Now I can finish the set!!

I am so crazy excited that my last piece of 32ct carrot linen came in to day so I can now finish the "Bootiful Needle Set."  Working on the other pieces in this set has, so far, been one of my most enjoyable stitching projects.  Learning to make the buttonhole corner stitches that end up being the ruffle was so fun!  The last piece, the needle book, has more of them than the other two pieces did, so I'm really excited to get going on them!

I also got some more work done on the Quidditch Pitch over the weekend.  I'm excited to get some progress in on my Harry Potter themed pillow set, so when I pulled this out to take the picture for my previous post, I didn't want to put it away.  I finished the Slytherin seating tower and also filled in the Ravenclaw one with one color of blue that I didn't have when I started the pattern.  Now only my personal fave - the Hufflepuff tower to go.  Then it will have a Golden Snitch flying over the goals that I'm going to stitch in metallic thread. It also made the perfect on-the-go project one day when I was in the car since it's so small and portable.  

I've stitched just a tiny bit on the dragon as well, but I'll wait until I have more done before sharing another picture of it.

Finishes

I finished the model stitch.  :0)

The designer is Anna Chern and her Etsy shop is Serenita's Designs.  She already has pictures of my finish on her listing for this pattern.  It's neat to see my stitching in someone's shop.

This piece ended up taking me four full weeks to finish.  The top and bottom borders were more time consuming than you would think.  I recently heard a stitcher say that large sections of white stitches make any mistakes or uneven stitches just jump right out at you.  And she was so right.  Believe it or not, this piece takes three full skiens of white plus a bit on a fourth.  Lots of white, stitched blocked together and I could see every single imperfection in my stitches. But I got it done and I'm happy with it.  Now that the designer has the pictures she needs, I plan to stitch my name down in the corner and add a red Rudolph nose to one of the reindeer.  My plan for finishing this is to turn it into a pillow.  I know I won't do that before this Christmas, but I plan for it to be done for next year.  The trick is going to be finding a nice coordinating fabric for the design.

I also have an FFO to share.  This is one part of the three part pumpkin needle accessory set.  I chose a coordinating wool for the back.

This was actually supposed to be a biscornu but you can see it turned out a regular pin cushion.  I don't really know what happened.  I do know that it was difficult to get the top delicate linen stitched together with the bottom thick wool, all the while making sure that the outside black stitched ruffle didn't get sewn into the middle of the whole thing.  There was just a lot going on there.  So I forgive myself for lack of biscornu finshing.  It's not perfect but I'm happy with it and and it pleases me.  That counts for something, right?

There will be two more pieces to this set when I'm done.

I'll be back soon with some update pictures on my more regular WIPs.  I've been working on my Mira, the dragon, and also some butterflies for a charity piece.  More on those later...

Happy stitching everyone ~ keep those needles flying!!

Still stitching along...

I'm still working on the model stitch.  I'm definitely in the home stretch with it.  Technically, today is the deadline to be finished.  But I think the designer underestimated exactly how long these borders take.  I've kept in touch with her though, and she knows where I'm at and is fine with it.

I will be glad when this is done though, because I'm ready to get back to my daughter's Mira and my son's dragon.  While stitching this week I started listening to Updraft on my Audible account.  I've been enjoying it so far and it's nice to be able to stitch and "read" at the same time.

One other little tidbit, I forgot to share some gorgeous thread with you that my friend Laura got me in our recent exchange!  She got me this gorgeous skein of Bradley's Balloons by Threadworx.  I can't even begin to tell you how much I'm in love with this thread.  

I keep thinking of a using this in a blackwork styled Easter Egg pattern.  Wouldn't that be beautiful?  I just might have to take the plunge on that soon after finishing the model stitch.

George Washington has arrived

The big news that I have to share now is that my kit for the George Washington project (112 stitchers working together to create a full coverage piece of George Washington crossing the Deleware that will hopefully beat the current world record for largest full coverage cross stitch) has arrived.  I've waited a long time for this box, it's been about two years in the making.

This is how the box looked upon arrival.

Here are all my threads.  

And here is my huge panel.  That's my son holding it and he's 6'2" so you can understand the scale.  There are 112 panels all together for the whole project.  The fabric for the project is sponsored by Wichelt.

Along with the threads, these extra notions were all sponsored by Sullivans.  

And here's my pattern - 100 pages long!

So George has arrived.  :0)  We don't have a start date yet.  For the time being the only thing for me to do is wash my fabric, let it dry, and then either iron or steam it.

I've been spending a lot of time on this project.

I started on and finished the stitching for the scissor fob.  I didn't do the beading because I'll do that for all the pieces at once when they are all done.

Next I started on the biscornu.

This is where I'm at as of now.

I'm really loving this project.  It has a lot of specialty stitches ~ double running stitches, kloster blocks, algerian eyelets, and my favorite ~ the buttonhole corner stitches.  That's what gives the ruffled edge you can see on the scissor fob and all the pieces will end up having that.

I still pull out my plastic canvas fall banner whenever I'm too tired to cross stitch, usually late at night.

And this is a little mill hill kit finish that I forgot to share a few weeks ago.  I put a magnet on it and it now lives on my fridge.

I'm going to get some more stitching done on the orange accessory set tonight.  If I'm lucky I might have all the pieces finished by Halloween.  :0)

A bit of progress

I have just a bit of progress to share.  I worked a couple of days on the dragon and now I've got more of his tail done in addition to the waves.  Love these colors.  The photos don't do them justice.

I also pulled my Mira, The Rain Queen, out last night and got a bit more done on her.  Now both of her wings are finished.  She looks a bit funny at the moment, but I think I'll work on her some more today and add in some more pieces parts.  :0)

First try at Hardanger and Carrot fabric

So.

In an effort to continue growing and expanding my stitchy skills and knowledge, I decided it was time to start tackling Hardanger.  I own a lot of Hardanger books and patterns, but....Hardanger.  

Know what I mean?

I did at least understand the process and wasn't at all afraid of the cutting.  I totally understood how and why it works, so the cutting isn't scary if you understand and trust the process.  It was just an unknown territory.

And I decided to dive in.  

I'm using a pattern from this book.  Who knows how old it is?

And this is the pattern I chose.  It seemed like the easiest one.

I'll admit I'm fudging a bit on this project because I decided to just start it on a whim.  So I didn't have the pearl threads called for.  So I'm using regular DMC cotton, three threads.  This is just a learning experience, so I'm not picky.  I will probably turn the finished product into a Christmas ornament.

But we're not finished yet.  Not nearly.

I'm using such contrasting colors in order to make everything easier to see.  And it's already painfully obvious that I need sharper scissors.  I need a pair of scissors specifically for Hardanger.  But for now, like I said, I'm just trying to learn and I'm not being picky.

I will also say that one of my first impressions is that Hardanger is even more time consuming than cross stitch.  This piece, once done, will have satin stitches, woven bars, and dove's eye specialty stitches.  And the initial stitching part isn't too bad.  (Once you realize that one square on the pattern is equal to two squares on your fabric - and they *don't* tell you that.  You're just supposed to know it by some special mojo osmosis or something.)  But the cutting and then the weaving - oh my mercy, it does take up the time. 

I'll get it done though.  Because I'm stubborn like that.  In the world of stitching there is so much to learn and so many ways to expand your skill set.  I love that.

I have a new project that I am going to start kitting up.  This was on the cover of Cross-Stitch and Needlework magazine last year in the Fall issue.  As soon as I saw it, I fell in love.  I love it all ~ the colors, the pattern, the edge work ~ all of it.  It is intended to be a jack'o'lantern pattern but truthfully that doesn't jump out at me.  I have to look at it a bit before I even see the little faces.  I just think it's a stunning set.

I went to 123Stitch to see about finding the fabric.  I don't want to change anything on this.  I was it exactly as shown, so the 30ct Weeks Dye Works fabric in the color, "Carrot," is exactly what I want.  

And let's just say....CHA-CHING $$$$$$.

The entire set requires two pieces of fabric 16X16, two that are 12X12, and two that are 14X14.  Now, of course, they are not sold in those exact specific sizes.  So to get what I need, I'll have to buy two that is 13X17 and four that are 17X26.  

And that, my dears, will run close to $110!!!

Wowsers.

So I'm just going to go at it a little bit at a time.  Eat the elephant one small nibble here and another there.  I really can't wait though.  I'm just itching to work on this.  

That's all now my dears.  I'm off to stitch a bit and read some stitchy blogs.  

Hugs and kisses and busy needles to you all!

:0)

Finished!!

I finished Rapunzel!  I was so happy to be done with her, I couldn't wait until my daughter's birthday in August to show her.  So I shared it with her right away and she was very surprised and she really liked it.  We're going to get it framed soon.

Mission Accomplished.

Needle Arts Snobbery

This is something that seems to come up from time to time in the world of needle arts.  Now, I know I may be throwing out a few blanket statements with this post, so don't think I mean this for every single person in the needle arts world.  I don't.  Most of us have manners and can appreciate the time and effort and talent it takes to make something with needle and thread or yarn, even if it's a type of stitching that is not our forte.  But then....there are others...

Embroiderers who look down their nose at cross stitchers.  "It's no different than painting by number."  ~  "That's just a craft, not an art." ~ "It's just X's, not real stitches."

And then there are the cross stitchers...

"I like all stitching.  Well...except for those stamped pieces."  (Said with a look of disdain.) ~ "I would never stitch on Aida."  (And nothing wrong with that, but a little more stitching and a little less attitude would be nice.)

And then it seems as if many from all forms of stitching look down on plastic canvas work.  

"Oh, I remember doing that.  

When I was 10."

Over the years I've seen and heard some things in groups that just astound me at the disrespect of other's work, effort, and yes - TALENT.  One person shared a finished piece - a large nude that obviously took a long time and someone comes in to take offense and say she doesn't like having to see nudes and it should be removed - and this wasn't an admin, it was a new member no less.  Somewhere else there was a discussion of making the backs of pieces neat and one person piped up to say that when they received a stitched piece as a gift, they literally take it apart - no matter if it was framed or finished into a pillow/ornament/etc - to see if the back was, "neat enough to meet my standards." 

Oh. My. Gosh.

People.

I just don't believe that snobbery should have any place in this wonderful, cozy little world of the needle arts.  If anyone should be getting along, it's us.  Even if our tastes are different in what we like to stitch and how we like to stitch it, there is room for all of us and there should be respect given in all directions.  No one form of needlework is better than another.  And yes, they are all art forms, not merely a childish hobby.  Both cross stitch and plastic canvas can be and are just as filled with as many specialty stitches as embroidery is.  And the vast majority of beautiful embroidered pieces couldn't be done if the stitcher wasn't working on something stamped.  And for that matter, there are many gorgeous cross stitch works that start as stamped pieces.  Linen is wonderful, but Aida will always have a sure and secure place in the world of cross stitch.  As a matter of fact, if you do charity stitching, there are some charities that require you to use 14ct Aida - period.  The back of one person's piece may be a perfect replica of the front and the next person's a hot mess - but it's all ok and good and we're all at different places on many different learning curves here.  So let's always give others the wiggle room they need on those learning curves without discouraging them or making them feel like their work some how isn't as good as someone else's or as another form of needle art.  

Needlework in all it's forms is a beautiful thing and there is room - and should also be respect - for all of them in our stitching world.

Well, this kind of snuck up on me...

In 5 weeks I'm headed to a retreat in the Smokey Mountains.  It's a trip that's kind of traditional for me and one that I look forward to all year long.  There are two gift exchanges at this retreat.  One is a gift box full of stitchy type notions and the other is a stitched ornament exchange.  So I know all year I have to stitch something for this retreat.  But for some reason, this year it slipped my mind until now.  When I stitch an ornament for giving, I like to stitch two so I can keep one myself.  So my stitching schedule grew by two ornaments, lol.  The pattern I chose for this year's ornament is a dove inside a circle with a filigree, leafy type of border around it.  It's charted in blues and roses but I'm changing it up to Christmas colors.  I'm going to give them a simple finish in the clear acrylic ornament frames that 123Stitch sells.

I have a little finish!  :0)  I finished up Frosty Friends a couple of nights ago.  I want to "finish" this into a no-sew cube, just not sure when I'll have the time to do that.  But it's going to need to be before Christmas, lol.  Although truly, this design is appropriate for the whole winter.  One thing kind of perturbed me about this pattern though.  On the picture of the finished product that comes when you buy the pattern, it shows two different ways of stitching it up.  One is like I have done it and the other shows it larger, finished into a pillow.  This one has a border all the way around it, that obviously "goes" with the pattern, as in, it's a style that is consistent with the look of the pattern.  But after you buy it and open it, you find the border is no where to be found.  You don't get the pattern for that.  I just feel like the way it's represented on it's packaging is misleading.  Because it obviously leads you to think that you can stitch it with or without the border, but then it doesn't provide or even address the fact that there is no border pattern.

I'm still working on Lady Victoria as well.  I hope to have her finished soon.  I can't wait to start her silk ribbon roses.  Sorry, no pic.  :-(

I took a Christmas stitch that I did last year and turned her into a pillow.  My intention was always to make her a pillow for Christmas this year, so after stitching her last year I just put her away in a project roll.  But this week I got her out and finished her up.  I am **super** pleased with how this turned out as I've never done anything like this before.  I can't "sew," not in the traditional sense with a machine, so this was all done by hand.  But it wasn't difficult or even terribly time consuming.  I started one day and finished the next.

And one more little extra I want to share. ~ Earlier this year, I stitched and made this little pouch.  It had been sold as a cosmetic case, but there is no way it would work for that.  It doesn't even close up in a way that would work for that and it's rather tiny.  So I put it away (procrastinating) with the intention of turning it into a needlebook at some point - which it's the perfect size and design for that.

So I finally took the whole 5 minutes needed this week and stitched in some felt and added in my needles.  I really love it.  A filled up needlebook makes me terribly happy.  :0)

That's about all I have for now.  Happy stitching everyone!  :0)

It's raining, it's pouring...

We are having a rain and thunder storm today in a very big way.  We haven't had a storm like this in a very long time.  The day really isn't fit for anything other than stitching.  But I'm also keeping the lighting low (headaches) and don't really feel like thinking or counting all that much.  I need a more relaxing form of stitching for a day like this.  And for me, that means one thing ~ plastic canvas.  I recently purchased an Autumn plastic canvas banner project from Herrschners.  It's this one.   I started on it one night last week and I'll work on it some more today.  I love how quickly most plastic canvas projects come together.  And it seems that in the world of stitching, it is most unappreciated by many.  But it's end results can be so very pretty and some projects I've seen are just as detailed as other types of stitching, complete with specialty stitches.  

But this one is easy and fun and will be super cute when done.

Here's my current progress.

Some of the background, one pair of ears, and one fall leaf, lol.

So this is what I'll be working on today.

The past two days I've been working on my "secret" project.  It's secret because it's a gift for my daughter, that I'm hoping to have finished and framed by Christmas.  I'm not sure I'll make it, but I'm trying.  It's Rapunzel, which she loves and I can't wait to give this to her.  Here's where I finished last night.  The past two days I've worked on finishing the castle and sun area and some of her hair up at the top.

Don't let this piece fool you.  It's not as simple as it looks.  It has almost as many three quarter stitches in it as it does whole stitches and the fabric I chose is that soft-as-butter kind that does *not* want to split for those kinds of stitches.  So it's slow going and time consuming, but I'm doing it.  I can't wait to see her face when she gets it.

Well, that's about all for me today.  I'm going to go dive into those owls and see how much I can get done on this super wet, dark day.  

It's kind of the perfect type of cozy for stitching.  ;0)

Stitchy updates, finishes, and pictures...

Remember when I shared with you this little stitch I was doing for my charity's animal shelter project?

Well, I turned it into this...

It was fun and I'm growing more confident in these types of finishes.

I also spent some time the past few days making some other kinds of pretties.

This is a little pumpkin pin cushion ~ very much just a rough draft of what I have in my head.  But a cute start at least, lol.

And two ornaments.  These can easily be put on my tree, but since they aren't too "Christmassy," I can leave them out year round as decoration.  Right now they are nestled in my grandmother's china cabinet.

This one is 3 inches around.

And this is a larger 4 inch one.

All the embroidery from the past few weeks got hand washed and is now hanging to dry.  I'll iron them tonight and then mail them off tomorrow.  They are going into a raffle to help a cancer patient with expenses.

 And yes, I am certainly still cross stitching too.  :0)  This is Teresa Gil's pattern, Edwardian Beauty: Elizabeth.  I am so close to finishing the stitching on it and that is super exciting because it will be time to deck her hat out in silk ribbon roses, beading, jewelry and lace on her dress.  I love it!

Hopefully by this time next week, I'll have the cross stitching done on her and can then move on to her embellishments.  I'll share lots of pic here when I get to that point!  :0)

Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition, I met my stitching deadlines!

And......relax.  All of my current deadlines for this month's charity stitching have been met.  I enjoyed the things I made (especially this butterfly napkin set) but I'm glad to be done because I'm itching to get back to my own projects.  

This set is going to a raffle to help a cancer patient with expenses.  I do need to wash them and I am a tad bit nervous about that.  I'll put fusible webbing onto the back and hope and pray for the best!

This one is my favorite.  The flower petals are done in the "strawberry stitch," which was a new stitch for me.  I use a split stitch on the stems and satin stitching on the leaves and some of the butterfly sections.  French knots and backstitching finishes out the butterfly.  All of these same stitches, except the strawberry stitch, are repeated in each of the napkins.  I really love how they turned out.

You've seen these two already.  :0)

And then this little guy finishes out the set.  

I'm tired, I may take a couple of days "off."  We'll see.  I usually do right after I meet a deadline.  But usually by day 2 my stitchy bug is yelling in my ear to get back to it.  So we'll see what happens, lol.

A daughter's regrets

I have been a cross stitcher for 30 years.  I started when I was 9 years old.  Self taught and just figured it out as I went along.  I'll admit that my childhood and teenage stitching was sporadic.  I didn't start delving in head first and with serious intent until I hit my 20s.  But still, my teenage self did stitch and at any given time could pull out a WIP or UFO to work on.

My mother was a quilter.  A hand quilter and dedicated to her chosen art.  She even felt that using a machine to make a quilt was, "cheating."  (Please don't judge, we all have our quirks.)  She spent hours at her quilt stand my father had made for her.  ((Why oh why did I give that away when she died?  Such a short sighted thing for me to have done...))  She loved her quilting and was passionate about it.

But some how...for some reason...she and I completely missed each other in the world of needle arts.  I don't know why.  It makes no sense to me now.  I was never much interested in her quilting and she was never much interested in my stitching.  Which makes absolutely no sense because we were close and had a good relationship. 

Why....why did I not take my stitching and go and sit next to her quilting stand and stitch with her while she was quilting?  Why did she never think to ask me to do so?  As women in the needle arts, aren't we always looking for another woman to share this experience with?  Aren't many of us almost desperate for that experience?  It's why online groups are so popular and stitching retreats are held up as the very best end all-be all experience a stitcher can have.

And my mother and I could have had it every day.  And neither of us thought about it.  I guess I was too much of a flighty teenager to even think about such things.  And if she ever did think about it, maybe she didn't say anything for fear of rejection....from the flighty teenager.  And it's true, I probably could not have appreciated the situation then.

But now, oh what I'd give to be able and sit in that room with her again and stitch while she quilts.  You know what they say about not knowing what you've got until it's gone?

It's true.

So very true.

November 2014 Gatlinburg Stitching Retreat

I wanted to share about the retreat I went to in November.  I wish I had taken more pictures, but I didn't.  The first morning of the retreat as I was leaving my hotel, I fell outside on the sidewalk.  It was a very bad fall and I was in pain the rest of the retreat, so taking pictures really did slip my mind.  I was black and blue and swollen and it took me two solid weeks after getting home before the pain started to get better.

 

But...I still attended the retreat, I still stitched and I still had a great time!  The retreat was hosted by Crossedthreads Needlework in the Mountain Mall in Gatlinburg.  I did a short video about the retreat for my #flosstube channel that I'll share here.  I know I sound tired in the video, but just keep in mind that when I made this I was still in a lot of pain from that fall and the healing process from it was going very slow for me.

 

But I will say this - except for the fall - I had a wonderful weekend and I fully plan to attend this same retreat again next year.  I'll just be a lot more careful when walking on the sidewalk!!

 

 



WIP update

Just a little update for my 1950s-esque Christmas lady.  She's a pretty quick and easy stitch but will be cute as a button once she's done.  I decided to change her shoes just a bit and give her high heels.  The pattern made her look like she was on her tiptoes, but I thought she'd be better suited with some heels.

 

 

I don't think I'm going to do the backstitching on her hands/arms until I finish the ornament she's holding in her hands.  It shouldn't be long now though and she'll be finished.  :0)



Stitching with a purpose

Well, another year has come and gone (basically) for my stitching charity.  Our group has done so well.  In the span of one year and two months we have done projects for a Ronald McDonald House in Tennessee, a Habitat for Humanity family in Illinois and a domestic violence shelter in Florida.  I think that is pretty darn good.  I'm proud of us.  We're currently taking a break for the Christmas season and we will get back together with new plans in January.

 

Potholders I did for the domestic violence shelter:

 

 

 

In my own personal stitching news, my needles have been flying.  I wanted to finish Honeybees by the end of November, but then ended up putting it to the side to work on Christmas ornaments.  I did nine of them.  Pretty good considering this is the first year I've ever done ornaments.  I did 6 sleds - 4 for my family to keep and 2 for an exchange at the retreat I went to.  I did Quaker quilt patterns for the exchange and Eskimos for my family.

 

 

 

 

Then two more ornies for my own tree and one for my charity.  Christmas cardinals, one for me and one for the charity.

 

 

And then a pink snowflake for our tree.  This was my first time doing true finishing and I'm very excited about how it turned out.  For a first try, I think it's pretty good.

 

 

 

Then I did a Christmas pattern based off of Dickens' A Christmas Carol.  There is a whole series of these based off of the book.  I eventually want to do all of them.

 

 

 

I'm now working on a Christmas piece that I'll frame.  It may or may not be done by Christmas, but I'm sure it won't be framed by then.  So it will be put out for display next year.  This is what it will look like when done.  (She's bigger than she looks.  Way too big for an ornament.)

 

 

My current progress:

 

 

So you can see, I'm still doing Christmas themed stitching.  I have new projects to start after the New Year, so I'm eeking out the last of the holiday stitching that I can.  :0)