Friday, August 28, 2015

New patterns in my Etsy shop!

I've just added 3 new patterns to my Etsy shop, XedStitches.  They are a Unicorn, a Scottish Terrier, or a Christmas stocking done in Scottish tartans!

As with all of my Scottish tartan cross stitch patterns, the cost is $10US per chart.  Since I email them, there are no shipping charges!

The unicorn pattern is 233w x 298h.  Here are examples shown in the Sinclair (red) and Watson (blue) tartans:



The Scottish Terrier pattern is 245w x 186h.  These examples are using the Borthwick (gray/red) and Buchanan (yellow) tartans.


The Christmas stocking pattern is 193w x 280h.  You have your choice of toe to the right (shown in Akins) or toe to the left (shown in Thain).



Here are the other styles of Scottish tartan charts I offer:

A map of Scotland, 247w x 318h (shown in the Dalrymple tartan):


A Celtic knot, 349w x 170h (shown in the Campbell tartan):


A heart, 214w x 197h (shown in the Armstrong tartan):


A rampant lion, 219w x 248h (shown in the Stewart mourning tartan):


A Celtic cross, 137w x 250h (shown in the Menzies black & red):


A thistle, 264w x 297h (shown in the Ogilvie tartan):


I also have Old English style individual letters available.  They range in width from 108 - 180 but are each 150 stitches high.  I refer to them as my Monogram patterns.  If you wanted the Campbell tartan, you would get the "C", MacDonald would get the "M", etc.

Of course, I also offer "full" tartan patterns.  These are all square but cover one repeat of the requested tartan (with a small handful of exceptions).  They range in size from about 80 stitches square to over 600 with most falling in the 160-300 range.

Happy Stitching!

Stacy

Friday, August 21, 2015

La Belle progress report

I finally had another page finish tonight!  At the moment, I'm a bit tired of black.

Anyway, here is my current progress:


I've now finished the first 18 pages!

I don't know yet what's going to be up next in my rotation.  I'm considering pulling one of my current WIPs to work on a piece that I've designed.  We'll see...

Happy Stitching!

Stacy

This and That with Photos!

Hello Fellow Stitchers!

If you're like me, photos of stitchy stuff are almost as good as the actual thing.  Not quite, but close.  ;-)

First off, I forgot (hangs head in shame) to post my last page finish on QS Dragonflies.  This is page 4 done.  The fabric is from Picture This Plus and I purchased it from 123stitch.com.


Once I started on page 5, I realized I was one row too low on most of page 4.  In order to get everything to line up properly, I'm adding a row of stitches as I go.  As least I'm not frogging!








Next up, the pretties that arrived in today's mail from 123stitch.com:


The bunch on the right is part of what I need for an autumn-themed project in the future.  I figured I'd start buying a few each time I place an order.  That way my Paypal account isn't screaming.

The colors on the left are for a project of my own design.  These are all Gentle Art Sampler Threads (GAST).  There are 2 Forest Glade, 1 Acorn (brown), and 7 Weathered Barn.  The WB was a bit darker than I thought it was going to be but looking at it, I think it's going to be perfect!  No, I'm not telling what it's going to be.  No, there won't be any progress photos.  This is for a pattern that hopefully, I'm going to eventually offer for sale so no previews apart from the threads.

Last, but not least, is a photo of the cabinet where I store some of my supplies.  I've redone the look of it after browsing ideas on Pinterest.

Here it is before:


...and here it is now:





The top drawer has miscellaneous "stuff"; second drawer is all my tools (hammer, pliers, etc.); third drawer holds my collection of Mill Hill beads; fourth drawer has stock size frames and mats; fifth drawer is the few cross stitch kits I own; long drawer is stuffed with crochet thread (bedspread/doily type).   The door has been converted into a chalkboard.  Behind it I have a shelf of my glues and paints and the rest is my floss and Kreinik collection.

The bouquet on top is my wedding flowers.  So glad I opted for silk.  After all these years (21 this month), they'd look awful if they'd been real.

Happy Stitching!

Stacy

Monday, August 10, 2015

County Fair Results

Hi Everyone!

I entered 4 items in my county fair this year.  I didn't get a chance to attend the fair, so I didn't know how I'd done until I picked them up yesterday.

Here is what I entered:

Sisters Three by Paula Vaughan.  This one is going to my youngest sister, probably for Christmas.


 Bonhomme Noel (Checkered Santas) from Leisure Arts:


La Pere Fouettard (Checkered Santas) from Leisure Arts:



This huge crocheted doily.  It measures about 32" in diameter (81cm):


Here are the ribbons I won:





Each item won a blue ribbon and the big rosette was an added bonus for the crocheted doily!

Happy Stitching!

Stacy

Wednesday, August 5, 2015

HAP SAL August progress report

I know, I know, I'm late.  That really only happens on my blog.  In "real" life, I'm usually early...really!

I've only made progress on one of my HAPs since last month - Floral Finesse.

Here's where I was in July:






And here's where I finished yesterday:




I'll have to see if I can figure out my % done.  Since the first photo is actually three sections of the chart (A, B, and C), it's going to be difficult.  I may just guess.

I am back to working on La Belle Dame now.  My current page is about 95% black so let's hope it goes quickly.  At least I won't have to look at the chart much.  ;-)

Happy Stitching!

Stacy


Epic Project Progress Report

Ok, what makes this project "Epic"?  It's not the size, it's the number of colors used:  390!

No, that is not a typo.  Yes, it uses 390 different DMC colors.  This is the only pattern (to my knowledge) that uses this many colors.  It was created in honor of DMC's 250th Anniversary.  At the time, 390 was the entire line of DMC floss, so it uses every color that was in production in 1996.

The pattern is Floral Finesse from The Heart's Content.

Here is my progress so far:


...and here are the colors I've used to this point:


WhiteEcru208209221301304315316318
319320321322333336340341347355
356367400402420422470471472498
500501502503504522523524543600
601602603604605610612613640642
644645646676677680699701712720
721722729738746758760761791792
793794798800806807814815816820
822839841842844869904905906907
930931932939948956957958959975
97697730223023302430313045304630473064
3328370837123722374637473750375237533765
3766377237763777377837793799380238073812
3815381638173820382138223823382538263827
3830

Whew!  That makes 141 colors down, only 249 to go!

I will keep the table at 10 rows wide so it's easy to keep track of how many colors have been used.

Happy Stitching!

Stacy