Leap Year List - March Report

Hey Blog Buddies,

Happy March!  Hope you enjoyed the unusually long month of February.  Even though it was a day longer, it still went by too fast.  But that happens when you get older.

I've been doing my version of one-at-a-time stitching; you'll see the same four pieces that were featured here last month, to-wit:

Needle Delights Originals' Autumn Logs.

This is where I left off last month.

Again, three more logs were added,

but it required more stitching because

the logs are getting longer!

Last month's photo of Rosewood Manor's

A Tree by Itself.

I am finally on the home stretch with this one;

the end is in sight!  Wheeee!

Here is last month's version of

Carriage House Samplings'

The Song They Sang.

I have quite a bit of letters

to stitch on this one...

And finally, DebBee's Designs' Angles.

Here's where I was at last month.

Aaand we have a finish!
I suppose I could have finished any one

of the other three projects with less effort,

but I chose this one to finish instead.

I guess I just wanted to be done

with dealing with all the satin threads.

DH is very relieved that the "devil project"

(his term) is done.

Now that it's finished,

it's time for some close-ups.

...the bargello area...

...one of three double fan doubled stitches...

...those serpentine stitches used up a lot of thread...

...this stitch reminds me of the old test pattern 

that TV stations would run overnight in the early years.

(No, kids, TV programming wasn't always

broadcast 24 hours a day.)

But I'm dating myself.

This is my reworked Spratt's Head stitch,
reworked because I used the first length
of Neon Rays right off the card,
and the creases in the ribbon
just won't relax by themselves, as I had hoped.
You can see them in the large photo above.
One must use either a flat iron
or the water treatment to get rid of them.
I chose water, as I don't have a flat iron.
Easy and free.

I should (might) have another finish next month.

We'll see--no promises.

That's it from here.

Hope your weekend was filled with fun

and some stitching, too.

Thanks for visiting!

Leap Year List - February Report

Hey Blog Buddies,

Happy Groundhog Day!  Both Punxsutawney Phil (the celebrity groundhog) and Woodstock Willie (our local groundhog) predicted early spring this year.  They may be on to something, because we are having a thunderstorm right now!  Near Chicago.  In early February.

But enough of weather predictions.  You're here to see some stitching, right?  Let's get right to it.

I worked on four pieces from my 10-item rotation this past month.  First up is Needle Delights Originals' Autumn Logs:

This is where I was last month.

And this is what it looks like now.

I am where I need to be with this SAL.

(It's kind of slow moving.)

The photos look very similar,

but three logs were added.

Next we have Carriage House Samplings'

The Song They Sang.

This is where I was last month.

Here's where I'm at now.

I've been working on this in the evening,

because it's relatively small and easy.

This is Rosewood Manor's

A Tree by Itself.

Not gonna show the entire project

because I'm unwilling to

deconstruct my Millennium frame

to get the whole thing in the photo.

But this is where I was at last month.

Here it is now.

This photo is a tad misleading

because the motifs to the right

of the largest "tree"

have been there for a while.

The ones to the left of that tree,

on the bottom, are the new ones.

This is going really slowly

considering that it's worked on every day.

But I'm chipping away at it.

Last but not least, here is

Angles by DebBee's Designs,

my ANG chapter's challenge project.

This is where I was at a month ago.

And here it is now.

I am really surprised at how much I have done.

I gave myself a monthly goal of 15 "areas,"

as they are called in the lengthy chart,

so that this would be finished by

the deadline at the end of June.

But I went way beyond that

because this piece is actually addictive.

The only thing that's annoying

is the satin floss, but I'm dealing with it,

and it does give the piece a nice sheen.

So that's it from here.

Hope everyone that's in the path of

the blizzard that's north and west of here

stays safe and warm.

Thanks for visiting!

Three More Finishes

Hey Blog Buddies,

I haven't been stitching as madly as my last two posts would suggest.  I do have three more finishes to show you, but one was started over a year ago, another has been finished for a while, and the third?  Well, OK, I did whip that up in the last couple of weeks.  But needlepoint seems to go much quicker than cross stitch for some reason.

Here are the photos:

Long-time readers of this blog may remember this one.

I stitched it up for others in the past,

and thought I'd stitch one for myself.

This is just one of several cute little
hardanger designs from the Christmas 1991 issue of

Cross Stitch Sampler.

I started this piece around this time last year.

When it wasn't finished in time for Christmas 2014,

back into the bag it went until
just a few days ago.
And now it's hanging on my tree.

The next piece was finished about a month ago,

but I haven't shown it here because it was a gift.

This is Jeannette Douglas Designs' Pumpkin Pin Cushion.

The recipient was quite pleased with this.

This is another fabulous finish-finish from my friend Averyclaire.

The last one is Deb Bee's Designs' Ho Ho Ho.

This was a quick and fun stitch.

I will admit to switching out the DMC floss
for DMC No. 5 pearl cotton.
I had it in my stash, so why not?!
Laying 3 to 4 threads is just not my idea of
relaxation.

And here it is, all finished.

Not sure if this will turn into a picture,

box top insert or what.  Stay tuned.

Alrighty then.

That's it from here.

Hope everyone has a happy holiday.

I'll be back before the end of the year

with a Rotation Recap.

Thanks so much for visiting!

Three Finishes!

Hey Blog Buddies,

How's your December been going?  Here in the Chicago area, we've been having very mild weather, courtesy of El Nino.  We've only had one snowstorm in our area that accumulated on the ground, and that's long gone.  I swear the grass in our yard is greening up!  (I hope it doesn't start growing again...)

Anyhow, I finally, finally finish-finished a couple of things that have been stitched up for weeks.  I always have a very hard time talking myself into putting the finishing touches on a project, even if I have all of the materials to do it.

First up is Plum Street Samplers' Serial Bowl No. 3.

Can you tell that I haven't glued down

the end of the chenille yet?  Sigh.

Next, we have

LHN's  Oh Christmas Tree.

I have a few quibbles with this one, too,

but I won't start whining about it.

The main thing is, it's done

and hanging on my tree.

Last (and best, in my opinion)

is the canvaswork scissor case

that I had been stitching on and off for the

better part of this year.

It was an untitled, painted canvas

from Lynn Deininger.

Ta-da!

And, ta-da!

I can't decide which is the front

and which is the back,

because both sides have their charms.

This piece was quickly and expertly

finished by my friend Averyclaire.

I love the beads that she added

at the top!

And with three finishes,

don't I deserve a new start?

Of course I do!

This class was taught at my

ANG chapter's meeting last Saturday.

The chart is Ho Ho Ho by

Deb Bee's Designs.

I actually hadn't planned to start this piece,

but I'm in a Christmas kind of mood now,

and I probably won't want to

work on it after the first of the year.

Here is my start.

It's not that big;

I may finish it by the end of the month.

(Famous last words...)

Well, that's it from here.

Thanks for visiting!

March Madness

Well, this is my version of March Madness, anyway.  Certain bloggers that I know and love have been doing a new start every day since almost forever (I won't name names, Linda and Claudette) but for me it's a little nutty to have four new starts in the space of just a couple of weeks.  Let's review.

This first new start shouldn't even count!  I've had it kitted up for a couple of years and I only started it because I wanted a small travel project.

This is the only painted canvas project that has been offered by my ANG chapter since I joined.  It was designed by Lynn Deininger, a member of the chapter, and will be a scissor case when it's all finished.

Next, I signed up for a 2-day workshop hosted by that same chapter.  Kay Stanis came to teach her Copper Illumination.

This is what it will hopefully look like when it's completed.  It's all silk, beads and metallic braid, with some purl purl (sometimes called Jaceron), and a piece of copper sheeting thrown in.  I wanted to try it because it's so far out of my comfort zone.  Yes, it's a piece of plain copper sheeting, and we were given instructions to create the tulip pattern on it.

Most of the first morning was spent lacing our canvas to the stretcher bars on two sides (something most of us had never done) and basting the design outline in gold silk thread.

This is my progress so far.

But it was a fun weekend and we were all in the same boat.  The End of the Table Gang(?) from left to right:  Julie, Sue, Joyce and Beth.  Becky, our sixth Partner in Crime, is not in the photo because she sat this one out.

I started this next project because I just needed a dose of Spring, and this design makes me smile.  This piece is also giving my brain a little break!

This is Bloom by Art to Heart.  There's one more flower to stitch, and the word "Bloom."  I'm hoping to get this done before the summer solstice (this year).  The linen is light yellow, but I don't think it's ever going to photograph correctly.

Finally, this past weekend I took a class from--you guessed it--my ANG chapter.  There is a trend here.  Debbie Rowley from DebBee's Designs created a teaching piece for our chapter.  It will be offered as a class at other venues around the country, but the chart isn't available in stores.  So, how could I pass up the opportunity, right?

The piece is called Angles and this is the chart.

It's 105 pages long.

Really.

I changed the colors to these.

The light was doing funny things to the colors,
making some way too dark
and others too bright or off-shade,

but basically it's blue, magenta and shades of gray.

Here is my start on the spratt's head stitch.

It doesn't look too bad from this distance!

There are approximately 80 stitches

and/or stitch variations in all.

We went over the first 40 on Saturday,
including the ominous double fan doubled.

Wish me luck with this one!

That's enough madness for this month.

Hope your weekend was fun.

Thanks for visiting!