Finishing Spree: Update #5~Rounded Corners & Ribbon Garland

Firing up the Finishing Machine again! Here's Joy Y'all by Redbird Designs, stitched on 28 ct. Newport. This is the little project I stitched while home in Texas earlier this month. The charm is from my mom's LNS Stitches From the Heart in San Antonio. They also carry Redbird Designs.

 Here's a simple trick for getting perfect rounded corners. After cutting the mat board that will be covered in fabric and serve as the backing for the ornament, line up the top and side of a quarter with the top and side of each corner of the mat board and trace around the outer edge of the quarter. Trim the corners.

See? Nice rounded corners!

This is a Stitcherhood freebie available here. I've now finished all four and they make a really cute set.

This is also a freebie, from The Sampler Girl, but the blog it came from has been taken down.

The ribbon garland on this ornament takes a bit of fiddling. It's not difficult to do, just takes some patience. Tie the bow, leaving long tails to work with, and pin it in place. Arrange the ribbon around the ornament like you want it, and pin at each point the ribbon will be attached to the ornament. 

Glue the bow in place and wait for the glue to bond. One by one, remove a pin and use a tiny dot of glue to secure the ribbon to the ornament. Don't remove the next pin until the glue at the previous point has bonded. You might be tempted to speed up the process by re-pinning the glued points, but that will leave a very visible pin hole in the ribbon. When you're finished, you'll be rewarded with a pretty ribbon garland that looks like it's just draped casually around the ornament. No one has to know that it took you so long you had to have a cookie break.

Back tomorrow with more. I'm getting close to the bottom of the finishing basket!