Pictures coming soon!

Okay - so I took a break from making things for others to make something for myself. Before you start the hissing and booing at my apparent selfishness, let me explain. In the past, I have used small tote bags to carry my cross stitch projects with me so that I am able to work on them "on the go". Over time, however, most of my smaller tote bags have gotten threadbare, destroyed, or co-opted by kids who needed a bag for gym clothes or something like that (and those were usually worn out or destroyed before I got them back!). So I was in the market for something that would fit a cross-stitch pattern, the fabric and hoop, as well as the small box that I keep the floss in for my most recent project. I found a fantastic book of plastic canvas projects connected with the pink ribbon (breast cancer awareness) campaign that had a pattern for a fun tote. It's just about perfect for what I need and the handles are two large pink ribbons. The sides, ends, and bottom were easy to complete. Then came the handles. Grrr.

These things were a nightmare to cut out. Thankfully plastic canvas isn't all that expensive because I think I wasted at least a dozen sheets (probably more like 14 or 15 sheets) of the stuff because I kept screwing up the darn handles when I tried cutting them out!! I nearly threw a party last night when I FINALLY got them both cut out!!! I just need to finish stitching them, attach the support pieces to the top portion of each handle, attach the handles to the sides, and assemble the rest of the tote. I will finally be able to carry my projects with me on road trips, etc. and be able to cross-stitch more often. And I have quite a bit of that to do before December with a very busy Spring coming at me quickly!!!

As the first line of the post said, there are pictures coming later. I have been taking pictures of the project all along but wasn't going to post any of them till I got closer to actually completing it! The booklet I bought has another tote pattern, a pattern for coasters and a coaster holder, book mark patterns, a tissue box pattern . . . so many fun new things to try!!!

Confessions of an impatient crafter -

Started a cross stitch project for my MHC project. It's on navy blue fabric and that is HARD to stitch on! I've done projects on colored Aida cloth before but nothing this dark. It's a challenge!

For this project, I'm supposed to use some blending filaments and the chart gives a very specific manufacturer's name. In my little town I have exactly one choice for cross-stitch supplies. They carry items from those particular manufacturer's but not the specific items that the pattern calls for so I am seriously considering subsitituting. I know what I'm looking for and I'm certain that I've seen similar products by other distributors so I think I may just do the substitute thing rather than taking the time to find it on the internet and order.