I created this bento lunch for my 11 year old nephew. He did not want a theme. Typically I like to make themed bentos but it was fun to try to make ordinary food interesting.
The stitch for week 22 of TAST is the Knotted Cretan stitch.
I was not good at Cretan (week 4) so I was not looking forward to working with the knotted Cretan stitch. I don’t think it is a stitch I will use often.
Week 23 was a catch-up week. I am looking forward to seeing what the stitch will be for week 24.
Maybe this should be called Sugar Bento. There are not as many M&M’s as there appear. They are not under the tree. But there are still more than I intended. My 10 year old nephew requested this theme and helped assemble this lunch.
The stitch for week 21 of TAST is the Butterfly Chain stitch. I had fun working with this stitch.
I created this basketball themed bento for my 15 year old nephew. I had thought that he would not want a themed bento but he did not care as long as it tasted good. I was happy to work with a theme.
Bottom tier
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The National Garden Club (NGC) convention was in Buffalo this year. My garden club attended their flower show. It was fun and educational to see entries in the various categories.
Apples are in the water
Bamboo and roses
Columbine
Cafe table setting
Another table setting
Hosta
Miniature arrangement with rose
Gourds painted as snakes
Terrarium
The stitch for week 20 of TAST is the Bullion Knot stitch.
I have wanted to try this stitch for a long time. One of the things I like about TAST is that it forces me to attempt new stitches. I enjoyed working with the Bullion Knot and look forward to trying it again.
This weeks theme for Bento of the Week (BOTW) at Bento Blog Network is kabobs. When brainstorming kabobs I came up with a Marionette.
I was aiming for clown but I think it looks more like a silly puppet.
Wood for Marionette holder: pretzel sticks
Strings: angel hair pasta
Hair: sun-dried tomato
Face: Wilton candy eyes, cinnamon imperial nose, Wilton food writer mouth
Arms: pimento stuffed green olives
Frill: red pepper cut with flower cookie cutter (used at neck and sleeves)
Body: baguette and cheddar cheese
Legs: cherry tomatoes
Background: spinach rice
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I helped my sister-in-law with my nephews 10th birthday party. They have family birthday parties with a mix of adults (Aunts, Uncles, Grandparents) and children (siblings and cousins). My nephew enjoys playing card games so this was the perfect theme. My sister-in-law did a great job with creating food in the black/red/white theme. My niece and nephews helped with the decorations.
Click on the photos to enlarge.
Decorations
Party tables
Euchre centerpiece
Garland and table
Another card garland
Appetizers
Appetizer table
Cheese and crackers with playing card picks
Meal
I created playing card labels. I used 10’s because it was my nephews 10th birthday. I printed the labels on card stock and taped to skewers. Click here for free playing card food labels. (pictured below)
Left side of buffet
Right side of buffet
Drinks
My niece created a cute label for the root beer bottle.
Queen of Hearts Punch and the front of King of Spades Ale
Queen of Hearts Punch and the back of King of Spades Ale
Dessert
Dessert selection
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The stitch for week 19 of TAST is the Half Chevron stitch.
I liked working with the Chevron stitch but did not have fun with the Half Chevron. I think that I did the last part of the stitch wrong because I do not have a continuous line but when I tried it that way I had other problems. I could not find many online resources such as videos for this stitch and it was not in any of my books.
Anyway, I am glad that I was at least able to complete an attempt at this stitch.
This is my attempt at using a leftover stuffed shell to make an armadillo. I had to curve the tail to fit in the bento. The armadillo is on a bed of green beans. I used a slivered almond for the ear and piece of dried blueberry for the eye. The armadillo letters are from cheddar cheese.
In keeping with the letter “A”, I also added almonds and apricots.
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The stitch for week 18 of TAST is the Crossed Buttonhole stitch. This was my first time working with the stitch.
You need an imagination for this one. My 7 year old nephew and I made this the same day we went to a movie at the planetarium.
Saturn: Clementine
Rings: Nutella bagel sandwich (homemade from bagel dough)
Sky: Wegmans blue tortilla chips (salsa served on the side)
Moon and stars: Cucumber
Sky with stars: Chocolate pudding with sprinkle stars
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The stitch for week 17 of TAST is the Wheatear stitch. This was my first time working with the stitch. I found it enjoyable.
I tried to stitch in a circle on Aida and picked it out. I did not yet try the circle again on a different cloth but I think that Wheatear circles are beautiful.
This bento was for my 13 year old niece. I decided on a fruit and vegetable theme to use some of the cute items my friend sent me from Japan.
Left: Strawberries and Blackberries
Middle: Salad with cucumber cut outs (fruit and vegetable shapes), Wegmans raspberry vinaigrette in strawberry containers, rice ball with peas and carrots in decorative sleeve
Right: Pistachios and chocolate covered pretzels
Strawberries and Blackberries
Closed bento containers
Rice ball packaging – front (click image for larger view)
Rice ball packaging – back (click image for larger view)
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The stitch for week 16 of TAST is the French Knot. Above is my sampler page for the French Knot.
Below are some French Knot examples I did years ago.
Sheep
Tree
French Knots with Antique Button
I enjoy trying new recipes so I do not have a lot of repeat recipes in a dinner rotation. This Zucchini and Cheese Pie is one recipe that has been in my menu rotation for many years. It is adapted from Cooking Light’s Roasted Vegetable-Cheese Pie. Before I married, I made the recipe as provided by Cooking Light. Since my husband does not like several ingredients in the original recipe I slightly changed this dish. My current version has only one vegetable (zucchini) and more cheese. It is not as healthy as the original but I recommend both recipes.
Adapted from Cooking Light
Ingredients
Directions
Preheat oven to 400°.
Combine rice, egg whites and Parmesan cheese. Press evenly into a 9-inch pie plate coated with cooking spray. Bake at 400° for 10 minutes. Remove from oven. Increase oven temperature to 450°.
Combine zucchini, basil, oregano, olive oil, salt and pepper in a medium bowl; stir to coat. Place zucchini mixture on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake at 450° for 15 minutes or until zucchini is tender. Remove zucchini mixture from oven.
Reduce oven temperature to 375°.
Sprinkle half of cheese (2 ounces) over rice crust. Top with vegetable mixture. Sprinkle with remaining half of cheese (2 ounces). Bake at 375° for about 25 – 30 minutes.
I like to serve it with fruit and milk.
Roasted Zucchini
Baked Rice Crust with Cheese
Completed Zucchini and Cheese Pie
The stitch for week 15 of TAST is the Stem stitch. I am still catching up as we are currently in week 16.
Top row: Stem stitch
Bottom row: Raised stem stitch
This is my Earth Day submission for Bento of the Week at Bento Blog Network.
I started planning this about a month ago when the theme was announced. I was happy when my husband came home with this container. His grandma packed macaroons in it for his birthday.
I had a lot of fun planning and creating this terrarium lunch. I admit that I thought more about looks than taste when designing this bento. But it tasted great!
Soil: wild rice
Toadstools: radishes
Bench: carrot
White stones under bench: Parmesan cheese
Rocks: pine nuts around pond
Stepping Stones: almond slivers
Duck: dried apricot
Plants: wilted spinach, micro greens, sugar snap peas, asparagus, cucumber (hidden under the rice)
Pond: blueberry vinaigrette in clear take out sauce container (I made the vinaigrette in a blender using frozen blueberries, olive oil, white wine vinegar and a little bit of sugar)
Closed bento
Duck near pond
Bench and Toadstools
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The stitch for week 14 of TAST is the Satin Stitch stitch. I have worked a little with satin stitch in the past but was not fond it it. This week was my first time to try padded satin. I think I was supposed to cover over the outline split stitch. But I am still happy with it. I like padded satin much more than normal satin stitch.
I allowed myself to get behind on stitching these last two weeks so I am catching up this week.
Row 1: Straight satin (vertical)
Row 2: Straight satin (horizontal)
Row 3: Padded with stitches
Row 4: Slanted satin
My 7 year old nephew helped design and style his lunch. He wanted a blue box and an American cheese sun (upper left corner).
The airplane is a peanut butter sandwich. The plane is flying in the clouds (popcorn) with some sky (blue M&M’s) showing through. I originally thought of using cotton candy for the clouds but was inspired by BentOnBetterLunches bento using popcorn clouds.
A giant strawberry and sliced green pepper round out the meal.
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When looking for something to make for my out of town nieces this year, I found this wonderful tutorial and pattern by Michael Ann Made.
These were fast and fun to make. It was a bit more complicated because her key chain option made me think of making clips for them. It was a little difficult to find the hardware and I had to be careful while stitching on the hardware. But I like the result and I hope that my nieces like them. My Mom requested one for herself!
Easter package 2012 (before wrapping)
My sister sent a photo of the peeps on my nieces bags
This year is my first time hanging eggs on an egg tree. My Mom helped me out by taking branches from my yard and spray painting them white.
There are two styles of eggs on this tree. My niece and I made both types. Several years ago we followed Martha Stewart’s directions to create the cut-out style Easter eggs. This year we mostly followed directions from Design Sponge to make a simple version of the Ukranian eggs. We created the eggs this year to complement the ones we made years ago.
I bought the kit to make the Ukranian eggs years ago but was not brave enough to try until I found the post on Design Sponge. We made a very easy version which was great for our first time. It still took a LOT of time to complete the project and the dye is messier than normal Easter egg dye. It was a fun project!
Heating Kistka (stylus)
Applying wax
Following directions
Eggs with wax – dye in progress (The egg’s holes are big)
Removing wax
Circle line egg
Flower egg
Crazy circles
Bunny Egg
Portion of eggs on tree
I made these felt bunnies for Easter in 2006. I used the directions and pattern from Woman’s Day magazine but I could not find the directions online anymore. I scanned my printed copy and you can see it here – Bunny Pattern
They were fun and easy to make. Once I started making them I could not stop. I made up my own patterns to decorate them with stitches. I can’t believe now how many that I made! These are the ones I did not give away.
Bunnies in Basket
Flaws obvious but still cute
My sheep embroidered on a felt bunny
Bunnies in Tree
I made this dump truck themed bento for my 3 year old nephew.
The dump truck is a peanut butter and strawberry jam sandwich. I used Craisins for the tires and American cheese for the window. The truck is carrying blueberries.
Below the truck are two traffic signal signs made with cheddar cheese and mini M&M’s. (I did not realize until I uploaded the photos that my signs are upside down) My nephew ate the signs first.
Also pictured are mini saltines with cheddar slices and watermelon in the shape of stop signs.
A successful lunch!
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Sharon asked the TAST stitchers if they wanted a catch-up week. The majority voted yes. So Week 13 is a catch-up week. I did not vote as it did not matter to me.
This week Sharon provided two mini challenge options. I decided that I will tackle Mini Challenge 2 “Share a tip on how you manage your stitching time” and in addition I will discuss my experience so far.
Mini Challenge 2
I am new to most of the stitches covered so far in TAST. I decided to create a sampler book. I hope it will be a good resource for myself. Sometimes the fact I am making a sampler book restricts me because I feel I need to finish my page before doing a more creative piece. (I have yet to start to put my book together.)
TAST Sampler Pages in Hatbox
Currently I have a fairly flexible schedule but part of managing my time is to decide if I will only create a sampler page or also do something extra. The ease or difficulty of the stitch and my schedule for that week determine if I create an extra piece. It also determines how much time I put into my sampler. I have stitched late at night or early in the morning to keep on schedule. But out of the 12 weeks, I only created an extra item 3 weeks.
My materials and special lighting are organized and set up where I can have easy access but I can also put them away (when I expect visitors). I stitch in many places around my house.
A place where I often stitch
A place where I stash some supplies (outside of my craft room)
I am very deadline driven in general and enjoy completing the TAST task by Sunday afternoon at the latest every week. I prefer to complete by Wednesday or Thursday because I get more blog visitors from Pin Tangle. I enjoy seeing the spike in my visitor stats!
Things about TAST that I enjoy
Thanks Sharon and fellow TAST participants!
The inspiration for this theme was a set of flag picks a friend sent from Japan. The set did not have the Australian flag so I made this pick.
The kangaroo is a quesadilla with a cheddar cheese joey. The kangaroo and joey have chocolate chip features. They are held on with a little bit of Nutella.
The kangaroo is on a bed of celery sticks and spinach. The top right liner holds red grapes. The bottom left liner holds Japanese Koala cookies. The sheep are chocolates by Lindt.
My 13 year old niece helped me make this lunch. We had a great time!
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The stitch for week 12 of TAST is the Barred Chain and Alternating Barred Chain stitches.
This stitch was not in my pocket stitch guide or Embroidery Stitch Bible. I struggled a little with the stitch but I am glad that I completed my sampler page.
I made this bento lunch for my 9 year old nephew.
I used my french bread recipe for the alligator but somewhat followed the shaping directions from this recipe. The greased aluminum foil ball worked out great to hold the alligator’s mouth open. The eyes are dried blueberries.
The pasta swamp is Wegmans Foglie Di Ulivo Spinach Pasta served with butter and Parmesan cheese.
Also included are cucumber (eggs), gummy fish, and a clementine.
My nephew loved this lunch!
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The stitch for week 11 of TAST is the Whipped Wheel stitch . Click on the image for a larger view.When I first looked at Sharon’s description of this stitch, I thought “Oh no!”. The Whipped Wheel was new to me and I did struggle. The online videos that usually help me were not as much of a help for this stitch.
It seems like a simple pattern of whipping around but it took me many tries to somewhat get it. I persisted and ended up with a simple page for my TAST 2012 sampler book. I wanted to stitch a shell and tried to stitch a half wheel but struggled with the pattern. In addition to understanding how to work with this stitch, I think that tension and the length of the base stitches are important.
Close-up of Whipped Wheel
When I told my 7 year old nephew that I wanted to make a bird themed bento, he said, “bald eagle”. I looked at photos of bald eagles and then made a template to cut the bread.
The eagle is a peanut butter sandwich made out of Wegmans Italiano and Pumpernickel bread. The eye is a dried blueberry. The beak is Cheddar cheese.
Bald eagles lay 1 – 3 eggs. Of course my nephew wanted 3 dark chocolate Dove eggs.
We cut the cucumber to resemble fish (food for the bald eagle). A clementine rounds out the meal.
My nephew enjoyed this healthy and fun lunch!
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While on the CLAAS tour, our bus stopped at the Hilmar Cheese Visitor Center. Hilmar Cheese is the largest cheese processing plant in the United States. First our bus took a tour of the processing facilities. We then ate a buffet breakfast and had time to view the exhibits and try cheese.
On the second floor of the visitor center there were many interactive exhibits geared toward educating kids and adults about cows and dairy farming.
In the exhibit pictured below, kids can try on a coat of a dairy farmer, veterinarian, or milk processing technician. Then kids can look at themselves in a mirror.
Interactive exhibit about dairy careers.
Display of products containing Hilmar ingredients
Display of California Cheeses
Close-up of Hilmar Mozzarella cheese
Cow chandelier
One of several cheese sample stations
The stitch for week 10 of TAST is the Running stitch. Click on the image for a larger view.
I think that most of the rows on this sampler are Darning stitches. Darning stitches fall under the Running stitch category. I had fun working with these stitches.
My 9 year old nephew wanted his bento lunch to include pistachio nuts. He decided on a desert theme so the pistachios could be the ground. He enjoyed eating so many pistachios!
I researched desert animals and decided on the tortoise. I used my french bread recipe to make the turtles. This tortoise is a peanut butter sandwich. (We had soup and turtle bread for dinner that night).
Turtle Bread
We decided on cactus and berries. The cactus is peeled, cut cucumber. I used defrosted frozen mixed berries. The liner for the fruit is from Japan.
Cactus and fruit
I wanted an easy dessert. I bought Snack Wells Fudge Pretzels. I put melted chocolate in a Ziplock sandwich bag and cut a small piece off a corner. I piped chocolate to fill in the center and added the head, tail and feet. Then I put the chocolate turtle in the freezer to set.
Chocolate Turtle
This was a successful lunch.
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When I heard that we would start the CLAAS Tour in San Francisco, my first thought was Japantown. The last time I went to Japantown was 2005. This year we were able to spend time in Japantown during our brief stay in San Francisco. Too bad it was at the beginning of our trip and our visit was on a Sunday. Otherwise I would have bought a lot at Daiso (Japanese dollar store) and mailed it back home to myself.
Street sign in Japanese and English
Pagoda at Japantown
Sign for Daiso (a Japanese product dollar store – everything $1.50)
Dishes at Daiso
Delicious mug
Sophie’s Crepes
Avocado and cheese crepe
Strawberry and Nutella crepe
Sashiko stitched crane
Ikebana arrangement
Cute tea tins
Japanese drinks in vending machine
Tanuki sake set
The stitch for week 9 of TAST is the Couching stitch. After I created my sampler page, I played around and made a maze.
The maze has an S (start) and F (finish) stitched with the chain stitch.
Maze (I should have ironed this before photographing)
Another view of the maze
Close-up of the start
Will March come in like a lamb and go out like a lion? Or in like a lion and out like a lamb?
I found a set of animal picks at Japantown in San Francisco. I immediately knew how I would use the lamb and lion.
I struggled with the lion. I am not sure that it looks like a lion. I first tried match stick carrots and thought it looked like the sun.
The lion and lamb are rice balls. I used a flower rice ball mold for the lion and shaped the sheep by hand. I used carrot, dried blueberries, and cheddar cheese to decorate. They lay on a bed of raw spinach.
Lion and Lamb
The walnuts are maple candied walnuts. They contain walnuts, maple syrup, and sesame seeds.
Walnuts and Grapes
Bento Box
The main reason my husband and I joined the CLAAS tour was to attend the World Ag Expo in Tulare, California. The World Ag Expo is a large agriculture exhibition. It covers most aspects of agriculture (equipment, communication, technology, etc.) including many areas of production agriculture (dairy, nuts, fruit, etc.) .
I do not have a business or personal reason to be interested in a majority of the exhibits at the expo. But I had a good time.
The expo is huge (2.5 million square feet of exhibit space). Our strategy was to view some exhibits together and some alone. It worked out great because we were able to focus on our individual interests.
Farm Credit Dairy Center seen through the Kubota exhibit
Eric in the Dairy Pavilion
Antique tractor seats on vintage milk cans
Rubber matting to line pathways in barns
Delo Engine
Hay rake
Lemons
Demo on how to take a horse’s pulse
Rubber track for combine or tractor
Orchard pruners
As frequent visitors to this blog know, I enjoy taking photos of items collected or received.
Loot from our day at the expo
My husband and I went on a business trip to California for the World Ag Expo in Tulare, CA. We joined a tour sponsored by CLAAS. The tour was to promote CLAAS agricultural equipment and reward Jaguar owners. Our tour included farmers from Canada (Ontario), Florida, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, and South Dakota. We started out in San Francisco, traveled through the San Joaquin Valley and returned home through LAX.
San Francisco – View of Alcatraz from Fisherman’s Wharf
Tour bus outside of Hilmar Cheese Visitor Center
Our tour visited a CLASS Contractor who runs 22 CLAAS choppers. We had the opportunity to view the equipment and visit their equipment repair shop.
Jaguar 900 CLAAS Choppers
CLAAS Exhibit at the World Ag Expo
CLAAS Gifts for tour attendees
Thanks to our CLAAS hosts for an informative and enjoyable trip through California.
The stitch for week 8 of TAST is the Chain stitch. After I created my sampler page, I used the stitch to embellish my tea basket. Each week I follow Sharon’s advice. I make a cuppa and view the inspiring work of other TAST participants.
Click on the photos for a larger version.
Side view of tea basket
My sampler for the Chain stitch
1st and 2nd rows: DMC 4020 – 2 strands (It was my 1st time using variegated thread)
3rd row: Chain stitch DMC Perle 5 #798; backstitch DMC 4020 – 4 strands
5th row: Chain stitch DMC Perle 5 # 798; wrapped thread DMC 4020 – 3 strands
My nephew and I planned this lunch. He wanted a King Cobra made out of spaghetti. Muddy water (chocolate milk) was the desired drink.
I don’t like snakes and only created this lunch with my nephew by his request. While researching “snake lunch” I came across many photos I would rather not have seen.
During my King Cobra research I found that they build nests out of sticks and leaves. I used a lined Japanese bento cup for the nest. We cut leaf shapes out of American cheese. Broken pretzel sticks serve as sticks. Green peas are the eggs.
Edible King Cobra Nest
I used kitchen scissors to cut a lasagna noodle for the snake head. I made a small hole with the tip of a knife and inserted a piece of Craisin. Since the King Cobra will eat other snakes, I used this photo to make a kiwi snake.
Snakes eating snakes
I wanted the desert to be easy. I bought Snack Wells Fudge Pretzels. I cut the Fudge Pretzels in half. Then I put melted chocolate in a Ziplock sandwich bag and cut a small piece off a corner. I piped chocolate to attach the fudge pretzels and made a head and tail. I used Writing Icing for the eye. Then I put the chocolate snake in the freezer to set.
Chocolate snake
My nephew enjoyed planning and eating this lunch.
Linking up at:
The stitch for week 7 of TAST is the Detached Chain stitch. It is also known as the Daisy stitch or the Lazy Daisy stitch.
I tried this stitch as a child, found it confusing and did not try it again. My first few tries this week were not great but I became comfortable with the stitch.
I enjoy hand stitching but am on a continuous quest to find things to stitch that can be functional. I came up with the idea to stitch on a removable fabric cover for a composition notebook. I then found a great tutorial from Smashed Peas and Carrots. Her fabric cover is fancier but I mostly followed her tutorial for these covers.
I created my pattern to use with a composition book cover but this pattern can have many different uses and be stitched many different ways. If you use this pattern, I would love to see your finished work.
Sheep Valentine Embroidery Pattern
I sewed the three fabric covers and embroidered them within a week. I had a deadline to get them in the mail before Valentine’s Day.
Even though I am learning many wonderful stitches with TAST 2012, I only used backstitch, straight stitch, and split stitch for this.
Stitching in Progress
Close up of stitches
Photo of composition book cover
PDF to download
The stitch for week 6 of TAST is the Chevron stitch.
This was my first time working with the stitch but it was similar to the Herringbone and I found it easy to stitch. The chevron stitch could be used to make many fun chevron items.
I had fun photographing this sampler in my blue guest room.
Close up of Chevron sampler
We were invited to a Superbowl party at my in-laws this year. I have no interest in watching football but I love any excuse to make cute food.
I made a Corn Cheese Dip from Better Homes and Gardens Holiday Appetizers 1999. I could not find the recipe online. It uses sour cream, salsa, cheddar cheese, corn and a jalapeno. I served it with Scoops Tortilla Chips.
Football Juice Box – I used this as a guide. My niece and I used card stock and cut labels for the laces.
Football Cookies – Peanut Butter and Chocolate– I used this photo but made my own peanut butter cookies and chocolate frosting.
Football Strawberries – Milk Chocolate Dipped with White Chocolate Lacing – I followed the directions from this site.
Herringbone is the stitch for TAST week 5. Click on the above sampler photo for a better view.
Gathering enough stitching supplies was a challenge this week. I am grateful that my Aunt was kind to give me a hoop and thread.
I visited my parents last week and forgot all of my stitching supplies in a closet. I was hiding it from a young cat my parents were watching. My town is small and I have to drive an hour to buy stitching supplies.
I have a little experience with the Herringbone stitch. In 2010 I participated in the 39 Squares Stitchalong. For one of my freestyle embroidery squares I stitched a tiny bit of Herringbone.
My square featuring the Herringbone stitch.
My Mom and I made Martha Stewart’s Roasted Cauliflower and Manchego Hand Pies as a test for a dinner party. The menu will be vegetarian. This recipe appealed to me as a vegetarian entree that could be satisfying for meat eaters. Also, it seems that many of the components for this can be made ahead.
The crust has an egg yolk and Parmesan cheese in it. It had a different feel than pie crust I normally use. I was a little concerned because I am fussy about pie crusts but it tasted great. It was flavorful, flaky, and held up well.
Adding walnut mixture
Walnut mixture, cauliflower and cheddar cheese
Adding egg wash.
Note: For the filling I used walnuts and sharp cheddar instead of hazelnuts and Manchego. For the crust, the recipe called for Manchego or Parmesan. I used Parmesan.
Verdict: They were delicious and would be suitable for my dinner party. Because they are filling, for a dinner party with several dishes, I would make the pies 3 inches instead of 4 inches.
Of course they are not as beautiful as the ones styled by Martha Stewart’s staff but mine are attractive. I think I can improve their look the next time I make these.
Click here for the recipe.
The stitch for week 4 of TAST is the Cretan stitch. This was my first time working with this stitch. I struggled a little and needed more practice than the other stitches so far. This is my second attempt at a Cretan sampler. I know that it is not very good but I am glad that I attempted and practiced this stitch.
Top row: closed Cretan stitch and open Cretan stitch
Middle row: overlapped open Cretan stitch and closed Cretan stitch in a curved shape
Bottom row: open Cretan stitch pattern
I made these tooth fairy pillows a few years ago (before I had a blog). Right before each of my sister’s daughters lost their first tooth I made tooth fairy pillows and mailed a special package to them.
For my older niece, I followed the directions from Martha Stewart for the tooth bear.
Tooth Bear (I modified the photo to remove the name)
My younger niece had a specific request. She wanted a blue cat with a pink tail. I slightly modified the bear pattern and designed a curved tail.
Tooth Cat – back
In addition to the tooth fairy pillow each package included:
The stitch for week 3 of TAST is the Feather stitch. I did not have experience with the Feather stitch but my work with the Fly and Buttonhole stitches prepared me. I was able to quickly stitch the sampler so I had time to do something else with the stitch. I created a blank card with a window to feature my Feather stitch embroidery.
I am not a Crazy Quilter. I joined TAST because of my interest in embroidery. But I think that viewing some of the embroidery samples stitched on Crazy Quilts influenced my card this week. In the past, I would have used a solid color for my card but this time I decided on a patterned paper.
My sampler for the Feather stitch.
I practiced the Feather stitch, Double Feather stitch, and the Closed Feather stitch.
A close-up of my blank card featuring Feather stitches.
Eclectic Lamb 
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