Hearts of America series

Hi all!  Went to visit my Dad on Father's Day and took this little heart with me to stitch on in the car. It's from the Victoria Sampler series Hearts of America, and is #19 for Indiana. 31 more states to go!  Eventually I want to make a quilt with the hearts. These little kits include everything you need and each one features a different specialty stitch, which is expanding my knowledge as I stitch!

Now on to the Chinese Garden Mandala, pt.2!!

June's tiny biscornu complete!

First off, I want to thank everyone for the kind wishes in regards to my knee problem. I got a cortisone shot and it feels much better! Unfortunately it's just my arthritis acting up and not much else can be done. The price of getting older, alas!

The month of June brings a new tiny biscornu for my necklace collection!  This is from a freebie by Janie Hubble called High Tea and Petit Fours. She finished it as a teacup pincushion, but  I stitched it on a scrap of 28ct Silkweaver Solo lugana over 1 and it ended up being just about an inch across!  I did not add a bead dimple because it was really too tiny and I had nothing that would work without hiding most of the stitching. Here it is before assembly.....

And here is the final product...

Still thinking about what pattern to use next month.....something red, white and blue no doubt! Before stitching this little cutie up, I was working on Chatelaine's Holland Landscapes. I finished the last window scene of the lighthouse, but still need to add the tulip garden over it and I'm stalling because I have already stitched the tulips three times! The drawback of a mandala....;-) I will probably pull out another small to take with me to my Dad's tomorrow...we are visiting for Father's Day...and I need something to do in the car for an hour each way.  More pictures coming soon and hopefully back to the Chinese Garden before the end of the month!

Third in the Micro series from Chatelaine done!

Here it is! Last week I mentioned I changed most of the colors on this Micro 03 by Chatelaine...8 of 11 to be exact. Frankly, the lime green silk and olive shades were not to my taste. I loved the Dinky Dyes Blue Bush however, so I changed many threads to a more blue green, keeping the same values of light to dark, in order to compliment the Blue Bush silk. I did use a couple of more yellow green, less jarring threads, and I think it gives a nice variety of piney shades, from longleaf to blue spruce. I love playing with colors! The PTB and Delicas stayed the same, and again I used the center over one motif (about 1.5 inches across) from the first colorway, and everything else from the second colorway. In all it's about 4 inches square!

I think I'd better return to Holland Landscapes and try to get the last window filled with it's landscape scene before returning to the Chinese Garden.....really in a Chatelaine state of mind lately!

At least I have an excuse for spending most of my time stitching these days....I tore a tendon in my right knee, and just today got an MRI on it. Have to wait until next Tuesday to see the orthopaedist again and find out if I need corrective surgery. We are in a late spring heat wave, so I don't have any trouble staying inside with my leg up and stitching away the hours!

Little House's Plums

Well, life is unpredictable around here it seems! We decided at the last minute to go to Atlanta over the Memorial Day weekend to see family gathering for my oldest niece's high school graduation. They did not have enough tickets for everyone so it was mainly a visiting session (probably just as well in the heat!) at my brother's house. I was hoping to get more done on Holland Landscapes, but will return to it later this month. I took the last of my Little House fruit series to work on and finished it up yesterday. This one is Plums, stitched on a Silkweaver solo with Crescent Colors. I have 9 done and am thinking I may just use the 8 fruits, and save the acorn and squirrel for something else. I need to dig into the quilting stash for fabric to make a door banner out of them, 2 x 4 blocks. My finishing basket is getting kind of full....may have to set aside a few days to work on some banners! I have a Christmas one and a Halloween one to finish as well.

I'm moving on to the first project of June, Chatelaine's Micro 03. Spent better part of the morning almost completely changing all the colors! I'm not a fan of lime green and olive brown!

Happy Stitching!

Little House's Apples

After a good two weeks on the Chinese Garden, I needed a break, and pulled out this Little House Needleworks piece from the Fruit series, which I stitched up over the weekend. I added the button just for fun! This is the 8th from the series I have stitched, with just Plums to go, and then I'll make a quilted banner for my kitchen closet door. These designs came with the Crescent Colors floss, and I used some Silkweaver solo small cuts for each. They are in my LHN album on Webshots if anyone is interested.

First progress report on the Chinese Garden Mandala!

After two weeks of steady stitching every evening I have finished the first part of the new Chatelaine design, the Chinese Garden Mandala! I am using the full silk kit from ECC, along with black 32ct Belfast linen. I love this part so much! It alone would make a nice top for a fancy lacquer box, don't you think? All the beads and crystals have been added because I like to add as I go or else I worry I'll miss one!


A couple of small changes due to the black fabric....I turned the lights on in the building by using the lightest yellow Eterna silk in the window openings before backstitching over them. I used the same green silk for the steps to backstitch the motif over the door, knowing that black on black just would not work!



And here is a close up of the central building with all the crystals!

Now I'm going to take a break and stitch a couple of smalls before moving on the the next BAP in the rotation....Happy Stitching!

Stitching thru the years...

Today I was adding a few freebie charts to my Excel file inventory and decided to take a look back at my stitching life. Most of the time I keep the list of charts and leaflets in alpha order by designer and title, with columns for publisher, chart size and subject/use. I have a column for supplies needed and as each project is started and finished I make note in a final column. Today I indexed the Date Done column and it was eye-opening! It took a while to enter all the charts, kits and leaflets still in my possession...the magazines are nowhere near entered, and some few old kit charts are long gone, but looking back to 1978 when I first learned to cross stitch (after having learned some crewel and needlepoint as a child) I spent the next 20 years until 1998 stitching about 50 different projects, mostly as gifts for friends and family. In 1998 I attended my first stitching "event", the Spirit of Cross Stitch, in Knoxville, TN and concurrently discovered the online world of stitching message boards. A obsessive stitcher was born!

Fast forward to today, more than a decade later, and I have reached the 400 project milepost! Frankly, I'm amazed! Keep in mind that does not include stitched projects from magazine charts, but I hope to get them added in time.....nor does it put much of a dent in my stash of charts/leaflets/kits that I want to stitch "someday"! It seems I have reached SABLE....*Stash Acquisition Beyond Life Expectancy*!! I need to stitch faster or grow another arm to be able to get to the end (not withstanding future Stash additions), and therefore my future retirement is secure in that I will never be without something to stitch, as long as they still make DMC!

Now, back to the task at hand.....stitching my newest acquisition, Chatelaine's Chinese Garden Mandala! Progress pics to come......

Two small projects before a new start to come!

Finally able to get a post up with my last April project and the first one of May!

I had another Kitty Kalendar monthly kitted so I did that while watching THE WEDDING festivities...I'm sure you all know what that's all about! Such a nice distraction from the woes of the world and before reality hit again on Sunday. At any rate, this one is August, stitched on another 28ct Silkweaver Solo with called for Weeks. Longing for some sunny days now!




Sunday I whipped out another mini biscornu necklace fob, this time with a pattern by Janie Hubble Designs (formerly Cat's Whiskers) http://janiehubble.com.au/
This is Peacock Feathers, a freebie you can get by signing up for her newsletter. Once you are on the list, you will receive the current newsletter link, and can access the newsletter archives, where other freebies are offered. Of course, to make it small for wearing on a chain, I stitched it over one using one strand of Gloriana's Tropical Seas. It's just over an inch across!


Next month I'll be using another of her freebies from the May newsletter, called High Tea!


My new start was my birthday present but I had to wait for the supplies to arrive from ECC...it's the new Chinese Garden Mandala from Chatelaine! My rotation has been working so well this year, I decided I needed a reward...another BAP! Watch for my first WiP picture later this month....;D

As promised, Evening in the Park update!

Took over a week of stitching after dinner, but here's my latest picture update on Chatelaine's Evening in the Park.

Part 8 includes all four wall corners. Gates go in the openings, and the winter bare trees and lampposts sit around the outside of the walled areas. EP is now 2/3rds done! The fabric is a 32ct opalescent called Blue Mystery, from Silkweaver. Just the right touch for a rainy evening in old London maybe? I keep expecting 101 dalmatians sneaking around the corners!

Weekend stitching on next Kitty Kalendar cat

Over last weekend I was able to squeeze a quick stitch on the July Kitty Kalendar cat from Val's Stuff. Plain old gray jobelan and Weeks with a few color adjustments due to stitching from stash. Another reason I miss my LNS that closed.

I am ready for summer after stitching this!


Now I am working on Chatelaine's Evening in the Park again. Happy Stitching!

Rose Garden Sampler SAL progress

My last couple of weeks, I have been working slowly on the WDC Designs Rose Garden Sampler SAL, and now can say it's over 20% done. The entire top row of this 24 page design is complete. Stitching with DMC on 25ct white lugana, one over one.



I have so many large pieces going or just about to start, I am giving each one some attention, rotating thru them as I go, and mixing in some small designs to give myself a break. Next up is from the Kitty Kalendar series, and later this month, back to a neglected Chatelaine, Holland Landscapes.

April's Tiny Biscornu

Over the weekend I stitched up another tiny biscornu from Tor Rhuann, the Daisy Garden. The fabric was a scrap of 28ct linen called watercress, thread from leftover kit floss. (always frugal with thread around here!) On the back I added little flowers of my own, inspired by the lazy daisy stitches on the front, and used french knots in the flower centers as contrast. You can see by the needle that this is really tiny, about an inch square!

This completes Belinda's Getting Squared Away series. I now have four tiny biscornu to wear on a chain! I will be going in search of more tiny patterns (16 stitches square or so) in my stash and on the web.

Now I'm going to spend a little time stitching on my Rose Garden Sampler at least until it's time to go down to the DMV and renew my driver's license....just like me to wait until the last day (my birthday!) to get it done! If it's not stitching (or reading) I just put it off. Going out to dinner with my hubby and daughter tonight, then stitching the evening away!