Some Finishes

I bought a frame for this Mill Hill Bead Kit and my kids are going to put it in for me. I really like it and think it might find a home in my kitchen. This little flamingo is a gift for a friend who sat with me while my dh was in surgery. She loves flamingos and when my kids saw it we had to get it for her. It was a Mill Hill Bead kit too.

What I Have Been Doing

My dh had to have surgery and instead of 3 to 4 days in the hospital, we were there 10. Not a nice Christmas. He is fine, thank God and we are home. But I did not get much stitching done as any light bothered him. I did get some work done on my Ukrainian Nyzynka piece.
This is the front:
This is the back:

Most people just saw the back and were very impressed. I found it very relaxing to stitch. Some days I only got one row in, but it calmed and comforted me. Isn't that one reason why we stitch?

December Stitch of the Month

I finished one of my Promise of A Mystery. I ran out of Watercolours for my blue/purple one and have to wait for the thread to arrive. Hopefully it will get done soon. The beads add a nice sparkle!

Cappuccino

I finally finished this Bead and Button Mill Hill Kit. I have a friend who has told me it would look great in her kitchen. Hmmmm. Still not sure. I need to frame it and then I can call it finished!

Santa's Christmas Train

I decided I needed something more festive for my blog photo so I took a picture of the train I made for my son many years ago. I don't know the designer of the canvas nor when I stitched it. I am bad about keeping records of things. That is one reason I started this blog. At least then I have some idea of what I stitched and when.

November is Done!

I think this will need a row of dark blue around it, but I will wait until December 1 to see what Sue Reed plans. All the couching was a pain, but I like the end results.

November Stitch of the Month-Blue

I love how this is coming along. I have lots more to do, but I hope to get finished before December so I can get my daughter's fairy done.

Frogging

I was so happy that I had made so much progress on my Echoes piece that I ignored the fact that I was one thread off on the right side of the flower. "It will work out" I told myself. Ha! The left side does not fit in so I ended up ripping it all out. Where was my mistake? The very first stitch was over one not two....

Almost Done!

This Promise is almost done. I just need to see what Sue Reed plans for December and I can call this finished. I like it better, but feel like the light color is too light.

I am trying to stitch 12 stitches daily on my Echoes piece. Hopefully I will show some real progress soon. After all, this is just the pocket for needles! I haven't even started on the main part of the case yet!

November Stitch of the Month

Well, I am close to finishing one of my SOTM projects. I think it will need another border to totally finish it and I need to decide what color of beads to use. But I like it more now than when I first started. My Gay Ann Rogers' Echoes of Elizabeth is not going too quickly. My goal to do a little every day did not happen. A little every week maybe....

Rhiannon

I started this piece while on vacation. It is a design by Nora Corbett and uses lots of Crescent Colours. I am finished with the R and am working on the dress. Hopefully this will get done so I can have it finished in time for Christmas.

Promise of A Mystery-October

As you can see, I am almost finished with my October SOTM. We went on vacation and I could not bring either piece with me. I like how the black is looking although the blue one is my favorite!

I am not adding the diamonds around the satin hearts yet on my blue piece. Why? I need to see what is the next step. I think I will just use a dark blue metallic around all of them. I think that will make the piece pop. Using all the colors seems to busy to me, at least on this piece where I used so many over-dyed thread.

I have finally framed up my Echoes of Elizabeth needle case, but that is it. My goal is to do at least 12 stitches on it this week. Not a big deal, but I need to get started.

Blue and Purple Stitch of the Month

I am trying to get my blue and purple SOTM caught up and have been working furiously. This first photo shows the couching row blank. Here is a close-up:

I felt the single strand of floss and metallic thread did not cover enough so I removed it and used two strands of floss and one metallic. This is with the couching completed:

And here is a close-up:

The photos really don't tell much. But do notice how the couching makes a huge difference in the entire piece. Covering up the white section really makes a difference in the coloring of the whole piece.

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.

Threads and Soy Wax

I finally rinsed all my threads out. I love the colors. What am I going to do with them? I am sure I will find a project for them soon. We did some resist dyeing with soy wax. I love how they turned out!

My dear friends at the library are adding more soy wax to a few of these and redyeing them. I can't wait to see the results!

Still Rinsing

I am still trying to rinse my threads from Tuesday. Hopefully I will get them all done today. Here is some perle cotton that I over-dyed:

It looks better in person.

Little Crazy

I have crazy friends!!! We have been trying to use up the dyes we made on Friday and we have plans to do more dyeing in September. I must get a project done so I can start a new one with my pretty threads! Will try to post a picture of them when I finally get them rinsed.

Weekend Dyeing

I was downloading pictures before I realized that I forgot to take any of my finished product... Oh well.

The local library held a dyeing workshop and I do have a few things to show. These pictures are from experimenting with natural products to see how they dye fabric. We used beets, blueberries, coffee, tea, cinnamon...Fun stuff.

This is the only picture I have of what I dyed on Saturday and it doesn't show much. It is Joeblen, antique white that I overdyed for a project. Will try to get some better pictures tomorrow.

August-SOTM

It was cloudy when I took these photos, but I did get my stitching done!

I'm not sure I like how this is looking, but I will keep plugging along.

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.

My Other Project

I have been carrying this project around since January. It is close to being done. Just need to add all the beads. It is a Mill Hill Beads and Buttons called Cappuccino.

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.

Nyzanka Ethnic Embroidery

The Mississippi River Valley Chapter of EGA had Phyllis Maurer teach us Ukraninian Nyzynka embroidery for our yearly workshop. I, of course, could not attend the class, but I did get a kit and managed to get the bookmark done while on vacation. It is supposed to be reversable, but I am not that good. This is a picture of the back.

I have started working on the box top which is the main piece. I like this type of work. Putting in the black is very relaxing.