I’m excited to share that I was able to complete another MIOMIO project! This one began in 2023 I think, and was intended to just be a little clock pin. But when I finished stitching it and adding beads, I set it aside before adding a backing. This idea to grow it into a full scene instead of just a pin formulated in my mind, and I couldn’t shake it. (This tiny-to-big problem happens to me a lot.) Once I realized that, I had started thinking about images for the scene. So, when I picked this project to “Move It On”, all I had was that clock, and a box of ideas and supplies. For over a year. Taking up space both physically and mentally. Yay me for finally bringing it all the way to completion!

Since the pin was to be a gift, I thought about things that reminded me of my mother-in-law, and the rest fell into place. She has a family heirloom of a wooden clock, you see, which prompted the initial idea. The clock was from a set of stamped fabrics my friend gave me. I added little stitched details, then dug around for the right beads and jewelry chain to make it a proper cuckoo clock.

She has a chair she always sits in, kind of like a wing-back chair but more modern, I guess. The “upholstery” here isn’t at all related to what her chair actually looks like, but the colors seemed to fit her very well. I made it in two parts, the three-dimensional back and the flat seat with arm rests. I added beads and stitched detail for the buttons, and then added some stuffing to make it puffy. I added some red rayon floss for piping and blue floss for outlining. The legs are made from a leather lace. She also keeps a throw blanket nearby. I chose a fabric that already had crinkles in it, and then just kind of appliqued it on there. I unraveled the edge, because it had this nice golden look of tassles. I think the blanket is my favorite part of this whole thing!

At her feet, she’s always had an alpaca rug. She use to sell them at a kiosk in the mall way back when. I wasn’t sure how I’d represent it, until it hit me that Boy had gifted me a rabbit skin “for my crafting” many many years ago after we went to a historic homestead festival. Huzzah, it was perfect! The carpet is a scrap of upholstery fabric, and the baseboard is another scrap of fabric I had gotten from making Tilda’s Fia Doll. The little dog patch was inherited from somewhere many years ago, and it always struck me that I’d use it in a project for my MIL one day (it being a poodle and her favorite color blue). When we first met, she had a little white toy poodle, and just recently, she lost her little brown one. I think their spirits are both captured here, waiting for her to join the scene and sit with them in the chair. She’s no doubt in the kitchen making dinner;) I had a little charm that Boy thought would look nice as a dog collar, so it was added as well.

At her old house, which she lived at when we first met, she had made a very textural wall in the living room. Initially, this was set out to be another piece of fabric, but then when going through some things, I stumbled upon an old scrap of wallpaper from my condo era. With a little bit of paint (though not the right colors; sadly most of my paint is dried up but alas, I try not to buy more stuff!), it was a great representation of that texture. (I also thoroughly enjoyed stitching on wallpaper. Where can I get more of that?!) She also had a set of South Shoreline Posters as decoration, so I had to include that as well. I printed an image on glossy paper then framed it with the black reversed side of specialty brown patent leather needlepoint “ribbon”.

I had a small frame already, so I had built everything to fit in it (mostly; there was some process mistakes we won’t talk about!). I think this is an interesting piece, and I enjoyed exploring how to recreate things in miniature. I wasn’t really in love with it (that color wallpaper!), but it was time to Move It Out (the case here being giving it to my MIL). Thankfully, the receiver appreciated it:)