We had a mishap with the shelf I’ve been using to photograph my TUSAL jar. Lucy approves of this month’s progress. She disapproves of its lack of cushy comfort.
Archives
Daisy, Daisy
Soon after I completed Bargello Symphony (sigh!) , I picked up this long-term WIP that’s been languishing in my “travel” bag. It’s a kit by La-D-Da. She published the design in a leaflet with two other lovely heart designs.
This one speaks to me bc as a twenty-something single girl working odd hours, I was dating a man with two daughters. During one of his visitation weekends he took them camping overnight. They woke me then next morning by serenading me with a tune they sang with the park ranger the night before–Daisy, Daisy. My beau let me know that they weren’t singing an actual marriage proposal (much to my relief–we’d been dating less than six months). It was so sweet and so fun.
Vitals:
Daisy Daisy kit designed by Lori Markovic of La-D-Da
Stitched using supplied linen and fibers except:
Belle Soie Creme de Menthe was replaced with RG Splendor S1158 and S1063
I didn’t like how dark the Creme de Menthe floss was. You couldn’t read the words where the leaves are stitched. I got the two Splendor skeins at a needlepoint shop near the boy’s school. My LNS only carries Waterlilies silk floss. The needlepoint store I went to didn’t have much in the way of floss. I was looking for Belle Soie, but I figured I was lucky to get any kind of silk floss. The shopgal was very helpful. I had fun “forcing” an over-dyed look.
For the record, I did end up marrying the guy. I’m not sure why, considering he doesn’t remember this sweet and romantic moment. 😉 Harrumph!
Daisy is also a great female pet name. A friend’s daughter named her rabbit Daisy. One of our dwarf hamsters was named Daisy, too. She was such fun.
Liberty Pincushion
I’ve been busy, not stitching exactly, but busy with stitchy doin’s. I’ve hit a motivational wall. I haven’t stitched in three days! Someone take my temperature! I did manage to finish my Liberty Pincushion recently. {yay, me}
I love how this picture highlights the messy part. </sarcasm> I don’t think the messy bit is horrible, in a noticeable way, it’s just the first thing I see when I look at the photo.
I’m very pleased with this. I even had a, um, helper.
OK. Maybe not so much.
Happy Stitching! 🙂
Weekends at the Shores, pts. 7 & 8
Part 7:
The husband’s computer is in the shop. He keeps asking can he check his email and then playing Spider for hours on end. I can’t wait to pick it up. Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love ya, tomorrow, you’re only a day away!! 😉
Shortly after I finished this ship in a bottle, I “lost” Shores of Hawk Run Hollow–to the husband. It’s my own fault. I showed him the completed Block 9 and asked him what it reminded him of.
He said, “Indiana?” I think it may have been because of the building’s color. One home we considered buying when we lived in Indiana was a converted barn. It was cool. Then again, it could have been the Mail Pouch barns that are still scattered around the countryside. We lived in the (very small) town where this one is located:
Yeah, I guess I can see it. I was going for Nova Scotia–
I shoulda kept my mouth shut. He didn’t pay much attention to Shores before that. I started stitching the ship in a bottle, and he was transfixed. He told me he loved the boat. Well, yeah, I could have guessed you would. “Is this our Nova Scotia cross-stitch,” he wanted to know. No, I sorta made this our Nova Scotia cross-stitch:
I guess we can have two.
Part 8:
Very near to my completing Block 10, he asked me who I was stitching this for. “Me, I told him, just me.” I even know where I want to hang it. Then I get the puppy dog eyes. “Why? Do you want it?” I got an eager nod, complete with a sheepish grin. *sigh* OK, I guess you can have it. So now it’s not mine anymore. I know he’s going to hang it in the basement. It’s where most of our Nova Scotia and ship collection is.
Block 10 completed. I knew he’d like the ship in a bottle because he owns one. It was a going away present from the staff when we left Nova Scotia. I got to meet the artist. He was a dear, elderly man who was unable to continue making the ships due to failing eyesight. It was a treat to meet him. That day is a fond memory.
I believe the husband’s cat approves. You can never be too sure with her.
Happy Stitching!
Memorial Day
Since it’s Memorial Day, I guess it’s time to share a recent patriotic finish.
Glory Fob by Shepherd’s Bush.
I didn’t finish it as a fob, just a pincushion. I didn’t want ric-rac for a scissor loop. *shrug* You’ll notice the floss on the back side’s flag ran. I don’t remember how it happened, but I do remember trying to use a Q-Tip and hydrogen peroxide to clean up the mess. Yeah. I don’t recommend that. It made it worse. I laughed (what else could I do at that point?) and smirked to myself, “So much for ‘These colors don’t run!’ ” I’m a wise-ass, it just came to me. I didn’t even have to try. 😀
Also, since it’s Memorial Day, I’m going to honor my kitten, Hero. We put him down this week, as he had the rare, incurable disease known as FIP, or feline infectious peritonitis. In households with one or two cats, the odds are one in 5,000 that a cat will contract the disease. As my brother reminded me, I have terrible luck with cats. Hero was technically my son’s cat, so we plan to replace him this summer. For now, I can’t remove his bed from my desk, where he insisted on sitting when I worked on the computer. He may have been the boy’s cat, but I was his mama. He was a very sweet fella. He couldn’t seem to catch a break. It ain’t right, but nobody ever said life is fair.
My sweet Hero, helping me stitch, very sick
Happy Memorial Day. I hope you get to stitch this weekend.
Valentine’s Day Blackwork
I finished Valentine’s Day Blackwork before Valentine’s Day. I have no idea how I’m going to finish-finish it yet. I bought it from Monique’s Etsy shop last year and planned to stitch it this year. And I did! Yay, me! I used the DMC conversion rather than the Crescent Colors threads. I’d planned to stitch it that way last year, but this year, that’s what the budget called for, so again, yay! This is my favorite of her blackwork designs, and not just because the colors speak to me. It’s the hearts, too. 🙂
Gee, you think I like these colors? I wish I’d put my keyring in there, too. I have a monkey key cap on my house key that’s the same color as my phone skin. I was going to put my bag for stitching-on-the-go in the photo, but the watermelon solid didn’t mesh properly, and I thought the starburst design would overwhelm the design.
Vitals: Valentine’s Day Blackwork by My Mark. Stitched 2 over 2 on Baby Lotion linen using DMC threads.
Changes: I added a french knot to the center of one motif, altered two other motifs that weren’t charted symmetrically and stitched “be mine” one over one instead of backstitching. It’s a little squishy up there, and I could have re-stitched it for a better fit, but I didn’t want to.
Here’s Hero right before he jumped over the stitching. Yeah, he’s a hero, alright. Hero to all pesky kitties everywhere! Seriously, he’s a brat. I’ll show you what I mean some time soon. He’s a very affectionate kitten, we adore him. You can see my stitchy bag in the upper right corner of the photo to see what I mean about the watermelon pink shade.
Monique asked in her blog if we’d seen anything new in the Nashville Previews that we like or need. Most definitely, Monique! Here’s a sampling of the things I’m dying for already:
Emiliana Sewing Case by Praiseworthy stitches. Bargello. Pink and green. *sigh*
GPA Blue Romance Sewing Set & Purse. No, it’s not pink. But it could be. It’s lusciously romantic without needing to be pink. This was the first design I saw that made me swoon this market season.
Rose Quaker by Stickideen von der Wiehenburg. I suppose I could do any old quaker with a similar colorway, but this is lover-ly.
Second tier, or pretty things I’m always going to like, but don’t occupy my thoughts like the items above.
Hearts Afire needleminder by Kelmscott. I like her needleminders best of all.
Happy Heart by AAN. Hearts. Paisleys. Yeah, I like this. Her designs tend to be bigger than I expect, though, so I’m not likely to stitch this. Sure do like it.
French Alphabet & Motif Sampler by Samplers Remembered. This has the same mood as Joyeaux Noel by Blackbird Designs. I love both of them, but I don’t think I’ll ever stitch either. I won’t say never, though. 😉
That’s enough. There are always many more designs I love that are released at Nashville. Autumn at Hawk Run Hollow by Carriage House Samplings and Cherished Stitches’ Blue Floral Tin, just to name two. I love that tin, but it’s too far outside my budget to do more than drool.
How about you? Have you seen any previews you’re anxiously awaiting? Are you in a romantic mood like me, or are you feeling more whimsical or primitive or…something else?
Raised by Poodles 