15 years later...

...I've finished a table runner. This is the only project I've ever designed myself, down to researching quotes and songs about Virginia until I found the one that seemed just right. And the birds are still merrily singing away.

Four Months' Worth of Posts...All Rolled into One

I came here to find those old Airstream links (still in love with Loobylu's afghans in campers photo set), and it hit me that I haven't posted in ages. Here's what I've been busy with...

Crocheted fingerless gloves for Susan:














Stitched an "RB" monogram onto a linen towel for Gina:














Made a hat for Deuce's trip to Latvia:














Finally turned my HomeSweet fabric into a pillow for the living room:














Hosted a 40th Anniversary dinner for Mom and Dad:


















Made a happy discovery:


















Adopted a handsome betta fish:














Got my own baby chicks!














And grew a corgi. Zeke will be 1 year old next week.

The Missing Car Caddy and a Pillowcase

I was just enjoying Homemade by Jill's latest post, when I realized I never posted pictures of the Cozy Car Caddy I made from her
tutorial. Apparently I didn't photograph it, which is a bummer because I was tickled with how it turned out. I carried it around the house for a couple of days and forced everyone to admire before surrendering it to Milo at his birthday party. Anyway, check the tutorial out if you're so inclined; this would make a great Christmas gift for a little guy or gal who loves small cars.

Instead of Milo's car caddy, I leave you with a pillowcase I embroidered.

A couple of towels

I embroidered these towels and sent them out as gifts for friends recently. This one used Sublime Stitching's Camp Out Transfers and went to some fellow Airstream enthusiasts who've just welcomed twins to their family.














And the other is from one of Wild Olive's many cute patterns. I packed it up with a set of the new chocolate-color Fiesta ware for talented photographer (and fellow Fiesta collector) Elizabeth.














Too bad I don't share her photo skills...

Tramping, stitching, and going home again

While we were trailer camping ("tramping") over the Memorial Day weekend, I spent one lazy afternoon in the shade, working on this linen pillow cover. The pattern caught my eye last month as I prepared a stitching project to take to an out-of-state conference for work. It reads "East or West, home is best."














The free vintage pattern is available on Flickr from Doe-C-Doe.

Monogramming everything in sight

The Great May Giveaway ends today! If you're here from Sew, Mama, Sew! and you'd like to enter my drawing, please click down to the previous post and leave a comment there. It's been fabulous hearing from so many people and discovering all sorts of delightful new blogs to admire.

I posted quite a while ago about the coffee cozies I was working on. Typically, they ended up being set aside for a just bit (okay, it's been almost a year!)...but I finally finished two as gifts for some friends. I packaged each one with a Starbucks card and sent them off yesterday, along with a custom order for a baby named Eleanor.

Diggy Dogs

Gina convinced me to add a "Dogs" label to my blog for what she calls "diggy dog" projects and photos, and she sent me this photo to share. I made the tiny punch-needle piece a few years ago and stuffed it with dried lavendar buds for a sachet. The pattern is "Dog with Red Flowers" from the Margo White Collection.













And while we're on the subject of diggy dogs, I can't resist posting another bandana model (especially since I'm crazy for pugs). This is sweet Julie, a longtime member of our county Democratic committee.

Monogrammed Pillowcases

I've just completed this half of a set of commissioned pillowcases. The monogram is from Aunt Martha's Three Alphabets, and the peacock fabric used for the pillowcase is Hoffman Challenge 2008.

A blink or two and it's almost gone.

A crazy-busy, glorious summer just flew past. Here are a few crafty things that have been going on...














I finally made a new pillowcase for Sadie.














My loyal onesie client base (a.k.a. Gina) continues to place orders.














O is now a skilled weaver of potholders.














No matter how hot it is, happiness is a new skein of yarn.

Tiny embroidery

This little monogram took about 5 minutes to stitch but makes me very happy. The square will be appliqued onto a onesie for a baby named Jenna. The pattern is from "Six Alphabets for Monograms" by Aunt Martha's.

Saving the Earth, one coffee cozy at a time

Inspired by Bean's genius chemistry, I thought I'd whip up two or three little coffee cozies last weekend. But as usual, I was way too optimistic; this is the first and only one so far. After stitching the monogram and sewing the cozy together, I was disappointed and bored with it. So I copied some floral designs on each side, and that's when my weekend ended.














When the stitching is complete, the finished project (and a Starbucks gift card) will be a thank-you gift for a friend who loves coffee as much as I do.

Pillow Plans

It's been eight years since we bought our sofa and loveseat, but we're still using the throw pillows that came with them. Result: a total overdose of green. In an effort to give the living room a teensy bit more character, I've been making plans for new pillows.

This fabulous block-printed fabric is from HomeSweet. I'm picturing a simple pillow that highlights the lovely print, like this one.














A few months ago I fell head over heels for this faux bois crochet pattern from Crochet Today. I had great fun making it, but the result is pretty wonky. I'm hoping I can block the heck out of it and finish it up one day soon.














Finally, I have some pretty brown linen that's been waiting patiently for the addition of an embroidered Mountain Bluebird (courtesy of an old Martha magazine).

And our winner is...

...Mel G, with comment 23. Thanks so much to everyone who stopped by and left a comment, including special guest EllynAnne Geisel, author of the scrumptiously lovely The Kitchen Linens Book!

Here's a peek at one of my favorites in my own linen collection, a vintage embroidered table scarf from Trina.

Whooo can't stop embroidering towels?

I just finished another owl towel, this one in the nick of time to give to a special teacher at tomorrow's kindergarten graduation. (Owls are the school mascot.)

Taxes due? Make a potholder!

I couldn't sleep last night from worrying about the fact that I haven't yet done my taxes. So I got up at 4:30 a.m. and sewed a potholder. I feel much better now. Maybe I'll go back to bed...

A herd of elephants

My new sewing buddy, Mary Clare, came over this morning and we collaborated on a baby quilt for a colleague. We'd agreed beforehand to embroider elephants on bleached muslin using a cadet-bluish color with a little splash of other colors here and there. Today we framed the five embroidered (plus four simpler) squares with red prints.














One of Mary Clare's elephants (I wish you could see her perfect, tiny stitches here!)...














And one of mine--with, I just noticed--quite a bit of "disappearing" ink remaining...














That last one was a free pattern from Andrea Zuill.

Butterfly Kisses

I discovered Nini Makes over the Christmas break. She has some fantastic embroidery ideas and patterns to share, like this one, which I embroidered onto a pillowcase for Olivia.










Here's a close-up.

More Mitts and Towels

I made tea towels and coordinating oven mitts for most of my girlfriends this Christmas. These were for Elizabeth, Theresa, and Susan.

The List

I just corrected my last post...turns out I made 20 Christmas gifts this year. (No wonder my sewing room is such a disaster!) Here's the list:

6 tea towels
4 potholders/oven mitts
4 crocheted caps
3 pillowcases
1 afghan
1 apron
1 taggie

In my haste to finish and wrap gifts, I forgot to photograph the apron and one of the pillowcases, but there are still some embroidery pics in the queue. This is a cowboy snowman towel I made for some friends who are Texans at heart.

Handmade Christmas

By Thursday, if all goes well, I'll have made 15 Christmas gifts. (Hopefully I won't be sewing all night on Christmas Eve!) Now that my girlfriends and I have had our gift exchange, I can post a few of my projects. These are the towel and oven mitt I made for Gina.