Happy July

I’ve got a finish-finish from way back when. I gave myself a chocolate chip cookie.  Mmmmmm.

July sampler by La Broderie, from a Just Cross Stitch Sampler in the ’90’s, stitched in 2008. 😳

Happy Flag Day

I’ve stitched a couple of flag-related smells recently.

This is part of the Glory House kit by Chessie & Me. I didn’t stitch the lawn. While I was finishing this, I thought it was a great size for a needlebook. Still love this the way it is.

This is Tiny Flag kit  by  Shepherd’s Bush. It’s so cute. I set up a small patriotic display for Flag Day/summer.

Happy stitching!

Pi, er, Squared

Happy Pi Day! I stitched a little pincushion for the occasion. At 9:26:53, it will be/was an auspicious Pi Day, indeed, if you write your dates in the American fashion. It will be 3/14/15, 9:26:53, the first ten digits of pi. Fun! Where’s the confetti?

This is Pi, er, Squared, a freebie by Tor-Rhuann Designs, which you can download here. In case you need your math refreshed, pi x r squared is how you find the area of a circle, with “r” representing the circle’s radius. I call mine Cocoa Bean and Cherry Cobbler, um, “Pi, er, Squared,” because those were the names of the Classic Colorworks floss I used. Yes, their names did influence my choices. I enjoyed stitching this so much. Also, Sir Cumference has asked me to remind you that you can determine the circumference of a circle by getting “pied,” that is, multiplying the diameter times pi.

Here’s the bottom, with some Cocoa Bean pis.

I’m going into pun timeout now.

Vitals:
Pi, er, Squared by Tor-Rhuann Designs.
Stitched 2 over 2 on 28-ct. linen (a light yellow shade closely resembling DMC 746)
Threads used: Classic Colorworks Cocoa Bean and Cherry Cobbler.

I hope you have a wonderful Pi Day. Happy Stitching! 🙂

 

Stitchier

Typing “stitchier” will get you a “that’s not spelled right, or something” red line. Stitchier, stitchier, stitchier. March isn’t half over yet, and I’ve already stitched more than last year, so stitchier it is.

Here’s what I’ve been up to–Oh, wait! I forgot to share this last year–

 

This is Just Nan’s Gingerbread Jingle Mouse, stitched on 32-ct gingerbread fabric (I want to say Picture this Plus?) with recommended DMC fibers. I stitched it for a friend for Christmas. It’s so freaking adorable. You know how sometimes you stitch a gift and don’t want to give it away? Yeah, that. I gave it to her, but it wasn’t easy. OK. Now for 2015 stitchier stitching.

Last December I was in AZ, and visited the Attic Needlework shop in Mesa. Yes, it’s as wonderful as you’ve heard. It was more wonderful than I expected, honestly. I relieved them of much stash when I was there. The Just Nan mouse above was one item that left with me. Another was this Rovaris pendant, which I stitched in January.

 

I completed the stitching fairly quickly, but I haven’t assembled it yet, because it went missing twice. The first time was in my stitchy trash can (gasp!). The second time was because I have too much stash. I rediscovered it yesterday. I’ve got to get busy with the assembly.

Next came Leaping Cat by La-D-Da. I stitched this over one over one on 40-ct. Light Exemplar as an experiment. There are counting errors that I learned to accept, though I wouldn’t have on another project. It was just too small and confusing to find the errors.  I love it anyway, so the experiment was a success.

 

What this project needs is an image that gives perspective. Trust me, it’s small. The framing was unexpectedly expensive. It deserves the extravagance.

I did some work on a WIP, too. Going to Market by Dimensions. The mother and child are walking to market, waiting for the background stitches. I’m stitching this over one on 32-ct. It’s challenging, but much easier than over one on 40-ct. linen.

I have strong magnifying lenses I clip to my glasses.

 

I also finished the January design of A Year in Chalk by Hands On Designs. I couldn’t resist. I couldn’t wait to stitch it. I haven’t decided how to finish it. I don’t plan to stitch every month. I have March on order at my LNS. They are very cute designs.

 

I’ve also been working on a bigger project–Bargello Symphony by Loretta Spears. I’m not stitching this in the original colors. My sister saw my original Bargello Symphony and asked me to stitch it for her, but not in pink, as she doesn’t like pink. She ultimately decided on taupe and cream colors. My sister once asked me to never stitch anything for her, which, OUCH! But really, better to know beforehand, yes? I got over the sting quickly. More stitching time for presents for me. 🙂 When she asked me to stitch her something I was surprised and flattered. It’s really important to me that she likes it. I’ve been sending her progress pictures.

 

Fabric on the stretcher bars!

 

First stitch!

Part one (of six) complete.

 

Part two complete.

I have to wait to complete the third part. The instructions say you only need one spool of metallic, but I used it up already. Maybe I cut the pieces too long. I don’t know. But I’ll be able to complete part three when the spool comes into the LNS, as I had to order it. It’s so weird to be stitching this again. I never expected to.

I hope you’re warm and dry. Happy Stitching!

Berry Emery

I stitched Blackbird Designs Berry Emery over the last couple of days. I used the charted fabric and fibers.

Just a quick cutie to break up the Pieta stitching.

I’m getting a full fruit bowl. 🙂

Vitals:
Berry Emery by Blackbird Designs from It’s Berry Time
Stitched with recommended fibers and fabric

Happy Stitching! 🙂

How Does Your Garden Grow?

I have a brown thumb, so I grow mine one stitch at a time. 😀 Here are the pieces awaiting assembly. At a quick glance, you can see the pink pieces appear to have seam allowances that are too small. If any parts are going to end up in difficulty, these are the pieces you’d predict. You’ll soon see that wasn’t the case.

    

Assembly in progress~~

The top and bottom pieces stitched together…

At this stage of assembly, the boy and I agreed it looked like a Chain Chomp from Super Mario World. You might also be able to see that in addition to interface, I lined each piece with quilt batting. I had two reasons for this. First, I came across the idea on this blog while looking for photos of other stitchers’ completed balls. That post’s pictures didn’t load for me, ironically. I was intrigued by the recommendation to use batting. I’ve never had the experience with lumpy fiberfill she mentioned, but that seemed a good reason to try it. My second reason for using the batting is that I love this project so much, I wanted to prolong the experience.  Eventually, though, it was finished…

I love it. There are a few wonky things “wrong” with it. But I love this piece so completely, I don’t even care. That’s so uncharacteristic of me. Here’s the wonkiest part~~

I’m not sure how/why that happened. That’s the white fabric, which puzzlingly, had the largest seam allowances of all of the linen colors. It’s DMC brand. It had the loosest weave and was the stiffest fabric I used. The stiffness was nice for finger pressing, but something went wrong with the stuffing. I chalk it up to the loose weave. I would ordinarily flip out over this. But Fray Check is my friend, the ball is safe and I am wabi-sabi about the whole thing. As I said, uncharacteristic. Love is blind. 😉

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:

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. 🙂

Take Joy

A quick finish from my “on-the-go” bag.

Vitals:
Take Joy by Shepherd’s Bush
Stitched with supplies in kit.
Changes: I stitched an ornament instead of a sheep, I fudged a mistake on the candy cane instead of frogging, and used the lighter shade of green on the bottom of the basket.

I have the box they show the model finished in, and will share that picture soon. I have some fiddly things I want to do first.

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! 🙂

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! 😀

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. 🙂

Spring Needlekeep Kit

I’m thrilled to have finished my Spring Needlekeep kit by La-D-Da into a needlekeep—-plus fob. 🙂 I had a bit of trouble understanding part of the instructions. A quick email to Lori Markovic solved that problem in less than 24 hours. Have I mentioned that she’s wonderful? I ran out of the gray floss in this kit (misplaced, most likely). The kit doesn’t specify the floss name, so I emailed Lori to ask her. She told me, but offered to send me replacement floss to ensure I had the same dyelot. I was relieved, as I only needed one length of floss. She’s amazing. This kit is when I learned I don’t like stitching with Vikki Clayton’s silks. I know many people love her floss. I’m sorry. I tried. I didn’t love it. What I do love is my Spring Needlekeep! Lookie!!

Spring Needlekeep and fob by Lori Markovic

Here’s the back. I love the I Dream of Jeannie bead-tail. They remind me of I Dream of Jeannie, anyway. 😉 I used a Blackbird Designs  alphabet for my initial and stitched it over one. I don’t remember exactly where I found it just now. The square bead at the top of the gray heart is what gave me trouble in the instructions. The way I read the instructions, I thought the cording with that bead was also supposed to be attached where the bead-tail is attached. It didn’t make sense, somehow. After Lori cleared it up, I had the typical A-HA! moment of understanding.

Here it is, opened, with the gorgeous, irresistible butterfly rightside up.

And here it is, um, upside down.

One final picture of the needlekeep opened. Le sigh. Isn’t it to die for?

New Love pincushion

I finally finished this piece.  😀 I originally planned to embellish it differently.  I’m so glad this inspiration hit me at the last minute.  I love it! This piece is part of Blackbird Designs’ New Love sampler.

Here’s a shot of her in her new home:

 I didn’t notice my Earth fairy bead was upside down until I downloaded the photo.  I need to set her right side up.  My new pincushion is happy and at home in this basket.

Happy Stitching! 🙂