Let’s Play Catch Up Today!

 

I haven’t blogged for a while and I feel soooo behind.  Not even sure where to start to catch y’all up on things. The bronchitis really whipped me this time.  It’s been almost 3 weeks now and I still don’t have my voice back completely…I’ve been croaking for so long now that I’m almost used to the sound.

Thank you all for the wonderful response for my newest pattern, “SNOW”.  Those who have ordered it should either have it now or it will be delivered shortly.

I have been working on some things to sell as finished items, so watch in the next few days for the pictures.

I haven’t had this happen for a long time, but it’s one of those things that every handstitcher has probably done from time to time….

See where the arrows are pointing?  Yes, indeed, I stitched my candle mat to my tablecloth.  It was the starting stitch too. 

Gosh, how many times over the years have I stitched myself to either a tablecloth or my own shirt … I won’t count!

Shame on me.  I always work on a wooden board to keep from doing this but the tablecloth slipped up over the board, I guess.  Thankfully it was only one stitch!

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Ok, let’s talk about blogging and the blog world for a bit.

I have 315 followers now.  I would love to reciprocate and add all of you so that I can follow you too but blogspot makes that so difficult.

I wish Blogspot would send me a notice to let me know that someone has been added.  I also wish that Blogspot would make it simpler for me to find that new person’s blog so that I may add myself to their list.

So… here’s what I’d love for y’all to do for me.  If you’re following me and I’m not “following” you and you’d like me to follow you, please send me and email and tell me your blogsite address. 

My email address is cathspennies@gmail.com

Speaking of addresses, there are times that some of you comment and I’d love to respond back to you privately but your blog settings prevent me from getting your email address.

So, every one of you who have a blog, please, release your email address so that when I receive the comment in my email, I can respond right back to you.

To change the email settings,

** In your dashboard, click "Edit Profile" next to your profile photo.
** Under Privacy, check “show my email address”.
** Scroll down to identity and below username you'll see “email address”. Type in your gmail  address.
** Scroll down and click "Save Profile" at the bottom to save your changes.

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I’ve been asked about the red dot tire prank that I did on our friends, Ben and Linda.

If you wish to read about the red dot tire prank just click here

Benny and Linda never figured out how those red dots got on their tires until one Sunday afternoon when hubby and I were traveling with them to go out for dinner, the subject came up.

Linda said something about still not knowing how the dots got on their tires and she looked over at me and saw the look on my face.  I guess  my face told her that I knew something about it because then she started laughing hysterically and said “you probably did it, didn’t you?”

I couldn’t cover up my laughing after that and hubby did nothing to help me, so I was caught!

So they know about it now and Benny promises to get me back.  He said that he already knows what he’s going to do but he has to wait for time to pass so that I’ll forget.  

 

Ok, that’s all for now.  I promise to keep up on the blogging this week to give you addicts something to read.  Honestly, some of you are such nags!!  :)

 

Happy Day everyone!

“SNOW” Penny Rug Candle Mat (NEW PATTERN)

My husband informed me this morning that I spelled “MOUSE” wrong…

I guess I need to add an “E” to the pattern for those of you who wish to make a “MOUSE” penny rug instead of a “SNOW” penny rug.

Personally, I prefer the Snow design….

The pattern to create this is now available for sale!

The finished size is 15” across.  It’s shown made with 100% wool, which is recommended but this can be made with wool felt too if you wish to save on expense.

It looks especially nice when made with extra thick wools, creating a super puffy snowball effect….

But it still looks very pretty with the regular weight wool too.

Pattern price will be, like always, a special preorder price, of $8.00.

This special price will be good until Monday evening and then it will become the regular pattern price of $9.50.

This price includes shipping cost for those in the US and in Canada.

All other internationals, will just have to pay the additional shipping cost. (which is usually only about $1.00 more)

Simply click on the Paypal button over there on the left to purchase.

If you wish to pay by check, just email me at

cathspennies@gmail.com to get my mailing information.

Also, the “Christmas Sugar Cookies” pattern price will be going back up soon to the regular price of $9.50, so if you like it, purchase it now and save some $$.

 

The “SNOW” penny rug pattern will be ready for mailing on Monday!

 

Happy Weekend everyone!

“SNOW” Penny Rug –Tutorial (Part 2)

I’m going to finish this up today by creating the snowflakes.

The snowflake centers are cut out by using freezer paper also.  Even though they are small and you might think you can easily cut them by just drawing the lines, the freezer paper holds the wool tight so that each of those little tips and corners are cut perfectly.  Just be careful when removing the freezer paper so that it doesn’t shred the wool tips.

Ok, so in this picture, from the backside, I pinned the snowflake center.

Then I measured and drew the lines with a chalk pencil. (the measurements will be given in the pattern instructions.)

Following the drawn chalk line, I did a stem stitch all the way across, catching the snowflake center in with the stitching.

See how I’ve crisscrossed the stem stitch? 

I drew in the other lines and stem stitched. 

I have to note that I like how the stem stitch looks on the snowflake but if you’re not comfortable doing a stem stitch then a simple back stitch would work nicely too.  They are your snowflakes … create them how you wish! 

To give the snowflakes more detail, I’ve made little straight stitches and then added a little french knot on the top.

Here’s the finished snowflake.  I just need to do two more smaller ones underneath the “Snow” letters and I’ll be finished with the top.

Finished!  Now I’ll take this to the ironing board.  See how the background isn’t laying flat?  It’s a bit puckered so steaming it with an iron will take those puckers right out. 

For this design, I’m not going to let the iron touch the wool at all.  I’ll just hold the steaming iron over the design and let the steam do the work.  The background puckers go flat almost right away.

After it’s steamed, I can attach the backing.

I reused the same freezer paper from the background so that the shape will be exactly the same.  The pin that you see on the one scallop is there to indicate where my matching point is.

I’ll match up the front background and the backing scallop together and then I’ll pin the rest of the backing on.

It fits perfectly this way.  I am really generous with the pins so that no shifting occurs when I blanket stitch the edges.

All I need to do is flip it over and blanket stitch around the outside edge.

Here’s the almost finished front!  Unfortunately I can’t show this with the blanket stitching on the outside edges because I ran out of my pearle cotton thread.  I should get more in today so I will be able to show the completed rug tomorrow.

You can see, this isn’t very difficult to make.  I used extra thick coat weight wool for this one but regular weight wool looks really nice too.

If some of you were readers last year, I showed one made with regular weight wool …..

Here’s the one that I made last year using the regular weight wool.  It’s just as nice, just not as puffy.

I’ll be taking orders for the pattern tomorrow, so keep watch!

 

Happy day everyone

“SNOW” Penny Rug - a Step-by-Step Tutorial (Part 1)

If you scroll down a bit and look on the left sidebar, you’ll see a picture of this “Snow” Penny Rug …

I’ve had that picture up for so long, most times I forget it’s even there …
until someone emails me to ask to purchase the pattern.

It’s never been available as a pattern, until now!
Yes, I’ll be releasing this pattern for sale on Saturday (hopefully).
While it’s being printed, let’s do a pictured tutorial that will show you exactly how it’s made. 
It’s really not difficult at all. 
Please remember though, purchase the pattern if you wish to make this yourself.  This is a copyrighted design created by me, Cath’s Pennies Designs.
.. this tutorial is shown so that:
1. those who have never attempted a wool penny rug will see how easy they are to make.
2. those who have purchased the pattern will have additional pictured help in case the pattern instructions are not clear.
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Ok, let’s get started!
I HIGHLY recommend using freezer paper to create the background shape and the penny circles.
We are using 100% wool and wool tends to stretch a bit when cutting.
The freezer paper will ensure that the wool stays in place while cutting, giving you an as close to perfect shape as possible without using a die cutter. 
I always recommend using 100% wool, but if you wish to save on cost, woolfelt may be used for this too.
(I know virtually nothing about woolfelt but it might not be a good idea to use freezer paper in this case because the ironing would/might flatten the bumpy texture that makes the felted woolfelt so nice.)
It might be difficult to see in the picture but using a pencil, I’ve traced the background shape onto the freezer paper.

I cut the excess paper away from the shape and now I’ll take this and my wool to the ironing board …
Oh, but I almost forgot! …
 TIP:  There will be a wool backing for this penny rug and I always use the same freezer paper for the backing.  Sometimes the shape is not cut perfectly so …  To make it easier to line up the backing to the front background wool, I pencil some lines on one of the scallops on the freezer paper.  Then I make a stitch with some contrasting thread in the wool where those lines are so that when it comes time to stitch on the backing, I line the markings together so that the background and backing will fit and align perfectly. 
Gosh, I hope that’s not confusing, but if it is, you’ll see once you go through this tutorial.
Ok, with a dry iron, I ironed the freezer paper onto the background wool.  I cut along the penciled lines to create this shape.
I carefully pulled off the freezer paper and set it aside  … I’ll use it again later for the backing.
You can see on the far right that I made a little stitch in the wool so that when it comes time to attach the backing, I’ll know exactly how to line the two together so that they match perfectly.
The background shape is ready to go so I did exactly the same thing with the freezer paper to create the circles.  There are 16 stacks of 3 penny circles so the cutting takes some time.  If you have a circle die cutter, now is the time to use it!
I prefer to cut them by hand … I like the look of the not so perfect circles.
I highly recommend putting all of the circles in some type of container so that they’re not lost.  It’s amazing how they disappear only to show up after you’ve cut the replacement ones!  Containing them helps (but still doesn’t guarantee) so that they won’t get lost.
Ok, time for stitching now!

I need to stitch the penny circles together first so I’ll stack the medium sized penny on to the largest penny and blanket stitch around the edges, pinning to hold it in place.
With such a small circle to stitch, you might be tempted to not bother to pin.  I’ve found that pinning ensures that it doesn’t slip out of place, so that you don’t get a lopsided penny.

Now I’ve pinned the smallest penny onto the stack and blanket stitched the edges. 
One penny stack done, 15 more to go!
The pennies are now ready to be stitched to the background wool.  I stitched the 8 outside pennies on first just to get the spacing right. Once those 8 are blanket stitched on, I filled in with the 8 inside circles.
All the pennies are stitched and done!  
Now we’ll stitch on the SNOW letters.
Again, I used freezer paper so that the letters are cut perfectly …or as perfectly as they can be cut without a die cutter.
I stitched the “S” and “W” on first to make it easier to space the other letters evenly between.   I just did a whip stitch for the letters.  I like how it looks with a whip stitch.. it makes the letters look puffier … but if you prefer, a blanket stitch can be used instead.

Ok, not too much more to go!
I’ll show the finishing tomorrow.  I need to stitch on the snowflakes and attach the backing.

Go Here for PART 2 of the Tutorial!  PART 2

Pattern should be ready to purchase on Saturday!
Happy Day everyone!

Why Drugs Are Good

I shouldn’t even tell you why I haven’t blogged for a week, because if all of you readers are like my family members, I would get no sympathy … only scolded and nagged and scolded some more, simply because I haven’t blogged.

I will tell you … but I demand some sympathy.

It started last Monday.  That little sniffle feeling in my nose and the tickle in my throat.

By Wednesday, my voice was gone. Completely gone.  My family was ecstatic and I received the “point and laugh at mom because YAY, she can’t talk!” comments.

I put up with this until Friday, when I decided to drag sick self into the doctor to get some drugs.

I knew what it was.  I get the sinus infection which then turns into bronchitis about once a year.

Saturday, thanks to the antibiotics, I was starting to feel human again  and I could speak with a croaking voice.  Today, I’m still croaking badly but I feel much much better.

So let’s talk a bit more about sympathy now.

On Thursday, my sister, (Casserole Carol) emailed me to nag ask me why I haven’t blogged.

When I told her I was sick, her response was and I QUOTE, “You are now a public figure.  Your blog is read by millions and you owe it to us to speak at least twice a week!!   No excuses—neither rain, sleet, snow, nor gloom of the night, shall keep you from your duties….or colds or rugrats.”

On Friday, after I spent the entire day sleeping, coughing, hacking, and whispering because I had no voice. my sweet, considerate and oh so wonderfully sympathetic daughter Rachel told me, “Mom, you need to blog.  You might be sick and miserable, but nothing is wrong with your fingers.  You can type so you need to blog”

Also, on Friday, my sensitive and caring daughter, Jen, called and after telling me she couldn’t understand what I was trying to whisper to her when she asked if I wanted to go shopping at Kohl’s so that we can take advantage of MY 30% off everything in the whole entire store coupon that I received in the mail, said she was going to take Rachel and go without me. (wow, that was a loooong run-on sentence)

 

So, let it be known family members.  The next time I get sick like this, I’ll blog for you but in return I want:

1. some sympathy.

2. some chocolate cake

3. a constant supply of warm compresses for my exploding face.

4. more sympathy.

5. a stack of movies from Redbox.

6. a good book.

7. a little more sympathy.

8. a parade with clowns and floats that go up and down the driveway a few times a day.

9. another 30% off everything in the entire Kohl’s store coupon to use whenever I darn well feel like it.

10. some real homemade chicken soup and not ramen soup.

11. a constant supply of milkshakes and/or coffee depending on what my throat feels like.

12. pumpkin pie sounds pretty good too.

:)  I love my family and I know they love me …. especially when I have a 30% off Kohl’s coupon.

 

Ok, for all of you readers, I will now show you a picture of what I’ve been doing for the entire week that I’ve been absent ….

I am back and in the next few days, I’ll have a new winter pattern ready to show you. 

 

Happy Day everyone and thank you Jonas Salk for the penicillin.

“Dead Snowmen in a Jar”

See, I told you I’d be back! 
Last week was hubby’s last vacation of the year, so we took a few days to drive over to Michigan. 
Even though Michigan is only about a 4-5 hour drive away from us here in western PA, we’ve never been to Michigan.  We decided to venture over there to take a tour of the Ford factory.
I forgot to take my camera with me, so you’ll see no pictures, but I’m very happy to report that the people in Michigan seem to be normal!
They talk a little funny, but other than that, they look and act just like the normal folk that live around PA. 
In spite of the rainy, windy and cold weather, it was still nice to get away.  I didn’t have to cook for a few days either!


So, what’s been going on around here?  Well, believe it or not, I don’t always just work with wool.  I do take some time to do other crafty things once in a while.
I made some little snowmen for this glass vase……
They’re just white cotton rag balls. I painted some faces on them. I plan to dirty them up a bit by spraying them with some tea and baking them.
It’s always fun to see/hear the reaction from my family members after I’ve made something different. 
The grandson dumped them out and told me he was going to put them back together, and proceeded to stack them.
Jen came in to pick him up and I don’t remember exactly what she said but the word “creepy” was the main verbal point.
Then Rachel came home and saw them.  She laughed and said, “Why do you have dead snowmen in a jar?”
This lack of support from my family might be disturbing to some, but I take great pride in living up to my “crazy wool lady” reputation.
Now, all of you readers, do me a favor and tell my daughters what YOU think of my crafty creation….
When you look at this picture, do you see creepy dead snowmen in a jar or do you see cute little snowman faces peering out of……. … ok, wait … maybe it is a bit creepy ….  
:)

Happy Day everyone!