The Peacock's Feather

Fevrier

Before February slips away, I better post this photo!  My friend Laurence C. in France made me this lovely redwork pillow and the little fabric container to its left for my birthday last week.  It came as a lovely surprise.  I hadn't expected anything at all from my stitching friends as I haven't been stitching much lately.  She also sent along two skeins of L'atelier floss in the colors India and Epices.  I can't wait to use them.  Perhaps I'll look for a Quaker medallion and use one of the colors!  She also sent along "Quatre Miniatures" by Un Rien de Fil Rouge.  There are four designs (over one stitching) with the floss and fabric included.  Merci Laurence!

Another Surprise

In my last post I mentioned that I didn't expect any stitched gifts this holiday season as I hadn't joined in any exchanges, but once again I have been surprised.  This gorgeous ornament came last week from my friend Jodi (of Bloom Woodworks fame).  She is a very generous and excellent stitcher, and I just love what she made for me.  I'm sure this must be a Shepherds Bush design, but I am not sure if it is from a JCS issue or she found the chart somewhere else.  I love it and have it hanging with the other ornaments that I have displayed on my wall.  I will have to share a photo of my little display, as I have a lovely collection of stitched ornaments.

Many thanks Jodi!  (I owe you an email!). 

I am finishing up (finally) the project that I've been working on for a while now.  It is a birthday gift, which I hope to get in the mail by the end of the week or Monday at the latest.  I am pleased with the design and will be looking at fabrics now for finishing it.  I'll be sharing a photo of that soon as well. 

Christmas is two weeks from today and I have most of my shopping still to do, and have done hardly no stitching for the holiday!  I hope to at least finish the little ornament that I worked on last year but left undone.  Not sure what else I'll be able to accomplish at this point.  I am looking forward to the winter break from work, however!  I'll have nearly two weeks off from work and I need it!  I am hoping to get in lots of stitching and reading!

A Gift and a Finish

Many thanks to Jennifer (sorry--I can't find your email adress).  She sent me this lovely Christmas ornament as a thank you for loaning her a chart.  It is probably the only one I'll be getting this year as I didn't join any ornament exchanges like I usually do.  She also sent along a card and holiday post-it notes, which always come in handy.  It was a very nice surprise and totally unexpected and very much appreciated.  Again--thanks very much, Jennifer!  (And her finishing is absolutely perfect by the way!).

Finally here is a photo of my finished "Thankful Sheep".  I am still trying to figure out how to best take a photo that doesn't have a glare to it, but I am still not satisfied with the results.  I am always so impressed by how nicely other stitchers manage to photograph their work, but I am not sure how they do it.  Maybe they have better cameras that take better up-close shots?  In any case, this will give you an idea of what it looks like.  I have pulled out "Fa La La Sheep", but I have not yet started stitching on him. 

I think I am going to make a New Year's resolution to try and post at least three times a week in the new year.  I have been pretty hit or miss this year and I hate not being able to keep up.  I have also noticed many new stitching blogs--and thanks very much to those who have added me to your blog roll.  If you have done so, and I have not reciprocated, please leave me a comment and I will add you to my blog roll and add you to my bloglines account as well, so I can keep up with your posts.  I have not been keeping up with a lot of things this year!   

It's in the mail!

So here it is!  This is the project that took me weeks and weeks and weeks to stitch and finally finish!  It is now in the mail.  I think I am safe sharing a photo now as I don't think anyone from the Yahoo group I belong to here comes here to my blog.  It is an M Designs needleroll called "Rose Mosaic Needle Roll".  I used Kreinik Silk Mori , Weeks Overdyed Floss and Mill Hill beads and treasures to stitch it.  I have stitched a few needlerolls before, but I am still not overy confident with the finishing.  I decided to follow that instructions for finishing as they seemed rather detailed.  Unfortunately it was a bit of a mistake.  I counted threads carefully, but for a novice finisher like me, they did not allow enough room for the hemstitching.  The bottom of the needleroll is how it turned out following their instructions (I was quite disappointed in this--but as I had already cut away the fabric, there was nothing for it, but to leave it as it was).  The top shows what I thought would be a more reasonable amount of space (I was much more pleased--but now the two ends don't match).  I do like, however, that the stitching goes all the way around the needle roll and meets up on the back.  I guess as long as you don't look too closely and leave the bad end on the bottom, maybe it won't be so noticeable!  Still I was pleased that it turned out okay for the most part, and of course am very happy to have gotten it in the mail.  The next birthday is not until the end of July.  I think I will stitching something other than a needleroll!!  LOL.  I should at least give it a little thought, but I am ready to work on a project of my own for a bit now.  I even pulled out Toccata last night and added a few stitches!  Hopefully my stitching will return to normal now! 

It's Finished

I thought the day would never arrive.  But I am finished with the gift I have been stitching for what feels like forever!  I took a photo last night and will have to upload it (my computer and digital camera are having issues, so I always dread it) this weekend when I have a little spare time.  I had some problems with finishing, but I hope they are not glaringly noticeable!  I need to wrap the gifts still, but everything will go into the mail tomorrow after work!  YAY.  And I have even gotten back to work on a small Prairie Schooler project (it has felt nice to stitch the past two days, even if it was only for about a half hour each time!).  Now I just have to find a suitable box--why are they so hard to find when you need one?  I'll have to see what the post office has to offer as there were no good ones at my work!  Photos to follow soon!

Still Here!

I'm still here!  Sorry I have not been posting lately at all.  I am finally finished stitching the gift I mentioned in my last post a couple of weeks ago, and am finally working on doing the finishing.  I hope it get it in the mail in the next few days.  It will feel good to get it out of the way.  You know how you might enjoy a project, but you get sort of tired of it, and you just want to finish it?  Well, that's exactly how I feel.  I am so ready to work on something different--I can't even tell you!  I need to work on getting back to stitching every day--even if it is only for fifteen minutes at a time.  In the last few weeks the only stitching time I have had is on Saturday nights and for only a couple of hours each time.  I have my blogroll set up to read through Bloglines, and every day I check it and drool over everyone else's work, their finishes, and new stash!!  I'm sorry I have not been commenting on other people's blogs, but I have indeed been reading!!  And thanks for all the nice comments on my last post--I am ready to get my mojo back big time! :) 

My Latest Finish

Finally I have a photo to share with you!  This is what I made for a lady in my stitching group who celebrated a birthday earlier this month.  It was for the birthday exchange I am in. I decided to stitch Just Nan's "Garden Maze" and finished it as a biscornu.   I also took part of the design and made it into a little fob.  I am pleased with how they turned out.  I have to say that biscornus are now just about my favorite accessory to fiish!

Many thanks for all the advice on selling stash!  I am still a little bit undecided.  I think I will start with going through my chart bin, and pulling out the charts that I am very unlikely of stitching.  I think I will just create a page here on my blog and list them that way to start with.  I don't think I will get rid of anything out of print or hard to come by at present.  It would probably be good to try and sell on eBay if I did that, but I am afraid of the hassle!  I don't want to start listing anything until I have decided whether to just sell, or to trade, and what I would want to trade for.  I am trying to get rid of stuff, not get more, so I am not sure about trading.  I also don't want to start this until I know I am ready to be going to the post office and mailing out envelopes!  I will let you know, though, when I have a list of charts I hope to get rid of!

By the way, I think I might have talked myself out of ordering the anniversary design that Martina is going to be offering--the sweete bag.  It is truly tempting, but as long as I stay away from her website, I might be able to keep talking myself out of it.  I have to remind myself....am getting RID of stash, not adding to it!!!

One other side note--as usual I am running behind.  I have loads of emails that I need to go through and answer.  If you emailed me, I will get back to you--very sorry as usual for my tardiness!!  For some reason it is either my email or my blog that suffers, and this month it seems to be both!

Birthday Goodies

I'm afraid I have no progress photos to share.  I have been finishing up on the birthday gift I was stitching.  I decided I would make a little companion piece to what I made (which is all done and ready to go), so I have been working on doing the finishing for the second smaller accessory.  I thought it would be nice to share a photo of all the stitched goodies I received for my birthday.  They are all so lovely, I have then all sitting out on my nightstand so I can see them (and I am actively using the scissor fob).  I need to make a better area to display my stitching.  At the moment I am using part of a shelf, but it is getting full.  I would love to have a glass case of some sort, but for the time being I will just have to settle for my little shelf!   

From Me to You!

Yesterday brought another lovely gift from someone in one of my stitching groups.  Leigh made this for me, and I absolutely love it!!  I have wanted one of these "mattress pinkeeps" (is there actually a proper name for them?), since I first spotted one that Vero made.  I love Prairie Schooler designs, and this is one I have not even seen before.  It is gorgeous!  I have received the most lovely things from this exchange and I only hope I can send things equally as nice to the ladies when their birthdays come around!  As a matter of fact I have been slowly working on one that I hope to mail out next Monday.  I hope to finish the stitching on it today and do the finishing tomorrow.  I also am waiting for some other goodies to come in the mail to send along as well.  By the way, Leigh also sent along a gift certificate to Elegant Stitch. I know already what I am going to order--this Indigo Rose kit!  She was going to order it for me but was afraid I might already have it.  I have been pretty good--not bought hardly any stitching stash at all this year, so I am really looking forward to this!  Many thanks Leigh!!

Another Suprise!

Yesterday another package came in the mail for me (two actually, but I will share the other one later!).  I am in a birthday exchange in a Yahoo group that I belong to.  There are five of us in my group, and on each person's birthday everyone sends a stitched gift and some other goodies.  This package came from my friend, Patti.  Once again I have been very spoiled!  She made me a lovely needlebook using a Quaker design.  She also sent along a frame, WDW floss, pearlescent pins to use on my pinkeeps, and a CHS chart.  I am excited to get this as I have wanted to try one of her punchneedle designs, and I love this angel series Kathy came out with.  Now I must practice my punchneedle!!   As for me and stitching this week...well it is good I have other fun things to share as I haven't made much progress at all.  I am actually working on a gift for one of the ladies in this same birthday group whose birthday is in March!  I need to get stitching as it will soon need to go in the mail.  I will share a photo after the recipient has it!  Hopefully I will get to stitch on one of my own projects again soon!