Wednesday, January 28, 2015

FIRST 2015 SMALLS SAL!

I ran across a 2015 Smalls SAL while blog hopping. Thought this would be a great opportunity to stitch a back log of ornaments and small items. The SAL objective is to complete at least one small projects a month. I am aiming to do this!
Here is my finish for the month of January and some started projects.
Lizzie Kate Santa 2000. I changed colors to DMC Variations and DMC regular floss/thread. Then decided to add Mill Hill beads and a sparkly ball on Santa's hat. Then finish as a hanging flat ornament.
One finished and two started.

My Christmas Holiday Bear has had a few stitches added.Using DMC Light Effect Metalic threads and regular DMC floss/thread.
Other, not so small projects had a few stitches added, too.
Fleurs du Ciel SAL

And Serenity Harbor SAL has been started!
I also made my first cube finish. Not real happy with it. Have to say the ribbon hides a few sins here. But, I learned a few things and hopefully the next one will come out a little better. Think my main problem was the stitched fabric was pretty heavy/thick and wouldn't fold down tight enough.

 Another framing!! This is a Just Nan design stitched some time ago. Finally found a suitable frame.

 Finaly got around to framing The Angel of Winter, designer Maryln Imblum of Lavender & Lace.

Finished into an ornament is Funky Flower Meagan, designer Donna Bayless, By The Bay Needlearts. Donna was kind enough to enter my work on her blog. It always pleases me when a designer thinks my work is good enough to publish. A big thank you to Donna!


Also added a few stitches to my HAED Bubble Telescope. Will add more time, and stitches, and save Bubbles for the HAP(hugh A$$ Project) SAL update this saturday.

My amaryillis are still blooming and DH has cross pollinated the two. I am impatiently waiting for the light pink one to go to seed so I can plant, in house, for next years garden.
 And then there are four!
I hope everyone is staying warm and cozy.
Thanks for stopping by and happy stitching!
Deb



Saturday, January 24, 2015

JANUARY SFS, STITCH FROM STASH REPORT

Hi all
This is my stitch from stash report for January
I finished 13 roses blocks 33x37 @             $4 = 52.00
Finished Lizzie Kate Santa 2000 79 x 76         = $8
                                                                               = $60
                                                                              +  $25
                                                                               = $85
              Bought     5 skeins DMC              spent $1.87
                                                                         =    $83.13
to carry over to feburary. Which is good because HEAD is having a 50% off sale and I have my eye on a kitty stocking.....
Think I will wait until I finish a page on my HAED, and completely finish Mirabilia Silver Moon Tea, before counting them.

Happy stitching!
Deb

Monday, January 19, 2015

INTERNATIONAL HERMIT STITCHERS WEEKEND STITCHING!

I almost got it done! Have 2 and 1/8 roses left to backstitch.
Forgot to take a before picture. This weekend I stitched all the green and three colors of darker pink on the roses. And finished back stitching five of them. Didn't quite get all of the roses in the picture...
 Here is a beautiful gift sent from my friend Christine K and her grand daughter Gracie. I love the hand written thank you card from Gracie. I have plans for this bag and already have it set up, waiting for the decorations.
 
After running errands I decided to update with my bag!


 I have a rainbow!! Sun shining through a fish aquarium. Now! Where's my pot of gold????
After new years I bought three amaryillis bulbs that needed a good home. They were about to rot in their packages. Bought them home about 2 1/2 weeks ago, planted two in the pot kits that came with them. The last one was planted in a container with marbles and water. Here is the results. We could lit\terally watch them grow!

 That is for this update!
Thanks for stopping by!
Deb

Saturday, January 10, 2015

First 2015 YOTA and Turtle Trot update!!

Well, winter has set up shop in Texas. And I have been hibernating like a big bear. Could use a warm fuzzy cover up, tho!
Hibernating has it's advantages. Have made lots of progress on UFO's and some new SAL starts.
First my YOTA UFO update. In this case I have 3 that have been stitched upon since january 1.
I finally found Mirabilia Silver Tea Moon.
#1 Before
After
HAED Fun Guys Snowball Stocking

#2 before

After. About 400 stitches.
This rose afghan is stitching up fast!
I finished five roses and started 8 more. This afghan is definetly a TRAP!!! I had planned on just the five roses, along with the 9 already finished. The more I look at the afghan the more roses I start. Marking each square with colored ribbon so I don't have to keep laying it out to see which square needs a rose.
#3 Before
After 
This is the progress on each of the 8 unfinished roses. I keep looking and adding them.... Assembly line style!
Okay, this is also an update for the Turtle Trot SAL. Both links for YOTA and Turtle Trot are on my side bar if you would like to join. The object for the Turtle Trot is to work on 10 projects at any one time in the month and see if you can make progress on them for a finish. Of course any stitch is a stitch to a finish.
Soooooo, I am willing to claim my 5 roses, on my UFO afghan, as 5 individual finishes. By the time I finish with 8 more roses there will be a total of 22 roses.
My Turtle Trot update includes my 3 UFO's and these new starts WIP'S.
#4. This is an Angie Designer Fleurs du Ciel (Angie's site link is on my side bar, cost 5$ for complete SAL) that started today, although I received the 1st part last night. I hand dyed some white 32 count opalescent fabric to a slightly darker violet color than The Maiden's fabric. I wanted a slightly darker fabric to show the white stitches better. The opalescent fabric dyes up very nicely and doesn't affect the opalescent strands. I changed the colors to aqua marine colors and 5200 bright white.   
#5. This is a new start. Also one of Angie's designs called Ancient and Romantic. This was the 2014 january SAL which I missed out on. Loved the pattern so much that I bought it last year when Angie had it on sale. I realized that I have never stitched a wedding sampler for DH and me. Thought this would be a good one to adapt to what I want. Fairly large piece at 24 inches by 24 inches. I decided to take the alphabet section of the sampler and enter our wedding anniversary date in its place. Will use the letters to create our names and date. Which fit in the spot perfectly, so no redesigning or moving motif's around. This fabric is the second cut from the Fleurs WIP. Using DMC 5200 bright white. IF I can find some. I had 4 boxes and used all but 5 skeins. Those are divided up between Fleurs and this one. I don't like doing that as DMC has been changing colors lately. Wally world and Hobby Lobby have been out. But, in writing this, something just ocured to me. I do have a full cone of DMC 5200B white. Now to find it in my craft room. Ahhh! The hunt is on!
#6. Christmas Bear, new start
I love this bear! Have stitched three and this will be my fourth ornament.
#7. New 2015 HAED SAL QSUndercover. After no 2014 HAED SAL the administrators decided to have a 2015 SAL. Received the first page over new years and finally started it yesterday. I decided to try out the 25 count magic guide. 1 strand DMC over one fabric thread. Making this 25 stitches to the inch. The pink lines are not much help with counting as they are on a 20 thread grid, the chart is 10 grid and the fabric is 25 count. But, they do seem to make my eyes center on a specific square in the grid and keeps my eyesight focused on the one area. In that respect the fabric is helpful.

After the start. About 250 stitches.

and #8 to #12 are my 5 rose afghan squares finished.
Good thing I like roses!
As always, Happy Stitching and thank you for visiting!
Deb
I Have a post script....
My apologies to those of you who have google+ as a blog page. I try to leave comments and google+ is being a problem with the information they require just to leave a comment. Then it is not posted. In some cases I try to join a google+ blog and that is not being recognized either. Please know that I am still reading your blog and admire all the wonderful work posted!

Friday, January 2, 2015

HAPPY 2015!

A very happy 2015!
I am not sure where 2014 went to.... Seems like things turn into a bit of a blur the older one gets. Maybe from all that multitasking.
I have a finish!!!
Here she is all washed, framed!
The Maiden
 This is a flower design from an old JCS magazine. Combined with crochet for a different type of finish. This was stitched some time ago. But, thought it would be nice to show this combined finish.
 I had an impulse to work on this old UFO rose afghan. And, when I have a impulse to work on a UFO, I take advantage of it! The design is from a Paula Vaughn Leisure Arts leaflet. I had lost the pattern. Twice to be exact... When I was unpacking boxes i found it again and stored the pattern, this time, with the afghan. This is nine roses and I want to add more.
 I am using Kreinik, Pearl #32 blending filament for sparkle. Had not worked with the filament for a while. A little whispy. Worth the effort for the suttle bling effect.
 After a few hours of stitching I have 5 more roses started. Stitching these in a assembly line fashion by color. Although the frogs decided to brave the cold weather and had to frog part of one of the top roses.
 All in all, I made some progress.
 A little machine embroidery. I finally got my Brothers embroidery machine sorted out. Had taken the machine to a repair sewing shop in 2013. When we picked up the machine we spoke with the shop owners wife. I had terrible problems with the tension and the machine was just unusable. I asked the wife if the tension had been repaired. She said "no, there was no problem with the tension"... A bit frustrated because we knew , absolutely for a fact, that the tension was not working properly, if at all. I tried to operate the machine, with the tension setting at where I would normally operate, and the machine would not stitch properly. At this point I wanted to take the machine, place it in the driveway and let some trucks run over it.
As I was standing in my craft room, looking at all the beautiful threads hung on my wall, I decided this machine was going to work or land in the drive way somewhere. After finding some patience, I started adjusting the tension again. Then came to the realization that the tension HAD been repaired and the machine could be operated at normal tension settings. What a relief, as I was afraid the machine would damage a vehicle as the vehicle made a run at it. This is the result of my effort. Also embroidered some pepper towels and a place mat. Which I promptly forgot to take a photo of before giving as a gift.
 These are the UFO's I hope to work on this year.

 My HAED's patiently waiting.
 Section 2
 Section 3
I am afraid to count, as this is only a small part of them. But, any progress is good progress. I have a year, right!!!

Thanks for stopping by and Happy stitching!
Deb