Lots of Victorian styled lovlies

I've got some WIPs to share and also a couple of new projects that I will hopefully be starting soon.

I've been working on Sue Hillis' Christmas in the Kitchen as a SAL with a couple of ladies on Flosstube.  I had not done much one it, but about a week ago really felt in the mood for it.  (Finally.)  So I pulled it out and got it about half done. 

 I changed the called for threads in the word Christmas at the top.  I used a merino wool and silk blend that also has some sparkle running through it.  It's a thin yarn, intended for needlepoint, but it works ok on this 14ct fabric.  I purchased it on a whim last year, simply thinking I would do something Christmas related with it.  I think it works perfectly for this project.

Next is a project that I am creating myself.  Not the patterns, but the stitching and decorating of this object was my idea.  All the patterns I'm using come from the book, Anne Orr's Charted Designs.  It's filled with Victorian motifs, silhouettes, alphabets (it shows you how to space and place your letters for monograms as well,) and florals.  

I found this rounded box that spins at a craft store.  It has six photo frames around the outside and the lid comes off.  As soon as I saw it, I knew I wanted to turn it into a stitching box.  I currently have four pictures done for the outside frames.  I have a lot of plans for the inside to dress is up and make it nice and lovely.

I've still been working on the Edwardian Garden Party by Cross Stitch Collection magazine.  I started it at the beginning of last year and have pretty much been working steadily since then.  I'm about 2/3 of the way through.  I just finished this gentleman in his suit last week and the lady next to him, I did her face, hat and decolletage last night.  I'm hoping to get her dress done in the next 2-3 days.

I recently went on quite a search, trying to find one of the patterns for Judy Odell's project, Attic Collection Stitcher's Accessory book.  It was quite the adventure trying to find one, as it is an old pattern that is no longer easily found.  I ended up contacting Judy Odell herself and even she had a hard time finding one ~ but in the end, I found two!  It was given several different pattern ways.  And I'm so excited to have two of them.

This is the original one I found out about and was looking for:

It has two color options, the one shown being Autumn and another that is Summer.  I'm going to kit up the Summer version ~ it is variegated purples and lemon yellows and navy blues.

Then this pattern is called Floral Romance Remembered.  I'm going to kit it up as well.

As well as stitching, I've been doing a lot of baking.  This week a wanted to see if I could create a recipe for Butterbeer Cookies ~ like the drink in Harry Potter.  I did pretty good if I say so myself.  Everyone gave these a thumbs up.

Recipe:

1 butter cake mix, 

2 eggs, 

1/2 C oil, 

2 Tbls water, 

1 tsp. cinnamon, 

1/2 C butterscotch bits, 

1/2 C english toffee bits

Mix all ingredients by hand until batter is smooth and shiny. Drop by tablespoon full onto parchment lined cookie sheets and bake for 10 minutes at 350*. Once cooled, make the icing drizzle ~ 1 C powdered sugar, 1 Tbls vanilla, 2 Tbls french vanilla coffee creamer. Drizzle over cooled cookies.

From my home to yours ~ enjoy!

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.

Progress on Rapunzel

Rapunzel.

She is driving me absolutely mad.

I just want her done.

I did, however, find my mistake that made my corners not match up.

And it was a blessedly easy and quick fix.

But she's still a butt.

Right now I'm so close to the finish that even though I want to put her down and take a break from her, I want to finish her more.

So onward and forward.

I vote we lock her away in the tower and throw away the key, lol...

The Kentucky Get Together Stitcher's Retreat

This past weekend I went to the Cumberland State Park in Jamestown, Ky.  I attended a long standing retreat, but it was the first time for me to go.  It was about a 5 hour drive from my home and I took a pit stop in Nashville to pick up my friend and retreat roomie who lives in Texas.  She had flown in and we went to the LNS in Nashville and lunch before hitting the road to drive to the Pumpkin Lodge in the Cumberland State Park.

I took a lot of pictures that I'll share ~ I'll just give a brief explanation of the pics and if you have any questions or want to know more, just let me know in the comments.  Also, this post doesn't contain pictures of every person there and every WIP.  I only took pictures one afternoon and some were out to lunch and I only took pictures of those who were there to give permission.

This is Pumpkin Lodge.  We had the place to ourselves.  Meeting room, two kitchens, restroom, and large living room here in the front and then our personal rooms were in the same building around back.

These three pictures was our view at meal times.  It's the Cumberland Lake and it's the largest man made lake in the country. 

You could see the marina through the trees just outside mine and my roomie's room.

This is the bead table set up by Cole Godby of The Cole Collection.  She makes gorgeous needle threaders and froggers.

I purchased two threaders from her and I am in love with them.  I think I've found a new obsession.

Our fearless leader/hostess for this retreat.  

:0)

Sweet friends...

Here I am with three of my charity members.

We had a gift exchange and I got a really nice bead box.  It's pictures like this that give me a jolting reminder of exactly how red my chosen hair color is, lol.

There were several other vendors there as well.

Needle minders sold by Mandy Adams.

Crossed Threads was representing.

One of the stitchers sells these bags and gives the proceeds to charity.

The above items were from TrulyN2Stitching.  I purchased two Qsnap covers and one zippered bag from her as well as getting a pillow case for a tuck pillow from her freebie pile.  I love, love, love the things she makes.  I wish I had her talent with a sewing machine.

These are pictures of the van belonging to the owner of Crossed Threads out of Pigeon Forge, TN.  The van was affectionately named, The Thread Box.  :0)  It's basically a traveling LNS.  Quite the sight to behold!

Here are some of the WIPs and finishes that were there.  There were more, but these are the ones I was able to get during the time I was taking pictures.  Some people had stepped out to lunch and I only took pictures of those who were there and could give me permission.

This is really just a small taste of the weekend.  I really enjoyed seeing all of my friends and we had lots of laughs and also lots of stitches put in place. 

Until next year...

:0)

When your borders don't meet up...

Well poo.

I've been working away at a Tangled/Rapunzel piece for my daughter's birthday.  I've worked on it off and on since late last year, but the past 2-3 weeks I've really given a push to see some progress made.  

It's a fairly innocent looking piece....it lies.  

As you can see, it's Rapunzel done in stained glass.  My first intention was to have it done by Christmas last year.  Nope, that didn't happen.  This pattern is so chock full of 3/4 stitches.  I swear that for every three whole stitches there is a 3/4 stitch.  And of course I chose a fabric that doesn't like to split.  So it's been a real challenge that I have put down several times just to save my own sanity.  

But I decided the week before my last retreat I would work on it exclusively for that week - just to try and get to the point where I felt like I had made progress.  Because up until that point, no matter how much I worked on it, it felt like trying to run through mud.  But, working on it and only it for that week did the trick.  I got past my mental block with it and could actually, for the first time see and feel progress.  So that made me want to work on it even more.  So after I got home from retreat, this is all I've been stitching on.

My plan for the past few days was to work my way down on both sides before finishing the middle, just so I could make sure my borders would meet properly.  Every step of the way, everything was coming out just fine.  Or so I thought.  Last night I got to the bottom point on both sides, just certain they would meet.

Except they didn't.

You see where the purple ends on the left?  Right next to the blue?  Now you see how far down the purple goes on the right?  Those should fall onto the same line.  They are one line off.

So I've thought about what to do.  If I work my way up from the corners, that's going to push the mistake up into her body area and I don't want to have to try and fix a mistake there.  But if I stop where I'm at on the corners and work my way down from the middle, I think I can probably fix the issue easier at the bottom.  There are a lot of flowers there and I can hopefully add a line in the blocks of color there.  So for now at least (unless I come up with something better) that's the plan.  I've worked on this so much lately that I'm starting to burn out and a part of me wants to put it down again.  But at the same time, now that I know there is a problem/issue I *really* want to make sure that gets fixed, so I'm going to keep pushing through.

I have until August before her birthday, so it's not like I'm under a time crunch.  But I still really want to see this one done.  It's been a challenge the whole way.

And one quick finish to share.  This is a Victorian Motto mini sampler and I finished it a few weeks ago.  This was a very different kind of stitching for me.  But I love the finished product.

Well, let's have a little catch up, shall we?

So.

I've been busy.  Lots of boring, real life stuff going on.  But nothing troublesome, thank goodness.  Just...stuff.  I'm sure you can commiserate.

So I'll just jump in here and catch you up a bit here and there and bring you up to speed on my stitchy happenings.

Most interesting is that March of 2016 is a red letter retreat month for me.  I was at retreat in Nashville for Nashville Market weekend last week and next week I will be tucked away at the Pumpkin Lodge (cutest name ever, am I right?) in Kentucky having another wonderful stitchy weekend.

Last weekend was *ever* so much fun.  (*I find that I must make one disclaimer about this retreat so that I don't cause any angst to it's hostess.  She is a shop owner and as such, was allowed to attend the Nashville Market.  But the rest of us at the retreat were simply stitchers - so *we* did not go to the Market.  Only the shop owner went. There was a tad bit of kerfluffle when certain folks thought she was going to allow us/sneak us (lol, seriously folks?) into the Market.  Didn't happen.  All was above board and we stayed cloistered away in our extremely lovely hotel and conference room during the days while she was at Market doing the shopping.)

We stayed at a hotel that was about a block away from the hotel where Market is hosted.  So our hostess was able to easily come and go between the two.  The really special thing was - since she was purchasing as a shop owner, at night when she was done with her wholesale shopping ~ she was able to bring things back to us and we could shop Market goodies from her right then and there, technically while the Market was still happening.  Which we all know, isn't something that's been an option for lay people, at all -ever.  So that was very exciting.  

I did really good and I stayed on budget.  (Major happy dance!) But I love (read: love, love, love) the items I purchased.  So without further ado ~ here are the Market goodies I bought!

The first thing I got was this patriotic thread keep from Priscilla's Pocket.  Super cute and I wasted no time in turning it into a needle minder.  :0)

Next in line are the very first Glendon Place and Ink Circles patterns I've every purchased.  I've admired their charts, but always thought they just didn't quite fit the style of things I like to stitch.  But then I saw these two and very quickly fell in love.  The Glendon Place is called Simply Love and I can't tell you how gorgeous this chart is in person.  It has some beading, but not over the top.  I love the colors, which are Dinky Dyes.  I already have some pink fabric in my stash, so I'm going to buy the threads next weekend and do a floss toss on my fabric to see if it will work.

Equally impressive is Tapestry by Ink Circles.  This also uses specialty threads but has a, "DMCish" conversion chart on the back as well.  I will probably just use DMC on this one.  I'm sure it will still turn out beautifully.

Next is Rosewood Manor's Friendship Quilt.  Love this.  It's part cross stitch and part blackwork.  So lovely.  You should click on the picture to get a better view of the details.  I have a few other Rosewood Manor patterns in my stash, but I'm sure that this one will be the first of those that I'll pick up to stitch.

Lastly is Jardin Prive's Ciseaux & Bobines. ~ Scissors and Bobbins.  :0)

This was a Market exclusive.  Which means that only store owners who attended the Market and bought it there, can sell it.  There were a few other Market exclusives, and some of them were this same brand and a similar theme.  I just fell in love with the pretty way the scissors are charted and the little village houses atop the bobbins.

While I was at this retreat, I managed to get a finish.  I signed up for a Love Quilts USA square at the beginning of the year.  The quilt I signed up for is for a little girl with a heart condition - if memory serves, she had a heart transplant - so it's only natural that she wanted a heart themed quilt!  :0)  I decided to use Durene Jones' pattern Heart of Mine for my square.  I did have to make a lot of changes though, because this quilt had a strict color scheme of pink and red with only two other accent colors - period.  So I had to leave out the flowers across the bottom and ended up changing the skin color a bit.  But it all worked out in the end and I'll be mailing this off soon.

I'll be back with more updates soon.  ~And~ I'll be at another retreat next weekend and I'll share with you all about that after I get back.  Happy stitching everyone!!

:0)