Counting Pin Storage

 

When I was a very young stitcher almost 40 years ago, I loved to buy lots and lots of charts. Over the years, my tastes have become more selective and for a long time now I've been buying far fewer charts but more fabric and goodies. One of my favorite goodies is counting pins. As you can see, I have a little collection, some purchased, some homemade. Some were on the cards they came on when I bought them, some were in a small tin. I decided to make a counting pin book.

I already had everything I needed in my sewing room, including the floss bags and binder cover. I get those from Hobby Lobby (I'm sure they're available elsewhere) and keep them on hand because that's what I use to store my hand dyed threads. It just hadn't occurred to me to use them for my counting pins. The only other things I used were cardstock and felt.

I just cut small pieces of cardstock and stapled strips of felt to them. 

Slip them in the floss baggies and put the baggies in the binder and done! All together and organized. 

January Things: Homemade Cocoa & Aliens

 

For a lot of stitchers, maybe most, January is the month with a flurry of new projects. It has become a tradition to begin a new piece on New Year's Day. There are many SALs and monthly series that kick off in January. I don't know if it's still going, but one had stitchers starting a new project every day in January (that one gives me anxiety so we won't dwell on it, but to each their own). I'm not much of a SAL stitcher, but I do almost always have a New Year's Day start, and I do love a good monthly series, but I'm picky about those and like to see all the months before starting one. The point is, it seems a lot of stitchers like to hit the ground running in January. 

Me? Not so much. My approach to January is pretty leisurely, stitching-wise and otherwise. While everyone else is signing up for the gym and eating lettuce and starting 30 new projects, I'm over here burrowing deep down into my winter hibernation, even here in this warm climate. It has always seemed unnatural to me to plunge into furious activity in the middle of winter. I do that in the spring. But in January, I hibernate. 

So I've been playing in my stash and stitching aliens and making cocoa.

Wait. What?

Yes, we're off to a delightfully weird start this year. This is my first finish of 2025, Get In Loser, by Jen Medrano of Under the Sea Fabrics. I spotted the stitched model when I was in the shop in December and bought the chart immediately. I mostly followed the suggested colors, but didn't have the glow-in-the-dark beads so I just substituted the lightest green. I stitched it on 28 ct Monster Mash Lugana from PTP, which (bizarrely) has become my go-to fabric for a wild night sky.

Mooo.

You know how when you take down the Christmas decorations the house looks a little bereft? A lot of my Christmas decorations are actually winter decorations, so I put away the Christmassy stuff and leave the rest out and it really helps keep the house looking cozy.

During the holidays, my favorite French Vanilla cocoa disappeared from the stores and I couldn't find it anywhere. I went on the hunt and found a recipe for a homemade mix that is a perfectly good substitute. I also made a little cocoa tray for my kitchen. Very cozy.

French Vanilla Cocoa Mix

1 1/3 c. powdered milk

1/2 c. confectioners sugar

2 oz. French Vanilla powdered coffee creamer

1/2 c. chocolate Nestlé Quick

1/3 c. plain powdered coffee creamer

pinch of salt

Mix well and store in an airtight container. Use 3 generous tablespoons of mix per mug of boiling water. Add LOTS of whipped cream and drizzle with chocolate. 

Where else can y'all get cozy tips, cocoa recipes, and alien stitching, all in one post?

Hope you're all safe and well. I'm keeping Southern California in my prayers. Back soon with sewing room stuff.

Happy New Year!

 

Wishing all of you a happy and healthy year with lots of stash and oodles of finishes!

 

It's Stitchy Planning Week!

 

My favorite week of the year! For many years, my annual, just-for-me tradition has been to spend the week between Christmas and New Year's Day in my sewing room, playing in my stash and planning my projects for the coming year. It's the perfect week for me. The busyness leading up to Christmas has passed and there is the feeling of a pause, taking a breath before the new year begins. The house is clean and decorated, the cooking is done, the snacks are laid in. What better time to indulge in all things stitchy?

I haven't been able to have a proper Stitchy Planning Week for several years, so I'm very much looking forward to this one. I putter in my sewing room, tidying where needed. I go through my stash, and usually clean it out a bit. I plan my projects, and make lists (I love lists) of ideas and supplies needed. Most importantly, I look forward. I wrote about this aspect of stitching a long time ago and I find I understand its value even more ten years later. It is absolutely vital to have something just for you that pulls you forward. Even with everything I've been through since I wrote that, and especially in the last few years, I never lost my love of stitching. 

Or--let's be honest--my love of shopping for stitchy goodies. And right up at the top of my list is fabric. I love fabric. I have a lot of fabric. I always need more fabric. Here is a plug for some beautiful fabric and the nice ladies who dye it:

In early December we made a trip to Texas (bonus baby pics coming up!), and while we were there I got to visit a new-to-me fabric dyer, Under the Sea Fabrics. Actually, we all went: Mr. Wonderful, my mom, and my aunt. Before I get to the fabric, I must praise the ladies there for making our visit so enjoyable. I always visit a new LNS with some trepidation, as it seems most stitchers have a "LNS horror story", including me. The very worst shopping experience I have ever had was in a LNS. So here I was, with my husband and two elderly relatives in tow.

They could not have been more kind. They were warm and welcoming, made sure my mom and aunt were looked after, and even supplied Mr. Wonderful with his favorite coffee, so I could concentrate on my fabric shopping. It was wonderful, and my mom and aunt (who don't get out much) were still talking about it the next day. If you're anywhere near San Antonio, TX and you love fabric, it's worth the trip.

Now the fabric! I had a hard time making up my mind, but I decided to choose colors that were different from anything I already had.

Top: Heaven's Fury, 32 ct. Jobelan; peachy and pinky with a bit of yellow

Bottom: Scylla, 28 ct. linen; blueish green

Hamlet, 32 ct. linen; this picture is very true to life

Top: Ceres, 28 ct. linen; grayish brown, or brownish grey, depending on the piece

Bottom: Anubis, 32 ct. linen; cinnamony brown, not as orange as the picture

Gorgeous fabrics. You can't really go wrong with anything you choose. And they have tons of opalescents, if you love those. I think the last two are my favorites, but they're all beautiful.

I've got a little cooking and baking to do for New Year's Eve/Day, but once that's done I plan to retreat into my sewing room and who knows what I'll get up to. Stay tuned and find out!

Bonus Baby Pics! Trip to Texas: 2022 & 2024 (They were so tiny! *sniffle*)

Merry Christmas!

 

Caterpillar & Clothes Pin Display Stands

Years ago, I posted a tutorial for homemade display stands that has been one of my most viewed posts. They're easy to make and you can really fancy them up in any way you want. But for my Christmas village I wanted display stands that didn't show and were quick and easy to make. I came up with what I'm calling Caterpillar & Clothes Pin display stands. Let's make some.

All you need is some clothes pins, some pipe cleaners, and a hot glue gun.

Take the clothes pins apart. 

Glue the pieces back together as shown. It just so happens that this creates the perfect angle for the stand.

This is the caterpillar part. Wrap a pipe cleaner around a ruler 1 1/2 times so that you have a double section on one side and a single section on the other. Snip off the remainder.

Line up the bottom of a clothes pin stand with the bottom of the finished piece and make a small mark on either side of the top notch on the stand. Put some hot glue on the double section of the caterpillar and glue it onto the marked spot.

Slide the stand into the caterpillar. You'll feel the notch catch and secure the finished piece to the stand.

And that's it! When you're ready to put away your finished stitching, just slide the stand out of the caterpillar.

My Christmas Village: Day Five

 

It's the last day of my Christmas Open House and it's time for the big reveal: my very special little village in all its cozy, wintery, Christmassy glory! Enjoy!

Another year in the books! I hope you've enjoyed visiting my Christmas village. I have about half a dozen more buildings/shops I'd like to add in the coming years, including at least a couple of "renovations" similar to the Main Gate and the Pottery shop. This has been a really fun project and it turned out just as I hoped it would, very personal, with each building reminding me of someone or something I love. If you'd like to see how I made the invisible display stands for my village, come back tomorrow for a first-ever Christmas Open House Bonus Post!

Thank you so much for joining me this year, and for all the kind comments you've left. It's so heartwarming to know there are so many of you who look forward to this every year, and it's humbling to be a part of your Christmas. I hope all of you have a wonderful and safe holiday season, and that Santa brings you lots of stash, or more time to stitch, whichever is tops on your list! 

From our home to yours: MERRY CHRISTMAS!