Something to Add to my Art Quilt

I decided (with the help of friends!) that my quilt needed another layer under the doilies. I am making strips of fabric that I will slow stitch onto the piece. I also wanted to add cross stitch or needlepoint pieces to the piece too.
Here is something I hope to add:

I keep my stork scissors in my Gay Ann Rogers Townhouse Needle case. I may add more stitched scissors to the piece, but we will see. I am stitching on a cocktail napkin that I hand dyed and am using DMC 08.

Let the People Choose-Birthstones

Got to love Jo over at Serendipitous Stitching. She has a lot of great stitch-a-longs to keep things interesting. The first Saturday of the month is her new one called-Let the People Choose! Just a way to share blogs and meet fellow bloggers.

Anyway, this month's theme is Birthstones. There are interesting monthly stitching pieces that have birthstones in them. I used to have a few needle rolls with different months and gems. Wonder where they are?

My birth month is July so my birthstone is ruby. I think that is why I love red so much. I have a few needlepoint pieces in my stash that I hope to stitch someday in my favorite colorway. But here are a few that I have stitched and shown at various times:

ANG Stitch of the Month

Gay Ann Rogers Townhouse needlecase

Solar Flare

I love red! Maybe that is why I like stitching Santas so much as they normally have a ton of red!          

Townhouse Finished

My picture does not do this piece justice. It is truly lovely and great fun to stitch. I thought it would be quick and easy, but I was happily surprised. I am not sure what I will keep in it. I need a shorter laying tool than the one I currently own. I will have to start looking on ebay for something.

The other empty space is for a crochet hook. I am not sure what I will place there. I am sure to find something!

Townhouse Assembly

I have added my needle case with felt to my Townhouse. I forgot that I did the sashing in white around the windows and door. Also, the roof is fairly dark. Here is the front of my Townhouse. I used a pink for the sashing and a grey for the window boxes. The roof is also lighter.

Here are the two pieces together. (I haven't cut my main pieces out yet.) My photo is terrible, but it does show what a difference a little bit of color will do. I refuse to restitch the inside. It will be my reminder to go with my gut. If it doesn't look right, it probably isn't. Try again with something new. Color is personal, and I need to experiment.

Speaking of experiments....Cheryl has challenged me to do something monochromatic. I am working on it and taking pictures. Maybe I'll have something to show in my next post.

Stitch of the Month and GAR Townhouse

I finished stitching the border for September at least a week ago, but never took a picture. I think the border helps. I am stitching this SOTM using my Flower Garden overdyed threads and Watercolor and Kreinik threads. I like this one a lot better.

I still am working on my Townhouse. It is close to being finished, but who knows what I will be able to do this week.

I need to go help my son get the honey from his hives and do some extracting. It is so cool here that we need to do it earlier than last year. It is a sticky process but I love the time I spend with my teenager. Who would have thought that possible?

Not Quite Done...

I didn't quite get Gay Ann's Townhouse done. I hope to continue to work on it and get it done before I start on the Echoes of Elizabeth Needlecase. I started a new ANG Stitch of the Month. I want my guild to see a different colorway. I am using my Flower Gardens over dyed threads.

Date Night Progress

Gay Ann Rogers invited us to have a date night with our needles. I got quite a bit done and still hope to have the stitching of Townhouse done by September 1.

Townhouse is Moving Along

I have been trying to stay focused and work a little each day on the Townhouse. I am really hoping to get it done soon. My problem is that I bought Echoes of Elizabeth Needle case and I am itching to get started on that.

I must finish a project before I start a new one. I will finish a project before I start a new one.

Townhouse Fencing

This is a bad picture, but it does show the progress I have made in the past few days. I am a slow stitcher.

Townhouse Front Finished

I managed to get the front done and wanted to share it. I used DMC 761 for the edges of the door and windows. Then I used DMC 168 for the window boxes. Because the steps blended into the fence, I added one strand of the 168 over what I stitched. It worked! Now I need to start on the back piece....

A Little More Townhouse

By doing a little every day, I have made some progress on my Townhouse. I have too many other things going on to work on this full time, but it is nice to see the windows get some color.

Townhouse Changes

I decided that the white around the door was too stark so I changed it to a pink (DMC 761) I like it much better than the white, but I keep wondering what I should do about the window boxes...I will probably use a real light grey,but we shall see. I did not get caught up with my ANG SOTM project, but I have made some progress. The hearts are giving me fits, but I love how they look. The crescent stitches go much faster.

I had put some of the June stitch in, but realized that I used the wrong color family! Out it came.

This is great fun to stitch and I keep thinking of different color choices I would love to try.

Townhouse Has a Door

I have been working a little each day on my Townhouse. I seem to spend quite a bit of time ripping too. This is a more difficult piece than I realized. If I could give anyone advice about the piece, I think I would suggest using congress cloth. I think the results would look neater. I have also been working on the ANG SOTM. I really need to catch up before I meet with my friend at the end of June. I am not sure I like my color choices or it on black canvas. I will keep plugging along though and try to start a second one soon. I need examples for my guild.

Roofing the Townhouse

I did not have much time this weekend to stitch as I went to the local homeschool conference. Townhouse is too big to drag around and get dirty. I like the roof, but I am still not sure about the fencing. I may work on the door and then decide.

Townhouse-Making Some Progress

I finally finished all the small inside pieces for my Townhouse. I kept having to remove my flowers and restitch them. I decided to do a small sample of all the colors I thought would work, and then place them in. Hey! It only took me four tries!

After finishing the little pieces, I started working on the front of the Townhouse again. I was merrily working on the fence when I looked at the pattern. My fence is different! It may be just fine, but it may be too dark for the roof. So I will quit working on the fence and move to the roof. Rats! I hate it when I make those little errors.

12 Stitches a Day

I am slowly making progress. I find that this is the project I want to do each day, but I need to get back to my Illinois canvas and ANG SOTM. Sigh, so many projects, so little time.

Fence and a Door

By doing a little every day I am making progress. I hope to have this finished before the end of the year. We shall see.

Townhouse is Getting a Door

I am trying to get my Townhouse done amid other projects. I decided to try to do at least 12 stitches a day and see what happens. This red looks intense on the screen, but it isn't too bright in person. It is DMC 3328.

I did some more dyeing at the library today. Yes, we are nuts! I am anxious to get a project done as we have decided "no more dyeing until we use some of what we have." Do you believe us?

Townhouse Needlecase

I don't have anything exciting to post, but I want to prove to myself that I am making progress. Maybe I can add some color soon. What do you think about a red door? I love red!

Mother's Day Weekend

I restarted my Illinois canvas. I am close to being done and hope to see some progress this week.

These are the threads I dyed this week. I think they need to be over dyed, but it will have to wait for a while. I need the "pure" colors to show my guild for our upcoming dyeing workshop.

Here is the front of my Townhouse. I have moved to the smaller piece of fabric so I can play with door colors and flower colors before I do my "front" door.