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

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

January - Small's SAL 2018 check-in

Hi y'all,

How are you doing?  I am doing great!  I have a finish to share with you but it isn't a small.  I guess if  you breakdown the 2 flowers I did into 2 smalls I can get away with it.  Right?  haha.  I am sure you don't mind me sharing this since I don't have anything else to show.

The lovely Heather at the stitchinglotus is again hosting the Smalls SAL and it is so much fun.  Here is a link to her blog in case you are interested.

Well as promised, I have completed the Season's in Chalk by Hands on Design "Summer" that was in the June 2016 JCS issue.  I dyed my own 28 ct Monaco and changed the color of the flowers from the original.  I decided to make it into a pillow.  I went to Hobby Lobby and bought a pillow form. I just need to get motivated to get behind the sewing machine. 

My conversion for the flowers were 791, 794, and 798.

I am currently working on a Sunflower biscornu for next month's finish.

Thanks for looking and have a great weekend.

Mary

November Smalls SAL check-in

Good Afternoon everyone,

Thank you again Heather @thestitchinglotus for hosting this monthly SAL.

I apologize for always being a day or two late.  This month I got sidetracked by Thanksgiving.  In the USA we always celebrate this tradition on the third Thursday of November.  It is a time to gather with friends and family with a thankful heart.  We usually do not travel this time of year so it was just my husband Bill, my 3 sons and myself.

Everyone who celebrated, I hope you had a wonderful holiday and for those who do not I hope you have had a terrific November.

I have exciting news!! Jo at Serendipitous Stitching has interviewed my for Blogger of the Week.  I am not sure when my turn is but I was so humbled.  I am somewhat neglectful of my blog but I will get better.

Well, I only have two smalls for the month and the first one is the completion of November for Connie G's 2017 Rainbow SAL.  I finished the circle and quite a bit of the brown.

I ordered a special pillow form from Ebay that should get here in about a week.  I cannot wait to have this done to give to my son Brentley.  It has been so much fun to work on.

My second one is Brewhaha with some alterations.  This is a freebie Here and it is from Plum Street Samplers.

If you guys watch Flosstube or on Facebook then you know about the SAL called Nomostitchmo and is a spinoff of nomowritmo.  You stitch 50 stitches a day on a project which is the perfect motivation to finish the second house.  My husband said I could stitch it for February instead of for Christmas which I am so happy.  I didn't think it could get done for Christmas.  Here is my progress so far.

I am striving to complete it by Jan 1st and I feel confident I can do that.  I also pulled out my seasons in chalk in Summer by Hands on Design that was in the 2016 JCS.

I am having so much fun with this one and can't wait until it is finished.  This is another wip I hope to finish by Jan 1st.

I asked my mother what her favorite flower was and she said Tulip.  I am really surprised that Nora Corbett didn't have a Tulip fairy however, 123stitch! had this one and she liked it.  I am waiting for it to arrive.

I ordered the beads, Kreinik and 32ct Lugana in Taupe from Stoney Creek.  I also picked up the DMC floss at Michael's.  Aren't they pretty?

Well that is all for now.  I probably won't have anything done for Theme-tas-stitch so I will catch you on December 29th for the final check-in of 2017.

Thanks again for looking,

Mary

September smalls check-in

Good day everyone,

Hope you had a wonderful week since I last checked in.  I participate in this wonderful monthly Smalls SAL hosted by Heather at Stitching Lotus.

I finished 2 ornaments this week.  They are both by Turquoise Graphics and Designs and were in JCS magazines.  I am really trying to make my Christmas ornaments sparkle, shine and glimmer.

I worked on these wips and made pretty good progress but I got called out by my husband for not working exclusively on the 2 houses I need to do for Christmas presents.  I hang my head because it is true, so for now I need to get them out of the way.  It is just a lot of color changes but I know it is worth it; I just need to suck it up.

Here is my progress on Summer by Hands on Design.  Sorry for the lousy picture.

Here is a new small I am doing on the weekends.  It is called Happy Thanksgiving by Redbear Designs on Etsy.  I dyed some 28ct Monaco with Tan and Camel.  It is really cute.  I will probably frame it in a wooden hoop and buy a display stand.

Last but not least is the before picture of the house:

And the after picture:

Thanks again for looking and all of your kind comments.  It really means a lot to me.

Hugs,

Mary

June Theme-Tas-Stitch Check-in

Hi y'all,

How is everyone doing?  I am doing great.  This month's theme for Kerry's SAL was garden/floral.
I was able to work on this WIP.  It is called Butterfly and Roses by Marie Barber and it was in the Apr/May 2012 JCS issue.  Since the boys are out of school for Summer break I have been working on this early in the morning before they wake up.  I will continue to do that until they go back to school.  I made great progress even though I had to rip a lot out.  The swirls in the bottom right rose threw me off.

I have a new start as well.  I am doing this on the weekends (fri-sun).  I hand-dyed 28 ct Monaco fabric a red-orange color and I love it.  This is called Summer chalk by Hands On Design and was in the June 2016 JCS issue.

I will continue to have this as my weekend project.

Well that is all for now.  Thanks for looking at my blog.

Mary

I have 2 check-in's today and some finishes.

Good morning everyone,

Can you believe tomorrow is April.  Next week my 3 sons will be on Spring break so I am not sure how much stitching time will occur, but I will try.  I guess I will kit up a couple of small, easy projects to alternate with my Ink Circles wip.

Thank you to Heather at Stitching Lotus for hosting the 2017 Smalls challenge and Kerry at Ramblings of a Biscornu Addict for hosting Theme-Tas-Stitch.

Here is one from February I forgot to show you. It is called Love You More and was a freebie on Hands blog here.

This month's smalls only consisted of three.  One I showed you on 3/17/17 and was the St. Patrick's shamrock freebie by Brooke's Books Design.  The other one is called Winter Garden by Turquoise Graphs and Design and was in the JCS Sept/Oct 2012 issue.  So much beading but totally worth it.  I can't wait to turn it into an ffo.

This little cutie is an oldie by Sanman Originals Design.  I will make it into an ornament.  It is called Easter Tulip.

Now onto the March Madness.

Here is an update to Cirque de Circle by Ink Circles.  I can't wait to have this done and my son is getting excited to have it completed.

Here is an update on White Tigers.  I made tremendous progress this month also.

And lastly, another Turquoise Graphics and Design. It is called Christmas Wreath and is from JCS 2010.

Thank you for looking at my blog and my stitching.  Hope you all have a great weekend.
Mary

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

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

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

More finishes as promised.

Good Morning,

I have a few more finishes to add.  I have finally found my stitching mojo since last year was so chaotic.

First, May from Hands on Design.  I loved the soft colors and is so pretty.

I love daisies, they are so cheerful and remind me of Spring.  This is I believe #332 from the Floss Box.

This is the front:

and the back:

This little hanging ornament pillow was done as a one day challenge on the 123 message board.  It is an oldie from Sweetbriar Designs.

The next 2 are some ornaments I made.  The one on the left is from Ursula Michaels and was in the Nov 2014 CS-N magazine.  The one on the right is a Sanman Originals Design.

And I saved the biggest finish for last.  I was able to finish this early this week.  It is called Words on Palko-Lap's blog.  It is no longer available and the SAL is complete. I loved stitching this.

That is all for now.

Have a great weekend.
Mary