IHSW in March

I'm a little late with my IHSW post but I did get some stitching done over the weekend.  I started and finished Just a Little Flaky from Val's Stuff.

 

Snowmen always make me smile and this little guy is no exception.  Except for the white thread, I totally disregarded the designer's thread colors/fabric and chose what was handy.


I finished another ornament before IHSW for the Halloween ornie SAL.  The subject for March is owls/crows.  I picked a pattern from the 2013 JCS Halloween issue that caught my eye the very first time I saw it.  But because it's on black fabric, I hesitated to stitch it.  However, I reasoned that since it's small I would try stitching it anyway ... Owl-O-Ween from Blackberry Lane Designs.

 

He's on a 28 ct black even weave using mostly DMC threads.  I was originally going to stitch him 2 over 2 but was having problems seeing so switched to 1 over 1 with better success.  I'm not sure why this works but I'm learning that 1 over 1 with my magnifier often works better for me.  I prefer a long stitch on the back so the threads don't disappear on the front.

 

Amazing ... that's 2 projects on black fabric now.  I guess it's not so bad after all.

 

  

 

 

 

February's IHSW

It was a good weekend for International Hermit Stitching Weekend.  Cold, snowy and definitely a stay-at-home-and-stitch weekend.  I worked on one small project and finished it ... hooray!  Before the weekend I had the top brown and word done only.  From Carriage House Samplings:

I didn't use any of the designers threads (oops, and I see that I'm not actually finished, part of the wood on the bottom, right is missing, will fix that after I'm done here).  The pattern called for a grey beard but I like Santa with a white one so I changed it.  And because the white didn't show up well against the fabric, I darkened the sign with a half stitch.  I also made his eyes brown and smaller.  They were a little creepy ... big, dark and hollow ...  kind of skull-like.  His eyes are supposed to be green but I didn't like them green and/or was too lazy to find a good green thread.

This guy is destined to be a gift for either my nephew or my stepmom .... I haven't decided yet.

The first IHSW of 2015

Last weekend was the third weekend of the month which means International Hermit Stitching Weekend aka IHSW.  And I managed to get in some quality stitching time.

First up is Ho Ho Ho Santa from Prairie Schooler.  Before the weekend, I had Santa's beard and the tree stitched.  And now he's done :)  My first 2015 Christmas ornie finished during the first IHSW.

Next on my weekend stitching spree is Rocking Around the Tree.  Before the weekend I had all the green thread done in part 3 of this SAL.  Now I have the entire part 3 finished.  Well, except for an arch at the bottom.  It's supposed to be green but I'm afraid I'll run out of the green before finishing the top.   And since I'm using stash threads, I won't be able to get more of that dye lot.  I think I'll make it but until it's done, I'll be on pins and needles. You may (but probably won't) notice that the white stripes are more defined in this picture.  I wasn't happy with them (to pale compared to the rest of the parts) so I stitched over the x's and now I'm happy.

My third project for IHSW is a re-start.  I'm working on Nevermore from Prairie Schooler for a friend's birthday.  I started it in 28 ct over one a few weeks ago.  I've stitched over 1 on 28 ct before but this time it's not much fun.  I'm having problems with the lack of hole size and it was getting to be tedious and something to be avoided.  Even though I have the mansion almost finished, I decided to re-start this project on 22 ct hardanger fabric.  Good decision .... I happy to report the stitching is fun again.

 
I think I'll finish and save the first, tedious mansion for myself and turn it into a Halloween ornament.

And that's it for January's bit of hermit stitching.  Now off to visit other stitching hermits ... bye!

IHSW for August

It's that time of the month again.  And I made the most of IHSW this past weekend.  Unfortunately, I can't show you most of my stitching because it's for exchanges.  However, I can show you one finish from the weekend.  El Muro is complete.  This was a fun little village to stitch.  I'm not sure what I will do with it now.  Maybe make a little pillow out of it??

Another project started and completed (though before the weekend) is a cute little freebie called Let It Snow by designer Helga Mandl.   I added a little glitter to the snowflakes and large, loopy french knots as the tassel.  This guy cracks me up with his big nose and skinny neck.  I may have to restitch him for myself since he's slated to go to my nephew for Christmas. 

It's so hard to get the glitter to show up ....

I'm way behind with my Christmas ornament stitching this year but at least I got the 2 done for my nephews.  That should make them happy.  At least I hope so.  The boys are getting into those teenage years now, so we shall see what happens this year.  I'll know in a couple months when I give them their Halloween ornies.

Wish me luck ;)

Two updates for the price of one

For June's Smalls SAL I finished a little bookmark for a friend.  It's part of a BBD sampler called My Quaker House.  I just love this subject .... a little house with a big flower towering over it .... and this one is pink to boot.   Makes me smile every time.

Unfortunately, I didn't get much stitching time in for IHSW. I only managed to make the little house from above into a bookmark.  And all that involved was ironing a piece of fabric to the back of the stitched piece and cutting it out with pinking shears.  Not a good stitchy weekend.  No, it was a weekend for the dogs.

And speaking of dogs ..... here's River and Willow napping on the back of my couch.  Check out the tongue.  I guess he doesn't want his pic taken  :o)

Have a good day!

A Hermit weekend

I did it.   I hunted down the threads for Mary Wigham and spent a little time on her for IHSW.  I finished the center medallion with the flower and started the flower pot above it.  Woo Hoo!!

And that's about it for the weekend ... stitching-wise that is.

A Hermit Weekend

I got a bit of stitching in for April's IHSW.  I worked on The Way to Happiness sampler -- the words under the sheep.

WIPocalypse & IHSW for November

I'm sorry it's been awhile since I posted last.  Blame it on my shoulder (which is loads better -- not completely, but it's getting there).  Unfortunately typing and stitching (among other things) have been on the back burners.  Typing has been confined to work-related stuff  and not to fun stuff like blog hopping or posting.   And stitching has been kept at a minimum.  I've been working on my Santa and though he's a recent start, I'm including him in my WIPocalpyse report.  I'm almost done with his coat and have just his beard and all the beads to add.  I'm sure he'll be done by year's end.

 

I also got a little stitching related fun in over the weekend for IHSW.   It was basically a finishing kind of weekend.  I made the cording for a bunch of ornaments (however, I didn't get them all attached) and assembled 2 little pillows.

The pillows still need the cording made for them. The smaller one is getting red cording around it and the larger one will probably get blue or maybe white (I haven't decided yet). Once all the cording is attached, I'll add some buttons, bows or other baubles to each of the ornies. 

And last but not least, I do have one finish to show you.  It's a little Christmas bird all ready for the tree:

Happy stitching!!

September's IHSW

My plan for this month's IHSW was to begin and finish the first part of a new SAL.  Here's what I accomplished:

And, unfortunately,  I'm afraid that's about all I'm going to get done of it.  I got much too frustrated with counting to the next stitching area to continue with this project.  I hate to give up on it so early but that's the way it is :-(

So I switched to Mary Wigham.  I started this one back in 2009 and haven't touched it since the end of 2010.  I can't believe it's been that long.  I took it off the stretcher bars, gave it a good shake to get some of the cobwebs off, put it in a hoop and just started stitching.  Here she is as of this morning:

 

 You can see from the hoop marks where I was working on her.  I finished the lower left motiff, the flowers next to it and the bird medallion near the bottom.  I'm still working on the little yellow flower nearby -- the one that looks so washed out in the picture.  Here's a close up of this area:

There is lots more stitching to do on this piece but I would like to get her finished in the near future (maybe by the end of 2013??).  Wish me luck . . . .

IHSW report for August

Most of my stitching time was spent on an ornament called "When Santa Got Stuck In The Chimney" or something along that line.  It's from the 2010 JCS Christmas Ornament issue.

I changed the words from the designer's because the entire time I was stitching this one, the song "Up On The Rooftop" kept running through my head.  I adjusted them to fit Mr. Claus' current predicament:

I suspect the reindeer are out of the picture because they're rolling around on the snow covered ground giggling their antlers off  :D

The other project I worked on was a finishing job that I cannot show just yet.  It's a surprise.

And that's about it for my IHSW report.  Have a good week everyone!

IHSW and WIPocalypse updates for July

I'm lumping IHSW and WIPocalypse together this month -- mainly because I'm not really getting much done with my WIPocalypse projects.  Actually, make that no stitching at all on them.  I've been having some problems with my one eye which makes it difficult to stitch my larger WIP's.  Actually the stitching isn't the challenge, it's the reading of the charts that's a problem.  The more complicated charts are harder for me to read.  Because of this, I've been working on simpler patterns and getting lots of small ornies stitched.  Over the weekend, I did some finishing work on said ornies and completed 2 of them (the halloween ones for my nephews):

I also started a new project over the weekend.  I'm participating in a Summer Holiday exchange hosted by Mii Stitch.  After a couple false starts (where I tried different fabric colors), I have a little teaser pic to show you:

This pattern is more complicated than I've been doing recently but I like it and think my exchange partner will enjoy it also. It's not very big but there are lots of color changes and even some blended threads.  Unfortunately, because of my eye, I keep making mistakes and having to tear out parts (cursed frogs) but I'm determined to finish it.  I like it so much, I may stitch one for myself.  I changed the background color of the suggested material but the threads are all as suggested.  The fabric I'm using is 32ct raw linen (I think that's what it's called) and the threads all DMC.  And that's all I'm going to say about this one until the exchange is finished.

Enjoy your day!

June IHSW

I finished another Christmas ornament over this IHSW.  It's one of the free angels from Told In A Garden:

She's such a pretty little angel.  I did her over 2 on 30 ct natural linen from my stash using the called for DMC threads.  I did, however, change out the gold metallic thread for a silver & gold blended metallic.  Sadly, all the glitter doesn't show up in the pic.  I also changed her face to over one because I hate 3/4 cross stitches (as was called for in the pattern).  From a distance it looks okay -- up close it's a little funny looking.

I also worked on a new piece for Stitched with Love's current exchange called Birds, Bees and Butterflies but since it's a surprise, I can't show you anything yet.

However, now that the Home Sweet Home Exchange is complete, I can show you what I received from Fiona.  Her package included a wonderful stitched Scottish heart and loads of other great goodies.  Thank you Fiona!

For my part, I stitched a home sweet spooky home for Marjorie (a big fan of Halloween).  I'm so happy she likes it.  This was such a fun exchange.

Happy stitching everyone!  And thanks for visiting.

My first IHSW of 2013

Well, I was finally able to participate in an IHSW.  The weather was gorgeous and I had a house guest on Saturday but other than that, I managed to get a few hours of stitching in.  I worked on the SAL Iris and actually had the presence of mind to take a before picture:

 and an after picture:

This piece is almost finished -- woohoo!

I was originally nervous about changing the colors on this project but at this point am happy with the results.  Happy Monday, everyone!

IHSW for February

Unfortunately, I was busy with work (blechht!) and dog agility so I didn't get much stitching done.  I worked on Scaredy Cat by Blue Ribbon Designs, namely the cat's tail and the bat:

And that's all she wrote for this IHSW.  I hope your stitching weekend was more productive.

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:

The last IHSW of 2012

For the final IHSW of 2012, I ornamentized 2 more Christmas ornies and are they a little over the top :)

I love all that red!  Two more down . . . . only 1 more to go.
And I should have done it over the weekend but I decided to work on the little house in the Christmas SAL from Carole instead:

The little 'mistletoe with hearts' motif below the house, I did on Monday.  Though that's all for my IHSW report, I do have a few more pictures to show you.

Kate of Momuboocrea Island and I exchanged Christmas ornaments:

This is the ornament I sent to her - the little angel I love so much.

And this is what Kate sent to me.  Ummm, there was a chocolate Santa but I ate it.  Yum! 

And then I entered a giveaway held by Jules and I won it!  How cool is that?

Snowmen are one of my favorite winter things ....  and she sent me 2.

Let me tell you, I feel totally spoiled by these two lovely ladies :-)

IHSW - such that it is.

Well, I didn't get much stitched over the IHSW.  Actually, the only stitching I could get in was on Friday evening.  I started a little angel:

I just love this little lady with her curly-q dress and shapely wings.  When finished, she will be a Christmas ornament for a friend.

Check out the other IHSWers for their progress.

And Happy Thanksgiving for those who will be celebrating it Thursday.   Eat lots of turkey, stuffing and pumpkin pie (my personal favorite).       YUM!

Enjoy!

October IHSW

I don't have much to show for IHSW -- though I wanted to get lots done, it just didn't happen.  I did go the my LNS on Saturday for her sale and bought some stuff.  It wasn't actually stitching, but it's stitching related. 

And then on Sunday, I finished my nephews' Halloween ornies into the actual ornaments:

I'm pleased with the results and hope the boys will be also.

My IHSW was a good one

I got bunches of great quality stitching time in (hurray!) amongst household chores (blecchht!).

The first thing I worked on had lots and lots and lots (and omg! lots) of little black cross stitches that looked something like this:

Unfortunately, since it's a surprise for a friend, I can't show you the whole shapely thing but suffice it to say, there is lots (and lots and lots) more blackness than pictured above.  By the time I finished all the black -- I needed some

 * C O L O R *

sooo, I switched to the Tulip Sampler and finished all the green blocks (granted, most of the time I was stitching with one color, ie, green -- but at least it was a change from black --  it's the little things that make life exciting, don't you agree?)

And then my last IHSW piece for the weekend was a new start -- the Christmas SAL from Carole.  I didn't get much finished on it and I'm already behind (because I just found out about it last week) but I think it's going to be a fun little sampler (as her SAL's usually are):

I switched out the colors and am going for a different look than the traditional Christmas one.  So far, so good.  If you want to participate in Carole's SAL, I think you have until the end of the month to join.

Have a good one! 


Oh . . . .  and thanks for all the comments on Eek!  Those guys really crack me up!  I may have to stitch them for myself as well.

Eeeek!

 It's another Halloween ornament!

This one is designed by Stitch Kitty.  Isn't it adorable?  I love the looks of horror on those pumpkins -- they are too funny.

Unfortunately, that's about it for stitching so far this month (except for another little piece that's a surprise and can't be revealed yet).  The dogs have been keeping me busy busy busy with agility classes and trials and keeping stitching at a minimum.  However, I'm very excited about this coming weekend because it's IHSW (woohoo!) and I don't have any plans!!!!  (double woohoo!)  Looks like a mostly-stitching weekend to me.  

Can't wait .......

Have a good weekend in your neck of the woods.