ATC Friday

Here are somore more round robin cards - these are ones where I was the middle person to work on them, so you can see the finished card (above), as well as the starting point and what the card looked like when I had added something to it.

This was was a simple finish, but effective...

Cross Stitch Update

Having finished the Hallowe'en piece, I pulled out this half-finished Alice in Wonderland stitching to work on, at least until I need to move on to Christmas things. Didn't get a lot done, but did finish the vine on the bottom left and make a start on the Red Queen's dress.  I haven't been home much this week in the evening, so there hasn't been a lot of stitching time...

ATC Friday

With all the swaps I was taking part in over the summer, it's been ages since I showed some round robin cards, so I thought today was a good chance for that. Sometimes I get cards which are quite cute, and I'm not always sure what to do with them, but I had an idea straight away for these kitties...

This is another example of a card which was quite hard to decide how to finish - mainly because it was pretty full. Luckily, I had some nice shiny stars I could add.

Cross Stitch Update (Finished!)

Well, here it is - it's finished!  Woo Hoo, and in plenty of time for Hallowe'en - not that I will necessarily be able to find a frame for it by then, but I can always just leave it lying about or something, lol.  Or maybe I'll make this one into a cushion!  Think I might work on the Alice in Wonderland piece for a few weeks before I feel ready to tackle other seasonal work (not thinking about that winter holiday just yet...). 

ATC Friday

Two more swaps I took part in. This one used as a main element (at least 90 per cent of the card) paper from the inside of security envelopes. We were also allowed to use other elements found on envelopes - preprinted text, postmarks, stamps, etc. So technically, my cards are 100 percent swap requirements. I really liked the extra effect of the stamps, just gave it a little zing.

These are a bit more back to my roots - fabric cards with detail done in stitching. The theme for this swap was jack-o-lanterns, not surprisingly.

What's next...

Coming up soon in my sewing (assuming I have any time in the next few weeks) - looks like a sort out of the scrap basket and/or strip bag is in order. They're getting really full!

Cross Stitch Update

And here's this week's progress - nearly finished!  Definitely going to be done in time for Hallowe'en, yay!

Slightly bigger scrappy top

...and I put this one together as well - a few more blocks to it, but basically the same as yesterday's. Again, it will need a border, but that's a concern for another time.

Little scrappy top

Spent some time today putting together some scrappy blocks into a top. No border yet, but it's going in the pile...

Pink Panther Top

I like this one a lot - The subdued neutral blocks in the centre work well with the Pink Panther themed border. I think it will appeal to an older child - might even get earmarked for Teenage Cancer Trust instead of Project Linus.

ATC Friday

A few more sets which I made for swaps over the recent summer holiday (I love having more time for art!).  These swaps had the theme of school houses (and the card had to be house shaped)

And "keep it neutral" - meaning you had to use largely neutral colours.

It's really interesting working with all neutral elements, because things which seem quite neutral on their own, like the stamps here, which are all browish, seem much more colorful when everything else is even more neutral!

String 1 & String 2 (and String 3)

These are three smaller string tops - like the larger one I showed the other day. These, however, will get borders on them in the fullness of time. 

Cross Stitch Update

More progress this week - quite a bit of the house, cauldron and trees on the right hand side. Really going well with this - if I have keep it up, I might even have a little time to work on another partly finished Hallowe'en piece I have before the actual holiday. Then before I know it, it will be time for other seasonal stitching. You know what I mean!

Little Red Riding Hood - with hearts

These blocks were made from a charm pack with Little Red Riding Hood themed fabric; the border is pink and yellow hearts.

Large String Top

I had a lot of string blocks - it's what I make when my string bag gets too full (usually). So I decided to put some together into a top. This one, at 6x6 blocks (the blocks are about 8"), doesn't really need a border, so it will go off to Linus without one. Some smaller tops, in progress, will eventually get borders.

Little top with Green Border

This one is quite a small top, but will suit a smaller child. These were some rather random blocks I had hanging out; sometimes it's quite challenging to use them!

Blue Roman Stripes with Number Border

This one has been sitting waiting for a border for a while, but after pairing up all those waiting tops the other day, I decided it was time to stitch some of those borders on. Here, I've used a border print with lots of numbers in it - it went well with the interior quilt top.

ATC Friday - PAT swap

This is a slightly different kind of swap - it's a Pick-a-Theme swap, which means that each player chooses their own theme and the others make cards specifically for them (rather than a general theme). I joined this swap in two different groups  - one group of people asking for Altered Playing cards (people request a specific suit and number, in order to build up a deck), and one for regular cards. The themes above were vintage woman or girl; woman on a postage stamp; American robin; Fish.  The cards I get back will all feature a postage stamp somewhere on the card.

And for this group, the themes were seahorses, jellyfish, snails in sunflowers (this card is sideways!) and shabby chic.  And the cards I get back will all feature a black bird.