Tale of a Shooting Star…

Have you seen the latest newsletter from The Sweetheart Tree that was delivered to inboxes everywhere this week? If you haven’t, go out and take a peek. At the bottom of the list of new releases is a new heart design done on the checkered Graziano linen named Blackberry Heart.

Do you see it? If not, here’s a pic:

I MADE THAT! My third model stitching job for Sandie Vanosdall and it was a beaut! My second job was Ten Lords A-Leaping and will show up in her next set of releases, which will include the final four days in her Twelve Days of Christmas. I think maybe it’s about time OSL starts carrying The Sweetheart Tree, don’t you think? 😉

And it was smokin’, let me tell you! I started a new design Monday night after doing the finishing work on those three pieces. I was fondling my stash and discovered that I accidentally ordered 2 of the Pennsylvania heart kit from The Victoria Sampler’s Hearts of America series. So, if anyone wants a brand new Pennsylvania kit, I’d be more than happy to offer it up for sale or trade.

Anyway, I managed to get more than halfway through the heart on Monday night, so I went ahead and finished stitching it Tuesday night, in between making loaves of bread for my friend Mary (that’s a story for another day).

After that, I completed the stitching on another project called Cancer Awareness Blackwork by Kristine Herber of Dragonfly Stitches. I love this design and have been carrying around the materials and chart in one of my travel bags for a while. I got a good bit done while I was waiting at the gastroenterologist’s office Tuesday afternoon, so I went ahead and finished that off, too.

I even had the impromptu idea to finish the design onto a tote bag that Mary could use to carry a paperback book or something to her chemo treatments. I started the bag Tuesday night and am totally winged the pattern, making it up as I went along and following my instincts. I was even able to stitch to my idea of making it reversible. Considering how bad of a seamstress I consider myself to be, the fact that I’ve never done a lining in my life, I think I did really well! The stitched piece was cut into two components, the wording and then the celtic knot-like motif. I did little peek-a-boo cut outs to insert the stitching portions. I still can’t believe that I actually made it reversible, too! Let me clarify that, at no time, did I have any help (except a little brainstorming with Terry) or follow any type of pattern or directions. Don’t ask me how I figured any of it out, it just came to me.

Next time, I want to try doing a squared-off bottom to allow more room for the contents. Oh, and fusible interfacing is practically my best friend! I fused interfacing to both sets of fabric, the handle and used it to secure the stitched pieces in their little windows.

Since I completed the stitching on Alyssum Scissors Pocket this past weekend and I was working from home on Monday, the finishing bug apparently decided to give me a little nibble. I put together the scissors pocket and framed two other pieces. Granted, these two pieces already had the mounting board cut and the pieces had already been pinned to the board, so all I needed to do was to lace or glue the piece to the board, let it dry, remove the pins and then insert the pieces into their frames.

The scissors pocket wasn’t too bad to put together and I’m fairly satisfied with how it turned out:

The first framed piece was The Golden Pineapple by Eventide Designs. I found the perfect little frame for it at Walmart. I forget who I sent the kit remnants to (I think it was Chelle), but I have an extra of this frame, if you are interested. This little pineapple now sits on my desk at work:

The second “framed” piece was Wildflower Hearts, a freebie by Catherine Strickler of Indigo Rose. I stitched this one two years ago and had always meant for it to become a trivet, including purchasing a blank trivet at the Sudberry House garage sale when I went up there last August. Now it will finally be able to fulfill its purpose in life:

I picked up my Alyssum Scissor Pocket chartpak by The Cat’s Whiskers Design Studio and decided to start it last week. In one night, I started and finished the lining side of the pocket, which has very little stitching to it. This past weekend, I finished stitching the outside of the pocket. It stitched up quickly and nicely. I like some of the motifs that she designed and may use them for other projects in the future.

I have also started a tiny fob to hang off of the scissors, but have not yet completed it. In the meantime, here’s a picture of both sides with their completed stitching:

On Monday, I started a new piece – the Pennsylvania heart from The Victoria Sampler’s Heart of America series. I finished the stitching on Tuesday night. I have an extra of this kit. Accidentally bought it twice. If anyone is interested in trading for it or buying it from me, please drop me a line at jenna (at) magees (dot) net.

The secret can now be let out. The multi-part secret stitching project that I was working on the other week was for Heidi‘s birthday. I was given her name as part of Becky’s wonderful Christmas/Birthday Club.

I had read on Heidi’s blog that she wasn’t going to be doing much to celebrate her birthday, plus she is feeling financially strapped, so I really wanted to go all out and spoil her as much as possible. I started by stitching up several pieces from Romance in Bloom by Dragonfly Stitches. My copy of this design set is actually signed by the designer Kristine Herber herself; I won it as part of a contest on her Yahoo! group some time ago.

Anyway, I did not manage to stitch the needlebook because I ran out of time, but I did stitch and finish a tin topper, biscornu, scissors fob (complete with scissors) and bag.

Then I went through my stash and pulled a bunch of threads, some fat quarters and some fingertip towels to stitch on to add to the Silkweaver fabrics that I ordered for her. There was so much that I couldn’t fit it into one box, so I sent a box with all of the extras and the stitched items in a bubble envelope. Thankfully, while the USPOS didn’t meet their 2-3 day arrival estimate, they did manage to get her packages to her two days after her birthday. Sorry, Heidi, I tried. I really did!

As I managed to quite gloss over mentioned in my Canadian trip summary, I was quite pleased to be able to squeeze some time in to meet up with Christine while we were in Saint John at the end of July.

I can honestly say that meeting Christine was the highlight of the trip for me. 🙂 Not to be unfair to Terry’s dad or anything, I just am not terribly comfortable around strangers, I don’t drink and being seated with the wedding party but not actually part of the wedding party was a bit awkward for me. So, the wedding was wonderful, but I was really excited about meeting Christine.

We ended up with such a narrow window of time and I was unable to get to my email nearly the entire time we were in Canada, so I almost missed the opportunity because I couldn’t look up the phone number that Christine had emailed me. I am so grateful that Christine was patiently waiting for my call and we were able to get together after all. I wasn’t actually nervous until we walked into the food court at the mall where we were meeting and realized that, while I knew what Christine looked like, we hadn’t really arranged anything specific to identify ourselves. I get a bit flustered in large, public areas, so I felt a bit lost and am sure I had the look of a frightened deer blinded by the bright headlights of an oncoming car about to hit me until Terry noticed a woman waving at us. As soon as I looked and saw it was Christine, I was so relieved! 😆

The first minute or so of any first-time meeting is always awkward, especially for me. Mostly because I’m a very huggy person and I never know for sure if the other person is receptive to that or not. Fortunately, Christine is also a hugger, so there were no worries. We made our introductions, sat down and I started yammering away. I can assure you that, contrary to most of her photos, Christine is quite capable of smiling and has a beautiful smile at that. I think she’s just trying to keep it a secret. Well, the secret is out now! 😀

I don’t remember if we were there for an hour or an hour and a half or so, but whatever it was, time flew by very quickly. I wish that we had been able to stay longer and visit more, but our schedule was tightly controlled while we were in Canada. We had a lovely time, though, and hopefully will be able to visit again. Thanks Christine!