A late cross stitch finish

Hello!
I have a new small finish to share. This is Celebrate the 4th,  a freebie from Glory Bee.
I know, I am very late. But, as my husband said, I am getting a head start for next fourth. :)

I changed some of the colors and because the star button I had was too big for the flag, I put it on the yo-yo fabric instead.

I am happy with the way it looks. I love the pattern. You can find it here . They have some more nice freebies there.
We have been so busy doing "summer stuff", but this is another post.
Thanks for stopping by!

Ana Paula.

Home Sweet Home

Hi! I am so behind on my cross stitching. So many other things going on!
I want to show you today a piece that I made years ago, and found it stored with my summer stuff.

The pattern is from Manequim Ponto Cruz, a Brazilian magazine. There is no indication of the designer, but I sure is an American designer.
The Magazine has the chart for the complete alphabet. I used the letters to spell Home Sweet Home.

I first had it framed, and more recently I made it into a hanging pillow.

Now I need to work on some ornaments and other things.
I just got some new patterns on e-bay.

I was lucky enough to get all the Lizzie Kate Flip it  stamps for a bargain!
Because I am working on other projects,  for now I am not starting these.
Thanks for stopping by!
Ana Paula.

Happy Fourth of July !

Hello! Hope you have a great and safe Fourth of July!
I just want to share my patriotic stuff.  Just little things scattered here and there. Next year I will plan better.

These I have out all year long. I only put them away on Christmas.
Being a double nationality family, (American and Brazilian) we try to have a little display of both countries in our living room. It is on the top of the bookcases. I will show the Brazilian display in the future.
The flag pillow Is from Boyd's and I got it for Christmas some years ago. I just love the little bear
coming out .

This is Mason, a cookie jar also from Boyd's. Of course I never put cookies in it. He is the cutest thing, I love him.

More bears... this time a little family watching the fireworks.

Now, Uncle Sam. I found him last year after Christmas at World Market.

I decided to display him for Fourth of July instead of Christmas.
Now, the last one. She is a sweetie. 

Can you tell how I love Boyd's Bears? I can't resist to something like her.
Brenda loves her too. But she knows she is not supposed to play with Mom's bears.


I truly love my country and I am very proud of being Brazilian. But I chose to live in America and I have an American husband and daughter.
I live here for almost nine years now, and about three years ago I became an American Citizen.
Brazil allows double citizenship. So, I am half - half.
I come a long way. Learning a new language and a new culture it is not easy. I do the best I can.
Sometimes my English is a disaster, I apologize for that.  But I keep going. Practice makes perfect, right?
I try to teach Brenda what I can about Brazil, but I find it very important to teach her to love her country and to know how blessed she is for being born and live here.
Let's celebrate America !

Thanks for stopping by,
Ana Paula.

Patriotic Bandana Bunting

Hello!
I wanted to make a patriotic bunting so badly. I have seen so many all over blogland, made of all kinds of materials. I decided for a bandana bunting.
I could not find red white and blue bandanas with the same print.  I used what I got.

This is a very easy project. The hardest part is deciding what part of the bandana to use.
I had one bandana of each color and used the corners for the red and blue and the sides for the white. I cut the triangles, sew right sides together and turned.
For hanging, I got a package of bias. I tucked the triangles in the fold of the bias, pinned and sewed from one end to the other of the bias. I made knots on the ends. That's it!

I don't have a mantel or anything like that, so I hanged it above my living room window.
I like how it looks. A little patriotic touch.

Another thing I wanted to show you is Brenda's birth announcement.
I had it stored away  but other day I found it.

 

This is an old pattern for a very detailed birth announcement. I don't know the name of the pattern, it is from a Brazilian cross Stitch Magazine called Ponto Cruz Bebe. The original pattern is from Janlynn.
I made some changes, leaving out five chubby babies and the words "Come ... Join the Fun!".
I made only the border with ribbons and birds, that I absolutely love. Her full name and birth date are under the paper. Another change I made was the colors. Had to be pink, of course. The original was mainly  yellow. It was a framed piece. I decided to make a fabric border and turn it into a wall hanging.

It was the first time I made prairie points. I used the same fabrics from which I made Brenda's baby bedding and the rest of her decor.
Even with my poor quilting talents, I think it turned out lovely.
It is a keepsake that we will treasured always.
Ok, our scanner finally decided to work.
Here is the picture from the old Brazilian Magazine.  You can see how different mine is.

Thanks for stopping by!

Ana Paula.

More room decor gifts

Hi! I made a few more things for my daughter's room for her birthday last week.
A little over 2 years ago, when she finally got her big girl bed I made her a pink rag quilt with cotton, chenille new and vintage, flannel and minkee. With all that fabric, I ended up with a good amount of pink scraps.  I was able to use some of those to make more items for her room.
First, I made a bunting. I love buntings... they are fun.

Then I made a little Tilda doily for her bedside table.

I love this fabric. I think it is perfect for this doily.

You can find the pattern for the doily in this book .
Now, one more new pillow. I am on a pillow phase.

I had the little Flower Fairy picture for ages. I got it on e-bay.
Finally I decided the right combination of fabrics to go with it. I used jumbo ric -rac for the trim.
The last project was a wreath for her door.

We had the metal sign for a while hanging on her door. For the wreath I just used a beaded vine from Michael's. I wrapped it around in a circle and tied with a ribbon. Simple and fast.
She loved all the new stuff when she came home from school!
Thanks for stopping by!
Ana Paula.

I am linking to these parties:

Orange County Fair 2010

Hi! Other day I found the pictures from last year's local County Fair's crafts.
Each year they have less and less crafts, and sadly not many Christmas items (my favorites). But last year they had some real masterpieces.
Since it is almost County Fair time again,  I will post some pictures.  Here are my personal favorites.

This one is my  very favorite quilt. Look at all the details. Amazing.

Now a lovely cross stitch piece. Just perfect. Full of beads and magic.

A Boy Scouts quilt. Simple piecing, but I love the colors, and how the themed fabrics were used.
I should try to make something like this for my Eagle Scout.

The jewel colors on this Log Cabin quilt are beautiful. One of my favorite quilt patterns.

A cool motorhome quilt. I love it. So creative!

A pretty machine embroidered picture. I like the small quilted designs on the border.

The same winter wonderland scene, this time framed. Nice to see  the same pattern used  in two slightly different ways.

A Halloween Quilt. I don't get  why they fold it.

I want this cross stitch pattern! :) Simple and beautiful.

This California Missions quilt is so wonderful! Folded also. They hired an interior designer to do the display ... go figure!  I love the mix of quilting and cross stitch.

I will close my post with this beauty. This pattern is from Patricia Andrle from the old Cross Stitch and Country Crafts magazine. You can find easily on e-bay.  I love it, but I will never make one. I am not this talented. :(

Hope you like my selection. Have a great day!
Ana Paula

Recycling: One Stained dress - two projects

Hello!
If you read my blog you know that I love to recycle my daughter's clothes.
It is a great way to turn something old into something new, cute and useful. Even better if you can turn it into two brand new projects.
Here is the dress. The before picture that I remembered to take this time.

It was a cute dress that got ruined when I washed it together with a black velvet blouse. The pink parts got all stained...completely ruined, what a shame!
I put it away to think of what to do with it. The embroidered parts were still perfect.

I had almost forgot the little dress, when one day looking in one of my several plastic storage containers I found it and had not one, but two ideas.

First I cut out all the embroidered parts. I went and got my pink chenille scraps and some pink corduroy. I sewed  chenille borders on the two parts with gray background and made a corduroy back. Pink pom-pom trim was used all around the pillow.

 

 

Now, the project using the picture with black background. I don't have any during picture.
It's a simple tote bag  - little girl size.

Again, I used corduroy and chenille. These two projects were given to my daughter with her other birthday gifts this week. Brenda will use this tote bag to take her scriptures to church. Not bad for an old stained dress, don't you think?

Thanks for stopping by!
Ana Paula.

Hollyhocks, berries and a new apron

Yesterday we got our first hollyhocks! This year I saved them from the snails, and recently from rust.
They are doing well now. I like the color. Last Summer we had pink ones, not many because the snails ate most of the baby plants. Was just one left. I planted more latter and  would love to have some  pink hollyhocks this year, but with assorted seeds, you never know.
More on gardening. Well, Grandma's garden.

My mother-in-law has a boysenberry bush in her backyard.

Very pretty, isn't it?  Now every Sunday when we visit Grandma we pick berries. Lots of berries.
Because of her Parkinson's and other complications she can't pick as much as she used to. She can't bend and her balance is not very good. She falls a lot.

We try to help her with these small things. She used to be very active and it is very hard on her not being able to do simple things.

We end up with more berries than we can eat. They are very good. We make smoothies, or cook them with sugar to serve warm over pancakes or ice cream.
I am freezing a lot too . I will try to make a pie or a cobbler.

Now, a little bit of sewing .

I had this fabric for a looong time! It was a fabric panel with all the parts printed on.
I  made one small change . I added a muslin back so I could have all  the seams  inside.
It came out nice and I really like it, it's perfect for the 4th of July.
Thanks for stopping by!

Ana Paula