Circle Play Complete

 Another PIP (Project in Plastic) is finished.  Started as a kit from Sue Spargo which I took liberties with.  LOL

A person (Son IL) with severe nut allergies in our family, I won't use crushed walnut shells for the filler but use sand instead.  Of course did I have any in?          NOPE.  ; ~/

So a quick run to the local sand pit to obtain some during a little snow drizzle with my flip flops on - check.  

Dried it on parchment lined baking sheet after  baking blueberry muffins, and other goodies, meals, etc... - check.

Sifted to remove larger bits - check.

Finished pincushion.  This only took me 12 days from starting to completion.   Was able to stitch it closed and then procured enough heated sifted sand to last me quite a while.  

 Doing my happy dance and looking for my next focus. 

Drum roll - for my needle roll - "NEEDLE FLIES"

Tickled Lime! 

Finished the needle roll last night!  I started it last year while in Florida and initially changed the ribbon strip to a different Sue Spargo one to "make it my own" and happily stitched along quite quickly until...  Yep, me.

Not totally sure of my finishing style and the colors.   Didn't care for the color that Sue Spargo company had kitted for the binding and the color of the elastic band for closing.   So while in the South this year with my Mom and my perfect mister, we went to Quilted Twins in Dade City, FL.  I found the perfect binding IMHO and luckily for honey we didn't stay shopping too long as he passed his time with another husband left on the porch.   lol
referencing a phrase in a book I recently finished mentioning a DOP  (dog on porch).

I actually had my list of things I was hoping to get so I could finish some UFOs and am proud that I kept to that list yet allowing my self only one wild card purchase if there was something so drool worthy I'd regret leaving it behind.

The Whole interior  (forgive the side wards orientation but it fit best this  way).

Some better detailed photos I'm flooding you with:

Left inside of roll

Center section show casing my first bullion wraps, bee and woven circle

right side interior - just noticed that the burgundy circle just to the top left of the sashiko label looks a bit like
the Corona virus with all those spikes off it!

For my own records I'm including the list of Threads used for the embellishments.

All Sue Spargo threads and of course used wool thread to attach my circles on with first with a simple whip stitch.  Then used EZ21 Let's Pink, EZ25 Signature Wine,  EZ31 Call-a-Truese as well as 

EZM08 Solar Yellow, EZM11 Fresh Cut Grass, EZM20 Riptide, EZM32 Saltwater Taffy, EZM33 Rock Royalty, EZM47 Conga Lime, EZM48 Bossy Boots, EZM50 Gossip Girl, EZM54 Torch Lily, EZM89 Eagle Drum, EZM93 Marsh Grass with some recommmended stitches and then did my own as my imagination and abilities persisted.

Batik found at Quilted Twins, indigo elastic cord from Sue Spargo that I recently received  and a button from Joanns fabrics.  

I'm on a roll!  

J

Butterfly pins displayed towards the left are to mark conveniently which needle I'm using.  Anyhow, that's my plan.
I painted my flat butterfly pins with nail polish to have a colorful kaleidoscope. 
We'll see how this idea of mine works out, fingers crossed here.....

Managing and Tending Leftover Threads

With the assortment of threads I use with my needle arts, for many of them I contain them in a DMC box on bobbins with a "like with Like" mentality.  Seems simple, but it works for me.  As shared previously on this post:  my DMC are all bobbin wound and stored in containers so it's easy to find the thread I'm looking for when starting a project.

When I got into  working with wool and needing the heavier threads I found it easier to  use bobbin buddies while stitching to eliminate any Perle cotton thread tangles yet store them within their weight classes in the compartmentalized boxes after their use.  The warmer colors in one or two containers with cooler colors in another.  Labeling the boxes with their weights 5, 8 or 12.  Then I have another container to hold the specialty fibers such as watercolour/snow/metallics and some of the DMC leftover bits.

I purchased a bobbin die for my Sizzix Big Kick and love how it works for making cardboard bobbins.  When done stitching a project, Typically I'll print out the design I stitched and will use that image glued on one side of a bar coaster and oak tag heavy duty paper glued on the back side.    

You heard that right, a bar coaster.  It's heavy duty enough to hold up to use/abuse with those heavier threads, looks nice and an easy reminder of where I used that particular thread to bout.

I note the type of thread with the color name and number on the oak tag side of the bobbin and store it in a case that's not quite deep enough for them to stand upright in unless they're tilted a tad in the compartment.   I don't go through a lot of these as I just make one to however many more are needing a bobbin when finishing a project.  When asking the bar/restaurant owners and managers if they mind if I take one or two while eating out at their establishments, they'll respond positively to my request - thankfully.

The DMC and Valdani 8 and 12 that I use as they are sold on the ball skeins (how they come) and when in use I will store the balls in the bobbin buddies (seen in the first photo setting on the very top proortion of that stack of plastic boxes in a netted bag)  I purchased those through Bird Brain Design many years ago.  She is selling little glass jars now to contain the skeins of thread with a jar lid having a centered hole.  I don't see the style I use as available anymore on line anywhere, but they are similar to the "toy coin machines" with the colorful capped bubbles with a little prize inside.  The only difference is that there is a hole drilled into the bubble part to allow the thread to be pulled out when needed.  You can actually see those ball skeins in the first photo shared and stored in either warm or cool color combos.  I also love the Wunderlist app on my smart phone (now known as Check it app) to document which brand, color and weight threads I already have on hand.   I use this app for my Accuquilt dies, threads, etc..... I  LOVE IT!!

Recently I thought of color coding my hobbies so am using Orange for Needlepoint.  Anything to help me easily transition from one project to the next besides know at a glance which bag to grab as I head out the door is a boon in my life.   This is probably way more info than you need or want to know, it's just how I roll.  

TTFN
Jane    

I have a whole different system I use for Eleganza (my Sue Spargo) threads I'm using on my current wool project but that  topic is for another day!  Share more later.