More dancing sheep, please.

Because we all need more dancing sheep in our lives. This kind of speaks for itself, doesn't it?

 

This is a Mosey 'n Me freebie available here. It's stitched over one on 28 ct. mushroom evenweave with Weeks Dye Works Azaleas, Dutch Iris, Fiesta, and Moss. The sheep is DMC 310 and Wisper W88. The braid it's trimmed with has been in my finishing stash for years and years and years, just waiting for the perfect project. I think this was it.

Hope you have the kind of day that sees you leaping joyfully over the meadows, trailing brightly colored ribbons in your wake. If you can't swing that, milk and cookies around 3 o'clock is an acceptable substitute.

Raiding the Finish Box

I've been digging in my finish box again! You know, that box (or drawer) where all your unfinished finishes live. I'm supposed to be having a finishing day once a month, but naturally I've missed the last couple of months. But I'm back on track... at least for this month. 

I finished a couple of smalls but I can only show one. The other I can't show until Tuesday, so come back and check... it'll make you smile! This one is a little design called Bird Bath by Hinzeit. I used one of my favorite techniques for trimming it. I use two colors of 1/4" wide picot ribbon and simply pin and twist all the way around. It's quick, allows you to bring out a couple of colors in the design, and looks fancy but is easy to do. 



 

I also did some framing. This first piece has been framed for a while but I hadn't photographed it. It's an out of print design from Redbird Designs called Texas Home. The chart was graciously loaned to me by Sandi in Texas. The frame is Mill Hill.

 

Here's another Redbird Designs piece you'll recognize from my blog header. It's called A Texas Garden and it also is out of print. The designer has resumed designing after a lengthy break, but as far as I know, she isn't planning to re-issue her old designs. The frame is one of my do-it-yourself projects. I bought the frame at A.C. Moore and the star applique at Hobby Lobby. I used white paint mixed with a staining medium to create a whitewash effect.



 



 

And that's what I did today! I'm making a pretty good dent in my finish box, especially when I don't count the 12 (of 14) Button Up Birdies I have stitched or the 4 (of 7) Woodland Babies I have stitched. They don't count because I haven't decided yet how I want to finish them. That's my story, anyway.

 

Happy Finishing!

A Furry Little Fan

The Washington Capitals just clinched a spot in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Mr. Wonderful was at work, but Tiger Lily and I cheered them on to victory.

Actually, the cheering was a bit subdued. It's hard to cheer when you have a cat on your chest.

GO CAPS GO!!!

Hey! Remember us?

Remember way back in January when I was whipping out those little Victoria Sampler Woodland Babies? Fox, squirrel, bear? Well, I finally got back to those and just finished the baby racoon. Isn't he cute?

In keeping with the others I've stitched, I used brown buttons instead of red for a more woodsy--less Christmasy--look. There are three more in this series. They're such a quick stitch, I have no excuse whatsoever for why I haven't gotten all of them stitched yet.  

The Wolves of Speedwell Forge

Mr. Wonderful and I just visited the Wolf Sanctuary of PA. What an experience. They currently have 44 wolves, divided into packs and housed in large woodland enclosures. We spent 2 1/2 hours with a guide, visiting the packs and hearing stories about their histories and behavior. It was fascinating and well worth the trip. The highlight was when the guide coaxed the pack into howling and the other packs joined in. Beautiful and slightly bone-chilling at the same time. Here are a few pictures of these magnificent animals. We hope to return in the winter to see them when they are at their peak weight and in full coat.

If you are within driving distance, they are having a fund raiser on 18 May, details on their website and Facebook page. We wanted to go, but Mr. W will be busy saving the world that day so we can't. Great trip, and the bed & breakfast on the property is lovely. 

SAL Update: Main Mast Finished!

I really should have gotten more done since my update last month, but even slow progress is still progress, right? Right.

Happy Stitching... even if it's slow!

Honey Bunny and Friends

Every spring I put out my little bunny collection, so when I saw Just Nan's Limited Edition Honey Bunny, I snapped one up before it sold out. But why have just one bunny when you can have, well, more? In more colors. Y'all know how I am about fiddling with colors. I decided what color bunnies I wanted and then pulled my favorite bright spring colors to come up with a color scheme for each bunny. Here's my palette for this little project.

And here are all my bunnies stitched up and waiting to be finished.

Ta-da! Bunny outbreak!

Here's the color information for these bunnies:
Black: 28 ct. black Brittany; DMC 208, 209, 210, 743, 906, 907
Beige: the original colors on the chart
Brown: 32 ct. chesnut; DMC 743, 744, 745, 906, 907, 3609
Grey: 32 ct. cobblestone Belfast; DMC 340, 350, 351, 352, 3346, 3347

Happy Birthday, Tiger Lily!

Look who's seven years old today! Most adorable kitten ever. She still looks at us like this. It's the face she uses to get treats. It works.

All grown up, with two people to take care of (well, one to take care of and one to keep in line) and a whole house to run.

Mad as a March hare!

Ever heard that expression? It means you're a nutter. This is my somewhat boisterous take on a very cute little freebie that can be found here. He's stitched on 28 ct. Rosemary linen in plain old DMC 310 and white. The scissors are Crescent Colors Cerise and the needle is RG Petite Treasure Braid 04. And some miscellaneous buttons I've scrounged. As you can see by looking at the original, I decided to make my bunny a Dutch. I thought the black and white and the pink scissors would really pop on the green fabric. Not traditional spring colors, but we can do whatever we want when we stitch, can't we?

Hope the Easter Bunny leaves you something yummy!

About that groundhog...

...you know, the one that didn't see his shadow and predicted an early spring? Yeah, that one. Here's what we woke up to this morning--more snow than we've had all winter, and more snow than we've had at once since January 2011. This is the view from my sewing room windows.

This is my tree, wearing its spring red fuzzies which it puts on before it buds out. And a coating of snow.

It's nearly April, y'all.

Striding Toward Old Ladyhood

For whatever reason, I have always associated button jars with Grandmothers and other old ladies. Now, at the ripe old age of 41, I find myself accumulating buttons. They're for my needlework finishing, but still. I even have a button box. Today I was sitting in my sewing room working on something (to be shown later!) when I got up, turned around, and saw that a sunbeam had found my button box. It was so pretty I had to snap a picture.

Back to work. (Hint: bunnies!)

Houston Texans Awesomeness

Finished JD's Houston Texans quilt square for Cole's Quilts. This was my first attempt at charting a logo, and of course it had to have lots of curvy and pointy bits to make it challenging. My main concern was getting the shape exactly right, since it's very bold. I had seen some Texans logo finishes online, and they had gotten the shape right, but they were huge. It's easier to get a good shape on a larger scale. For the quilt square I needed a much smaller logo but I didn't want it to look blocky.

First, I found a logo the size I wanted and printed it out. Next, I used transparent graph paper and traced it. Then I went crazy. Actually, all I did was work backwards (if this doesn't surprise you, it means you've been visiting awhile). Instead of stitching and then backstitching, I did the backstitching first and then filled in. That way I could get the shape exactly like I wanted it. The consequence of having to fill in, though, is that with a curvy, pointy design like this you end up with lots of little bits around the edges that you can't fill with a cross stitch, or even a proper fractional stitch. So I took what I like to call an "embroidery approach" and just filled in with whatever was needed: fractional stitches, backward stitches (top leg going the opposite way of the other cross stitches), straight stitches, etc. Here we are in progress.

And here's the finished logo.

The resident Houston Texans expert, Mr. Wonderful, approves. We both are Texans fans, and when I saw that JD's quilt request included Houston Texans football, I had to stitch for him. I'm proud to send it off for his quilt.

First Day of Spring!

It's officially spring! A time of new beginnings. A time when our thoughts naturally turn to... Halloween? Look what arrived in my mailbox this morning!

Isn't that fantastic? It's Le Charabosse by Nimue, come all the way from France to live at my house. I love the detail in this design, even that creepy little frog. But of course what struck me most about it is the calico cat. Do you ever remember seeing a Halloween design with a cat of any color other than black? Me neither. As you know, we're kinda partial to calicos around here.

                              
The other little bit of stash that came to my house today is a small package containing the new Weeks Dye Works colors. This one, Sea Glass, really caught my eye. The photo really doesn't do it justice, and it's actually more green than it looks here. A beautiful, bright color. Very warm weather-y. Not very it's supposed to snow tonight-y. Which it is. {sigh}

Happy Spring!

Cole's Quilts

Taking a break from stitching for myself this week to whip out a quilt square for Cole's Quilts. Well, "whip out" might be a bit excessive. I'm in the process of charting/stitching a Houston Texans logo and it's a bit slow going. I don't have design software so I'm going old-school with the graph paper and the light box. So far, so good. While the world waits for the finished product, check out some of my past Cole's Quilts contributions. And if you're not familiar with Cole's Quilts and would like to learn more about how to become a stitcher for this project, visit them here: Cole's Quilts

For most of my stitching I use linen and hand-dyed threads, but I also really enjoy pulling out some good ol' aida and DMC and stitching up a quilt square to send off to Linda Z., who will sew it into a wonderful quilt (she's super easy to work with, by the way).

And of course, I have lots of... help.

Really, you'd think I'd be able to get so much more done with all of the support I get.

SAL Update: Mainsail Madness!

The mainsail is done! For those who have just joined us, my stitchy cousin and I are doing a stitch-along of Skeleton Crew by The Cricket Collection. Because pirate ships. [Her blog, Panda Ponders, is linked over on my blog list.] My "progress" has been sad, so I decided to go nuts and finish that stupid mainsail if it killed me. I think I'll be making little white x's in my sleep, but it's done. It's nice to have a big, fat chunk of stitching right smack in the middle of the design done, isn't it? Satisfying. Gives you false hope you can finish the whole thing. Before you're eighty. Anyway, here's The Supervisor checking to make sure my super cool octopus needle minder is secure. 

And the mainsail, in all its tattered, ghost ship-y glory.

 
I have this delusion that I can finish the rest of the main mast by the end of this month. That's what a little progress will do to ya.

Happy Stitching!

Adventures in Framing

Since I mostly stitch smalls, framing isn't much of an issue. But occasionally I stitch a larger piece that is more suited to framing, and then the fun starts. Professional framing is, for me, just too expensive. Next option, buy a ready made frame and put it together myself. As every stitcher knows, you're lucky if the piece you want to frame is a standard size. Most designs are odd sizes and ready made frames are not to be had, or are expensive if you do find them. (I recently found a 7 x 7 frame that was perfect, but it was nearly $50. No thank you.) I know all this, but I start the search anyway for something that will work. And search. And search. Search. Have a cookie. Search some more. Give up.

I finally decided to just make the frames myself. I say "make" but what I really mean is start with an unfinished wood frame and go from there. I discovered to my great joy that A.C. Moore has a very nice selection of unfinished wood frames in odd sizes. I also discovered an online source for custom-sized unfinished wood frames, but since I have not ordered from them yet I don't want to endorse them here. Suffice it to say, wood frames in any size are readily available online (if you don't have an A.C. Moore). At Hobby Lobby I found a bunch of different wood appliques to dress up my plain wood frames. Bought a little bottle of paint and a few other supplies, and I was off and running on my first "from scratch" framing project.

I did experiment with a staining medium (added to acrylic paint to turn it into a stain) and it looked fine, but I decided I wanted a rich, dark color so I just went with plain paint. Here are my supplies... less than $25.

Here's the original. As you can see in the final picture, I took my usual liberties with the design, but I did love the color of the frame and wanted to duplicate it as best I could. The design is He is Risen by Little House Needleworks, found in the March/April 2010 issue of Just Cross Stitch magazine.

And here's my "from scratch" frame and my version of the design. The paint color is Black Plum.

I'm really happy with how it turned out. Now that I know what I'm doing, and where to get my supplies, I will be unstoppable. Until it's time to do housework.

Happy Framing!

Missing: the month of February

I have no idea where I put it, but it's gone. The Tiger Lily vet drama in the first week seemed to set the tone for the rest of the month. That tone was, "No, you're not getting any stitching done this week." I am way behind on my stitchy schedule but I do have a couple of finishes to show.
 
The first is a little freebie that can be found here: http://thestitcherhood.com/freebies.php
I stitched it on 28 ct. celery gingham linen with Crescent Colors Blooming Crocus and Eve's Leaves, and Gentle Art Buttercrunch. I added a JABCO butterfly button and some tiny heart buttons I found at Hobby Lobby. A quick, fun stitch. I think I'll be doing the other seasons.  Stay tuned.

This one is Texas Home by Redbird Designs, sadly now out of print. This chart was graciously loaned to me by Sandi in Texas. Thank you, Sandi!

Here's the little boot charm I added. It's supposed to be a star, but I had already added a tiny mother-of-pearl star on the flag, so I used a boot.

And here's the stitchy supervisor... supervising. Kinda.

Happy Spring Stitching!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Recovery

Poor Tiger Lily! She had an unscheduled trip to the vet on Monday and did not feel at all well the first few days of the week. Happily, she is feeling much better and getting plenty of rest.

 I'm recovering from Monday as well. With the assistance of a new project...

...and new stash (fabric loveliness from Panda the Stitching Cousin, Spring Garden and Solar, both 32 ct.)...

...and cake. Mostly cake.

As you can see, our week has improved significantly over the disaster that was Monday. Now then, what can I stitch on that delicious fabric?

See this face?

This is Helping Face. This is the face I see just before a little white paw darts out--lightning fast--and grabs my thread. Which is not, in fact, helpful. Not even a little. Beware of Helping Face.

Here's the bird she was helping me with, October Nuthatch from Button Up Birdies 6 by Victoria Sampler.  This is the twelfth bird I've stitched and I have two left to complete the series. I would say about 25% of this one is stitched in cat hair because, you know, I was being helped.

Not sure I'm happy with those leaves (shush, Panda!). I may cut them off and sew on a different kind. Anyway, it's a finish. For now.