30 October 2018

Spooky Finishes!

Victory! After last week's flu shot adventure derailed my finishing and framing plans, I have finally been able to play in my sewing room and I have stuff to show y'all! 

Ichabod Crane Inn is by The Primitive Hare and is in the book "Le point de croix au fil des saisons." I got my copy several years ago from Amazon France, and it used to be available from Casa Cenina (which I have no personal experience with), but I don't know if it's still available. I have always loved this piece and even though it's not a perfect job, it's now framed and I can enjoy it.


Here's my purple house conversion of Judith Kirby's Victorian House #9. Color conversion and fabric info are in this post and in this one.



I also did the finishing on this little piece, Simply Boo by Elizabeth's Designs from the 2015 Just Cross Stitch Special Halloween Issue. Info on my color changes can be found in this post.

I love this spiky black ribbon trim. I've used it several times and keep a supply on hand as I've never found it anywhere other than Hobby Lobby.

I have grown-up stuff to do tomorrow, but hopefully Thursday I'll be back in the sewing room making a mess. Stay tuned!

26 October 2018

New Sparkly DMC

As you've probably heard, DMC just released a new 35-color line of sparkly threads called Mouline Etoile. The full set in a "collector's" tin is *cough* 70 bucks *cough*. I wasn't inclined to spend that much on a new, never-before-seen, never-before-stitched-with thread, and especially not since it seemed to be so difficult to find a good, clear, close-up picture of it that wasn't cluttered up with little star shapes or animated sparkles. I understand how difficult it is to capture sparkles in a photograph, so if you tell me it sparkles, I believe you, but I wanna see the texture of the thread! So here's my public service for the day: a close-up of the new thread (minus pretend sparkles)!

I found a shop on Etsy that had a limited supply of Blanc, so I was able to purchase just one skein and have a look at it. As you can see, it looks a bit "wooly" compared to regular DMC and the Blanc reads more as a very light grey, due to the silver metallic in it. It is pretty sparkly, much more so than the picture shows, but I think you can see the texture well. I separated out the strands in this picture so you can them better.

I haven't stitched with it yet, but there are two things I'm curious about: 1) will the metallic filament separate from the cotton during stitching and be a pain? and 2) if used with regular DMC, how noticeable will the difference in texture be, and will it matter?

I'll post an update when I've had a chance to stitch with it. 

Thanks so much for all the kind comments about Clover and Lace. When I said this on Monday:

"I hope--hope--to have a quiet week in the sewing room, finishing and framing"

I should have known I was tempting fate. Sure enough, my week went sideways. I got my flu shot on Tuesday afternoon (big fan of herd immunity... also of not dying of a preventable illness) and within an hour and a half, boy, was I feeling it. (Mr. Wonderful said I got a good one... LOL!) I've never had any side effects from a flu shot before, other than having a sore arm and being tired, but this one hit me hard. I had fever for about 12 hours, and spent Wednesday in bed. No cause for alarm, as it's just the immune system doing its job, but man did it mess up my plans to play in my sewing room all week. I'm all back to normal now, but I won't promise to have goodies to show because it seems every time I do that, I am overtaken by events. So, if I show up with a finish or two, it will be a surprise... to both of us!

Have a great weekend, y'all!

22 October 2018

Clover and Lace is finished!





Middle of autumn and I finally finished my summer project! This is Clover and Lace by Misty Hill Studio stitched on 28 ct. PTP Oaken. I stayed really close to the original colors, only making slight adjustments to compliment the color of the fabric I was using and to use thread I already had on hand. Here are the original colors and-->my changes:

GAST Grasshopper-->GAST Sage***
GAST Roasted Marshmallow
GAST Endive-->CC Weeping Willow***
GAST Highland Heather-->GAST Punchberry
DMC 611
DMC 3865-->GAST Oatmeal
GAST Rose Garden-->CC Wild Berries

***The original is stitched on 40 ct. linen over two. If you use a larger count like I did, you'll want two skeins of the greens (Grasshopper and Endive), just to be on the safe side. 

I really enjoyed stitching this piece. I loved the colors and the cheerful verse (and the tiny bunnies!) and it will be just perfect hanging in my sewing room when I eventually get it framed. Thanks, Holly!

I hope--hope--to have a quiet week in the sewing room, finishing and framing, so pop in occasionally to see what I come up with. Have a great week, y'all.

18 October 2018

Sewing Room Status: Ready for Action

I survived the great sewing room re-arrange! 



Maybe now I can actually get some finishing and framing done!

15 October 2018

Fall has officially arrived


It never really feels like fall around here until Tiger Lily takes to her "donut," an old robe of mine that my mom made into a blanket for her. I coil it into a donut shape for her, and it's her favorite place to nap in cooler weather. Today was her first donut day, so fall has officially arrived on the East Coast. Next stop on her seasonal migration: the blizzard basket. (yikes!)

A few more peeks at my Halloween decorating in my sewing room. These little babies are from my mom. She makes their outfits using kits from Mary Maxim. Aren't they just the cutest? I am not a fan of the modern trend in Halloween decorations, so these babies are just about my speed: adorable.



Hope to be back soon with a few pics of my sewing room, and some stitchy stuff. 

06 October 2018

Stitching with a Friend

When you stitch with a friend and they insist on sitting right next to you even though there's an entire couch to sit on:

Happy weekend, happy stitching!