February Catch-up

This is what I was up to in February:

Vitals:
Peace on Earth by Victoria’s Sampler as appeared in 2011 JCS Ornaments issue. Stitched on 28-ct Cafe Mocha linen.

I love this little purse so much. It was fun to stitch.

Vitals:
Think Snow by Sweetheart Tree. Stitched with recommended fibers and beads on 32-ct Blue Ice linen.

I’m not going to mention how many times I’ve lost and found this chart, mmkay? I think I love the final choice of linen color, though I do occasionally wish I’d used the opalescent gray I bought for it, because it was sparkly. But the icy blue makes me happy without opalescence, so it’s all good.

Happy Stitching!

Fruit of the Vine

Peel me a grape?

No?

Fine, I’ll stitch my own.

It’s supposed to be a scissor fob. I forgot to add the cord. Maybe I’ll do it later. I’m fine without it right now.

Vitals:
Fruit of the Vine by Sheepish Designs
Grapes stitched on 32-ct Lavender Bliss, leaves are 36-ct Patina linen.
Grapes stitched with Crescent Colours Plum Paisley. All other stitching used recommended DMC floss.

I have a tiny bowl of fruits:

Warm Heart

I finished Shepherd’s Bush Warm Heart a while ago. I had the box the model is finished in. I especially love the flowers coming out of the snowman’s head. I love the box, too. I filled it with lucky stars, because I like to have a reason to make them.

Vitals:
Warm Heart by Shepherd’s Bush
Stitched with supplies included in kit
Modifications: Stitched a couple extra snowflake motifs instead of words

Ornaments, plus a couple other goodies

Well, I’ve been scarce, haven’t I? Part of it was not feeling like blogging, and part of it was Webshots changing over to Smile. That completely discombobulated me. I’m still pouting that all my linked photos are gone.

I hope you had a happy, blessed holiday season.

I may have been hiding, but I was stitching while doing so! So, pictures, pictures, pictures!

First: June Monthly Sampler finished into a flat fold. Yes, I finished stitching it in ’07. Yes, I have many more flat folds to complete. Don’t judge me.

Next is God Bless Those by Shakespeare’s Peddler. I ordered this as a gift to myself and stitched it up straight away. Now it needs to be finished, as my many previously mentioned monthly samplers do.

Vitals:
God Bless Those by Shakespeare’s Peddler
Stitched with included supplies as charted on 40-ct linen provided; key charm added where stitched key was charted.

Now the ornaments.

I finished the Shepherd’s Bush Merry Be pincushion as an ornament. The fabric you see was used as backing. The red isn’t that bright, but you get the idea. When I try to darken photos, Picasa gets upset. I was going to ruche the ribbon like the model, but I liked it plain. I like the knotted ribbon, too. Amazing ideas can come from impatience and laziness. I liked the plain finish so much that I didn’t bother to cover the slice I put into it with a seam ripper. I’m learning to be wabi sabi about my stitching. Sort of. You can see where the slice was, but I’m not helping you find it.

Hardanger Poinsettia by Carole Rodgers for Cross Stitch & Country Crafts, April 1994. This was stitched on 32-ct Picture this Plus Phoenix linen. The flash was really bright on this. The red is darker. The splotch is pink, which I really like. That only took eighteen years.

He’s a Flake by Little House Needlework. I stitched twins. One for an exchange partner, one for myself, because I lurve him. They were stitched on 32-count linen (I think Rue Green) with the recommended colors, except the red. I don’t remember what I used. It was less brick-y, but not really bright.

Christmas Beer, front and back. This is modified from Christmas Cheer by Heart in Hand, as appeared in the JCS Ornament issue, 2001. I removed the year, moved the stars, and used the hearts from a different ornament on that page (I can’t remember the designer offhand. You don’t want me to procrastinate posting this to go check, do you?). The beer stein was modified from a picture of an old design I had saved on my computer. This was stitched on 32-count linen, Rue Green.  I’ve been planning this for forever, too. This ornament has great family sentiment behind it. It’s based on a carol my husband “wrote” while enjoying Christmas cheer. Here are the lyrics:

A McGinty Carol

Christmas cheer
For Christmas beer
Christmas is
Our time of year!

{You’re welcome. }

I’m thrilled I finished two ornaments that have been on the back burner for so many years. You know how it is: so many ideas, so little time. And so many distractions.  Nod, nod

Happy Stitching, and all the best in 2013.

I’m in Love with a Tiny Quaker

Quaker aux Clefs by Jardin Prive. This would have been finished sooner, but life events prevented me from stitching. I suffered withdrawals, but I’m OK now.

I changed a few of the colors because the colors the chart called for didn’t resemble the model. I know that colors can “change” or appear different depending upon the surrounding colors, but there was no way the peachy color of the vase and medallion outlines was ever going to resemble the pink of the butterfly. I’m so glad I modified the colors, because I love these colors so much. I can’t get over it. They make me so happy.

This piece was a case of irresistible start-itis. I tried to decide what sort of finishing treatment I wanted to do, and I only wanted it to sit on a table, inviting you to pick it up. I thought I’d make a hemstitch and it would be pretty, pretty, all done. But the scrap I stitched this on wasn’t big enough for a standard hemstitch. I decided on a picot-edged pulled thread edging. That’s sort of what I ended up with after a few adventures. The most amusing adventure was with the light green. I thought I was using the original color. I certainly meant to. But when I had to cut a second length, the newer stitches weren’t the same color. Somehow during a previous project, I had wound a different color around the stitchbow. I figured out what color that was, and continued stitching with it.

I began the first step of the picot edge: pulled satin stitches. Next I was supposed to pull around the satin stitches in a “V” shape, after which I would tuck under the edge and hemstitch it. I started to do that with little success. I decided to tuck the edges under and hem it without the typical hemstitch, which amounted to just tacking it down on the backside (see below). Then I was going to do the final pulled stitches for the picot edge. Only by that time I was in love and my heart said it was done. So it’s done like this, and I’m so happy. I’m in love with the colors and the piece.

Here’s a peek at the back and the tacking of the hem.

Vitals:
Quaker aux Clefs by Jardin Prive
Stitched one over two on Lakeside Linens 40-ct Oyster Mist
Fibers used: DMC 152, 223, 407, 522, 926, 3022, 3051b 3768, 3859

Happy Stitching!

Hello, Poppet

I completed the stitching of the bunny side of CHS’ Patty Parsley in 2009. I completed the name side in 2011. I finally finished it yesterday. What can I say? I have a talent for procrastination, coupled with a tendency towards a short attention span where stitching is concerned.

Here is my poppet showing off her handiwork. I used to call her Poppet. Now she’s Patty Parsley. I suspect her nickname will remain Poppet.

     

She loves to stitch.

Patty with just her new pillow~~

     

And here she shows off the pillow on its own~~

I don’t know why I took so long to finish this pillow, but then, I never do.

Happy Stitching!

Challenged to the Limit

This project took FOREVER to complete. I mean years.  I’d never stitched on silk gauze before. That wasn’t too difficult, I don’t think. I can’t be 100% certain, though, because stitching this piece was so much harder than I anticipated.

Ring O’ Roses by Elizabeth R. Anderson, Miniature Embroideries.
Stitched one-over-one on 48-ct. silk gauze with black silk floss, as provided in kit.
Finished with a two-sided mirror as provided in kit.

When I bought it, I assumed it was 40-ct. gauze. You know what happens when you assume, don’t you?

It’s 48-ct.     This was definitely my limit.

Anyway. HARD. Hard to see, harder to frog. I used 3X magnifiying cheaters. It was still hard to see. There are many mistakes. I don’t know how many, but it’s so hard to frog when you can’t see. There’s enough that the image was a little wide to fit perfectly in the mirror that was included in the kit (that I was tricked into buying because it was 50% off). I don’t care. I finished it, and I’m so glad. I would stitch a bit, get confused and stabby, and not pick it up for months on end. Even when I became determined to finish, I put it down for months after completing a mini-goal. This week I persevered and stitched the girls in the center. And now I’m done!!I rewarded myself with chocolate. Because I didn’t have cookies.

Here are the ladies–

See? TINY. So, hooray, I did that. But never again. Not 48-ct, no, no, no.

Happy Stitching.

Fiddly bits complete

So I had this idea. I got it when I was thinking about stitching Shepherd Bush’s Warm Heart. I thought I could make it work for Take Joy, too. And I could have. Except the motifs are so tiny, it turned out the return on time invested was pretty small. I don’t like empty boxes and such. I remember when I was a kid, someone told me it’s bad luck to give an empty wallet as a present; you should always put at least $1 in it. Now, I know it’s bad luck to be superstitious, but I still don’t like empty vessels. If I see a box, I want to open it and see what treasure it holds. But making a tiny star, or tiny ornaments didn’t hold much promise after I completed this tiny star. I stitched the star twice, once each for front and back and whip stitched them together. It’s “stuffed” with the excess fabric, nothing more.

 It’s cute. It’s TINY.

See? So tiny. I made about a zillion lucky stars from scrapbook paper, and the star is about the smallest item in the box. But the box isn’t empty, and that’s magical.

Take joy in your stitching.

Full of Hope

So WordPress changed the page for writing posts. The old page was intuitive and helpful. This page, the opposite. I only see things that appear to help those that know HTML, in spite of clicking the Visual tab. I am not one of those HTML-type people. I’m pretty pissed and discouraged. WordPress doesn’t want casual bloggers? Tell me. <insert irrational, frustrated name-calling here> It doesn’t help that I discovered this on a day when other programs are successful in their  attempts to make me crazy. Oh, whaddyaknow? I saved the draft, and everything changed back to “my” normal. So that’s a good thing.

Anyway, Full of Hope is finally finished.

I used the ribbon from the kit and attached it in a simple serpentine fashion. I bought additional pink pearly pins to attach the ribbon with the serpentine pattern. I love it.

Here she is, ready to be mailed to my cousin. She was diagnosed with breast cancer just before Christmas. I stitched this in my mother’s honor, I finished it in hers. With the pinkeep, I sent all my hope for a smooth recovery. I noticed in the picture that one of the pins is sneaking out. I hope she slips that baby back in.

I hope this finds you healthy and that you enjoyed your Valentine’s Day.

Happy Stitching!

Poppies…

I hope the Wicked Witch of the West doesn’t use my poppies to thwart Dorothy’s journey to the Wizard. That would make me sad.

Here are my poppies. They make me smile.

Happy Stitching!

Exchange Day Came Early

Because we couldn’t wait (kiddies, much?), because all ornaments had been received, the exchange moderator moved the opening day to yesterday. I gasped and squealed when I saw my giftie. It was on my to-stitch list. I’d admired it on other blogs. And now I don’t have to stitch it, or think about how I want to stitch it someday, because I have it! I’m thrilled to bits. Thank you, Carmen.

Joy of the Snowflake by Litlle by Little from the 2011 JCS Ornament issue. How perfect is that trim? It’s whimsical and gives the ornament movement and life. Carmen attached it with matching beads.  Just gorgeous. Did I mention I love it? Because I do.

Here is what I stitched for Lyn, and previewed the other day–

She says she likes it, and I’m relieved. Exchanges always tie me in knots, which is why I don’t participate in them often. And then they’re over, and I’m so happy I did it.

Lizzie Kate, JCS Ornament issue from the 90′s, 32-ct shell linen, recommended fibers, flat finish. And stuff. I’ll likely edit it with proper info later, but you get the gist.

Happy Stitching!

Ornament exchange preview

I stitched an ornament for an exchange on a Yahoo group I belong to. The opening date is Dec. 20. I can’t show what I stitched until then, but I can have fun and show a preview here for myself.

This is sort of a picture of the back. The starry pattern is the fabric I used for the ornie back, and I did put our initials and the year on the back with blanket stitch. Really, though, I used a neon framing tool that eliminated the ornament’s image and changed the trim’s color and moved the initials to the center of the ornament. And now I realize how complicated that was, but I was goofing around and didn’t know what I was going to do until I did it. It was just a bit of fun.

Happy Stitching!

Forgot to post

There are a few things I forgot to post. First, my TUSAL shot–

Next up is my latest WIP. When I started this, I expected it to take less time than it has, not only because I always underestimate how long a project will take, but also because I was working on another project that took me much longer than it should have taken. I’ll post about that project soon.

This is Jacks are Wild by Waxing Moon Designs. The lightning bolts are stitched with glow-in-the-dark DMC thread. I’m going to frog the yellow swirl. I will replace it with DMC’s new memory thread or their flourescent thread. I haven’t decided yet. I’m stitching this because the husband and the boy are both named Jack. I’ve decided to have fun with the project because it’s a funny image, and it will make it more fun–and wild.

And last, something that’s been finished since August, I believe.

Elizabethan Stitching Accessories by Tristan Brooks Designs. The original plan was to make a mattress cushion, but apparently, I can’t count. I pouted for a while before assembling them. The pincushion is stuffed with lavender. Mmm…

Happy Stitching!

Justice in our Hearts

I stitched Giulia Manfredini’s freebie Justice in our Hearts for the tenth anniversary of the 9-11 attacks. According to her, the translation of this Psalm comes from the book, Lighthouse Psalms, (Honor Books, Tulsa, OK), from the Holy Bible New Century Version.

I made a few modifications. I used all Caron Waterlilies, but used pine forest for the green (my choice) and cherry for the red (to avoid a second trip to the LNS). I stitched the white stripes on the flag with honeysuckle rather than leaving them unstitched. I didn’t use the silver metallic, but stitched the stars with honeysuckle and the candle flames with Tahiti. The biggest challenge/modification was crafting my own heart. The pre-fabricated heart Ms. Manfredini used is no longer available. So I faked it. I’m very happy with the way it turned out.

Small finishes

Two small finishes of projects stitched earlier this year.  First is Petite Confidences, or Key to My Heart. I saw a different way to stitch smalls together in Ginnie Thompson’s Linen Stitches and thought I’d give it a whirl. She outlined her pieced with chain stitches, saying it made for a pretty finish. It certainly makes for a pretty outline. I can’t say I noticed much difference when they were assembled.

I used a grommet to be able to hang the lock. I was going to use eyelets for the key, but I used thick interface to make the pieces sturdy and had trouble getting eyelets through each of the keys. I made Kloster blocks instead. It worked out well. This picture shows them hanging from my purse handle. I moved it to the zipper because my zipper pull broke, but I’m thinking of moving it again.

Next I finished the Tulip Bookmark by Needleworks. I struggled with the cord, but I’m happy with the finished product.

Happy Stitching!

It’s a May Day, Right?

I’m amazed I actually finally finished this flat fold. Hooray, me!

It’s only been four years. Shut up!

Gifts for a Graduate

I stitched a few things for my step-daughter, who recently graduated from nursing school.

First up is the ornament I shared earlier, Christmas Mosaic by M Designs.

I also stitched Merry Christmas Stocking by Blackbird Designs.

Last is a sachet. It’s a freebie from the blog, Broderies Passion Martine 290. It was published 20 November, 2011. It was charted to say, “best wishes,” but I changed it a bit to suit my needs. It’s stuffed with walnut shells and lavender. This diploma is a scrapbooking brad.

Another Christmas

Come and gone. Sigh.

Welcome to my tidy blog. My sister recently visited my blog and told me it’s quite tidy. So, thanks for that, Sissy M! Um, I think. Hope. Accept. I yam who I yam.

I had a wonderful Christmas, and hope you did, as well. It was a small, quiet affair, just me, the husband and the boy. December was filled with Christmas stitching and fun.

 Stitched by me, for me

One piece I stitched for myself was Atalie’s Decembre 2007 biscornu. I finished it fairly early in December, but I was waiting for the ornament from Wendy and didn’t get around to posting a picture. I like the teeny beads in the same color as the tree’s ornaments on the seam. I originally planned to cover some wooden beads with the red beads and attach them to the top “corners.” I didn’t bc I decided the shape wasn’t quite right. My first attempt was a bit of a disaster. If I’d thought they would work, I would have kept trying until I was satisfied. I admit I’m sort of glad I didn’t like it, haha.

Vitals:
Decembre 2007 biscornu, designed by Martine Viard Ligier  of Atalie.
Stitched on 32-ct Little Boy Blue linen w provided silk fibers.

I also stitched myself an ornament from the 1998 JCS Ornament issue. The plan was to finish before the Night Before Christmas, but I came down with a HumBug. It wasn’t the kind where you don’t have Christmas spirit, but the one where you are sick. I was so fatigued. At one point I sat down to stitch the girl’s hair, and only got in two stitches before I stopped. I snapped to several minutes later. I’d been staring into space, about to doze off. It was after Christmas before I managed to finish. I’m not sure if I’ll finish it as an ornament or a flat fold. We’ll see what inspiration I get.

This was a lot of fun to stitch. The dark blue night wasn’t even tedious. No, really! It took forever, but I didn’t mind. I’ve admired this for so long. I feel so lucky to have it! I’m so goofy.

Vitals:
Night Before Christmas by Birds of a Feather as appeared in JCS Ornament issue, 1998.
Stitched on 32-ct Shell linen instead of Raw linen and with recommended fibers except the following substitutions: GAST Soot instead of WDW Charcoal, GAST Mistletoe instead of WDW Emerald, WDW Peach Fuzz for WDW Mexicali,DMC 4240 for WDW Navy, CC Lettuce Leaf for WDW Aqua, and WDW White Lightning in Santa’s beard and WDW Icicle for GAST Oatmeal.

Here’s a snippet of my lovely stitchy Christmas:

In addition to the pieces I stitched for myself, you can see my stitchy gifts and the card Wendy made me for our exchange. The pink fabric is the nearly impossible to find 24-ct congress cloth in rose. Had I known “rose” meant pink, I don’t think I would have been so nervous about getting the “just right” fabric (canvas). The husband was told that congress cloth isn’t made anymore, as it’s too fine for needlepoint. He managed to find a supply about 40 miles from home at Homestead Needlearts. Apparently, Theresa is rolling in congress cloth. She had to check to make sure she had a big enough piece of rose, but she was enthusiastic when she said she has congress cloth. Hooray! and Huzzah! for the husband. Now I can begin Bargello Symphony. I’m excited and a bit nervous. You can see I also got two Shepherd’s Bush kits–the new Merry Be pincushion and the Take Joy kit, along with the box that Take Joy is designed to go in. The box is hinged. The way it’s painted, I thought it was metal. It’s not. I also got a gift certificate from The Rocking Horse, my favorite LNS. That’s it on top of the congress cloth–they slip the certificate into a giant die-cut flos bobbin wound with different colors of yarn. How fun!

The other stitched piece you see is a gift from my dear friend, Jay. She stitched this for her mother many years ago. It’s Christiana Campbell’s in Williamsburg, VA. Jay told me her mother loved the tavern, especially the oyster stew and huge checkerboard napkins. I’ve only been to Williamsburg once, and never visited the tavern. If I make it to Williamsburg again, I’ll make a point of visiting Christiana Campbell’s. Jay has been slowly parting with her late mother’s things, and thought I would appreciate the gift. She was right. Thank you, Jay.

In the interest of full-disclosure, and too keep a reminder for myself, I share a picture of my bead-covered bead misstep.

I need to get my goals for next year organized. If I should refrain from posting until after the New Year, please have yourself a safe and festive New Year. I hope to see you next year. Happy stitching. :)

Thank you, Wendy!

I participated in an exchange on a Yahoo group I belong to, and Wendy was my partner. We had a bit of a scare, thinking the ornament she stitched me had gotten lost in transit, but patience won out. *PHEW!* Here is the ornament Wendy stitched for me:

I scanned the perfect fabric Wendy used for the back of the ornament, which I used as background for the picture. It’s so adorable. When the husband saw it, he exclaimed, “It’s Michigan!” It’s on our tree now, front and center so I can see it when I watch TV and/or stitch.

Thank you, Wendy. It’s terrific.

This is what I stitched for her:

Vitals:
Souvenir of Paris Stocking. Designed by Barb Adams of Blackbird Designs, as appeared in Joyeux Noel book.
Stitched on 30-ct St Valentine’s Blend linen, as was the model.
Fibers as recommended except I used CC Black Coffee instead of WDW Caper.
Modifications: I used motifs from the design to stitch the back of the stocking, and used an alphabet from the Joyeux Noel sampler (Reproduction adapted by Barb Adams and Alissa Christianson) that appeared in the same book

It was a lot of fun to stitch. I enjoyed every minute of it.

It was a great exchange. I also loved the card Wendy handcrafted for me. Thank you, Wendy, so much.

Give Thanks

Happy Thanksgiving to my fellow Americans. Brightest blessings to my non-American friends. I’m grateful for all of your visits and cameraderie.

Our family celebrated Thanksgiving yesterday. My dear step-daughter Katie came to visit from Pittsburgh, where she is a nursing student at Duquesne University. She has to work today, so we celebrated on her schedule. Thank you to the boy’s school, who wisely gives students the Wednesday before Thanksgiving the day off. It was a wonderful day.

Last year I stitched Elizabeth’s Designs Give Thanks twice, as I’d inadvertently purchased the semi-kit twice. *embarrassing* No, wait, it was planned, so that I would have one and could give one to the step-daughter as well. Yeah, that’s it. Given my amazing skill at stitching without finishing projects, the stitched pieces waited patiently in a drawer for my attention. While the SD visited, I finished her piece into a pinkeep. My piece is still patiently waiting. She had to delay her departure for an hour while I completed my finishing, but she was pleased with the pinkeep, and I hope, it was worth the wait.

She had forgotten I’d stitched one for her, too. How could that happen? It’s only been a year since I stitched them, and it’s not like she’s crazy busy with school and work. I can’t imagine how waiting and wondering for her prize isn’t in the forefront of her thoughts daily, but there you go. I asked her opinion about the backing fabric and ribbon trim. She gave her opinion freely, but was wondering why I cared so much what she thought. So: even though I told her I’d never attached ribbon trim this way before, and that I’d never used eyelets when finishing before, she didn’t know why I was announcing this to her or apologizing for being slow.

I’m happy with it, and she’s very happy with it. That’s the most important part. Here’s a photo with bits of the side and back added for fun:

A note of warning here: the ribbon on back is placed too low. When it’s hung on the wall as is (which is what she wants to do with it), it tips forward. I had to stitch the ribbon to the back close to the top. Next time I use the ribbon and eyelet for hanging, I’ll be sure to place the eyelets much higher and closer together.

Happy Stitching!