Sunday, January 17, 2010

New Year, Two Finishes

Yesterday I finished Plum Street Sampler's Garden of Eerie:

Garden of Eerie
Plum Street Samplers
DMC
32ct linen
Hand-dyed by Moi
Started January 2, 2010
Completed January 16, 2010
Someone and I can't remember who asked about the dyeing process and basically what I did was take my stockpot, I got one at Walmart for $13, it's black granite looking, you know like a stockpot you buy to take camping, I added water to about a 1/3 of the pot, I then mistakenly dumped a whole packet of RIT Golden Yellow powder dye into the pot, I should have used less for my intended look, I placed my fabric in the pot and stirred and let it soak for maybe 5 minutes. Probably another mistake since I wanted just a hint of yellow, I checked my fabric and it was GOLDEN. At this point I grabbed my big bottle of RIT Tan Liquid Dye and splashed some in the pot and started swirling the fabric around. I stopped, checked the fabric, added a splash more, swirled some more, checked it and decided to add one more good, solid splash of Tan, swirled, then removed my fabric and rinsed it like there was no tomorrow. At the time I was not thrilled with my results and annoyed that I didn't just order up the Lakeside Linen I needed, but I'm trying to lighten up, be more adventurous, figure things out for myself, use what I have-I'm not going to go all crunchy granola on y'all but I am trying to really let go of my tendency to be a slave to the chart. All that to say, I am really, really happy with my fabric. It gives the design an eerie enough feel and it's a bit different and up close and personal the DMC just glows on the fabric. That's the only way to describe it. It glows.
The big question now is will I ever be able to do this again and get a result that I'm happy with. I've attempted dyeing several times before and honestly my attempts were halfassed and I'm ashamed of that, so, I will learn patience, I will practice my mad dyeing skilz, and trying to explore my creativity that way.
Garden of Eerie is my second finish of the year. My first is the stitched portion of an ornament for my little buddy, John:

Santa Rides(Horse)
Prairie Schooler
Finished January 7, 2010
DMC
28ct Natural Linen

The ornament still needs to be ornamented. But I'll do that this week I hope!
The other night there was a knock at my door and the sound of people singing Christmas carols. I will admit to being a wee bit scared to open the door but then again my kids constantly remind me that we live on the most boring street in the world so against my better judgement I opened the door. My friend Pam and her kids were singing Christmas songs and Pam handed me my Christmas present(we don't hold to timelines around here, both of us being crafters we understand the belated gift, mine to her is still in progress, whoops!) I opened my package and what did I find:

Why this really cool bag she made for me. The words(the design on the front of the bag was stitched by Pam) say:
I collect floss and fabric
buttons and ribbon-
A stitcher's passion is
Pattern collection

How true are those words? Here's a peak inside the bag:



Pockets! How sweet is this bag? I love it. Thanks Pam!


And below you will see the statement that strikes fear in the heart of the men in my house:

Don't we all?
For one of your very own check out:
crossstitch naked tote by doecdoe on Etsy



Don't forget the Olympic Stitching challenge! If you want to join the team blog leave a comment and we can all stitch for the gold!

17 comments:

Sharon said...

Melissa, congratulations on two great finishes Garden of Eerie is fabulous and so is that Santa. I love him he is one of my favorites. The dyeing looks wonderful. Such great finishes. YGG. I just love that bag that Pam made you, did she stitch the design in front?? I love the pockets, how useful that will be. I can't wait to see what you will work on next.

Melissa said...

Hey Sharon! Thanks and yes, Pam did indeed stitch the design on the front of the bag, isn't that just awesome?

Margaret said...

What great finishes! I love Garden of Eerie, and your little Santa ornament is great too. I also love that bag Pam made for you! Fantastic, and perfect for a stitcher! As for that other bag, well.... lol! Pretty funny!

Kristin said...

Melissa - your finished stitching is wonderful and I especially love the dyed fabric. Great job my friend! Your bag from Pam is perfect for you - what a great surprise from a good friend!

Chocolates4Breakfast (Terri ~ Boog) said...

Two great finishes, Melissa! I love how GoE turned out - your fabric dying worked well in the end.

Love your new bag - what a sweet gift! I may have to get the stitch naked bag....

Siobhán said...

WOOT!! Congrats on two fab finishes! What a great way to start the year off right. :) Pam's gift is amazing--neat gift!

Deb said...

Great finishes Melissa. I think that your dyeing process turned out perfect. I bought some Rit dye too recently. Seems that I have a ton of white fabric that could use a little darkening up. Have been a little hesitant to do it, but I think your dyeing looks great!

Laurie in Iowa said...

Congrats on your two finishes for 2010. Garden of Eerie is fabulous and I love the PS Santa too.
What a terrific gift from your friend Pam. Enjoy!

Glenna said...

I love your hand-dyed fabric! It's absolutely perfect for Garden of Eerie. Go you!

Pam's bag is so cool--what a wonderful friend. LOL--stitch naked....no more looking for that needle you just dropped that got stuck in your clothes.

Blu said...

Congrats on your finishes! Garden of Eerie looks great! Your fabric is perfect for it!

Nicole said...

Great finishes Melissa! I love Garden of Eeerie! You stitched that so fast! It looks great on the linen you dyed. :) Can't wait to see what's next! :)

Nic said...

Congratulations on the finishes - they look great!

Charlene ♥ NC said...

I love your fabric dying and admire your courage! Great stitching, too!

Caroline said...

As a fellow "slave to the chart", I congratulate your wonderful accomplishment with your fabric! Your G of E looks great - well done!

Missy Ann said...

I love Garden of Eerie so much. Your finish is fantastic. As is the fabric.

Michelle said...

Love the GoE finish! Your fabric was perfect for it!!! And the little ornament you stitched is beautiful as well. What fun!

MyLifesAStitch said...

Great finishes, Melissa! I had Santa Rides on my list of ornaments to do this year, buuuut... yeah, didn't even start it, lol!! Wishing you a 2010 stitchy pandemic!