Last Weekend for 2014 Hermit Stitching!

Well! I am making a real effort to get back into my stitching routine that has been lost for nearly this entire year. Maybe too much effort! I signed up for The Hermit stitchers, YOTA SAL and Stitch From Stash. There is also the HAED 2015 Freebie SAL and Flurs du Ciel SAL I have joined. WOW! Now that I see this in print, all together, i must have been on a lot of caffeine.... Oh well! Onwards and upwards.
For this weekend Hermit stitching i worked on The Maiden. I made some progress!
before

 after

I also stitched some ornaments in the last 6 weeks
This one for my mom. This is part of a design by Brooke Nolan of Brooke's Books. Vintage Spring. This is not the whole design. I wanted ornament sized so I omitted the spring bouquet and moved the purse in closer to the dress. Then I thought a purse shape finish would be fun to work with. But... How to get the proper size?

 I decided to put my stitched piece in the copy machine scanner bed and make two copies to play with. This gave me an actual sized paper copy to draw on and cut to the purse shape I wanted. Worked out very well and will use this method in the future!

 The above ornament is what I stitched for the 2014 annual Brooke's Books group ornament exchange. I used #8 Kreinik Silver braid and crystal snowflake buttons.
And this is the beautiful ornament, and goodies sent to me by Valerie, my exchange partner. I love birds and my new ornament looks great on my holiday tree!

 This is one of the ornaments I sent to Michelle, mon soeur ami en France.

 Another exchange ornament stitched using Kreinik #4 gold braid.

This is our 11 1/2 foot tall tree. I was so happy to be able to decorate this tree this year. It has been packed up since 2008. So 2007 was the last year she saw a holiday.
 Michelle emailed me her latest tiny knitting projects!

Wishing everyone a wonderful holiday and happy new year!
Thanks for stopping by!
Deb

My stitching bug has been caught! And, made some ribbon racks.

I caught my stitching bug again! And ms bug is hogtied and hanging where I can see that little beast!
 Before I show you what I have been stitching.
We FINALLY got to decorate our big tree this year. 2007 was the last year we were able to set our tree up. It's 11 1/2 feet tall and took me 5 days to decorate. I am still moving decorations around to better places...

 In fact, I have been decorating everything in sight. DH even made the escape to his room so I couldn't hang lights, and garland, on him too. He would look sooooo cute in garland! And the cat... Well, have you ever tried to dress a cat? I don't know how these people do it. Unless they glue that santa hat on poor kitty! So the cat remains undecorated.
I made more progress on my Maiden. She was supposed to be done some time ago. But, life gets in the way and interferes with the fun stuff.

I thought I only had the bottom bouqet left. When I got to the left bottom page I found I had a little more to do. Hope to finish her before the next SAL starting in january. Will have two SAL's running. HAED decided to have an SAL for 2015. Can you believe it will be 2015 already?

Valerie emailed and said she received the ornament exchange I stitched for her. I have four more, stitched up, that I can't show you as the persons have not received them yet.

I am still unpacking my craft room boxes. Can barely walk in that room...
Here are some ceramics that I painted, with ceramic stains, a while ago.

 Baby Dragon for DH

 I clean the greenware and have it fired into bisque. Then the fun begins. I love ceramic stains. I can paint a base coat and dry brush the rest of the colors. Adjusting the color shade where needed. I don't like ceramic glazes. Due to the opaque colors and not being able to see the finished colors until after the second firing in the kiln. Then it is too late to correct mistakes.
This castle is unpainted bisque. Not sure when I will get around to painting this one. I have several boxes of bisque to paint. Problem is that I have no where to put the castle once it is done.

As I was unpacking craft boxes, I realised that I needed a better way to store ribbon. And, somewhere that was economical on saving space. I looked on ebay and found some ribbon racks. Then looked at the price. YIKES!!!!
I looked at the racks and decided they did not look that difficult to make. Actually the racks were pretty straight forward. Made my own version to fit what I needed. Made 3 of them! And they are all full of rolls of ribbon.

 They are hanging on the doors of my craft closets.
I used 1"x4"x22" on the top and bottom. 1"x1"x36" for the sides. Cut 3/8" dowels for the ribbon holders.

 Drilled holes in the 1"x1" sides, every 3 1/2", installed kitchen cup hooks for the dowels to rest in.
Then drilled holes in the top 1"x4" piece of wood and installed 2 eyelets for S hooks. The S hooks are used to hang on top edge of the door.

That project done and on to the next one!
 I needed to screw down my machine embroidery thread racks on the wall. From past experience,  the spindles are so short that the thread cones would not stay on the spindles. Due to the angle of the thread racks once they were hung on the wall. Take down one cone and have an avalanche of six more.... Looked for racks with longer spindles and that didn't work out. I am standing in my room, staring at my thread racks, sipping water through a straw. I looked down at my drink straw and wondered if they would work..... So this is what I came up with.

Works perfectly. Something so simple! I cut drink straws, took elmers glue, inserted a little glue inside the straw and stuck the straw on the short wood thread spindle. Voila!!!! The Isacord, and other brands, 1000 yard thread cones stay on the spindle, do not tip over and fall off. I installed drink straws on 7 thread racks and got them screwed to the wall. Another space saving effort complete.
I would like to wish everyone happy holidays!
Thanks for stopping by!
Deb

Still here!

Well. I am still here! Just not getting much stitching done. Over run with work and still trying to get renovations done in the house. Slow going with the livingroom full of boxes again. Which has translated into a stitching slump.
I haven't stitched since the beginning of August. But, here is what i got done on the Maiden SAL by the begining of August.

 Brooke's Books Spirit of knitting. I had also started Brooke's Patty Patchwork, who was featured on the cover of September 2014 Cross Stitch and Needlework.

 In July(or August?) I also finished stitching, and beading, Liberty Lane from Country Cottage Needleworks.

I also ordered some 25 count DMC magic guide fabric. Thought would try stitching over one one the 25 count. Sold only in the UK..... I ordered two measures of the cut offered and was extremely disappointed when I did not receive one continuous piece of fabric. I had several projects planned for the one continuous piece. Now will have to rethink the projects. Much too expensive, due to shipping costs, to send back and to keep ordering from the UK. I used to sell fabric and when someone ordered multiple measures, of the same fabric, I sent it as one continuous piece. I contacted the new UK online shop and apparently inexperience was a factor. Although, she will continue to chop up multiple measures of fabric..... Moral of the story. Contact the shop and make sure the fabric will not be chopped up. Although it never occurred to me that it would be. I learned an expensive lesson.
I hope to have a better stitching update, and hopefully a more enthusiastic update, in a couple of weeks as I need to start holiday gift stitching. AAACCCKKK! I haven't even started THAT yet!!! Wish me luck.
Happy stitching
Deb

The Maiden SAL part one finished!

Hi everyone!
Yes! I am still here. Just busier than a bee in a hive! We are slowly getting the house in order. Today we built another much needed shelf in the laundry room. Next weekend I hope to replace the deck and do more work on our brand new shingled roof that leaks.... The old adage applies here.... If you want it done right, do it yourself. Moving the garden is one hold until the roof is repaired and the deck is redone. Am thinking of raised box gardens off the deck for vegetables and flowers. Not sure yet. But I do miss my garden as it is still at the old rent house. And, mostly gets watered and no pulling of weeds. The iris are ready to be moved as they have stopped flowering and are considered dormant. We have plenty of composted manure from the stables next door. So the flowers will have a good start when they are moved.
Have been stitching a new SAL called The Maiden. Normally I wouldn't participate in this type of time deadline SAL. But this was too pretty to pass up and something I have never stitched before. I did manage to finish part one before the june 30th deadline.

Of course I changed colors! DMC variations galore.
I looked through the slide show, of the pictures uploaded so far. There are very beautiful color combinations being stitched. If you would like to see them you can look here
http://magicaspuntadas.blogspot.com/

The designer is Angie and she has done a wonderful job with many SAL's. This SAL is closed. Most likely she will have future SAL's. If you are interested, bookmark her page so you can keep up with new SAL's. This one was $5 for a 3 part delivery in 45 day increments. And is quite a large project.

Next is Liberty Lane by Country Cottage Needleworks. In the summer mood and decided to brighten up the colors after seeing another stitchers work.

 Really like stitching this one! Easy and I can watch tv.

 Made some progress on Brooke's Books Spirit of Knitting. Have personalized this one with stitching things that the recipient knits. Hats, baby outfits and blankets. Using 14 count plastic canvas with 3 strands of floss and ombre silver Kreinik.

 Have been unpacking more boxes. Begining to think that someone is bringing boxes in at night when we are sleeping. Seems to be never ending. Bright side is that I am finding my finished cross stitch items that were packed away. This is Shepherds Bush Wandering Vine afghan. Finished with the scalloped edging like the cover model. The scalloped edging was so difficult and sewn by hand to get a good shape. Another scalloped edging may not be in my finishing future....

 Used #5 perle cottons and really like the effect of the gently twisted threads. Also used leftover blouse buttons, from old clothes, to secure the inside quilt batting.

 Unpacking has also revealed some #10 South Maid cotton crochet thread. Put that to good use making crocheted doilies. All different sizes from 14 inches wide down to 2 inches wide for cordial stemmed glasses.

 I like to have doilies under things to be able to move then around to dust under. Keeps from having to pick up fragile items, and from the furniture bring scratched. Have an extensive porcelain miniature tea set collection and the doilies look nice with them. Still have quite a few to make. Oh, and the dragon is actually a large candle that will never be lit. Kind of ironic as dragons breath fire! A mold, used for ceramics, was used to make the candle.

 Another Un Finished Object. Rug latch that was a gift, years ago, from my brother in law.

Made some progress on this holiday rug. Put it down to stitch the Maiden SAL. Will try to get it done for christmas! Have just the spot for it.

 
My friend Michelle has been busy knitting her petit animals. Including foxes and elephants.
 And for some reason I can not get the images to load. BUT! I have added a tab at the top of this page to you can visit her blog and see more marvelous animals Michelle has been knitting.
Thanks for stopping by and happy stitching!
Deb

FINISHED!! A WIZARD'S VIEW!

Okay, I have to admit I am a little lost on my own blog.... Many things to update and finding the time has been a challenge. Will take baby steps and see if I can get this blog caught up!
Have been diligently stitching on UFO's for the last few months. While unpacking boxes I found more than I want to admit to. So only one new project has been started in the last two months. And that is for a gift.
I finally finished A Wizards View by Joan Elliott. Tons of beads and back stitching with Kreinik #4 braids. And love the effect of the Kreinik.

 Stitched in beads for his sleeve cuffs and for the tether on his magic pouch.

 Used Kreinik #4  for the crystals and added gold mill hill beads to the border, instead of the olive gold color. More Kreinik in the backstitching.

 Really love the way the beads and metalic threads sparkle. I have a frame and decided on stretcher frame to get the border straight in the frame. Will post another picture when he is stretched and framed.

 This is a finished project I keep in my van glove box. Used DMC Variations threads.

 An old UFO. This kitty is from More Country Cats book by Dale Burdett. A 1988 book. Wow, am I telling on my self here... A 26 year old project finally finished. One kitty has been done for years. The second kitty can finally join it's sibling in my little basket.

 This is another Un Finished Object. However, I don't like this one. Too much blue and was one of those projects that my "little voice" kept telling me I ought to change the blue colors to light grays. AND I didn't listen.... Much darker than the kit display pic. One of those things where one hopes that the piece will look better with time. Not so...

 I tried to "fix" this by adding 2 more strands of white floss over the blue stitches. Needs another strand, but now the stitches are getting a little bulky. Will probably stare at it a while and figure out what else to do to tame this blue color down.

 Finished stitching one of By The Bay Needlearts Funky Flowers. I changed threads to several colors of DMC Variations threads and added bright colored Mill Hill beads. HAve not decided how to finish the flower. I like some of the others in this series and was thinking of "patch working" them together for a different effect.
The kitty was a freebie that I redesigned. The proportions were a bit "off" and the neck was a single stitch. Added stitches to the ears, too.

 I finished Country Cottage Needleworks Red White And Bloom. Have an idea for a bell pull finish. The hardware is still packed away. So that will have to wait.

 This is another UFO from an old magazine. Threads are the old DMC flowers threads and #5 perle cotton. There were a few leaves and branches to finish. I used too light of a fabric and the ecru perle cotton lettering was not showing very well.

 Decided to "paint" the letters using some old ceramic stains(which is a permanent craft paint for many types of surfaces). I used cotton q tips and made sure to use the paint as if I were dry brushing ceramics, by dabbing excess paint onto a napkin. Once this paint hits fabric it is permanent when dried.

 I chose a yellow color, that matched the pears in the picture, used the q tip to brush yellow paint onto the letters. The q tip was held straight down so only the tip is the q tip was used. Ended up with a flattened tip for dry brushing. Fortunately the perle cotton stands up high off the fabric. I don't know if I would have tried this with embroidery floss, as the floss sits closer to the fabric. I let the first dry brush set. And went over the letters a second time, dabbing paint onto the words/letters until they were bright enough to stand out. Dab of pink for the heart.

 This was the final result. Think this one will be quilted into a holiday hanger.

 Current WIP is a Prairie Schooler design

The only HAED that I have made progress on is Fun Guys Stocking

Almost half way done!
Have to end with some flowers for your day!

Our Violets are loving the bright windows in the dining room. And they are taking up pretty much the whole table.
As always, thank you for visiting.
Happy stitching!
Deb