Pottery Barn Rug

For the nursery, the new mom had chosen a stripe from Waverly (Memory Lane – Candy Pink) and a pink floral Pottery Barn rug.

The pillow combines the waverly fabric with a coordinating green for the flange and the zippered back. Three 6 petal flowers mimic the flowers in the rug.

The flower begins from an 8″ circle of batiste and is gathered on 6 radial lines to form the 6 petals. The outer edge is gathered like a traditional yoyo to cinch to the middle. The middle layer is a bone ring covered with light pink fabric, and the center of the flower is a white linen covered button.

My first online publication! This tutorial resulted from a banner and avatar I created for Etsy. More to come!

Two color design on 28 count linen
Finished size: 5″ x 7″

Welcome to WordPress.com. This is your first post. Edit or delete it and start blogging!

Cross stitch button designs on 1-7/8″ buttons

Materials:
28 count bay leaf Jobelan from Wichelt Imports, Inc.
DMC floss
Mill Hill beads


Original pattern, Just-Cross Stitch magazine


Chart for flower design, drawn using Adobe Illustrator

Please email me at sheryl@pixelsandthreads.com if you are interested in the complete pattern including sewing instructions for the pillow and/or the button forms.

The completed afghan. Not like my grandmother made ’em. It turned out to be a little larger than expected, 67″ x 84″, and fits nicely on a king sized bed. I ended up switching to a yarn that was a little thicker. I used Caron’s One Pound acrylic yarn (color Off White), and while I like that acrylic yarns typically wear well and retain their shape, I am looking into some other options like washable wool or maybe a wool blend.

The stitches are simple, and the pattern is challenging. I could work one row every 20 minutes, and it has 152 rows. I admit that I did numerous rows twice, cause I didn’t take my own advice and check my work frequently with the pattern. It weighs just over 7 pounds. It kept my hands busy during Law and Order marathons and extended phone conversations with my favorite people.

I will put an improved photo of the afghan when I get the right set up for photographing it properly. It was so big I had to get on a ladder and could barely get the whole thing.

The vet scrubs for the American Girl dolls are well on their way. The hot pink pants will have a scrub top from a coordinating dog print fabric. Complete outfit available on Etsy!

Original

Some Progress

Faces are mostly finished, background and baby dress in progress.



FINISHED!

When I pulled out my wacom tablet, the finishing was a breeze! Touch ups were done with the healing brush, clone stamp and noise reduction filter.

After weeks of doodling and playing, the design for Gina’s afghan was finalized. The afghan is oversized (approx. 60″ x 75″), and the request was to make it for a full size bed, make it really soft, and don’t use fringe. The length was calculated to lay across the foot of a full size bed, and also long enough to move to a queen size bed. The afghan will be one color, and uses only 4 basic stitches, chain, single crochet, double crochet, and treble crochet. The pattern is worked from a chart, and was designed using Illustrator. I am making it now in antique white and writing the pattern specifics, expecting to finalize it by Christmas.

Once I got my Mac and Adobe’s Creative Suite, I wanted to learn all about my new toys. I had seen lynda.com and been through some initial training videos that are available without signing up. Once I signed up, I was hooked. I cancelled my netflix service, and the first weekend spent close to 20 hours on training. So much to learn! My major interests are Illustrator, Flash, InDesign and Photoshop. Once I learned about appearances, symbols, and transform effect in Illustrator, I realized that it is the perfect tool for my sewing and needlework patterns. The training has taken me to the next level, and has inspired me in many, many ways. And for only $25 a month, the value is exceptional.