La Belle...back from the fair.

Here is how my La Belle Dame Sans Merci did at our county fair.

The small blue ribbon on the right is for meeting the judging criteria:

• Visual Statement - Visual impact.  Outstanding or special qualities.  Attractive.
• Display - Clean and Neat.
• Design - Traditional, contemporary, or original.  Unique use of pattern or design.  Balance.  Rhythm.  Design Flow.
• Creativity or Originality
• Color - Colors harmonious.  Accent color(s) added for interest and movement
• Craftsmanship - appropriate technique used, control of materials, suitable fabric, precision of construction and finishing

I received Excellent marks across the board.

The small purple ribbon is for Best of Section (all cross stitch).

The big, blue rosette is for Best of Show (all needlework).

Hubby was teasing me about taking a picture of my "picture".  He's proud of my achievement(s) though.

Happy Stitching!

Stacy

La Belle Dame...framed!

I finished framing La Belle Dame Sans Merci this past weekend!  Here it is:

The frame is from PictureFrames.com.  It's from their Renoir collection.

I got this done just in time to show in my local county fair.  Entries go in this coming weekend.  I'll post after the fair with my results.

Happy Stitching!

Stacy

La Belle Dame...FINISH!

Yes, that's right, I finished La Belle Dame Sans Merci!

I stitched this on 25ct., 1 strand over 1 fabric thread (1x1), using full cross stitches.  There are 223,675 stitches in this piece.

Now I'm going to choose a different focus piece plus add a couple more projects into my rotation.  My new focus piece is going to be God Speed, also from HAED.

Happy Stitching!

Stacy

La Belle Dame update

I finished another page + partial page on La Belle Dame...!  I've now finished through page 30 plus pages 33-38 (partials).

The bottom edge looks wavy due to my not putting it in the frame completely straight.

Since I took this photo, I've finished pages 39 & 40 which is 6 stitches high across the bottom to the right edge.  I'm working on pages 31 (full) and 32 (partial) at the same time.  The finish is in sight!

Happy Stitching!

Stacy

La Belle Dame update

I've finished another page on La Belle Dame Sans Merci from HAED!  I haven't been working on anything else lately which is why I'm making such good progress.

The knight now has his legs!

This is pages 29 & 37 finished.  Since taking this photo, I've finished page 38 as well...it's only 6 stitches high.

Happy Stitching!

Stacy

Another La Belle Dame update

Whew!

Since it's been too cold to use my sewing room (it's unheated at the moment - my space heater died), I've been making great strides on La Belle Dame Sans Merci.  I've finished another full + partial page!

This is my final row of pages so I am getting excited.  I've already got fabric for the next project to go on this scroll frame!

I also bought fabric for another project that I'll start as soon as I can either finish La Belle or comfortably spend time in my sewing room.  The cold room is also why I haven't made any more progress on my Finish It Up challenge.  I'm dying for just slightly warmer weather!  (sigh)

Happy Stitching!

Stacy

La Belle Dame - update

Woo hoo!  I've finished another page on La Belle Dame...  To be accurate, it's 2 pages of the pattern but the bottom page is only 462 stitches (6h x 77w).

No, that's not a needle minder in the photo - the magnet's not strong enough.  It is strong enough to hold my pattern page in place while I'm working though.

For the record, the pages I just finished were 27 & 35 out of a total 40 pages.  That means that I have 4 more full pages and 1 partial page left to right plus the 6 stitches high partial pages across the bottom left to do.

Happy Stitching!

Stacy

La Belle Dame...update

Woo hoo!  I finished another page on La Belle Dame Sans Merci!  Well, it's a page and a bit because of the partial page at the bottom.

I have 5 full pages + 7 partial pages left to do.  The end is in sight!

Happy Stitching!

Stacy

La Belle Dame... progress!

Good Morning, Everyone!

I finally finished a page on La Belle Dame Sans Merci! 

It's been cold here lately and the space heater in my sewing room died, so I've been stitching in the living room next to the fire.  The only problem with that is there are more distractions than I'm used to so I haven't been stitching as intensely as normal.  ;-)

This is actually a page and a bit.  The bottom row of pages are only 6 stitches high, so I'm including them as I work on each full page above.  That means that this is page 25 & page 33 done.

I'm excited that I'm on the last row of pages!  While I love this pattern, I'll be glad to finish it - that means I'll have a scroll frame empty for another big project!  lol

I'm taking a break from stitching for a day or two.  Not burned out or anything, but I've started working on getting all of my floss on bobbins.  I have more than I thought needing to be done.

I've also created a database for all of my specialty threads (non-DMC).  I do have an app [XStitcher] to inventory all of my DMC but I needed something for all the other threads I have.*

The app that I'm using for my inventory list is AirTable.  It's free for Apple - I don't know if it works on any other operating system.

* XStitcher does have inventory capabilities for GAST, Weeks Dye Works, and Anchor but I would rather have all of my specialty threads listed together.

Happy Stitching!

Stacy 

La Belle Dame... progress update

Hey, Everyone!

I have an update on La Belle Dame... it's only a partial page but it's progress!

I've now got the top 3 rows of the pattern done.  Normally, I'd be at 75% completed (check the progress bar to the right) but there are partial pages across the bottom of the pattern.  These are tiny partials, too.  There are only 6 stitches high across the bottom.  Hmm, I may do pages 25 & 33 together when I rotate back to this.  I'll have to think about it.

Next up in my rotation is a new start!  It's a small pattern from an old issue of For the Love of Cross Stitch (I miss this magazine!) called Through the Storm.  I'll probably complete the entire pattern before rotating back to La Belle Dame..., that's how small it is.

Happy Stitching!

Stacy

Oops! Updates

Oops!  I forgot to do my Finish It Up update this month.  That's probably because I only have 1 item left to do on my list and I'm not likely to get to it anytime soon.  My list has stalled looking like this:

1. Bind my 4-patch quilt (poor thing's been waiting for over 2years)
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!
7. Finish the Disneyland scrapbook for my sister
8.  List the rest of the items I have set aside to sell on Etsy. 
   
9. Re-starch/shape the rest of my crocheted snowflakes.

 I had finished #6 and had done some scrapbooking (though not on #7) but my entire office area needs a good tidying including doing #6 again.  (sigh)

I do have an update on my La Belle Dame as well.  I finished another page last night!  That means 23 pages down, 17 to go (8 are small partials).

I've also done okay at garage sales (car boot or jumble sale for my UK followers) for cross stitch stuff this summer.  I scored an American Dreams lap stand with scroll frame (and a needlepoint canvas!) for $5 (£3.75).  I also got a 9" x 21" Lokscroll frame for $1 (75p).  It is missing the "sticks" but I can get them for about $10 (£7.50) including shipping.

No I don't have projects on either of them...yet.  I'm working on it though! 

Happy Stitching!

Stacy

La Belle Dame progress and more

Hello out there!

Back on Friday, I had a page finish on La Belle Dame Sans Merci!  That makes 22 pages done.

I also got a new-to-me camera.  It's not great but the price was right and my camera had completely died.  Now I don't have to borrow hubby's camera!

Also, it's not on my "official" finish it up list, but I finally got my ribbons from last year's fairs hung up.  The photo is at a weird angle because these are hung along the staircase wall.  The very top 2 rosettes and the bottom partial row of blue/purple ribbons are the ones from last year.

On the Official HAED FB group, there is a stitching challenge going on right now.  It involves parking...not my favorite thing.  However, I am making progress so that's a good thing.  This project is Mini Wings in Repose (retired).

Happy Stitching!

Stacy

La Belle Dame...progress update (revised)

Last night, I finished another page on my La Belle Dame...!  That makes 21 pages done!

Here's the photo:

It took me a couple of days, but I finally remembered to update the progress bar at the right.

Next up in my rotation:  Floral Finesse!



Happy Stitching!

Stacy

La Belle Dame... WIP Update

Well, I finished another page on La Belle Dame...

I now have the first 20 pages done!  Whew!  This last page was a lot of black.  So glad I'm done with it.  The next page has quite a bit of black but does have more of other colors so it will be less tedious.

Here is my progress photo:

I will start something different in my rotation but tonight is my bowling league so my next project probably won't get chosen until tomorrow.

Happy Stitching!

Stacy

HAP SAL September report + County Fair Results

I made progress on my La Belle Dame Sans Merci this past month.

Here are the before and afters:

I went from 51.61% to 54.88% complete!

I've also made a bit of progress on my Rapunzel but no picture yet.

I've taken a break from my rotation [insert stunned gasp here] to work on some model stitching.  This is for a pattern of my own creation which I am keeping under wraps until I'm ready to offer it in my Etsy shop.  The only hints you will get are that I tea-dyed some fabric and I bought GAST threads in Forest Glade, Acorn, and Weathered Barn.  No, an actual barn is not even remotely related to the pattern.  ;-)

Now to the county fair results!  I showed at the Pacific County Fair this year after the Grays Harbor County Fair (Washington state, USA).

I entered my French Santas as a pair, my Sisters Three by Paula Vaughan, the Heirloom Christmas Sampler, and my crocheted table topper.

Sisters Three and the crocheted table topper:

Won these ribbons (one each, of course):



















The French Santas, as a pair:

Won these ribbons:

The Heirloom Christmas Sampler:

Won these:

Yes, I'm happy with the results!  On the way to pick these up at the end of the fair, DH asked me how I thought I'd done.  I told him I "expected" four blue ribbons.  He said I was going to get 2 rosettes as well.  I'm glad I didn't bet him on it.  I would have lost the bet for winning!  lol

Happy Stitching!

Stacy

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

HAP SAL July Update + other WIP

Hello Everyone!

It's hard to believe another month has gone by!  Let's get right to the important stuff:  progress photos!

First up will be La Belle Dame Sans Merci.

Here's my where I was in May and here's where I finished in June:

I've gone from 49.16% to 51.61%.  I'm officially past the halfway mark!

You'll probably notice that my images now have the designer and order information on them.  That was inspired by this blog post.  It's an effort to show our support for the designers by proving we have legal patterns that we are working from.

I started working on one of my other HAPs, Floral Finesse from The Heart's Content:  

I have no idea of the % I have done.  I'll probably try to figure it out when I finish the area on the right of the fabric.

While it's not part of my HAPs, I did finish another page on my QS Dragonflies.  That's 2 pages out of 12 now.

Happy Stitching!

Stacy

2 HAED progress photos

Hey Everyone!

I never thought I'd say this but "It's too hot!".  Well, not yet, it's still early in the day as I write this.  I don't live on the beach, but I am near the coast.  That means we don't really have seasons, just rainy and not-rainy.  So when we do get warm weather, it's rare and usually brutally humid.  Today's high is supposed to be 78°F (26°C) with 84% humidity.  It's just supposed to get hotter through the weekend.  Ugh!

The heat hasn't stopped me from stitching though!  I've been working on 2 HAEDs at the same time.  One of them is a QS (quick stitch) and only uses black so I can stitch on that during the day while I'm working.  I don't consider it part of my "official rotation" because it's the only one I can work on during office hours.

Here is my first page finish on QS Dragonflies:

The fabric is 28ct. Cashel linen called Monet from Picture This Plus.  I bought mine at 123stitch.  I'm stitching this 1x1 (one strand of floss over one fabric thread).

In my rotation, my latest project was my focus piece La Belle Dame Sans Merci.  Last night, I had another page finish!  Woo hoo!

Next up in my rotation is Floral Finesse, finally!  This is a new start so no progress photo...yet.  I'll post one in a couple of days when I do my monthly HAP SAL progress report.

Happy Stitching!

Stacy

HAP SAL Progress Report

Boy how time does fly!  It's time once again, for the HAP SAL update.

I had to look at last month's update to figure out what I'd actually worked on since then.

I did finish that partial page on La Belle Dame.  So it went from this to this:

 

Not a huge difference, but it was progress.  Actually, that means I had a row finish!  Woo hoo!

After the partial page on La Belle Dame, my randomizer app chose Rapunzel (Dawe) as my next project.

Here she was at the beginning of the year and after the page finish I had a couple of days ago:

She now has one eye, which is great but still kind of creepy.  That means that Rapunzel has now gone from 30.3% to 35.05% done.

I did switch back to La Belle Dame a couple of days ago, but I've also been painting another piece of furniture so I've only put in a couple hundred stitches - no photo.

Happy Stitching!

Stacy

A bit of everything...

Hmm, where to start...

I did finish that little bit I had left on La Belle Dame Sans Merci.  Here it is:

The next time I work on this, I'm going to have to roll the scroll frames.  That means at least her head is going to disappear...I'm going to miss her!

The next project in my rotation is:  Rapunzel (Dawe).

I hadn't been spending as much time as I normally do stitching lately.  I'd been working on refinishing a piece of furniture for my craft room.  Well, I did get it done...finally!  Look for a separate post about what I did and how.  ;-)

I've also started selling items featuring photographs that I've taken.  Right now, I have 3 different places to shop depending on what you would want to buy.  Please feel free to share these links with your friends!  Any money I make helps pay bills and buy the occasional bit of stash.  No, I'm not getting rich off this (bummer).

Framed prints, pillows, cards, canvas prints, and more:  My FineArtAmerica shop.

Unframed Prints, stretched canvas prints, framed prints:  SMC Photography

T-Shirts, jewelry, scarves, purses, wallets, and even flip flops!:  Tease Tees - All Over Prints

Here are a few of the images that I have online so far: