A Finish! Winter Quakers

 I am so happy to be finshed with Winter Quakers by Rosewood Manor.  I started this piece in June of 2023 and finished it a few days ago.  

It is stitched on the called-for cashel linen.  The color of the linen is "dwarf".  

I enjoyed using the Valdani threads for this piece. I did, however, run out of certain colors. I ordered more of the green color.  Fortunately I had the primitive blue color left over from my long ago completed Quaker Diamonds piece as I also did not have enough of that color. I also ran out of the cream Subtle Elegance Valdani color, so I substituted WDW grits and also DMC 822 here and there. I am happy with how the blending of both called for and 'new' colors turned out, so to speak. 

The snowflakes were plentiful and I grew to enjoy stitching them. I will confess that at first they were tiresome for me, to say the very least. I did see that some stitchers used two threads for them, and I loved that look. I did not see those particular stitchers' pieces until I was too far into the snowflake stitching to redo with two threads. One strand provides a nice look, too. The snowflakes are just way more subtle. 

The large greenish motif in the left center of the piece took me way too long. I found the outside of it to be tedious and thus I set this piece aside for way too long. Once I resigned myself to simply working on it again, it went just fine. 

Here it is:

Some more views:

This is the final part I just completed. I swapped out the initial that would be stitched in the lower diamond creamy snowflake for a coordinating design: 

This past weekend we celebrated four birthdays here, so I didn't have much time to stitch at all in over a week.  It was fun to get this piece done on Sunday evening! 

This is one of the birthday cakes we served, and it's a triple chocolate bundt cake.  The vintage holiday picks were fun to throw onto this cake just for fun. 

Thanks for stopping by today.   

 

A Framed Finish!

 I thought I would be returning more faithfully to this blog, but alas I have failed.  

I wanted to share a piece I had framed at the end of 2022.  It is Seedy Pumpkin Cottage from Praiseworthy Stitches.  I  won the pattern, beads, charms, and fabric from Brian, who is also known as Blitstitch.  I picked it up at the end of November but still have it hanging in our home. 

Thanks for stopping by today! 

New Year Greetings, Stoney Creek, & Non-Goals

Happy New Year.  Here's to a great 2018 for all of us!

The holiday season has come and gone. It has been a VERY busy and fun season.  I hope you have also had a nice holiday time with your family and friends.

I finished this Stoney Creek Freebie in 2002 or so. I had started it in 1989, I believe.  It has sat in a drawer since 2002, which is awful.  This year I simply placed it in a hoop and had fun displaying it.

This pattern was sponsored by DMC, and the advertisement for it was on the back of a magazine.  This was of course way back before the internet was in homes, so I had to send away for the freebie pattern. 

Do you have any old completed pieces just sitting in a drawer and not displayed?  I confess I have a few others that are also sitting in drawers.  Maybe this year I will do something about that.  On the other hand, I won't stew over it if they remain in drawers.

I feel happy with things I have been able to do in my life, but I am not a huge goal setter, per se.  Therefore I don't have any stitchy or other goals to share as the new year starts.  Some would say that makes me a slacker, and I am okay with that.

I do strive to do more walking and exercise this year.  It isn't quite a goal, but it is something I need to do.

Happy Stitching today! Thanks for stopping by, and please tell me if you have things in your drawers that need to be finished.

Stitching Here and There- And a Finish!

I haven't shared anything in a long time.

My job keeps me very, very busy.  I love what I do, but it is a demanding profession.

During the summer when I had a break from teaching I did manage to complete two tea towels, and an ornament. I shared two of those items in a previous post, but wanted to share the third item today.

It's a tea towel I bought already stamped while shopping in Solvang, CA a year ago.  I love how it turned out. I used DMC color variations for much of the pattern.

In other news, I am working on the Lizzie Kate Christmas Mystery Sampler.  It's slowly coming along. 

Also I did work a bit on Houses of Hawk Run Hollow during August.  

I hope to get in some stitching time today. We will have to see.

Thanks for coming by today!

Stitching and Memories

First of all, I hope those of you in the USA had a great time celebrating yesterday.  We watched a great display of fireworks near our daughter's home.  What a great time we had!

I often think of the things I have stitched over the years, and I remember the time in my life when I was working on that certain piece.  Do any of you do this, too?

Due to the 4th of July holiday yesterday I thought of a patriotic piece I stitched for my son long ago. It was from the now long gone "Cross Quick" magazine.  I started this piece when my son was six and finished it when he was eight! So much for quick.   I remember dragging it along with me to many of our children's activities at that time. It was also a pattern my son chose for me to do, so that made it special as he was just a little guy then. He is now 31 years old, so that gives a time perspective, doesn't it?

Once I brought the little patriotic sampler with me to a local hairstyling place so that I could work on it while my son got his haircut.  My daughter was about 10 years old at the time, and she was probably sitting there reading a book happily by my side.  I sat working on the sampler, waiting for my son's turn.  After a while a young adult  male walked into the salon with a group of about five teens. It turned out they were from a group home of sorts.

One of the boys from the group home was entranced by my cross stitching work, and he exclaimed to me, "I can't believe you are making this for your son. How kind of you!"  It just really struck me that he was so taken with this small token of love for my son.  One could not help but wonder about the roads he had traveled in his very young life.

In time, my son outgrew having this piece on his wall. That sort of thing has never bothered me.   He allowed me to take it to my work where I hung it on the classroom wall, near the flag.  Somehow in the course of moving either classrooms or homes during the last several years it has become packed away somewhere.  I can't seem to locate this cute sampler.  Just the same, its memory stays with me. I  know it is somewhere here in our house. It didn't just walk away, right?

Patriotic Sampler- Cross Quick Magazine

Thanks for stopping by today. I do wonder, what sort of memories do you associate with your stitched pieces?

Finished~~ Wedding Ring Bouquet by Paula Vaughan

I finally finished Wedding Ring Bouquet.  I started it on March 16, 2003 and finished it on April 14, 2016.  Thirteen years!

I did work on other projects during this time.

I started it 'on a whim' as I had the 22 count hardanger fabric in my fabric drawer, as well as the pattern. I'd picked it up somewhere for just $1.00.  I also had stitched two other PV patterns back in the late 80s, and I enjoyed stitching those immensely.  Thus I barreled ahead with this project.

At times I didn't enjoy the very small count of fabric, but in the end it wasn't too bad.  The entire design isn't very large at around five tall by seven inches wide.

Phew. It's done. Framing will come later.

One more photo, with scissors for size reference:

I did start a new project on Saturday.  So excited about that one, more details at a later time.

Thanks for stopping by today.

I've been stitching a bit on Paula Vaughan's Wedding Ring Bouquet.  Someday soon I will share a project picture. All I have left is a bit more white for the curtain, and some backstiching and 'shading' provided by half stitches.  I will be so happy to finish this one!

Last week I picked up three pieces from the framer's shop. What a delight it is to have these pieces up in our home. 

First, here is Summer Queen.  I started it in 2003 and finished the piece in 2015.  

I'm very happy with how it turned out. and for now the piece is in our family room. Eventually Summer Queen will probably be moved to our bedroom. It is very large, and it makes me happy to see this piece in our home. 

I also picked up Mary Ann Blackburn. I stitched it this year in the course of six to eight weeks, off and on.  Instead of the called for wording I used our wedding date.  I chose a rustic looking frame for this one.  The sampler is hanging in the living room right now, but I am not sure where I will move it to next.

Finally, I am glad to have Rosewood Manor's Quaker Diamonds framed. I started this in the summer of 2013 and finished it in 2015.  I hung it in the living room, next to our fireplace. It is also above our antique spinning wheel that came over from Norway in 1888 or so. I had to move my great- great grandma's antique 1839 sampler (stitched in Switzerland, from the other side of the family) to hang it there, but for now I enjoy looking at Quaker Diamonds by the spinning wheel and hearth.  I moved my great- great grandma's sampler to a different spot in the living room for the time being.  I am honored to have my ancestors' love for all things needle.  I have never tried spinning, and I doubt the spinning wheel works still, but it is a joy to have this family heirloom.

And now, Quaker Diamonds: 

My two WIPs are now Paula Vaughan's Wedding Ring Bouquet and Teresa Wentzler's Fruit Bellpull.  

Last week I also bought fabric for another WIP that will be started soon.  More news on that another time! I can't wait to get that one going. 

Thanks for stopping by today.