The Peacock's Feather

2006 Goals

There are only a few more hours here until the New Year arrives.  In my other blog I was able to look back over 2005 and see what I had accomplished bookwise.  I hate to think back to my goal list that I set earlier in the year for my needlework!  I probably didn't finish a single thing from it!  However, if you take a peek at my Picturetrail Album and look in the 2005 album, you will see quite a few things stitched and finished.  I think the majority of projects were for exchanges or gifts, but there are a few in there that were for me.  I did manage to finish Peace by Birds of a Feather, which was a medium size project, and some smaller scissor cases, which I was quite pleased to make!

As for 2006, I plan on working on larger projects.  I will join in a few exchanges, and of course there will be gifts here and there, but by and large I want to work on samplers for my house.  I know I keep saying this, and eventually I will believe myself--I need to concentrate on what I have in my stash rather than coninuing to add to it.  Well, I at least want to try and be "better" about not doing that!  So without further ado, here is my goal list:

• Historic Stitches: John Foster (nearly finished--I plan on getting it framed and hang it in my living room--the sooner the better!)
• Carriage House Samplings: The Houses of Hawk Run Hollow (this one was on the list last time, too!)
• Carriage House Samplings: Dainty Housewren (nearly finished--this will be made into a pillow)
• Chatelaine Mystery IX: The King's Vegetable Garden (a French Garden--the first part has just been posted to the Yahoo Group--yay)
• Sarah Tatum (she is all ready to go!)
• Drawn Thread: Toccata #1
• SAL: Prairie Schooler: Prairie Year
• SAL: Bent Creek: Walking in a Winter Snapperland

Those are the biggies!  I also want to finish the Victoria Sampler freebie angel - Serena, work on class pieces (finish the Indigo Rose Armchair Pinkeep, My Beekeeper, and the new VS class that I will be taking this month called Peaches and Cream pincushion), and do the finishing on a few little straggling projects.

I have a secondary list:

• Marquoir de Justine
• Just Nan: Silkwood
• Victoria Sampler: Heirloom Homecoming
• Au Fil de Reves (I have three of Sylvie's kits!)
• Little House Needleworks (too many things kitted up to list--something from that stash!)
• Various other "smalls" like pincushions by CHS or Good Huswife that are kitted up, and This Too Shall Pass II pinkeep--I have plenty in this area to choose from!
• Something from my UFO pile (right now I am leaning towards BC - Snappers, and PS - Summer Sampler)

Am I asking too much?  Probably.  But even if I only complete a couple of large projects and some small ones, I will be very happy!  I completed more this year than any other year that I have been stitching, which made me feel like I had really achieved something--even if it wasn't from my original goal list!

On that happy note, I am off to print out part 1 of Martina's new Mystery!  I wish everyone a Very Happy and Prosperous New Year!!!

A Couple New Starts, and a Couple of Finishes

Here is my Littles-Bunny finally finished.  I stitched him last Easter!  I just couldn't seem to get him finished, though.  Last night instead of stitching I decided to work on finishing a few things.  I love this little series of charts.  They are by Bent Creek.  I have also stitched and finished the Littles-Black Kitty.  In my stash I have the Santa and Tim Turkey charts just waiting to be stitched.  Once holidays pass by, I tend to want to move onto other projects, but I might work on these two as they are really quick to stitch up.  My black kitty is finished with beads around the edges and a satin ribbon for a hanger.  I used these little plastic pellets for the stuffing, so there is a bit of weight to them.  I think the bunny is very cute!

Here is my Just Nan special edition kit all stitched up and finally finished as well.  The finishing was really quite easy, and I am not sure why I waited so long to do it.  This is called Christmas is Coming, and the frame, which has a reindeer (sorry, the photo is not as clear as I had hoped), is a limited edition.  It was also quick to stitch up.  I will keep it in its little satin bag until next year now.  I also started on the finishing for my Tulip Angel.  I hope to get that one finished before I go back to work, as well as a Marjorie Massey heart design I stitched earlier this year. 

As for my starts--I finally started the new Bent Creek series Walking in a Winter Snapperland.  There will only be four charts and it came with a border.  I think I should be able to keep up with this one.  I am stitching it on opalescent fabric, which is new to me.  It is very shimmery, which is nice for a snowy scene like this.  Already the second chart is out, so I hope to make some good progress on it.  I need to get back to my regular Snapper series, and not let all the work I have done so far turn into a big UFO!  My other start is the "tryout" design for the new Chatelaine Mystery (IX).  I saw someone had stitched it and finished it as a needleroll, and I decided I need to do the same!  I just chose fabric from my stash--a pale lavender (slightly more pinkish really than purple).  I hope it will look okay.  I will share photos of both new projects as soon as there is something to see!  I need to decide on some sort of a rotation I think.  I hope at least to get the tryout Chatelaine design stitched before I go back to work, as the first installment of the design is being released on Sunday!

One more thing...If you are a Carriage House Samplings fan you have to check out the "news" section of her website!  She is offering the designs that appeared in the Washington Post before Christmas as charts.  The chartpack will contain 27 pages that include 12 designs.  They have not yet been stitched up, so there won't be photographs, only the "images".  Now I need to see who is going to have these to sell, as they won't be available through distributors, and she isn't sending these off as automatics to stores.  The designs are all very cute!!

Some More Progress...

Sorry, this isn't the best photo, but here is my progress on John Foster.  I have nearly completed the house!  I am very happy to be finished with all the bicks.  I hope to fill in the roof tonight.  I had thought it would be very nice to complete my sampler by the end of the year, but I don't think I will at this point.  I am still quite happy with my progress.  I didn't want it to languish away any longer.  I heard from Susan at Historic Stitches and she let me know that the sampler is indeed an English sampler, not American as I had thought.  She said she really didn't have much geneaological information about John Foster, so she wasn't sure if he was Quaker, but the design includes a large Quaker medallion.  One of my favorite motifs is the beeskep at the top!  If you are interested in stitching this sampler, Susan also mentioned that she would be leading a SAL that you can learn more about on Ellen Chester's website!  I am going to sign up for the newsletter tonight!

Another project that I wanted to work on over my break was to organize my stash a bit more.  My initial intent was to combine bins and perhaps squeeze everything into a smaller space.  Well, that didn't happen.  I actually have several more bins of various sizes, but these three have my kitted up projects.  I know, I know....I have wayyy too many things to work on!  The other bins have floss, fabric, charts, my Chatelaine projects, finished projects, and little stitched gifts (I like to rotate what I display as I now have too many to show at once!).  I am hoping that going through all this stuff will put a damper on any desire to order much more new stash!  Even though I ended up with the same amount of bins, I was able to get designers together and make everything all neat.  I also will be going through my list of projects, and I shifted things around in anticipation of the New Year. But I will save all that for another post!

Marquoir de Justine

I am in the process of kitting up the Marquoir de Justine chart, which I received as a gift for Christmas.  I think it is a lovely sampler.  I have always thought it would be cool to have a sampler stitched up from each country.  I am working on the John Foster sampler, which is American (at least I am assuming it is American--I know it is a Quaker sampler, which means I suppose, that it might also be English?).  I also have in my stash reproduction samplers from Mexico, Spain, and England.  I probably have a Dutch chart in there as well.  You can see this sampler all stitched up in Lynn's (from Utah) online album.  She did a wonderful job on hers.  She entered hers into the State Fair and won Best of Show this past summer!  I am trying to figure out what linen to use.  She stitched hers on 40 count Lakeside Linen in Vintage Nutmeg.  I think she must have lucked out with her dye lot, as others have ordered the same linen, but theirs turned out to be darker or a bit more reddish.  As I have no local cross stitch shop here, I may have give Elegant Stitch a call.  Lois is really great about pulling the linen and checking to see what the floss looks like against it.  Lynn used NPI silks.  The chart actually calls for GAST overdyed colors.  You can also take a peek at Siobhan's (in Ireland) online album (look in the 2005 Finishes album).  I believe that she also used the Lakeside linen and NPI silks, but her linen was a slightly different shade, so she subsituted some colors.  Isn't this sampler lovely stitched up?  Both Lynn and Siobhan did such wonderful work!!

I have to share a couple of photos with you--I hope I won't get in any trouble.  They are from Attic Needlework in Mesa, AZ.  I get their newsletter, and they shared these photos recently.  These samplers were stitched  (many of them this past year!!), by one of their customers.  Wow!  I would love to complete so many gorgeous (and large) projects!

It is nice to see other's work, and get some inspiration!  As I have mentioned so many times already, I am hoping to get more large projects stitched in the upcoming year.  On that happy note, I better go put in a few more stitches on my John Foster sampler.  He is coming along!  I have only a few more rows left on the house!  Happy stitching everyone!

Lovely Scissors!

I asked for one pair of scissors for Christmas, and I ended up with three new pairs!  I am becoming rather addicted to embroidery scissors.  I am starting to have a small collection.  The two outer pairs are older limited edition Gingher scissors.  The pair on the left are "Olivia" and the pair on the right are "Cheetah" scissors.  The pair in the middle came as a complete surprise.  My mom found them in a catalog called Uno Alla Volta.  They are French Art Deco scissors, and I just love them!  The description says:

Trapezoidal Art Deco Embroidery Scissors

Century-Old Historical Forgings

Forged in the late 1800s and early 1900s, these scissors can never be made again. Created from matrices no longer in existence, these carbon steel forgings were discovered in unfinished ("brute de forge") condition a decade ago by the widow of one of Nogent's finest scissor makers - an artisan who worked the craft of his father and grandfather for 76 years. Finished as a posthumous tribute to this master, each pair has been polished and sharpened to perfection in the "monte au moiré" tradition. Completed one at a time, the blades are plated with chrome, the handles with pure gold. Each pair bears the "69 Crown Medaille D'Or," a mark in continuous existence since 1693, denoting the highest quality in scissor craftsmanship. Protected by a hand-sewn cordovan leather case. Approximately 200 exist of each.

Now I need to find some nice fobs for my new scissors.  I especially want something nice for the Art Deco pair as they are not inexpensive scissors.  I think they will not be travelling with me when I take my projects to work!  Now I need somewhere nice to display my scissors!

I also have to share this porcelain cup and saucer and spoon that a good friend sent to me.  It it absolutely exquisite.  I will have to rearrange my china cabinet to make a place for this!  The design has dragonflies.  It is from the Franz Collection.  It is so dainty and delicate.  It is really gorgeous!  My photo really doesn't do it justice!  Again, I have been very spoiled!

Merry Christmas!

A Very Merry Christmas to You All!!

My Little Christmas Tree

Here is my little stitching tree.  It has all the ornaments that I received through exchanges or as gifts.  I only bought it a couple of weeks ago, so there wasn't much selection.  I was hoping to find a sort of feather tree, but maybe I will find something better for next year.  At least I can display my lovely ornaments!  I have two of my own that I completed the stitching on, but I have not done the finishing.  Again, there is always next year!  The ornaments have all gotten compliments!  It is nice to display such lovely work!

Finally Some Progress...

Here she is finally finished.  I put in the last stitches a couple of days ago.  It is a bit hard to tell, but there are two shades of green.  They are very close colors, but you can differentiate in person.  I need to find an afternoon to do some finishing as I have a few other things that need some attention as well.  Patti and I did a mini SAL for this Goode Huswife design.  Perhaps when she is back in town after the holidays she will want to do another mini SAL for another small design of GH or CHS?!  I have several "smalls" all kitted up and waiting to go!

I also pulled out my John Foster sampler by Historic Stitches.  I started this way back in February or March.  Do you think I can possibly finish it before the end of the year?  It would be nice to have a slightly large project all finished and under my belt before I dive into some other large projects!  The house has been slowing me down as the "bricks" do not always follow a consistent pattern, so you really need to watch the chart closely.  I think once I get that done, the rest will go (hopefully) fairly quickly.  I just fell in love with this sampler when it came out, and I plan on getting it framed as soon as I am done with it.  I have several other finishes awaiting framing as well, but this one will be framed first!

I pulled out my supplies for Martina's next Mystery (IX).  It is going to be  French garden.  I hope it will be as pretty as it sounds.  I zigzagged the edges of my material.  It is all ready for those first stitches.  Since I had out the sewing machine I also zigzagged the edges of my material for the Marjorie Massey kit Le Printemps that I showed here recently (also I washed that one as the linen was so stiff that I thought it might be hard to work with), the linen for the first Victoria Sampler Hardanger kit, and the material for Prairie Schooler's January (from the Prairie Year chart that I am in a SAL for).   All in all I feel pretty productive today.  I plan on taking the hardanger kit and the PS January design with me this weekend when I go to my sister's and mom's houses.  I am not sure what (if anything) I will get done, but I have to have something with me just in case! It has been really nice working on projects at a nice, relaxing pace!

Gorgeous Surprises!!!

I wasn't expecting anything else to come for me in the mail, and look what arrived today!!  This came as a complete surprise.  My friend, Laurence in France, has sent me such wonderful goodies!  We have traded ATCs in the past (artist trading cards--she has sent along three new ones to me!), and she also happens to be a stitcher as well.  I just love everything she sent!  The sweet bag is so beautiful!! Santa looks like he could be from a Prairie Schooler chart, but I am not familiar with this design.  The bag is lined with crushed red velvet material.  The back is stitched (over one) with "brode par Laurence R".  I just love sweet bags, so how perfect!  She also sent along the ATCs in the little red, felt carrying case, a lovely hankie, and two skeins of L'atelier du pic vert floss in the colors Hortensia and Terre de feu.  What a nice surprise so close to Christmas!!  Needless to say I won't be able to send anything back in time for Christmas, but with Valentine's Day now around the corner....I will put on my thinking cap!  Merci, merci, merci Laurence!!!

Organize, Organize, Organize!!

Since I am on vacation one of the things I have been trying to do is organize my stash.  It has gotten all messy once again, since I dig through bins looking for things or stashing supplies wherever I can fit them.  I had been using a nice file box for my loose charts, but it was getting too small (very bad, I am, I know!), and way too disorganized for me to find things.  So earlier this week I bought this nice plastic bin and have put all my charts together.  I am contemplating alphabetizing them by designer name, but I think I would rather spend that time stitching!  If you notice the plastic bin has extra room, so I better be good and not use that excuse (of having extra room) for buying yet more charts!!  Now I want to pull out my other bins and try to combine things as I feel like I have too many bins full of stuff!!  As much as I dislike cleaning in general, It is kind of fun to organize stash--it is amazing all the things you discover.  Perhaps I need to do this more often, and I won't want anything new again--LOL!