3 finishes for the end of the year.

Good afternoon everyone.

I hope that everyone is having a wonderful, stress-free December.  We are keeping Christmas low key this year.  Other things that happened in December was a surprise party that my sister gave my mom for her 70th birthday.  I snuck down to Florida for a few days so I could spend it with the family.  I then headed back to Kentucky so I could be here for my son, Brentley's 12th birthday. 

Even though I have slowed down somewhat with my stitching, I still managed to finish 3 things.  Yea! 

Well the first thing I have to show you is the last of the Mini Bunnies series.  February is all set and ready to go.

I just love adding buttons when I can, and this was so much fun to put together.  I used DMC variations #4211 for the border.  Fabric is misc evenweave that was probably ant. white.  I dabbed some Chia tea to make the white bunnies stand out.  I had to be careful because one bunny was already stitched.  I think they stand out more.

The second finish for the month was the Mandala I have been working on.  We decided to paint the frame white so right now I have only pinned it in place.  Once the weather is better, it will get done.  Brentley really liked it.

Fabric is 32ct Belfast linen and Carrie's Creation Thread in Highland Hills.

Lastly, I finished this ornament but haven't had a chance to FFO it yet.  It is called Two Stars and a Stag by Blue Ribbon Designs.  It was in the 2018 Aug JCS mag.  Hope to show it complete next time.

Fabric is 32ct Lambswool Joblean and called for floss.

Thanks so much for the support you have shown me this year.  I hope you have a safe and happy Christmas and New Years and I will check back with you next month. 

Mary

November's Smalls SAL Challenge

Hi everyone,

Hope everyone is doing well.  For those of us who celebrated Thanksgiving, I hope you had a lovely time.  It was just the 5 of us, but it was nice just to hang out together for the weekend.

I have been pretty busy stitching, especially with winter about to set in.  I think autumn skipped us this year.  Oh well, it just means more time to get projects done.

I have finished 3 more bunnies out of the Mini Bunnies series by Handblessings Design.  They are so cute and I have really enjoyed working on these.  I still have half of November and February to do and then the whole year will be done.  Next year I plan on stitching A Year in Cupcakes by Durene Jones.  I am going to stitch them individually and will rotate them out in a frame.  I have January and February all kitted up and ready to go.

Anyway, here is Oct:

Dec:

and Jan:

I also FFO'd Think Winter by Lizzie Kate.  Thanks to Danielle from Stitcherista on Flosstube for the tutorial.  I loved how they turned out.  I am going to work on Think Spring next and finish it the same way.

I also wanted to show you some of the bigger projects I have been working on.
Mandala is about 2/3rd's done.

Darth Vader's head:

and Swans and Shears SAL:

Thanks to Heather at the Stitching Lotus hosting the smalls challenge.  It has been a ton of fun.

Thanks so much for looking,
Mary

Season's In Chalk-Christmas Finish

Good morning everyone,

I hope you have had a wonderful November thus far.  We had about on inch of snow last week, far earlier than normal. Glad it is gone for now but I am sure we will get more once Winter is on its way.

I have a finish that I finished a few weeks ago and I forgot to share it with you all.  I am happy to say Season's in Chalk-Christmas is done.  My son Brentley would like to have it so eventually I need to buy a frame.  I plan on starting Fall next,

I dyed some Opal 14ct Charles Craft Aida black using Rit dye and I just love how sparkly it turned out.  Trying to get into the festive season.

Thank you so much for looking.  For those of us who are celebrating Thanksgiving this week, I hope you have a wonderful holiday.

Mary

October Smalls Check-in

Good morning and Happy Halloween everyone,

I hope you had a really wonderful October.  Wow! it seems this year is really flying by, but then again, I seem to say that every year.

I want to thank Heather over on Stitching Lotus for hosting this fun SAL.

I do have 2 small projects completed but one isn't FFO'd just yet.  

The first one is the October mini bunnies from Handblessing Designs and was in the Sept/Oct 2018 JCS issue. I stitched it on some random 18ct Aida (I forgot the dyer) that I had in my stash for many years.

The second finish is Sugar Skull with Flowers by Medina Designs and it was in the 2016 JCS Halloween special edition.  I loved stitching on this. I just used scraps of floss and fabric from my stash so it isn't the called for colors in the chart.

I wish I had more to show but I am currently stitching Season's in Chalk: Christmas by Hands on Design and it was in the 2016 JCS magazine.  Hope to have a finish for November.

I hope you have a great November and I will check back soon.

Thanks,
Mary

2 framed finishes.

Hi y'all. 

Can you believe I am back so soon?  Well I have 2 framed pieces to show you and I am so excited.

This first one was something I stitched at least 10 years ago, and I finally got around to framing it.  I believe it was in an old US Cross stitcher magazine.  It was done on Sassy Fabby's and she hasn't been dyeing fabric in a long time.  I found a frame at the store and spray painted it brown and took the glass out. 

I just love stitching food.  It is so much fun.

The next thing I finished was The Spider and the Fly Mystery SAL by Tempting Tangles Designs.  It was so much fun to stitch.  I stitched it on some 32ct Belfast Linen that I dyed myself and the called for floss.  I found the frame at Michael's and just love how it turned out.

Thank you so much for looking and I appreciate all the kind comments.

Have a great October and I will catch you back here on October 26th.

Mary

September Smalls Check-In

Good Sunday morning,

I hope everyone had a really great month.  Our weekends have been filled with high school football on Friday's and the rest of the weekend dedicated to college and pro football. We finally got some much needed rain, however, it dropped the temps about 20 degrees and I wasn't quite ready for 60's and 70's yet. 

So onto the smalls I have for you this month.  Thank you again to Heather at The Stitching Lotus for hosting this Smalls SAL.  I am so glad I have some things completed because my eyes started straining so I had to slow down my stitching so I could get my eyes checked.  I just got my new glasses on Friday so I am ready to stitch as usual.

First is a finish I did at the end of August but fully FFO'd this month.  It is called Joy and is by Hands on Designs and it was in the 2017 JCS ornament issue.

I used 28 ct Monaco in Hunter Green and changed the coral stitches to light pink Mill Hill beads so I could match up the pink beads around the ornament.  I love how it turned out.

2nd finish is September's mini bunny by Handblessing Designs and is in the Aug/Sept 2018 JCS issue.

I used scrap 32ct sand linen. Gentle Arts Dark Chocolate, Carrie's Creation Desert Bloom and DMC 712.

3rd finish is A Star, A Star from The Sunflower Seed and was in the 2007 JCS ornament issue.

It is hard to tell but the gold is metallic and their are beads around the outside border.  It was such a fun stitch.

Well that is all for this month.  I have another small finish that need to be FFO'd so I will show you that next time.  I am 98% done with The Spider and The Fly mystery SAL by Tempting Tangles so I will post that sometime this week. 

Thank you so much for all the wonderful comments and I hope you have a great October.
Mary

August Smalls SAL check-in

Hi y'all,

I hope you have had a really great month.  August really flew by with my kids going back to school on August 9th.  I also had a short visit this week from my sister Dawn and my mom.

Here is what I have done this month.

I completed Star Wars.  I purchased this on Etsy and started it in April.  My son Blake really likes it.

I also completed August Mini Bunnies from Handblessing Designs.  It is in the August 2018 JCS issue.

I also completed all the animals on the baby sampler.  1st was the bunny.

Next was the fox.

3rd was the deer.

Last was the bear.

I finished it and framed it so that my sister could bring it back home to Florida.

Thanks for letting me share.
Mary

July Update- Smalls SAL 2018

Good morning everyone,
Thanks again to Heather at The Stitching Lotus for hosting this event.

I hope you had a really wonderful July.  This month has really flown by, especially this week, because of school preparation.  My kids go back to school on August 9th. 

Here is my first finish of the month.  It is July Mini Bunnies by Handblessings Design in the Aug 2018 JCS.

My fabric was too soft (I used Joblean in Queen Anne's Lace) and I couldn't get the bunnies to cooperate so I just added another star instead.  It is such a cute addition to my basket.

My second finish was Baby's First Christmas from Frony Ritter Design and was in the 2016 JCS Christmas Ornament issue.  I did this for my husbands Nephew and wife since they had a sweet baby girl at the end of June.

Lastly, I finished Persuasion by The Sampler Girl and it was in the Feb 2009 JCS issue. I love the sentiment of the words because we all need that reminder sometimes.   I just realized that all my finishes were from the JCS magazine, haha.  I do tend to stitch a lot of things from there.  Anyway, I just need to find a frame for it.  I loved stitching this one.

Thanks so much for looking and have a great weekend!
Mary

A small patriotic finish

Good Morning y'all.

First, I would like to thank everyone for their kind and wonderful comments from my last post.  It really means a lot to me.  Second. Happy Canada Day and Happy 4th of July for all those who celebrated.  We kept it low key since it was too hot to cook out.

I have a small finish for the week.  It is July mini bunnies by Handblessing Designs from the Aug JCS 2018 issue.  I have really enjoyed this series a great deal. 

I stitched this on 32ct Joblean in Queen Anne's Lace.  I struggled stitching on this fabric so I think I will stay away from Joblean.  For those who like a softer fabric you would really enjoy working on this.  I had to substitute the ducks for a star because I could not get it stitched right.  I still love it.

I also started Blessed Land by Tempting Tangles.  I am using Desert Sand 32 ct Linen by Wichelt.  It is super stiff but since I work in-hand I like it.  It called for African Daisy Joblean but I didn't want yellow fabric for this design.

Believe it or not, that is 504 stitches.  I am really enjoying this piece, I am just scared to the stars.  Wish me luck.  I am going to put this one down next week and work on some Christmas projects.  I will come back next Friday with some updates.

Hope everyone has a great weekend.
Mary

I am back with some finishes

Good morning everyone,

Wow!  The time has really flown and I can't believe it has been 2 months since my last post.  I hope everyone is having tons of fun this summer and getting some stitchy time in.

I have been very busy and have finished several things since we have last visited each other.  The first thing I want to show you is my Seasons in Chalk, Stars in Stripes by Hands on Designs that was in the July 2016 JCS issue.  I am doing each one and will make them all into pillows. 

I am currently working on Seasons in Chalk Christmas out of the Dec 2016 JCS issue.  Here is an update after working on it for 4 days.  It is so much fun.  I dyed some Charles Craft 14 ct Opal Aida in black and I am really happy with the results.

I also did the mini bunnies from the May/June 2018 JCS issue.  Here is May:

Here is June:

I ffo'd the skull and I just love how it turned out.

I was working on Ink Circles pattern called Cirque de Triangles but I just couldn't get into it.  I am sure we have all been there before.  So I cut off what I stitched and went looking for a pattern that I could still use the floss and fabric for.  I found this Mandala by Heritage Stitch on Etsy.  It reminds me of the Spiralgraph toy I had as a kid.

I also started on this baby sampler for my great-niece Eden.  I have finished all the leaves and just need to finish the trunk and the tree will be done.  There will be some woodland animals at the bottom.  I found this on Etsy and the store name is NikkiPattern.

Last but not least is the free pattern on Lakeside Needlecrafts website.  I am really enjoying this one.
It is done on some 28ct Monaco evenweave I hand-dyed last year.

Thanks so much for looking and catching up with me.  Have a great weekend.
Mary

April Smalls Check-In

Hi everyone,

Can you believe it is that time again.  Time to show you all my work (especially smalls) for the month of April.  Gosh, where did the month go?  It totally flew by.

Thanks again to Heather, at the Stitch Lotus for hosting this fabulous SAL.

Well, the first small I want to show you is out of the April JCS 2018 issue.  It is the April mini bunnies by Handblessings. I used Carrie's Creations Thread in Baby Blue and Koala Claw and misc. yellow DMC. 

Second finish, Think Winter by Lizzie Kate.  I hand-dyed some 14 ct Aida for this one.  I used a mixture of various hand-dyed floss I had in my stash.

Third finsh, Winter Silhouette by Handblessings Design and it was in the Dec 2013 JCS issue.  I dyed some 28ct Monaco Navy.  Hard on the eyes but I love it.  I also added beads for the snow.

Last finish, I participated in Garette aka Coffee Stitcher's birthday SAL on StitchMaynia.  This was my only finish.  It was by Monsterbubbles and was in the 2009 JCS I believe Aug.  I hand dyed 28 Monaco and used misc DMC.

Here is progress on my Season's in Chalk by Hands On Designs Flag.  It was in the 2016 JCS. It is on Joblean.

Thanks for looking and have a great weekend.
Mary

March Smalls Check-in

Good morning everyone,

I hope everyone that celebrates Easter has a wonderful weekend and whomever doesn't celebrate I hope you have a great weekend as well.

I can't believe it is time for the check-in already.  I have been stitching like crazy and have a few things to show you.

Thank you again to Heather at The Stitching Lotus for hosting this wonderful SAL.  You can join at anytime.

I finished this ornament at the beginning of the month.  It is called Spiderweb Ornament from KBB Crafts and was in the 2017 JCS Special Halloween issue.

After seeing everyone's cute finishes I decided to do this bunny series.  It is in the current JCS issue and I adapted the colors to match my backing fabric.  I am choosing to do all the bunnies brown and this color is from Carrie's Creation Threads.

Lastly, is an ornament I finished for Needlecraft Haven. They choose a freebie every month and you can post a picture until after the last Sunday of the month.  This was my first time participating and it was a lot of fun.  It is called Christmas Joy and you can find it here in the November 28, 2017 entry.  It is really modified because I decided not to include the cart and the trees.

So as far as my bigger projects here is an update on them:

Seasons in Chalk by Hands On Design JCS 2016.  Beginning of the month:

Current progress:

White Tigers beginning of the month

:

Current Progress:

Well that is all for now.  Thanks for looking and have a great start to April.
Mary