No rest for the wicked as they say. I actually started this just before I finished PS's "February".
And now that I am officially finished I can concentrate on Birds of a Feather's "Valentine Holiday". I stitched this once before but I gave it away. This time I am stitching it for myself. If I work as industriously as I did this past weekend, I might even be able to finish it by Valentine's Day!
Today I splurged and bought a lovely new Sony 18.2 MP digital camera. It's quite an improvement over my very old HP 5.1 (!) MP camera that I've been using. It's on it's on its last legs and I am surprised it made it even this long. So, what do you think about the image quality of this new camera? Quite snazzy really. I'm pleased with it so far but will need to mess about with the camera settings to see what works best. These older finishes sit on my nightstand as they are some of my favorite little accessories!
I have been stitching away and promise an update soon--as soon as I can take some photos that I am happy with. Also I am going on vacation in just two days time--to San Francisco. I can't wait. It's been a very long time since I went on a proper go somewhere vacation, so I am greatly looking forward to it. I've never been to SF, and needless to say my new camera is going with me (that was really the impetus to buy one finally).
Also I have received several emails about charts that I have stitched--I do plan on answering those emails, so please bear with me. I have been so busy at work that I when I come home at night I am often nearly exhausted and computer time of late has been at a minimun. If I can, I plan on answering those emails before I am off on Tuesday.
By the way, the weather has finally started cooperating. Today it almost felt autumn-like, which pleased me to no end as I much prefer cooler weather to warmer. It puts me very much in a stitching mood. I have been spending about 15-20 minutes before I start working in the morning working on a couple of projects and can't wait to share them with you!
My first finish of 2012! A little sad that it has taken me all the way until April to complete something, but I'm pleased with how my "Rose of Hope" scissor case by Indigo Rose turned out.
I finished the stitching a while ago, but I've not had much time this year to do much stitching and I am a slow 'finisher', so I knew better than to start this when I wouldn't have an afternoon (or in this case--afternoon and part of an evening) to finish it.
The finishing was a little more challenging than I anticipated. It seemed fairly straightforward, but the case has a wool lining that made it a bit bulky to work with. Also, the instructions weren't explicit about the seam allowance and what to do with it. I had to go back and rip things apart when I saw how it was all going to lay out.
I do like finishing with backstitches and then whipstitching the sides together, but there were a lot of layers to work with. It was very slow going.
But here it is. It always amazes me a little how clunky it can appear during the finishing process, but once you tuck away all the unseemly edges and bits that were starting to fray, it ends up looking quite nice.
I decided to stitch my initials the the year over one on the back, but otherwise it is pretty plain.
I love making Spider Web stitches!
Aside from the corners, which are always a little tricky, the stitching looks fairly even. So it was all worth the effort and moments of frustration. I've completed several from this series of smalls that Elegant Stitch sold several years back. I will have to share my finishes thus far sometime soon.
Although I want to keep working on these projects (though small doesn't always mean fast!), I am looking forward to getting back to one of my larger projects now. Hopefully I can start making time for my needlework again. A finis always gives me a little burst of energy!
Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone! This is a little March pinkeep I stitched years ago from one of the Prairie Schooler "Prairie Year" charts. I still need to finish stitching most of the rest of the months. Life has been hectic lately, so I've not even gotten in any stitching time on the weekend, but I do hope that changes soon!
The last few stitches went pretty quickly on this design (Drawn Thread's "A Giving Heart"). And the finishing went pretty smoothly as well. The nice thing about little projects like these is the instant gratification you get from them! Now back to my larger projects.
This is one of the larger projects I want to get back to, Drawn Thread's "Toccata 2". I started it at the beginning of last year and made a little progress, but working with gold thread isn't my favorite thing and it was making me anxious, so it was set aside. I pulled it out this morning and finished the rest of the motif. I think I need to add soie perlee to my list of unfavorite materials to work with! I guess it turned out okay as long as you don't look too closely. I get to perfect my style as the next motif is more of the same--couching using the same materials. Only laying the gold thread horizontally rather than vertically. If I can get past that I think there'll be some easier stitches to follow. Challenge is good, though, right?
Alas, I have a regular project to work on as well--all cross stitch and not terribly large to keep things varied. I'll share my progress later in the week!
Over the weekend I was rummaging around in my UFO bin (it would be more precise to say bins I'm sorry to say...) and found this little design by A Drawn Thread (do you remember when Elegant Stitch was selling a series of these little accessories to help raise money for breast cancer research? I think I might have all of them scattered about but mostly unstitched). It's called "A Giving Heart" and I had the heart and hands all stitched so decided it was time to finish it. I just have a bit left to complete, which I hope to get to this afternoon (am lucky to have the holiday off from work). I really need to sort through my bins and get all my UFOs together and start finishing them! So, perhaps this will be the first of many. Hopefully I'll be able to share a 'finished' photo soon.
I buy very little in the way of new needlework designs these days. Aside from the fact that I'm not stitching quite as much as I'd like, I also have so much needlework stash that it's more than I could ever finish even if I devoted all my free time to it for the next decade! Unlike with books I am pretty good at knowing when to say when! One of my favorite needlework shops offers a birthday discount, which I took advantage of in February, however (it's hard to say no totally). A couple of the designs hadn't been released yet, so this week I finally had a nice surprise in the mail!
The two designs on the left are by Chessie & Me. The chart on the top is "Miss Chessie's Tuffet" and the bottom chart is "Busy Bee Tuffet". A tuffet (also called a biscornu in French) is a pin cushion with eight corners (four pointing up and four down). They are my favorite accessory to finish. I've made lots of them, but I've only ever kept one for myself. Both these charts have tuffets and fobs. I ordered the fabric to go along with the charts, but the photo of the bottom one looks distinctly blue, but the chart calls for a color called putty. Hmm.
The designs on the right are by one of my favorite designers, Just Nan. If anyone knows how to market her designs, Just Nan does! They're so clever, and very tempting, and also pretty expensive. She's designing a series of four of these little tins with stitched lids and fobs to hang on your scissors. "Hop" is the first one. It's too bad this didn't come out before Easter, as I'm not sure I'm in the mood to stitch rabbits! It's a small project at least.
What am I working on? I've finished what's going to be a pincushion. This is a freebie design that Carriage House Samplings offered several years ago. This is another very favorite designer. Her designs are very American folkish. I'm a very lazy finisher and I should have sewed this ages ago. I thought I might finish it as a mattress pincushion. I've never tried this, and it doesn't look particularly hard, but it does look time consuming. I tend to be a lazy finisher, so I might just sew a nice piece of fabric to the back and call it finished.
I did start this one well before Easter, but it's been languishing. It is by designer Drawn Thread (I have lots of her stuff, too). This is a another series of designs, one for each season, that are finished as little cushions. This is the "Spring Spot" and really I should be pulling out the "Summer Spot" soon, since it's getting so warm. Like books I always have more than one project on the go. Unlike reading I don't feel too guilty to set a project aside (I hate to admit how long some have sat waiting for me), but it's nice completing something. Especially something small, which really shouldn't take all that long to stitch anyway.
And my most recent new project? Little House Needleworks also makes very folksy American types of designs. I have lots of her charts, but I've yet to actually finish any of them (unlike the other designers that I've mentioned). This is called "ABC123". It's not very large, just a tad over 4" x 4". I think I will try and finish this as a mattress pincushion. I like small projects as they usually give me the satisfaction of working on something and finishing it relatively quickly. I've been in the mood for a larger project as well, though I can't seem to settle on one thing. I used to stitch in the mornings before work, but lately I've been spending the time reading. This means stitching just on the weekends usually when I am watching a movie. And I've really not even done much of that lately either. I wonder how other people do it...reading, working, and maybe some other small hobby. Do you do something more than read? Hopefully I can work on one of these this weekend (and finish a book--I'm still being optimistic!).
**I actually posted this on my book blog, which I hope will explain my explanations in my post. Normally I wouldn't be so specific over here! I've been terribly neglectful lately of my stitching blog. I'm not quite sure what to do with it. I want to post more regularly, but I've disovered how hard it can be to just post in one place let alone two! I would love to update this blog a few times a week, but I haven't been stitching a whole lot, which means I don't have much to share! I do thank you for anyone who still comes around and checks in here! I'll do my best to try and update more often. And I absoutely say thank you to everyone who is still kind enough to stop by and leave comments. Oh, to have a few more hours in the day!
Here is a (slightly crooked--sorry) update of my Beardie Designs "Elegant Accessories" needlcase. I have most of the back stitched (still need to add the rest of the smyrnas in the border), and am now working on the front. I am really enjoying stitching this. I tend to always want to pick this one up, but this weekend I need to concentrate on my exchange project. I have decided that it is probably best to keep working on what I already started in terms of the biscornu exchange. I still have a few rows to stitch, so I think it will turn out larger than I think. It is silly to pull out more supplies and start all over again!
I found out that there is a small needlework store here in town. There used to be a store not far from my home (not very large, but they had overdyed floss and some different charts, etc). Unfortunately she closed (I found out one day as I went to shop there and the place was empty). I have since discovered that she moved into a store a few storefronts down from her--a mystery bookstore. Both ladies are friends and stitchers. Yesterday I called the bookstore to see if what I had heard was true. As it turns out the lady who owned the needlework store has (very sadly) passed away. But the bookstore owner is still selling her stock. I am not entirely sure what this means. I want to stop by there today, but I am not sure I can fit it in with my other errands. I would just be happy to find a place I can get small things to put in with gifts. It gets expensive when I have to keep ordering even small items as it costs to pay postage. Plus it is nice to look myself and choose colors or charts. Fingers crossed there will be a nice (even if small) selection!
I recently ordered these two charts, and I really want to kit at least one of them up, but I am not sure which one to start with. I love these little stitched books. It always amazes me how creatively stitchers/designers come up with these cool ways to finish designs. On the left is "Petit Carnet d'Ouvrages, Livre I" by Ellen Chester (and per the chart this is the first in a series of these designs!), and the chart on the right is "Emblems of Innocence" by Cherished Stitches. At the moment I am leaning towards the Ellen Chester design first. It seems I saw the finished work of another stitcher on one of the bulletin boards I frequent. I wonder how difficult the finishing is on these designs? Actually I really need to stitch and finish one of those cool "bourse" designs by French designer Au Fil de Reves! I have two of them, but they are just sitting there waiting for me to pull them out! I am good when doing the finishing for a gift or exchange, but I move at a snail's pace when I am working on the finishing for my own projects! I guess finishing is not really my strong suit! I am also in the mood to work on something by Carriage House Samplings...meaning pulling out a new chart and kitting it up. Instead I need to pull out HoHRH!!! However, before any of these...I better get to work on my exchange project!
Here is a quick, easy finish. I stitched up the latest Essy's Friends design by Sampler Cover called Halle's Heart yesterday. Tonight I did the finishing. It is nice to have some quick little designs--instant gratification. I will have to slip the other Essy's Friends designs in here and there and get them all done as I mentioned before. Now it is back to John Foster. I am looking forward to finishing him up finally!
