Seven Small Finishes

Hey Blog Buddies,

How's your weekend been going?  I've been dabbling with a blackwork cyber-class that's just gotten underway, but more on that in another post.

I've also been doing some small projects, partly to take a needed break from all of the BAPs that are currently in progress, and partly to make a couple of small things to sell at my quilt guild's boutique coming up in early November--yes, it's just around the corner!

First up, we have BBD's Bird in Hand:

I switched the red floss in the model

for Gloriana's Holiday Blue.

I put my initials on it, so I'm keeping this one.

It was such an easy stitch

(I so appreciate monochrome projects after working on

 my 50-shades-of-gray-and-tan wolves every day)

that I decided to make one for the Boutique...

 

This was stitched with WDW's Merlot.

The colors are less bright in real life.

Next is the little hardanger piece

that Roz (former owner of Nordic Needle)

designed exclusively for retreat attendees this year.

It came with the cute, coordinating metal

heart-shaped box, which makes it more useful.

 I stitched this because I originally intended

to sell it at the Boutique.

But it turned out so nice,

and I can't buy another one because it's a Retreat exclusive,

that I decided to keep it for myself.  (My bad!)

 Here's the fourth strawberry that I've stitched this year.

They're all from Prairie Schooler.

Doesn't look much like a strawberry, does it?

Here is it, all finished up.

Now it looks like a strawberry!

I had three other stitched strawberries

that had been sitting around most of the year,

waiting to be finish-finished.

 After finishing the first one,

...they each got easier...

...and easier to do!

I won't lie, they were very fiddly,

but the cuteness factor makes up for it, I think.

Everyone from Eva at Stitching the Night Away in Illinois 

  to Cathy of Inspired Needle

kept telling me that I could finish these ornies myself,

so thanks for the encouragement, guys!

The "holly" strawberry is going to the Boutique.

Depending on my mood,

I may take another one there to sell, too.

Still hoping to make a few more small things

for the Boutique, so stay tuned.

That's it from here.

Stay stitchy, my friends.

Thanks for visiting!

February IHSW: Something Simple

Hey Blog Buddies,

It seems that I have been stitching things lately that range from the fiddly (lots of color changes) to the annoying (having to lay a lot of threads and/or using the dreaded Neon Rays).  So for this IHSW I decided to go with something simple:

What could be more simple than a Prairie Schooler ornament stitched in only one color?  I started and finished stitching this piece this weekend.  It looks like basically nothing now, but eventually it will become a "strawberry" ornament with candy cane stripes.  The chart is from Prairie Schooler's Christmas Strawberries book--so that makes two ornaments that I've stitched from that book.  One more, and I'll have them all finished into the strawberry ornaments that they are meant to be.

In other stitching news, I have a lovely new finish-finish...

 This is Little House Needleworks' Warm Winter Woolens,

stitched by me and finished by the talented Karen U.

It was finished as a box, and is sitting on my shelf as I type.

That's it for now:  short and sweet.

To see the other hermitters' progress,
click on over to Random Ramblings.

Hope you're keeping warm if you're

anywhere near the Midwest US.
Winter is just not letting go here.

Thanks for visiting!