The 2017 List - Part 1

Hey Blog Buddies,

January is the time that we stitchers start talking about our plans and goals for the upcoming year.  I was going to do just one post and show everything that I have planned, but I probably couldn't do it in 10,000 words or less!  So, in a departure from what I've been doing lately (one post a month), I've decided to showcase one project from my list per day to keep the size of the posts manageable.

Let's start with the WIPs that followed me here from 2016. Sadly, not all of them did. 

First and foremost is The Prairie Schooler Alphabet.  I think if I were forced to choose just one piece to stitch this year (perish the thought!), it would be this one.  I'm having a lot of fun with it.

I never really showed close-ups of the last two letters as they were finished, so here is E...  

And here is F...

And finally, here is my start on G...

I am hoping to be able to stitch the next three leaflets this year, which would put me through the letter O.  We'll see what happens.

That's it for today.  Thanks for visiting and thanks, too, for all your wonderful comments.  See you tomorrow!

2016 Year in Review

Hey Blog Buddies,

Hope all of you are having a fabulous holiday season.  The end of the year prompts many people to take a look back, and since Blogger has discontinued its Slideshow gadget (I kind of miss it), I thought I'd do a quick stitchy year in review, with a minimum of blathering.

Finishes

Angles by Debbie Rowley

A Tree by Itself by Rosewood Manor

Bluebird by Charley Harper

The Song They Sang by

Carriage House Samplings

April by The Prairie Schooler

May Flip-It by Lizzie-Kate

Eastern Blue Bird by Tanja Berlin Designs

(yes, I could have used a different photo, but...)

Autumn Logs by

Needle Delights Originals

Dawn Chorus by Long Dog Samplers

Blackwork Horse-Haflinger Breeed
by Tanja Berlin Designs

Red, White and Blue by Lizzie-Kate

Summertime Roll-Up by La D Da

The Missing Piece by

Jennifer Riefenberg

A B C by The Prairie Schooler

Four Bookmarks from the

Nordic Needle 2011 Bookmark Club

Nevermore by Lizzie-Kate

Goodness and Plenty by

Plum Street Samplers

Kindred Spirits pin cube by

With my Needle

And my latest three finishes,
not seen here before:

First Star from the 2012

JCS Christmas Ornament magazine

Merry Merry by Birds of a Feather

...and, just under the wire...

D E F by The Prairie Schooler

When you look at them all together,
it seems like a lot.
I wish I could have done more.
I have so many projects in my stash
just waiting for their turn to be stitched.

I'll be back in a week or so
to show you what's on the
stitching horizon for 2017.

Have a happy and safe New Year.
Thanks, as always, for visiting.

2016 Advent Calendar

Hey Blog Buddies,

This year I'm taking part in Jo's Advent Calendar Blog Hop.  Each participant displays a holiday-themed stitched piece and answers a question.

I wanted to show you something that hasn't been on this blog before, so I chose this picture that I stitched sometime in the 90's.

This is one of Mary Engelbreit's designs.

I'm not usually fond of Santas, but I do love this piece.

The question posed to each of us was:

Decorations - do you have a favourite decoration

you must have on display every year,

maybe an heirloom, one the children made

 or something with a special story behind it?

This is the first ornament that I ever stitched,

most likely from sometime in the late 70's.

The long-and-short stitch on the dog was 

challenging to do, but I was determined to make it

because it's a basset, and at the time we had

our first of many of these lovable dogs.

There were a few years when we didn't put up a tree,

but this cutie always made an appearance somewhere.

This year it's on a door knob because my tree is a bit crowded.

A big thank you goes to Jo,

who organizes this blog hop each year.

Thanks for visiting!

Leap Year List - November Report

Hey Blog Buddies,

Less than two months left until 2017.  How time flies!  Do you all have a list of projects to stitch for next year?  I do--but I'll wait until January for the Big Reveal.

In the meantime, I'm still plugging away on my 2016 list, which tends to get longer as the year wears on instead of shorter.  What's up with that?  Here's what happened since we last got together.

In the middle of last month I attended another workshop--my last one for this year, I swear!  This one was Ho Ho Santa, taught by Deborah Forney.  It is a cute 3-sided stand up.  

This was our class kit.  Look at all those Rainbow Gallery threads!  And it came with a 30-page instruction book.

Another view of just the threads.  You can't see them all, because they're piled one on top of the other.  On the right side in the plastic sleeve are two bullion needles:  5" and 7" long(!), respectively.

Here are what the three sides of the piece will look like... someday.  Santa's eyebrows, beard and mustache are all bullion knots.  Now I have had a love-hate (mostly hate) relationship with bullion knots in the past, especially the ones on canvas. But Debbie sat down and demonstrated the construction of one bullion knot after the other until we were all confident that we could do one.

I'm really excited about my doodle canvas.  I know it's only five knots, but the top right knot has 30 wraps!  Very fiddly, and it took a while to get done, but these things don't just pop into place, even for Debbie.  Fortunately, most of the bullions on the beard are 7 wraps or less, like my row of three on the far left.

The mustache, however, will be the most challenging part of the project.  And look at that red nose!  I think that Santa must be a tippler.

Here is what I've gotten done so far.

(close up of the packages)

I can hardly wait to be able to get back to this fun project.

But enough of that.

Let's get down to brass tacks with the rotation.

First up is Needle Delights Originals' Spring Logs.

Here's where it was last month...

...and this month.

A close up so you can see the texture.

Some of the SAL participants think that the

variegated gray on the outer edge looks

out of place with all of the bright spring colors.

I say that Spring around here is always rainy.

Here's one we haven't seen in a while.
In January, I had 4 of the 6 sides
completed for the pin cube, part of 
With My Needle's Kindred Spirits project.
I have been doing a little here and there
on the last 2 sides during the past few months.

And now I have a completed pin cube.
And I put it together myself!
There was an awful lot of over-one stitching
on 36-count linen here.
I found that cubes are very hard to photograph.
One side always seems to be in shadow,
even with lights on every side.

Here is the bottom of the cube.

Now all I have to finish are
the needle roll,
the scissor case,
the ruler cover,
the pipkin,
and the lining of the wooden carrier!
The pin cube took me a year.
Hmmm, let's see...

Finally, the month wouldn't be complete
without Prairie Schooler's Alphabet.

The D, last month.

And this month--another finish!
The eagle's head was charted in yellow,
but I didn't care for that
so I switched to white and back stitched
in 3371 so that the head would show up.

I even got a modest start on E.
Wanna see? (Of course you do!)

The stitcher on the bottom looks like
she's conducting an orchestra.
I think she needs to sit a little closer to her work.
But her posture's great, though.

 Last month I showed you a little raven
that I had stitched.
This month it's finish finished
courtesy of Averyclaire.

I love the pompom finish.

And here is a pompom tip:
I bought my pompoms from my LNS
and they are fine.
Some discount stores carry
 the mini-pompoms, too.
As I was examining the package in one such store,
I noticed that the material used is
100% nylon, and if the pompoms get
near a hot iron, they will melt
quicker than you can say "Eeek!"
So if you see mini-pompoms in a store,
be sure to check the package.
Just so you know.

That's it from here.
Congratulations if you've read this far.
Thanks for visiting!