Heart Update

Yay! I finished 4 last night! Let's take a look shall we?

This heart is my least favorite only because the chain stitch in the backround looks almost orange when in fact is was a really pretty pink. I just couldn't bring myself to take it out though because I had already threaded a gold thread through it and you know how tempermental those metallic threads are. However I do adore the little red heart button!

Whew! I'm glad this one is finished. I put a lot of work into this one. I am quite happy with it. The small ruffle on the right is to cover up some raw edges. I added gold beads to the center of the flowers and now you can tell there's two.

This heart is my new favorite. It's a little hard to see it in the picture. I can't figure out how to cut down on the glare. The lace flowers I got from a little fabric shop downtown called George's Textile. They mostly sell upholstery fabric however they do have a small garment section. I find the most charming and unexpected odds and ends there and I must say they have the best prices out of any other store I go to. The leaf beads I got for Christmas in a kit of beautiful plastic buttons from of all places, Walmart! When I was stringing the long beads I found a random swavorski crytal bead left over from making my wedding veil a couple of years ago. I decided to throw it in for a little extra sparkle. Doesn't it look great?

I happened to find these little guys while looking for flower embellishments. I made these last year and forgot about them. Aren't they adorable? This gave me a stroke of inspiration. I think I'm going to take a month in the spring time and explore ways of making my own embellishments. I figured I could post tutorials.

Here you can see I've used one of the flowers. The foliage was done with fly stitch in three different colors. I added some pink detached chain stitch also.

So here it is: 7/15 completely embellished, 8/15 ready for embellishment and 4 days left until Valentine's Day!

On another note I earned helped a friend move and made some extra $. It is going straight to buying the fabric I want so I can make a one block wonder quilt. I am so excited! I might buy one of those mirrors also. I'm going shopping this weekend so I will be sure to show off the fabric I pick up. Until next time, stitch and be happy!

Heart Update

Good morning all! I remembered to grab my memory card this morning so I have lots of pictures. As you know I am making about 15 quilted cq hearts for Valentine's Day. I have already pieced them all together. Then I embroider about 3 or 4. After that I add beads and other embellishments. After all 15 are complete I will add a backing and a ribbon for it to hang from.

Here are a bunch of hearts all ready pieced together just waiting to be embellished.

This heart is ready for beads and buttonns. The stitch is pink chain stitch. I braided a gold thread through it.

This is chevron stitch. I found the repeating pattern in Sharon B's Stitch Files. I thought it kinda looked like lattice. The joinings of the rows of stitch are tied with pink thread though it's hard to tell in this pic.

This is my favorite so far. It will be for my sister-in-law. In the center are two black ribbon flowers. One is supposed to be transparent but they still kind of blend together. I am hoping placing something in the center of each flower will help seperate them to the eye. The vines are chain stitch.

Here is a closeup. The flower cluster is made of cast-on stitches. The pink buds are made of 10-12 stitches. Originally I wanted to do the black buds in a french knot because the thread was so much thicker. however the knots were too small. Instead I did cast-on stitches with 8 stitches instead. I plan on adding gold seed beads to the clusters.

This heart is fairly simple. First I must note how crafting always makes me feel so generous. My step-son (who is really just mine =) asked if he could make one for his mom. He was helping me out the first night. How could I say know to that cute 4 year old face. So anyway that ramble is my feeble excuse for not having much inspiration for this heart. Really I was deflated.

This heart is finished for embellishments. The vine is in feather stitch and the stems of the flowers are backstitch. The flowers are detached chain stitch. The flower to the left is pale pink which is why you can't really see it. Wished I had used a darker thread.

This heart is also finished as far as embellishments go. The hearts were stitched in back stitch. I added a few beads down the centers. The vines are chainstich though now looking at it they look bare. I may add some leaves. For the flower I tried a new stitch. I started with a buttonhole wheel cup. Then I stitched the petals using detached chain stitch. I then decided to sew seed beads into the center of the buttonhole wheel cup.

Well thats what I've got today. 3/15 complete, 3/15 ready for beads, 7/15 yet to be started and 5 days until Valentine's day. I was actually toying with the idea of making 5 more. I must be crazy. We will see if I have to work this weekend or not. Stitch and be happy!

Hearts

Good morning all! I know I haven't posted in a few days. I am having a real problem with my computer at home so I came to wprk early today so I could show you what I've been up to. Valentine's Day is around the corner and I decided to make something nice for the ladies in my life considering our men don't even know Valentine's Day exists! This is just a sneak peek. I have more pics but I left my camera at home so I will upload them later.

So I have made about 15 small cq hearts. This one is embellished with 2 ribbon flowers, a chain stitch vine and some cast on stitch buds. I plan on adding more buds in black in the form of french knots as well as some gold seed beads.

I thought these were a cute little way of letting my girls know how much I appreciate them! Until next time, stitch and be happy!