I like to make cross stitch greeting cards, but I usually start falling behind at this time of year. I have several April birthdays to send cards for, as well as Easter, and hot on the heels is Mother's Day. So here are two of my April cards. I'm not sure I'll have time to do all the Easter cards I'd like to do. We shall see.

 

The inside of the stitching card is a layered decoupage picture.

 

 

 

And here is a card for another friend's April birthday.

I just finished this 18" throw pillow cover for Leslie for her birthday. I've worked on and off on the cross stitch since May of 2015. The chart is from the Spring 2014 issue of Stoney Creek Magazine. I changed the birds that were in the circle to an eagle motif, since this is going to Alaska. I used my new Westalee ruler templates to quilt it. I even designed my own border motif with one of the templates. I didn't have an 18" pillow to insert for the pictures, so I just stuffed it with one of my bed pillows.

 

 

 

 

 

Leslie suggested that Iris could use a little toiletry bag. The one on the right is a prototype that had several things wrong with it: it is too floppy; it's too small (can't fit a tooth brush in it); the zipper was inadvertently put in going the wrong direction; and the hanging tab was put on the wrong side of the zipper. Kind of a Murphy's Law type bag. The one on the left is the one I will give her. The fabric is actually tablecloth fabric, so is waterproof. I have lots of it, so if she wants a larger bag, I could make another one. What was supposed to be a quick little project took quite a while due to my learning curve. I have ordered some beads to make a pull tab for the zipper. They are peace sign beads. I guess she is into peace signs now, and Peace is her middle name.

Happy Spring to me! It seems like it's been a while since I've completed a craft for myself. I saw this fabric about a month ago and didn't buy it but kept thinking about it. When I got the chance and had an idea of how to use it, I purchased it. Today I got it pre-washed and hemmed to come up with this tablecloth for my little outdoor table.

 

Well, how did I forget to post this one? I finished this CCS motif in February for Julia's first birthday. Emelie says it's now the first thing she wants to see every morning when they get her up.

I got a pretty good price on this yarn so I got enough for a prayer shawl. Unfortunately, the good price was because it is being discontinued. It has gotten good reviews and I've made several items with it, so I'm disappointed that I will no longer be able to get it. I needed to buy one additional skein for the bind off and had trouble finding it.  I have enough left now for a small project.

• Yarn: Loops & Threads Urban

• Color #4/Green

• Needle size 9

• Cast on 82 stitches

• Pattern:  I used the one-row scarf pattern and used an I-Cord bind off. To make the ends match, I picked up stitches on the cast-on end and then did the I-Cord bind off on those stitches.

I've been working since September 2015 on this queen size quilt for Emelie and Matthias. I seriously thought it would take longer to complete, as it took two years for me to get Leslie and Anders' king size quilt finished.

The pattern is called Go West Quilt. We re-calculated the size of the blocks to make it this large.

It's complete with reversible pillow shams (queen size) and coordinating coasters.

I may replace these pictures with ones she takes in her bedroom where the colors will coordinate better. She does a beautiful job of decorating and furnishing her home.