2017 Smalls SAL January Check-in

Good morning everyone,

I hope your Friday is off to a great start!  So far so good with me.  I plan to stitch a little on White Tigers today and switch to Circle des Cirque on Sat and Sun.  Since today is about showing you my finished smalls I will wait until next week to show you my progress on my larger projects.

First, I would like to thank Heather at Stitching Lotus for hosting this smalls SAL and for allowing me to join.  I didn't participate last year but decided to give it a try for 2017.  I enjoy looking at other stitchers' blogs and have added several new ones to my list.

Well onto the finishes.  I was able to complete 2 this month.  One is a FFO and the other just needs to be framed.

The first one I completed  was from San-Man Originals. I am on her message board and she had a set of 9 ornaments for sale.  This snowman is the first one I have completed.  I plan on stitching and finishing one per month.  I love her designs because they are cute and fun.

The second finish was a 2012 summer SAL that was on By The Bay Needleart blog here.  Just scroll to the end of the page and on the left hand side you will see the label that says 2012 summer SAL.  I am embarrassed to say I have had it kitted up since 2012.  The only thing I didn't do was put french knots on some of the flowers. I like it the way it is.  It will go in my bedroom once I find a frame for it.

Thank You for looking at my blog and the kind comments.  It makes my day.
Mary

Made some FFO's today

Good afternoon everyone,

Well I finally got behind the sewing machine to make some FFO's.  I have a few more projects to complete but it will be easy.

These 2 are from Sanman Originals.  The first one is Swirly Cane and I made it into an ornament.  The second is Get Ready and I made it into a pillow for my basket.  I am pretty happy with the results.  I struggle with ornaments sometimes because of the cording but I won.

I have my first finish of 2017 completely Finished but I will wait until the 27th to post.  The hint is that it is a Sanman Originals chart I purchased last month.

I have made some great progress on Ink Circles because I have completed the 3rd page.  I will post an update next week.

Thanks so much for looking and for any comments that are made.  It truly means a lot to me.

Until Jan 27th,
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

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

Happy Halloween and a quick finish

Happy Halloween.  It is one of my favorite holidays and Fall is my favorite time of year.  I love how all the leaves turn vibrant shades of oranges and yellows.  I love everyone dressing up and being creative.

I have a finish today and it is my last Halloween finish for 2016.  It was for the One Day Challenge that Honeybee graciously host on the 123stitch! message board.  It is fun and there is no pressure whatsoever.  This freebie is from 2010 and is called Ectoplasmic Kiss by The Cricket Collection.  Although it is no longer available, if you go here and click on the free design as she rotates very cute freebies.  The colors were more pastel but I changed the green and orange to match the ribbon.  I love how it turned out even though making circles is challenging. It might not be perfect but I still think it is cute.

I went to Michael's this morning and picked up these goodies.

I am not ashamed to say I love a good deal and I really scored on this trip.  Their Halloween/Fall items are 70% off and I got all of this for less than what the basket sold for regularly.  I am going to use the basket to store some of my kitted WIPS for downstairs.  My husband likes me to sit with him and it will be easy to reach in a grab a quick project.

Here is a close up to the metal spiders.  Can't wait to use them next year!

I also purchased a few things from Etsy.  I am telling you as soon as I joined Instagram a few months ago it really opened my eyes to new designers, charts and Floss tube.  I purchased 2 Thanksgiving charts (Happy Thanksgiving from Cloudsfactory and Happy Thanksgiving from Redbeardesign).  They are so cute.

Goals:  My goals for November is to continue to stitch on Happy Camper.  Thank goodness my SIL wasn't in a hurry for this.  I also want to stitch Happy Thanksgiving from Redbeardesign and November from Hands On Design since I only have 3 more months to go.  Yech!

Well thanks for reading and I hope you have a safe and fun Halloween.
Mary