Exchanges from February

It's been so long since I did these exchanges that I forgot all about them in yesterday's entry.  Must be a sign of my advancing age.

The first one is for Fair and Square's Valentine Exchange.  Kathy stitched me these pretty squares:

I love Celtic knots, pink and glitter -- could they be more perfect?

And for her, I picked something that reminded me of an old-fashioned Valentine card by Laura J. Perine:

The second exchange I participated in was for Stitched With Love's Cozy Winter Exchange.  Janet stitched me a sweet starry night and included lots of other wonderful goodies with her package:

I had to laugh when I opened the card she sent.  If you could see me and my pups laying on the couch, we look very much like the man sleeping in his chair covered in furry friends.  I don't have a kitty for on my head but my little papillon Firefly finds that spot to her liking.

For my part of the exchange, I stitched Winter Band Sampler by Elizabeth's Designs for Jessica:

 I also managed to get Adriana framed sometime in February, I think it was:

And hopefully, I'm all caught up now with all things stitchy.

IHSW for January

I spent a goodly amount of time stitching over the weekend but cannot show a single pic because both the pieces I worked on are surprises.  Sorry.

But I do have a picture of Adriana washed and ironed and ready for the framer:

WIPocalypse update for November

I was driving home last night under a gorgeous full moon and remembered it's WIPocalpyse time.  Most of November was spent stitching for Christmas with a little Adriana thrown in just for yucks.

First up is Adriana.  I back stitched the birds' legs, beaks and some of their wings.  It's almost finished but I may not make it for this year.

The big hurrah! for November was finishing the Advent Calender and picking out fabric for it.  I plan to make it into a small wall hanging.  I really want to get it done before Christmas but am not sure that will happen.  Doing this kind of finishing is new to me -- I only did it once before -- and need to be nice and calm and relaxed before attempting it.  Right now, that's not my mental state.

The other Christmas stuff I've been stitching are presents for various friends and family and are on the top burner right now.  I forgot to get the designer for the Santa with drum but he's from an old issue of Country Cross Stitch Magazine.  The Stitching Sisters isn't finished yet.  I may remove the gold thread and replace it with something darker.  I like the way the spools show up but the individual strands of it aren't so visible.  And what can I say -- I just love that little angel.  Last Christmas I stitched a forest of trees, this year I stitched a sky full of angels. 

Have a great weekend!

Sept WIPocalypse

I am happy to report that I've been a busy little stitcher this past month, albeit a little erratic -- hopping around from project to project like a honey bee bounces among the clover.  And it was FUN!

I'll begin with Adriana -- I am almost finished with this lovely (still more backstitching to go).  I should be able to have this finished by the next WIPocalypse update:

And since I was doing Christmas ornies for my nephews, I decided to pick up the Advent Calender, a Sticklounge SAL from December.  I stitched the lower, right two ornies this past week.  This one I want to have done in time for Christmas this year:

I found this next little cutie recently and just had to stitch it before the world ends.  I'll probably make it into a Christmas ornie.  I found it on the Freebie Gallery blog (great place):

And then another new start that just has to get done before the world obliterates itself is the Christmas SAL by Carole:

I also managed to get some finish-finishing in:

Wee Three

A Brittercup kitty

And some framing (though I didn't do it myself):

And to All A Good Night

Lily Pond

Sudoku

Rose Wreath Santa

I hope your month was just as productive.

A Blue WIPocalypse

For the second August WIPocalypse update I pulled out Adriana -- something that hasn't seen the light of day for a few months.   I started the final part of this SAL and want to get it finished.  There isn't much more to do in the way of x's but there is a bit of bs-ing yet.  It shouldn't be a problem because the bs-ing is mostly outlining -- kind of mindless.

Another piece I worked on (though not very much) was the Old European Sampler.

Actually, I got a bit disgusted with it and that's why I pulled out Adriana to work on.  For some reason, I don't enjoy working on this piece.  Maybe it's the colors? (though I did a Santa in the same colors and had a blast with him)  Or maybe the tightness?  (it is driving me a bit bonkers)  Maybe the fabric? (normally I like lugana)  Maybe the size? (I seem to want to stitch smaller things right now, go figure)  Maybe the repetition? (it does seem to go on forever)  Whatever the reason, when I went to bed Saturday night, I decided I was done with it.  Finished!  No more.  I would put it away and just forget about it.  I have lots of other projects I enjoy doing so why bother.  The end!

But after working on Adriana on Sunday, I cooled down and will give it another go.

I also managed to do a little more on the Tulip Sampler.  I thought I would get more of the big square done but only the border is completed.  I decided to do the border in rice stitches instead of cross stitches just to be a little different.  This is such a pretty pattern and I just love the colors.  And when I finish with tulips I'm going to start Halloween Quilt Sampler another Rosewood Manor piece with lots of bs-ing in it.  I already bought the pattern :) 

I have another update that isn't WIPocalpyse related -- I'm almost finished with Along Came a Spider.  Madame Spider just needs her legs.  The pattern calls for 4 -- egads! that will not do!  My nephew would never let me hear the last of it if I didn't give her the proper number of legs.  And the proper number she shall have -- 8 black hairy ones!  EEK!

Have a good weekend!

And Happy Labor Day!

WIPocalypse for March

Sorry to be a little late ......

I didn't get much stitching done over the past month but I have a couple pics to show for my WIPocalypse update. The first is Adriana. I'm working on the 5th part of this SAL and with luck will get it finished this weekend.  I almost had a heart attack last Sunday as I was stitching those obscenely looong legs and realized I may run out of fabric.  Sigh .... I need to go back to first grade and learn how to count again.

I also stitched a few more eyelets on White Christmas.  It's coming along, slowly but surely.

Work is still incredibly busy (thus the lack of stitching).

I did, however, start a new project -- even though I made a very stern New Years Resolution that I was not not not going to start anything new in 2012 until I finished a couple older projects.  So much for resolutions . . . .

Introducing The Mighty Oak, designed by Daniela:

Later ......



Four down ... 2 to go

All my stitching time (the small amount that it is) was devoted to Adriana since my last post. 

I need to finish part 5 before March 1st to get the 6th and final part of this lovely pattern .... and it looks like I'm going to make it. Hooray!!  Even though I have almost no stitching time the next 2 weeks (grrrrump!  crankiness setting in already), I'm confident it can be stitched in time. 

Wish me luck .....

WIPocalypse - A Quick February Update

I missed the full moon but I have a couple pics for my February update.  The first one is White Christmas. 

There isn't much to show because I ran out of the Kreinik thread last week.  I bought  more over the weekend so I'll be able to continue on with it now.

My second piece is the SAL Adriana.  I stitched lots on it and will continue to do so since it has a time limit and I want to get it done. 

I bought some cheap finger nail polish over the weekend for painting charms.  As soon as I figure out how to hold the little buggers while painting them, I'll give it a go.  I'm thinking double sided tape.

Take care everyone.

Close but no cigar

I worked diligently on Adriana all last weekend but didn't get part 3 finished.  And unfortunately, I haven't been able to get any more stitching time since Sunday.  The dogs and I are back to agility training -- good for the dogs, bad for stitching.  Plus we are incredibly busy at work now  -- good for work, bad for stitching.  I'm hoping I can finish part three Friday evening (my only night off from doing dog stuff) -- though I can hear the couch calling  'NAP TIME' already.

Thank you for the suggestions for painting charms.  I read about using nail polish before and will give it a try.  I'm not too sure about spray paint.  I tend to make a royal mess with it.  Spray paints and glues, I'm not so good with -- you gotta know your limitations and those are definitely some of mine.

Happy Groundhog Day!

grumblegrumblegrumble -- 6 more weeks of winter --- I say we stew the lil rodent

A fruitful IHSW

I got lots of stitching done -- yay!

First and foremost, I finished part 2 of the Adriana SAL -- I love this design.  And since I'm so far behind with it, it will be getting the majority of my stitching attention until I get caught up.

I also got some eyelets stitched on the hardanger piece, White Christmas.  The kloster blocks on the top of the tree are now finished and I started the blue eyelets in the middle area.  I may use only the blue thread for the internal eyelets.  When I put silver thread next to the piece, I don't like it -- the silver looks 'dirty'.  Maybe I don't have the right kind.  I also have some very pretty shiny white thread.  I may try this, or not .... I really like the blue.  I found some nice dark blue beads in my stash that look perfect and may use either white or clear beads (or both) and/or get some light blue beads .... right now it's still a project in flux.

Pre-IHSW, I worked on the Old European Sampler -- I've been stitching the repetitive stuff, when I'm tired and need something repetitive to stitch.

Last week, I also worked on Heart Note Alley. 

This piece is so pretty but I almost tossed it out the window.  The sweet row with the butterflies (above the irises) has been giving me fits.  I have had counting problems with the stems right from the first flower.  And so  I decided, since I was doing it now and cursing and swearing at it now, I may as well finish the whole painful thing now and be done with it!  Grrrrr!

Well, as I struggled to get it finished and approached the end, I noticed it wasn't going to finish all nice and symmetrical .... sigh ..... crap.

So, should I tear the stems out and do it again (boohoo) or just let it go?  Will I like it asymmetrical?  I couldn't say, until I thought of the wonderful world of Photoshop.  So I photoshoped a rough approximation of the finished row.  What do you think?  See how the last flower is cut off  .... can I live with that???

I am undecided .... but I really don't want to redo that row again.  Of course, now that I know what I did wrong (I did eventually figure it out), it shouldn't be so bad.  Right?? 

For now, I'm just living with the Photoshoped version.

Lotsa stitching updates here

I have a finish I can show now that it has reached it's destination.  And she likes it :)  I stitched this for my partner in the current  Fair and Square exchange:

It's by Blackbird Designs.  I'm really happy with the way it turned out and, of course, now I need to stitch one for myself.  I used DMC threads on linen that I tea stained.  It was my first attempt at staining linen.

More gift stitching is these Halloween ornaments for my nephews:

I may add more to the spider before assembling it into it's final ornamental state.  If I can find my glow-in-the-dark thread, a web behind the spider would look really cool.  Even if I can't find it, a web would still look kinda cool in black.  The pattern for the spider can be found here.  I love the expression of the 'fraidy moon on the Prairie Schooler ornie -- that's one nasty owl!  Stitching Halloween ornaments is so much fun -- I love all the creepy things and fun colors.  Normally, I would never stitch on this green fabric but for All Hallow's Eve -- it's a must do.

Speaking of fun colors, I worked on my Tree of Stitches and am getting near completion.  I love this thread on the black fabric AND I love being able to stitch it on the black fabric.  When I started this on black, I didn't know if I would be able to finish it and now I'm almost there -- woohoo!

Unfortunately, the gold thread doesn't show up well in the picture.  Maybe if I didn't use a flash it would look better.  Hmmmm, something to try next time.  I picked out some beads last night to go with my tree and maybe tonight I'll be able to get some attached.  (Though I really need to get those Halloween ornies done for my nephews so I can mail them.)


I started a new Sticklounge project over the weekend.  It's called Adriana and is designed by Nolda van Hezewijk.  It doesn't look like much right now but if you check out her website, you can see what it will look like when finished.  It's a gorgeous pattern.  I'm stitching it on 40 ct linen over 2 using DMC threads.  The linen color is sand and since I'm using one thread, it appears to make the thread colors look soft.  If I had used 2 threads, I'm sure the threads would come out stronger.  Usually, I prefer the heavier coverage of 2 threads but when the fabric has a nice warm feel to it, I like the lighter effect of only 1 thread.  However, I do need to adjust one thread color so far -- a pale yellow that doesn't show up well on the sand colored fabric.  Anyway, here's the pic:

The last project is the Berlin Work Sampler -- the first one I tried with a lighter thread coverage.  I love the way the tassles look like a faded painting -- very cool.

I've fallen behind on these last two Sticklounge projects because I've been busy stitching gifts.  Now that most of the gifts are done, I should be able to get caught up with them .... and get started on my Santa for 2011.  He is one of my Crazy 2011 Challenge pieces and he will get done before the year is over.  I'm thinking it will be the last one of my crazy challenges to get done.  

Hmmm.   Note to self -- I need to do a recap on my 2011 crazies to see where I am with it.

I think I have a little over half of them done (mostly all the smaller ones).  I do not plan on doing the 2012 crazy challenge.  Instead, I will finish the unfinished 2011 crazies in 2012.  I love the other patterns I started in January and don't want them languishing for years as UFO's.

I actually learned something about myself  by doing this challenge.  I enjoyed starting all those new projects but after about a week, I found it frustrating to keep starting something without finishing something.  Apparently I am goal oriented -- I like the journey, but also like to reach the journey's end. 

And if you could see all the finished projects on my walls, you would say to yourself  "Well, Duh!"

Enjoy!