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





Sunday, June 28, 2020

My Trips to the Framer

My framer reopened a few weeks ago, and I had five finished pieces that had been just waiting for that day!  I decided to take them in one at a time, however, because we've been having a lot of protests in the area and, quite frankly, I figured it would be bad enough to lose one piece, let alone five!  They (father/daughter framing team) understood.  But my pieces are all back home safe and sound now, so here they are:


The first piece that I had framed was Spring Robin
by Widgets and Wool Primitives.
I didn't get it in time for this spring, but I'll have it next year.


Next up, Rainforest Birds, my Charley Harper piece.
My framer actually took this piece home with her
one night for safekeeping.
I can't say enough nice things about these people!

This is my "Covid" piece that I designed myself.
I just took a quote that I liked,
and added some motifs from a
folk art embroidery book that I've had for decades.
I did it the hard way,
scratching the chart out on graph paper by hand
since I don't have any cross stitch software.


This is my favorite piece;
they couldn't have found a more perfect frame!
Pandora's Box, a freebie from Blackwork Journey.
The photo doesn't do it justice.


Last but not least, I decided to double-frame
this needlepoint piece.
The canvas is by Eye Candy
and the design's name is self-evident.
I was really surprised when I went to pick it up
and they said, "No charge."
I do give them a lot of business, but I wasn't expecting that!
These folks are the best!


And finally, a small pillow finish...
...from the Little Dove's Year series of monthly patterns.

What do I have in the works now?
So glad you asked, because I have more photos...

I'm actually done stitching this one,
but it still needs to be pillowfied,
hopefully before July.
Little House Needleworks, Freedom

Plum Street Samplers,
Serial Bowl Collection, Lesson Two.
Here's another future pillow.
Once I've finished "painting" the house,
there's a huge bowl of flowers on the roof,
and a large swath of grass on the bottom,
so I've got a bit more to go.
There are five charts in this series,
and they all come with over-dyed threads,
but the suggestion is to use one strand
because if you use two strands you might run out.
I do use two strands and
I've had good luck so far not running out,
except with the red in this piece.
I was able to stitch all the letters except one,
and believe me, I used every scrap of thread.
Since the kit is five years old,
I figured I might not be able to match
the color, even with the same thread.
So I pawed through my stash first and,
lo and behold, I found an almost exact match
with a different color from a different manufacturer.
And since both threads are over-dyed,
no one, not even DH "the color guy" as I call him,
can tell the difference.
So you might keep that in mind
if you run out of an over-dyed thread in the
middle of a project.


This is a workshop that I took through my 
local ANG chapter last year,
Jennifer Riefenberg's Pumpkin Patch.
There's a lot of laying of threads involved
which I'm not fond of
so this will take a while, I think.

This is one of the 35 projects in the book
"Splendid Samplers to Cross Stitch" by Chris Rankin.
It's called Caribbean Sampler in the book;
I call it Southwest Sampler.
I love the rainbow bands between the squares.

Last but not least, this is my start on
And Heaven and Nature Sing by Kathy Barrick.
I usually like to stitch seasonal pieces
closer to the season, but since I'm using
the called-for silks, summer stitching it is
because silk catches on my dry, flaky fingertips
in the winter and drives me crazy crazier.
The linen photographed blue
(and a lovely blue it is)
but in real life it's light gray.
And the wreath is stitched in 
two shades of green.

That's it from here.
Thanks for stopping by.

6 comments:

Rita said...

Awesome finishes both stitching and framing! Congratulation!
Happy stitching with your projects in progress.

Donna G. said...

Such lovely stitched (and framed) pieces. How about you suggesting to your framers that they open a satellite office in my little TN town. 😊They sound like great folks! I really like the Spring Robin design. Your stitching finishes put mine to shame!

Carol said...

Wow! The Covid shutdown sure has been good for your productivity, Pat! Love each of your framed finishes and I'm so impressed that you designed your own pandemic sampler--very nice. That Plum Street Samplers piece is darling--glad you were able to match the colors so well... I look forward to seeing that one all finished up! Hope July is kinder to us than the previous months of 2020 have been. What a year so far!

Robin in Virginia said...

Your WIPs are looking good! Your framed pieces are all beautiful. My favorites in this batch are the Charley Harper piece along with your COVID design and stitch. Well done!

Julie said...

So many lovely things to see here today, what a super selection. You have been busy. The covid sampler looks fabulous, clever you.

Astrids dragon said...

Beautifully stitched pieces, it looks like you're keeping them in business! That was very sweet of them to give you a freebie.
Adorable pillow and great wips.