Sparkle

Happy Sunday, all! I wanted to show you this cheerful fish. I spent last weekend on Cape Cod and found this guy advertising a dentist's services. I'd go to this dentist based on the fish alone. I think whimsy should be rewarded!

I think winter brings out the wish for bright and sparkly in me, so I put aside most of my historic stuff and got out the glitz. You may remember this rose; it's Rose Marie from Blackberry Lane Designs. I stitched it once already, using the called for DMC and a few glittery threads as embellishments. It may be hard to tell from my photo, but I'm using glittery threads for all of it this time.

And I picked up another project that combines bright, cheery colors, blending filament (not charted--I just added the filament to Santa's hat) and eventually, loads of sparkly beads. It's a nice easy-going stitch--two threads of DMC over two threads on 32 count white linen

I also wanted to work on this Valentiney project and had the perfect cut of Lakeside in Porcelain. I'm using an overdyed silk that's missing its band but is the perfect color of deep pink. It's a JBW design from last year.

I decided that I wanted a more truly Valentine stitch--nothing too large. Are you familiar with Faby Reilly? Very pretty designs.

I got a Christmas design as well. And irises for spring. All of that should keep me out of trouble for a while!

I didn't ignore all of my other projects; I worked quite a bit on Janet Gibson's Scottish Swan. I wanted to start the swan this week, but I'm missing one of the colors and it's not in my stash. Drives me nuts, because I know I fully kitted up this design, but alas, I cannibalized this project more than once, as I recall, before I got really going on it.

Speaking of trouble, here's Kitten-Kitten, exploring one of my project bags:

And Pink, who thinks that because I've been traveling so much, there should be a gift for him. Poor bunny!

Happy week ahead!

Flair

Hi, everyone! It's a chilly drippy weekend here, and I've been happy to be indoors, stitching with all the lamps turned on. In this gloomy part of the winter it's also nice to see some flair. I've been working on this sampler (note the flair) this weekend--I haven't worked on it for a couple of years. It's been waiting patiently in its project bag. Do you recognize it? Clearly Scottish.

How about this? It's Janet Gibson's Scottish Swan sampler, by Whimsey and Wit.

Not sure if it's still in print, but possibly.

I did a lot of stitching this week, since we don't have any litigation going to trial in the next few weeks at work, which means I get to take lunch and leave on time, leaving a lot more time for stitching. Mary Ann Hoover. Mary Ann's colors are a tad gloomy, so I switched out to something brighter, which is what brought me back to Janet Gibson.

Look what arrived in the mail all the way from Canada! (The Essamplaire). Lady Needlework! Tom decided I needed to stitch her. No small understaking, our lady!

Here's a closeup (from the large 2-page stitching photo) of her face and the serpent twining around her wrist. While it's an unknown symbol of something, I can guess that it's the needlework serpent, which has us under its spell. Needlework serpent also makes a pretty nifty thread snip. Speaking of thread, there are approximately 55 colors of AVAS included in the kit.

The daunting part: probably 50% of this picture is done in queen stitches. Queen stitches make up the ground, most of the flowers, the bugs and the trees. The sky is stitched in a diamond satin pattern. The lady, the castle, the uncorn and the lion, as well as some other small elements, are stitched in tent or continental stitch, over one. In fact, all of the squares on the chart represent one thread, not two. I'm thinking of converting the pattern over-two using counted cross for all but a few of the flowers. It will spoil some of the nice texture, but it might save my sanity. It will also double the size of the finished picture (currently 15.5 x 13.75"). I've been griping about the size of my finished designs, since I have so many bare walls, and stitching on 40 count means that even the largest, most elaborate project turns out too small to be anything but part of a group for impact.

Stitching flair: mica! The mica is cut and shaped to fit the windows of the castle in the background, then they are stitched into place. Fun but nerve-wracking, since the mica flakes and crumbles easily.

Peaches says my sampler conversations are a bore.

May your week ahead contain lots of flair!

Mary Ann, Mary Ann, Liz and Isabella

Happy Sunday, all! I've spent quite a bit of time with my needle this week. Here's a little progress on Mary Ann Hoover (The Essamplaire):

Mary Ann MacDonald (the Scarlet Letter, which I'm stitching for Nicola's Scarlet Letter Year):

Elizabeth Easdon (The Essamplaire):

Isabella Fox 1827 (GigiR). I'm stitching Isabella using the charted Gentle Arts threads on 40 count vintage buttercream by Lakeside Linens. It's so nice to have time to stitch now that the holidays are over!

From time to time, I'm asked how the various pets in our house get along. Kitten-Kitten and the bunnies enjoy a supervised playtime here. Pink approaches Kitten-Kitten.

Who reaches out a gentle paw to tap Pink. Kitten-Kitten: "Pink, you're it!"

"Got to run!"

Happy week ahead!

Christmas Start(s)

Hi, all! I promised some photos of gifts received, some new charts and a Christmas start. I received this wonderful rabbit pillow (and accompanying bunny card) from Melissa. It's beautifullly stitched and finished, and I just love it, Melissa! Thank you so much--you know that bunnies are dear to my heart!

Here is my Christmas start, a design called "Maria's Sampler 1831" from GigiR's Collection Privee line. I purchased it with several other GigiR designs, and as I studied the photo (which is of the original sampler and is dark and smallish), I realized what a stunning design it is. Under the 7 lovely alphabets (cross stitch, algerian eyelet, four-sided stitch) are figures and symbols from 1831 Portuguese society. They are surrounded by birds, animals and various flowers. The cover photo just hints at the richness of this sampler, and I believe that with all these varied figures, I should never be bored with it. There are many different colors and they aren't dark at all!

Here's my start. I received a couple of generous gift certificates for In Stitches, so I decided to do a conversion from the design, which is charted for Gentle Art Sampler Threads to Belle Soie and Silk n Colors silks. The design size is quite large, 494W x 562H, or 24.75 x 28.25 inches (before framing allowances). I am stitching it on Picture This Plus 40 count in Sand.

Here is my other Christmas "start," which actually consisted of pulling the threads from the kit and stringing them through the thread holder. I didn't get a chance to put needle to fabric. This is Mary Ann Hoover, brand new from The Essamplaire. I am also stitching her on 40 count Lakeside. I have a second gift winging its way to me from The Essamplaire. I will show her to you when she arrives next week. See if you can guess which one, Essamplaire stitchers. Tom asked me a few weeks before Christmas what sampler I'd like to have that would be challenging and enjoyable and colorful but that I wouldn't buy for myself. I replied, telling him about the how the original sampler that was reproduced had mica in the windows of the castle--it's that elaborate.

Before the Essamplaire orders and the 3 GigiR designs I bought on Stitch Night, I had been amassing a bunch of these designs by Ewe and Eye and Friends. Ellen, the owner of In Stitches, has a whole bunch of them stitched and hanging in her home and I decided that I must stitch as many as I can. They're ideal because they're rather small. Think I'll get any of them done this year? Maybe not, although I'll try for at least one.

And a couple of things I finished: two Prairie Schooler ornaments, which I stitched for the In Stitches staff Christmas Party gift exchange. They are stitched over one on black Cashel using DMC. I purchased the two little frames at Michaels. They were inexpensive and surprisingly well-made and substantial--I couldn't have been more pleased. The problem with stitching tiny ornaments is that little pillows are too light and are likely to get lost on the tree.

Pink says Merry Christmas. This photo is several years old--the bunnies spent Christmas week at the bunny spa; I picked them up yesterday and brought them home.

Happy week ahead. Next up, a New Year's start. (Yes, there's more...)

Merry Fishmas!

Merry Christmas a day late! We headed north on Sunday to visit my dad for Christmas, and today we drove back--14 hours--the longest drive ever for a trip from Cape Cod to Virginia (normally it's ten). We hit the beginning of the winter storm in New England and the tail end of one in Virginia, and traffic was just horrible. But we're home and happy and while I still have two days of work this week, I'm looking forward to sitting in my stitching chair this weekend. I received a couple of beautiful Essamplaire kits for Christmas, I bought a half-dozen Ewe and Eye and Friends charts I've been wanting to stitch for years, I won several great ebay charts, and I bought three GigiR designs that I'm excited about; 2013 is going to be a great stitching year! I will show you photos of some projects, a pair of ornaments I made for a gift and a lovely stitched gift that I received. Stay tuned for those on Sunday. In the meantime, here's a cute pair of Christmas ornaments I bought on the Cape--tiny real puffer fish that were shellacked and embellished with googly eyes and little Santa hats; each is no bigger than my thumb. They were a gift for my sister. I'd have bought 20 if I could have found them, but the store had only these two left. I know you're thinking there's no accounting for taste....

Hopping on the Bandwagon--And Falling off the Wagon Again

I hope everyone's Thanksgiving was satisfying! I spent a bit more than a week running around, so there wasn't a lot of time to stitch, which some days got on my last nerve. I got a lot accomplished though, with my butt not parked on the sofa. But I see some butt-parking in my future, with Nicola's Scarlet Letter challenge, which I've emailed to sign up for. The challenge for me will be figuring out exactly which SLs to stitch in 2013. Here are some of my SL WIPs. Ann Smith. I love the colors and the Magnolia fabric I used, but goodness, there's so much over-one.

Ruthy Rogers. Hardly any cross-stitching here, and doing all the fill in pieces, using stem stitch is very challenging. Yes, it will be pretty in the end, but I just don't know if I have the patience.

Elizabeth Sheffield. How I love the Rhode Island samplers, but I got stuck on the idea that my fabric seemed awfully dark, never mind that it is probably the perfect shade, especially considering the cover photo. I need to just get on with it and stop obsessing.

Product of My Needle. I love it, but I started it back in the day (10 years ago?) on 32 count fabric and the fabric showed through the silk crosses. So I restarted it on 40 count but got distracted by other things, other samplers.

Catharine Metcalf. Love this, but got sick of stitching yellow border flowers and the tree.

Dorothy Walpole. I will plan to finish this in 2013, and probably Mary Ann MacDonald too (not shown). And that doesn't even count the SLs lined up in the wings, although predictably, the one sampler I really truly want to stitch is no longer available: the stamped "Richmond Fire." (If anyone has it, I'd be happy to purchase it from you for a nice premium!) Richmond Fire is long out of print, which Marsha at SL confirmed, and that is why we stash even when we don't have immediate plans to stitch something.

Here's a pizza in case you're hungry. I bought it on the Cape and this photo is to show my sister (Papa Gino's). It was delicious. Why oh why can't they make decent pizza in Northern Virginia?

Almost finished! I have to finish before the SL challenge, and also before the deadline for framing so I can enter it in Woodlawn. Entering it in the Woodlawn show (where there are something like 600+ needleworks is not about winning, but more of a show and tell to me.

The fish store on the Cape that I visited was selling lobster heads when I stopped by (they make excellent broth for lobster newburg or lobster bisque. Sigh--there was no time to make soup on this visit.) Something about the way they were displayed made me think of commuters riding the Metro.

This is the part where I fell off the wagon. I was at In Stitches and someone had brought this completed sampler in to have it framed. It's by Stacy Nash Primitives. The stitcher had used pale linen--a little different than mine--I'm using Picture This Plus in Fog, on 40 count. I am also converting the DMC to NPI silks. It's a little different for me--I don't generally stitch prims, but I'm loving it. It's beautifully charted.

Here's our little guy, whose name so far is "Kitten-Kitten." We can't seem to think of an adult name for him. He's a darling--very active though and into everything, which means I have to zip up the project bags very tightly and put them out of reach.
Fell off the wagon here too (I had said I wouldn't start a bunch of stuff...). I've wanted this for quite a while: Green Apple's "Beatrix Potter Christmas"; it was an ebay win. I saw it stitched up at the Woodlawn show two years ago and haven't forgotten it. The stitcher chose three of the designs and stitched them one below the other and had them framed. Hers was tiny (over one I think), but mine will be larger--stitched on a cream colored plain linen, two over two (DMC).

What appeals to me about Beatrix Potter is that she got the eyes of little animals just right. Peaches wishes you all a pleasant week ahead.