Theme-a-licious: July Wrap-Up

Hey Blog Buddies,
July is almost over, and that means the last update on the theme for the month:  Jolly July.  "It's a jolly holiday with your WIPs.  You can concentrate on Christmas designs, ornaments, or even pick a different holiday to render in stitchy goodness."

I decided to stitch a little something as one of the prizes at our Guild's Ukrainian embroidery workshop (see sidebar).  I racked my brain trying to come up with something that needed little or no finishing (why torture myself any further?) and came up with a little hardanger Christmas ornie.  And I had a pattern that I had stitched before.  Genius!

I'm not the best at making bows,

but that just adds to its charm, doesn't it?

I stitched this on some 24-count Congress cloth

that I had on hand--to give it a little more body than linen.

The design came from (are you ready for this?)

the Christmas 1991 edition of "Cross Stitch Sampler" magazine!

Does anyone remember that magazine?

It's a simple design--took me less than a week start to finish.

And the design is timeless, IMO.

Moving on to Altius August:

"Embrace the Olympic motto,

Citius, Altius, Fortius (Faster, Higher, Stronger)

by elevating your mind.

It's the perfect time to learn something new.

Or maybe achieve some goals..."

August will hopefully be achieving more

goals of commitment stitching for the Boutique:

more crocheted scarves,

more hardanger ornies,

and (maybe) a "monster" made of fleece!  Maybe.

No promises on that last one, though!

To check out the other Theme-a-licious updates,

and find out how you can join in, click below:

Until next time, happy stitching!

And thanks for visiting!

Theme-a-Licious - Jolly July

Hey Blog Buddies,

It's time for the Theme-a-Licious July update. 

The theme for this month is:

"It's a jolly holiday with your WIPs.  You can concentrate on
Christmas designs, ornaments, or even pick a different holiday
to render in stitchy goodness.

I had a new (ahem) chart that kept calling my name,

and since it's only 3 months until October,

I decided to go with Hallowe'en as the holiday.

The chart is Heads Up! from Prairie Schooler

and my pick to stitch first was the "head" stone.

The recommended color for this one was DMC 3371,

but I decided to go with all Hallowe'en colors,

so, of course, I used 310.

I plan to stitch quite a few of these,

and they'll all be on 40-count to make the ornies smaller.

I again substituted thread from my stash, WDW Carrot and

WDW Peoria Purple, for the recommended DMC.

Here are the other heads

in case you haven't seen the chart yet.

I ask you, how could I resist this one?

The designs are all perfect for my black tree.

If you want to join in on the Theme-a-Licious fun,

it's not too late.

Click on Heather's logo below

to go to her blog for all the details.

Hope your weekend was fun.

Thanks for visiting!

Theme-a-Licious: Jumanji June

Hey Blog Buddies,





We're almost halfway through 2012 and I have finally decided to jump in to Heather's Theme-a-Licious SAL!  There is a different theme for each month, and participants either follow it closely or somehow convince their readers with stories about how what they stitched matches the theme!  No stress, just fun.  The theme for Jumanji June was to stitch something animal-related.  Since it was my first time out, I decided to stick more or less closely to the theme.  I had my rabbits from Crabby All Year for the first half of the month, and for the second half I decided to start Plum Street Sampler's Boris.  Besides, he was on my list of things to stitch this year.  But instead of an adventure with Boris, I had more of a misadventure!

First, I decided to baste the fabric into 20 x 20 grids to help with the placement of all the letters in the sampler.  It took a lot of time, but was worth the effort.

The fabric is 36-count, and the instructions were to use one strand of floss.  That was OK for the letters, but I didn't like the way Boris (my little Russian dog) was turning out, and he was the reason I wanted to stitch the design in the first place!

I started stitching his face (oh, that face!)

and wasn't pleased with the coverage of the floss.

But did I stop and frog?  No!

It was hoping that the "effect" would grow on me.

When will I ever learn?

I got all the way to...

 ...here...

...before I decided to cut my losses.

(This may be the most embarrassing photo

ever published on this blog!)

If you look closely at the bottom two rows of his body

just behind the leg, you'll see I finally tried using 2 strands,

just to see what it would look like.
That was more like it!

I wanted him black, not tweed!

He was looking like he had a

bad case of dandruff!

If I hadn't taken so much time basting,

I would have just tossed the entire piece at this point

and started over.

So I decided to frog instead.

Let me tell you, when I decide to bury a tail of floss,

it pretty much stays buried!

As of now, after much ripping, cutting, pulling and

dark muttering,

all that's left of him is his muzzle

and a tattered flower.

(Sorry, I'm not going to waste a photo on that!)

Quit giggling!!

The theme for next month is Jolly July.

"It's a jolly holiday with your WIPs. 

You can concentrate on Christmas designs,

ornaments, or even pick a different holiday

to render in stitchy goodness."

I am going to need something jolly

after this little nightmare.

But Boris will get done ... eventually.

He has so much personality, how can I not finish him?

Hope your projects are going more smoothly.

Thanks for visiting!