Just a quickie note

 and a pic of See the Star.  It's coming along nicely.  The next part will have the golden lacy motiff in it.  I am undecided about it.  Should I use the same overdyed yellow thread (which doesn't show off the lovely motiff) or use a darker color to highlight it?  Decisions, decisions.

Hmmmm .... any suggestions?

It's a good thing I have something else to stitch while I ponder this dilemma.  Have a good weekend!

A couple finishes and a new start

 Yippee! I finished Victorian Heart over the weekend.  I'm happy with the way it turned out.

I also finished Orna Willis' Midnight Garden by adding a few colorful bugs.  After all, every garden needs a bug or two or more.

This is such a cheerful garden!

I'm not sure what to do with it -- maybe a box top or one of those standups?  Neither of which I know how to do.  Though I did buy some little paper boxes when I finished the Graphic Sampler, thinking I would make it into a box top. 

Now that I have 2 finishes, perhaps I should just do it!

After all, I guess there's no time like the present to learn .....

And last but not least, I finished this sweet little heart.  It was a mystery sampler stitched through the Marquoir Group.

And now for the start ...

This is the beginning of a little quaker sampler.  I'm stitching it on a pre-made pillow cover in my stash.  No  idea where it came from but I figured it will  make a nice Christmas present for someone.

Stitching this will be a test of my patience.  Since this is a finished pillow cover, I have to stitch with my hands inside the thing. 

ACK!!  All that fabric is already getting in the way!

Relax ... slow and steady with this will be my montra.


Happy stitching everyone!

Oodles of french knots

This past week my eyes haven't been up to much stitching. So .... instead of  not stitching at all, I've been making french knots.

It's hard to see in the pic but I have the right lobe and part of the left one french knotted (hmmmm, is that a verb?).  In real life, the knots are making a big difference.  The lacy edges have become distinct from the canvas background.

I plan to finish this over the weekend.  The only things that need stitching are the middle horizontal ribbon and the rest of the french knots.  Of course, a few sparkles are required so I'll add some beads and/or charms -- just for fun.

Midnight Garden is finished! 

That is .... mostly finished.

I decided every garden needs a few bugs.  That's another thing planned for the weekend.  That and the  laundry and an agility seminar and napping.  Oh, and don't forget mowing the grass  before the rains come.   Hmmmm, not much time for napping.

Resting and napping are doggie specialties. 

YAWN!

Maybe I should follow their example.



Have a good one .... ZZzzzzzzzzz ....

Life is getting back to normal ....

Thank goodness!

I've been stitching in my free time instead of going online.  Mostly I've been cross stitching .... nothing that requires much concentration because my brain is usually fried by the time I get home from work. 

See the Star is coming along nicely.  Though I did do a miscount  in the area to the left -- off by one thread!  DRAT!  It's only noticable in the overdyed yellow area, soooo, I think I'm gonna just cover the offending goof with a nice charm when it's finished.  No one will ever know .

I really like the violet-magenta color combination of the 2 unfinished motiffs.  Perhaps I need to do something with this color combo in the future?




Midnight Garden by Orna Willis is growing nicely.  This one is fun just playing with the thread colors.  My bullion knots are a bit lumpy -- I never made them with perle coton before -- and I've added a few more french knots than required.  I may even add a few more.  What can I say?  I love french knots.

I also love  the way the green overdyed thread positively **POPS** against the purple background.  It isn't that obvious in this pic but in real life, it screams. 

Cool!

Another fun color combo to play with in the future.



The next Marquior mystery sampler is coming along also.  In fact, I am current with it now.  WooHoo!  How cool is that? 


I have this one on rollers and need to get a picture of the entire thing.  Maybe I'll do that tomorrow.  Don't you just love the beautiful letters on this sampler?  I used to typeset at a printing company and learned to love fonts. 

When this is finished, I'm thinking it should be a bell pull hanging on my front door.  Maybe hang some little bells on the bottom so when the door opens, it'll chime??   



This next piece is a sweet little heart for Mother's Day.  I decided to do it all in white because my mom used to say - white goes with everything.  Only one more part and it will be finished.  I'm thinking it should become a little ornament.

As an aside, I stitched this next piece in 2008 in memory of my mom who died 10 years ago.  I adapted a small hardanger pattern I got at a garage sale (sorry to say I cannot remember the name of the designer or pattern, but it originally came with ceramic angel buttons.  I think all were broken except one.)  Anyway, I chose the colors because they remind me of mom:

Red was her most favorite color

White her second favorite

and Chocolate .... now that was her favorite-est ... YUM!

PUPPY UPDATE

Meadow is getting cuter every day

And last but not least ......

In Memory of my lovely Wisteria tree

I have no idea what happened but one day I looked out and it had fallen over.  Perhaps the wind  blew it down? or the roots rotted? or ?   I have no idea what actually happened but I'm going to miss my lovely little tree.  Hopefully some of the roots will come back to life and another one will grow.

Happy Spring to you!