ORT Jar- TUSAL Update

It's yet another TUSAL update. That's the Totally Useless StitchALong that I'm happily a part of this year. It's sponsored by Daffycat.

Here we are:



It's looking a bit more colorful, and that's because I actually stitched up a tea towel this month.

Thanks for stopping by today.

TUSAL update

It's that time again! It's a TUSAL update. That's the Totally Useless StitchALong that I'm happily a part of this year. It's sponsored by Daffycat.

It has been a wonderful month, but there was only a bit of time for stitching, and that happened yesterday.  Here is the latest progress in my little ORT jar:

I'm still working on Paula Vaughan's Wedding Ring Bouquet, and in this piece there's a lot of ecru and white.
Here's a better look

 

I would post a progress picture of the piece, but I don't feel it's changed much since this picture was taken:

Finally, a few peeks of our cats, dog,  and the patio. I love summer evenings!  It's very hot here in the daytime, but in the evening it's quite nice in the backyard!




Thanks for stopping by today!

TUSAL UPDATE

It's yet another TUSAL update. That's the Totally Useless StitchALong that I'm happily a part of this year. It's sponsored by Daffycat. (Please go take a peek!)

This past month has been a very busy one, and it has left NO time for stitching.  I haven't stitched in weeks. I miss it.

Vacation is here, nonetheless, and soon I will be picking up my needle again.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Needlework Fun

I have been stuck at home with a miserable cold. Don't you hate that?

In my attempt to entertain myself, I have made a video of my needlework. It includes stuff that I completed years ago, and also pieces that I've yet to finish.

I tried swapping out the music to another track, but thus far I've had no luck.

Take a peek if you so desire:

Stitching a Bit- WRB

I finally sat down and stitched a bit, working on  Paula Vaughan's Wedding Ring Bouquet. I started this one almost 8 years ago! That's incredible, I guess, although I do have WIPS that are even older than this one. It's done on 22 count hardanger fabric as that's what was handy at home here that one evening  I started it.  I know that the style is a bit 'dated' for most people, but I like the soft, muted colors of it.

Here it is, last time I took a photo:



I worked on the quilt, in the bottom right corner of the design and so you can barely tell, but here it is now:






I'll work on it again soon! I MUST have at least one finished piece of work this year, right?

Thanks for stopping by today.  What's your oldest WIP? Have you worked on  it lately?

Finally, A Stitching Update

I am delighted that I had the chance to STITCH a few evenings ago. Instead of beading on Summer Queen, I decided to work on my neglected Minnesota Sampler. It comes from Oberlin Designs.

Last time I took a progress photo of it, it looked more or less like this:


Now it has progressed to this point:


A few details/close-ups:





If you want to see more sampler photos, check these out:

Flickr Photo Set

I just need to finish the border on the outside, write the state's name, and add a few more touches here and there. Maybe I'll have a finish this year after all?

Thanks for stopping by today.

Embroidery Floss That I Adopted

I have not been here in so long! Life has again been just too busy. I haven't stitched much in the last six weeks, either. Haven't had a chance to read many of your blogs. I miss reading them so much. Hopefully things will settle down soon at work, and I will have more free time to spend stitching, reading, and blogging...not to mention all the other things I like to do with free time.

Thanks for all your kind comments about Summer Queen. I really must pull her out soon!

I have a  friend who recently handed me a plastic bag. Here's how it looked:



She said, "Thought you might like this embroidery floss." I have only one close friend who stitches, and she hasn't done it in years and years. A few more people I know used to stitch when it was popular in the 80s and 90s, but they've all given it up completely. I brought it home about a week ago, and just for kicks took a few photos of my progress in going through the floss.

Here you are:


I found a pair of tiny scissors in the mess. They're marked "Overland Germany". I wonder what the story is behind those scissors?



Now as I sit here, I wonder if you've ever received leftover stitching supplies in the form of floss..all tangled up? What did you do with it? You may remember that a few months ago another friend gave me an old WIP/UFO that's a stack of teacups stitched on Aida (See the post from March 28, 2010). I haven't done anything with that yet! I really will work on it "someday".

Finally, here is what I ended up with in the end:



I decided that truly I didn't need these 18 skeins of floss, but nonetheless I did add them to my floss boxes. Shame on me, I didn't take the time to wind them around the little cardboard bobbins. Some of the skeins look old in that the labeling looks like the kind from years and years ago. Even though I didn't wind the floss around bobbins I did, however, take the time to pour myself and my husband a glass of merlot. I will enjoy that glass of wine now, knowing that the large tangled mess of floss that remains is in our wastebasket. Yes, I know it could be strewn about the yard and one of our backyard birds could pick it up for its nest. In reality, I've tried that for years and not one bird has ever picked up even a tiny strand of thread. So it's in our wastebasket, for good.



Thanks for coming by today! I appreciate your visit here.

An Old Piece

It's great to be here and post today.

I still haven't had the chance to stitch in weeks and weeks. Right now I'm home with a horrible cold and sore throat. I seem to get these way more often than I should!

While we were in Minnesota last summer, I took a photo of a piece I stitched for my in-laws about 24 years ago. It is on Aida since it is from my beginning cross stitch phase. I don't recall the name of the leaflet from which I got the pattern. Here it is:





Aren't the colors bright? They are a bit unusual together, but I like the overall effect.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Framed Sampler!

Life has gotten extremely busy. After a fairly lazy summer, I'm preparing for another school year. I had to move to a different classroom this year, so it has meant a bit more work in getting ready. School does not start for a few weeks yet, but there is much to do before it can be a smooth start.

On a happy note, I got my sampler back from the framer! I took it to my most local needlework shop, and I am so thrilled with the results. I chose to not mat the piece, and I also chose a wood color that was a bit lighter than I'd anticipated but seemed to go best with the tones of the piece.

Here it is:



A close-up of one side:



I hung it on the wall between or kitchen and family room, and it seems to look all right there.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Wedding Ring Bouquet WIP

I've been working on a project I started about six years ago. I actually started it 'on a whim'. I had the 22 count hardanger in a drawer, and I'd bought Paula Vaughan's pattern at a close-out sale somewhere. It's her "Wedding Ring Bouquet".

 

It looks like I'm close to being done, but the work goes slowly since it's being done on 22 count fabric and in parts there are lots of color changes.

I apologize for the color quality of the fabric. It's an ecru color and not green as it appears in the photo.

Here it is with some small scissors, so you can see the size of the entire design:


A few more views:





I wish I had more time to work on this one, and get it done.

Thanks for stopping by today!

New WIP----A Royal Lady for Reacquaintance

Hi everyone!

Thanks for the wonderful comments regarding my recently finished House and Garden Sampler. I still haven't had the chance to take it to our not-so-local LNS for framing. Maybe someday soon? Each weekend thus far has been filled with fun activities with family and friends, so for that reason alone the framing will have to wait!

This upcoming weekend a lifelong friend is flying into our area for a visit, so again the sampler framing project will be on hold. She's a great friend, but she doesn't share my love of crafts and needlework, nor has she ever done either thing. We did both have home economics in eighth grade though, and I remember sewing up some cute smock tops in flame stitch patterns. (It WAS the 70's!)

It's funny, very few people I know in my daily life have seen my needlework unless they've been to my home. Even then I don't point it out on my walls, and actually few seem to take note of it.

It's one of those things that few people seem to 'get'. I'm grateful for all of you who take the time to read this blog. Thanks for sharing my love for needlework and all things crafty! You've touched my life with your kind words and spirit.

I am again working on Mirabilia's Summer Queen. The funny thing is, I thought I was just about completely done with her in the summer of 2007. I then realized I had a bottom section that was completely neglected! I've worked on her for about two hours in the last few weeks, so I don't have any new progress pictures yet, but I promise you that I will soon. Here she is though when we photographed her way back when. If you've seen these photos before, I apologize. I don't think I've talked about her here for a few years, so perhaps I'm safe in digging this stuff up again.

A full view: (I only have the bottom to finish!)



Some close-ups of her:




Perhaps because the piece was sitting so long, I noticed that a few of the beads are coming out of her head area. Sigh. I need to redo them sometime soon. My stitching shouldn't be that weak, should it?

Thanks for stopping by here today, and thanks for appreciating the needlework I do.

May

I'm so glad it's May. That means June is not far off, and soon it will be summer.

I am almost done with the House and Garden Sampler. Here are the latest progress pictures. (I haven't done any stitching in two weeks, but hope to finish it this weekend.)







I'm going to add a few more flowers, a few more flying birds, and then I will be done!

Thanks for stopping by today.

Happy Easter & Sampler Update

I want to wish everyone who celebrates Easter a happy one! There will be 14 or so of us for brunch here tomorrow, so we've been busy getting ready for that.

Above are some roses from our yard that I've put in vases for tomorrow. I'm so grateful that we have roses now. We planted most of them four years ago, I believe, and they're really doing well now. The red one is called Chrysler Imperial, and I love its brilliance of color. The red and white pedals at the base are from a rose called Scentimental, and the yellow/pink/white variegated one is Cabana. Also in the mix of roses is Tournament of Roses, Oregon Gold, and Perfume Delight.
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I finished the grass area under the lower right hand corner's house. Here it is:

 

I then added an alphabet from a sampler book I purchased on clearance at a general bookstore. After a bit of thought, I decided upon a deep reddish color for the alphabet. I improvised on the flowers near the alphabet, and I like how they turned out, I think.



I placed some people near the center home, along with the same improvised flowers:


Here's a peek at the whole thing now:


I need to finish the border, and add a few more touches here and there. Then it's off to be framed at some point.

Thanks for stopping by today, and Happy Easter to you. Thanks for all your kind comments and encouragement regarding this sampler! Your words mean so much to me.

Shores, Cobblestone, and "Interesting" Photos

 

The pattern above is The Shores of Hawk Run Hollow by Carriage House Samplings. I love the colors, and how the various motifs fit together so well. I've seen this one stitched up in photos, but never in person. Isn't it gorgeous?

I have been working a bit on my sampler this week, and I'll have to post an update soon. I am pulling a tiny bit of the cobblestone details and flowers from this piece I stitched way back when:



I'm placing those elements around the Tudor style house.

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I am a complete nerd, and I check from time to time to see which photos on our Flickr account are 'most popular' with people who view the photos. In case you want to see a few, here are the most popular ones according to how 'interesting' they are to other Flickr members. I guess the 'interesting' factor is based on views, comments, and how many people call it a favorite of theirs on Flickr. Much to my husband's dismay the most popular photos are all photos of needlework. The first non-needlework popular one is the tenth most 'interesting' photo, and it's a photo of one of our cats!

This photo is the #1 most 'interesting' one I've posted on Flickr. It's a photo of an apron my brother and his wife bought for our mom while touring Russia and the Baltic States. Isn't it fascinating how it's all stitched up in chain stitches?



The next most popular photo is this one:



I stitched that shirt back when I was a teenager, and this is a close-up of the shirt's cuff. I sure wish it fit me now! Although I think at this age I would look very weird wearing it....I would look "teenile". I love that word--teenager combined with senile.

Here's the next photo:



It's a freebie that took me years to stitch. I got it from the DMC corporation, and the designer is Stoney Creek. I am sad to admit that I still don't have it framed. I started it in 1987, I believe, and finished it in 2002 or so. It's one of my last 'Aida' pieces that was started before my plunge into evenweave fabrics.

The next most 'interesting' photo we posted is this one:




I stitched this pillowcase set for my sister-in-law. I really had fun with them, and I loved using DMC's variation threads here and there.

Finally, our fifth most popular photo according to the "interestingness" factor on Flickr is this one:



I only have to finish the bottom portion, then I'm done! It's Mirabilia's Summer Queen. I haven't worked on it in over 18 months. Perhaps I should put the Sampler away, and finish this one. What would you do?

Thanks for stopping by today.