I think I'm calling it.

Finished, that is.

Nesting Chickens
From Vanessa Ann's Holidays in Cross Stitch 1995

I MIGHT have missed some of the back stitching on the brown chicken, but no one will ever know!  As much as I don't like color charts, I must admit that in this case, a color chart would definitely have helped.  Trying to find the black outline on a black and white chart was darned hard....even with the model pic to squint at.
The finished size is about 6" x 6", and I think this will be finished as a pillow.  But for now, no more chickens!  Maybe tonight I'll dive back into La-D-Da's "The Ark," or Cross-Eyed Kat's "Labyrinth."  Both deserve to be finished this year...must resist the siren song of the stash cupboard.....

What came first?

(right now, I'd have to say the chicken!)

 

This is the piece I posted last week - it is from one of the annual Vanessa-Ann "Holidays in Cross-Stitch" books (1995, maybe?).  I've decided to try making a "chicken basket" for my mom for Christmas this year!  She and my dad started raising chickens last summer, and as much as she says they drive her crazy, I think she kind of enjoys it.  And I know she loves the fresh eggs!  So I have a cute little handled basket, and I'm going to put together a collection of chicken-y things.  I'm thinking this piece will be framed - it is about 6" x 6", and I have a friend who makes frames from reclaimed barnwood.  Totally appropriate!  And the red-brown hen looks just like the Rhode Islands Reds they have.  I also have some smaller patterns to make a few ornaments, maybe put on a shirt or a breadcloth to line the basket.... I just hope I'm not getting too ambitious here!  LOL

(Another crummy cell phone pic -- I'm sorry.  And I've made a bit more progress, since I was home all day today after spraining my ankle while out jogging Wednesday night.  Ugh.  I'm such a klutz!)

An update and a spring basket

I've been stitching away on La-D-Da's "The Ark."  I don't love it the way I did when I started, but I just can't completely abandon it...so I'll keep on going...

(Zoinks, those colors look a bit off!!  Maybe it is just this monitor?  Hmmm.  Anyway, the darkest brown there is DMC 3371, and the lighter brown - for the ark itself - is 3031.)

We've had a day or 2 of lovely weather here, and yesterday I just didn't feel well enough to go to work.  ;)  (It really WAS a mental health day...neither DH or I felt great over the weekend, and the Wee One managed to cover herself and her room with diaper ointment during her naptime on Sunday so a good portion of the weekend chores were supplanted by cleaning up that mess...)  So after sending the Wee One to daycare - it was soccer day, and she wouldn't miss that! - I let myself sleep in a bit, did my own laundry, and pillowified the finished Bunny Sampler.  Here it is, in the basket with my Snowflower Diaries piece.

Over-one on 22-ct., it really came out rather tiny!  Hmm, guess I will need to finish up a few more seasonal pieces for that basket....

Framing, still hopping, and traveling

I picked this up at Hobby Lobby last week...

...and I love it!  I'm a little disappointed that many of the beads "rolled" when the fabric was stretched/put under glass, but really, if you aren't looking closely you won't notice.  (Of course I notice because it is mine!)  My mom paid for the framing, so when I give it to my sister, it will be a wedding gift from both Mom and I.  Fine by me!

I'm still working on the Bunny Sampler.  Here, finally, is a picture not taken with my phone-

I just need to finish up the bunny's head and a little bit of the 2 right-hand carrot bunches, and that will be another finish for my spring basket.

Last but not least, on Monday I made my reservations for Celebration of Needlework!  I will be arriving Friday, taking Elizabeth Talledo's "Zen Rabbit Stitching Purse" class and going to the dinner event Saturday, and then leaving sometime Sunday.  I was verrrry tempted by Lynda Keske's "Memories Under Glass" project, but I've taken one of her classes before (and she is a wonderful teacher, don't get me wrong!), so I figured I'd give another teacher a try.  Also, her class started at 2 on Friday, and since I'll have a 6-hour drive ahead of me after dropping Wee One off at daycare around 8...the chances of me arriving in time and in the right mindset to sit and stitch/concentrate for a couple hours straight off are pretty slim.  So if you will be at Celebration or are just in the area, let me know!!  I love to meet "internet friends."

More car stitching

More stitching ADD here...after finishing Maja's adorable "Tulips with Bunny" freebie, I felt the need to have more bunnies around the house.  They do multiply, after all!  So this is my new travel project.  It is from the Vanessa-Ann "Holidays in Cross-Stitch - 1995" book, and is called simply "Bunny Sampler."  The only yellow fabric my LNS had in stock when I was there last was 22-ct., so I'm doing it over one.  WHY didn't I remember that I hate over-one?!?  But it is cute, and dainty (the bunny will be backstitched when it is done -- I know right now the white floss on yellow fabric doesn't photograph so well).