Last minute ornament

Aargh! Meet Whitebeard the Pirate! (you know, Blackbeard's alter ego...) ;-D

This Yo Ho Ho Ho freebie is from Sue Hillis, stitched on 28ct raw linen and mounted as an ornie.

I made a Biscornament!

If you are wondering what a biscornament is....I was stitching an ornie from the 2003 JCS ornament issue, Winter Whitetail by Something In Common, and noticed it was square (well it stitched on point so strictly speaking it's a tilted square). I thought I'd try making it into a biscornu without the dimple in the center. Look.....it uploaded sideways but you get the idea!

It took me a little bit of time to figure out how to make both sides be right side up (the back is just my initials and the year), and it was a tad fussy on the whip stitching since the back stitch outer line was on the diagonal, but in general I love it! It really looks like an ornament, all roundish and such! I have decided to call it a biscornament, and will be going thru all the backlog of ornies waiting to be finished to see which ones will work for this technique....no diagonal ones this time, however!

December Biscornu

Here it is! The last of 12 biscornu for the Basket of Biscornu blog! This one is from the blog of Maria del Valle and is called the Lynne Biscornu. I used 22ct white hardanger and DMC varigated red floss. Pulled some motifs from the front for the back, as you can see...I almost forgot to take a "before" picture! My whole basketful is also shown...all freebies from the web, but for four, all from stash.

November Recap, December Goals

November Recap
WiPs...
~Castles in the Air, pt.6 Postponed due to fabric issues...
~Italian Garden UFO Done!
New Starts...
~Fabulous Fall Biscornu Done!
~Christmas Partridge Done!
~LHN Pumpkins Done!

December Goals
WiPs...
~Dragon Feathers Afghan UFO Working...
New Starts...
~Lynne Biscornu Done!
More ornies?
~Winter Whitetail Done!
~Yo Ho Ho Ho Done!
~Topiary Wreath Done!
~Christmas Wreath Done!
Prep for Christmas at HRH start on 01/01/10!!

What I have been doing in November...

After my last post, the month of November went downhill. We lost our cat Pixel to something called Sudden Cardiac Death on November 7th, one month ago today. I spent the month mourning, supporting my daughter in her feelings of loss, and stitching. DH had his own way of dealing by getting really busy at work, with DD's swim team, and with other volunteer events. We all miss him, but life's activities go on. Peace Pixel. See you at the Rainbow Bridge. Give Ari a nudge from us.

Here is what I finished stitching in November. Therapy stitching. First is an old UFO that I pulled out for my monthly weekend stitching. Before I knew it, the thing was finished, after 6 years of UFO status. This is Liz Turner Diehl's 17th Century Italian Garden, a Charleston CATS class, in 2003 IIRC. The fabric is raw linen, 32ct. I made one change from the class, leaving off the stubborn twisted braid that was supposed to go in the rectangles instead of the pink/lavender flower beds that I added.

Ironically, this picture (below) was taken a couple of months after I had started it....my DD is 15 now, and that is Pixel in his usual place, helping with moral support.


Next is a Christmas ornament from the 2003 JCS ornie issue by Seredipity Designs called A Christmas Partridge. It is stitched on 32ct Driftwood Belfast, sans the bf on the pear....I think it looks fine without!

Last finish of the month was from Little House Needleworks, the Pumpkins, from the Fruit series. Eventually there will be a total of 9 in a wall quilt/banner. Three to go. The fabric is Lakeside Linens 28ct Strawflower.

That's all for now....I'll post my monthly progress report and my December biscornu later this week.

November biscornu already!

This was a quick stitch, so I'm all up to date with the Basket of Biscornu blog entries...one more to go in December! This is Fabulous Fall by Cat's Whiskers, in collaboration with Dinky-Dyes, who supplied the silk for the chartpack. I used Silkweaver's Tawny Sparkle 32ct opalescent belfast, and a couple of gold beads for the center. Top and bottom are shown.

October Recap, November Goals

October Recap
WiPs...
~Castles in the Air, pt. 6 Postponed...
~Holland Landscapes, pt.8 Delayed....
~Companions UFO Worked 3 weekend days
~Midnight Magic Done!
New Starts...
~Owl Biscornu Done!
~2009 Schooler Santa Done!
~Coffee Crossword (gift) Done!

November Goals
WiPs...
~Castles in the Air, pt.6 Postponed due to fabric issues
~Italian Garden UFO (weekends only) Done!
New Starts...
~Fabulous Fall Biscornu Done!
~Christmas Partridge, 2003 JCS ornie issue Done!
~LHN Pumpkins Done!

Two finishes and a Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween to everyone! It's been a busy week, but I managed to finish a gift on Wednesday, which went to my framer right away to beat the Christmas rush....AND....I finished my October biscornu for the Basket of Biscornu blog today....my 10th of the year!


Anyway, here's the gift (for my mother-in-law). It is by Elizabeth Gorski of Primrose Needleworks, and is one of her crossword series called Coffee Crossword. It is stitched on a 32ct lugana from Sugar Maple called Maple Sugar, of all names! Click on the picture to see it better.



As for the biscornu, it was a freebie on M. Brouwer's blog Stitch Creations, called Owl Biscornu.
This is my October biscornu, stitched on aida, with DMC, both plain and varigated, just to see how different they could look. This one is fairly large, softball sized in fact. Here are both sides.

Stitching Jubilee Report and Stash Haul!

Gee, it's taken me a couple of days just to recover from my trip to Lancaster, PA with my friend Carolyn. We had a blast at the Stitching Jubilee! Drove up from NC on the 14th (in the rain), got up early the next day to check out the class availability, and fell in love with Pat Hartman's Secret Garden (scroll down the page a bit to see it). Believe me, it's stunning in person! Problem was, the class was on Saturday afternoon and we had to leave! Well, we signed up anyway and Pat was great...we were able to pick up the class kits just before class on our way out the door. We got the green/lavender/peach version, but it also comes in a blue version. Carolyn took a class by Catherine Jordan as well, but I'll let her tell that story on her blog.



I spent the entire day Thursday in the mart, burning up the cc while it continued to rain outside, and the temperature was dropping. Who knew? (missed the entire Balloon Boy episode on tv too, thank goodness!...barely even knew there was a world outside) ;-D


I have a few pictures of all the stash I acquired down below.....(making up for missing last year's show, I bought twice as much this year!) We stayed up way too late (errrr, early?) in the Stitcher's Lounge Thursday night and slept in a bit on Friday, and while Carolyn went to her class, I shopped some more. We ended up eating in the hotel a lot because it continued to rain, and I was not prepared for cold AND wet! Met lots of folks, some known from online or past shows, some new (Hi ladies!), talked too much, and made a quick stop in the mart Saturday morning (which turned into two hours),then we headed home....
....at least it was all down hill to NC! LOL!



Where I spent most of my time (and money!).....(there were about 20 booths total)
Gitta's Designs (silk gauze, pattern, stretcher bars)
Picture This Plus (fabric, Dinky Dyes silks)
Scandinavian Stitches (kits)
Silver Needle (patterns)
Bush Mountain Stitchery (fibers, patterns)
JBW Designs (patterns)
Mimi's Attic (Dutch Treat patterns and cloth on 40% off!)
Stoney Creek (patterns, scissor sharpener)
and finally...
Victoria Clayton (silks, silks, silks!) Check this link to her board
Scroll down a bit to the crowd around a pile of silk...that's me on the left with the gray hair and black sweater! (they had an accident with the trailer on the way home from another event and that was the tangled pile that resulted...$4 a bag (snack bag size) and untangle at your leisure at home)



Anyway, here are the pictures of the pile O' stash at home....click on the pics to see better.

(shown above: JBW, Just Nan, Carriage House, Stoney Creek, threads, goodies)

(shown above: Barbara Ana at top, Gitta's silk gauze and Bird of Paradise, Whispered by the Wind's Autum Lace, Four Cats kit from Scandinavian Stitches)

(shown above: overlap with last pic, plus Vicki Clayton silks and class kit in back, Maureen Appleton Seahors fob w/scissors included, Bluebird Tree...)

(shown above: overlap with last pic, Dutch Treat tabletopper charts and fabric in back, Dictionary of Cats, Sampler Cove's Kaleidoscope Flowers and silk, PTP fabric.)

Some of the silks and fabric were for charts I had already, like several Needlemania, TW, Christmas at Hawk Run Hollow, etc. Two years worth of mart shopping in three days!

MIll Hill's Midnight Magic

This is my latest finish....a Mill Hill Buttoned & Beaded kit called Midnight Magic, in the called for MH frame. Isn't she cute? Reminds me a bit of my Cassi cat!




After this was done on Saturday, I got out a UFO to work on weekends this month for TWOctober (on one of my Yuku boards). This Teresa Wentzler piece has been in the works for several years, and I slowly add more to my Companions....a Santa with his pack horse in snowy woods. This is what it looked like before Saturday....

...I hope to finish the horse's pack soon. Maybe I'll get to Santa himself sometime next year!

Newest Prairie Schooler Santa!

I finished this Hockey Santa Monday night. It is by Prairie Schooler, in their Schooler Santa series for 2009. Made a few "adjustments" to reflect my favorite hockey team, the Carolina Hurricanes! See if you can find them.....

....the fabric is 18ct khaki putty davos, and he will join his brothers as another ornie!

September Progress, October Goals

September Progress
WiPs...
~Castles in the Air, finish pt.4, also complete pt.5 Both pts. Done!
~Holland Landscapes, Pt.8 Not this month...
~Spirit Horse tote bag Retired after frogging too many mistakes! (will find another pattern for tote)
New Starts...
~Floral Biscornu for September Done!
~Halloween Project-Boo Club (Lizzie Kate) Done!
~Another Halloween Project-Midnight Magic (Mill Hill) Started...
~2009 Schooler Santa (Hockey Santa!) Will start on Opening Day--Oct.2nd!

October Goals
WiPs...
~Castles in the Air, pt.6 No time this month...
~Holland Landscapes, pt.8 Too busy again...
~Companions UFO Working weekends...
~Midnight Magic Done!
New Starts...
~Owl Biscornu for October Done!
~2009 Schooler Santa (Hockey Santa!) Done!
~Coffee Crossword (gift) Done!

Boo Club is done!

Yes, it took another week of stitching this and nothing else, and Lizzie Kate's Boo Club series is all done! I am going to make it into a door banner once I find the perfect fabric to frame and back it. Why wait to show it off though? ;-) If you click on the picture you can see a close up view.

Lizzie Kate-Boo Club!

I got started on my Halloween stitching last week, and since I reached the half-way point on Lizzie Kate's Boo Club series I thought I'd share a picture! The fabric is 32ct jobelan-Silkweaver's Days Gone By. It has been fun to stitch! Hopefully it will be done in another week.

It's about time to start stitching gifts for Christmas....hmmmm, what to do first? Watch here!

All caught up on Castles...Pt.5 added!

I finished adding part 5 to Papillon's Castles in the Air, which catches me up to the present. Here is a close-up of pts. 4 and 5...if you click on it, you will be able to see it better. I wasn't sure about the green plants across the top, so I hope they were stitched correctly!


As a reward, I got a new start...Lizzie Kate's Boo Club Double Flip stack! Needed something smaller (at least at the start) to carry around. Plus, DD is preparing to take her test to get her Learner's Permit (for driving) and we had to round up all the *official documents* to prove her existance....lots of hoops to jump through now a'days! I needed a stress reduction reward!
I think I'll be adding to the stash again soon too, as I've seen some goodies that are due out soon....just what the mom of a 15 year old needs!

Floral Biscornu for September

I finished my 9th biscornu of the year on 09/09/09!

The designs came from a DMC leaflet, Cross Stitch with Rayon Floss, c1999, by Alice Okon. On the left is the Monogramed Medallion, and the right is the Blue Medallion.

I came across the little leaflet in my stash organization, and thought the two designs would make a nice biscornu together. The fabric is 22ct white hardanger, and I used cotton DMC floss rather than rayon. Added a cord so it could be hung or used as a scissor fob.

Castles in the Air progress report!

I have finished part 4 (the peacocks!) on Papillon's Castles in the Air SAL....my favorite part so far! I am doing the specialty stitch version, and the fabric is Silkweaver's Morning Mist 32ct opalescent lugana. Trying to decide if I should move on to part 5 or start my monthly biscornu....hmmmm.....

August Recap, September Goals!

August Recap
WiPs...
~Castles in the Air, Pt.4 Almost done, but for the 2nd peacock!
~Alla Turca, last parts 8 & 9 All Done!
~Holland Landscapes, Pt. 8 Ran out of time....
New Starts...
~Cheetah Biscornu Done!
~Halloween project Postponed a month...

*Did get my home office painted this month, and DH and DBIL laid hardwood laminate too!

September Goals
WiPs...
~Castles in the Air, finish pt.4 (Done!) and pt. 5 (Done!)as well!
~Holland Landscapes, Pt. 8 Postponed again...

New Starts...
~Floral Biscornu... Done!
~Lizzie Kate's Boo Club Done!
~Mill Hill's Midnight Magic Started...
~2009 Schooler Santa (Hockey Santa!) Will start Opening Day-Oct.2nd!

Alla Turca SAL completed!

I have finished the last part on the Alla Turca SAL by Pelin Tezer! It was stitched on 32ct Silkweaver's Aquamarine linen with Weeks Peacock and RG gold Sparkle braid. I adjusted pt.9 slightly, and added the gold to the monocrome pattern just for fun. It is stitched over one and is only 9 inches tall!

This took a little longer than I thought because we were away on vacation, then returned to a re-decorating project....painted our home office a lovely sapphire blue and with the help of our brother-in-law, we ripped out old carpet and laid new hardwood laminate flooring...I love it!

(just before vacation we also replaced all the toilets with new low-water use ones, in preparation for the next project...DD is getting her bathroom redone, same blue, with tangerine trim!)

Over Christmas the master br will get it's makeover as well.....in a few more years the whole house will be made over. I hope!

Cheetah Biscornu

This is my August biscornu....from the Cross Stitch Happy blog, and called the Cheetah Biscornu. I matched the colors to the cat face buttons I had, and stitched it on heatherfield aida. Turned out nice, and it's fairly large.

I'm now working on finishing up the Alla Turca SAL, and then will get back to Castles in the Air!

More to come......

July Recap, August Goals

July Recap

WiPs...
~Holland Landscapes, Pt.7 Done!
~Alla Turca, Pt.7 Done!
~Castles in the Air, Pt.4 Started...
New Starts...
~Biscornu for July...Summer Butterfly Biscornu by Alexandrina Done!
~Something for Christmas in July...1991 Schooler Santa Done!
~Whatever strikes my fancy!
a Bluebird stitched on vinyl weave for a soap dispenser! Done!
(found while stash-diving!)

August Goals

WiPs...
~Castles in the Air, Pt. 4 Working...nearly done but for a 2nd peacock!
~Alla Turca, Pts. 8 & 9 all Done!
~Holland Landscapes, Pt.8 Ran out of time!
New Starts...
~Biscornu for August Done!
~Halloween project Postponed a month...
(and who knows what else?)

*We did get our home office painted, and new hardwood laminate laid at least!

Holland Landscapes update!

Last night I finished the part 7 window scene with the windmill on my Holland Landscapes! It took longer than I would have liked seeing as we are doing some renovations in our house this summer. They will have to wait until after vacation to get completed, but I have already picked out my vacation projects....ones suitable to a lakeside view and lots of relaxation!

Anyway, here's the window, and a progress picture of the whole piece as well!

Another quick finish!

While stash diving this week (and supposedly organizing) I found this and decided to stitch it up for my bird-themed kitchen finally! It is a design from an old JCS leaflet called Absorbing Nature by Cathy Livingston. The designs are all supposed to be for towels, but this Bluebird fit nicely on the 14ct vinyl weave that came with the soap dispenser by Crafter's Pride. Maybe I'll making a matching kitchen towel someday.....

Prairie Schooler Santa ornament

A little Christmas in July stitching, this one being the 1991 Schooler Santa from Prairie Schooler!

I'm stitching backward through them all to the year I met my DH, which was 20 years ago last weekend! Two more, and then I'll just stitch each new one as they come out every year. Eventually I'll finish them all as ornaments and they will have their own tree. If you had to finish 20 ornaments how would you do it? I have some nice backing fabric, but I'm not really looking forward to 20+ little pillow ornies. Suggestions welcome!

I have also been working on stash organization and clearing my hobby room of extraneous "stuff". Right now it's chaos as I have been putting everything into an Excel file (being a former librarian has it's advantages, and obsessions too!). All the charts and leaflets are done, and most of the kitted stuff....saving the magazines for last as they are a whole other "obsession"! I'm eventually going make a list of stash up for adoption, so stay tuned.

Not to worry, I'll leave time for stitching, or go crazy!

Alla Turca, Part 7 added

I added part 7 to my Alla Turca last Friday before the 4th of July holiday and just now got around to uploading the picture! There are only 2 parts left on this SAL, and I've enjoyed it thoroughly! The fabric is Silkweaver's Aquamarine cashel, the threads are gold Sparkle braid and Weeks' Peacock, all stitched over one.

Sunday I started another Schooler Santa ornie (1991 edition this time) to add to the collection...a bit of Christmas in July for me! After that I'm going to try and get back to Holland Landscapes.
Unless something else screams louder! ;-D

July Biscornu!

Hi all! Happy 4th of July in America! I finished my July Biscornu late on the 3rd and won't be able to post tomorrow, so here it is! It is by Alexandrina of the Matryoshka Biscornu blog, and is called the Summer Butterfly Biscornu. It made me think of fireworks, so I used some 28ct white evenweave and leftover Dinky-Dyes silks, stitched it over 1 and made a little 2 inch fob. I tried the trick of plain fabric on the back (strengthed with the same evenweave) and I think it turned out great (if a bit fiddley with such a small biscornu!). Once stuffed it was nice and smooth on the back.

June Recap, July Goals

June Recap...
WiPs...
~Castles in the Air, Pt. 3 Done!
~Alla Turca, Pts.4-6 Done!
~Kiwi Tote Bag Done!
New Starts...
~Just Nan's Beaded Rose Biscornu Done!
~San-Man's Going Bananas Done!
~San-Man's Kitty Frame Done!

July Goals...
WiPs...
~Castles in the Air, Pt.4 Started...
~Alla Turca, Pt.7 Done!
~Holland Landscapes, Pt.7 Done!
New Starts...
~Alexandrina's Summer Butterfly Biscornu Done!
~Something for Christmas in July...1991 Schooler Santa Done!
~Bluebird Soap Dispenser Done!
(and who knows what else?) ;-)

Castles in the Air progress report!

I finished adding Part 3 of Papillon's Castles in the Air today! It's already getting large, so next time I may have to add the q-snap extenders....

I also picked up a couple of framed pieces from my framer last Saturday. (Before a nice lunch with my stitching buddies!) This is Ink Circles' Growth Rings.

This is Praiseworthy Stitches' Winter Bird Delight. Blogger insists on rotating it 90 degrees, but you get the idea!

Kiwi Tote Bag

I finished this tote bag a couple of weeks ago, and now that my DD, the birthday girl, has turned 15 I can finally post a picture! The tote bag came from CharlesCraft, and the pattern is from a website called CraftWeb NZ, under the Assisi heading, and called the Kiwi Pin Cushion. (We have Kiwi relatives, and DD loves kiwi birds!) I stitched said Kiwi four times with four different varigated flosses, using color theory principles (warm/cool, primary/secondary, complementary colors). DD picked up on that right away, being the art student she is! Oh, and she got a cool new camera too, and started practicing on the cats right away. Hard to believe my little girl is growing up! Fast!

This week I've been working on part 3 of Papillon's Castles in the Air and hope to post a new pic soon!

San-Man cuties!

I got some cute charts and mounts from the San-Man Originals Secret Shop newsletter (limited edition charts for board members) and stitched up two of them right away! (I needed a break from all the over 1 stitching anyway!) ;-)

The first is called Going Bananas, and came with the matching tuck. I used DMC and white 14ct aida.

The second is called Kitty Frame, the frame included the little fishy chart to stitch. I used DMC and 14ct light blue aida. It's really tiny, as you can see by the thimble next to it!