Grapefruit WIP

I love this grapefruit pattern and all I want to do is work on it. As you can see, I haven't had much time to devote to stitching lately, but hopefully that will change soon. We'll see. (School is a bear, people! A BEAR!! ;)) I just wanted to pop in and say hi and show you what I am working on. 

Happy Thursday!

 

 

 

Devilishly Adorable

It's February! You know what that means...another DESSERT! ♥

Haven't joined the club yet? It's okay, you can still sign up! It won't take long for you to catch up 'cause these sweet treats are quick to stitch--perfect for both those who are just beginning to cross stitch and experienced stitchers who are looking for some instant gratification. 

Being the pattern tester for the Dessert of the Month club has its perks, people: I know what's coming in advance! I've stitched March's dessert, and ooooooh, is it ever cute! 

 I know, I am such a meanie for teasing you like this. ;)

In the meantime, enjoy this pic of February's dessert. Or, better yet, stitch him up yourself! He's devilishly adorable!!

Lovely Lemons

Hooray! I finished the Lemon WIP!

  How cute are these lemons?! I can't stop looking at them. They're just so stinkin' CUTE!

May: Lemon pattern by The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery

And how pretty is this fabric? I wish I knew more about it, but I inherited it without tags, so I have no idea what it is. I think it's hand dyed, and I think it's 32-count. Maybe. I suppose I could have used my cross stitch gauge to figure out the exact count, but that would have meant trying to locate the tool, and since I haven't actually used it, I'm not sure where I put it after I bought it years ago. ;) What I do know for sure, though, is that it's very sparkly (unfortunately, the sparkles barely show up in the pic) and very pretty. It looks like a sparkly sky. ☺

I tweaked the pattern ever so slightly when it came to the backstitching. For starters, I wasn't supposed to backstitch the eyes on the lemon slice, the pattern didn't call for it. Also, I used one strand of white thread instead of the suggested two for the lemon slice. I tried it with two, but I had issues with my thread being too twisted. I usually don't have problems with twisted thread, but I think because I was making such looooong stitches, my thread was being naughty. I wonder if something like Thread Heaven would have helped. (I've never used it.)

I was kind of sad when I finished this project. I LOVED stitching this, and I've missed working on it. Does anyone else experience that? It's similar to when I finish a really good book; I am glad that I've finished the story, but sad that the story has come to an end. There's a feeling of emptiness.  It's a mild feeling, but it's there nonetheless.

But! I have plans for my next project, and it's a cutie. I am on a citrus kick right now, so next up is February: Grapefruit, another pattern from The Pumpkins. Eep! ♥

Lemon WIP

The Lemon WIP is coming along quite nicely, if I do say so myself.

May: Lemon pattern by The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery

Sparkly fabric! ♥

I hope you're having a fabulous weekend!

Serial Starter

My eyes needed a break from the seriously small stitching I've been doing lately, so I decided to start something new. Something two-over-two.

May:Lemon pattern by The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery

I bought this pattern some time ago, probably last May when it debuted. Upon my purchase, I dutifully printed out the pfd pattern, gathered all the necessary floss (this included a trip to the store, as I did not have all the colors in my stash), and put everything together in a bag so I'd be ready to stitch at a moment's notice. Then I promptly lost the bag. Grrrr. I spent months trying to locate the darn thing. I kept looking in a different bag, thinking the supplies were in there, even though many searches revealed that they were NOT in that particular bag. (Brilliant plan, I know. *rolls eyes*)

Luckily, I found the correct bag yesterday. It was right under my nose the entire time. Oi. ;) Ain't that the way it always goes? Glad to have found my supplies, I eagerly started stitching this new project last night, despite the fact that I have many wips in the closet that could use some of my attention.

I don't even know how many wips I have; I've never counted them. I don't think I want to know. I don't really consider myself a serial starter. I have several seasonal wips, things that I can only work on for a couple months leading up to a particular holiday/season. Once it has passed, I move on. (I am the same way about burning candles. I burn seasonally. I can't burn a pine-scented candle in July, and I can't burn a honeysuckle-scented candle in December.) I also have many non-seasonal wips, things I started but got bored with and abandoned, always with the hope that I will someday find them interesting again. So maybe I am a serial starter.

I guess it doesn't matter, though, because I stitch what makes me happy. I figure there's no point in doing this if it doesn't make me happy. :)

Seriously Small

This house is seriously small, you guys.

Seriously.

There is still much to be done on this piece, and let me tell you, at the rate I am going, it is going to be quite a while before it's done. This is slow-going. It takes time, patience, and a really bright lamp to work on this.

I feel badly about something. When I first posted about this project, I failed to mention that I have, in fact, stitched over-one before--just once. And it wasn't an entire project done over-one, it was just a few words. In my defense, I had forgotten about all about that one time, and only remembered it when I came across this pic in my Flickr photostream:

Friends Are Like Angels by Lizzie*Kate

The words "are," "like," and "on" are done over-one. I don't even know when I stitched this. It was before 2003, I do know that. I don't recall having any issues with stitching over-one. My eyes were much younger then. ☺

Anyway, I feel like my post was misleading. I am trying something new in that I have never done an entire piece over-one. And it feels like I've never done over-one before, since it was so long ago that I did it that I can hardly remember it.

One more thing. This house is small. Seriously small.

ETA: I almost forgot! I need to give a big thank you to Glenda for the great tip she gave me about making each stitch individually. It's been much better since I switched! ☺

Join the Club...

..the 2012 Dessert of the Month Club, that is!

I have the extreme honor and pleasure of being the pattern tester for The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery's Dessert of the Month Club, and I even got to stitch the cover model you see up there. Isn't he just adorable? As you may recall, I stitched the January: Orange pattern last year, and it was awesome. (I LOVE that orange! And I LOVE this dessert club!)

Remember me? :)

If you sign up for the Dessert of the Month club before January 10th, the price is only $10. That includes 12 kawaii dessert patterns (one per month, delivered as a pdf to your inbox), along with instructions & ideas. Oh, and CUTENESS, which, as you may know, is one of my favorite things in the world!

Oh, and guess what? I have already stitched up February's dessert! I obviously can't show you what it is, but I can tell you it's SUPER cute!

Sign up today, friends! You will be SO happy you did! And be sure to check out The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery's Flickr group for inspiration. There are already pictures of January's Champagne Truffle popping up!