Misbehaving

I should be working on Snowfire Christmas, and Woodland Sampler, and Advent Animals (I'm 5 behind!). But what am I doing? Stitching Halloween. Sometimes I just lose all my self-discipline and start a new project even though I've already got several going that need my attention. Around this time every summer I start really wanting to stitch Halloween stuff, so when the urge hit me a couple of days ago, I gave in. This is Simply Boo by Elizabeth's Designs, from the 2015 Just Cross Stitch Special Halloween Issue. I wanted more vivid colors, so I changed them all: Caron Wildflowers Black Forest and Fiesta, GAST Burlap and Fragrant Cloves, and DMC 310. It's stitched on 32 ct. Natural Belfast linen.

I really should get back to my other projects... but I'll probably stitch some more Halloween. I'm still feeling kinda undisciplined. 

Black Hearted Queen

Here's a fairytale-y finish... a black-hearted queen! It's a freebie from a Hungarian blog. This is not usually the sort of thing I stitch, but this little design appealed to me and I love how she turned out. She's stitched on 30 ct. R&R Irish Cream linen with DMC blanc, 310, 321, 712, and 3828. I used DMC for a couple of the colors that called for WDW, and I added the 321 for the mouth, as I wanted a tiny drop of color to catch the eye. 

The more I look at this, the more I like it. I'm not sure why. Maybe it's just that it's an interesting change from "princess" mania. Or maybe I'm just warped. Yeah. That could be it. 

Happy Stitching!

July Update: Snowfire Christmas

A couple more bands done on Snowfire Christmas. The second band was supposed to be pulled work, but as I've mentioned before I'm not a fan, so I changed that one a bit. Two more skinny bands to go before the section where I've decided to stitch our names and wedding date. I think I've settled on an alphabet, but I need to chart the bands. I'm pretty sure I'll be stitching it over one. Then one more band of snowflakes, and I'll be done. I was hoping to have this done by the end of the summer... we'll see.

In Which I Confess Another Addiction

Have y'all ever done one of these quickpoint pillows? 

That's one I did a couple of years ago. If you haven't ever worked one of these, let me do a commercial for them.

*They're fun. Really fun. For the following reasons:
*They work up quickly.
*No need for perfect lighting to see what you're doing.
*No counting.
*No frustrating knots.
*Easy on the eyes and hands. You're using a giant needle, with yarn, on a big canvas. It's the needlework equivalent of finger painting. And who doesn't need a little more finger painting in their lives?
*MUCH less expensive than needlepoint canvasses. 

These kits are made by several different companies, but the only ones I have experience with are the kits from Vervaco (Belgium). They're very good quality, the designs are gorgeous, and they don't skimp on yarn. Here's the one I'm working on now; an owl for Mr. Wonderful:

And here's my pillow kit hoard. Foxes for me and owls for Mr. Wonderful:

When I finish the pillow I'm working on now and take it off the frame, I'll show you the frame and the tacking tools I use.

Another thing about these kits, for all the reasons I mentioned above, I think they might work well for older stitchers who have vision or hand problems and can no longer see to cross stitch or hold a tiny needle. It's just giant cross stitch with yarn, and as you can see, there are a lot of really beautiful choices. 

If you go searching for these, some retailers call them quickpoint and some call them needlepoint. The retailers I am sure carry them, and that I have done business with, are 123 Stitch, Herrschner's, The Stitchery, and Sew and So in the UK (which calls them chunky cross stitch cushion kits). I believe Sew and So is the only one that carries kits by other manufacturers. I purchased the suede cloth pillow backs from The Stitchery; nice quality and lots of colors.

Happy Stitching!

Woodland Sampler: June Block

For June, a sweet little lightning bug.

(I don't know why I can't get a decent picture of this sampler... they're all awful! Sorry!)

Fox Tree Project: Ornament #3

Here's a little $2 kit I turned into an ornament for my fox Christmas tree. I didn't use any of the materials from the kit besides the chart itself--which I changed just a bit--and I added the tiny holly buttons from my stash.

Mental Health Weekend: Sunday

My Mental Health Weekend was a complete success! I'm ready to get back to doing all of the stuff I should be doing (instead of stitching all day), and that's a sure sign the break was needed and effective. I highly recommend it. 

Sunday was the Austrian Grand Prix. Can't stitch while that's going on... too exciting.

But I did finish Super Honeybee! Here she is, in all her super power-y glory! 

I stitched her on 32 ct. mint green linen, which I obviously can't get a good picture of! The top two pictures are too washed out, and the bottom is too yellow. Anyway, it's a very pretty soft green. Here are the other changes I made:

DMC 894 changed to 3609
DMC 956 changed to 3607
DMC 601 changed to 718
DMC 209 changed to 955       
E168 changed to Kreinik #8 101
eyes, eyebrows, nose: DMC 3031
cheeks: DMC 224
lips: DMC 223
hair: DMC 4145
earrings, floss lasso: Kreinik #4 001HL
pants, trim & soles of boots: Kreinik #8 010HL
(on the parts where I used #8 braid, I would have used #4 if I had had it; that's what I would recommend for 32 ct.)

The next thing I need to do is have a Finishing Weekend. I have a bunch of projects that need finishing and framing. Maybe I can swing that in a couple of weeks.

Mental Health Weekend: Saturday

It's the first day of summer. Where has the first half of this year gone?! 

I "summerized" the basket in my sewing room. I don't have many summer finishes because--I must confess--I have no interest whatsoever in summer. I use it as a preparation period for my two favorite seasons, fall and winter. 

And I came sooo close to finishing Super Honeybee, but we had some severe weather last night that interrupted my stitching. All is well, but I didn't quite finish her.

I have to say, I absolutely love how she's turning out. That raised eyebrow kept bugging me, so I changed it. I think I'll change the "B" on her shirt from silver to pink as well, so it will show up better. 

The MHW continues apace: slowly. It's been a slooow, quiet weekend (except for weather drama last night), which is just what I wanted. One more day to savor.

Mental Health Weekend: Friday

Could the Mental Health Weekend (MHW) get any better? Why yes, yes it could. When I decided to give myself a mini-vacation, I also placed a strategically timed order with 123 Stitch, knowing it would arrive in time for my MHW (because they have such great service). Sure enough, first thing Friday morning, stash arrived!

The new Mill Hill Celtic Santas: Scotland, Ireland, and Wales

And a couple of spooky-cute designs. I'm starting to feel ever so slightly Halloween-y. It happens around this time every summer!

Movie-watching marathon... Bogie and Bacall!

Bacall: I don't like your manners.

Bogie: And I'm not crazy about yours. I didn't ask to see you. I don't mind if you don't like my manners. I don't like them myself. They're pretty bad. I grieve over them on long winter evenings.

So great.

Painted the piggies purple. Because it's MHW.

And got Super Emma Honeybee about half finished. As you can see, I've changed pretty much everything. When I get her finished I'll list my changes (if I can remember them all). I showed her to Mr. Wonderful and he said, "She looks like you!" Precious man.

Still debating about that raised eyebrow. I may change it. And I had to change the mouth because after stitching it four times, I couldn't manage to keep it from looking like a duck's bill (my fault, not the designer's). And that hair took forever. It's stitched in DMC Color Variations 4145 which--amazingly--is really close to my actual hair color of dark ash blond. But what took so long was that I stitched the hair in "waves" instead of in rows so that I would get a more realistic look, instead of the bands of color you get when you stitch in rows.
I had to mark off every stitch to keep track of which "wave" I had stitched and where I should go next. A lot of trouble, but I like how it turned out.

I really enjoyed my Friday. Especially when Mr. Wonderful brought home Mexican food for supper! 

The MHW continues...

Mental Health Weekend: Thursday

I am not a TV watcher. I like sports and old movies, but that's it. Last week while perusing the TCM (Turner Classic Movies) schedule, I discovered that Thursday night was monster bug movies and all day Friday was mystery/suspense movies. Also, the Austrian Grand Prix is Sunday (that's Formula 1 racing, by the way). An idea was born. I decided to do something I never do: sit in front of the TV for hours stitching and watching old movies and racing. I've been in need of a very low-key "mental health weekend" and this weekend would do nicely. I had a very productive week, got everything on my list done, cooked up a storm on Thursday so Mr. Wonderful wouldn't starve... and then I went "off duty." 

I had laid in supplies:

I chose a fun new project. I thought about working on Snowfire Christmas, but that takes too much brain power and I wanted something to capture the spirit of my weekend. I chose this freebie by Brooke Nolan. You won't be a bit surprised to hear I'm changing all the colors in her outfit, as well as cutting and coloring her hair (so she'll look a little more like me!). Oh. I'm also putting pants on her (also so she'll look more like me). *snort*

I settled in to watch mutant insect movies from the 50's, because why not?

Someone else showed up. Yes, that's the TV you can't see.

Giant larva attacks Tokyo!

I'm feeling better already. I mean, how could you not?

Stay tuned for all the unexciting low-lights of my ultra low-key Mental Health Weekend!

Thank You!

My humble little stitching blog has hit 100 members! Thank you to all who have joined. Thank you to all who have left such sweet comments. 

I know I am not a typical blogger. My blog is not exactly easy to stumble upon. That's on purpose. I don't share much personal information. That's on purpose. I am what is called a "no reply blogger," which is apparently a huge no-no in the blogging community. That's on purpose. See a theme here? There are reasons I have made these choices, and I am aware that as a result, my little blog will never be wildly popular or have oodles of members. That's okay with me. I do appreciate every one who has managed to find me, and every one who has joined, and every one who comments.

And despite my best efforts to keep a relatively low profile, Tiger Lily has still managed to become an international celebrity. Fame is so tiring.

Button Up Birdies Complete Series

First picture, leaflets 1-3: Chickadee, Cardinal, Tree Sparrow, Whiskey Jack, House Finch, Robin

Second picture, leaflets 4-6: Bluebird, Goldfinch, Wren, Hummingbird, Golden Crowned Kinglet, Nuthatch

Third picture, leaflets 7-9: Christmas Robin, Mama Cardinal, Oriole, Swallow, Summer Tanager, Wood Thrush

The Christmas Robin is finished as an ornament because she was first published in the 2010 Just Cross Stitch Christmas Ornament issue and I stitched her then, not knowing she was the first of a series. She was re-published in leaflet #7. I'll re-stitch her at some point, as I've decided these will be made into a wall hanging someday. 

Button Up Birdies Are Finished!

Just finished the Woodthrush, the 18th and last Button Up Birdie (Victoria Sampler). 

Hope to get pictures of the entire set tomorrow when the light is better. 

Hey! Remember these?

Guess what? My first Button Up Birdie (Victoria Sampler) finish in over a year! If you've been here that long, you may remember that I was slogging my way through the whole series... all 18 of them. Here's Summer Tanager, #17. One more to go and I will have completed the whole series. 

If you'd like to see a few of my other Button Up Birdie finishes, click on the label "birds." There are only a few there, as I had stitched some before I started blogging. When I finish the series I'll post all 18 of them.

May Update: Snowfire Christmas

Welp, another month gone by, another band done. *sigh* At this rate, it'll take me until December to finish this sampler. I'm just not getting/taking the time to sit and stitch like I need to in order to make the progress I want to make. I'm sure a lot of y'all can relate to that. So, here's a band of right angled leaf stitches. 

  
Now I'm going to go stitch something that doesn't require me to stare at the chart. 

Helpful

Woodland Sampler: May Block

Super cute chubby little gnome for May! 

Colin Cardinal

I'm sooo far behind with my projects, but I finally have a little finish. With as little stitching as I've been getting done, I'm surprised I'm not further behind with this series, but I'm hanging in there. Fifteen have been released, #16 should be out next week.

Changes on this guy... I omitted the Christmas lights along the top of the birdhouse (I think those are lights) and added a few more snowflakes to fill in the space left empty by doing that. I gave him a brown eye instead of blue, backstitched his head in 321 instead of the two colors suggested, and backstitched his beak in one strand of 310 instead of two. 

If you'd like to see all my other finishes in this series, along with the changes I made, just click on the Advent Animals label.

Happy Stitching!

Tiger Lily Takes The Air

The best thing about re-arranging my sewing room is that now my stitching chair sits under the window (instead of next to it) and Tiger Lily can climb onto the back of it and get right up to the windows. She has a window with a little basket in front of it downstairs, but until now she didn't have a very good view from an upstairs window.

Today was a gorgeous day, and I had all the windows open. There was a stiff breeze and she was able to get a snootful of fresh air and a little sun. Here she is... fur blowing in the wind... taking the air.

This is a happy kitty.