it is! My Amazing Grace! I am so excited!!




Amazing Grace
Began 3-25-08
Finished 5-2-08

I am so happy with it...Now, if I just had the money to get it framed! LOL

Title troubles...

Can you tell that I am having trouble deciding what to title my blog? I am not happy with some that I have picked...but I kind of like the current title...and I haven't been on any blogs with this title...

I guess I will leave it for a while--unless something better comes to mind! LOL

An Update on Amazing Grace

I have been working on my Amazing Grace picture and can't believe how far I've come with it--in a short time for me!

The newest picture of it:




I realized another reason to blog today--and it's crazy that I just came up with it!--It shows my progress on projects--TO ME! I have been thinking it was to show others what I am doing...but it works just as well to show me how far I've come! LOL

Sometimes, I am such a blonde! LOL LOL LOL

My exchange piece revealed!

My completed work arrived in the UK without incident...so today I have the chance to post pics of it! The lady I made it for--Hollie--loves cats so here is what I chose:

Front:


Back:


I also finished 2 more Lizzie*Kate pictures...I didn't take pictures of them but they were Bloom and Friendship Grows. I have one more of these to do--the one that is called Count Your Blessings. These are so cute and so fun (and fast!)...now I just have to figure out how to finish them! LOL

Amazing Grace and Small finishes...

So I had been busy stitching on my Amazing Grace picture....



Then I found these freebies on the Lizzie*Kate website...and had to do them! I used my own colors of floss (the new varigated from DMC) to personalize them. I think that they are cute...and I am almost done with a 4th one.

Received my exchange piece in the mail today!

THANKS KAREN! I LOVE IT! Isn't it beautiful! I was SO excited to find it in my box today!!

Oh, wait, you want a picture? Sure, here you are!!!

Grrr...a gripe!

I was SO excited about my Anchor thread...so I went through them and marked the ones I got off on my list...so that I could have a list of just the ones that I still need...

The lady at the store where I bought them was one of those "overly-helpful" types and refused to let me get my own thread! She made me read each color off to her and she would dig them out. I HATE that! I am an adult--and deserve to be treated as such! Well, she got the thread for me and immediately took it to the counter--like I was going to fill my purse with them or something--so I didn't get to look it over before I bought it.

Going through it, she gave me TWO of one color and one COMPLETELY WRONG COLOR! ACK! She wasted MY MONEY ON HER MISTAKES! That really ticks me off. I mean, sure it was less than $2.00, but I could have used that to get the colors I really need!

So if any shop owners read this--let the customer do it themselves if they ask! PLEASE! Either that or let them check through the thread when you are done! Makes me NOT want to go back to that store!!!

End of Rant!

Went shopping again--last time for a LONG time!!

Well, the money tree has lost it's leaves...I went to my final craft store for awhile...except to pick up a stray skein of floss every now and then... *sigh* All good things must end.

I did find a store that had Anchor thread--finally!!--and bought some thread to do the Margaret Sherry Seasonal Cats picture...I don't know if that name is right...but that is what it consists of! LOL

The lady at this craft store insisted that they don't make DMC color 728...because it wasn't on her drawers or listed on her ancient color list (which was yellow with age!). I couldn't convince her, so I left without it...and bought the "non-existant" color at Michael's instead. LOL It's the color that I am currently using on the picture in my last post. I had already bought one skein of it--so to say it didn't exist would be odd--the pattern is from April 2008 issue of a magazine!

I also got myself a really nice pair of Gingher scissors...they are really pretty--it's not any of their high end pairs...but they are nice enough for me--and nicer than anything else that I have.

I will post pics of them if anyone wants to see them...otherwise, they are just a pair of scissors! LOL

Well, off to wind some thread and maybe do some stitching. I am having some family issues and I am worn out--my eyes are heavy...so I don't know how much stitching I can do like that!

For the few that read my posts and reply...thanks so much...oddly, it makes me feel good that others are actually interested in what I do!

A Few New Experiences!

Here is my latest WIP...it is called Amazing Grace--and it is from the same issue of Cross Country Stitching that the last project came from. I have never stitched on black fabric before! It's not as hard to see the holes as I assumed it would be.

Last night, I really had the itch to stitch...and so I sat down to do so--and the power went out...again! ARGH! So, I used my little booklight and stitched away! LOL It was hard on the eyes--but I think it was worth it! I got about 2 hours of stitching time in like this! I wore my MP3 player and had a great time! LOL

Oh, now you probably want to see a picture--here goes!

Woohoo! A finish!

I started a new picture not too long ago--it's from the magazine Cross Country Stitching...the April 2008 issue. It's called Love Covers All. I stitched it pretty quickly for me! The backstitching took the most time--there is a TON of it! LOL I turned it into a Bible cover--I have a small Bible--and this was the perfect size to make into one!

Happily stitching away!!

I know I have posted any new pics lately on things I am stitching...but I am almost done with an exchange gift and can't post a pic of that! LOL

I am going to start a new project soon (that's like 400 projects in the works! J/K LOL) It will be one called Amazing Grace and it is done on black fabric. I haven't stitched on black before. As long as I have been stitching, I tend to stick with ecru or white...but, really like this pattern so we will see what transpires...

Also got some thread to start some Popcorn (teddy bear) pictures. Haven't stitched one of them before--but really want to do one...

And of course, I will get back to my BIG Family Tree pic soon...needed a break!!

Happy stitching, all!

Got some new stash!

Gotta love tax refund time!! LOL I went shopping on Saturday and shopped my little heart out! Want to see what I got????








-The big tube of aida is ivory 16 count.
-There is a small package of black 14 count aida.
-Over 60 skeins of floss.
-2 magazines.
-3 packs of floss bobbins.
-a new punch needle kit (the box with the coffee mugs on it)
-2 band aida bookmarks
-and the polka dot thing is a tin that I plan on covering...it is a gift card tin from the local craft store--it was cheap and I thought it might be fun!

Got in some stitching time!

Here is what I have been able to do lately...doesn't seem like much! LOL

Also, I am doing my first stitching exchange! I am so excited! I would show a picture of what I have done, but the lady who it is for might read my blog! So, when I get it sent out (which will be awhile--the exchange posting date is March 31st).

It's so nice to find time to do crafts again. Another thing I did was make more of those blankets that I have made before. I made 16 and have sold 2 and have another one ordered! Woohoo! I'm so excited...it's how I get my crafting money. Make things to sell + selling them = more money to buy supplies.

Need time to stitch...desperately!

Everyone is sick in my house...and I haven't had time to stitch in too long! I have an itch to stitch! Hopefully, since DH is on the mend (stomach flu) and I am over it--we will both be able to deal with DD's Croup--which struck last night! *sigh*

I have stitched some on my Family Tree picture--but not enough to post the pic of the difference. Hopefully soon I will have some real progress to show!

Tried something new...

So, in my quest to do all things crafty, I bought a small kit to try punch needle embroidery. I found a clearance kit and gave it a go. Here are my results:




I only take blurry pictures if you can't tell! LOL It shows less mistakes that way! HA!

A Young Stitcher!

My daughter is always wanting to help me stitch...and sometimes I let her help me pull the needle through the fabric...

Ignore the part with me in it--I am in my jammies without my hair being done. I look bad--so just look at the cute girl with the needle! LOL (She is 2 1/2)

My work in progress...

I started a family tree picture on December 28th that I am SO excited about! Here are a couple of pictures of where I am now!

This is the whole piece of aida that I am working on:


I am about 1/4th of the way done!

More Stitching ideas...

This is a picture of the lap desk that I use while stitching. As you can see, I have modified it drastically! I have attached hooks (like the ones that my scissors are hanging from) a pin cushion (the striped thing in the upper right hand corner) and velcro dots that I use to attach my marker to mark off my pattern, my needle keeper, and other various items that I use.

Behind the pattern, there is a metal board attached that I can use magnets and attach my patterns to. You can see that I use the loose leaf binder rings to attach my cut thread holder to the handle of the desk.

Having everything attached really helps in that I don't lose things down in the couch, my daughter can't take off with it (she's 2 1/2) and if I have to set it down somewhere, things will still be there when I return.

Modifying this desk has been a great help to me--and has really made me keep my stitching organized!!

Couple more cross stitch photos

These are some finished (and framed!) projects of mine--the Care Bear one was a gift to a friend--I turned it into a birth announcement and the second one is mine! My MIL paid to have it framed for my Christmas gift! I personalized the license plate with our anniversary date!

Other stitchings...

Since I am adding my cross-stitching to this page, I guess I will add in a few more pictures that I have finished--these haven't been framed yet....framing is expensive (sometimes) and I am always broke! LOL Forgive the bad photography--can you tell my first love is the cloth--not the camera? LOL

To My Stitching Friends...

Here are the pictures of my Index Card Cut Thread Holder...The one in use is kind of a blurry picture but, basically it is an index card divider made of hard plastic that I have punched holes in--2 at the top and 6 at the bottom. I use removable labels to write the color and the symbol on...which make it easy to change out at the end of a project! The top is held together with two loose leaf binder rings. If you have questions...post to me...

(oh, I don't update my blog often...I do tat--just picked up my stitching again for a while! )

Hope this helps someone else!