I Vant to Feenesh Tings...

(it is hard to write in Vampire.)

I think having a craft space in a more central area of the house has led me to get more excited about finishing projects.  Before, I had to go down to the basement, and while the space was nice, it felt so distant and removed.  I guess for some people that could be a good thing?  But for me it felt isolated and lonely, and I never knew what my family was doing or if they needed me or if I need to get dinner started or...well, you get the idea.  For as introverted as I can be, I do seem to thrive on connection, particularly with those I love!

So now Self-Isolating Bat is finished.  Hehe.

I've shared him in several places, because he just makes me grin.  Those plastic fangs!  LOL  Those are the cheap plastic fangs that you can get at most party/costume shops or online at places like Oriental Trading - you know, the ones that don't fit anyone right and end up being crummy party favors?  A friend sent them to me, and I initially thought I could build a "frame" of sorts with the right bracing in back.  When that failed, I further destroyed the back of the teeth and sewed them on using an upholstery needle.  The plastic was soft enough that while it wasn't easy, it was doable with a thimble and some swearing.

Kinda Like Lincoln Logs

I got this little pattern from a book my mother found at the thrift store...in the book it was finished using popsicle sticks as a "frame."  I had some little pre-cut wood bits, so I got out my Dremel sander and made this -

Just a wee little primitive thing, but kinda cute!

Ribbit All the Way

Well, I missed the posting deadline for the Smalls SAL, but I DID finish a small!  This is my nephew's ornament (name concealed for privacy).

The frog was a design from "501 Cross Stitch Designs" by Sam Hawkins.  I added the hat myself (WHY there aren't more holiday frogs, I'll never know), and charted the name and date for the back.  It is finished on a 3" metal finishing form, and I made the twisted cord myself to coordinate with the frog - I believe it is DMC 699.  The jewel-headed pins are anchored with a bit of glue, mostly for decoration and contrast but also to hide the end of the cord just a bit!  (I think there may be a bit of not-quite-dry Aleene's tacky glue showing in the pic of the back, where I snipped the cord tail - that has since dried clear.)

In other news, my in-laws were here visiting until Sunday, and I hate time changes (in either direction).  I felt foggy and off my game all day yesterday, and very little stitching has been happening.  Ah well.  All things in their own time!

Lo, the Christmas Frog

The other project I got out on Saturday.

He's in a 4-inch hoop, to give you an idea of the size.  I think that is a 28-ct. linen, in some mystery shade of blue.  The hat was my own addition - I'm not sure if I want the red part bigger?  I'll chart my nephew's name and birthdate for the back.
Should be a quick finish!

Smalls SAL - December post

Another year of smalls has come to a close, and I have another 12 small things finished!  I'm pretty proud of this accomplishment.  My track record with large projects may not be so stellar, but this one I can do.
Here is my December contribution - a Prairie Schooler Santa from the "St. Nicholas II" pamphlet.

 As you can see, this was finished as an ornament, and I gave it to my friend who is a fisherman.  This happens to be the same friend for whom I made the latest quilt...and that is completely done now, too!  It was quilted by a wonderful Amish woman who did a beautiful (and fast! It took her just a little more than a week!) job.  Here it is, in all its glory.  Can you see the lovely "waves" she stitched in the borders?  The back is a plain blue-and-brown plaid, and the binding was some brown cotton I had in my stash.  I haven't given it to my friend yet, but I can hardly wait to see his reaction!

Well, that's done.

I stitched this little Victorian Santa from the December 1990 issue of Just Cross Stitch.  I stitched him on a mystery scrap of linen, and made just one little change - the pattern had the lines around the white squares in the border stitched in white, but I liked the contrast of red better.  Then I was wandering around in Michaels the other night, and found the little sled.  I had to pick off the little bell cluster and greenery (it was bigger, and attached right in the center) and reassemble it, but I think it worked!  It isn't perfect, but what the heck, I'll just call it "rustic."  :D

2014 In Review, 2015 Begins

So...in just under the wire (I was sewing on the last buttons when DH and I kissed at midnight!), here is Country Garden Stitchery's "Here Comes Santa Claus."

You can probably tell that I used some different buttons.  I didn't have the ones used in the pattern, and I didn't feel like buying a bunch of doo-dads, so I just used some that I had left over/not used from other kits.  I really think this guy is pretty cute!  I did buy all the hand-dyed flosses for this one, and I think that was worth it.

I also completed a flurry of ornamentifying before the New Year - first, here is Prairie Schooler's "Boo 1602" card design.

(The back is just a piece of gray fabric.)
And here is the front and back of Just Another Button Company's "Tweet" freebie - well, it is a freebie if you buy the button pack.  Hmm.  Anyway, since my niece was known as "Peep" until her birth, I swapped out part of the button pack and changed the lettering, then made a back with her name and birth date.  I bought this as a kit at Celebrations, and tried to squeak the front and back out of the one piece of fabric included in the kit!  It was a tight fit, but I pulled it off without TOO many problems.

The hanger was a piece of a floral spray that I ripped out and stuck between the front and back of the ornament.

Here is M-ort-icia, standing with a couple Just Nan pieces.  "Spring Peepers" is an old finish, but the peacock cube I did stitch and finish as part of Zeb's Just Nan SAL....I was sorry to see that one disappear about halfway through the year.

Finally, today I kept with my tradition of a New Year's start and pulled floss and fabric for an old design from my stash, Black Swan's "Fairy's Gate."

I love the design but hate the fabric and that tacky sun button that were included!  (The fabric is just a 28-ct. lambswool....nothing terrible, but not what I envision for a fairy garden piece.)  So I've got a different charm to use, and the fabric I pulled from my stash is a piece of 32-ct. Sugar Maple Fabric called Butterfly Kisses.  Much prettier!

2014 wasn't a terrible year for me, stitching-wise.  I think I had about 13 finishes, most of them relatively small...the exception being the Labyrinth for DH.  Oooooh, unlucky 13!  Maybe that is why the rest of my year hasn't been the greatest....my cat died, I need a mouthful of expensive dental work, my DH lost his job (and the dental insurance) right after I got the dental work started.....  But life goes on.  Everyone in the house is healthy and relatively happy, I have my job, our child is growing and thriving.  DH does have some job leads, so here's hoping 2015 rapidly looks better than 2014!!  (And hey, I kicked off 2014 by backing into my own garage door from the inside.  At least I didn't do THAT again....  LOL)

Just-Nanmas!

I'm still plugging away on the Country Garden Stitchery Santa design, but I did finish 2 smaller ornaments - both from Just Nan's "3 Santas" charts.

First is my annual ornament for my daughter.  In the chart, the text under Santa's hand reads "Be Merry" - I changed it to her name, and added my signature and the year.  The backing is a small holly berry branch print.  I trimmed it with green satin rat tail and 2 little star buttons with red bead centers.

This is my second little Santa ornament.  The fabric to the left is the backing, with one of those cute little Santas centered on the back.  The trim is a bead ribbon I got at the thrift store, tied with a plain ribbon bow. 
(Both Santas are stitched on the same fabric - a 28-ct. tan evenweave - but for some reason they photographed a little differently.)

Stashing Up for the Winter

I can't believe it is November already...as one of my friends on Facebook posted today, "only 3 paychecks until Christmas."  And yikes, she's right!  So what am I doing accumulating stash?  Well, I found a few things.....
1) This came from the thrift store.  Tedd Arnold actually has some local connections, and while Mother Goose rhymes aren't always my first choice of stitching subjects, I like his style.  And then I opened it and saw it was autographed - for less than $2, I just couldn't pass it up!

2) A guilty eBay purchase.  I stitched a companion piece to the Shepherd's Bush design (Tending the Blooms) a few years ago, and decided "Keeping the Bees" would be a nice addition to the collection.  The SamSarah pattern is another I've liked for a while, and since it was affordable, came with the buttons and wouldn't increase my shipping cost (same seller), I figured why not.

3) A win!  Riona over at Oubliette had a giveaway, and I won Brightneedle's "Ezmerelda's House."  I think it is adorable, and even though Halloween is over for this year, I can see this getting started before next year's spooky season arrives...  Thank you, Riona!

But, lest you think I've not been stitching myself, I do have a (very!) small finish to share.

This is a Prairie Schooler design, the complimentary card that accompanies the "Santa Rides" leaflet.  I've been looking for this for a LONG time - I never wanted the actual leaflet, but just the card.  You see, my grandfather raced canoes well into his 70s (when he passed away from colon cancer).  I was in my LNS a month or so ago, and on a whim picked every Prairie Schooler card off the rack and started shuffling them around.  And what should fall out but this!  It really was serendipitous, since I've stopped visiting the store as often as I used to.  (The shop's new owner has changed the focus to quilting, so there are rarely new stitching patterns or supplies and I don't have a lot to spend anyway.)  But I grabbed this - along with the "Boo 1602" card that I stitched and posted a week or 2 ago.  It is stitched over-one on 28-ct. blue linen duck fabric, so it is about 2 1/2" square with the text.  Grampa's last name was Miller, and when we had Christmas at their house, all the presents would be from "Santa Miller."  So I thought that was appropriate in more ways than one!
The backing is a piece of the fabric I purchased earlier this year at the village yard sales, and the trim is a "pine branch" pipe cleaner.

A Confession...

I had big plans for this little project.  It was going to be a gift for a friend's wife -- I was sending him a woodworking book that was weeded from our library collection (he builds gorgeous furniture), and thought I should include a little something for his wife.

That was back before Halloween.

I never got the ornie finished.  I never even sent the book.  And then I took this little guy to work with me (once it WAS finished) and decided I didn't want to part with it, anyway.

From the 2011 JCS Halloween issue - designer?
border and embellishments omitted
much swearing encountered while attaching berry trim

Back with pics

As I said in my last post, I hate to blog about stitching without pictures to show....so I finally got around to taking some.

First, this year's ornament for my daughter - "Toy Shop Sign" by Carriage House Samplings, from the 2007 JCS ornie issue.

(I'm REALLY not pleased with the new camera...this pic is terrible.  I suppose there might be some user error to blame there, but still.)  I've given Santa blue eyes instead of the green used in the pattern.  That's how I always envision him!

And - drum roll, please - an update on the Labyrinth!  Here is how it looked the last time I posted:

(sometime...last year, probably?)

And here it is today:

Maybe I actually WILL get it finished and framed in time for my husband's Christmas gift this year!

Angry Muriel

Well.  I'm quite annoyed with my hostess right now, friends, and I think it might be time for me to move on soon.  Remember that renaissance faire she promised me?  We DID go....but thanks to a change in plans, I was left in the car all day!!!  Hmph.  (Hostess: The original plan was to put Muriel in her travel pod in my purse, and then use the wagon to tote both my purse and Wee One around for the day...Wee One quickly abandoned the wagon, it became a huge hassle to pull around , and DH took it back to the car.  With my purse.  My apologies!)  She claimed I did not fit in her little belt pouch, so I am sadly missing from pictures like this one.

Ah well.  Perhaps my next host will be more considerate.

On to other topics.  I noticed that several of  you asked for pictures of the stash my hostess brought home, and I am happy to report that I WAS able to procure these for you.  

First, a couple of pattern books from the 1980s, including the Gerda Bengtsson one she mentioned in a previous post.

A huge bellpull depicting some sort of nautical history, a magazine, and 2 packets of pattern sheets that reminded me and my hostess of the patterns on the Tante Zolder blog site.

My favorite pages from the magazine.  I can't decide...the little mushrooms that match my attire, or the lovely blue wildflowers on the left-side middle of the right page?

And finally, I took it upon myself to prod my hostess into starting the annual ornament for her daughter.  I like this - I think I match it nicely.

This is the Carriage House Samplings "Toy Shop Sign" from the 2007 Just Cross Stitch ornament issue.  My hostess is stitching it on 32-ct. linen -- she didn't have the 36-ct. used for the model, and she is substituting all the flosses as well.  She does that a lot.....

Ornamented

I spent last night doing this...it is now hanging on my file cabinet at work.

 

This is Just Nan's "Swan Lake," which I finished stitching last year.  I think it is stitched on 32-ct. fabric, but I'm not sure!  The ornament is 3 1/2" in diameter, and the backing is a plain dark blue.  I made the braid myself with some of that generic (ie, cheap) floss that all the craft stores carry.  I bought a big pack of it in all sorts of colors after I learned how to use the cord maker at Celebration several years ago, thinking at the very least it would be good for practice.  Well, it isn't the greatest....I think it is stretchier than DMC, which can be annoying.....but I can make it work!  This one is an ecru color.  And I used 2 gold pearlized pins to secure the top and bottom.

And now for my dirty little secret - I use glue when assembling my ornaments.  :O  Yes, it is true.  I've tried whip-stitching braided trim (and other trims) down, and it is just too fussy.  Aleene's tacky glue to the rescue!  I suppose someday it will dry out, fall apart, eat through the fibers, whatever....but by then I'll probably be dried up and fallen apart too.  It is what it is.  LOL

Shepherd's Bush ornie received!

Janet has received her ornament, so now I can share...

This little Santa is from the Angel Sampler in the "Angel Pie" booklet.  I stitched him on some mystery evenweave - maybe it is antique white? - and he fit perfectly on the 3-inch round ornament form that I had.  The swirly star fabric is the backing, and I made the cording with the green used in the pattern.  There is also green in the backing fabric, so I think that ties it together pretty well!  I'm so glad you liked it, Janet.

And an update on Snowflakes in the Pines -

I realized after this picture was taken that the pine boughs on the lower left were off by one stitch - somewhere.  Grrr.  I did finally find  the stitch, but of course it was in the middle....so I frogged the whole thing out.  Argh!  But you can see the divider band I decided on.  It is an upright cross done with 2 strands of brown, and then 2 elongated crosses over the top done with one strand of green.  I thought about topping that with a cross in white, but when I tried it, it looked too busy.  So just the green and brown, I think.  I am thinking of trying some beads, either between the stitches or maybe below.  We'll see!  I also need to decide what color to do the text in.  The green might show up best....but brown was the dominant color in my sister's wedding.  I'm pretty sure I will have it framed with brown mats, so that will help.  Guess I'll just have to try both and see what strikes my fancy!

2012 Frankensanta

(With thanks to Anna for the name!)

"Santa's Helper" by Mosey 'N Me
in the 2012 Just Cross Stitch ornament issue

I stitched this on a 32-ct. opalescent hand-dyed fabric, and substituted a lot of the flosses.  I also didn't do much (any?) of the backstitching - with the blue fabric instead of the natural linen used in the model, it didn't seem necessary.  I backed it with some beige checked fabric with snowflakes, and used DMC for the twisted cording.  I "signed" it with my little "heart, MOM" and the date, because it will be added to my daughter's annual ornament collection.  At 5 inches tall it is still a little bigger than most ornaments I make, but it should look okay on a full-size tree.

Another ornament finished

Now that my nephew has been born and named, I've finished his birth/Christmas ornament.

This is Dragon Dreams' ornament from the 2012 JCS ornament issue.  It is stitched over-one on 28-ct. Jazlyn.  I substituted a hand-dyed green for the dragon's body (I think the chart called for a silk, if I remember correctly), and did little Rhodes squares in the corners.  I tried beads, but they looked too chunky to me.  I finished it with some fabric I received in an exchange (thank you, Dawn!).  I was kind of kicking myself for not attaching the cording when I sewed the front and back together - duh - but attaching it to the front with buttons worked out ok, I guess.

October TUSAL and more ornaments

First, Morticia.  She felt the usual pose was less than flattering to her figure, so I agreed to try something different for this month's picture...

Hopefully she's happier with this.

Progress on Santa's Helper.

I didn't have the wool for the sheep, so I just used DMC.  Since I'm hoping this gets used for many years to come,  Ithink I might have gone with regular floss anyway -- less fuzz to fall off/get matted down/whatever!

And a finished finish - Prairie Schooler's "Two by Two: Deer" from the 1998 JCS ornie issue.

The backing fabric is some funky trees, I used jute for the hanger and fussed around entirely too much attaching that teeny branch and pine cones!  But I like the end result.  This one will be a gift for my parents this Christmas.  They live out in the woods and my dad is a hunter, so this made me think of them!

Ornie Progress

Up first is the Dragon Dreams ornament -

This is stitched over one on 28-ct. Jazlyn.  I used an over-dyed floss for the "2012" - everything else is as charted.  The corners are supposed to be stitched in gold metallic, but the idea of doing metallic over-one makes me twitch, so I'm trying to decide between some shade of yellow - and maybe an eyelet or Rhodes stitch? - or a bead or 2.  And of course I'll need to do the back.  Since the entire design is less than 2.5 inches square, I think I'll just repeat the border and then chart Ender's name and birthdate for the center.

And here is the Mosey 'N Me Santa.

This probably won't look much like the model picture at all when I'm done...I've swapped out most of the hand-dyed flosses because I didn't have them in my stash.  Santa's robe is supposed to be Taupe with Heirloom Gold for the trim - I'm using Roasted Marshmallow with Tarnished Gold.  Everything else (so far) is DMC.  And the fabric is a 32-ct. blue opalescent hand-dyed fabric - so sparkly!  The model used a natural linen, but I think this is cute too.

All kinds of pics

First, this month's WIPocalypse update.  I concentrated on the "Mom's Tearoom" tea towel, and made quite a bit of progress!

And I'm still working on the Stag Sampler.  Soon I'll have to put it up for a bit, because I need to pull something else from the WIP rotation...

Finally, my ornament for the Santa round at HOE arrived at Roberta's house!  This is Sue Hillis' "Lantern Santa," from the 2011 Just Cross Stitch ornament issue.  I used some Delica beads for the snowflakes, and for the trim.  The star fabric is the backing.

Ornamentifying and Finishing

I'm attempting to finish up a few things in preparation for the 2012 WIPocalypse....
With the Wee One at daycare this week, I finally got around to charting out my new niece's name and birth date, stitching it, and putting together her ornament.

I'm really pleased with it!  It is about 4 1/2" high x 3" wide, and I think I did a pretty good job of hiding the braid tails with glue/floss/beads....  I hope my sister likes it.

I also finished up the Marie Barber sandcastle pattern.  I love the shading effects in this one!  Although there were SO many blends...and it wasn't even a TW design!  I'm thinking about having Jill Rensel frame this one and "Mermaid Heart" together, and using them in my little basement half-bath.

So, counting these along with the 17 finishes in my sidebar, I've finished 19 projects this year.  Not terribly impressive, but still, pretty good for me!  And most of them were on the small-ish side, too...but it is hard to get into a big project when your stitching time is limited to an hour or 2 in the evenings!