Stitching for my Mom

My mom asked if I would stitch her friend an ornament for Christmas.  Darlene and my mom have been friends since they were 13 years old and my mom is turning 60 at Christmas this year so that's quite the friendship!  I charted  and stitched "Best Friends" instead of "Season of Love" at my mom's request and made both into Gingerbread Girls :)

Season of Love by Country Cottage Needleworks

JCS 2010 Christmas Ornament Preview

Fabric:  32 ct. Platinum Belfast linen

Fibres:  DMC conversion as charted

Embellished with white seed beads

Finished as a pin keep

The ornament below is for another of my mom's friends.  The backstitching was a PAIN!!!  I had to keep putting it down so I didn't go mental and shred it into little bits!  It turned out cute in the end though.

Get into the Spirit by Brittercup Designs

JCS 2009 Ornament Issue

Fabric:  32 ct. white ??? linen

Fibre's:  some as charted, some my conversion

Embellished with red seed beads, star button and bells

Finished as a pillow ornament

I WAS NOT using the nasty yellow that was charted (3852) on the trim of the kitty's hat.  Instead I used this grey fluffy thread I have.  It's like Wisper.  You can't tell in the photo but it looked really cute and fluffy.

My mom offered to pay me to make these but all you stitchers out there know that if someone had to pay for a stitched item they'd have to pay through the nose because of the time involved!  I told my mom not to worry about it.  I get enjoyment out the stitching and finishing and I had all but a few DMC flosses in my stash.

Hopefully I'll be able to post somemore ornament finishes right away!  I have to get busy and make ornaments for my kids.  The ones for my parents are stitched and just need finishing. 

Happy Stitching and Merry Christmas!

Exchange for Despina

I've been a bad blogger!  Despina received this piece I stitched for her for the HoE LHN/CCN exchange last week and I still haven't posted about it.  Better late than never...

Cupcake from Sweet Treats by Country Cottage Needleworks

Finished as a Pincushion, filled with crushed glass

Happy Stitching!!!

First of Four Christmas Stitchy Gifts

Here is the finished ornament I made for my mom this Christmas.  I finished the four ornaments that I had stitched for gifts the weekend before Christmas and 2 days before we flew to my parents place for the holiday!  Nothing like leaving it to the last minute...good thing I do well under pressure!

Let it Snow by Country Cottage Needleworks

2008 JCS Ornament Issue

Fabric:  32 ct. Platinum Belfast Linen

Fibre's:  Recommend DMC

Embellishments:  Mill Hill Seed Beads for snowflakes

My darling hubby gave me the sweetest compliment when I showed him the finished ornaments...he said they were not just gifts but heirlooms.  Isn't that so sweet?  He is the best!

My mom really liked her ornament and appreciates the time and love that went into making it.  I just LOVE this hobby, what about you???

I'm going to post my other 3 ornaments over the next 3 days...it's nice having something to blog about!

Happy Stitching!

UFO & Progress

Here is Blitzen Glistens by Just Nan. I started this little cutie about a year ago. So why haven't I finished it, you ask? I'll tell you...1 OVER 1, that's why!!! Those teeny little birds drove me around the bend. So now I'm going to finish it and hopefully I'll be able to show you the finished project in a few days!



I also have more progress to show you on CCN's Let It Snow. I'm (of course!) beading the snow flakes with two colours of Mill Hill Petite Seed Beads and only have a few more to do. I put it aside for a couple days to start an exchange piece that is flying along. Let It Snow is for my mom for Christmas so I don't have to rush it to much.


Well I'm off to my LNS for more Floss-A-Way bags. I've already filled up 200 in my quest to reorganize my floss storage system. Pics to follow!

Happy Stitching!

Lucky Me & More Progress!

My hubby brought this little beauty home for me tonight! It's a Samsung Netbook.

I sat on the sofa in my family room with my kids, watching a PVR'd episode of Project Runway while I typed this post! I'm one lucky lady! My hubby is in a position at work that gets these lovely perks now and again and I was the lucky recipient...woo hoo!!! No more running up and down the stairs from my "stitching room" to the office when I need to post.

On the stitchy front, I'm almost finished Let It Snow by Country Cottage Needleworks. This project is for my mom for Christmas. It's been a lot of fun to stitch and has come together very quick. I have to get some black petite sead beads for the snowman's eyes and add beads in place of snowflakes and it'll be done!

I wanted to thank everyone for the lovely comments you've been sending my way!

Happy Stitching!!!

Ta-Da

Here is my finish for my Challenge with Sandra Sews:). I made the September 7th deadline...barely! (Sorry for the horrible pic!)

I had the stitching done for this ornament and finished it too! This one is just gravy! Woo hoo.

I'll update my post tomorrow when I have more time. I'm trying to get my kids ready for bed. First day of school tomorrow!

Stitching and Pizza

Things are going along great for my challenge with Sandra Sews:). I'm almost done the stitching after two lovely evenings in my stitching room with Jane Austen movies playing in the background.

I chose "Christmas Tree" by Country Cottage Needleworks. It's part 3 of her Winter Wonderland Thread Pack series. I love the Crescent Colours silks included. They just glide through the linen. Tomorrow, if all goes well today and I finish the stitching, I'm going to pull out the sewing machine and do the finishing.


As for the pizza part of this post, today was my first foray into bread dough making without the breadmaker. I made pizza bread, a recipe I found on a wonderful blog I found called Cooking During Stolen Moments.

I recently started doing a weekly meal plan and grocery shopping once a week. Since two of the things I hate most in the world are figuring out what to make for dinner and grocery shopping (I should say loathe!) I figured meal planning was the way to go! After two weeks I have to say it's been quite liberating. All I have to do in the morning is check my plan and I'm good to go. I highly recommend it!

Here are the results of my bread baking (dough after rising for an hour):


I'm glad the dough turned out so well as my Jenn-Aire mixer started smoking as a result of it. I think that's a bad thing *GRIN*. Luckily my hubby, being in the appliance industry, has a contact at Kitchen Aid so he's going to get me a new mixer...I should have made dough a long time ago...

Here it is with all the fillings before being rolled up like a jelly roll:


And here is the delicious (if i do say so myself) final result:


My son was official taste tester and declared it "a keeper!"

"M" Finished

I finished "M" last night on my current WIP, Christmas by the Letter by Lizzie*Kate. It didn't take too much time at all. I'm having issues with my stretcher bars though, and it's driving me bonkers! I can't seem to keep the tension on the fabric taut enough for very long. I'm using stretcher bars because my fabric is 11 x 30. Any suggestions?

Thanks to Daffycat for the great advice on project photo taking! I think this photo turned out way better than previous attemps.

I went to my LNS yesterday and got my Nymo thread so I'll do the beading on Frosty Blue House today and take it to the my local quilting shop to find some pretty backing fabric for finishing. I was also inspired by this post on Daffycat's blog and bought paper bunches to make my own floss tags. Too cute!

Also, more very exciting news, to me anyhow. I noticed I have 3 more new followers of my blog! In one day!!! Woot, woot. I find that hugely exciting. Thanks for reading and Happy Stitching!

Finished Frosty Blue House...Almost

I'm almost finished all the stitching on Country Cottage Needleworks Frosty Blue House! All I have left are a few random "snowflakes" which are single stitches and smoke above the chimney, both of which I want to do in Mill Hill beads. I have to wait until tomorrow because I want to get clear Nymo thread and my LNS isn't open on Monday. Here is my almost finished project:

Frosty Blue House

Winter Wonderland Thread Pack

Country Cottage Needleworks

32 c0unt Vintage Mourning Dove by Lakeside Linens

Supplied Crescent Colours silk threads

47 x 89 stitches

Finished size approx 3 x 5 inches

I'm still trying to figure out how I want to finish this into an ornament. I'm not sure a pillow ornament is the way to go. If I'm lucky enough to have one of you fabulous stitchers out there read this post PLEASE feel free to give me suggestions on finishing!!! I would love your input!

I could also use some help on getting a better, brighter quality picture of my work to show the detail and colours better. Any advice would be appreciated.

Today I'm going to get my fabric set up on my scroll rods and frame for my next project, Christmas by the Letter by Lizzie*Kate. I've never used scroll rods before so it should be interesting! Happy Stitching!

Back from Holidays, Time to get at it!

Well, after a 11 hour drive the kids and I arrived home from Alberta. Luckily there wasn't much traffic and other than 1 scary semi-truck driver it all went well.

I didn't do any stitching in the car with my husband on the way to Alberta. All the herky-jerky freaks me out when I'm not watching the road. Plus, I feel the need to stop my hubby from passing sometimes on those undivided highways through the mountains. I'm sure he wished I'd sleep the entire way!

On the plus side I did get to go to Traditional Stitches just outside of Calgary. I bought fabric for a few projects, some WDW and GA threads, 2 pair of Kelmscott Little Gems scissors (silver and blue, so cute! I couldn't resist) and a little gadget organizer for my little stitchy things. It's a great shop that is run out of the proprietors, Janice, home. She had the most amazing stitching hanging on the walls. All sorts of antique samplers and her own amazing stitching! It almost makes me want to try a sampler! Almost...

I did start a new project while staying at my parents house last week. It's Frosty Blue House from Country Cottage Needleworks. It was so lovely, sitting in the sunroom at my parents acreage, a gentle breeze blowing through, tunes playing on my iPod...I was in stitchy heaven. The piece is going fast, I'm stitching it up as individual ornaments instead of one piece. It's a thread pack and comes with silk threads that are so pretty and shimmery, I've never worked with silks before and they are lovely to work with. I'll post a picture tomorrow when the light is better.

Happy Stitching!