Flower of the East - Almost Done!

You know what they say about good intentions, right?  Well, I had the BEST of intentions of posting at least weekly on this blog but it just didn't work out for me.

Because I forgot. 

Yes, I am terrible XD

Anyway, I'm going to try and do better!  I've set a reminder on my phone and everything.  We'll see how long it lasts.

This is my lovely Flower of the East by Dimensions.  I have the leaflet; if you buy her as a kit, she is Gold Collection.  She is one of my #stitch9challenge pieces and here is where she was the last time I worked on her.

I spent most of March on her - I tried Mostly Monogamous March and did pretty good.  All the cross stitch is done. I have to finish the backstitch and do the fancy bits - Cording, Couching, regular French Knots, French Knots with three strands of metallic, lazy daisies, and so on.  She's on break for April, though, because I burnt myself out on her tricksy backstitching.  Here's a lot of progress pictures.

I'll come back in a few days to show you another project!  I've yet to finish anything this year but there's a few starts you haven't seen.  Also, some finishes from last year that I don't think I showed.  I'll have to check!

Tama

Year of WIPs 2018

Hi all!

I am not dead!  Neither is my stitchy-bug!  I just lost interest in updating my blog for some reason.

So I will do a post of things I've finished since my last post, things I've started, and maybe a few things I've bought?

But for now, I am going to post my Year of WIPs pieces!  Year of WIPs is hosted on Soulful Stitching on Facebook - you have to join the group and sign up for it before the 18th of January.  No new starts, WIPs only, and a minimum of 10.  The goal is to finish at least half of them by the end of the year.  Most people are doing 18 or more.

Mine is 23!

So here goes:

1. 'Voice of Spring' by Gloria and Pat, on 14ct white

2. 'Angel of Hope' by Lavender and Lace, on 32ct charcoal

3. 'Welcome Guests' by Janlynn, on 16ct tan

4. 'Archangel' by Mirabilia, on 32ct 'Thunderstorm'

5. 'Santas of Fable and Fantasy' by Cross Stitch and Country Crafts, on 28ct Wheat

6. 'Sunset Birds' - printed kit from China, on 11ct with the background printed.

7. 'Lovers' by Nene Thomas and HAED.  On 22ct cream

8. 'Friendship Keepsake' by Sunset, on 14ct pink

9. 'Chang Wufei' by me, on 16ct blue

10.  'Flower of the East' by James Himsworth and Dimensions, on 28ct antique white

11. 'Savannah Birth Sampler' by Dimensions, on 14ct white

12. 'Unspoken' by Adele Lorraine and HAED, on 22ct white

13. 'Frosty Forest' by Country Cottage Needleworks, on 32ct Silvery Moon

14.  'Rose Bouquet' by Charmin, on 14ct white

15. 'Acquainted with the Night' by Design Works, on 14ct white

16. 'January' by The Prairie Schooler, on 32ct Lambswool

17. 'My Day Off' by Design Works, on 14ct white

18.  'Lucky Fish', another printed kit from China.  It didn't come with a picture.  On 11ct white.

19.  'Live Simply' by Dimensions, on 14ct white

20. 'Three Kings' by Gloria and Pat, on 14ct oatmeal

21.  'Teacup Kitten' by World of Cross Stitch, on 28ct blue

22. 'Laundry Today' by Dimensions, on 14ct white

23. 'Footprints in the Sand' by Leisure Arts, on 28ct mushroom

And that's my list!  If I can get half of these done, I will be THRILLED!

So, sorry I've been gone so long, and I'll try to be better!  At least I will need to update monthly :D :D :D

Hugs!

Tama

A HAED, A DGC, and a Rotation Change

So!  I forgot to post my last start in Stitch Maynia.  Or the progress on it, I mean :D

This is Regal Tiger, a Dimensions Gold Collection:

And here's where I got.  I really don't like doing that dark color! Six strands - talk about sore fingers!!! But I got almost all of that area done - I took turns with it and the other colors.

So that ends Stitch Maynia!

Now, after Stitch Maynia I got to thinking about all the new starts and all my old starts and I sat down and looked at all my pictures from lately and years ago, too.  I counted them all up and nearly fell over.  I am not about to admit the total, but it was high.  Much higher than I thought.  Not anywhere near Ms Linda or those other brave people doing the Year of Starts, but still!

Some of them, too, have not been worked on in years.  By which I mean, ten years or maybe even longer.  One of them I started in High School and it hasn't been touched since.  Holy cow...  And I'll admit that recently I've been saying 'wow, I should get that back out' a lot.

So - rotation rearrange - I'm getting them back out.  The lot of 'em.  I put them all in alphabetical order and I'm keeping the five days for each project, but I'm going to do it like this - 1st turn, whatever I want.  2nd turn, next on the alphabet list.  3rd turn, whatever I want.  4th turn, whatever's next on the list.  And so on, ad infinitum.

First turn this time was 'Unspoken', my HAED - I really wanted to get back to this.  I've given up - for now - on the 'rows instead of columns' idea - it just wasn't working for me.  I thought I'd try what a lot of people are doing for the HAED facebook challenge and finish off my page 2 one color at a time.  So I did a whack of 762.  Not all of it, but about three columns worth and a teeny bit of other colors (from before I made the decision).

Here's as it was:

And as it now is:

Next turn (which I'm working on now) is A is for Anchor.  The first of my alphabetized list!  Here's where I left it:

I'm hoping to make a big ol' lot of progress :D  It's already going quite well!

A little stash before I go - here's yet another great big China kit.  I think this is last of the truly huge ones that I have.

It's only called 'Garden' on most of the listings.  I have seen it called 'Cottage Garden', though, so that's what I'm going with.  It has slightly fewer pages than the last few:

Twenty total.  This one is immensely popular - I've seen it on a lot of flosstube videos and blogs, but only in the small size.  I got the BIG size - go big or go home! (Sorry, couldn't resist!)

Here's what came out of the package:

And it opened up to show the floss:

It's all sorted, just folded over on itself.  There are 44 colors.

And here's the fabric!  This one just makes four feet long.  It's going to be so pretty!  But it's also solid stitching XD

I really, really could never buy anything again and still have more to stitch than I could possibly finish before I die.  That didn't stop my from going to JoAnn's today and buying a pile of floss.  I had a one-day only 4 DMC for $1 coupon.  I also got some McCall's patterns that were on sale, a World of Cross Stitch magazine and a new Q-Snap frame.  The only good thing about so many doctor's appointments is that my new doctor is only 5 minutes from JoAnn's!!!

Happy Stitching, dears!

Tama

Love, a Cowboy, a SAL and Maybe a Start?

I misplaced (I have no idea how) the project that was going around in my purse with me, so I got out an old kit to work on.  It's 'Love, Love, Love' by Charmin' Kits.  I am stitching it 'love-row' at a time - here's where it was:

And here it is now:

There's only one row to go - it's the biggest one, though, but I think I can do it pretty quick.  I think.  It's the word 'Love' in rainbow colors.  I think I could make this my first finish of 2016 :D

For my rotation turn - my Cowboy!  The kit is called 'Acquainted with the Night', and is a very old kit by Design Works.  Here is where I was:

I was struck by the sudden need to stitch a horse, and so I did:

I almost finished its shadow, too :D  A little more of the background around it, then I'm going to start the backstitching.  The colors look so weird up close but from a distance, they look like the horse and rider are outlined in light from the golden setting sun.  It's gorgeous, but I'm not sure the picture conveys it.  Ah, well.

I'm a member of a facebook group called Stitch Maynia; I love to read the posts but I never post anything.  I'm a lurker!  But they do monthly stitch alongs with easy rules - just stitch on something that matches the theme!  For March, they have 'It's Not Easy Being Green' where all you need is a project with green in it.  I have another small kit that will be for either my Mum or my sibling, both of whom love daisies:

It's barely started, but would make a nice gift, so I joined the SAL to give it a bump :D  I'll be taking it to work with me in March, along with 'Love, Love, Love' - I'll have a purse rotation, lol!!!  Here's where it is:

If I don't get it done, April's SAL on the group is 'April Showers Bring May Flowers', so I can just keep right on going with the same thing :D :D :D

Finally - I've seen on a few Flosstube videos and stitchy blogs that some people are starting a new project on Leap Year Day... that had not occurred to me but I'm very tempted to do it!  Just a sudden, impulsive start of anything I want!  I'll post tomorrow if I decide to take the plunge!!!

Happy Stitching!

Tama

Flower of the East - 2016 #1

So I chose my lovely adopted 'Flower of the East' to work on next - this one I am very, very slow with because she is on the worst, floppiest linen ever and yet I can't put her in a hoop or frame.  I have to work with her in hand - it is the only way I can make my stitches look the same as the ones already done.  I suspect they were stitched in hand, as well.

Anyway, here's where she was:

And here's where she is:

I finished all the cross stitches for the tree branch, all the flowers on the right, all the missing peach shades of half cross stitch in the 'sky', and all the backstitch on the right.  There are still french knots to do, but I'm going to finish the left side flowers and backstitch them, then put her in a Q-snap for the french knots.  There's no way I'm trying to get those done in hand.

As I work on her this year, I'm going to continue working from the top down, filling in all the random missing bits - the lady who gave her to me stopped working in the weirdest places on her!  After I get the tree branch done, there are random missing bits in the parasol to do.

For now, though, she's put away and I'm off to choose my next rotation piece!

Happy Stitching!!!

Tama

Gift of the Eagle Feather, #1

Here is my first rotation turn for Gift of the Eagle Feather!

It actually only got four days, since my rotation is to pick up something different on the 5th, but that's okay.  I'm pleased with what I got - I'm actually pretty close to the first eagle wing :D

I had left out one project on my rotation list so I just made a new page of '2016 WiPs'.  It's up top!

Hope you all had a Happy New Year :D

Tama