Winner and a heartfelt giveaway

Random.org selected #18 today--Mimi is the winner of the needlepoint bracelet.

(I wish I knew how people got the image of the generator with the selected number in their posts--I can't figure it out).

The next giveaway is a Valentine's Day giveaway of hearts.  Three are hand-embroidered Hardanger embroidery finished on metal forms as necklaces; the fourth is a lacy collage pin. Two also have hand stitched ribbon embroidery.

1.

2.

3.

4.

And, yes, 1 and 3 are pretty much the same.  I taught this project at a couple of embroidery groups.

To enter, please leave a comment on this post, indicating which heart you prefer and an easy way for me to get in touch with you.  The first person random.org picks will get the heart they choose. If the next selected person wants the same heart, I'll write with a choice of one of the others.

The giveaway ends one week from today, on Valentine's Day (noon, central time).

Good luck!

Tuesday's Giveaway

This week was easy; there was only one comment. Gill is the winner of the ribbon embroidery pin.

This is a needlepoint bracelet I stitched for a guild project a few years ago. The colors are actually a bit less purple--the reds and blues are more distinct from each other. Above is side one, below side two. There is a different needlepoint stitch in each square. The squares are about 5/8" each.

The bracelet is elastic and is surprisingly easy to wear for looking so clunky. I have a second pastel one I made for myself and I wear it often.

If you would like to win this bracelet, please comment on this post, including an easy way to get in touch with you.  Good Luck!

Sorry, the deadline for these giveaways is one week from posting. I'll pick the winner next Tuesday, February 7, at noon Central U.S. time.  Anyone, anywhere may enter.

Pear pincushion winner and new giveaway

Random.org picked #2 today, so Terryb is the winner of last week's drawing for
the embroidered pear.

This week's new giveaway is a pin to wear, in time for Valentine's Day. The smaller lace trimmed oval is actually the pin. It has silk ribbon embroidery roses on ecru moire fabric. It seemed to get lost to me--it's about an inch long--so I crocheted a heart to go underneath it and highlight it.  The two are not attached so if it seems too much for you, you can leave the pink heart off.

Same rules--anyone, anywhere may enter by leaving a comment on this post.  I'll pick a new winner next Tuesday.  Please make sure I have an easy way to get in touch with you.  Good Luck!

Winner and new giveaway

Random.org picked 3 today, so the winner of last week's draw for the Alice in Wonderland pattern set is Jane. 

The giveaway for this week is a hand-embroidered pear.  I have a number of projects that I've stitched that never found happy homes, so I decided to make them giveaways here.  The pattern I used was Summer Pears from Crab Apple Hill Studio.  The pear is probably about 7" tall (I didn't think to measure it) and has a wooden stem and ribbon leaf.

To enter the giveaway, please leave a comment on this post.  The drawing will be next Tuesday, January 24, at noon.  Anyone, anywhere may enter. Please make sure I can easily contact you from your comment.  Thanks! 

Emeries--and a giveaway

This year I made decorated Strawberry emeries for my stitching friends. I had fun customizing each person's design.

Here are some of them.

All of the images are available on my Flickr page here.

I don't know why this last photo is blurry--I took them all at the same time. I made this one for you. It's a giveaway, the first of several I have planned.

This is a simple give away. Please leave a comment on this post, include your name and either an e-mail address or another way to get in touch with you. Anyone, anywhere may comment.  The comments will close at noon central time on Monday, January 9. I'll draw a name that afternoon.

Early Christmas

Aurelia Eglantine is hosting her first blog giveaway and it's a generous and colorful assortment of goodies that will make your holidays shine.

I think I made the picture a link but, just in case, I also put the same link on her name.

Well worth entering!  It ends October 12th.

Crewel Book Winner

Last night random.com picked 4, but when I wrote terryb she graciously asked me to pick again--she'd found the book in her stash.

Random.com picked #2. Aurelia Eglantine--please write to me with your address so I can send the book your way.

Crewel Friday

Busy times at work tends to lead to busy-work at home--I'm often too tired to really focus on anything else. So, over the course of this week I made a list of the books I've assembled in a pile and am reviewing in more or less depth for the crewel course. Some are on the instructor's list, some not. All but one are mine. In these days of feeling overwhelmed by stuff, I'm not sure if that's good or bad, but there it is.

I've found there are two pretty separate types of books. Those that focus on history and design and those that focus on stitches. Most books have at least a bit of both, but I believe the best in each category focus on one or the other.

A few stand out. I'd most recommend Crewel Embroidery in England by Joan Edwards and The Art of Crewel Embroidery by Mildred Davis as the place to spend your money if you're buying to read up on traditional crewel embroidery.

I love stitch books, full of diagrams and potential (I always intend to go through each new book and try each new stitch--somehow it never happens)--some newer and some older are on my list. I like them all.I've found if I don't grasp a stitch from the instructions in one book, another book is likely to present it in a way that will click.

While I was at it I found a duplicate--so it's time for a giveaway!This is a 70s book that has great stitch diagrams. The designs are thoughtful though and rooted in history they look less dated than many from this era. No orange and olive and no mushrooms. Most of the models look to be stitched with floss and not wool, it's hard to tell from the photos. That would be easy to change. The back of the book has an envelope with full-size pattern sheets for all of the designs. It's hardback, not in pristine condition but pretty good.

Usual giveaway rules apply. Please leave a comment on this post and I'll use the random number generator to pick one on March 7. Not a long time, but I want to get it into the mail before vacation in March. Make sure your comment provides some way for me to get in touch with you. I'll mail anywhere. It'll probably go book rate so patience is advised. Good luck.

Time for a tutorial and Valentine giveaway

A while back (probably a year or so ago) I had fun printing roses with the cut ends of Bok Choy or celery. I took a bunch of photos but never wrote up the tutorial. I decided that the rose print fabric would be a good Valentine giveaway. The project is pretty basic and simple but I had a lot of fun. 1. These are the very simple materials. I used trimmings from dinner--the cut stem ends of zucchini and the cut end of bok choy. I used pigment stamp pads in shades of red and green and prewashed cotton muslin fabric.
2. inked bok choy. Take the stamp pad and tap it on the cut end of the bok choy. Since the vegetable as moisture, the stamping works really well. I find it much kinder to the vegetable to turn the ink pad upside down and stamp it onto the vegetable, rather than stamping the veggie onto the pad. Most modern ink pads are made to work that way (a surprise to me after years of using old-fashioned pads with date stamps).
3. first impression. Stamp on a firm ground. I'm using a very old flat cookie sheet. You're not going to get a perfect impression using vegetables, like you would with a rubber stamp.
4. Second impression. I think the second impression after inking is often the best.
5. different colors. The inked bok choy is in the middle, surrounded by impressions using various pinks and peaches. I did not rinse the veggie when changing colors--this wasn't that critical of a project. You could do so if you wish, and pat it dry before stamping a new color.
6. aging bok choy. You can see the color gravitating through the veggie as it gets a bit tired and overworked. I rarely use more than one head of bok choy for dinner so I generally stop when it gets to this point. The impressions begin to loose their clarity.
7. Adding green. To add some contrast to the pink and peach roses, I used a zucchini to stamp dots of various greens. I inked it the same way, tamping the ink pad onto the veggie. The zucchini's hard edge shows--more so as it begins to dry out. I like this effect.
8. More greens. On the left are my two zucchini stems, inked and ready to go. I generally made more than two impressions with each inking. Zucchini has a lot of moisture to it will print more and I like a lot of different values of green. As with the "roses," I stamped randomly across the fabric, I didn't do a lot of overlapping of shapes but that could produce some interesting patterns.
9. Here's the finished fabric.
10. Another view of the finished fabric. I did a yard in this printing.
11. More finished views.
12. When the fabric was dry, I ironed it on both sides with a hot iron. This is the back side of the fabric. Ironing helps set the fabric. I would hand wash it gently.
And here's the giveaway. A fat quarter of the finished fabric.



To enter to win the fabric, please comment on this post by midnight on February 13th, leaving your name and a way to get in contact with you (e-mail or blog). Anyone, anywhere may enter. I'll draw the winner on Valentine's Day, Feb. 14, 2011.

500th Post!!

Well, I've never been able to catch anniversaries for the blog, but I did notice this one last week. Of course, what do you do for a blog milestone? Have a give away!I got busy over the weekend and made these acorn necklaces. I'm going to give away five--there's one for each 100 posts. They are real acorn tops. The "nuts" are felted wool. Hubby drilled the holes in the caps for the bamboo-fiber cords and I coated each top with a protective sealant and assembled everything. It was sooo hard to wait for the felt balls to dry (they're both needle and wet felted).

I'll pick five winners from the comments to this post. I'll mail the necklace anywhere. Please make sure I have a way to reach you if you win--an e-mail address or a blog with an e-mail in the profile. If you specify a color, I'll try to accommodate you. I'll draw a winner on Tuesday, October 5th.

I want to thank everyone who takes the time to read my blog. I know that having it has spurred me to stay busy and push ahead, sometimes just so I'll have something to post. I need that nudge more often than I should. Thanks, too, to everyone who comments. It's a nice to be part of this community.

Giveaway winner! and antoher new giveaway.

I need to make the giveaway time periods shorter or my memory longer--I nearly forgot this one! This morning random.org picked number 7--The Blackwork Notebook goes to PatB. Congratulations!

The next giveaway is from Nordic Needle. The top photo is of one of their lovely freebies: an acorn design and the fabric to stitch it. The bottom photo is one of their Hardanger books, Nordic Hardanger Bands II, and a piece of linen banding. If you're into Hardanger or want to try it, this is for you.

Please make a comment to this post before the Ides of March (March 15), if you want to be included in the draw (random.org) for this package of goodies. I will send it anywhere in the world. I will draw the winner on Tuesday, March 16.

I do ask that you include some way for me to contact you directly. If your blog profile includes your e-mail address, direct me there--that'll work. If not, please e-mail me directly or include a spelled out or otherwise uncopyable address in your comment and I'll use that. I cannot go looking for you and if I can't reach you easily, I'm going to have to skip you and I really, really hate doing that.

Sampler Winner--and new giveaway

I just went over to Random.org and the number they selected for the sampler giveaway is #6, which is Holly. Congratulations!This next giveaway is a little different. It is a notebook from a Blackwork class by Ann Strite Kurtz from the late 1990s (I think). The class was called Blackwork Variations. The cover shows her sample photos. The class takes you through various blackwork patterns, exploring how color, thread size, and pattern density will change a pattern. This is a great book for anyone exploring blackwork. The book is very well organized and has lots of wonderful ideas. The notebook pages are all in page protectors and I've left all of my samples in the book.

Due to it's weight, I'm sad to say that I must limit this giveaway to the U.S.--since we no longer can ship overseas surface, the cost of shipping packages has grown beyond my budget.

If you are in the U.S. and would like to receive this notebook, please leave a comment on this post by February 28, including a way to contact you. Good luck!

Giveaway

It's about time for another giveaway. This is a hand-painted canvas for needlepoint. The canvas is solid, the moire effect is from the camera. The designer (whose name I no longer remember) did a series of thimbles and scissors. It is exactingly painted. There are no fibers with it (I never got around to purchasing them), just the canvas. (I should have measured the thimble for scale but it's 18 count canvas and I'd say the thimble is perhaps 3" high.

I'll send it anywhere. To win, just leave a comment for this post. Please be sure to include a way for me to contact you in case you are the winner. Thanks!

If you have trouble with the security on comments, please look at my profile and send me an e-mail. This giveaway will end on Monday, November 30 at 9am central U.S. time.

August Birthday Month Giveaway #4

This one is a little more embroidery oriented, for someone who wants to try out some new things, perhaps. It's a goodie bag with five varied projects and a book. The first is a ornament kit, complete with frame, fabric and floss. The design is an ANG chart but you can do anything you want, really.The next item is a set of cardboard forms in teapot shapes. You can do any type of embroidery on your fabric and then mount it onto the cardboard form. I'd suggest lighter weight fabrics (not canvas). I've used the forms with light-weight wool and wool and ribbon embroidery. The forms can also be traced onto your fabric as shapes for designing (redwork tea towels).Next is a complete vintage Crewel embroidery kit. The flowers are pretty, the colors very 70s. The ground fabric is very nice and the design clearly printed on it. The instructions are pretty good but I'd probably want to have a stitch book handy, too.Another vintage item here, some lovely linen napkins ready to embroider and hem. One or two are done, with lovely little sprays of flowers, but most are not. One is stained (on top) with an unremovable (so far) blue smear. The linen is nice. I'd say from the 1920s. Practice a little embroidery and a lot of hemstitching. The embroidery looks like it's done with a fine perle cotton (perle 12) in a color to match the linen. The thread is not included.Last, a complete kit for a beginning Battenburg lace project. The plastic covered red fabric is the support for working the lace heart. I've made a bunch of these and they're fun. I've applied them to t-shirts and to other, larger projects and just hung them as ornaments (no backing needed, although some starch helps them stay stiff). Everything is included to complete the project.The book is a wonderful 1970s or early 80s book on smocking. It's a duplicate of one I have. The book provides a history of traditional smocks, explains how to do smocking (the key is to keep your needle perpendicular to the pleats--then it's a piece of cake), then it goes on to show some really lovely and exciting contemporary design ideas for how to use smocking in today's clothing and textiles.

Smocking is basically pleating to hold fullness and shape fabric. You embroider over the pleats and the result is elastic. So it's great for sleeves, cuffs, bodices and children's clothing (put in deep hems to you can let them out as the child grows--the smocking will adjust the width). If you stabilize or line it, it's decorative and textural without the elasticity.Please make a comment on this post before Monday, August 31, to be included in the drawing for this collection of goodies. Please include a way to contact you.

If you like some of the goodies but know there is something you absolutely will not do, note it in your comment. Perhaps someone else will speak up to claim that item. If you win, then it'll all work out! It you want it all, that's great!

I may not be able to draw the winner or get back to you right away, but I will do it as soon as I have computer access next week. We still keep trying to get away on vacation and I'm still not sure when we might leave, but it looks more likely that by the 31st we'll be on our way and Internet access will be sporadic.

Week 2 winner

Random.org picked #5 on this rainy Monday morning--Kathy is the lucky winner of the rust dyed fabric.

August Birthday Giveaway Post #3

Feed My Soul Stitches

This giveaway is the pattern by The Cat's Whiskers and partial kit for a charming sewing case--it will hold your scissors, pins and needles. Included are three skeins of overdyed threads and the gray linen called for in the pattern. I think some gray fabric, cardboard, quilt batting and perhaps beads and DMC floss are also required--they are not included. (sorry, the linen matches the fabric I used as a backdrop so it's hard to see.)

This giveaway will end Sunday August 23. Please leave a comment on this post if you would like to be entered. Anyone, anywhere may enter as long as I can reach you if you win.

I use random.org to select the winners for my giveaways. Good luck!

And the winners are...

drummroll please... #1 Jane and #16 Colleen.

I will send Jane the velvet and Colleen the moire purselets.

Congratulations ladies and thank you very much to everyone who commented.

Giveaway #2 is up now and I plan to post #3 this coming weekend.

July Winner

Once again, I let Random.org select July's winner. It is comment #16, Tatting Chic.

August is my birthday month and I have weekly giveaways planned. I hope to get the first one up later today.

New July Giveaway

DEADLINE EXTENDED TO AUGUST 3.

The ribbon embroidery giveaway didn't pique anyone's interest, so I've pulled it. This may spark more interest. It is two charts by Dancing Needle Designs: Woodland Delight and Fruit of the Oak. Both designs are primarily cross stitch.

Woodland delight makes a sewing pocket.

Fruit of the Oak is a sampler and pillow and features a drawnwork section.

To enter, please a comment on this post by 9am central time the morning of July 31, including a way to get in touch with you.

Clay swap and giveaway

World Embroideries is hosting a swap and giveaway here. If you already use polymer clay or have thought about trying it out, check it out!