August Finish

This cross stitch pillow was finished 2 weeks ago with upholstery fabric on the back.

July Finishes - Pillow and Small Quilt

My July finishes were actually started over a year ago. The pillow is made with Laura Ashley fabrics and is pieced front and back. The small Americana quilt was foundation paper pieced - my first attempt. The flag was redone several times until I finally figured out that I needed to shorten the stitch length to "hold" the pieces together. Once that trick was learned I was able to fly through the rest of it. It is machine quilted in the ditch and is finished in the primitive style to look hand made.

June Finish

This is a small quilt perfect for a tabletop. It is wool applique on a heavy cotton.

May Finish

This May finish is a cross stitch on natural aida fabric. I used sunflower fabric and assorted ribbons for the finish over a styrofoam block.

April Finish

Henrietta Turtle is a Heather Bailey design. I used upholstery weight fabrics for this stuffed turtle. It is roughly 5 inches tall.

March Finishes

The Easter display was inspired by the spring Pottery Barn display in the local store. I had painted the ceramic bunnies years ago and have one more companion piece to finish at some point in the "hopefully" near future. The glass vase sits on my latest and most simple finish. I purchased the upholstery sample at Alfred's Fabrics for $2. They have a large selection of similar items - from Toile to heavy upholstery samples - all $2 and under. I added gold gimp and the table display was done - couldn't have been easier.

The two cross stitch easter eggs are waiting for a white wire tree to sit on - problem is - no one has those this year! Oh well - maybe I'll find one before next year somewhere. The patterns for the eggs can be found in a supplement to Cross Stitch magazine from 1990. How scary is that? I still have that magazine but am obviously still using it!! I have one more egg in the works and will finish before Easter next week.

The photo of the foam box finish is from a kit for a Diane Graebner design "Pumpkins and Bittersweets Baskets". You can find her work at http://thestitchery.com/ . The piece has tiny orange beeds to add flower dimensions and is stitched on 18 count white aida.

February Finish for OPAM 2010

This Valentine's Day quilted wallhanging started as a panel that I cut apart and pieced with heart fabric. Of course the heart fabric has a direction which forced me to place insets between the squares. I ended with heart buttons to add interest. This panel is available at Alfred's Fabric for $2.50 - a bargain!!! If anyone wants one let me know. The panel actually has 10 inserts so there is an extra one for a pillow or bag.

The top photo is my Valentine's Day table display - an ice tree, my silver deer which will live on my table year round, and a ceramic heart box I made in ceramics years ago. Happy Valentine's Day!!