Oh, the Weather Outside is Frightful...

Hey Blog Buddies,

Yes, the weather outside is frightful.  Yesterday we got about six inches of snow, and today it's very cold and windy.  And we're right smack dab in the middle of December, snow and cold, Christmas, the Winter Solstice -- and what am I doing?

Halloween in December

Yes, that's right, I still had one more ornament to do for the 2013 Halloween Ornament SAL...

I'm surprised the photo turned out --

it was so windy, the branch and ornament

were bobbing up and down.

Yes, the Nut was out without a coat,

taking photos of a Halloween ornament

in the snow and cold.

 

Here is the "Official Portrait"...

 

This is Knotted Tree NeedleArt's Little Owl Sampler

from the 2012 Just Cross Stitch Halloween Issue.

I had purple and orange #5 pearl cotton for the cording.

I asked DH the question:

Purple, orange, or both?

He said to go with solid orange, and I'm glad I did.

It brightens up the whole piece.

 

Stitchers are The Most Generous People

 

A little while ago I won Anne's giveaway at

Doll's Musings. 

It was her Third Blogoversary,

and she offered to stitch three small pieces,

for three different people.

The winners got to pick out their prizes

from an assortment of patterns selected by Anne.

I chose a Prairie Schooler fall pattern,

a crow on a pumpkin.

How cute is that?!!

I just love the way she finished it!

 

But that's not all...

These items were also in the envelope,

clockwise from top left:

small note pad, 3 skeins of floss, cute piece

of red-and-white fabric, lovely card,

Russian Earl Grey tea, cute hemstitch/eyelet piece

from Victoria Sampler, her stitched piece,

and a length of black rick rack.

 

This did not make the above photo:

A packet of the cutest seasonal buttons.

I was just about to go out searching

for snowflake buttons when her package came.

Thanks again, Anne!

 

Stitch from Stash 2014

 

It's the end of the year,

and the new 2014 virtual Stitch Alongs

are now gearing up on various blogs.

(No more Halloween ornaments for me next year!)

 

What I haven't mentioned here is

that I went on a new stash diet in the middle of October

(two months and counting).

I had told certain of my stitching buddies

that as of January 1st, all bets were off, but...

Mel at Epic Stitching is hosting Stitch from Stash,

and it sounds like it will be right up my alley.

If it sounds interesting to you,

click here to check it out. 

 

That's it from here.

Hope you had a great weekend.

Thanks, as always, for visiting!

Stitching Disaster

Hey Blog Buddies,

How's your weekend going?  Swimmingly, I hope.  Mine--not so much.

This past week I had a couple of finishes (more on those later) and decided to start a new project.  It's nothing new, I've been stitching from stash recently, and this project is on my 2013 to-do list.  It's Harper in Stitches - Cool Cardinal.  Charley Harper was an American Modernist artist best known for his highly stylized wildlife prints, posters and book illustrations.  Many of his designs have been adapted to cross stitch.

 

As you can see, it's a rather plump cardinal

sitting out a blizzard, while snow piles up on his head.

When I saw the stitched model at

a local needlework shop a couple of years ago,

I loved the cardinal and I was hooked.

 

I like this design despite the fact

that it depicts a snowstorm

(I hate snow).

But I'm really not too fond of

stitching the scores of "snowflakes."

They are 12 stitches each and are

spaced far enough apart

that I have to start and end a thread

for each one.

Tedious, to say the least.

 

Here is my progress so far:

 

Can you believe that I didn't notice

the difference in color until

I went outside to take the photo?

It's so obvious.

I couldn't either, until I took the piece

back inside and started to "unstitch."

I use a 21-bulb LED light with magnifier

that I absolutely love.

It really illuminates my work.

But this is how the piece looks under that light...

 

Believe it or not, I actually felt better

when I saw this (not as dumb).

The light absolutely does not differentiate

between the two whites.

 

So I have come up with an explanation for the goof.

I was using (or thought I was using) DMC blanc.

I believe that I inadvertently put a strand or two

of B5200 in with the blanc.

I do know that B5200 is a much brighter white

and I always keep it separate from the blanc.

Or so I thought.

I will dig out my B5200 and make sure

that it matches the bottom five rows

before I rip out the top 4 rows

plus one snowflake.

And once I start to restitch the snowflakes,

I'll make frequent trips outside

to check that the white is still

all the same shade.

Because now I'm paranoid.

 

Let's move on to happier topics.

Here is a design from Prairie Schooler's Nordic Holiday:

 

Stitched 1 over 1 on

25-count white Lugana

with DMC 815 and 500.

These are darker colors than the model photos.

I like so many of the designs in this leaflet

that I'm planning to stitch several more.

 

Last but not least,

I'm still keeping up with the

2013 Halloween Ornament SAL.

 

The theme this month is Candy Corn.

I adapted a design from

BBD's 'Tis Halloween booklet.

It was a stocking covered with candy corn,

and I didn't want to "finish" another stocking,

so I used BBD's chart for the candy corn

and made the ornament in the shape of a candy corn, too.

Some may see a Christmas tree.

 

That's it from here.

May all your stitching go without a hitch.

Thanks for visiting!

Happy Hallowe'en!

October Ornament ... and Stash!

Hey Blog Buddies,

Halloween is almost here (17 more days as of this writing!), and I've finished my October ornament...

This is Prairie Schooler's Night Owl,

from the 2011 JCS Halloween Collection,

stitched on a random 28-count linen,

one over one.

I used Gloriana India Ink silk for the black

and the recommended DMC for the rest.

I love the way the owl looks annoyed

and the moon looks worried.

Ten down and two to go...

 

Last week I met a friend in Lemont for lunch.

Lemont happens to be home to Inspired Needle,

and all I was looking for was this:

 

Caron Watercolours Quicksilver,

which is called for in my latest SAL,

Needle Delights Originals' Winter Logs.

I was happy that they had it.

 

They also had this:

The chart for Autumn Logs.

Uh-oh...

...but isn't it gorgeous?

 

And wouldn't you know that Cathy,

the thoughtful owner of Inspired Needle,

had made thread packs for this series:

(double uh-oh)

 

So, of course, one went home with me.

 

And over the weekend

DH, Molly and I went to Knox County, Illinois,

for the Scenic Drive

(think lots of food and flea markets).

 

There was one vendor, in Maquon, with

a lot of old books and I found this:

This is a book which originally came out in 1936.

I'll have lots of fun perusing chapters

devoted to Florentine, Hedebo,

Jacobean and Moutmellick Embroidery,

to name a few.

 

Here are a couple of pages

from the Drawn Thread Work chapter.

 

That's it from here.

Hope you had a great weekend.

And thanks for visiting!

Lofty Pumpkin - Finished

Hey Blog Buddies,
Hope you all are having a good weekend!  Our weather turned much cooler and autumn is in the air here.  What a great segue for my pumpkin piece, huh?

Here it is all finished and framed.

Lofty Pumpkin

Designer:  Twisted Threads

Fabric: 25-count ecru Lugana

Threads:  Recommended DMC, one over one

 

I told you I had the most perfect frame, didn't I?

It's by Homespun Elegance,

probably for one of her specific designs,

but it goes with piece this beautifully, too.

 

On the Hallowe'en front, I stitched the September ornament,

so now I'm all caught up with my SAL.

 

This is another design from

BBD's Trix or Treat booklet.

The theme for this month's ornament is

Hallowe'en words.

To celebrate this finish, I put up my Hallowe'en tree.

It looks quite festive with nine new ornaments!

The fabric is (again) 40-count Heritage linen,

and I used Gloriana silk in the color Charcoal.

This was cute and very quick to stitch!

 

Lastly, here is a little something that

I started a while ago and haven't showed yet:

 

This will eventually be one of

Victoria Sampler's Tudor Tassel ornaments.

The pattern is from

the 2010 JCS Christmas Ornament issue.

I've had this kitted up for almost 3 years now.

I think the finishing is what's been

making me procrastinate on this project.

But I'm glad it's at least started,

because now I'm much more likely to pick it up soon-ish!

(I refuse to define "soon-ish"!)

 

Right now I am working on my long-neglected BAP

Rosewood Manor's A Tree by Itself.

I started it in April and haven't picked it up since!

Stay tuned for a update on that in a few days.

 

That's it from here.

Thanks, as always, for visiting!

A Few Small Things

Hey Blog Buddies,

Happy July!  Yikes, the year is now officially half over!!

I've been fairly busy stitch-wise this week, and have gotten a few small projects completed.  Let's get the photos up:

I may not have finished this project

but I did finish stitching the first square of

Needle Delights Originals' Tangerine Twist.

The canvas that you see showing through on the right

will be covered by Little Charmers orange beads,

which are waiting for me at my LNS.

The beads are a variety of sizes,

and should add a lot to this already eye-popping square.

Obviously, the beads will go on

after all the squares are stitched.

 

Here's a funny story.

When I was stitching on this last Monday,

I was so in the groove that I kept putting off

eating dinner--the "just one more row" mentality.

I vaguely noticed that it was getting very dark outside--

too dark for early evening.

We've had a lot of storms come through here just lately,

so I was unconcerned.  Just more rain.

Little did I know that we were going to get hit with a derecho!

(According to Wikipedia, a derecho is

a widespread, long-lived, straight-line wind storm that is

associated with a land-based,

fast-moving band of severe thunderstorms.)

When our lights started flickering,

it got my attention fast.

I ran upstairs to put my leftovers from lunch

into the microwave, but I was about a minute too late.

Pouf!  Power out until 10:30 p.m.

Had to make dinner on the gas stove,

and my stitching was on hold until the next day.

There were lots of branches down,

but no damage to our house.

Lots of people had it far worse.

 

The next little project is my

June ornament for the 2013 Halloween SAL.

The theme for the month was mummies/tombs.

  

This is one the headstones from Prairie Schooler's Heads Up leaflet:

stitched on 40-count Heritage linen

(I purchased a large piece of that last year!),

using one strand of Gloriana India Ink

over two threads.

 

I was on a roll this weekend,

so I also started and finished this...

Lizzie*Kate's Summer ABCs,

stitched on 28-count light mocha linen.

I changed the colors on the lettering because

 I wanted to make it look a little more "beachy,"

but used the recommended JABC watermelon button.

 

Last but not least,

I started and finished a charity project for one of my guilds.

 

We are donating a bunch of bibs to PASS,

an organization which assists young single moms.

The incredible part about this finish is

I don't even have to turn it in until the middle of September!!

It's unheard-of for me to be so early!

 

I think this calls for a new start, don't you?

 

That's it from here.

Hope your weekend was fun,

with a little stitchy time thrown in!

Thanks, as always, for visiting!

Seasonal Smalls

Hey Blog Buddies,

I'd like to start off by saying thank you all so much for the love you gave to Crabby All Year.  I savor each comment in much the same way that I do White Chocolate Truffles.  (Now you know one of my guilty pleasures...)

There's nothing wrong with a little stockpiling, is there?

I wouldn't want to run out...

 

Ahem.  On to the stitching:

 

Here is my May ornament for the

Halloween Ornament SAL 2013.

May's theme was ghosts.

This is Bent Creek's District 13 - Jacks in the Box

stitched on 40-count linen with the recommended DMC.

I know the jacks outnumber the ghost 3 to 1,

but they had such personality, I couldn't resist.

And there is a ghost in the box, too!

 

I have my June tombstone design picked out

and once I stitch and finish that,

I'll be all caught up!

 

And now, just in time for Father's Day...

June from Prairie Schooler's Summer and Winter leaflet,

stitched on 36-count Natural linen

with the called-for DMC.

Yes, folks, that is a male red-wing blackbird feeding the kids.

(The females are brown and white.)

The only color that's technically "wrong" on him is his beak.

(They have black beaks.)

I looked it up in my "Birds of Illinois" book

after I had stitched the beak

(it was charted as gold)

and wasn't inclined to rip it out.

And yes, the males do take their turn in feeding the babies.

This was a fun stitch, and I loved the colors.

 

I am thinking of finishing this one a little differently,

and am torn between what I would like to do

and what I'm able to do.

Hope it gets finish-finished before the end of the month!

 

There are lots of cute designs in this leaflet,

so look for "August" coming in about a month.

 

That's it for now.

Hope you have the time to get some stitching in today.

Thanks as always for visiting!

The March Halloween Ornie

Hey Blog Buddies,
Hope you had a groovy weekend.  The weather here is still a bit wintry for so late in March.  Just another excuse to stay home and stitch!

So far--and I know it's only March--I am keeping up with Lainey's Halloween Ornament SAL blog.  This month's theme was haunted houses, so I chose the haunted house from Prairie Schooler's Boo to You booklet:

I changed the colors a bit because

I thought the model looked too cheery:

I used 40-count PTP Heritage linen

which is a mottled khaki green (hard to tell in the photo),

I "turned out the lights" in the windows,

and the door is purple instead of orange.

I used Gloriana Charcoal instead of DMC 310

and I like the coverage better.

The silk floss is just a wee bit fatter than the cotton.

I guess I will be using it for future ornies

in spite of the fact that I hate stitching with it

(it sticks to my fingers and continually pops out of the needle!).

And it's finish-finished!

I'm making these into ornaments as I go along

because I can't think of anything worse

than having 10 stitched-but-unfinished ornaments

come October!

Over the weekend, I started to think spring

despite the fact that we had a bit of snow here yesterday.

But I'm not complaining:  the folks south of here

got 10-12 inches and we got less than an inch.

I know my UK friends have had more than their share, too.

Here is my start on Erica Michaels' Random Thoughts of Spring:

The fabric is a 30-count overdyed springy green color--

I'm very bad about keeping track of fabric names.

And I'm using two strands of good old DMC 500

which makes me a happy camper.

Don't know how much stitching I'll get in this week.

Our local cable company is having a "Watchathon"

until the end of this month,

which means you can catch up on past seasons of programs for "free"

(read:  no additional fee).

So I'm planning on watching all three seasons of Downton Abbey.

I have one week.

And no, they don't allow you to record "on demand" shows.

I probably won't be stitching while watching because

when I listen to folks with different accents,

I usually have to pay more attention!

Well, I'm off to watch Episode 2 of Season 1.

And to those of you in the northern hemisphere:

c'mon join me in thinking spring!

Thanks for visiting!

This 'n That

Hey Blog Buddies,
First off--welcome to all my new followers!  I'm glad you're here!  I've been kinda quiet this week because I was stitching away on a Valentine-themed project which is done now, except for the framing.  Unfortunately, I can't show it to you before VD--Valentine's Day, of course!  (heheh)  Yesterday, I went to my LNS and found the perfect frame for it, so I have no excuse not to finish it today, but I'll probably think of something.  Don't worry though, I have photos for you!

While I was at my LNS...  ...I'll bet you're thinking that I purchased at least half a dozen new charts.  No!  I was good, but I did have a list with me for DMC threads.  Usually, when it comes to DMC floss I'm kind of frugal and try to buy it at Joann's, but the store near me is poorly managed, skeins of floss all over the floor, in the wrong trays, etc.  And they're usually out of many of the colors I need, which is frustrating.  So I decided to bite the bullet, paying almost double, and get what I needed at the LNS.  They were having a buy-3-get-1-free sale (no, I didn't know about it ahead of time), and they had every color I needed!  So I got the rest of the threads for this beauty, which is on my 2013 To-Stitch List:

Many of you may recognize this as

99 by Ink Circles,

inspired by the bus song of our youth.

I already had the chart and the Ale linen

(yes, the color of the linen is "Ale")!

Now I have the rest of the DMC that I need.

I also selected and kitted up my

February Halloween ornament for the SAL.

This month's theme is black cats, so I chose...

Fraidy Cat by Jamie Kile of Knotted Tree NeedleArt,

from the JCS 2011 Halloween Collection book.

I really like the light orange 40-count linen (from my stash!)

that I chose for the ground.

This Halloween Ornament SAL is really keeping me on track!

Yesterday I started stitching another model for

the hardanger mini-class that I'll be teaching.

Each person in the class will be choosing their own materials,

so I wanted to give them more than one idea.

I finished the model this morning--

the stitching takes no time at all, really.

The new one is on the left.

Readers of this blog have already seen the one on the right.

I plan to stitch a third one before next meeting.

Last but not least, since many of you shared with me

when you started stitching and what technique(s) are your favorite(s),

I thought I'd do the same because you're dying to know, right?

Well, I started out with stamped embroidery designs

when I was pretty young (12ish?).

A few years later my mom stitched a lovely stamped-cross-stitch tablecloth

on white linen with 2-tone pink roses and green leaves.

I liked it so much, I decided to stitch one, using my own colors.

I believe this was probably from my later teen years...

Yikes for the colors!

And double yikes for the execution!

And my eyesight was better in those days, too!

But stamped crosses never look as precise as counted.

I lost interest in this project,

and my mom kindly finished it for me.

Her crosses were much neater!

The first photo is the best representation of the colors

because I used a flash.

As far as which technique is my favorite, I can't pick just one:

there are so many cool cross stitch designs out there,

then there's hardanger, blackwork, and canvaswork.

Those are my top four.

You're very tenacious if you've read this far.

Hope you're having a fun, stitchy weekend!

Thanks for visiting!