Want to see what I've been up to? Lots of pics to see!

That's an ort bag/scrap bag ("stitching trash" as my husband calls it, LOL) view from the front.

Brown and blue tote/purse monogrammed...

Pink and brown tote monogrammed...

Baseball bag for a local baseball team...

Another monogrammed pink and brown bag...

Another baseball bag embroidered for a local baseball team...

Music tote...

Stitching bag, embroidered...

LOL, I love this one -- zebra stripe and hot pink "Spoiled Rotten Princess" tote...

Green quilted patchwork bag...

Can you tell I've been sewing? LOL! I've been selling these bags. If you're interested, feel free to drop me a line at loriray2003@yahoo.com or visit my Facebook page "Needlecrafts By Lori". Custom requests are welcomed!

Thanks for looking. Hope everyone in blogger-land has been doing well. :-)

Another sewing finish

After making my serger ort bag and zippered bag yesterday, I was creative in my craft room again today and made my first tote bag, woo hoo! It measures about 11" x 11" and is about 5" wide...hope that makes sense...and the handles are one inch wide.

Here are the two pictures of the bag -- the first is the outside of the bag and the second is the inside of the bag:
The bottom has a firm insert (cloth-covered plastic canvas) to help keep the rectangular shape.

Thanks for looking and for letting me share.

Hope everyone is having the type of week where it's easy to count your blessings. :-)

Sewing/serger finishes

I was a crafty sewing gal today! First, I made a large American Flag zippered bag with an aida insert:

And second, I made this cool thing that my serger sits on and has a bag attached by Velcro to collect orts and scraps:

I did most of the work on the zippered bag the other day but put some finishing touches on it tonight. The serger bag I started last night but spent most of the afternoon working on. I even learned how to make "box(ed) corners"! I do plan to make a similar bag/mat to fit the dimensions of my sewing machine.

Thanks for looking! Hope everyone is having a great week. I plan on posting more finishes Friday...stay tuned!

"O Beautiful" back from the framer

My stitching may not be perfect but the mat and frame job from my local framer is.

I love it! Sorry for the bad photo...there really isn't a light spot on the blue mat. It's just a glare.

Thanks for looking!

Now off to play in my craft room...what to do, what to do...maybe I should make more zippered cosmetic/sewing bags. I've sold quite a few already. Wanna take a peek?

http://s37.photobucket.com/albums/e91/LoriRay2003/Cosmetic%20bags%20for%20sale/

The photo comments show pricing and details. Feel free to ask questions, especially if you're wanting something custom-made -- I'll see what I can do! :-)

A Hillside Samplings finish

Yesterday I decided to start the little pincushion from the Hillside Samplings/Liberty Hill kit called "Folk Art Sewing Box". Well, I was up until almost 3 AM (*gasp!*) and got it finished. I've already added it to my curio cabinet dedicated to Liberty Hill. So, here it is up close:

And from a little bit farther away so you can see a little more of the cabinet:


I did the little scissor fob last year. All that's left of the kit is to line the little oval box with the fabric provided in the kit and it'll be all finished. I LOVE Liberty Hill and Hillside Samplings!


Today I plan to stitch the March installment of the "Heart Stitchalong" and work on another WIP or two while watching NASCAR. Goooooooooo Tony Stewart!

It's done! IT'S DONE!!!

The above pictures are the top and bottom halves, up close. Below is the whole thing:

Info for those who may not know -- this was a kit by Shepherd's Bush called "O Beautiful". The chart is already spoken for.

I am so happy to have this project done. Next week I will take it to the framer's. Pictures to follow when I get it back. :-)

Stitching progress pictures

Hello to my fellow stitching addicts! Let me warn you that the past two days have been horrible with my sinus issues, bad sinus headaches, and a low-grade fever. I am feeling better today but you might not want to get too close, 'kay? ;-) *ACHOO!*

This week, I was able to work on several projects. They were...

"Tall Guys - Valentino's Three" by Holiday Sparrow:

Please pardon the wrinkles as it is still a work-in-progress (WIP) so why bother ironing it yet, right? Besides, I think ironing was something invented by Satan himself. ;-)

"O Beautiful" by Shepherd's Bush:

"Heart Stitchalong" from a blog by Sylvia (http://syku66.blogspot.com/):

Sorry for the icky picture -- the pattern is underneath the fabric and I didn't realize it would show through when I took the picture.

I can't wait for the Nashville market releases to be posted on Saturday!!! There are several things I think I cannot live without -- the new Impie, Hattie and Bea release (I don't even know what it is but I gotta have it!) and I fell in love with Shepherd Bush's "Liberty Pincushion". I have been a very good girl when it comes to not buying new stash so I think a couple of these new releases are going to be a reward for me. :)

So now I need to get started and get an ornament stitched for the monthly ornament stitchalong. Hope everyone has a great Friday and an even better weekend. :-)

Rose Sampler by Little House Needleworks

I am so excited! Just a little while ago, I finished Little House Needleworks' "Rose Sampler" and attached it to the premade Impie, Hattie, and Bea pouch. Here it is, details to follow:
This took me only 6 days to stitch, and that was with no stitching at all on one day and very little stitching on 2 other days! :-) The fabric is 28 count Navy Bean linen by Lakeside Linens and I used regular DMC floss, stitched with two strands over two threads. The pink buttons were just some I had in my sewing stash that happened to work out just perfectly! I hope Impie, Hattie, and Bea keeps producing those presewn pouches. I LOVE those things! I have them all except for the tea cozy, and that's only because I haven't gotten weak enough to buy it...yet. LOL!


I spent the day in my craft room. While my embroidery machine was running, I put the finishing touches on "Rose Sampler". Here are three freestanding lace bookmarks that I made with my embroidery machine:



In blogging news, I am finally giving in and doing the "following" instead of just listing them on the sidebar on the right side of my blog (you may have to scroll down a little). As I slowly but surely add blogs to my follower -- and I only do several at a time -- I am removing them from my sidebar. You may notice the list getting smaller but the blogs I follow are still the same. Once I've got it all changed over then I'll see about adding the list onto the sidebar again. No worries! :)


I've got a couple of new starts calling my name but I haven't given in yet. One is by My Big Toe and one is an adorable freebie stitchalong. I've also got to get my monthly ornament started. Crud, the next few days may find me with three new starts...and I've been so good about finishing lately! Oh well...it's all good!


Happy stitching! Thanks for reading and for the comments. :-)

Two new finishes and a hello to Lisa/Texan

*waving and yelling helloooooooooo to Lisa/Texan* This post is just for you. *hee hee* A little birdie told me you had a special request for me to update my blog. Happy now? Hahahahahaha! ;-)

On to stitching news...I do have two recent finishes. One is "Jingle" by Mill Hill:

I'm not happy with the backing and plan to replace it with a red felt where a small edge of the felt will show, sort of like a border. But first I have to buy a piece of red felt. LOL! I stitched this over a couple of days when we were without power during our recent ice storm.

Side note -- if you want to see pictures of our ice storm, you can find a link to my Photobucket album on the right side of this blog. You might have to scroll down a bit but it's there. :-)

My other finish was "Magic of Love" by Twisted Threads:

Brad wants me to make it into a pillow so I think that's what I'm going to do with it. I stitched it with Belle Soie silks. LOVE those silks!!!

We've become good campers when it comes to winter storms now. We have a big generator that powers our furnace, refrigerator, deep freeze, crock pot and electric skillet...not to mention the boys' video game systems, TV, and DVD player. It's frustrating to go without power but that generator sure made life good, all things considered. :-) We got out electricity back several days ago and were without for 7 days but there are still people that haven't been able to have their power restored yet. This was a horrible (yet beautiful!) ice storm that left our entire town of 30,000 people in the dark for days and days. If it weren't for our hard-working city employess and many outside agencies that came to help, our town would not have fared as good as we did. My thoughts and prayers to those who are still without power and might be without for 3 to 4 weeks still.

More stitching talk -- My latest new start is Little House Needleworks' "Rose Sampler" that I will attach to the coordinating Impie, Hattie, and Bea presewn pouch. Just about anything Impie, Hattie, and Bea makes leaves me drooling. :-) I'll have to start and finish another ornament this month to stick with the ornament stitchalong I'm a member of. There are a couple of new starts calling my name but I'm trying to be a good girl and not start anything new without a few more finishes. I'm also trying to be a good girl and not buy any new stash. (Which we all know that usually last a few weeks at most. HAHAHAHA)

Please post a comment and let me know what you're stitching, too. :-)

It's giveaway time!

I recently went through my stash to find that I am the proud owner of not one, but TWO "The Button Tree" charts by The Drawn Thread. Does that mean I buy too much stash? Noooooooooooo, it means it's time have a giveaway! LOL!

So, if you're interested, just post a comment to this thread and I will have a drawing sometime this weekend and will post the results here on my blog. I'll mail anywhere so all are welcome to enter.

Happy stitching! :)

Another LHN Finish

Hello again! Surprised to hear from me again in less than a week? ;-)


Hot off the Q-snaps, the ironing board, and the sewing machine, I present to you my first wall-hanging:



Okay, so I guess "Repair Shop" was technically my first wallhanging but I didn't sew additional fabric on, etc. like I did with this one.


Here's the info on the piece: stitched over two on 28 count Vintage Light Examplar from Lakeside Linens with two strands of Crescent Colours hand-dyed floss. I sewed the coordinating fabric, my husband cut the dowel rod, and I made the cording with my Kreinik Custom Corder.

Overall, I am quite pleased. Not only am I pleased with my last two finishes, but also because I finished them without starting anything new. *listening to the gasps from my readers* No, nothing is wrong, I've just been on a finishing spree instead of a starting spree. I cannot guarantee how long it will last. *hearing new projects calling my name*


On a serious note, the people of Haita and all affected are in my thoughts and prayers. I cannot even begin to imagine what they have been through these past few days, what they continue to go through, and what the days/weeks/months that lie ahead hold for them.


Thanks for looking and may you all be richly blessed.

Winter Wonderland

Here in Oklahoma, we still have leftover snow from the Christmas Blizzard of '09, but that's not the Winter Wonderland that I'm referring to. Here's the one I am talking about:

That's the front. Only the left, right, and bottom sides are sewn on, so the top is open like a pocket. The "Winter Wonderland" pattern is by Little House Needleworks and the pouch is premade by Impie, Hattie, and Bea. The white floss is DMC, but the rest I converted to Valdani 6-strand colorfast hand-dyed flosses. Open the pouch up and here is what you see:

There are some assorted sizes of needles, four different silk flosses (three of which were given to me by Winifred -- thanks!!!), and a small pair of pewter Gingher scissors tied on with a ribbon.

And here is the latest pic of my crafty area:

In the center is my Christmas present -- a Singer Futura combination embroidery/sewing machine. Love it! I gotta get back into blogging and posting pictures more. Maybe when tax season is over...ewwwww, taxes...

Anyway, hope everyone is having a wonderful 2010 so far. Take care and thanks for looking. :)