Monday 26 March 2012

{insert clever title}... erm, "hoop"?

Apologies for the lack of a clever title, and perhaps a bit of a strange post.  I had a migraine last night after I'd gone to bed so I haven't had much sleep and the tablets make me a bit "odd" the next day.  Add to that an hour in a traffic jam this morning and it leads to one discombobulated Wendy.  I'm not entirely sure what discombobulated means, but I like it as a word.


This, ladies and gentlemen, is the last of the presents for Jacob... so far.  Of course, he will get many, many more but this is what I've made for him for his birth.  The cotton reel on the photo above is not a part of the design, but more a way of keeping his identity secret!  This is a whacking great 10" hoop and the owl design is taken from Mary Englebright's Stitched so Cute (Yay, another one off the craft book challenge).




The background is a simple white cotton, the applique is from my scrap bag and I added some stitching on his belly.  I wrote the wording freehand using my fading fabric pen.  It usually fades after about 10 minutes, meaning I have to keep drawing over it again and again.  This time, I wrote it in the fading pen to get it right, then went over it lightly with my new Frixon pen so that I could still see the writing when the pen faded.  It didn't.  It hadn't faded when I presented it to my brother!  Talk about sod's law.  I stitched the letters with all 6 strands of a variegated thread in a simple back stitch.


The branch was done is stem stitch as were most of the outlines, and the leaves are done in fly stitch.


I finished it off by wrapping the hoop in strips of this lovely Amy Butler print which I think goes well with the colours I used.  I added felt to the back using this tutorial from The Trouble With Crafting.

So that's it.  No tales of crashing my car this weekend.  Just a stinky blocked drain and a microwave that's packed up.  Oh the excitement of my life.

  

17 comments:

cauchy09 said...

aw, what a sweet owl! a lovely gift.

Celtic Thistle said...

It's gorgeous, well done. What a pain in the neck (head in your case!) with the non-fading ink. Of course if you had wanted it to be permanent it would have faded as soon as you turned your back on it!

Mareenchen said...

So cute! And I understand you, migraine's suck, as does the lingering effect of them/the meds. Hope you're better. :)

Pam @Threading My Way said...

The little owl is so cute! The stitching on the leaves looks great.

Sandra :) said...

That is totally adorable - it will look fabulous hanging in the baby's room!

I have a Frixon pen - Nancy got one and I tried it out at her house on a FNSI night - I wrote a naughty word on her ironing board cover and then just ironed it and POOF, it was gone! It worked so well that both Amanda and I got one too!

Deborah said...

What an adorable project. I love owls so this really "speaks" to me. Migraines suck! Take care.

DIYbyDesign said...

That is really cute. I just love it. Great fabric choice for the hoop too.

Christine Jargick - JPEG Apothecary said...

This is so cute! I just finished my own post about my embroidery project, my birds on a branch ( http://angelstitchembroidery.blogspot.com/2012/03/inspiration-wall-birds-on-branch.html )

I often use just regular pencil for my designs but I have to be perfect or the pencil will show! I feel your pain with the pen.....

JewelOri said...

Your owl is fabulous! I love all the owl related crafts at the moment - strange as the real things freak me out with the way they move their necks!

Lisa said...

So cute! You did a great job on this one, I especially love the branch done in the stem stitch! It looks so perfect, I had to spend some time examining it, I thought it was some sort of rope applique. I have ME's Sew Cute book too, but shame on me, haven't made a thing from it yet!

Hope your headache gets better soon!
Lisa

Nancy Lee said...

Sandra did write a naughty word on my ironing board with my Frixon pen. You iron it and the ink disappears FOREVER. So, get it back or go visit and pass a hot iron over the area and it will be gone. Promise. I love those pens so much. Also, your little owl. No surprises here, I have that book too, and have yet to do a project from it. It is a lovely little sampler. Jacob's Aunty Wendy is very talented!

mdgtjulie said...

Your owl is just too cute. I love him!!

Carrie @ My Favorite Finds said...

Very adorable! I love Mary Englebreit, by the way. Thanks for linking to Handmade Tuesdays.

The Dotty One said...

Another lovely gift for Jacob :o)
I live the owl - it is so perfect it looks almost printed - you have stitched it so delicately! And that tree branch is just perfect too. Great job Wendy!

Mindie Hilton said...

Really pretty. The owl is adorable.

Simply Tasheena said...

This is too cute! I would love for you to link up at my Linky Party via:
http://ourdelightfulhome.blogspot.com/2012/03/show-me-what-you-got-linky-party-7.html

Mrs. Delightful
www.ourdelightfulhome.blogspot.com

Strawberry Patch said...

this is just so cute!