2 Finishes and a New Start

Happy New Year everyone.  I hope everyone enjoyed their holiday last month.  Ours was nice but low key.

I had some small finishes last month.  I was finally able to complete the last 2 of the series (January and December) into pillows.  This series is by Hands On Design and were in Cross Stitch and Needlework Magazine 2014.  It was 2 per issue.

Not perfect but that is ok.  I accidentally attached the back the wrong way for December so I had to cut it off.  On the left side the trees are pointing down instead of up but it is done and still cute.  I am not going to stress over it and I didn't want to throw it away.

I have a new big start that I will rotate with my Circle des Cirque.  It is called White Tigers and it is by Jeanette Crews Designs.  It is in the  Stoney Creek Collection Encore #8106 book.  I am using 32ct Pearl Gray linen.  I just started on Tuesday so not a lot of progress so far.

Here is an updated picture of my Circle des Cirque.  I am almost done with page 3.  I will work on this every other week until it is done.

Thanks for looking.
Mary

2 small ffos and more

Good morning,

I hope everyone is having a wonderful, safe and warm friday.  It is up and down weather wise here and it is driving me crazy.  Oh well, I will get use to it soon.

FINISHES:  I have 2 small FFO's that were stitched late last year.  First, is a old freebie from the Cricket Collection called Nutkins.  If you love her designs, her website is here.  She has a gift design area where she rotates free designs.  They are always so cute and she has a new one up now. Anyway, I made it into a bowl filler/small pillow.

Second, is an old pattern from Sanman Originals.  I made it into an ornament and I am happy with it.

Next on the list is a new SAL I joined by Stitching Lotus.  If you click here it will lead you to her blog where you can see the instructions and how to join if you choose to do so.  I like low key SAL's where I can pick what I want and work at my pace but still keeps me motivated.  I have several groups on Facebook and they are really helpful.

WIPS:  I usually don't post a lot of progress on my WIPS but I want to start posting them so I can see how far I have come from one post to another.

First, Update on Ink Circles.  I made some progress, not as much as I hoped.  I struggle with needlework in the Winter because I need the sunlight.  I have other lights but my eyes just aren't that great.  

2nd, Winter Flowers by Turquoise Graphics & Designs.  This is in the JCS July/August 2012 issue.  I probably won't get done until January.

Lastly, this is December from Hands On Design and I only have January to go and the set will be complete.  

Well, I guess that is all for now.  Have a great weekend!

Mary

2 finishes and a WIP update

Good morning everyone.

Hope everyone is doing well.  I am just trying to prepare myself mentally for winter, the holidays and the cold weather.  This is my least favorite time of the year because I detest cold weather. I am a Florida gal through and through and much prefer 80's to 30's.

At any rate, enough of that.  Now on to the good stuff.  I finished and framed Happy Camper this week.  It took me 5-1/2 months to complete this and is a BAP to me.  It is 8x10 of solid stitches.  I posted a photo for my sister-in-law and she loved it.  I will probably wait until after the rush of the holidays to mail it to her.

I did the framing myself.  I ordered the frame and mat from here and I couldn't be happier.  The quality is excellent.

I also have a small finish I did for my November challenge.  It is a freebie from here.  I used the some of the dyed Monaco I showed you last time and I really love it.

I have some WIPS in the mix; some smalls for the weekends.  My main upstairs WIP is Circle des Cirque.  It is on 14ct black aida and Carries Creations Bluebird.  I am a little over 1/2 of the way done.

Well for the rest of the month I hope to get done December and January of the 2014 Hands on Design charts that were in the CS&N magazine.  These are the final 2 I need to do.

My goals for 2017:  I am trying to work on larger projects.  My sons have been complaining that I haven't made them anything.  So I will be working on this.  As far as smalls, I really need more Easter/spring designs so I am going to concentrate on that and christmas ornaments.

Let me know what your goals are so we can motivate each other.

TFL and have a wonderful day.
Mary

Fabric dyeing and finishing

Good afternoon.

I hope everyone is having a lovely November day.  It is cool and sunny here so I am very happy.

I have been busy trying my hand at dyeing fabric.  I have done so in the past, but usually only one color or coffee/tea dyed, so it was simple.  This time I did some ice-dyeing and it is very simple.  There are several people of Youtube but I watched WonderfullyHopeless for inspiration.

Here is how it looks on linen.  I used liquid dye instead of powdered in orange, grey and camel.  I love how it turned out.

This next one I love but I learned some things. I used liquid in Camel and powdere in Tan.  It is on 28ct Monaco and it is thicker fabric than linen so I had some trouble.  When the powder hit the ice it made it some little spots with red and blue. Next time I will dilute the powdered dye and make it liquid.  Once the ice melted and I pulled it out there was a lot of white where it did not go through so I had to do it twice.  I still love it and plan to stitch this cute pattern I bought on Etsy from RedBearDesign.

It addition to dyeing fabric I also have some FFO's.  I finished stitching November by Hands On Design yesterday and everything else was stitched earlier this year. My finishing isn't perfect but I still love them.

Thank You so much for looking,
Mary

Good morning,

I hope everyone is have a wonderful day.  I spent the last 2 hours doing some finishes and it feels great.  Here is a picture of all of them together.

Eek by The Stitcherhood was made into an ornament.  It was stitched on hand dyed green 28 ct Monaco by me with DMC 310. It was in the autumn JCS 2013 issue.

Boo To You was also made into an ornament. It was stitched on 28ct linen. It was a freebie from a group on Facebook.

I finished stitching October by Hands On Design yesterday and made it into a pillow for my basket.  I hand dyed some evenweave in orange and tan.  I have 3 left in the series to complete. This was in a 2014 Cross Stitch and Needlework Magazine.

I am still working on Happy Camper and have the One Day Challenge left to complete that Honeybee is hosting on the 123 Stitch! message board.  October's theme is Halloween and I have the perfect chart that I kitted up yesterday.  I will do it tomorrow.

Thanks for looking at my blog,

Mary

An ornament finish and an update

Hi y'all,

I hope everyone is enjoying their day.  I love this time of year even though my allergies kick in to high gear.  The leaves are falling and it is cooling down somewhat.

The kids were off of school in the beginning of October and we drove down to Florida to visit my family and paint my parents house.  My husband Bill is a work horse and did a lot of it but my oldest boys Bradley and Blakley helped as well.  My nephew William, sister Dawn and her boyfriend Kevin also helped a great deal.  We were also able to fix some other things too.  It was wonderful to be able to do that for them since they do so much for everyone.  Seeing all of my family was great.

My is making everyone warm fleece blankets for everyone and they are so warm and comfy.  We got them as an early present since mailing them would have been a real pain.  I picked out my fabric from Joann's website and love it.  Peaches, corals and turquoise are the colors and I even got a matching pillow.

Last week was slow getting back to stitching.  I had sinus problems but by the end of the week I felt like picking up my needle again.  Here is an updated picture of Happy Camper by Emma Corgdon.  It is in the Summer 2016 Cross Stitch and Needlework Magazine.

I also finished this ornament today.  It is called Joyeux Noel by Monsterbubbles and it was in the 2007 JCS ornament issue.  I made some changes to match the fabric.  I used opalescence Lugana and matching beads.  I also made the beaded hanger and the black edging around the ornament sparkles.
It is my favorite Christmas ornament to date.

Lastly, I went to Hobby Lobby today and found some goodies.  It isn't cross stitch but will help with finishing my projects.  I got some Christmas, Fall and Halloween items.

Thanks for looking.
Mary

I have some finishes

Hi everyone, how are you?  My 3 sons started school yesterday.  It was wonderful to have them around, but I am glad to get back into my routine.

I decided this year I was going to do my best to try to complete "finish" my projects, especially my smalls.  I am trying not to post until they are made into something.

Today I tackled my 3 Hands On Design finishes I have done. I need to do 5 more to complete the series.  These charts have been a pleasure to stitch.

The glue gun was mean and took off a few layers of skin on my finger.  It feels much better now, thank goodness.

Here is an update to Happy Camper.  I am going to the next page.  This has been so much fun.

Thanks for looking and have a great weekend.
Mary