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I love it all: embroidery, canvaswork, quilting, crochet. So much to do, so little time.





Monday, September 9, 2013

Finishing Frenzy

Hey Blog Buddies,

First, thanks so much for all the comments you've been leaving--I love you guys!

This past weekend turned into a finishing frenzy for me--very uncharacteristic.  There's quite a bit to catch up on, so let's go right to the photos:

This crocheted daisy scarf (not part of this weekend's frenzy)
was finished right around the beginning of this month.
It's another donation for the Boutique.
 
Next up, my July Hallowe'en ornament
 
The July theme was bats and/or spiders.
I finished stitching this in July,
but put off the ornamentification until this past Friday.
This was another one that was very annoying to complete
and I'm not at all happy with the way it turned out.
Hopefully, I will have so many tiny ornaments
on my Hallowe'en tree this year
that it will get lost in the crowd!
(I won't bore you with what's wrong with it.)
 
And the August ornament:
 
We got to choose our theme for August,
so I chose All Dressed Up
from the BBD Trix or Treat booklet.
The original design had a diamond border,
but I omitted that in order to
make the ornament smaller (for my small tree).
This is 40-count Heritage linen--again.
I am so used to using two strands
that I started out with two and then
decided to just go with it.
It was a little more difficult to find the holes
but the coverage was sublime!!
Don't worry--it's over two, not over one!
I put the black running stitches in at the end
so that my seams would be somewhat straight
when I sewed it all together.
I had every intention of taking them out,
then decided that I kind of liked the effect.
Not perfect--a little funky even--
but I'm happier with this one than the July ornie.
 
And while I had my sewing machine out...
...I decided to finish this little piece as either
a small pillow or large pincushion (take your pick).
The design is PS Summer & Winter's August.
I finished stitching this in August,
but put off the finish-finishing until now.
The good news is that
I believe we will have an August in 2014,
and it will be displayed then!
The batik fabric, which is a pretty good match
if I do say so myself, was in my stash.
 
And in between all the stressful finishes
was I stitching on something soothing
like a Lizzie-Kate on 14-count Aida?
Uhhh, noooo.
I decided to pull out
Twisted Thread's Lofty Pumpkin.
Here is what it looked like after my June start:
 
This is 25-count Lugana, 1 over 1,
with lots of confetti stitching!
Let me explain this choice:
I switched out my little seasonal cubby-holes
at the beginning of September.
I have five of them and only three are filled--
all with pumpkin designs.
So I remembered I had this pumpkin in the works.
By early Saturday, stitching it was driving me nuts
and I figured I would just put it away
and finish it "later on."
As a matter of fact,
it reminded me more of an ear of Indian corn
than a pumpkin.
But by the end of Saturday I realized
I had gotten a whole lot of stitching completed!
 
This is what it looks like now:
 
Still a bit of 1-over-1 confetti stitching left,
but it's almost there.
And more good news:  I have in my stash
the cutest, most perfect frame for it!
Once I have it finished and framed
--hopefully very soon--
it will make a final appearance on this blog.
 
So that's it from here.
Hope you all had a fun, relaxing weekend.
And thanks for visiting!

12 comments:

cucki said...

Aww such sweet finishes..I love them all
Big hugs x

Anne said...

Wonderful finishes! That daisy scarf is so cool!! I love the batik fabric you used for the PS piece. The colours are perfectly matched!! Although the 1 over 1 may be tedious, the Autumn piece is looking great, almost HAED like!!

Shebafudge said...

Lots of beautiful stitching and finishing. I love the daisy scarf - gorgeous!

Julie said...

Wonderful, a post full of loveliness.

Melissa said...

You've been busy. What a lot of lovely stitching and crocheting too. That scarf is very sweet. The PS piece has the perfect fabric to go with it!

Karen said...

Gorgeous finishes! Love your Halloween ornaments and your PS pillow turned out fabulous!

Penny said...

Beautiful work on all of your projects! I love the little PS pillow!

Chris said...

Wow! Fabulous fall finishes!
I love the PS finish too.

Carol said...

What a lovely bunch of finishes!! The Halloween ones are so cute and I have to say I've never seen the August PS stitched up before--love the fabric you chose to finish it with. The colors are perfect for the piece... Love the tiny autumn piece--hang in there--the over one stitching will be well worth the effort :)

stitchersanon said...

OMgoodnes...they are totally amazing finishes. Beautiful...I am glad I dont have to pick a favourite!

Anne said...

Love your wild and crazy Halloween ornaments! And I especially like the "August" pillow - you did a great job!

Sally said...

Wow all your finishes are fantastic! You've been very busy :)