He's B-a-a-ck!

Hey Blog Buddies,

You may remember Quaker Cardinal, my rotund bird, that I finished stitching last month.  I gave him to Karen from our Guild (to finish-finish) at the October meeting and I got him back already!  I wasn't expecting her to do this so soon because this is obviously her busy time with lots of holiday ornies to do, etc.  It's kind of like Christmas in November...

The light isn't good today.

I'm not fond of using flash, so I took him outside.

The sun was trying to shine..

Karen, you are the Greatest. Finisher. Ever!

Thanks, everyone, for visiting!

WIPocalypse 2012 - September Report

Hey Blog Buddies,

Ummm, yes, I know it's now October, but I haven't done my September report yet and Measi,  Mistress of the WIPocalypse, gives slackers like me a grace period.  If being late isn't bad enough, I did nothing from my WIPocalypse list last month.  Nada, zip, zilch--not one stitch.  Not even Crabby.  Blame it on commitment stitching.  Oh, wait.  I did have one tiny start/finish last month, which was not really part of my WIPocalypse list (and not commitment stitching, either)--it almost slipped my mind.  Since you haven't seen it finished, might as well show it to you now...

This is Quaker Cardinal by The Workbasket.

He's quite chubby--must have been spending a lot of time

at the backyard feeder.

For the threads, I substituted Gloriana silks in

 Poinsettia, Charcoal and Lacquered Gold.

If the red looks familiar, it's the same red

that I used for CT13.  I had quite a bit extra.

Karen from the Guild will finish him as a stand-up.

He'll make a return appearance on this blog

when he's all finished-finished.

And now for the comic relief:  my commitment stitching.

I crocheted a boa for my quilt guild boutique.

In cotton.

The instructions said to make a chain 70" long (quite long),

but it must have stretched out a little while I was crocheting.

It's now eight feet long.

I took it to my stitching retreat to finish it this weekend

(more on that in a separate post).

The ladies were very kind.

They said some teenager would want to buy it.

But I'm afraid it will come back to me.

So I'm exploring some home decorating possibilities for it:

...a centerpiece...

...holiday garland...

I'm sure I'll think of more uses for it.

I also started a small, red hardanger tree

that I'll show when it's finished.

It's for the boutique, too.

I wouldn't mind getting that item back,

it could fit somewhere on my tree.

I do hope it sells, though--

the whole point is to make money for the guild.

You can click on Measi's name above,

to see everyone else's WIPocalypse progress.

Hope you had a great weekend!

Thanks, as always, for visiting!

September IHSW: A Finish and a Start

Hey Blog Buddies,
I've really had a blast reading all the comments about everyone's animals.  If you're wondering what I'm talking about, go to my giveaway post, and enter while you're there.  You've still got a week left to get a chance to win!

It wouldn't be an IHSW (International Hermit and Stitch Weekend) if I didn't finish something, right?  So to keep my streak going, I finished (and framed!) Secret Pumpkin Patch by The Trilogy:

I visited Inspired Needle in Lemont, IL, earlier this week,

and found this perfect little weathered black frame!

So, I was able to frame the piece right away,

and it's now up on my shelf--

never mind that we're only halfway through September!

Framing a piece with a stitched border

that is very close to the frame is challenging,

but I did the best I could and it didn't turn out too bad.

After this small success,

I was inspired to try to finish Grandma's Roses

from the Nordic Needle retreat in April.

All it needs are some bullion knots

to make a rose in each corner.

Several months ago, moonsilk stitches was kind enough

to show me how to do bullion knots on canvas.

What she said seemed to make sense at the time,

but did I go right home and finish up the project?

Noooo.

When I picked it up yesterday too much time had passed

and I just couldn't figure it out,

so I put the piece away indefinitely--bummer!

To cheer myself up, I started a new piece:

Quaker Cardinal by The Workbasket.

(I'm kind of easy to cheer up...)

I've been itching to start this project for some time.

This photo simply does not do the fabric justice--

it's the prettiest fabric I've ever stitched on.

I won it (the fabric) as part of a giveaway hosted by Robin

at Threads of Memory.

Thank you again, Robin!

Since this photo was taken,

I have completed the other leg.

To see what my fellow hermitters

have been up to this weekend, click here.

Hope you had a fabulous weekend

with some time to stitch!

Thanks for visiting!