The Peacock's Feather

A Halloween Cat!

I am hoping to finish my Birds of a Feather "Halloween Holiday" this weekend!  The witch's skirt will be the biggest chunk left.  Otherwise the other motifs are much smaller--mostly falling leaves.  I am really enjoying working on this, and for once I think I will have a holiday project actually ready before the holiday!  I also started a smaller Just Nan design that I plan on finishing as a fob from her "Crowjackers" chart.  And I need to start my Prairie Schooler October ornament, which is a witch on a broomstick--even though I didn't complete September's ornament yet.   I am planning on watching "Turn of the Screw" tonight, Henry James's famous ghost story (I just finished reading the novel yesterday), so this will be my accompanying stitching!

Inside Miss Kitty

Since I am getting close to finishing Just Nan's "Miss Kitty's Dragons", I thought I would share a photo of what it is going to look like after I do the finishing. It is a needlecase, and the four corners will fold in and tie.  I thought it was rather unique looking.  I bought the little finishing kit for it, so I have the fabric and other supplies.  The charms shown came with the chart.  And hopefully the finishing instructions will make that part easy since they come with lots of photographs! 

I am sorry I have not been posting every day.  As I have been buying very little stash lately, and haven't been in any exchanges for some time, I haven't had lots to share.  I like to post updates on my stitching, but unless it actually looks very different than the last photo, I hate to bother (and bore you!).  I have been working on the same few projects for what feels like forever, but as I am so close to finishing, I hate to start anything new!  So please bear with me if I am not posting as often as I would like.  Hopefully things will pick up this fall!

Four Little Ladybugs

I am getting closer to finishing "Miss Kitty's Dragons".  I am nearly finished with the first two corners.  I stitched the flower rows and the little ladybugs.  I think I will work the outside border (nice, easy, mindless sort of work you can do while watching a movie or TV), finish off the last little motifs in the upper right and lower left corners.  That will leave only the last two corners.  See what a little steady stitching (no matter how long it has taken me) can do?  Now if I could only work the same way with my larger Hawk Run Hollows projects!  Of course the motivation for this is knowing it is not terribly large and I can finish it in a reasonable amount of time!

Jingle Bells Christmas Tree Farm

As I stitched on a gift last night I don't have any progress photos to share today.  I did, however, get out one of my UFO bins and dig out Victoria Sampler's "Jingle Bells Christmas Tree Farm".  I remember last Thanksgiving morning sorting out all the floss (as I bought the kit and it all came unlabeled).  I never did get very far on this project as you can see.  I started stitching the tree near the house and then didn't work on it anymore.  I would love to get it stitched by the holidays this year, though.   I am not sure when I will start working on it again, but it is handy for when I am ready.  It is full of specialty stitches.  I think it will be lovely all stitched up, but it is a tad overwhelming to think about now for some reason!  I will likely try and finish "Miss Kitty's Dragons" before undertaking this project.  And it is a sunny, beautiful day out today, and it is hard to think about snow and Christmas trees!

The Witch Emerges

I love watching a design emerge from the linen (so it seems) as I stitch.  This has really been the case with my Birds of a Feather project.  I have started at the top and am working my way down.  The linen is wonderful to work on, and I think the floss looks great against it.  I looked for some fabric today, as I plan on finishing her as a pillow.  I want to use gingham (is that the right term--checked fabric).  The chart looks as though the fabric is black and orange.  I only found a black and white check.  I bought a small cut, but I am not sure it will work as it looks pretty stark agains the linen.  I will have to go to a quilting store for a better choice I think.  I will stitch a bit more on her tonight, but I need to pull out the birthday project that I started (not due till later in November, but I want to get going on it).  I chose a pattern by a designer I really like (as does the recipient), so it will be enjoyable to work on it, even though I don't get to keep it!  I think I even have the right fabric for the finishing on hand!   

Thinking Christmas

I stopped by the bookstore today after work and bought a copy of Just Cross Stitch Christmas Ornaments.   So, in the spirit of thinking about ornaments, I pulled mine out that I keep stored away.  I have more than I thought.  I stitched only one of these--the Just Nan in the WhimZi frame.  The rest were gifts or what I received through exchanges.  Last year I bought a little artificial tree to display them, and I plan on setting them out this year as well.  And the table runner below was also a gift--all lovely works, don't you think?!  I do have two ornaments in my "need to do the finishing" bin--a Carriage House Samplings folk angel and a Birds of a Feather heart.  I guess I should think of getting those finished before the holidays!

I was happy to find the JCS issue, as  I have heard others talk about it, and now I can see for myself.  Always on first glance through, I think there is not much that thrills me, but after I have had more time to really look I always manage to find a few that I really like.  When I first started stitching I always finished the design exactly as shown.  Now I am more interested in the design and changing the finishing if I don't like it.  As a matter of fact there are quite a few in this issue that I like, but I would finish them slightly differently.  I am disappointed that this year there is no Carriage House Samplings.  I see that every year someone else seems to drop out.  I miss Just Nan designs and Birds of a Feather designs, too. 

As for favorites:  (page 10 & 11) I really like the ornaments by Praiseworthy Stitches and Little House Needleworks (though I would finish both differently--and I think I like the ornament that appeared in the most recent JCS  even more than this one),  (pages 12 & 13) I like the Shepherds Bush (I always like their designs, but I have never stitched an ornament!), (pages 14 & 15) I might stitch the Prairie Schooler ornament, and I also like the Little By Little design (cool fabric--two colors side by side), as well as the Country Cottage Needleworks ornament, (pages 18 & 19) I like all of the ornaments, and I especially love the Strawberry Pinkeep by Blackbird Designs (may have to kit that one up!), (pages 20 & 21), while I am a cat person, I like the Brittercup Designs ornament--or any of their older ornaments that have cats, as well as the La-D-Da cardinal, and lastly (pages 28 &29) although this is not normally something I would chose, I rather like the Mosey 'n Me ornament.  The nice thing about not liking too many is not spending much on supplies!  I think after I get my Halloween projects out of the way I will have to think about pulling out my Victoria Sampler "Jingle Bells Christmas Tree Farm" from last year, which I did not get very far on.   I also need to think about what I am going to be stitching for the lone ornament exchange that  am currently signed up for!  More hard decisions. 

A Little Diversion!

There will be no stitching for me tonight.  I have been completely absorbed in this book, The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield, for the last week.  I am on the home stretch--less than 100 pages now.  If you like reading and are in the mood for a good story--wonderful for Autmn (nice and atmospheric!), I highly recommend this one.  It is really a story within a story.  A young woman is asked to come and write a biography of a famous novelist.  Of course there is more than meets the eye....what has she been hiding?  There are many elements of the gothic here--madwoman in the attic, ghosts, strange deaths--can you see why I don't want to put this book down?  I had been stitching on my BOAF witch earlier at work, and I was thinking how much I would enjoy stitching on it tonight, but I am afraid it is going to have to wait another day!

Still Progressing...

I hope I am not being too boring by sharing another progress photo of "Miss Kitty's Dragons".  I have only made a little progress since last time around.  As I am just switching between three or four projects lately, there has not been much to share, as I seem to be working slowly on all of them!  And I haven't bought anything new lately, so no new designs to share either, but my fingers are itching for a few things I have to admit!  As for Miss Kitty--she is coming along nicely.  The outside blue border, which I just started today will be the outermost border, so that is as big as it gets.  There are four dragonfly charms to go on each corner and a cat charm for the middle.  And I am still enjoying working on this.  I tend to get bored easily sometimes with designs and set them aside for something different, but I love pulling this out each day to work on it.  I have done almost all of it at work--before I start work I stitch for about half an hour and on my 15-minute break.  I don't always stitch this project in particular, but I have managed to get a lot done in that time!

Has everyone gotten their JCS Ornament issue?  I didn't find it this past weekend, and I am hoping that my local bookstore will have it later this week.  I can usually find it at Barnes and Noble, and then I can use my discount card on it (and not pay the postage if I order it online).  I have been pretty lucky the last few years in finding it, so I hope to get a copy that way again.  Other than that it is just more of the same with me!  I think I might see if I can add a bit more to that border now!

Out of the UFO Bin

Last night I spent a little time blog surfing.  I'm afraid that I didn't have time to leave comments, which I always like doing, but I did get to take a peek at everyone else's work!  The problem with this is being tempted by new designs or tempted to work on something different.  So I compromised and today I took along to work Au Fil de Reves' Rose Bourse.  I started this ages and ages ago, and it has been in my UFO bin ever since.  I always am very tempted by smaller, elegant designs that I see others stitching.  This way I can also work on something small, but it is not an entirely new project.  It is really a very easy design--just words and a few little motifs.  The pincushion is over one, I think (not my favorite), but I will worry about that later.  Perhaps I can make a little progress on this, or maybe even finish it!  I have wanted to make one of these little bourses since I first saw them.  I am still working on "Miss Kitty's Dragons" by the way, but I am usually switching off with another design.  I have to say that blog surfing also puts me very much in the mood to stitch!!!

Halloween Witch

I started stitching on Birds of a Feather's Halloween Witch.  The colors really pop out against the Cognac linen.  I generally don't stitch on such bright colors, but in this case I really like the orange-y color.  The linen is Belfast linen and it is wonderful to stitch on.  It is nice and stiff and the stitches look all nice and orderly.   I had also started a small Just Nan Halloween design a couple of weeks ago, but I have only put in a very few stitches and haven't gone back to it.  It is finally going to fall like Autumn here.  Yesterday it was close to 90 out, but tomorrow the high is supposed to be only 55!  That is quite a jump.  I wouldn't mind it somewhere in the middle, but this is typical Nebraska weather for you.  At least it will finally feel more seasonal.   Maybe I should browse through my UFOs as I think I might have an autumn design or two in there!  Or maybe I just need to concentrate on witchy here!