Never Too Early

Noel Jingles Flip-it by Lizzie*Kate

It's never too early to get started on Christmas stitching, right? 

It took me a mere day, day-and-a-half to stitch this cute Lizzie*Kate piece. I love it! I don't quite know how I will finish it, though. I might make it into an ornament. A tiny frame would be cute, too. I probably won't make a decision until December. Let's just hope it's this December....

Teeny Tiny Gingerbread Gal

My love affair with 40-ct linen continues.

Pattern by The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery

☺☺☺

Penguin Ornament

My sweet friend Glenda sent me some cross stitch patterns a couple months ago, so I thought it would be nice to make her a Christmas ornament as a little thank you. 

"Snow Globe Cutie:Penguin" by The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery

This cutie was stitched on Misty Blue Belfast by Zweigart. The floss is DMC, but not all the colors were the recommended ones. I needed to change the scarf to Christmas-y colors, and I needed to change the body of the penguin so it would stand out more against the blue of the linen. I chose the blue linen so I could skip filling in the background of the snow globe (huge time saver!). I took a cue from a picture I saw on Flickr and outlined the snow globe with metallic floss. I used a Kreinik #4 braid that I had in my stash. I love that stuff!

This little cutie really is little--that's a 4-inch hoop in the first picture. He was a quick, fun stitch. Isn't he adorable?

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Snowflake Ornament

I have been collecting Just Cross Stitch's annual Christmas ornament magazines off and on since 2001, and I hadn't made one single thing from those magazines until this year. Now I am wondering why I waited so long!

"Snowflake 2001" from the Just Cross Stitch 2001 Special Issue--Christmas Ornaments

Isn't it sweet? I didn't use the fabric or the fibers (or even the specific beads) that designer Margot Cook of Heritage Series used, but I love love love how it turned out.

I loved stitching this. I used Crystal Monet Cashel by Picture this Plus (I think that is what this is stitched on, but don't quote me on it because I am not 100% positive about what I used) and Needles Necessities floss. That company is now Threadworx, and while the dye lots are the same, the names of the colors are not. I have no clue what this was called originally (did it even have a name, or was it just a number?), as I lost the wrapper long ago, and I have no clue what it's called now. I think it's this one, though. Or maybe this one. Anywho...I also used some variety of Mill Hill's petite seed beads, but your guess is as good as mine as to which ones. ;)

I sent this ornament to my dear friend Julie, my #1 blogging buddy and favorite stitching pal. I hope you like it, J!

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Ornaments Given and Received

Happy New Year! 

Here is a peek at two ornaments I made last year. They are for my sons' teachers, but because the last day of school before vacation ended up being snowy and thus cancelled, the ornaments are still here at home with me. That's okay, the teachers will get their gifts when school resumes next week, and it gave me time to photograph the ornaments after the holidays, when the hectic pace had slowed and--miracle of miracles!--the sun came out for an entire day. 

 

 

Pattern by Wild Olive, originally blogged about here.

 

Pattern courtesy of Bustle & Sew

There is a story behind that bunny ornament. My oldest, who is in the third grade, adores his teacher. She has a black and white bunny who has been ill. :( My son wrote a get well letter for the bunny and gave it to his teacher (so sweet!), but that wasn't enough for his sensitive little soul. He wanted to give his teacher a Christmas ornament of a black and white bunny so, as he stated, "She can see it on her tree on Christmas Eve and think of me." (Oh! How sweet is that?) Well, as you can imagine, bunny-related items of any type are in short supply in December, and finding an ornament was impossible. So I made one. :)

How do you like the basket? I used Sublime Stitching's new Mingles floss. Fun!

Speaking of ornaments, check this out!

Julie made me an ornament! Eeeeeep! ♥ She sent me the loveliest package of goodies at Christmastime, and I was so thrilled to find this beautiful, hand stitched ornament amongst the gifts.

Even the backside is adorable!

(And here is a link to the ornament I made for Julie, in case you're interested. Does it look familiar? :) I had a hard time sitting on that secret for all those months!)

I hope 2013 is treating you well thus far. For me, it's been nice just being home with the kiddos. Oh, and I've been working on a new project. I'll be sharing details about that soon--stay tuned!

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Fun & Exciting

I am in the midst of a super fun and exciting project.

 This is one of Lizzie*Kate's fabulous Christmas designs. That's the fun part. The exciting part is that this piece is for my local needlework shop (lns). It's going to be a shop model! Wooooooohooooo!

I am so lucky to have a wonderful lns close by. Online shopping is great, but nothing compares to a brick and mortar shop. I love chatting with Lee, the owner of the shop, about the lastest charts and patterns, flosses and fabrics. Being able to feel and see the linen and floss before you buy them is wonderful. Let's face it, comparison shopping online is difficult, to say the least, when it comes to linen. It's also fabulous to see what others are stitching--and seldom does anyone come into the shop without a wip in tow. 

Isn't Santa darling?

I love Santa's beard. Can you believe there's green in it? So unexpected--and so cute!

I adore those little cookies...

 ...and the gingerbread man as well. So far, I think "Cookies" is my favorite section of this piece.

I love the colors used in this project, too. Most of the threads are Weeks Dye Works--fun!

As you can see, I've completed four sections, which means I am about 1/3 of the way through this project. It hasn't taken too long thus far, thank goodness. (The finished piece will measure approximately five-and-a-half  by twenty-four-and-a-half inches!) I need to get this done in time for Lee to decorate the shop for Christmas.

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Stitching 2011

Well, I didn't think I'd have much with which to make a mosaic, but I was surprised when I went through my pics and found more than I remembered stitching. I've blogged about much of what you see in the mosaic, but not all. Maybe you see an unfamiliar piece or two...?

Anyway, stitchy friends, I hope 2011 was as kind to you as it was to me. Thanks for being here to share it. ☺

Christmas Eve Stitching & Sewing

I, in my infinite wisdom, decided that I didn't have enough to do before Christmas Day, and started a new project last night (a gift for a family member). I was up a couple hours past my bedtime working on this:

Design by Sublime Stitching

 I kinda (okay, totally) wish I were keeping this tea towel for myself. It's really cute! As you can see, I still have some work left to do (the starburst thingies), but I plan to finish this after dinner tonight.

AND--the "L" is almost done! As in, almost completely sewn! There is just a little bit left to do. Hooray!!

Okay, I've got to get back to work. Wish me luck getting everything done by (gulp!) tomorrow. And Happy Holidays, everyone!

Ballet Slippers (and a WIP)

I am almost finished with the handmade Christmas gifts. I didn't make as many as I would have liked, but oh well. There's always next year, right? :)

I made another ornament much like the last one, but this time I traced the pattern onto tracing paper instead of transferring it, as the instructions recommended. It worked well.

From the 12 (Days of Christmas) pattern set by Wild Olive

As you can see, I strayed from the instructions just a bit by adding a border to the ornament. I hadn't planned to add it, but it just needed a little something, ya know what I mean?

Anyway, I hope this little ornament reaches its destination before Christmas! Perhaps its chances would be better if I'd sent it out yesterday...or last week...luckily, it doesn't have too far to go. The recipient lives in the same state as I do.

Oh, and see that piece of embroidery under the ornament? That is for my baby niece. I made an ornament for her older sister, Z, last year, before Baby L was born. (If you click the link, be sure to scroll down the page, the pic is toward the end of the post.) It's only fair that Baby L has one, too. :)

I started the "L" embroidery last night, and I am pleased with the progress I made. That took...let's see...two episodes of Antiques Roadshow and two Christmas specials (one of which was Charlie Brown, yea!). Not too shabby. All I have left to do it fill in the "L" with satin stitches, and then stitch the whole thing into an ornament. Wish me luck getting all that done by Christmas! This week is a busy one!!

You can find the Monogram for Hand Embroidery: Letter L pattern here.

I've done a lot of cross stitching this year, and it was nice to sit down with some hand embroidery for a change. I love cross stitch (love love love it!), but it's slow-going. It's nice to sit down for a few hours and see some real progress occur. (All you cross stitchers know what I mean!!)

Well, my friends, I hope your holiday season has been merry and bright! ♥




~~~Linking up with:~~~

Wild Olive

A Finish and a Progress Pic

Hooray, this project is finally done. (The details about it, like what kind of floss I used, and what the heck that fuzzy stuff on Santa's hat is, can be found in this post from last month.)

I really don't know why it took me ten years to do this. I'm glad it's done now, for it is super cute and will look great with my other Christmas stitchy pieces.

And of course, no post would be complete without a progress pic of my current WIP.

Progress as of 10/17/11

The chances of this being finished before Halloween are growing quite slim, but it's ok. Just working on it has been fulfilling enough. :)

Ready or Not (WIP)

I am not ready for Christmas stitching, though now is the time that I ought to start working on it. I am still having a nice time working on Halloween stuff. But before long, ready or not, December will be here, and I will undoubtedly find myself wishing that I had worked on this wip from years ago.

I started this ten years ago, when the pattern was released. Poor Santa, he keeps getting stashed away in a dark closet while I work on other things. The last time I worked on him was a couple years ago. 2011 really ought to be the year that this jolly guy gets finished. 

This pattern calls for a lot of Weeks Dye Works overdyed floss, which is SO fun.

A floss named after booze has got to be good, right? ;) Except, unfortunately, the thought of Whiskey makes me queasy. *shudders*

It's still a really pretty color, though. It's very variegated, which I love. I love the lettering, too, which is also done with a highly variegated color.

Besides the cool WDW floss, this project uses a bit of blending filament to add sparkle to the snow.

It's difficult to see the sparkles in this pic, which is unfortunate. It's really quite pretty.

This pattern also uses something really neat called Wisper thread, which is a one-ply, super fuzzy floss from the Rainbow Gallery. I've used it before in the past, and I really like it. It's fun stuff.

Just look at how fuzzy it is!

The pattern calls for this Wisper to be used on Santa's hat trim, beard, and cuffs. I, however, chose to stitch his beard with white cotton floss instead, for I didn't know if I would have enough Wisper to complete the beard. At the time I made that decision, I was packing Santa up to take along with me somewhere, and I didn't want to risk getting halfway through the beard and running out of Wisper. The thought of putting Santa on hold, beard partially completed, while I waited until I could get my hands on more Wisper, was something that I just couldn't bear. That was two years ago. Clearly, I could have waited to get more Wisper, seeing that I put Santa back in the closet yet again. Oh well! Santa's beard is a few shades whiter than his cuffs and hat trim, which I think says a lot about Santa's grooming habits. The man likes his beard to be clean & bright at all times. :-)

I'm so close to being done!

As you can see, I am this close to being done with Santa. All I have to do is finish the hat trim, and then do a little bit of backstitching. (Also, I think I will re-stitch his eyes; the perfectionist in me doesn't like the way I did them.) Maybe I will actually finish Santa this year. I can't turn this into an eleven year wip! Ten is enough!!

Last Project of 2009=First Post of 2010

Hey there, Stitchy Peeps!

Wooooo hooooo! It's 2010! Hard to believe 2009 is over. It's also hard to believe that my last post was a month ago. Yikes. Sorry about that. December was a busy month for me, as I am sure it was for all of you.

I only have one picture to share with you today. Some of you may know that Mollie graciously shared advent patterns with her readers during the month of December. Here is my take on the them:



There are 24 individually stitched pieces. There is actually a 25th pattern, but it wasn't on Mollie's website yet when I snapped this pic. Though this project isn't technically finished and is therefore a WIP (nothing has been sewn together yet), I was still VERY proud of myself for getting this much done by Christmas Eve.

I am pleased with my choice to do everything in red. It not only looks so cheery and Christmas-y, but it made for some very easy stitching. See that tree there on the right side of the pic, about halfway down? I whipped that up in 8 minutes. I timed it. :)

By the way, I recommend viewing this pic on Large in flickr to see everything better. It's not the greatest pic in the world, as the light--or lack thereof--was very poor, but it's worth seeing, in my humble opinion. ;)

Oh, and before I forget, check out this interview that the super rad Pam (aka Faster Kittykill) did with me on her blog. And while you're there, be sure to take note of all the other cool things Pam blogs about. She's got quite a few interviews with some mega talented people, along with movie recommendations, drink recipes, and cute dog tales. Pam is the coolest kid on the block, folks!

Well, that's it for me, my beloved darlings. I hope you aren't mad at me for taking soooooo much time in between my last post and this one! I will try harder to post more often now that the hustle and bustle of the holidays is behind me. After all, I have a trillion projects to work on, so there will be plenty to blog about. So stay tuned! I will be back with something soon. Until then...

Happy Stitching!

A Delicious WIP

Hey there, Stitchy Peeps!

I decided to take a break from the things I need to do (making gifts and ornies) and do something that's just for me.









(Pattern by Wild Olive.)

Yes, yes, I know I should be working on one of the gazillion gifts I need to make. But if I don't get at this soon, it will too late to enjoy it during the Christmas season. And I love this pattern so very much that I simply must be able to enjoy it during this Christmas season. ♥-♥-♥

I hope to be back soon with either updated WIP pics or (fingers crossed) pics of a completed project. :) :) Until then...

Happy Stitching!