It Is All About JOY!

Today is all about my sister JOY! It is her birthday! Yes, 36 years ago today my world was rocked when the Baby Princess was born. Here is a picture of the two of us, many years ago... It isn't the greatest picture, but the best I can do at the moment.














Since this blog is all about needlework, how about if I share some of Joy's stitching with you? Joy does beautiful work (much better than mine!) and has stitched a wide variety of projects. The best way to see her work is to visit her online album. Sometimes it is hard to get NetSnapShot albums to load, so in case you have trouble here are two pictures that I have on my computer. The first one is a recent finish from a Jeremiah Junction/Cross Country Stitching magazine. So pretty!!




















This next project is huge, and is absolutely stunning in person. I think it was a Dimension Chart and Charms. Joy stitched it several years ago for her daughter.















Well, Happy Birthday Sis! Hope you have a wonderful day!
Love,
'Chelle
P.S. Please don't hurt me for doing this!! Tee hee!
P.S.S. Are you sure your birthday isn't TOMORROW? Hahahaha

SBQ - July 29, 2005

Here is the SBQ for the week:

"What is your most unique/interesting stitching quirk? (This could be something concerning the way you stitch, how you organize your stash,etc.)"

As a rule, I don't frame my stitching. When I finish a project I iron it, photograph it and toss it in the cedar chest. I enjoy the process of stitching, and for me that process ends when the stitching is finished. I have no real desire to see it hanging on the wall. I do "visit" my projects regularly - my stitching fabric stash is stored in the same cedar chest with the finishes!

The exception to the "rule" would be stitching that is a gift or items I want to enter in cross stitch shows. Those things always need to be finished in some way. Occasionally I will complete a "soft" finish - I made Yankee Stitcher's Moonlight Stroll into a pillow. Isn't it lucky I'm not into the framing part? Think how much money that saves! HA!

One more thing... I don't have children and I suspect that someday my stitching (stash and finishes) will end up going to Goodwill or a dumpster. My plan is for all of it to go to the funeral home. Anyone who cares enough about me to come to visitation or the funeral is welcome to take whatever they like home with them. I know the idea is quirky and maybe morbid, but why not? You can't take it with you!

Felting, MIOM and Violet Threads

First of all the felting did not go very well. I'm not sure if I have wool blends and this is the best I can expect them to do or if I need to try felting them again. I've already run them through the washer twice but the dryer only once. After washing it once the whole batch reeked. It smelled of wet dog, cigarette smoke and Goodwill. Not a winning combination. (I should point out that all of the wool was from clothing I bought at Goodwill...so the fact that it only had those three odors was perhaps a bit of a miracle?) After a second washing and a 40 minute trip through the dryer the smell is gone. I don't have felt, but at least I no longer have stinky fabric! (Well, except for the 4 more batches I haven't tried washing yet...who knows if they will stink or not?)

Move It Out Monday is almost a bust this week. I planned to start my vintage tea towel for Violet Threads. It isn't on my MIOM list, but it should be. On Monday I traced the design onto the towel using my low-tech-but-effective piece of plexiglass and gooseneck lamp. It worked like a charm! Then I spent several hours agonizing over colors. I hate to choose colors! At first I thought I wanted vintage colors, then I decided I wanted colors that would look good in my kitchen. I finally just threw a few colors together and said "uncle"! Monday came and went and no projects were started.

Tuesday night was Violet Threads, a bright spot in the week. For some reason I was not firing on all cylinders on Tuesday. I couldn't think straight and if my thinking was right then it would come out of my mouth all wrong. Anyway, we arrived at Eden and the door was locked! What a bummer. We waited until 10 minutes after 7pm, then we went to Imo's. I had to run home first and drop off the fresh fruit I brought for a snack. Imo's wasn't going to be happy if I showed up carrying food! During Violet Threads I split up the silks for Sue's design Be Ever Thankful. This is such a savings. Since we are splitting the silks between 3 of us, the cost for the chart, fabric and silk is just over $21 per person. It was $26 for the silks alone. I've said all of that to say that I didn't get my towel project started during Violet Threads. This might just have to be a MIOM-free week.

A Few Works In Progress

Somewhere along the line I got out of the habit of scanning, photographing or in some way recording my progress on projects. With Move It Out Monday the WIP list is growing and my finishes feel farther and farther apart. I pulled out a few projects tonight and scanned them. I am making slow progress on them, but it feels very slow.

First for your consideration - Periwinkle Promises Antique Sampler Accent
This is a FUN stitch. The instructions are great, the AVAS silks are yummy and I'm having fun with the specialty stitches. My only whine about the kit is that the fabric is exactly the right size for stitching and finishing as pictured, so it isn't big enough to go into a Q-Snap. I do miss my Q's. Of course when the stitching is done I'll be thrilled that it is exactly the right size so I don't have to do any major trimming around the edges! I am already on band 8. There are 12 bands total. Perhaps a happy dance is around the corner? (Waving at Lelia - this is the one!)













Next up is Cross Eyed Cricket - Green Thumb, Garden Initials
I didn't think I could find a good picture of this project on the internet so I scanned a smidge of the photo on the chart. It is tiny, but you get the idea.









The model was stitched on Sage Jobelan, but it sure looks pink in my scan. I am stitching my version on a pretty R&R fabric called Nearly Spring Green. I love the way the yellowish greens in the project kind of clash with the fabric. (I know, I'm crazy.) I can't wait to stitch the froggie on top of the trowel!



















Finally, La-D-Da - Bless This House
You can see a decent picture of this design at Shakespeare's Peddler - you will need to scroll down a few pictures. When I saw this design it screamed "stitch me BIG" so I decided to stitch it like a Bent Creek Zipper on 18 count fabric over two with perle cotton. Then I turned the chart over and discovered that it is charted for Sampler Threads. Oh boy, I was going to have to convert it to Weeks or whatever I could find. EEK! I considered stitching it on a higher count fabric, but it kept begging for BIG. Thanks to Heather at Mom & Me and my friend Linda I was able to choose conversion fibers. Pardon this picture, it is a bit dark and the fabric was a little lumpy on the scanner.


















I will post my floss conversions as I go. So far I've only used 3 colors. I changed the Old Blue Paint to Weeks Dolphin, the Blue Spruce to Weeks Juniper and Black Crow to Watercolours Dark Shadows. So far I am very happy with the results. The Dark Shadows was a slightly scary choice because I have stitched with other Caron fibers but never Watercolours. It looked "fuzzy" compared to the Weeks. I am pleased to report that it stitches beautifully and I love the color. Thanks to Heather for suggesting this one! I am using the Danish method to cross stitch this project, in spite of using overdyed threads. It has a muted look and is a little bit less striped, if you know what I mean.

Tonight I am attempting to felt wool. Right now it is in the dryer. Tune in later and I'll let you know how it turned out. I might also have a thing or two to say about Violet Threads this week and the status of my MIOM project for the 25th. But first...a trip to the dentist tomorrow. ACK!

Sidewalk Sale

Today was the sidewalk sale downtown. The Quilted Garden sold table space on their parking lot so stitchers could sell their stash garage-sale style. Of course, I had to go! Unfortunately it was wicked hot today and shopping was miserable. I did manage to come home with a pile of treasures. Mostly it is a hodge-podge of needlwork publications from the 1940's to the 1980's with a few other things thrown in. Here is a picture.



The pile of stuff on the right is odds and ends from various embroidery or crochet kits and designs. Also in the picture is a 2-yard piece of (blue) fabric with Paul Revere on it and a greeting card with an embroidered palm tree. The 5 cross stitch magazines are "Women's Circle Counted Cross Stitch" from 1988/89. This is a publication that I am not familiar with.

I also bought some yarn from a woman who was packing things up to go home. (Did I mention it was wicked hot?) I don't knit or crochet - I have no idea what I'm going to do with this stuff! It was so beautiful I couldn't pass it up. If I understood correctly, she spins and dyes these herself. Here is a picture.



The color is more dusty mauve than the picture shows. There are three different types of yarn. The ball on the right is wool. I'm not positive what to call the other types. I should have put something else in the picture to give you some perspective. The hank on the far left side is about 14 inches long.

Micky from MickysNeedlework.com had a table. Unfortunately she was packing up as well, and the only things left to look at were plastic canvas booklets. I've been to her site many times and heard quite a bit about her but never had the opportunity to meet her. What a neat lady!

Stitching Update - I didn't get a chance to stitch today but last night I worked on my Periwinkle Promises project. I made significant progress and I'm really enjoying the silks. I need to get started on my kitchen towel before the Violet Threads meeting on Tuesday. I need to transfer the design, choose floss colors and get started stitching. I'm excited about embroidering an every-day item that I will use! It will be fun to work on this as a group.

SBQ - July 21, 2005

I'm a day late with my SBQ. I'd like to say it is because I've been carefully considering the question and framing a well thought out answer. Alas, that is not the case. I'm just late!

"Have you ever done a color conversion? If so, what did you think about your results and would you do it again? If not, would you like to try someday?"

First let me say that what I enjoy about stitching is the process - shopping for stash, kitting the projects, starting and stitching them. Changing the colors (or heaven forbid the design!) is not my idea of a good time. With that said, from time to time I do lose my mind and change something. A few examples:

BH&G – Prizewinning Mini Samplers – Blooming Rosebuds This design is part of a larger sampler and uses a variety of colors. I wanted to see how it would look stitched with just one overdyed, so here it is with Needle Necessities #127. Is that even a conversion?



















Bent Creek Summer Zipper - this is an old zipper and came with floss instead of perle cotton. I'm addicted to stitching these with perle cotton so I converted it to perle. Not all of the colors used were available in perle so I fudged a few of them. Check out this pic - you can see the dark green of the melon rind it too dark next to the blue checks. Note to self - if you can't find a good perle match, stitch it with the floss!





















Blackbird Designs Country Garden - I stitched it the first time with the colors it called for, only on Waterlily fabric. The second time I stitched it on Buttermilk fabric but changed the flowers to WDW Americana. I think it turned out ok - not great, just ok.







































La-D-Da Bless This House - This design begged to be stitched BIG so (with help!) I converted the Sampler Threads to a variety of #5 perle cotton sized fibers. This is a WIP, for a pic see my July 18th post. So far it looks pretty good, but I have a long way to go.

So I've made some good decisions and some bad decisions. The key is that I don't enjoy making changes. It just isn't fun. I'm impressed with stitchers who can look at a design done in multiple shades of blue and say "wow, I'd like to stitch that in purple" and change all of those blues to purples. I can't do that! And I don't even want to try.

Patience Please!

Thanks to those who posted such nice comments on my blog. I really appreciate the feedback. Unfortunately I'm still pretty new at this and I really don't have a clue how to respond appropriately to questions, etc. Tonight I emailed a few of you. Thanks for your patience - I'll figure this out eventually. Until then I'm sure to stick my foot in something messy at least once!

My parents are in town this week, so it was a busy day. I put in a few stitches tonight on Bless This House. I'm still loving the colors - it is so hard to put down.

It is Tuesday and normally I would have stitched TdF for the French Sampler SAL...but *I'm already done with Part 11*!!! Tee hee!!! Ok, now I'm just showing off. Time to go...

Two Finishes and MIOM

I have two happy dances to report. My zipper is finished - including the button. This is Bent Creek's Sow Kind Seeds Zipper.















My second finish is Part 11 of Terre de France. When next month's part is stitched I will be half done. I think a party is in order!















I started my Move It Out Monday project on Sunday. I'm stitching La-D-Da's Bless This House over 2 on Cork linen. It is like a Zipper! I changed all of the fibers to perle cottons. This was a real challenge, because the design is charted for Sampler Threads. I found good Weeks matches for most of them and chose Caron threads (Watercolours, I think) for the rest. Heather (the Me of Mom & Me) and my friend Linda from Violet Threads helped me choose the linen and floss. Thanks you two - I owe you! I absolutely love the way it is turning out. Here is my progress as of Sunday:















I took this picture outside - it shows the true colors of the floss but really washes out the fabric color. The fabric is much darker.

That's all for now. Hopefully more tomorrow!

TNT

Last night was Ties, Needles and Threads - aka TNT. I've grown to love this guild! It is about 95% quilters so the primary discussions are about quilting. The meeting usually starts with a guest speaker or presentation, then we have refreshments, conduct the business part of the meeting, and end with show-and-tell. I don't quilt and I don't plan to start anytime soon. So what is it about this group that I love? I think it is the enthusiasm for needlearts. There are dozens of very talented needlewomen in the guild and seeing their work is such an inspiration.

Several months ago the group had a UFO night. The idea was to unearth your oldest UFO and bring it in for show-and-tell. Of course there was a prize for the oldest one. Last night one of the UFOs returned. Jane completed the embroidered tablecloth that she started in 1957! It is a very large and beautiful piece. Note to self - take the digital camera to TNT!

The guest speaker last night was a guild member whose last name escapes me at the moment. Linda is truely a quilting artist. The quilts she brought were original designs. Some were wallhangings and some were bed-size quilts. Her enthusiasm for her art was contagious. I'm not going to start quilting, but it did "rev my engine" for the needlework that I love!

There was a lot of discussion last night about Art East. Several of the guild members enter this art show. I want to attend the show this year so I can at least see what the fuss is about!

An applique class was mentioned; it is sponsored by the Heartland Guild. (As usual Linda and I are in the dark about this stuff - what is the Heartland Quild? Where and when does it meet? Is it all about quilts?) I read the paperwork about taking the applique class - I would love to learn how to applique! Unfortunately it was a class for intermediate to advanced students. I really need a beginner class. The price was right though - only $35 for the entire day and it included lunch! Wow!

During the meeting I almost finished my Sow Kind Seeds Zipper. I thought it was done until Linda pulled out a button that needs to be attached to it. Ugh! It really needs to be pressed before I attach the button. I guess that will be a project for tonight. I need and deserve a finish! I tried to start La-D-Da's Bless This House, but they were doing show-and-tell and I just couldn't concentrate on both things at once.

One more thing - I lost my needle last night, or I thought I did! Linda helped me and we searched everywhere. Finally we gave up and packed up our toys to go home. At the last minute I remembered to take off my name tag. I always attach my name tag to my blouse with one of Sue's Needle Minders. There on the Needle Minder was my lost needle - it wasn't so lost after all. The only thing I lost was my MIND!

SBQ - July 13, 2005

Here is the SBQ for the week:

"What do you do when you have some sort of obligation stitching to do,but don't want to do it?"

Take it like medicine! Stitch it and get it over with. Or just commit to stitching one length of floss per day - no more, no less. It takes a long time to finish a piece this way, but eventually it does get finished.

Of course, the real key is to NEVER (ever) get roped into obligation stitching. That is much easier said than done!

Musings from Monday, Tales from Tuesday

Yesterday was a busy day. Ginger came over to stitch and we decided to run to Mom & Me. (Yes, I was just there on Saturday - am I bad or what?) I bought fabric for the MIOM Homespun Elegance project that had the wrong size fabric in it. It is now ready to go. I asked about the shop model that Linda and I like so well. It is Autumn Bouquet by Blackbird Designs. The model stitcher was there working so I was able to ask her about it. She left off the alphabet and several motifs. No wonder I couldn't figure out which chart it was! Ha! Of course, I had to buy the chart. I also bought Goode Huswife's A Quaker Four Corner Sampler. Neat chart! I found a Thistle Threads design called Though Far We Be in the sale room for 1/2 price. It is very "me" and includes instructions for making it into a stationary keep. Way kewl. After stashing we went to Martha's Tea Room for lunch. The food was delicious as usual.

Yesterday was also MIOM. I started Antique Sampler Accent by Periwinkle Promises. Ooh-la-la, I do love those AVAS silks! I'm already half way through the 3rd band - I just couldn't put it down. I'm looking forward to finishing it into a pillow.

Legacy is having a contest so this morning I worked on designing a fall sampler. I think my designing skills are "iffy" at best, but I sure had fun with it. If I can figure out a way to save what I've done so far, I might just enter the contest. The design needs some work and I'm not convinced the colors are anywhere close to what I want. We'll see!

This is Tuesday so tonight I will be stitching on TdF. Obviously I didn't get it finished over the weekend. I doubt if I can finish it tonight, but I should be able to get quite a bit done. Stitching plans for the rest of the week? I want to finish the leaves in the tree on MHT. I want to finish the Sow Kind Seeds Zipper. I want to work on several of my previously started MIOM projects. I would love to finish a few of them this month!

Stashing and Stitching

Anne came over for a visit today. It was fun to catch up! She is almost finished with A Year Full of Happy and it looks great! We made a quick trip to Mom and Me. Anne needed GAST and WDW. I had fabric and silks to pick up for Sue's new design that several of us from Violet Threads will be stitching. Apparently they had a really busy day at Mom & Me with several large groups coming in. I think the new stuff from market was pretty picked over. That's ok, I'll be going back with Ginger on Monday!

This afternoon/evening Anne and I enjoyed our stitching time. I started Part 11 of TdF and have most of the left side finished already. I love the motifs in this part! Anne went home just a bit ago, so I'm heading back to my stitching nest. Maybe I can finish Part 11 this weekend!

A Collection of Over One

How do I love over one? Let me count the ways! For some reason it is just more fun than stitching over two. My first "big" over one project was actually pretty small. I saw the La-D-Da design "Bo-Peep" and it screamed to be stitched over one. Susan suggested 36 count fabric, and like an idiot that's what I did. Eek, talk about tiny! When I had the project nearly finished Meri showed us a good over one technique. I didn't change techniques mid-project, but I have used the new technique on almost all of my over one projects since then. Here is Bo-Peep. It won a 2nd place ribbon at Rockome!

Here are a few of my other over one projects:

Brightneedle's Key West Sampler

Meri Abrams - Purple Hat Sampler; this is the project Meri used to teach us the (new to me) over one technique.

Paula designed this and offered the chart at the first SLS stitch in she attended. It can be finished in one of those teensy tiny metal frames and can be worn as a pendant or pin. I scanned it with a penny to show just how tiny it is

Threads of Gold - Partridge in a Pear Tree

Lizzie Kate - Make It Personal, Joined In Love

Over one WIPs? Of course! LHN - Early America freebie. I just started it Monday. It is going to be so cute!

If this collection of over one projects isn't evidence of my eclectic taste, what is?

Stitching Blogger's Question

I recently joined a Yahoo group for stitching bloggers. The owner of the group asks a stitching related question every week for stitching bloggers to respond to. I think it is a fun idea! In the future I'll title my Stitching Blogger's Question entries as "SBQ" with the date. Here is the question for this week:

"Do you think that you stitch neater on Evenweave than you do on Aida cloth? If so, why?"

I think my stitching is neater on linen because I'm a more experienced stitcher than I was when I stitched on Aida. It is more about experience than fabric. I taught myself to cross stitch and I didn't find out there were "rules" (all top stitches go one direction, don't carry too far on the back, etc.) for many years. Today I don't always choose to follow all of the "rules" but my projects are much neater than they used to be.

Home from the Wedding

What a great weekend! Anna married Justin on Saturday. It was a beautiful ceremony and Anna looked gorgeous. What a dress! Beth beaded the bodice. WOW!

On Monday (for MIOM) I started LHN Early America (a freebie) using Crescent Colours on a piece of pretty R&R fabric, all of which I picked up at Stitcher's Express in June. I'm stitching it over one. It looks great so far - I love over one!

I also worked on MHT this weekend. I stitched several of the leaves using the color Rebecca from Legacy recommended...and it didn't make my socks roll up and down. I talked it over with Mom and Joy and finally figured out what my "problem" is. I love the design, but I'm really not in love with the colors. So I'm going to wing it. I'm going to choose colors I like as I go and just see what happens. I frogged out the leaves for a second time and stitched them using Anchor 861. I like it and will continue with this color for the leaves of this tree. I'm not sure what I'll do about the fruit in this tree. I guess I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

Here are a few pictures of Anna and Justin, mostly because they are so cute together and I can't resist! Scott was the photographer for both of these.