Santa and orchid lady and butterflies ... oh my!

 I just finished this little guy.  He's for my ANG Christmas ornament exchange this year. It was a old kit from What's New Inc. for a Christmas Tree Candle.  I opted to make it into a pillow ornie instead.  It's been a long time since I've stitched on Aida.  I had forgotten how small the holes are -- either that or my eyesight isn't what it used to be. I didn't read the directions until after I was done stitching.  I read them to see how complicated their finishing was (too much for my taste).  And that was when I read that I was supposed to soak the threads in vinegar before stitching to make them colorfast.  Whoops.  I had to wash it because there was a major crease in the fabric so I washed in cold water. No bleeding.  Whew!  I ironed it and then saw it start to bleed.  RATS!  Ran it under cold water immediately but couldn't get it out.  Time for some tea staining to hide the bleed.  And it worked.  I can still see a little of the bleed but I don't think anyone else will unless they know where to look. Yay!

 

 Orchid Lady is finished.  I'm happy with the way it turned out and I really enjoyed working on canvas again.  

The first column on my Randje with butterflies is done.  Two more to go.

THREE NEW PROJECTS STARTED

 I started and finished a small Swedish weaving project and a recent class taught at my EGA meeting:

This is a type of surface work done on an old-timey type of fabric called huck fabric.  It's fun and relaxing.

Another recent start is a class with my ANG group, Orchid Lady.  It's been ages since I have stitched on congress cloth.  I am loving the big holes, definitely easier on my eyes.  I decided to change the colors from the original and paint the canvas:

And finally, my Randje per week with butterflies sampler.  I have always admired the Randje per week samplers, however, I've never stitched all in one color before and knew I wouldn't be able to maintain interest in a large project without multiple colors.  So colorful butterflies (from Carriage House Samplings 1814 Butterfly Collection) are scattered amongst the randjes:

To the right of the rust and purple butterfly is the Queen Ann's Lace stitch from a type of embroidery called Wessex Stitching. I love Wessex Stitching and will be teaching this stitch as a class for my EGA group in 2022.  I decided to add it here for practice and .... just because.

Thanks for stopping by. Happy Stitching.

LET THE PEOPLE CHOOSE -- SEWING

On the first Saturday of the month the People's Choice SAL run by Jo from Serendipitous Stitching occurs. And compared to August, I'm on time.

Unfortunately, I don't have much stitching that deals with sewing.  The spools are spot on while the quilt and kitty one may be a stretch:

Thanks for stopping by....

Let the people choose -- Books

 

 On the first Saturday of the month the People's Choice SAL run by Jo from Serendipitous Stitching occurs. I am waaayyy late.

 The topic of the month is Books.  Unfortunately, I don't have any books stitched, just quotations from books.  Does that count??

ROSEWOOD MANOR'S TULIP QUILT SAMPLER COMPLETE

 

 

FINISHED!

I started this baby January 2011 and finally finished it. 

 

 

 

Change of Plans

 

 

My stitching plan was to alternate between Rosewood Manor's Tulip Quilt Sampler and a new project, however, the Tulip Sampler is going so well that I've stuck with it. As of today, I have one quilt left and this beauty will be done.

 

 

 

 I began  this project in 2011 and stopped working on it in 2015.  I'm so happy to be nearing it's completion.  It's such a pretty sampler.

Thanks for stopping by.

Home Sweet Homes

 It's the first Saturday of the month so time for the People's Choice SAL run by Jo from Serendipitous Stitching. (What can I say, I'm late.) Thank you, Jo, for hosting this SAL. This month's topic is HOUSES.

Some of the houses I have stitched over the years:

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Several haunted houses, one done twice

???Are castles considered houses

Let the people choose .... butterflies

 

 

It's the first Saturday of the month so time for the People's Choice SAL run by Jo from Serendipitous Stitching. Thank you to Jo for hosting this SAL. This month's topic is BUTTERFLIES.

It appears I haven't stitched too many butterflies.  Here are a few I could find:

I need to remedy this lack of butterflies.

Santa, Tulips & Butterflies

My EGA group is having Christmas in July because we couldn't get together at Christmas time due to covid.  We usually have an ornament exchange and because I love this short, fat Santa from my Santa Sampler, I restitched him for it.  I think he will become a pillow ornament.

Since the Santa Sampler is done, I needed a new project and while gathering the stuff for it, I decided to work on an old unfinished project, Tulip Quilt Sampler from Rosewood Manor.  I haven't touched it in 6 years (I was in a bit of a stitching slump).  It only needs 4 more quilts added to it and it will be done.

Now, I don't really need a totally new project.  I do have quite a few wip's that need some luvin' but I'm going to start a new one anyways.  I have really been enjoying these samplers of 'whatever I feel like putting together' and so I'm going to do another one with a little twist.  This one is going to be based on the Randje per Week SAL and the Carriage House Samplings pattern 1814 Butterfly Collection.  I dyed some 36 count linen over the weekend and picked out some colors for it.

My plan is to alternate between the Tulip Quilt Sampler and the new Butterfly Randje Sampler.

Santa gets some bling

 

Santa the Seventh

 Santa number 7 is The Santa in the Moon by Twisted Oaks Design from the 2007 Just CrossStitch Christmas Ornament issue.

Blue

It's the first Saturday of the month so time for the People's Choice SAL run by Jo from Serendipitous Stitching. Thank you to Jo for hosting this SAL. This month's topic is BLUE.

Blue makes me think of cold so I tend to use it on winter/Christmas projects:

 

Thanks for looking.