Thanksgiving stitching

I was very productive over the Thanksgiving holiday.  Not only did I get lots of stitching done but (knock on wood) it appears the dreaded flea epidemic has subsided -- WooHooHoo! 

And little Firefly seconds that.

Can you believe nasty fleas on this little lovely -- what an abomination!


Anyway, back to stitching ......

I worked on Harvest Angel on Thanksgiving Day while at my dad's house.  I didn't really get much of her done -- too many distractions -- but she's closer to being finished.


Since it is fast approaching the Christmas season and I'm stuck in Autumn, I decided to kick myself in the pants and begin a very pretty French SAL (http://novalee02.over-blog.com/categorie-11085668.html). 

The fabric is a 25ct Navy evenweave (can't remember which kind), the threads are all shiny -- talk about Bling.  This is something I've never done before.  I love adding beads and shiny threads to my stitching but this is the first time the entire piece will glitter.  What fun!

The white thread is Treasure Braid while the gold and pink threads are Kreinik braids.  The white and gold are wonderful to work with and make lovely cross stitches.  The pink thread seems a little stiffer and thicker.  It doesn't work as well as cross stitches on the 25 count (did I mention I'm stitching over 1) but it works well with larger stitches.

I plan on adding beads -- probably gold, maybe pink? -- once the stitching is finished.   And instead of stitching the bird and letters in the circles,  I'm going to add some pretty gold charms (which are not picked yet).

You would think that would be enough but I also pulled out lots of smalls that are stitched but need finished.  And here they are, my to-do-stacks, patiently waiting:

I spent most of a morning cutting out boards, picking & cutting backing fabric, cutting the quilt batting, gluing material to the back boards and the batting to the front boards, picking out buttons and various other assundries to enhance the finished smalls.  Whew! -- what a lot of cutting and gluing!  I thank the crafting gods for my electric cutter!  It definitely saves mega wear and tear on my hands.  We won't talk much about the gluing except to say that it isn't one of my strengths.

Some of these smalls have been stitched for y-e-a-r-s.  Others are recently stitched.  Some are for me and some are for gifts.  I figure if I do a couple a week, I should be able to get them finished in the near future (no pressure -- except for the Christmas presents for this year).

And speaking of Christmas again .... the kick in the pants did nothing but leave a bruise on my tush!  I'm still not in the proper mood for the season.  There is a neat pattern calling me with pumpkins and crows and other inappropriate autumnal symbols.  Bah! Humbug!

Looks like Fall to me ......