Throwback Thursday - 2005 Part 5

Join me in the Wayback Machine to take a look at projects I made in April, May and June 2005:

Virginia's Birthday Card

Here's another birthday card I created. This time it's for my long-time friend Virginia.

I liked this singing bird because it looks like Spring. The inside of the card reads:

Wishing you all the  Sweetness
of Spring Birdsong


Is it Hot in Here?

My friend Susan and I met at a quilt group while standing side-by-side, cutting fabric, telling stories, teasing and laughing. All of a sudden, Susan would start peeling off her sweater and layer one of shirts. Then she'd cry out, "Is it HOT in here?"

The rest of us look at her sideways and smile, "No hotter than usual ..."

A few minutes later, Susan will be pulling her clothes back on.

Ah, the beauty of another natural Power Surge! (Fourteen years later, I am now all too familiar with this dance).

When I saw this chart, I just had to stitch it for Susan. Not only is it appropriate in sentiment, but Susan is one of the few folks I know that goes ga-ga over the color orange. Gotta love it! 

I did the framing on this piece. I took apart an old picture frame, cut it down to size, glued it up, held it together with a framing tool called the Quick-Release Corner Framing Clamp. Then I spray painted the frame with a semi-flat finish. The polka dot border is ribbon. I like the way the ribbon sets off the design.

August Morning

This lovely afghan was conceived as a project my oldest daughter and I could work on together. She helped me pick out the yarn and plan the color scheme. I was going to stitch the flower centers, she was to stitch the leaves. But as a busy teen, she was unable to help. Then she grew up and moved away!

In the fall of 2003, I injured my back and had to lie quietly for a few weeks. I found out that even though I couldn't do cross-stitch while lying flat on my back, I could crochet! Being able to work on these granny squares was a life-saver. It helped me feel like I could still do something "useful" even while lying prone.

Once I healed, the afghan got put on the back burner. I'd pull it out every now and again, work on it for a few weeks, then back into its box it would go.

In June 2005, our home was in an uproar again with two daughters moving out and heading off to school within two months. I needed to work on a project that didn't take a lot of extra brain power, so the afghan found its way into my lap once more.

This time, I finished it.

What I really like about this granny square pattern is the way the central flower in each square is poofy. It's a popcorn stitch. The leaves, then, are all a nice deep green and the background is a navy blue. The finished afghan is a generous size: 49" x 76".

I still love and use this afghan. It's one of my very favorite crocheted projects.

Peace Tree

I fell in love with this ornament when I first saw it in the 2004 Just CrossStitch Christmas Ornament magazine. Unfortunately, I had so many other projects going that I just wasn't sure when I'd get around to stitching it. If you turn your head sideways, you can see that the word PEACE forms the tree in a script font.

Luckily, early in 2005, several gals I knew decided to have a mini stitch-along using this design. I was thrilled.

For fun, I decided to dye my own fabric using Lemon-Lime Kool-Aid. I'd never dyed anything with Kool-Aid before, but had heard about it on the internet, so thought I'd give it a try.

I used the unsweetened Kool-Aid packet and a little tepid water ... mixed it with my fingers (which promptly turned green!) and plopped the fabric in. I let the fabric soak a few hours. When I came back, the fabric was a very pretty shade of green. I threw in some white vinegar for good measure in hopes that it would help set the dye (very scientific, you see). Then I let the fabric soak some more.

When I rinsed it, some of the dye came out, but not much. I rinsed it well and wrapped it in a white towel to squeeze it dry. The towel did not turn green, so I figured the dye must have set pretty well. Then I used an iron to smooth and finish drying the fabric. I figured the heat would also help set any dye.

This design is stitched as petit point, one strand of floss over one thread of the ground cloth. I decided to use a pretty overdyed sampler thread in a color called Mistletoe. It made for some nice, subtle shading.

I finished this as a padded ornament. We still display it each Christmas.