Cross Stitch & Scrapbooking Updates

First of all, I added Mini Wings in Repose to the progress bars at the right.

Next, I've got an update on PTP Floral Arrangement.

I've got 10 pages done now!

I do have to say I thought the orange/white flowers at the bottom were going to be the death of me.  While I do make mistakes in my stitching, usually it's just a stitch or two that are easily dealt with.  Not on these flowers though!  I made some sort of mistake near the top of the cluster that I just couldn't identify properly so that I could fix it.  I ended up doing some over-stitching (literally stitching over incorrect stitches) and some "This color is close enough" stitches.  They look fine now so that's the ultimate result.

Now I am truly back to my rotation so I'm back working on La Belle Dame...

As you may have read in a previous blog post.  I've discovered digital scrapbooking!  OK, I'll admit it, I'm addicted to it!  As my family's genealogist, I've certainly got enough photographs to work with - 1,001 just from one set of grandparents!

I've just completed my first book but saving my pennies to get it printed.  It's really quite a bit less money versus using real papers and an album but a bigger lump sum.  With "traditional" scrapbooking, I've purchased bits & pieces at a time so I've usually spent $20 or less per purchase.

Anyway, I thought I'd share a couple of the pages that I've put together.  I'm still a novice at this but I can only get better!  Just to be clear, I'm the child in all of these photos (I'm currently in my 40's).

Here is a list, with links, of some of the designers whose wonderful talent made these pages possible:

• Correen Silke
• Sheila Reed
• Scraps by Jessica art-design
• Jeanine Baechtold

Happy Stitching!

Stacy

Christmas Challenge Update

Well, I did some Christmas stitching this last month, but not much.

All I managed to do was Santa's hat and a bit of his face:

This is another Mill Hill Charmed Santa Faces kit:  Santa Noel.

I'm looking forward to getting a larger Christmas project added into my rotation.  I seem to be more motivated with larger projects.  For some reason, I tend to lose interest in small ones...go figure.

Happy Stitching!

Stacy

More Progress and...a Page Finish!

In the last couple of days I've made progress on my challenge piece for the HAED FB page challenge.  Here is the last non-blurry progress photo:

...and here is the finished page:

I finished last night around 11.  That's a bit later than I normally stitch, but just had to finish the page.

Project details:

• HAED Mini Wings in Repose (retired)
• 32ct. white evenweave
• 1 strand over 1 fabric thread
• half stitches

Now I'll go back to my rotation which means I need to finish my page on PTP Floral Arrangement.  Mini Wings in Repose will now get a slot in my rotation.

Happy Stitching!

Stacy

Some more colors!

Here are some progress pictures on my Mini Wings in Repose (retired).  This is from what I did this weekend.  These aren't after a single color this time.  Some of those photos came out blurry, plus there have been two colors that only had 1 and 2 stitches on the entire page..

Happy Stitching!

Stacy

3 Colors In...

Well, I finally finished the 3rd color on my HAED Challenge piece.  It took a bit longer than the first two for a couple of reasons.

1. There was more of this color
2. I had to deal with a pillow accident first

I'm guessing you're now wondering what constitutes a "pillow accident".  Trust me, it surprised me too!  Unfortunately, I didn't take any photos.

A couple of times a year, I wash my and hubby's pillows.  They are feather pillows so I always do it first thing in the morning to give them plenty of time to dry.  Hubby's pillow was exceptionally nasty so I let them both soak in the washer while the dryer was finishing up one of the blankets.

At this point, everything's fine.  The pillows are having a lovely soak and the rest of the bedding is all clean and back on the bed.  I restarted the washer and the pillows did a little shaking, rinsing and spinning.  Since the pillows tend to "hold on" to the water, I ran them through another spin cycle.  Apparently, that's where I went wrong.  They were dizzy enough already and hubby's decided to protest against such violent treatment and decided to split...literally!

When I opened the washer, my pillow was sitting there like "I told him not to do it!"  Hubby's pillow was plastered all around the wash tub.  It was this huge round mat of chicken feathers with bits of fabric thrown in!

I took out my poor traumatized pillow and threw it in the dryer.  Then I scraped hubby's pillow off the inside of the washing machine and dumped it on top of the dryer.  I finally found the pillow ticking plus the original pillow ticking (I'd re-covered it years ago).  It had split down the middle of the fabric - not at the seams, they were fine.

So before I could cross stitch on Wednesday night, I had to make a new pillow and stuff it with the pile of feathers.  They were still damp so thankfully, they didn't fly off everywhere.  I tried to get the "new" pillow completely dry in time for hubby to use it that night, but the feathers were having none of that.

Last night, I made sure the pillow was dry after sitting in the sun most of the day.  Then I had to make a pillow case for it 'cause it's not a standard sized pillow anymore.

So after all that, I was able to get some cross stitching in.  I finished the 3rd color and made a good start on the 4th.  Here's my progress after 3:

Happy Stitching!

Stacy

Two colors done - updated

Well, it's not much to see but it should be easier to see.  Here is my Mini Wings in Repose with 2 colors done:

This is 168 and 415 done.  Next color is 318.  Hmm, more gray...well at least it's not my hair that's gray!

Oh, some more details on this piece:

• 32 count white evenweave
• 1 strand over 1 thread
• true half cross stitches (not needlepoint tent stitches)

UPDATE:



Keebles asked:

How is the coverage going on that?


After I finished the first color, I had the thought that I should really look at the coverage.  I pulled out my magnifier and took a gander.  I can't say definitively at this point, but I think it's going to be fine.  Until I get into really dark colors, I won't really be able to tell how good the coverage actually is.

Happy Stitching!

Stacy

New Project

Ok, I've got a "bump" in my rotation.  On the HAED FB page, there is a challenge that runs from 1April 2016 - 15 June 2015.  The easiest way to qualify for the challenge was to have a new start (bummer).

The challenge itself is to do a full page (between 7300-7800 stitches) in cross country stitching.  Since that's the way I stitch anyway, I thought "Why not?".  The specific nature of this challenge is to stitch all of one color on the entire page before switching to another color.  Okay, that's taking a bit more thought.  I tend to switch colors very frequently.  The down side is if I make a mistake on the first color, I'm going to have to frog a bit more than I would normally.  I know - I've had to frog twice so far.

The up side is that since I've got one color done correctly (now), it seems easier to get the next color in its proper place.

Here's my first page with one color completely done:

It's hard to see because it's DMC 168 on white fabric.  The second color is a bit darker so my next update photo should be easier to see.  Some of these stitches were ones that got frogged so they're not all in the correct position in this photo.  ;-)

Oh, for those of you wondering what this will eventually be...tough.  Just kidding!  It's a retired  HAED pattern:  Mini Wings in Repose.

Happy Stitching!

Stacy

FIU Challenge Update

Hi Everyone!

I'm going to basically ignore any April Fool's nonsense 'cause I think it's a silly excuse for a "holiday".

Here's my updated list for April:

1. Bind my 4-patch quilt (poor thing's been waiting for over 2years)  finished on 21 Feb 2016
2. Remove last of carpet in sewing room (it's really in the way and is hampering my crafts)
3. Finish my "Merry Christmas" framed set
4. Tidy up all my quilting scraps
5. Frame my Mother's Tree.
6. Clean off my scrapbooking desk so I can actually scrapbook!  clean enough to work on 15 Jan 2016
7. Finish the Disneyland scrapbook for my sister
8.  List the rest of the items I have set aside to sell on Etsy.  finished on 7 Jan 2016
9. Re-starch/shape the rest of my crocheted snowflakes.  finished on 29 Feb 2016

Hmm, nothing new seems to be crossed off.  No, I didn't finish any of these goals this past month.  (sigh)



I did make a start on #3.  The word "MERRY" is framed!  As in completely done.  Of course, CHRISTMAS still isn't framed.  I will probably get to work on it in the next few days.



I also did a little more work on #4.  I didn't realize how many scraps fit in my basket!  I swear I've been working on it but it doesn't look like I've made a dent.


Happy Stitching!

Stacy