Thursday, September 9, 2010

What? Another SAL you say?

I must be certifiably crazy to start another SAL this year, especially one so large! I usually am not much into traditional samplers but when I tripped over this sampler SAL online I could not resist it! You can find it here. The designer is in Brazil, and her name is Wal D'Champs. Her company name is WDC Designs. The SAL is called Rose Garden and it is very unusual for a traditional sampler, and like I said...Large! Try 500x600 stitches! There are some wonderful motifs and animals on the sampler as well as several different alphabet styles. She is releasing a part every other month for a small fee of one dollar US for each part. Part 5 of 12 just came out, so I'm way behind already! It will last out this year and next so that will give me some time to catch up...assuming I do nothing but stitch, of course! It is charted in DMC, with and Anchor conversion. There are only 6 colors, three greens and three pinks. I changed the pinks slightly to match my decor in the guest room where it is destined to live. I decided that because of the size and my scroll frame limits I would stitch it on white 25ct lugana over 1. Here is a picture of what I have done so far, starting with the top middle point (pt.2) and working my way back eventually. This is just one motif! I included the floss so you can see the colors, and a picture of the cover to show the size.
You all know I also have signed up for the new Hummingbird Mandala from Chatelaine right?
I am still waiting on fabric for that....which would make my 5th *jumbo* piece going at once. Yep, I'm certifiable. That's not counting the CaHRH which would be *jumbo* if it were not on 40ct silk gauze! I wonder if they make an exercise bike with a scroll rod attachment?

August Recap, September Goals

Better late than never, here is my monthly goal report!

August Recap
WiPs....
~Christmas at Hawk Run Hollow, Block 8 Done!
~Castles in the Air, Pts.11 and 12 Done!
~Holland Landscapes, Pt.7 tulips Done!
New Starts...
~Country Bouquet Card, World of CS Mag Done!
~Summer Breeze Biscornu, Dinky-Dyes Done!
~Witchy Poo, Amy Bruecken Designs Done!
~January Kitty Kalendar, Val's Stuff Done!

September Goals
WiPs...
~Christmas at Hawk Run Hollow, Block 9 Working...
~Castles in the Air, Pts. 13 & 14 Postponed...
New Starts...
~2010 Schooler Santa Done!
~Rose Garden Sampler Started 9/4...page 3 done, working on p.4 rest of month...
~Zara Biscornu, Pelin Tezer Done!
~Kitty Kalender for Feb. Done!
~Hummingbird Mandala?? got fabric, will start in October

Christmas is sooner than you think!

Yep, I just realized...only about 3 and a half months till Christmas! I just recently got the 2010 Schooler Santa, so stitched him up over the first few days of the month...this year Santa is a skier! Eventually I'll have a whole tabletop tree of Santas when I get around to finishing them all into ornaments. ;-D


Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Holland Landscapes progress report

After neglecting this one for a year at least, I finally finished the pt.7 tulips on the bottom window....one more window and it's tulips and I will really feel like I'm making some progress on this Chatelaine! Of course, there is another one in UFO status, and a new one I'm just waiting on fabric to start. Must be something in the water to make me want to work on such big pieces!

I have a Christmas ornie kitted up to do next, then we will see what happens after that....


Sunday, August 29, 2010

Stitching and finishing...

Hi all! Well, Witchy Poo is still waiting to be finished, but I did get the card done, stitched and finished! The design from World of Cross Stitch magazine #167 by Edith Holden, was the free kit that came with the issue. It's called Country Bouquet, and the card came with it. I already know who I'm giving this to! I still have a few days to give Witchy Poo her due time, but today I'm working on some more tulips on Chatelaine's Holland Landscapes mandala. I will be so happy to get all the endless tulips done! Seems like I always get stuck in the middle where the repeats get a tad boring.....after that it seems to go much faster!

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Update on Castles again this month...

I have another Castles update this month, trying to catch up before the 15th part is out next month! This is my progress as of pt.12, the half-way point. It has gotten very large and my big floor stand is getting a workout lately! I'm taking a break from this big piece to stitch a card, one of the freebie inserts in World of Cross Stitching magazine, then it's on to another big project, Chatelaine's Holland Landscapes. Tomorrow I'll do some Friday Finishing on Witchy Poo.
The house is so quiet with DD at school now...guess I'd better do some more laundry and go stitch now!

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Gearing up for Halloween!

Halloween is only a little more than 2 months away, and I am in the mood to stitch something fun and funky! This is from Amy Bruecken Designs, and her name is Witchy Poo! Her best feature is her nose, so large it casts a shadow. I am going to turn her into a door banner with some cute Halloween fabric, so watch this space!

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Update on Christmas at Hawk Run Hollow

Updating Christmas at Hawk Run Hollow early this month, as Block 8 went a little faster. See if you can find the "extra" I added!




As a reward, I'm getting a new start, which will actually be a gift....getting a jump on fall birthdays this way! I'll be taking it to the local LNS's stitch night on Monday. It's a fun one!

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Castles update and a biscornu!

Hi all! I got part 11 of my Castles in the Air completed on the 7th. Part 11 is on the lower left, the next part mirrors it. I hope to get back to this later in the month....I am a couple of parts behind and need to catch up. Of course, that depends on how busy we get, as school starts for DD on the 25th!


Also, I finished off my monthly biscornu last night. This is Summer Breeze by Cat's Whiskers. It uses Dinky-Dyes silk, and the fabric is a solo opalescent from Silkweavers. I subbed a hummingbird bead for the top button. This was the fourth of the seasonal biscornu from Cat's Whiskers and Dinky-Dyes. Pictures of all my biscornu are in my Webshots album.

Thursday, August 5, 2010

First in a series kitty from Val's Stuff

I am collecting the series of Kitty Kalendars from Val's Stuff to stitch up as a quick break from all the big projects I am currently working on in rotation. This is the first one for January. The plan is to stitch them all up, and my framer will mount them and make one small frame to rotate them in and out monthly. She puts little rotating clips on the back of the frame and it's easy to pop the pieces out and replace them. Saves tons on framing costs too!
This one is stitched on a Ltd. Edition fabric by Silkweaver that was in the stash, and using Weeks, DMC and one subbed thread from Crescent Colors called Tabby (of all things!) for the cat, since I was out of Weeks Whitewash. I was working on this on Monday at my LNS's Stitch Night and accidentally switched the scarf purple and the teal border....no harm, no foul since they look fine to me! I wasn't happy with the eyes and whisker placement on the pattern, so I did a little "adjustment" and like it much better.

Monday, August 2, 2010

Christmas at Hawk Run Hollow update

Yes, it's time to post a new picture of my CaHRH silk gauze piece! I finished block 7 on the last day of July, just in time. Only change on this block is the name on the barn, as I gave my daugther a chance to improve it, and she named it Kira's Tree Farm, after herself of course!

Sunday I started the first of a series from Val's Stuff, the Kitty Kalendar for January. I am being liberal in my choice of fabrics and fibers, trying to use stuff from my stash on these. There is one for every month this year (Sept. just came out!) and I am planning on getting them all mounted to be rotated thru the year in a single frame. My framer has done this for friends of mine, and I really like the idea of saving money on frames! It is going really fast, so I should be through with January very soon! Watch this space.....

July Recap, August Goals

July Recap
WiPs.....
~Christmas at Hawk Run Hollow, Block 7 Done!
~Castles in the Air, Pt.11 Nope, better luck in August!
~Dragon Feathers Afghan Done finally!
New Starts....
~Victoria Sampler's Louisiana Heart Done!
~Teresa Layman's Singing Birds Done!
~Paw Printing's Raspberry Parfait Biscornu Done!

August Goals
WiPs....
~Christmas at Hawk Run Hollow, Block 8 Done!
~Castles in the Air, Pts.11 and 12 Both done!
~Holland Landscapes, Pt.7 tulips Done!
New Starts...
~Country Bouquet Card, World of CS Magazine Done!
~Witchy Poo, Amy Bruecken Designs Done!
~Summer Breeze Biscornu, Dinky-Dyes Done!
~January Kitty Kalendar, Val's Stuff Done!