To the Queen

To the Queen by JBW Designs

Stitched 2 over 2 on 32 ct. Antique White with Recommended threads

 I've had this chart in my stash for a while.  I picked it up on sale at my LNS becasue the moment I saw it, I knew it was destined to be for my friend Kim.  I met Kim YEARS ago at work, and we ended up in facing cubes.  Since Kim has a long standing fondness for the color pink and queens, this is utterly perfect for her.

The original chart calls for a tiny crown charm, but I substituted a K for Kim instead.  I debated whether or not to use the glass (normally I'd frame it without since I wasn't using a mat) but I didn't want the charm to tarnish, so I went ahead and put the glass back in.  I gave it to her last weekend, and she LOVED it.  She's a bit of a stitcher herself, though she hasn't done it in years (she crochets more now), so she knew the work that went into it and appreciated it all the more.

And no, my framing isn't quite as wonky as it appears in the photo.  I swear I do this all the time - I never notice how weird my framing looks in the photo for an item I've already gifted until I go and write the blog post about it!

French Country Bunny Ornament

So it may have taken me a few years, but I did get another F&S piece finished up!  This one probably shouldn't have taken me so long since the cardboard for the inside has been cut to shape and covered with the batting for ages now.  But I struggled with getting the shape of the bunny done neatly, so it ended up in a drawer for quite a while out of frustration.  I don't know that I would do a shaped finish like this again - I might go with an easier to manage oval instead.

It actually made it to our tree this past Christmas, and I forgot to put it on the blog, though I did share the finished picture with the original stitcher!

This was my very first F&S Exchange with Michele.  (It's JBW Designs French Country Bunny)

A token of my affection

While I had my beading supplies out, I ran across a frog charm I had and knew that it was destined for a special home with my dear friend Dianne.  Dianne and I met through stitching several years back, and she is one of the sweetest, kindest and loveliest women I've ever met.  (and as the mom of a boy, albeit a much more grown up boy than mine, she's particularly sweet on Little Dude, and she spoils us both!)

Along her many stitching and paper craft interests, Dianne is a lover of gardening and flowers and spends as much time as she can tending to her own gardens and flower beds.  She has a pretty little pond in her garden, and when spring rolls around, so do her croaking buddies out by the water. I thought she might like one she could keep in the house with her, and chose some pretty green flowered beads and some tulip shaped pink ones for this fob.

Now I know we all like to keep the frogs AWAY from our stitching, but perhaps this harmless little fellow will convince the other frogs that Dianne has enough to keep her company, and they'll hop away from her stitching??

Springtime Exchange with Robin

A few months ago when I started blogging again, a fellow stitcher named Robin (no blog... yet!) started commenting on my posts.  Through a series of emails, we started developing a friendship, and when I mentioned the Fair & Square exchange, she asked me a few quesitons about it, then suggested we do our own private exchange.

I thought that was a great idea, and we decided on a spring theme, following the F&S guidelines for size and a signature square.  These are Robin's squares - Mini Spring by The Sunflower Seed.

Aren't they just lovely?  Robin's stitching is so pretty and delicate!  Allergies be damned, I do love spring flowers and tulips are among my favorites.  I think these squares are going to make a wonderful no-sew cube, perhaps with a pretty spring colored plaid ribbon around the edges, depending on what I can find.

Robin also hit up my wish list and very generously included these two appropriately spring-y charts and some gorgeous silk threads from Dinky Dyes and Vicki Clayton.  Bent Creek's Shamrock Row will mean a trip to the LNS for a special cut of fabric, but Allesandra Adelaide's Little Blue will most likely be bumping some other pieces in the queue because I'm pretty sure there's a suitable piece of fabric in my stash.

Thank you, Robin, for your beautiful squares and generous gifts, but mostly for your friendship.  I so enjoy our emails!
 
And now on to what I stitched for Robin.  When she mentioned "springtime", I immediately thought of this one from Les Grilles des Liselotte, Amitie Brodee.  

Not only did the chart fit the springtime theme, but it expressed a sentiment that was especially appropriate.  Amitie brodee is French for "friendship embroidered" and I thought it was fitting to honor this new friendship that came about through a mutual love of stitching.

The original chart is done in purple, but I had a multicolor version of it saved in my stitching ideas file (I can't track down the original).  Since Robin prefers brighter colors to pastels, I chose a more vibrant palette, using WDW in Begonia, Sunset, Crepe Myrtle and Sally's Sunshine plus Carrie's Creations Purple for the flowers, WDW Meadow for the green, and WDW Heatherleigh for the butterflies.

I added a little bling with some copper color beads for the flower stamens, and hematite beads for the butterflies.

As I was stitching the piece, I kept second guessing myself and very nearly abandoned it in favor of another pattern, but I kept on with it, and it turned out exactly like I wanted.


I also hauled out my beading supplies and made this scissor fob featuring a butterfly charm and glass millefiori and iridescent beads.  I hadn't done any beading in a while, so it was fun to dig through my bead stash and play around with different colors and shapes.
 

With all this talk about wedding and anniversary pieces...

I'd like to share something that one of my fellow stitchers has done.  Every year since their third anniversary, my friend the Stitch Bitch has stitched an anniversary piece for her husband, The Dude.  (No relation to my Little Dude)

This is the arrangement of most of the pieces, which you can see in detail (including names and designers) in this post.

And for the pieces she's done since:

• 2011: Brown House Studio - Small House Sampler
• 2012: Hands to Work - Love, Me
• 2013: Midsummer Night Designs - Me & You Sampler

No word yet on what the 2014 piece will be.

What our stitching means

Just recently, I read a post by my friend Rachel, talking about her stash and how she regrets the amount of money she spent on it, needs vs. wants, and emotional shopping.  I think at some point, we've all been there - maybe about our stash, maybe about other things like clothes or shoes or kitchen gadgets.  In my case, as a parent, I'm trying to be more aware of money I spend on *stuff* my son thinks he wants, but doesn't really need, like all the little doo dads in the Target Dollar Spot.  Sure, it's a thrill for him to get something, and I love to see a smile on his face, but does he NEED another plastic car or novelty?  And more importantly, will those trinkets matter in the years to come?  Probably not, nor do I want to get my son in the habit of spending money on momentary rewards that are tossed aside almost as soon as we get home.

The following day, I came across this post on Positively Splendid.  In the post, Amy talks about this beautiful pillow her mom made for her, all by hand.  She says, "This pillow will always be a tangible reminder of her love for me, something that can eventually be passed on to future generations."

She also talks about the very special quilts her grandmother created for her grandchildren, and what they mean to her, and I think we as crafters need to know exactly what Amy says, "Your creativity matters."

It's really a beautiful post and a wonderful tribute to the creative women in Amy's life, and her post is well worth reading.

I also think it puts a lot in perspective.  While I can see where Rachel is coming from, and I can definitely relate to regrets about spending money on certain things (like the Dollar Spot nonsense), I think Amy really nails it.  Obviously, the greatest investment in our stitching is our time, but the materials aren't cheap either.  The cost of the floss, fabrics, embellishments, charts and finishing materials can really add up, but I can't say I regret these purchases, or the time spent stitching.

I've been asked why I don't sell my stitched pieces.  Sometimes the easy answer is "copyright issues", but usually I respond that I will never recover monetarily what I put into it, so I only stitch for gifts, for people I genuinely care about.  My time and effort is as much a gift to them as the finished piece.  Years from now, my niece, nephew and son will be able to look at the birth records that were stitched for them and know they were done with love.  Someday when my son is an adult and decorating his own Christmas tree, I hope that the ornaments I made for him will be another reminder of how much I love him.  When our friends see the wedding records we've stitched and framed for them, I hope it's a joyful reminder of their wedding day, and of our love and support for them as well.

As Amy summed up, we "use our own two hands to create a lasting legacy with those we love, both near and from afar."

A Very Grumpy Christmas

Merry Christmas Grumpy Kitty

Brooke's Books Publishing

Stitched 2 over 2 on 32 ct. unknown green evenweave with recommended colors

Continuing on with our theme of "Pieces I stitched AND finished in 2013", (Which is mostly ornaments since it's a fairly quick process and I don't have to obsess about frames) here's a little something I whipped up for a friend of mine.  She adores Grumpy Cat, and when I discovered him making the rounds on the blogs,  I knew this would be for her.  The original was stitched on a pale blue fabric, but I think the green gives it an extra pop.  This was a super quick stitch, and I got it out in time for her to put it on her tree.

I did substitute a gold metallic thread for the star and some fuzzy white Wisper thread for the trim and pom pom on the hat.  The gold metallic is prettier in person, but I did not get the effect from the Wisper thread that I had hoped for, even using one thread.

I used the same red plaid background fabric that I used for Little Dude's ornament.  It has a little bit of metallic shine to it, and metallic gold threads running through it, so it was a nice compliment to the gold star.  My friend loves anything glittery and shiny, so I went with a sparkly red tinsel-like cording for the trim (from the $1 at Joann's).  It was slightly tricky getting that glued into place without melting the bits of tinsel onto the hot glue gun, but I love how it turned out.

A thoughtful gift from Marie

The other day, this very sweet gift arrived from Marie. She treated me to a wonderful project bag made from a tea towel (I'm prone to using plastic ziploc bags for many of my projects, so this will class it up a little).  And the little teapot embroidery reminds me so much of the iron on Aunt Martha's transfers (remember those?)  I used to do when I was younger.

Marie also included two locally handmade cutting boards, with holes drilled by one of her sons to form thread holders.  When I opened the box, my husband said, "Oh good!  One for me too!"  I'll have to find something special for these - I'm thinking some sort of PA Dutch pattern would be perfect.  And I also received my very first flower frog, something that comes in handy for many stitchers for holding their scissor collections.  This pretty clear glass one happens to fit perfectly on one of the glass bowls we inherited from my husband's grandmother.  But as pretty and as useful as it is, it will most likely live in a china cabinet for a few years, as there is a curious and not so careful preschooler in the house.  Better safe than sorry for a bit, right?

Thank you, Marie, not only for the beautiful, thoughtful gifts, but for your friendship as well!

Marie's blog is one of the very first I came across, and over the years I've gotten to know this lovely woman.  My blogging may be spotty, but we stay in touch regularly via email.  If you visit her blog, you will see that she has created some gorgeous ornaments, many of which have been gifted to others.  She also has a special talent combining her stitching with one of her other passions, quilting.  I am in awe of her talent with quilting - just look at her lovely treat bags and candle mats.  And did you know Marie is a prize winning quilter?  It's no wonder her blog is so fun to read!

I've also been paired up with Marie for the Fair and Square Exchange twice, and have actually finished both pieces into objects on display.   She knows my fondness for lighthouses, so for the first one, she stitched me this Prairie Schooler piece. Which just happens to still be in the living room on the shelf because I cannot get my act together long enough to come up with a decorating plan for our family room mantel, unless you count my Pinterest boards, and then I'm an EXPERT at decorating.

The second piece set a landspeed record for finishing because it happened to arrive as I was in the middle of finishing several other ornaments, so the squares went right into the pile and were also finished into an ornament right away so they could join the 50 or so other lighthouses on our Christmas tree.

Speaking of the Fair & Square Exchange, is anyone else interested in continuing it?  it's been dormant for over a year now, and perhaps if there's enough interest, we can convince Jill to get it going again.  I miss it - sometimes it was the only thing that kept me going with stitching because it was a small, manageable piece with a specific deadline, and it was so much fun meeting other stitching and choosing what to stitch for them.  I've made some truly wonderful friends through the exchange and I'd hate to see it die off.

A return to blogging. Again.

The last time I posted was back in September, and before that, it was the end of March 2013. Life with a toddler, now preschooler, gets in the way of blogging, I guess.

What brought me out in September was a tribute for Cathey's blogoversary, and it's part of what brought me out again. Sadly, Cathey passed away in October and our stitching community mourned her loss.  I still keep up with many stitching blogs, and I watched the ripple of sadness as the news spread.  It's taken me a while to get back to blogging, and I feel the need to make it more of a priority for the sense of community and friendship among stitchers.  Many of these stitchers will never be in the same room with each other, but still develop and nurture these bonds through our shared craft.  So many people came together to celebrate Cathey's blogoversary, to mourn her loss, and to help keep her memory alive for her husband and young son, people brought together by the love of stitching.

I want to make a contribution to that community, and I need to make a better effort to remain a part of it.  I've made some truly wonderful friends through stitching - some I've met in person, and many more that I haven't, and the sole reason our paths have crossed has been blogging.  Those relationships are important to me, and what brought us together should be more of a priority, especially since stitching is something I enjoy doing on a near daily basis.

Back in November, my friend Lee the Lake Stitcher wrote a post called "Why have we stopped writing?"  I put a great deal of thought into it, then failed to do anything.  I could probably blame it on November and December being busy times with the holidays.  We have family obligations, a four year old in preschool, loads of baking and cooking, etc.  If I'm being honest, though, I must admit things like Pinterest and Facebook have also cut into the time I normally would have spent blogging.  They're easier distractions, not really requiring me to put the effort into taking photos and writing a post.  By the time I've gotten through doing what I need (want) to do on those sites, I've hit a wall and am ready to get offline, without updating my stitching blog.

I'm lucky that a few of my stitching friends are on Facebook, but many more are not, and sometimes those relationships don't get the attention they deserve.  I tend not to share my stitching on Facebook either, because I've compartmentalized it.  I have Facebook friends from all aspects of my life and while it may be unfounded, I have this notion that people just aren't interested in my craft.  Which is ridiculous, I know, because I am proud of what I do, and I've actually changed the perceptions of a few people who thought cross stitch  was "those country looking pictures with geese wearing bonnets".

I want to put myself out there more than just following the blogs and making a few comments here and there.  I want to share more of my work, even if it's just for me to be able to say "I made a contribution".  I also need to keep up with my blog because it's my record of what I've done.  I've stitched many pieces that have been given away as gifts, and this is my way of remembering those pieces.  Knowing that I will eventually be blogging about my work also makes me more conscious of what I'm stitching, who I'm stitching it for, and the materials and time I put into it.  Right now, there are at least two dozen pieces of completed stitching sitting in a drawer, waiting to be finished and displayed.  Those pieces represent hundreds (maybe thousands?) of dollars and hours spent working on them, and I need to find some way to honor that effort until we can get them framed or finished and on display. It's not just my work that deserves to be on display either.  I have been the lucky and grateful recipient of some lovely pieces from fellow stitchers, and their work should be on display as well.

In a nutshell, I quit blogging because I'm a little bit lazy, a little bit crunched for time, and a little bit too involved with other forms of social media.  (Lee wrote a follow up post about why other bloggers have quit / fallen behind on posting).  I want to make it a priority to return to blogging because the relationships I've developed from it are important, contributing to this community is important, and honoring and sharing my craft is important.

On Safari

I keep meaning to check if these gifts have made it to their intended recipient, and it keeps slipping my mind. That happens sometimes.

So these are two pieces I stitched up for my friend's son.  We meant to get together over Christmas so I could give them to her, but between family obligations and illnesses, it just didn't happen. I left the pieces with my mother-in-law, since she is good friends with little Mitchell's grandma.

Animal Alphabet Birth Sampler
by The Historical Sampler Company Limited
Stitched 2 over 2 on 36 ct Edinburgh Linen
Personalized as a gift

This is a piece I modified from the original.  Whenever I stitch a birth sampler, I like to include as much of the information as possible.  The original didn't leave room for the weight, length or time, so I added in a box under the last row of letters and extended the border.  Luckily, this worked out perfectly.

I also changed out the original panda bear for an elephant.  The panda bear was very cute, but the elephant was better suited to the "vintage safari" theme used for the nursery.  Once again, my husband did the framing (with a frame from American Frame).  I'm not sure if I've shared this tip before, but I always give him the chart I've stitched from with the rest of the framing materials.  He uses the chart to find the center of the stitched piece, and pins through the center gently into the backer board, then works out from the center to stretch the fabric over the edges.  He finds this especially helpful when framing something with a stitched border such as this.  Once he's done, or has enough of the piece pinned to hold it in place, he removes the center pin.

In addition to the framed piece, I also stitched up an ornament for Mitchell, keeping with the vintage safari theme.  As soon as I spotted this piece at my LNS, I knew it would be the one I did.  This one was done as charted, except I left out the bird charm (the original has a tiny bird perched on the back of the giraffe) and stitched in the birth year instead.

Zoo Line Up by The Trilogy

Stitched 1 over 1 on 32 ct. fabric

I'm super happy with how both pieces came out.  They're very different, yet have a similar feel to the pieces I stitched for Mitchell's older brother, Mason.  You can see them here.

This can't possibly be my first finish for 2012... can it??

One that hasn't been motivated by a Fair & Square Exchange? Really? Huh. Imagine that. As I was writing this post, I kept trying to think of what else I've actually finished that wasn't done for a F&S, and I can't think of anything... Maybe I should stitch more and goof less.

Pumpkins by Little House Needleworks

Stitched 2 over 2 with included threads on 32 ct. linen
(personalization stitched over 1)
accented with copper seed beads

Does it matter that I've stitched this before for a F&S exchange? No? Good.

This piece was stitched as a gift for a friend I met through my cousin. I've known her for a long time, and we were bridesmaids together in my cousin's wedding last summer. I had such a good time with her at the shower and wedding and other wedding-related activities that I wanted to stitch a little something to honor her own wedding. Since they used pumpkins throughout their wedding materials and as decoration for their reception, I thought this was most appropriate.

I would like to have stitched it over 1 and made it slightly smaller (I favor smaller ornaments), but it would have been impossible to stitch in the personalization, so I opted for the over 2. It's still not *too* big, and it's quite pretty in person.

What held me back the most though was finding a trim that I liked for the edge. I thought I wasn't a fan of making cording and tried to find a store bought one, but nothing seemed to look quite right. Speaking of which, does anyone have ideas on where to find good cording and trims? I've had my best luck at JoAnn fabric, and even they have a limited selection. Am I just not looking in the right places?

Anyway, since I'm not usually a fan of making cording if I don't have to, I thought it would be easier to do some ruched ribbon. Clearly I forgot the LAST time I did my own ruched ribbon and it took me weeks of working on it little by little to get this orange stuff done. But done it is, and the ornament is all finished up. And yes, my finishing work is nicer than my second rate photography and positioning skills would lead you to believe (that bottom right corner isn't as lopsided as it looks). I was uncertain about the orange ribbon at first, but it's really grown on me and I can't wait to give it to the newlyweds (they're newlyweds for at least the first year, right?)

An original, commissioned design

A few weeks before Christmas, a friend and I were chatting and she mentioned she'd love to have a "Subversive Cross-stitch" type piece made for her boss and asked if I could design something around a phrase he likes to use. I said sure, no problem!

She wanted the piece to look obviously cross stitched, so I stitched it on Aida fabric and stuck to a very simple DMC color palette. I added the sheep for a little bit of interest / kitsch / reference to his theory that most people are sheep.

The verdict? HE LOVED IT! He thought it was absolutely hilarious and says it makes him laugh every time he looks at it.

And yes, my framing is much better than it appears in the photo. It was straight in the frame, and that's glare on the glass, not a wrinkle in the fabric.

Mama needs a new pair of shoes

Well, *I* don't actually need a new pair of shoes, and I'm not really a high heel kind of girl. At 5'10", I already tower over a lot of people. Plus, I have a terrible time walking in them - I never really learned how. And although I can appreciate a beautiful shoe, sadly, when you wear a size 10, it's hard to find really cute shoes. Instead, I live vicariously though two of my friends who are confirmed "shoe-a-holics" and absolutely adore shoes. (And can walk in ridiculously high heels)

This first one is for one of my closest friends. We've known each other since I was 8 and she was 3, and she loves, loves, loves shoes. When she was moving to her apartment, her dad was helping and as shoe box after shoe box appeared, he started to wonder out loud just how many pairs of shoes one person needed. For that matter, how many pairs of *black* shoes? All explanations of flats, heels, casual, dress, and seasonal shoes went out the window - a foreign language to a man who owned sneakers, black dress shoes, brown dress shoes and winter boots.

But back to my friend. For as long as I can remember, blue has been her favorite color. She wasn't digging the pink when I showed her the original chart, and I assured her it didn't have to be pink at all. This is what I came up with:

The Shoe Shopper by JBW Designs
Stitched on 32 ct. Antique White with
WDW Americana (dark blue) and Morris Blue (light blue)

I am so excited with how it came out, and how COOL is that frame? I loved it so much I ordered it for another piece I want to frame up for my husband. I like the black on black detailing - it makes the frame a little more special without being over the top.

The frame came from American Frame, and I must say, I HIGHLY recommend them. Their service was excellent, the shipping was FREE and you can preview what your pieces will look like online by uploading a photo.

They will even send you samples of mat board and frame pieces ahead of time, though you are limited to five total samples before ordering. You can order additional samples when you place an order. I do have a teeny tiny complaint that if you want a complete set of mat samples at once, you do have to purchase them. Another framing company I use will send you a complete set for free, but it's not the same brand of mat. (These are Crescent mats) I figure there must be tons of scraps from mats they cut - surely they can send out free sample sets, but the savings on shipping makes up for it. I ended up not matting this piece anyway, but I do suggest (strongly) that if you are ordering mat online to order from an actual sample, NOT from your monitor color. The color on your monitor can give you the general idea, but when you're trying to match colors, an actual sample is the way to go.

For a relatively inexpensive price, the quality of these frames is excellent - very sturdy and well made, and impeccably packed. All my pieces were neatly and securely packed in the box - not a scratch, dent or ding. You can also order acrylic and backer board, and they offer an acid free foam core CUT TO SIZE for each frame. YAY!!! You have no idea how happy this made my husband (my chief framer and often disgusted with my cutting jobs).

And I did say PAIR of shoes. This is a second version of the same piece, for another shoe-a-holic friend, done in colors to match her apartment.

Stitched on 32 ct. Vintage Buttercream with
WDW Straw (tan), Crescent Colors Cupid (red) and GAST Dark Chocolate (brown)

She was absolutely thrilled when she got it, even if it was almost a year after I told her I wanted to stitch something for her. To be fair, it had been STITCHED since about March, but it sat around waiting to be framed. With the free labor I get, I can't be too demanding when it comes to getting things without a specific deadline framed.

Wow, I am on a ROLL!!! And there's still more to come. At this rate, I should surpass my posts total from 2011 by the end of February 2012. Or not, especially if Pinterest gets involved. Which it very well might.

More ornaments - finished and sent out. Go me!

Are you tired of these yet? Me? I'm just happy to have them finished up and sent on instead of staring at me accusingly from a plastic bag on my dining room table where they waited for months to be assembled. I wish I was kidding. Or exaggerating.

Art Deco Frame by Julia Lucas Designs
JCS 2005 Christmas Ornament Issue
Stitched with DMC Pearle Cotton and DMC Thread
(Images / Name intentionally blurred for privacy)

I've gotten more use out of this edition of the magazine than any other, and out of this particular piece. This marks the fourth and fifth time I've stitched this piece, all in different colors. (You can see the wedding version I stitched for my in-laws, and two additional birth record ornaments here and here). And I have a few more partially stitched waiting to be finished up, including one for my own son. Who is two. Okay then. Moving along....

As I've mentioned before, since it's stitched on plastic canvas, it's super easy for me to stitch on it in the car when we travel, and if I've started one on the sheet of plastic, I don't even need the chart. Putting them together is a little tedious, but I've been fiddling with my methods and it gets a little easier to put them together each time.

I also love these pieces because they're SO easy to customize. I went traditional with the one for my in-laws, but experimented with the variegated pearle cotton for one of the birth record ones. For these, I chose blue for the girl (her mom is NOT a girly girl pink kind of mom) and green for the boy, and went with a nautical theme for the clip art accent to reflect the theme of the nursery. I did stitch a birth record for Alexa, but Blake's is languishing in my stitching box. I really need to get on that. He'll be .... well, let's just say I hope to get it to him before he leaves for college.

I should explain that Alexa and Blake are the children of a very dear friend of mine. We met online while we were planning our weddings (9 years ago!) She lives across the country in Colorado, and though we've never met in person, we've bonded over our similar upbringings and her friendship is one I treasure. She sent me a lovely thank you note on behalf of the kids and she was touched by the gift. It's nice when your hard work is met by such appreciation, and it's definitely motivational to finish up a few more projects that have been sitting around.

Remember my first finish of 2011?

The one that's going to be my first post of 2012? The one I gave you a little sneak peek at WAY back when? Here it is all framed up.

Pot Luck by Ink Circles
Stitched 2 over 2 on 32 ct. Vintage Examplar
with Carrie's Creations Silk Thread in Double Fudge Brownie

I am so thrilled with how this came out, and my friend Julie absolutely loved it. I was able to give it to her in person right before Christmas. I love that - a lot of the gifts I make are sent in the mail. And yes, it WAS sitting around that long waiting to be framed.

She was so excited about it and couldn't wait to hang it in her office. She had chosen the pattern and given me a list of colors she liked from several thread lines. She picked a few in the Carrie's Creations collection that were combined into one thread, the Double Fudge Brownie.

The thread was lovely to stitch with and the color variations are beautiful, much prettier than they are in this photo (the sneak peek is a more accurate representation). It's been difficult to get a good photo this winter, compounded by the fact that I am usually trying to take photos at the last minute before I pack it up and send it off (or take it with me). And the framing is courtesy of my husband and American Frame - I can't say enough good things about either of them!

You'll be seeing this pattern again. I have it kitted up in an olive green silk thread, also from Carrie's, for our house. But don't hold your breath - it's going to be a while. Years, even. But I do have a few more projects to show you - they're in the queue, photos and all, just waiting for me to write a little post about them and get them online. Wish me luck!

Good friends

I swear, I know the nicest people. Last week, we got a lovely package from my friend Dianne (Dianne Rambling On). Dianne's a jack of all trades when it comes to crafting and has done some lovely collage pieces, one of which she gifted to us.

Why yes, that IS a lighthouse! (And I do wish I was there!)

Dianne made this pretty little piece which is now on display in our living room. I love how the design is layered and textured - the "sand" in the lower corner is actually teeny tiny little gold beads. Very cool!

Dianne also gifted us with this piece for Nick, appropriately named Nickademus, Raise the Roof Design's contribution to the 2010 JCS Ornament issue. Dianne and I were chatting and she said she had stitched this piece up. When I mentioned it was on my list to stitch for Nick, she asked if she could finish it as an ornament for him.

Now, I am a sucker for anything sentimental, so of course I said yes! I love when something has a meaning or a story or something behind it, and in years to come when we hang our ornaments on the tree, this one will always bring Dianne to mind. I'd like to teach my son about sharing his talents with other people, and also, how things don't always have to be sleek and shiny and mass produced to be special and valuable, how things that are made and given from the heart have great value.

I see kids with their video games and their computers and their cellphones and their toys that light up and blink and do all kinds of things and I wonder how much of an appreciation they have for things that don't need batteries or a power cord. I wonder how many kids would appreciate the time and effort it took someone to make something like this for them, and I want my kid to be the one that says, "Thanks! That was really cool that you would do that for me." And sometimes I worry that I'm going to be that weirdo mom that *isn't* constantly chasing after the newest, shiniest toy or that my kid is going to be that weirdo kid, the one that can entertain himself for hours with a pile of blocks or crayons or other simple toys. And then I think maybe I don't really care if we are those "weirdos".

I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get off on a tangent about these things, but sometimes I think we can all use a reminder that happiness doesn't always come from a box on a store shelf.

A Sneak Peek at my first finish of 2011

This was my first finish of 2011, done back in early January. Yes, I stitched most of it in late 2010, but I finished the final 1/3 of it or so this year. It's a gift for a friend and I have a frame on order, so I don't want to show the whole thing, but here's a little peek!

I won't reveal the designer just yet...

This piece is a gift for a friend and there's a little story behind it. When I offered to stitched something for her, I could almost SEE her nose wrinkle up right through the phone. After a bit of a pause on her end, I laughed and said I'd send her a few links of what I had in mind. I picked a couple Quaker pieces and several other things and emailed them to her. About 20 minutes after I sent her the first email, she emailed me back and had two or three designs picked out, this being one of them. There were several subsequent emails with links to other designs she liked.

In all, we settled on three different ones - this one, one for her wedding piece and another for her birthday. She even said she had no idea there were so many cool, interesting pieces out there. Her concept of cross stitch was more of a "country goose wearing a blue bow and bonnet" idea. Now, that may float someone else's boat, but definitely not hers. I was happy to show her that's not all there was to it.

Do I think she'll ever take up stitching herself? No. But at least she has a greater appreciation for needlework in general.

A gift for a far away friend

Quaker Fragments Stocking by Blackbird Designs (March Leaflet)
Stitched two over two on R&R Reproductions 30 ct. Alabaster
with Crescent Colors Ruby Slippers and WDW Monkey Grass

Would you believe I had this piece stitched and waiting to be finished since, oh.... AUGUST? Yep. August. I knew I was going to stitch and finish this piece for my friend Michele, but I didn't think it would take me so long to do the actual finish finishing. Naturally, I had to be difficult and not follow the finishing instructions in the leaflet. Oh no. I had to do thing *my* way. And by my way, I mean pleading with my husband who is far more patient and diligent than I am to trace out the cardboard and assemble the stocking for me. I did get him to trace the cardboard and cut it out, but I was on my own for lacing the stocking onto the cardboard.

A little tugging, a little clipping, and a little cursing, and it was done. Just barely done, but done before Christmas. Which is not to say it arrived before Christmas, but I did mail it out before Christmas - perhaps about a week or so before the big day. Two weeks after Christmas, I still hadn't heard anything about it from Michele, so I decided to forgo a surprise and ask her if she had received any envelopes from me. She had, in fact, not. I was devastated. Everything else I had mailed on the same day had made it to its destination, and I was psyching myself up to stitch and finish this piece again. I was not looking forward to lacing the stocking onto cardboard again, but the actual stitching of the piece was fun. Luckily for me, Michele emailed me a few days later to let me know she had received the envelope and was just thrilled with the ornament and the additional tokens I had sent her.

You see, Michele is a major Seattle Seahawks fan, and I am a Cowboys fan, so we give each other good natured ribbing throughout football season. I sent her my interpretation of her beloved Seahawk's colors in overdyed floss, something I imagine would either frighten or amuse the big burly football players. You can see the colors here on her blog.

And there's a story behind the colors I selected for the stocking itself. Michele loves the color red, so I knew I was going to work that in there, but I didn't want to do two shades of red. I pulled a few shades of red that caught my eye from the overdyed racks in my LNS, but when I saw the name Ruby Slippers, I knew that was the color I was going to use. Michele is a big Wizard of Oz fan as well, so how could I not? As for the green, I picked a green to coordinate with the red, not by color name. It did, however, work out perfectly for me as my chosen color is Monkey Grass, or as I like to call it, Flying Monkeys. Yeah. I'm cool like that.

Hold it!! There are MORE Lighthouses!

Linda's not the only one that knows me well. Another dear friend of mine, Michele from Just Another Stitching Blog, thought of me when she was out shopping and picked up these two charts for me. I think the Gulf Coast lighthouse chart may still be available, if hard to find, but I am almost positive Secluded Shores is out of print, making the charts that much more appreciated.



Do you see the little blue thing below the charts? It's the loveliest little scissor fob. With a LIGHTHOUSE!!! Take a closer look - it's beautiful, and in my favorite color blue, though I am convinced Michele slipped a little Seahawk green in there on purpose. LOL


The larger oval shaped beads are especially pretty and appropriate as they're a frosted finish that looks very much like sea glass, another one of my favorite things. As lighthouse enthusiasts, we visit a lot of beaches and I make it a point to scour them for pieces of sea glass. I can, and have, spent hours combing beaches looking for glass and have amassed a collection I keep on display in our living room. I love that the beads on this fob are so reminiscent of the glass I find out the beach.

And because I want to be all fancy like with the macro settings on my camera, check out the awesome lighthouse on the end of the fob:



And while I also thanked Michele privately when I received the package, I just wanted to give her generosity and thoughtfulness a public shout out.

My Christmas Gift from Linda

Faith Hope Love 2007 Ornament
by Gayle Reger for Abby Rose Designs

This is the beautiful ornament that Linda stitched for me, which is now hanging proudly on our tree. I love the vintage colors, and Linda's stitching is just lovely, but what I love most is that this is a one of a kind ornament just for me. According to Linda, the word peace was not in the original ornament. She liked the idea of a 4th word instead of the year and chose "peace", something we can all use a little more of in our lives.

Linda stitched the ornament on an unknown fabric with Belle Soie silks - Cinnamon Stick, Collard Greens, Sister Scarlet, Mudpie and Cranberry. Linda also included a cute fingertip towel which is now in our guest bathroom. I don't know how she knew it, but I have a distinct lack of holiday themed decorative items in our house, and a Christmas towel was a welcome addition for the holidays.

Also in the package was a new lighthouse ornament to add to our collection, this one from the Marblehead Lighthouse in Ohio. It's one we have yet to visit, but it's definitely on our list.

On a final note, Linda has decided to get her blog up and running again, so please drop by and visit her at Taxing Stitches.