Baby Fox is finished!

I'm somewhat surprised I have a finish to share in the midst of moving chaos, but I do. Isn't he sweet? I love his expression. This is one of my Ukrainian designs, stitched with DMC on the Zweigart manufactured 32 ct. fabric from Hobby Lobby in the color Spa. What a lovely boy.

Unpacking is moving along. My kitchen is about 90% put together, so that's the biggest job pretty much done. I've got a few days of work left around the house before I can get at my sewing room, but I'm hoping I can start on that at the end of this week. Mr. Wonderful is down with a summer cold and I need his help with a few things, so my plans may be delayed a bit, but I'm close to getting to that sewing room. Fingers, toes, and eyes crossed I do not catch his cold! No time for that nonsense!

Fox Family is Finished!

 

My first Summer of the WIP success! Yay, me! This is The Fox Family by Filigram, stitched on 28 ct. Vintage Country Mocha with the recommended Dinky-Dyes silks. Can't remember when I started (and put away) this project but it's been several years. And now it's a finish! 

Small break to catch up on the tea & coffee series I'm stitching this year, and then on to the next WIP. My goal is to finish three long-standing WIPs this summer. Happily, my next target is an autumn project, because as y'all know, I'm an autumn girl and once I'm past Independence Day, I am done with summer! Onward! 

Summer of the WIP: Fox Family

 

Making progress on my first project for my Summer of the WIP, wherein I'm spending the summer knocking out a few long-standing WIPs. This is The Fox Family by Filigram and I'm stitching it on 28 ct. Vintage Country Mocha with the recommended Dinky-Dyes silks. I had stitched mama fox some years ago and then put this aside for some reason (didn't care for one of the colors, I think) and just never got back to it. It's now first in line for a finish this summer.

Hopefully, I'll be able to finish this up during the long holiday weekend. Then I'd like to take a quick break and catch up on my monthly tea and coffee series before tackling my next WIP, which will be an autumn project, which I'm very much looking forward to. Stay tuned!

Have a happy and safe Independence Day, and Happy Stitching!

Mandala Fox is finished!

 

Well, that was fun! Mandala Fox (available in this Etsy shop, along with lots of other mandala critters) is stitched with DMC on a pale, rosy pink mystery linen. I highly recommend choosing your favorite critter friend and stitching one of these, if you need something a little different. Just a really fun stitch. 

Hope to get Spring is Coming Mini Quaker started tomorrow. And I've actually been able to think a little bit about what I'd like to work on this summer. Last summer I had a Summer of Halloween and thoroughly enjoyed stitching Halloween all summer (check out the Halloween label to see last summer's finishes). I usually have projects planned a couple seasons in advance, but this year has been... not the year that was going to happen. Y'all know what I mean. Things went sideways in early March and they're still a bit wonky. So I didn't have a summer project list. 

Last night I was perusing the little notebook I keep all my stitchy lists and thoughts in, and was looking at my WIPs list, and thought, "Hm. I should knock out some of these WIPs." Early in my stitching life, I was a very staunch one-project-at-a-time stitcher. Over the years, I've loosened up on that--and I still don't have nearly as many WIPs as a lot of other stitchers I observe--but it's more than I'd like and I've started feeling a bit guilty about starting a new project without finishing a WIP first. Easy fix: Summer of the WIP! As soon as I thought of it, I was excited... a sure sign I'd hit upon just the right thing. 

So as soon as I finish Spring Quaker, I plan to pick up a long-neglected WIP and finish it. I've chosen three projects; we'll see how far I get. 

Hope your Memorial Day weekend is quiet and safe and full of relaxing stitching.

Fox Update and Next Project

Almost done! Scroll down to my previous post for info on this gorgeous design (and others!) if you missed it.

Guess what! Third in the series, Spring is Coming Mini Quaker is here! I've already stitched  Autumn is Coming and Winter is Coming Mini Quakers and have been not-that-patiently waiting for Spring. It just came out and I'm ready to get to work on it as soon as I finish Mandala Fox.

These are the threads for it. I'm stitching all of my mini quakers on 32 ct. Flax linen using (mostly) the recommended colors. I like these. They're subtle and earthy. Quite a change from my current project!

The seasonal mini quakers are available in this shop.

You May Need to Stitch One of These

 

Although I enjoy everything I stitch, sometimes a project just hits me differently and beyond the enjoyment of stitching it, it becomes a joy in and of itself. That probably only makes sense to me, but that's okay. What we get out of stitching is as unique to each of us as what we put into it. And sometimes, what starts out as just another project transforms into something different. Perhaps more meaningful. Perhaps more helpful. Perhaps something else.

I started this gorgeous fox during the winter, but didn't get very far before laying it aside for other things. My well-planned project to-do list went sideways in March with the strain of my dad's health situation. I fell way behind on everything stitching-related. As I was slowly getting back to my stitching, I thought about picking up on my list of projects, but for whatever reason, I decided instead to work on some WIPs and this was the first I picked up. And I'm so glad I did.

This beautiful design is Mandala Fox from this Etsy shop and it is literally a day brightener for me every day that I work on it. I mean, just look at these eye-popping colors! Bright, cheerful, unexpected... it's hard to be gloomy when you're stitching with colors like this. And it's an easy stitch, as well. The regular patterns and blocks of color make counting and stitching a breeze. This fox is just the right project at just the right time, and it is a joy.

If you're in need of a "pick-me-up project" and are open to something a little different, have a look at the shop I linked. They have just about every critter you can imagine, some more elaborate than others, some striking and some whimsical (mandala hedgehog, anyone?), but all colorful and fun. And if you'd like to explore this "mandala" style a bit more, just type something like "cross stitch mandala animals" in Etsy's search box and you'll see a wide array of interpretations. I happen to think this shop does it best, but you may prefer someone else's work.  You may even surprise yourself (Me: "Why do I want to stitch that turkey? I don't even like turkeys." Also Me: "You need that turkey.") By the way, this is DMC on a soft, rosy pink 28 ct. linen. 

So... that second vaccine shot... woah. This picture of Tiger Lily is pretty much how I spent the last couple of days (lol!). But I'm so thankful for these vaccines and I'd do it again tomorrow if I had to. Okay, maybe not tomorrow. Maybe like next week. 

Forest Tale

 Another winter finish! Isn't this a lovely and unique little design? This is called Forest Tale and it's available in this Etsy shop along with lots of other wee bottles with all kinds of things in them--something for everyone. I stitched mine on 28 ct. Cornflower Blue Jobelan and it finished up at 1 1/4" wide by 3 3/4" high. I stayed pretty close to the recommended colors, except that I did tone the greens down a bit, and instead of black for the backstitching, I used DMC 938 for the fox and cork, and DMC 04 for the bottle. I wanted a softer look than the black created.

Here's a tip for stitching on really small, odd-sized scraps of fabric. I try to be frugal with my fabric usage and I save even the smallest scraps. Since I stitch a lot of small things, they're always coming in handy. I have a couple of strong preferences about the way I stitch that I never depart from:

1: I never stitch in-hand. I like my fabric nice and taut. For me, having the fabric taut is key to making pretty stitches that lie smoothly, and to getting backstitching to lie where I want it. I also really dislike handling my fabric that much. I iron my fabric before I put it on the q-snaps, and I don't wash finished projects. Which leads me to my next "never"...

2: I never place q-snap clamps or hoops over any of my stitches. I like to have the entire design fit within the q-snap or hoop. This way, when I take the finished project off the q-snaps, it's ready to finish or frame. No washing or ironing required.

Now, on an oddly-shaped, very small scrap of fabric like this, it's hard to accommodate those preferences. The fabric is too small to fit normally in a 6" q-snap (the smallest). The design is too large to fit "un-smooshed" into a 3" hoop. The fabric is too narrow to be grasped properly all the way around by a 4" hoop so it can't be held taut. Whatever to do? 

This:

I always use strips of white felt (with glitter, thank you very much) under my q-snap clamps to keep my fabric as taut as possible. It also helps to grasp smaller pieces of fabric. Turned corner to corner and clamped with felt, this scrap of fabric is held tightly enough, even along the edges that aren't under the clamps. I figured this out some time ago but never remembered to share. It's not especially clever, it's just one of those things that you don't think about until you've run into a scrap of fabric that just won't cooperate. So there's a little tip for the 3 or 4 of you out there who share my particular combination of likes and dislikes!

One of these days, I'll tell y'all about my reaction to watching a video of someone stitching in-hand using the sewing method. I had to avert my eyes! *snort*

Stay cozy and Happy Stitching, all (no matter how you stitch)!

Update from Tiger Lily's House

We're still here! It's been a busy few weeks and I have been quiet on my blog, so I figured I'd better report in before some of y'all send the dogs out! We just got back from a trip to North Carolina, or as we call it, Pottery Disneyland. (Check out this post for an explanation.) We were supposed to go in September, but had to cancel our trip because of Hurricane Florence.  I haven't even unwrapped all of our treasures yet, and my living room looks like Santa crashed his sleigh. When I get it all unpacked, I'll photograph it (my pieces, at least) and share. If you like pottery, click on the "pottery" label in the right sidebar.

Let's see... new stuff at my house. First, two new designs from With Thy Needle & Thread. Brenda Gervais has sneakily become one of my favorite designers. The series of oval designs she's doing is just adorable. I've stitched a purple version of Here a Peep and have Jingle All the Way on my to-stitch list, so when I saw Candy Cane Wishes, I had to have it immediately. Her little mice series is also growing on me, so I picked up Plum Pudding, as well. 

Here's another of her designs I got recently.

Picked up some Rainbow Gallery Petite Treasure Braid for some Christmas stitching. I've never had a problem using Kreinik metallics, and always use them when the Brooke Nolan designs I stitch call for them, but I know a lot of stitchers seem to dislike using them. I find they work great on perforated paper, but for linen I prefer Petite Treasure Braid, simply because it has a more delicate feel to me. If you hate metallics, but have never tried PTB, give it a go. It's very easy to work with and is so pretty.

New dishes, y'all! Aren't these beautiful? Spotted these at Hobby Lobby a few weeks ago (on sale!) and couldn't resist. I got some plates...

...and a little bread and butter plate and mug just for me to enjoy my winter tea and snacks.

Had to throw this in here! This is some Stanley Cup swag I got last month celebrating my Washington Capitals winning the Cup back in June. This hockey playing calico kitty was a must-have! We are very partial to calicos around here.

And this beautiful patch, combining the Cup with two D.C. symbols: the flag (based on the coat of arms of George Washington's family) and some lovely pink cherry blossoms.

Tiger Lily got something new, too. I found this adorable fleece at Jo Ann Fabrics for 50% off and figured it was time for Tiger Lily to have a new blanket. It's an ultra-plush, anti-pill fleece and it is sooo soft.

Ready for whatever winter throws at us... I think. We've already had our first snow this year (15 November), which is really, really early.

So that's what's going on around here. Having to squeeze our trip to North Carolina in right before Thanksgiving has thrown me off of my holiday game a bit, but now that it's done, I can turn my attention back to more pressing matters... like my Christmas Open House! (No hints! No sneak peeks!) Since it will be my 5th annual Open House, I'm planning something sort of celebratory. As of right now, it will be the third week of December, unless I amaze myself and have a stunningly productive week next week and can do it a bit earlier.

Hope y'all are all healthy, cozy, and ready to bake all your Thanksgiving goodies! Have a great week!

Things That Have Come to My House

Lots of deliveries at the Wonderful household recently. In addition to the sweet babies from my mom that I showed in my last post...

Flowers from Mr. Wonderful to mark the halfway point.

Thanksgiving cookies from my mom and dad.

The new DMC colors.

Very happy with all these new colors, especially the greys/browns, and the purples below. In my opinion, the DMC range has been in need of more of these shades for a long time.

I picked up this pretty box at a pre-Thanksgiving Jo Ann Fabrics sale.

And also found this sparkly little guy. He's too big for a needle minder, but just right for a chart magnet.

Here's my latest Joy finish. This is from the 2015 Just Cross Stitch Christmas Ornament issue, stitched on 28 ct. Straw Gingham linen from Weeks. I used CC Cherry Cobbler for the red, added some GAST Brandy to add some warmth to the lantern, and stitched the bottom in the snowflake/beard color instead of the color suggested.

This is a better representation of the fabric color... sort of gingerbread-y.

Bonus Tiger Lily, in her cozy winter basket!

November Memo Board & Stash Update

Mr. Wonderful has been gone about a week (five weeks to go!) and let's just say that last week was not great. How-ev-er! Robin in Virginia put on her superhero cape and swooped in to provide much-appreciated cheer! Just look at these goodies! 

A precious, precious little felted wool fox ornament.

Beautiful JOY notecards, to go with my stitching theme during Mr. Wonderful's absence.

A patriotic needle minder (how perfect?) and a stitch starter. 

This little box absolutely made my day. Thank you so much, Robin. And by the way, whenever anyone sends anything to me wrapped in tissue paper, this is what happens to it. Tiger Lily loves tissue paper with all her little heart and she thinks the tissue paper in every package is for her. And so it is. (My mom includes tissue paper in my boxes whether anything needs wrapping or not, so Tiger Lily will have some.)

Here's my November memo board. See this post for info on this easy project.

And here is some gorgeous new Fabric Flair fabric from 123 Stitch. This is 28 ct. Fairy Mist. Beautiful, soft lavender, blue, pink, green, and yellow with a subtle silver sparkle. I bought a small piece just to see how it would look in person, but now I know I need moar.

And 28 ct. blue snowflakes on silver. So frosty and wintry.

I am "thisclose" to finishing Playing with Jax. I only have the bottom border left to stitch, but I took a little break from it to consider how I wanted to stitch it. Hope to have that finished in the next day or two. I need to get going on my JOY projects. In the meantime, here's a little peek at the one I'll be starting next: