#TBT - Sue Hillis

I thought I'd throw in the three pieces I did when I started stitching again in NC.  I did these in late 2010.   I really liked these and I need to get them displayed.

When I first arrived in NC in 2009, I went to a get together started at the Lazy Daizy, a cross stitch shop in Raleigh.  I met with a few stitchers I had met online through the years (and ones I had met in real life, before hand, too!).  We also went to the French Knot, which was a needlepoint/framing place closer to the Arena.   I picked up a few charts, got a few threads for some pieces I fully intended on stitching, ate some lunch, and had good times.

I picked up a few little Sue Hillis charts - I love her post-stitches series.    One was "Burnt to Perfection", which is part of her pirate series (which I'm in the process of getting all of, because they're so freakin' cute), and the other was Wine a Bit.  I finally got around to them over the holidays in 2010.

Burnt to Perfection - I did this one as charted, and I stitched it on 25 ct ivory evenweave.   It think it was some of the last dregs of the 25ct I initially bought in 1996 when I purchased everything for TW's Castle Sampler (the start went badly, so it's been slowly gobbled up over time).

Finished 1/1/2011 - Happy New Year!

I really want to get this framed (with glass) to hang over the stove.  I know the charm is a little gas grill, but hey, you don't need open flames to make something... toasty.

Wine a Bit was started as a gift, which I then decided to keep for myself (haha!), and it was stitched not-quite-as-charted.  I subbed red and green overdyes from my stash for all of the red & green floss (as in, I used one red overdye instead of the however-many threads called for, ditto for the green).  I'm rather happy with how it came out, especially in the lettering.

12/18/2010

 I have an entire wall decorated with wine labels (and wine labels decorated through out the house in other areas, too), but I was thinking of making this one into a flat-fold to put on my wine rack.   I'm not going to lie - every time I look at this, I get fixated at  how well my initials came out.

Both of these were really fun to stitch, and they always remind me of what a nice welcome I got here in NC.

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Hopefully the next time I post, it will be with the next RR installment!   I had to cancel my plans for tomorrow night (well, rather the event filled up before I could sign up), and I think I need a break from the LadyCave, so stitching to a movie sounds kinda nice - of course, that could turn into playing Assassin's Creed pretty easily.   The LadyCave is coming along and I can't wait to get it a bit more organized to share pictures, I'm pretty close to the end of the second game.  I'm getting closer to finishing LadyCave, but I spent Saturday at a friends' place, helping the wife put in flooring and stuff so we could surprise the hubby with a new office when he came back from an out of town trip (total success!).

For this weekend, other than LadyCave work (driving the 4+ hour round trip to Ikea) and relaxing, I will hopefully have lots of stitching time.  It's getting a bit toasty out there, so I don't really want to do anything strenuous (I think driving to Ikea would be it).   Next weekend I'm at the beach for a wedding, and the following weekend, my best friend is in town for the Mead Festival!   Although, since LadyCave is also the guest bedroom, maybe I should work on that!

Throwback Thursday- Dogs Leave Pawprints

I'm not sure when I picked up this pattern, but I did stitch it during the very brief period I came out of my stitching slump in late 2010/early 2011 (but not enough to actually blog ;) ).

It's called Dogs Leave Pawprints by Lizzie*Kate.   I'm not a huge fan of L*K's stuff because it is more primitive than my usual tastes run, but they have some really cute designs with even more adorable quotes or sayings.  I think I still have 2 or 3 charts left in my stash.

I stitched it on a ginormous piece of lambswool linen (not even kidding, I think I have 5" borders on this puppy), and I think some day I'll finish it into a flat fold or something fun like that.    I still have some of this lambswool stuff left because it is what I bought for Lily Pond Dreams since it has that lined/hazy look..   I'm not sure I really want to spend the time or effort to stitch it, but having it on display would be nice.

I finished it on 3/21/2011, using whatever threads I had on hand (they're overdyed, but the variegation isn't so strong as to be really noticeable).   I do think it's super cute.

Throwback Thursday - Water Dragon

This particular post isn't quite as much of a throwback as the last one.   I actually finished Water Dragon a few years ago - in March of 2011 - but started it when I was in college in the 90s.   It's an older kit from Janlynn, but still pretty widely available.   I remember walking through Michaels and seeing this kit and buying it right away.

I thought it would be a fast and easy stitch (and it would have been), but it's on aida,which I don't like stitching on, and I found the lack of extra width in the fabric rather annoying.   I actually put it away for several years with a needle still in it, and the needle rusted (!).    It's in an unstitched area in the design that actually shows, so when I saw that, I got annoyed with it and put it away for a while longer.  In the finished piece, you can see the faint spots above the trees on the left.

Finally, a few years ago, I got disgusted with myself for not finishing it (even though this is admittedly not quite my style any more) and went ahead and knocked it out.   So it's finished and sitting in an album.   I can still clearly see the two rust spots, and I've heard that I can use a couple of cleaners safely on cross stitch (this is all DMC and aida, so not something I'm terribly worried about), so it's just a matter of actually doing it if I ever want to finish or frame this piece.

Water Dragon by Janlynn:

Started in 1996 or 1997, Finished March 19, 2011

And here's a fun little progression album:

Water Dragon by Janlynn