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.

Even More Exciting News...

...Ladybug and Daisy, my blackwork project, is finished...

...and framed...

Here are a couple of close-ups...

The cross-hatching on the petals drove me bonkers.

It was "random" but charted, so I kept having

to look back and forth from the chart to the piece.

I would have gladly paid someone to do it for me,

if I could have found any takers.

I'm elated that this is done!

Here is another framed finish...

Kathy Barrick's Good Intentions

I seem to go a while without any finishes,

then I have a bunch all at once.

Let's get to the pillow parade...

A monthly from Heart in Hand's Square Dance

Bent Creek's Flag of Stars

The trim is not cording, but a braid.

Lizzie-Kate's Buzz from their Spring Smalls leaftlet.

I stitched this a couple of months ago,

and just got around to finishing it.

Here's what I'm working on now...

This is the July monthly from the

Little Dove's Year chart.

This chubby fellow is from Bothy Threads.

The chart is called Jolly Robin.

Here is my start.

It's going to look like a blob for a while.

This is my ANG challenge piece,

due next Saturday.  😄

I got quite a bit done
since the last time I posted.

My revised goal is to at least get

the panel on the right completed.
As I was stitching it,

I discovered that this piece

is not quite as easy as it looks.

But I probably could have completed it

if I had picked it up before last month.

I had all year to do it.

When you're as old as I am
you should stitch what calls out to you,
which is what I've been doing.
Hence, the DNF on my challenge piece.

Well, that's it from here.

Hope your June is going splendidly.

Thanks for dropping by.

Exciting News!

Did that get your attention?  

No, I haven't won the Lotto or 
had a date with Channing Tatum,

but I am halfway done with the background

on my blackwork piece.

Well, I think it's exciting...

After the background is completed,

I'll still have some shading to do on the petals,

and then I'll be done.

But it's a very, very slow process.

And just in time for May...

I've developed a renewed appreciation for Aida cloth.

I began my cross stitching life using Aida cloth,

and then abandoned it for linen.

I belonged to the group who had "moved beyond" Aida.

But now Aida comes in so many pretty colors --

the above is an over-dyed piece from Picture This Plus --

and it is so easy to work with and hide your thread ends,

that I've started using it again.

I wish I had chosen it for my blackwork piece!

The pattern is from Hands on Design's

A Year of Celebrations leaflet.

Here's Heart in Hand's Checker Bird...

I used the called-for colors,
but changed the bead color to red,

because I didn't think the included white beads

would show up on my... 

light-colored Aida cloth.

Am I being a reverse snob?

Just slap me if I am.

I don't think I've mentioned it here,

but for the longest time I've wanted

to get one of Charley Harper's

designs for needlepoint.

They are painted canvases and,

therefore, very pricey.

So I not only had a birthday in March,

but I had a 20-percent-off coupon from

my local needlepoint store, too.

The perfect storm.

I was planning on buying only one,

but I couldn't decided between these two...

I have a thing for birds.

And there were a lot of bird designs to choose from.

It's a miracle I was able to

whittle it down to just two.

If you're not familiar with Charley's wonderful designs,

you can google Meredith Collection

to see what I was up against

in picking just one two.

They all make me smile.

Last but not least,
I've been doing so many colorful pieces lately
that I had a desire to do something
a little bit more drab.
Enter my only other WIP at present...

...Kathy Barrick's Good Intentions.
This fills the bill for drab!

That's it for now.

Thanks for stopping by.

March Turtle Trot

It's Turtle Trot time once again and, as expected,

this month's report is much shorter than last month's.

But some progress is better than none, eh?

First up is Summer Logs 

by Needle Delights Originals.

Here's where I was last month:

This is what I accomplished this month:

This is such a fun, relaxing stitch.

If I didn't want to stay in sync 

 with my guild's SAL group,

I believe I'd have this finished by now.

Quit snickering--you never know!

Next we have Dawn Chorus by Long Dog Samplers.

I had made a great start on it last month...

Here's where I'm at now...

Didn't get as much done as I had planned.

But I have an excuse (dontcha love it?).

This was mounted on a too-small scroll frame

which was driving me crazy.

After I had taken it off (it was sewn on)

I realized that the frame this piece really needs

is in use.

So it will have to wait just a little while

for me to finish that other BAP.

I know I could just stitch this in hand,

but it's all pressed and I don't

want to wrinkle it up again.

Next we have Carrots

by Jennifer Riefenberg. 

Here's where I left off:

And here's where I am now:

More bands of "earth" have been stitched.

Last but not least, we have Ink Circles' 99:

Last month I was here:

And this month, here:

At first glance, it may look like all I did

was to finish off Shelf No. 7.

But I stitched Shelf No. 8, too!

And there are only nine shelves!!

This is the piece that needs to get finished

before I can get back to Dawn Chorus.

I'm too superstitious to predict a finish date,

but there is a great big light

at the end of this long tunnel.

Yes, I'm strange; 

we all have our little idiosyncrasies.

To change the subject,

as many of you are aware,

the Nashville Market was held recently.

Last week, averyclaire dragged me

(kicking and screaming, I tell you)

to our LNS to check out the

new Market pieces.

Well, she did have to wait

several nanoseconds 

before I hollered "field trip!"

Wanna see what I got?

 

Top row: LHN Oh Christmas Tree, 

BBD In Full Glory, PSS Lesson One of 

Serial Bowl Collection.

Bottom row: Kathy Barrick's 

Good Intentions and Bird's Eye View.

The Plum Street and Kathy Barrick designs

were all from Market.

This also came home with me:

Wow, it seems to be kitted up!

The fabric is a really pretty light yellow.

There was a gorgeous stitched model in the store,

and it just said "spring" very loudly to me.

I intend to start this the moment I finish 99 

(I do have some restraint),

and that's another incentive

to just get it done.

So those are my stitching plans,

with the exception of

a two-day Kay Stanis workshop

hosted by my ANG chapter this weekend,

and a rather challenging canvaswork class

to be taught at that same

enabling ANG chapter at the end of the month!

Go here to find out what the other

Trotters have been up to this month.

Thanks, Claudette, for hosting this fun SAL!

That's it from here.

Hope you are all having a fabulous March.

Thanks for visiting!