Stitching on an airplane... Part Two

Here I am, ladies and gents, stitching on an airplane (3-13-2011). I had my sister take this photo, blurry and silly as it is, to prove that the TSA does really let you have scissors and needles on an airplane. I can't say that it was very comfortable or that I had a lot of arm room to stitch in, but I did actually manage to finish a few hankies for custom orders.

I wouldn't recommend having your stitching out during take-off or landing since you don't want to drop your scissors or needle. The first leg of our flight was only 30 minutes, so I didn't bother to get everything out then, but the 2 1/2 hour part of the flight was much more entertaining with something constructive to do.

Stitching on an airplane...

I am traveling to Houston tomorrow for a wedding, and I am very excited! However, because of the necessity of changing flights and dealing with layovers, the trip will take almost five hours (on the way there and back). I hate flying (who doesn't?). Actually, I kinda hate traveling in general. I like BEING in a different place and SEEING the place but not GETTING to the place. I'm actually not scared of an airplane crash, but I just hate being uncomfortable and breathing all that dry, stuffy air. On top of all that, I was sure that I wouldn't be allowed to bring my embroidery supplies because they include scissors and needles.

I was wrong!

Check out the list of "prohibited items" from the TSA-- metal scissors with smaller than a 4" blade are permitted in my carry on! It doesn't say anything about needles.

YAY!

Recent Custom Orders -- Bragging a Bit!

Can I make a New Year's Resolution in February? If yes, I'd like to resolve that I will post to this blog at least once a week!

I've recently started contributing to the EtsyNEAT blog, the official blog of the Etsy Needle Arts Street Team. Each Tuesday, I write "Tips and Tricks" that I hope will help our members and any other blog followers.

I've also been VERY busy with custom orders. In fact, I haven't had time to do any embroidery that I just wanted to do since the beginning of January. This is totally a BLESSING, but I am looking forward to spending some time finishing the cowgirl pin-up I started at Christmas!

Here are just a few of the things I've worked on in the past month and a half... I also made quite a few of my popular initial handkerchiefs, but I've posted photos of those before!

(I made 127 of these handmade handkerchiefs.... I cut the shapes from fabric yardage, sew, and then hand-cut each of the scallop shapes on the edges.)

(This was a gift from a bridesmaid to a bride...)

My favorite thing that I worked on this month was a set of handkerchiefs for the beautiful ladies of ZASS. Zass is Zulay and Stephanie, a mother-and-daughter team who are known in local (Raleigh, NC is local to me) craft circles for their AMAZING upcycled jewelry designs. They asked me to create floral handkerchiefs as a gift for their yearly gathering of "Hot Older Women", or "HOW Girls". I modified their logo to be hankie-friendly and stitched it up in various colors on retro hankies. Check them out!

November is.... Busy!

November is turning out to be a very busy month for me! This week my students are performing the fall play (three performances, with me backstage as assistant director).

Saturday, my husband and my sister are going to have a booth at the Fairgrounds Flea Market. Check out my husband's furniture here, and my sister's photography here.

Next weekend (the 13th and 14th), my sister and I are sharing a booth at the State Farmer's Market Craft Fair -- We've been a few times as shoppers, so we're excited to go as vendors as well.

The weekend after that (the 20th), we will participate in the last Downtown Designer's Market for 2010!

Then, it's Thanksgiving week!

WHEW!

Of course, I always find time to embroider... My current projects are lots of kitchen towels for the upcoming markets-- I just finished a bunny and am almost done with a butterfly. Both simple designs, but very pretty!

Embroidery floss...

Over the years I've had various methods for storing my embroidery floss. My most recent was a blue multi-drawer box that was intended to hold screws. I've used it for about 4 years, actually, so I feel pretty callous just putting it aside. However, the little drawers simply don't hold all the floss I need for them to hold!

I decided to buy some new sectioned craft organizers when JoAnn had them for 50% off recently... Check it out...


Unfortunately, I didn't buy enough of them, so this is the coffee table in my office (where I do most of my embroidery, sitting on my "nap-couch"):


And of course, I haven't even started sorting the box of vintage floss I bought a couple of weeks ago, or the other vintage floss I have sitting in my "embroidery fabric" box....


I'm trying to keep it all together and easily visible, though. I'm tired of having to open little drawers every time I need a new color!

Work in progress...

I'm working on a huck towel with a satin-stitched "B" for Lyndsie ... Here it is "in progress"...



I love my pink plastic embroidery hoop. I know a lot of people swear by wood hoops, but I am attached to plastic. I don't do a lot of embroidery that isn't washable, though, and I think that's part of it. Take this piece for example-- It is made to be used and washed (it's going to be a kitchen towel), so I don't need to worry about hoop marks. I'll just wash them out before I mail it!

This lettering is from a vintage embroidery monogram pattern set I found at the Fairgrounds Flea Market here in Raleigh... It has three different sizes, and this large size is fabulous. I originally envisioned adding stars from a different vintage pattern, but they just didn't look right. The harsh angles of the stars clashed with the curves of the lettering.

Here's an "S" I made from the same pattern:

Vintage patterns...

I love vintage embroidery patterns, and I always scoop them up when I find them at local flea markets or thrift stores. Unfortunately, this happens rarely! My cousin gave me quite a few that belonged to her grandmother, now in her 90s, who was a professional seamstress and drapery maker. Some of them are duplicates, and some I know I will never use, so I'm sharing some on Etsy.

I also found some amazing transfers from a great Etsy seller in England... I've been scanning, tracing, and using a lot of these lately. They were giveaways in craft magazines in the 50s, and I just LOVE them. She has a few left, actually.



Happy stitching!