A Windsock for Mom

Rick is my husband. His mom is Cheryl and she is pretty crafty herself. The last time she came to visit, which by the way has been a LONG time ago, we stitched Plastic Canvas together. We sat out in the sun and did it, I loved it. She and her mother, Rick's Grandma, recently moved into a new home. I thought since I had just made a Dreamcatcher for G-Ma, that maybe we could make something for mom as a kind of Housewarming gift. He asked her and she said she would like a Wind Sock and that her favorite colors are Lime Green and Purple! haha I already knew that she is Cat Crazy too!

Lucky for me, I have a handy dandy program to create my own Plastic Canvas designs. I found a silhouette of a Cat that I liked. I made a few changes and started adding stitches to my Virtual Canvas. This is what I came up with.


Rick thinks she'll like it so, I printed it out and I'll use it to create the design on the Plastic Canvas, just like you'd do Counted Cross Stitch.



I begin by cutting a sheet of Lime Green Plastic Canvas. My design is 50x50, so I cut my canvas 56x120. 56 to give a bit of room for a border and to attach streamers and 120 to have room to make a cylinder.



Now the counting and stitching begin. It comes together pretty quickly.


Kitty and heart are finished. Now the million green stitches begin. Oh Lord! lol


Now, I have the green finished up to the point that I can start putting it together. I purposely left part unstitched so I could add other things.


I stitched part of the front border and began on the side, leading to the back.


I added the contrasting color and stitched halfway.


Then came the scarey part. After all the stitching and hours I had worked on it, I had to make the decision to cut some holes in it! Yikes!


Checking to make sure my eyelets will fit before I cut the next holes. I need three to make the hanger.

I have a neat little tool that I use to secure the eyelets. All I need is a hammer to make it work.

There, I have all three added and they look pretty good!

Now to cut my ribbon, purple and lime green, of course!

I hot glue them in place.

After the ribbons are all glued and dried, I cover the entire back with a thin foam sheet. This will cover up the back side of the stitches, as well as help to keep the ribbons secure.

After it's all dried and cool, I rolled it up and began stitching it together.

I add small metal Lanyard spring hooks and cut a chain to add. Now to head out into the yard and see it.

I enlisted the aid of my husband, Rick. He held it high above his head so I could take a picture. I kept waiting for a nice breeze, but it didn't come.

He stuck the pole back in the yard just in time for a nice little breeze to start blowing. I snapped a quick picture and the breeze was gone! lol

This project took a couple days. There are more stitches than I can even estimate. Haha I had never created a Wind Sock before and really had no idea how. I just started it and made it up as I went along. I'll bet my next one is excellent! I hope Rick's mom likes it!

I bought a new blouse pattern and fabric at JoAnn's, over the weekend and have been dying to start it. That is on tomorrow's agenda! Till next time!

-July 3, 2012