Happy Winter....

I have been taking full advantage of the cold winter to work on some cross stitch, wool projects and unfinished projects.

I started this before Christmas and just finished the cross stitch portion a couple of weeks ago. I just love the frame around Santa with the snowman, trees and houses.

The above is a pattern from Brenda Gervis of With Thy Needle and Thread. 

I'm almost finished with this table topper. I just love all the scrappy pennies....it's a great way to use up all those little pieces of wool. I'm not sure how I'm going to finish the edges yet.

This is a pattern by Lynda Hall of Primitive Pieces by Lynda.

I also tried my hand at quilting. This was a kit I bought many years ago. I had everything cut and marked but that was as far as I got. So one very cold day I finished piecing and hand quilted it.  I really haven't done much quilting but I hope to do more.

Don't look to closely because some of my points are gone.

 Now to bind it and I'm done.  It will be great to finish this off.

I love this penny rug!

It's a pattern from Lisa Bongean of Primitive Gatherings.

All ready to be stitched. I'll start this tonight.

I listed a few things on eBay...

You see my offerings by clicking here eBay.

Have a great day,

Leanne

Organizing and a Tip....

If you do any stitching you know how hard it is to keep your threads neat and organized.

I've tried so many things but nothing has worked. I always end up with a pile that looks like this.

I don't know what colors I have and what I need to buy.

 

Well I found the solution!

This has changed my life...no really!

It's called Floss-away.

Little zip lock bags with a hole punched in the top left corner and a metal ring.  They also have a place where you can write the color number.

I found these on the JoAnn's website,



 

See how nice the floss fits in. I feel so much better when things are organized.

I don't have to take time to unknot the floss before I stitch.

 TIP: This is a good one if I do say so myself.  I do this to a lot of my bags holding crafty things. 

I cut into the bag about 1/4 of in inch to let all the air out when the bag is zip locked.

This way the bag lays flat.

 See how nice a neat they all look.

It's so easy to see the colors you have.

I have a ring for hand dyed floss, one for DMC floss and one for variegated floss.

 



 

 I've been doing a little cross stitching, crocheting and stitching penny rugs.

I finished these shamrock penny rugs for St. Patty's day.

I just love the hand dyed wool shamrocks on the black wool. I think it gives the piece a lot of interest.

 

I try to think spring but with temps in the teens and snow falling every other day it's hard to imagine.

So when the snow starts to fall I start working on snowmen...just getting ready for the fall craft fairs,

 

 

 

I posted these on ebay.  I have Valentine Penny Rugs there too.

Click here if you are interested,

 

 

 

Enjoy your weekend,

Leanne

20 Years in the Making...

As I was putting away my Christmas things I had to take pictures of some of the new things I made this year.

 

See this cute Santa on wheels? 

He was a little painting project I started 20 years ago...yes 20 years.

My girlfriend Barb and I took painting classes when our children were in grade school and continued to paint together for many years.

We had this Santa that was almost done but needed a little something here and there.

Every holiday we would talk about finishing them but never did.

This year we finished them!

 As we were painting we wondered how long it had been since we started.  Looking at the pattern packet it was copyrighted in 1993. Back then we painted new patterns that would come out so I know we started them in 1993, It's amazing that we still had the pieces and knew where they were.

I even moved since we stared Santa.

The paints were dried up but we found replacements...can't believe they still had the colors.

I'd like to share with you 20 Years in the Making Santa on Wheels.

Another thing I finished this holiday was this cross stitch Santa pocket. I haven't cross stitched in about 25 years.  My eyes aren't as good as back then but I found a light with a magnifying glass on it.  It works great! I started this last year and love how it turned out.

 I also made this cross stitch snowman...love him too!

 

 

 Both patterns are from Brenda Gervais of With Thy Needle and Thread.

St Noel is the Santa pocket and Oh Christmas Tree is the snowman.

 I also added some penny rugs on ebay

 Wool Snowman Penny Rug

Wool Mitten Penny Rug

 

Stay warm and healthy,

Leanne