Looky looky!

Look what came in the mail yesterday. Karen at Pins and Needles did a fabulous job finishing my pumpkin sampler (and photographing it). Isn't it gorgeous? Thank you, Karen!

Staycation

I am having a bit of a staycation. DH and the girls went to see my MIL for spring break, and I am home alone this week. I love my family. I'll be excited to see them on Saturday. I'm enjoying my free time this week. Even though I'm only taking one day off from work, I have been using my extra time in the evenings on projects that are too difficult to tackle during the usual bustle of school, work, dinner, and laundry. I'm cleaning out closets and cupboards. I'm reorganizing shelves. I've left a mess on my dining room table all week as I sort things out. And I've been crafting.

Last night, I finished my witch. This was a fun project. It's DMC (108 + 310) on Aida, and the original pattern is here.

I don't think I've shown you this project before. It's Cathy Jean's Buttercups. I've been working on it since 2008. It's one of those projects that goes pretty quick when I'm working on it, but then I set it down and forget about it for a while. This is going to be a birth sampler for one of my girls. It's a companion to this piece. I'm using the same fabric and the indicated threads. I stitched the left side lavender on Sunday at my craft group, the one I rarely get to attend any more. It was fun to sit and stitch with my friends again.

This is my April swap card. The theme was black, white, and one bold color. I used Rose Red. The stamps are SU! Botanical Blooms.

Wishing you all a Happy Spring!

My Nephews' Samplers

I can't believe I forgot to post the pictures of these framed. The pictures are horrible, but you can see the framing OK. All three use the same frame and same green mat. The undermat is light blue on two and yellow on one. The framer did a fantastic job making them all the same height, as there's about an 1 to 2 inch difference between all of the samplers. The widths are all different, but close enough that the casual observer isn't going to notice.

My sister was delighted with them, and my oldest niece started campaigning to get a matching one with bling. I don't have a picture of hers, but it's very country-kitchen sort of design (I bought the pattern in colonial Williamsburg in 1992) and done in bubble gum colors. It was my sister's style when my niece was born, but it's so much not my niece. Since her birthday is also in November, I'd either re-do the middle pattern or find something similar.

More finishing!

Just in time to go to the needlework store tomorrow, I finished the last of the samplers for my nephews. I'm so excited. In all its beaded glory, I give you the Bluebell Sampler.

Furlough Finishing Flury

It rained last week. A lot. Here are a few of the projects that I finished. I'm having others do the final finishing on all of them and will show you pictures when I have them back. I am >< this close to having a happy dance on my other nephew's sampler. I also have a few other projects almost ready to show you. 

Bent Creek, The Pumpkin Flower Sampler

WDW Chrysanthemum, Mulberry, and Bullfrog

Buttons from Just Another Button Company in Plum 

(instead of the Tarnished Gold)

North Star sampler from the Sweetheart Tree

 Stitched on 28 ct Platinum Cashel with the recommended threads.  

The charm is from ArtBeads.

 

Acorn Garden Sampler from Patricia Ann designs. 

Stitched on 28 ct Platinum Cashel with the recommended threads. 

I may add a couple of crystal paillettes to this, to help it coordinate 

with the other two samplers for my nephews.

Of Pumpkins and Furloughs

This fall, I've made a concentrated effort to start stitching again. I'm mostly trying to finish up some works in progress, although I have also started a freebie stitched in two colors of DMC. I'm finding with my schedule, it's hard to stitch on projects on linen or with specialty threads, so I like having a project with DMC on Aida that I know I can wash when someone spills something all over it.

Last week, I finished this project that I had started last fall. I love, love, love this design. I need to order the beads to finish it, but I'm very happy with it. I altered the colors of the threads to match some fabric that I want to use when I turn it into something.

Bent Creek, The Pumpkin Flower Sampler

WDW Chrysanthemum, Mulberry, and Bullfrog

The next is the never-ending birth sampler that I've had to restart. This is the last project I need to complete (minus beading) to have all my niephlets' birth samplers done. I stitched most of the last section yesterday and this morning. I'm one of the 800,000+ on furlough thanks to the government shutdown. DH is also furloughed, so we're praying that the shutdown doesn't last too long. We're making the best of it for now, but if this goes on long term, the consequences for us, while not as completely dire as they are for some folks, will not be pleasant. Remember, DC (the City) is a federal entity, too.

 

Sweetheart Tree, Bluebells

 

It's a Beatiful Day

Well, it was. I wrote a post yesterday that disappeared into the ether. Sigh.

But yesterday was a gorgeous day here in DC, and I got to relax and experience it because DDL was home from daycare. (She'd had a brief fever on Monday.) We played outside (and I even got to stitch a bit), we walked to the grocery store, and we had dinner outside too. This year we've had a number of fine spring days, which I'm trying to enjoy as much as possible before the humidity hits.

Here's DDL after her lunch, which contained blackberries.

In tribute to the gorgeous day, it only seems right that I'm finally posting a picture of the stitching I finished two weeks ago. This is the Spring Band Sampler by Elizabeth Designs. I love, love, love the colors in this. It was super easy to stitch, and I'm thinking of doing it again as a birth sampler for a friend's daughter. I used the called-for DMC colors, substituting 3836 for the Lilac and 893 for the Pink (I wanted something that was more coral rather than mauve).

Happy Dance

I finished my nephew's sampler last weekend. Here it is in all it's unironed glory. I'm looking for some sort of doo-dad to add to the top of it and my other nephews' samplers, like a charm or a birthstone. My mother's really keen on the birthstone idea. Anyone know where I can find smallish birthstone charms that are boyish that might work? I need something to represent August, September, and November.

This is the Acorn Garden Sampler from Patricia Ann designs. Stitched on 28 ct Platinum Cashel with the recommended threads.

Winter Sampler

Happy New Year All!

While I still haven't been stitching, I pulled the following piece out as part of our Christmas decorations. I'll leaving it hanging up throughout the winter.

The design is from Little House Needleworks, called Pinetop Lodge. I completed it in 2006. It was stitched on the recommended fabric. I substituted overdyed threads for the recommended DMC colors, because I wanted varigations in the colors. The center part of the design went together really quickly for me, but the outer border of leaves took me forever.

My stitching goal for 2009 is pretty simple: Start stitching again. If I can accomplish that, I will be doing well. I have one of my nephew's samplers in progress plus I want to finish the SAL ornaments. Wish me luck.

Monochromatic Times Two

Here's what I've been working on lately. First, my July SAL ornament. The theme was fish. Yes, I realize it's still only June, but I'm trying to get ahead, as I know that the end of the year is going to be crazy here. Isn't it everywhere?

This is a freebie design by Nathalie. I stitched it on a leftover piece of 30 count white evenweave with WDW scuppernong. (I just learned that scuppernong is a type of grape.)

My second project is from Milady's Needle. The pattern is Rejoice. This will be my ornament for November (angels/churches). I'm stitching it with GAST Cranberry, over one, on 28 count platinum cashel linen. When I stitch over one, I use two threads and half-stitches (/), rather than one thread and full-stitches (x). It's much easier that way.

What you see here represents 3 or 4 hours of stitching. I knew I was going to be sitting in waiting rooms a lot last week and wanted something that wasn't too fussy as a project to keep me occupied. This fit the bill perfectly, although it's going to take me *forever* to finish at this rate. It's a good thing I got a jump on it.

For reference's sake, here's a picture of the finished project.

Finally, since I mentioned the 28 count platinum cashel linen, I finished the vining on my nephew's birth sampler. Yea! I'll wait to show you a picture on that one until I have the beading done. (The angel project is being stitched on a scrap of fabric left over from the sampler project.)

Lavender Alphabet

I was tired of working on the vining on the birth sampler for my nephew. Instead, I pulled out a different UFO a couple of weekends ago. Before I started working on it again, I had most of the left side done, except the stems and lavender. I worked on this two weekends in a row, and now I have it completed, except for the alphabet. I'm going to replace the alphabet, but I'm not sure with what. This can now go back to residing in the UFO pile, and I can go back to the North Star Sampler.

Lavender Alphabet by Cathy Jean for the Victoria Sampler
28 ct. Dublin (raw or natural) - I think
Generous substitutions in floss

Framing and Sampler Update

Today, I took my niece's sampler to my LNS to be framed. They had a pre-made frame that was perfect for the sampler. It cost me HALF of what it would have if I'd stayed with the big craft store with their so-called 60% off discount. HALF!!! I've learned my lesson.

In other news, I'm making progress on my nephew's sampler. Here's the latest photo. I just have one more row of the *$&*! vining to do and then the beading, and I'll be done with it. Yea. Again, this is the North Star sampler from the Sweetheart Tree.

Three Projects

In today's paper (which we received yesterday), there was a flyer for one of the big craft stores, advertising 60% off a complete custom framing order. Great, I thought, I can take my niece's birth sampler in to be framed. I pulled the ironing board out this morning, prepared the sampler, and drove down to northern Virginia to the craft store.

Naive me. I thought that at 60% off, that my framing order would be significantly less than what I usually pay at my LNS for framing. HA, HA, HA. After 60% off, it would have cost me about the same as my LNS. I brought the sampler home and will take it to my LNS instead. I'd rather give them the money, and they'll do a nicer job. They might even have a pre-made frame that will fit it's unusual size.

Here's an updated picture of the sampler. You'll see I added name, date, and a spiral of my own design. The spiral was to fill in the blank space left by centering the name. The spiral should have probably been a few more spaces to the right, but I'm pleased with how it came out overall.

Since I was ironing anyway, I thought I'd pull out my stash of FUFOs that need ornamentifying. All of them are washed, ironed, and trimmed of excess threads. The pile included 7 of the 8 ornaments that I've stitched this year (the 8th, my February heart, is completely finished already). It also included 5 more projects.

Pictured here are 2 that I stitched in late 2005 out of the 2005 JCS ornament issue. It was the first JCS OI that I bought, and it's probably the one that I like most to date. It's also the only one from which I've stitched any projects, and I think I've stitched 6 or 8 different ornaments. I've given most of them away, as usual.

Both were stitched on scraps of fabric with DMC threads. I liked the second one so much, I stitched it twice, giving one to a non-religious friend as her winter holiday gift that year.

Nephew's Sampler

I mentioned in a post last month that I had started a birth sampler for one of my nephew's. At the time, I'd only done the vine work. Last night, during the Nats game (they WON!!!!), I did the specialty stitching. Here's a progress picture.

I've also finished my niece's birth sampler in the past week or so. I'll post a finished picture once I iron it.

Wedding Samplers I've Stitched

Anna's Lists have made me think about all the projects I've completed since I started stitching in the late 1980s. There have been bunches. Despite the fact that I am generally a very organized person, I don't have good records about my stitching projects. I started a notebook at some point, but I was horrible about keeping up with it, and now I'm not sure where it is.

Having started a list from memory, I think I've stitched 11 wedding samplers and two smaller wedding gifts (a music box lid and a bread cloth). Unfortunately, I only have pictures of one of my wedding projects. The good news is that I can obtain photographs of most of the rest of them. I may have the charts for all but one of them.

This was stitched during the winter of 2006-2007 for a friend of mine that I've known since kindergarten. The pattern comes from the June 2000 JCS magazine.

My Niece's Sampler

After posting last night, I realized that I hadn't seen my younger niece's birth sampler in a while and that I probably hadn't worked on it since November. This made me curious, and I went looking for it. I found it tucked in a bag on top of the dresser in my craft room. Along with it were the Raspberry Parfait and Old Brick sampler threads I'd been missing when I wanted to stitch my heart ornament for February.

I was right in guessing that I was about 2/3 of the way done. When I pulled it out last night, everything but the two hearts had been stitched. Now I just need to add my niece's details and it will be done. Yea!

A Child was Born by Lizzie-Kate
on 32 ct. Mist. Blue Belfast
with GAST threads, but not the ones recommended

A New Project

I started a new project while I was sick the last few days. Being home during the daylight is conducive to stitching, although I did spend a lot of time napping too.

I'm working on the North Star Sampler from the Sweetheart Tree as a birth sampler for one of my nephews. Right now, I only have some of the viney parts at the top done, and it's not much to see.

Eventually, I'm going to stitch the Bluebells Sampler for another nephew, brother to the first. In both cases, I'm going to replace the recommended charm with a baby bootie charm.

I know, I know. This violates the Selfish Stitching in 2008 mantra. With the ornaments, I've made a good start on the S.S., and I needed a bigger project. Since I didn't have any bigger projects for myself calling loudly, I decided to work on these.

Also, I'm way, way behind on the birth samplers. At the moment, I have 6 niephlets -- 2 nieces and 4 nephews. All of them are under the age of 10. I have completed exactly two birth samplers, one for my older niece and one for my youngest nephew. Since all the niephlets except my youngest nephew belong to my sister's blended family, my sister has been bugging me about doing the rest of them.

I have the sampler for my younger niece about 2/3 of the way done. If I'm a very dedicated stitcher, I will be able to finish stitching the remaining four this year. (I even have the pattern for the last one chosen.) So that's my goal as of now. Wish me luck.