Here is the darling hoop I received from Kanawinkie!  She lamented a bit that it was more blue than green, but I am perfectly happy as my new sewing & crafting room will have icy blue walls once it's reassembled (it's currently undergoing renovation due to a basement flood).  The blues and greens also complement the hoop I received from sazzra very nicely!


Craftster Hoop from Kanawinkie by Blackbird Pie, on Flickr

closeup of embroidery- I love how the blue line is yarn with embroidery wrapping it to the fabric, very clever.


Closeup of Kanawinkie's Stitching by Blackbird Pie, on Flickr

Sazzra & Kanawinkie have forwarded their hoops on to one another, I hope they are as pleased with their hoops as I am with mine!
  

I was a very lucky girl and received this beautiful hoop from Sazzra!  I am in the middle of having my basement repaired due to a flood & my new sewing/craft room will have icy blue walls, which this hoop will look very pretty with.


Craftster Hoop from Sazzra by Blackbird Pie, on Flickr

The back is also pretty with sparkly black material and the tag written in sparkly black ink.


Back of Hoop by Blackbird Pie, on Flickr

Close up of Sazzra's very neat stitching.


Close-Up by Blackbird Pie, on Flickr


Thank you, Sazzra!  I should mention that Sazzra is not as lucky as I am, as I had mixed up my partner's hoops when sending.  I was trying so hard not to too!  Thankfully they are being very sweet and sending the hoops on to one another.

Sock Monkey Biscornu by Blackbird Pie, on Flickr

Pattern by Magpie Night on Etsy: http://www.etsy.com/shop/magpienight

It's my first biscornu and it was quite fun & satisfying to put together.  This one is a gift, I am going to try another pattern to make one for myself.

Well, it only took me 3 years and 1 month but I finished my stocking this weekend 





The stocking is for my son, who was 2 when I started it and will be 6 next month, eep!  I have it hanging on my fireplace right now, I couldn't bear to finish it and then shove it into storage!  I'll give it a couple of weeks first.

I have a new project I am working on and I'm considering joining the 2010 group, maybe that will motivate me to actually finish it in 2010.

I spotted a play campfire online and knew I had to make one for my son and the little ones I watch during the week. 



My son is currently clamoring for "white and brown pretend marshmallows". I even offered that we could pretend to cook REAL marshmallows that he could eat later, but he wants play ones.

I used red corduroy with orange and yellow felt for the flames. The large flame is stuffed with stuffing and poly pellets on the bottom to make it stand and the small flame has wire armature so you can shape it.

I used some scrap wood for around the flames but I'd like to collect some sticks on our nature walks to use instead.

We have a play tent so I envision lots of pretend camping this summer.

I made this cross stitch for my sister (she hasn't gotten it yet.. shhh).  She loves the Twilight Saga and I've been wanting to try a cross stitch design inspired by vintage samplers and fairy tales so I used wolves, hearts and forest motifs for this design. 

The border was adapted from purchased patterns and the crisscrossed hearts border can be found here: http://www.freepatternsonline.com/xscharts/page/border4.htm, I stitched seed beads in the middle of each heart.

The quotes are from Twilight, of course.

A lap quilt I made for a friend's new baby, based on the lap quilt design in merwing's Doodle Stitching.











matching shoes and bib



You can see more photos of the quilt here:
http://flickr.com/photos/35465843@N00/sets/72157606112817527/

I don't use a lap stand but I do have a floor stand that I use to hold my scroll bars as they were so heavy they were starting to hurt my wrists.  My wrists would be sore for hours or even a couple days after an extended stitching session- yikes.  Could you get a table stand and then sit with a little table (or lap desk) in front of you?

I have been wanting one of these, but they are *really* expensive.
http://www.hearthsidecraftworks.com/prod_table.php

I bought my floor stand for 40$, second hand and it came with a scroll bar set.  But I've seen them without the scroll bars for about 40$, I think at Michael's.  They are kinda cheaply made, but for 40, the price is reasonable.

Here is my model:



http://www.marymaxim.ca/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_10003_50001_3074457345616729253_-1_3074457345616686324_3074457345616686329
http://www.amazon.com/F-Edmunds-Universal-Craft/dp/B000YZ7M0W

It could be disassembled for storage, but those screws are hard to tighten again.  The only things I dislike about mine is how hard it is to get everything tight using the wingnuts and the way it clamps onto the top of the fabric on the top scroll bar.  If I bought another I'd buy one that clamped onto the sides of the scrollbars.

A lap stand like this could work for anyone regardless of size
http://www.marymaxim.ca/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_10003_50001_3074457345616730452_-1_3074457345616686324_3074457345616686329

My July update:



In the last month I did the satchel with wolf and rabbit, the little tree and the teddy bear in the blue bag.  Holy time consuming project, Batman!  I am going to take a break from it now and return to it in the fall.  My next project is a lap quilt from merwing's doodle stitching that is hand-embroidered so I'll probably just continue on this thread with that project too. 

Hey there!  I was the poster who started the original Big Project 2007 thread and I've picked up the same project once again, hoping to have it completed for my son for christmas 2008.  Or at least, 2009

Where I was at last Craftster post:



and now.  I did the rest of Santa in 2007 sometime and this month have done the candle and started his satchel:



The finished project will look like this:



It's on 18 count aida cloth.