May Cake Finish

I finished this guy up just in the nick of time. With this finish, this concludes the 'Spring' birthday cake freebies from Brooke Nolan of Brooke's Books. I am waffling on continuing with the Summer series, or if I should pick up something from the Bin O'Shame. I have not had a finish from the Bin O'Shame in quite some time. (Almost a year, I think). I really do need to get back to it, as I am soooooooo close to finishing them all up. 

Well, at any rate, here is the second finish for the month of May and the eighth for the year. 

Design: May Cake

Designer: Brooke Nolan of Brooke's Books

Fabric Used: 32 count Belfast linen from Silkweavers' in Dusk 

Fibers Used: DMC Embroidery Floss Art. 117 as called for in the chart. Anchor six strand embroidery floss in 02, Brightest White. 

Beads Used: Mill Hill beads in #02031 Citron,   #42101 Purple and #03050 Champagne Ice Antique Glass seed beads. Kreinik #4 braid in 007 - Pink.

Stitchers' Notes: Design from the 12 month series of monthly Birthday Cakes. Finished Tuesday, May 29, 2018. Left off border. Substituted DMC Embroidery Floss Art. 117  B5200 for Anchor six strand embroidery floss in 02 Brightest White. Eighth finish for 2018.

Time for me to be off. I need to clean up my area and check on dinner. Hope everyone had a great Memorial Day weekend. Happy stitching!

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Respectfully submitted,

C. 

April Birthday Cake Finish For May

My latest finish is way late for the month of April. This is due to getting socked with allergies and living in an apartment building with inconsiderate smokers. I am hoping that the situation gets rectified soon, but who knows?

At any rate, I have managed to finish this guy up. I am pleased with the way that it has turned out, although for whatever reason, this one was a bit fiddly to work on. I am not sure why, but that's the way it goes. 

Here is my first finish for May and my seventh for the year:

Design: April Cake

Designer: Brooke Nolan of Brooke's Books

Fabric Used: 28 count natural Cashel linen of unknown manufacturer

Fibers Used: DMC Embroidery Floss Art. 117 as called for in the chart. Anchor six strand embroidery floss in 02, Brightest White. 

Beads Used: Mill Hill beads in #00479 White and and #03050 Champagne Ice Antique Glass seed beads. 

Stitchers' Notes: Design from the 12 month series of monthly Birthday Cakes. Finished Wednesday, May 2, 2018. Left off border. Substituted DMC Embroidery Floss Art. 117  B5200 for Anchor six strand embroidery floss in 02 Brightest White. Seventh finish for 2018.

Welp, time for me to be off. Tons to do today and I need to get my next project put together. I hope everyone is having a great week.

Happy stitching! :)

Respectfully submitted,

C. 

Happy Birthday March Cake Finish

Happy day, all! I chose this latest design because this series is one that I have wanted to stitch as soon as the series began. There are so many applications for these designs. And I love the use of color and beading that Brooke Nolan uses in her designs. 

I am also excited to use a large piece of fabric from my LNS' inventory sale. Once a year they have a 'fabric by the pound' sale and this past December, I purchased 2 pounds of fabric in all counts and colors for $10.00. I could not pass that up! This year I will have to see about saving up more loose change for the end of the year inventory sale. I didn't get a whole lot this past year, but I love what I did get and really, two pounds of fabric is none too shabby. :)

At any rate, here is my latest finish:

Design: March Cake

Designer: Brooke Nolan of Brooke's Books

Fabric Used: 32 count Belfast linen from Silkweavers' in Dusk 

Fibers Used: DMC Embroidery Floss Art. 117 as called for in the chart. Anchor six strand embroidery floss in 02, Brightest White. 

Beads Used: Mill Hill beads in #00479 White and #02011 Victorian Gold. 

Stitchers' Notes: Began, Sunday, March 18, 2018. Design from the 12 month series of monthly Birthday Cakes. Finished Monday, March 26, 2018. Left off border. Substituted DMC Embroidery Floss Art. 117  B5200 for Anchor six strand embroidery floss in 02 Brightest White. Sixth finish for 2018.

Time for me to be off. I hope everyone is having a great week. Happy stitching!

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Respectfully submitted,

C.

White Pumpkin-palooza

I decided the other day that I was craving another fall/autumn type of piece to work on. I'm not quite ready yet for Halloween and I am not sure why that is. I am not sure if it's because stores seem to 'rush' the holidays and I've seen Halloween candy out since late August or what. (Honest to God, I saw Christmas commercials on TV the other day and went on a rant worthy of Julia Sugarbaker.). At any rate, I am stitching what I want, when I want, and the goals I had for this year have completely flown out the window. I'm not gonna beat myself up over the meager WIPpocalypse offerings I have presented thus far, because two finished is better than none, yea? I managed to stitch on a 40 count fabric, loved it, and I thought *that* would never happen! I also managed to stitch on a 48 count fabric and lived to tell the tale. So, it's been an interesting stitching year so far. :)


At any rate, here is the latest start. Haven't gotten too far, however, this 40 count is a bit tricky as it is an opalescent fabric and it's a bit harder to see. (The 48 count Dower linen is actually easier for me to see. Go figure! :P)

Design: Be Thankful sampler

Designer: Nikki Lehman of Country Cottage Needleworks

Fabric: 40 Count Newcastle linen by Zweigart in Moondust from Silkweaver Fabrics

Fibers: Crescent Colours in Brown Hen, English Ivy, Finley Gold, German Chocolate, Hickory Sticks and Toasted Marshmallow

Stitcher's Notes: Needle Nanny by Puffin and Company in Country Pumpkins. Began project on 09.27.2013 in honor of Cathey of Pumpkin Patch and Company and her fight with cancer. 

In other stitchy news, there seems to be a ton of SAL options for Christmas already this year. Carol of Istitch Designs is planning an Advent SAL. The cost for that is $10.00. Paulette Stewart began her Sunday Mary's Sampler SAL today. Her's is free and she says it will be up as long as her blog is. Lots of options and stitchy goodness to be had! :)

Well, I must be off. Got tons to do before work today. Hope everyone is having a great weekend! :)

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Respectfully submitted,

C. 

1905 Sampler Part Five Update

Simone de Jong of Atelier Soed Idee  uploaded part five of her 1905 Sampler earlier this evening my time, so I stopped working on the newest UFO I pulled out of the Bin O' Shame and got to this. It stitched up VERY quickly, as had the other parts. I am totally loving how this is turning out. 


Here's what I have so far:



Design: 1905 Sampler

Designer: Simone de Jong of Atelier Soed Idee


Fabric Used: Zweigart 36 count Edinburgh Linen in Antique White


Fiber Used: Caron Collection Waterlilies silk in Cherry Cordial 



Stitcher's Notes: Stitched one strand of Caron Collection Waterlilies silk in Cherry Cordial over two threads of 36 count Edinburgh Linen in Antique White.

Well, I best be off. Really tired tonight and I need to get ready for work tomorrow. Hope everyone has a great weekend! :)

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Respectfully submitted,

C. 

1905 Sampler Part Three Update

Managed to finish up part three of Atelier Soed Idee's 1905 Sampler that was released today. This is really stitching up fast and I already cannot wait for the next part. 


Here is my piece so far:


Design: 1905 Sampler


Designer: Simone de Jong of Atelier Soed Idee


Fabric Used: Zweigart 36 count Edinburgh Linen in Antique White


Fiber Used: Caron Collection Waterlilies silk in Cherry Cordial 



Stitcher's Notes: Stitched one strand of Caron Collection Waterlilies silk in Cherry Cordial over two threads of 36 count Edinburgh Linen in Antique White.

Well, I best be off. It's kinda late here and I need to get to bed. If I do not make it back before the New Year, I wish you all the happiest of New Years! :)



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Respectfully submitted,


C. 

1905 Sampler Part Two Update

Part two of Simone de Jong of Atelier Soed Idee's 1905 Sampler was released today (my time) so I printed it out and went at it. I am a bit worried as I did not start the sampler in the correct spot and now I may not have enough fabric. Le sigh. I will worry about it when the time comes, however, I am probably going to have to tweak the design a bit. Of course, this also means that I will probably change the date and the initials on it :). 


Well, here is what I have so far:


Design: 1905 Sampler



Designer: Simone de Jong of Atelier Soed Idee


Fabric Used: Zweigart 36 count Edinburgh Linen in Antique White


Fiber Used: Caron Collection Waterlilies silk in Cherry Cordial 



Stitcher's Notes: Stitched one strand of Caron Collection Waterlilies silk in Cherry Cordial over two threads of 36 count Edinburgh Linen in Antique White.

Well, I am off for now. I need to clean up my stitching area and read before bed. Hope you all are having a fantastic weekend! :)

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Respectfully submitted,

C. 

Atelier Soed Idee 1905 Sampler SAL start

 
Began a SAL yesterday that is being hosted by Simone de Jong of Atelier Soed Idee. It's a free SAL and the first part has already been released. There are a total of seven parts to this SAL and so far it's been a LOT of fun. It won't be up for long, as she's posted the following schedule for the release of all seven parts:

15 december: Deel 2, Part 2

29 december: Deel 3, Part 3

12 januari: Deel 4, deel 1 wordt verwijderd, Part 4, Part 1 will be removed.

26 januari: Deel 5, deel 2 wordt verwijderd, Part 5, Part 2 will be removed.

9 februari: Deel 6, deel 3 wordt verwijderd, Part 6, Part 3 will be removed.

23 februari: Deel 7, deel 4 wordt verwijderd, Part 7, Part 4 will be removed

9 maart: deel 5 wordt verwijderd, Part 5 will be removed

23 maart: deel 6 wordt verwijderd, Part 6 will be removed

6 april: deel 7 wordt verwijderd, Part 7 will be removed

I decided that this was going to be the piece that I tried to stitch on the piece of 36 count that I had picked up on a whim. I have no idea what possessed me to try out a fabric with this low a count, but I have been toying with the idea of stitching smaller counts. So far, there hasn't been any squinting on my part, which is a good sign, LOL! :)

Here is what I have so far:

Design: 1905 Sampler


Designer: Simone de Jong of Atelier Soed Idee


Fabric Used: Zweigart 36 count Edinburgh Linen in Antique White


Fiber Used: Caron Collection Waterlilies silk in Cherry Cordial 



Stitcher's Notes: Stitched one strand of Caron Collection Waterlilies silk in Cherry Cordial over two threads of 36 count Edinburgh Linen in Antique White.

I have left off the 1905 and the JHA initials so far as I am waffling between stitching the piece as is, or adding this years' date and my initials. The floss that I am using would NOT have been available in 1905 that I know of, however, it will be fun to do the research on that. :)

Well, I must be off. Need to get out another project to work on until part two comes out on the 15th :). Hope everyone is having a fantastic week! :)

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Respectfully submitted,

C. 

Veteran's Day Finishes

Been busy today finishing up long overdue projects. Two more have been taken out of my huge stitching bag and I am really happy about that. I promised myself that I could start a new project if I finished these two up, however, I think there is another project I want to stitch on in the same bag, so I may finish that one up instead. 


At any rate, here are the two I finished stitching on just a bit ago. The floss finally came in for the A La Belle Etoile SAL piece and it took less than 10 minutes to finish up the leaves on the right hand side. I love the way it turned out.   




WIP#1:



Design: A La Belle Etoile SAL

Designer: The Thread Basket with C Mon Mode


Fabric: 28 count silk and linen in natural by Wichelt

Fibers: Crescent Colours Belle Soie silk in Elegant Eggplant, Ivy League, Sweet Lavender, and Tumbleweed. Gumnut Yarns Stars silk floss in #991 ecru. Kreinik Very Fine (#4) Braid in 001 Silver.


Accouterments: Jolee's Jewels - Crystallized Swarovski Elements in Purple Violet 4 mm bicone, Crystal Moonlight 4 mm bicone, 20 MM Crystal Aurora Borealis star and 16 mm - Crystal Aurora Borealis moon.

WIP#2:




Design: Christmas Tea


Designer: Paulette Stewart for Plum Street Samplers


Fabric: 32 count Belfast linen in pearl grey


Fibers: Crescent Colours Belle Soie silk in Collard Greens, Cranberry, Noir and Vanilla Pudding

The chart was a gift from my dear friend Barb and I enjoyed every stitch of this project. It was stitched with one strand of Crescent Colours Belle Soie silk over two fabric threads. 

Well, I best be off. Laundry is calling and I need to clean up my stitching area so I can get out another project. Hope everyone is having a great weekend and a special thank you to all of the Veterans out there today. You are not forgotten! 

Respectfully submitted,

C. 

Progress Report

I've made some really good progress on my A La Belle Etoile SAL since I last posted. It feels like I'm just zipping right along. I am really enjoying stitching this and I am happy that I am sticking to my promise to stitch only WIPs this year. :)


At any rate, here's what I have accomplished so far:




Design: A La Belle Etoile SAL

Designer: The Thread Basket with C Mon Monde


Fabric: 28 count silk and linen in natural by Wichelt

Fibers: Crescent Colours Belle Soie silk in Elegant Eggplant, Ivy League, Sweet Lavender, and Tumbleweed. Gumnut Yarns Stars silk floss in #991 ecru. KreinikVery Fine (#4) Braid in 001 Silver.


Accouterments: Jolee's Jewels - Crystallized Swarovski Elements in Purple Violet 4 mm bicone, Crystal Moonlight 4 mm bicone, 20 MM Crystal Aurora Borealis star and 16 mm - Crystal Aurora Borealis moon.

I am hoping to have it completed within the next few weeks. I am now on a quest for the perfect frame for it. I think this may even be one of the pieces I keep up on the walls all year. :)


Well, I best be off. I have a ton of stuff I have to do today. Hope everyone is having a wonderful week! :)


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Respectfully submitted,


C.

En ma Fin gît mon Commencement...

Happy new year, everybody! Hope everyone has gotten off to a good start to the new year and has sufficiently recovered from the Eve of the New Year. DH and I skipped the festivities this year, as he had to be at work at 6 AM :(. Ah, well. It's no matter to me, as the Strip this year was MASSIVELY overcrowded and they were charging 35 bucks a HEAD to be Downtown on Fremont Street. No thanks!


At any rate, I've kept to my promise of only stitching WIPs this year (so far!), however, I did have a new start on New Year's Day. It's not my fault really. I have been obsessing over this piece for quite some time now and the only way to get it to STFU was to kit the bleedin' thing up and start it.


So, without further ado, here is what I've been working on:



WIP #1:



Design: A La Belle Etoile SAL

Designer: The Thread Basket with C Mon Mode


Fabric: 28 count silk and linen in natural by Wichelt

Fibers: Crescent Colours Belle Soie silk in Elegant Eggplant, Ivy League, Sweet Lavender, and Tumbleweed. Gumnut Yarns Stars silk floss in #991 ecru. KreinikVery Fine (#4) Braid in 001 Silver.


Accouterments: Jolee's Jewels - Crystallized Swarovski Elements in Purple Violet 4 mm bicone, Crystal Moonlight 4 mm bicone, 20 MM Crystal Aurora Borealis star and 16 mm - Crystal Aurora Borealis moon.

Not too much progress, but I am making some. I've decided to leave the large portions of the Gumnut Yarns Stars silk floss in #991 ecru for the end of the night when my eyes become fatigued. This way it still gets stitched on and I don't have to count anything out, really.



And here is WIP #2, AKA The Piece That Wouldn't STFU:


Design: Mary Queen of Scots



Designer: Papillon Creations



Fabric: Picture This Plus 32 count linen in Phoenix



Fibers: Gumnut Yarns Stars silk floss in #991 ecru.


Stitcher's notes: Fabric was chosen as Mary, Queen of Scots was a red head as was her cousin, Elizabeth I of England. The motto at the bottom of the sampler, "In my End is my Beginning...", is a reminder of her mother, Mary of Guise. The emblem, the Phoenix, which on the sampler, flank the motto. It was a motto that Mary, Queen of Scots loved so much, she had it embroidered on her Cloth of State. The Gumnut Yarns Stars silk floss was chosen as Mary's favorite color was white, as she felt it showed off her red hair to its' best advantage.



Stitched one thread over two threads of fabric.

Here is the wee bit I have done up close:

Funny how the lighting changes the color of the fabric so drastically. The first picture is the best representation of the true color of the fabric. I have no clue how the second photograph wound up being closer to magenta. o.o. I am still not certain of the coverage of the one strand. I am seriously thinking about switching to two strands. I should probably get out some test fabric and try both one and two strands.


Well, I best be off. I have a ton of stuff to do today. Hope everyone is having a great first week of the New Year! :)


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Respectfully submitted,


C.

Final Post of 2011

Well, Christmas has come and gone. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday! The Hubmeister and I went to Half Moon Bay for the holidays and stayed with his mother. We all had a great time and I thoroughly enjoyed being that close to the beach again. We have plans to go back in March to go see the Buffalo Sabres at San Jose Sharks. My MIL got us tickets for our Christmas present. She also got me a Ryan Miller Premier Road Jersey and The Hubmeister a Ryan Miller Premier Home Jersey so we will be suitably attired come game time. I'm so excited to go see another pro hockey game. I wish I could go see my beloved New Jersey Devils, but they aren't going to be on the West Coast again until next year. It's a bummer, but whatareyagonnado?


At any rate, since we had a 10 hour car trip (one way, I might add!), I took along my A La Belle Etoile SAL. I managed to get a fair amount completed. My house finally has a roof (yay!), however, I think if I ever stitch this again, I am going to swap out the beige of the house for the dark purple. I think it would look better that way. I didn't change it this time, as I am stitching with silks, and there is no way on God's green earth I am ripping out 20 dollars in silks to do a mere color change. Nuh uh. No way, no how...


ANYHOO...enough of my yapping! Time for some pictures! :)




Design: A La Belle Etoile SAL

Designer: The Thread Basket with C Mon Mode


Fabric: 28 count silk and linen in natural by Wichelt

Fibers: Crescent Colours Belle Soie silk in Empress, Ivy League, Sweet Lavender, and Tumbleweed. Gumnut Yarns Stars silk floss in #991 ecru. KreinikVery Fine (#4) Braid in 001 Silver.


Accouterments: Jolee's Jewels - Crystallized Swarovski Elements in Purple Violet 4 mm bicone, Crystal Moonlight 4 mm bicone, 20 MM Crystal Aurora Borealis star and 16 mm - Crystal Aurora Borealis moon.

I like the way it looks so far. I am hoping to get a bit more completed, but it alas will not be finished in time for the new year. I have way too much to do and not enough time to do it in.


Here is my list of completed work for 2011. I think it's fairly respectable, but I am disappointed in how few WIPs I managed to complete. I am hoping to rectify that in 2012 with the 2012 WIPocalypse hosted by Measi. The only rule I am making for myself is to just grab a project out of the bag and go. No lists because every time I make one, I can never stick to it, so I am not going to set myself up for what I would consider failure. I stitch to have fun and relax, not to make myself feel bad!



At any rate, here's my list of finishes:



1. Merry Christmas by Blackbird Designs finished 07.07.11

2. Season of Growth by Little House Needleworks finished 04.26.11

3. Cherries by JBW Designs Finished 04.14.11

4. Let's Go To The Beach by JBW Designs for Cross Stitch and Needlework magazine, July 2009. Finished 04.20.11

5. Spooky Sunday SAL by SanMan Originals. Finished 11.01.11.

6. Harvest Sampler by Linda P. Reeves. Finished 10.26.11.

7. At Plimoth by The Sampler Girl. Finished 10.25.11.

8. Apple Butter by Cross Eyed Cricket. Finished 10.22.11.

9. Quaker Acorn by The Workbasket. Finished 10.21.11.

10. Leaves by Cross Eyed Cricket. Finished 10.18.11.

11. Witchy Hat by SanMan Originals. Finished 10.14.11

12. Salem Witch by The Primitive Needle. Finished 09.10.11.

13. October Quaker by The Workbasket. Finished 08.26.11.

14. A Very Merry Summer by JBW Designs. Finished 06.27.11.

15. Fleur de Lis by JBW Designs. Finished 06.22.11

16. Joy of Christmas by My Big Toe. Finished 05.11.11.

17. Miniature Monogram Hornbook-Margin Marker by Kelmscott Designs. Finished 05.04.11.

18. Bunny's Bloom by The Primitive Jewel. Finished 04.28.11

19. Downton Abbey by The Sampler Girl. Finished 04.27.11

20. Now I Know My ABC's by Blackbird Designs. Finished 04.13.11.

21. Basket of Memories by Blackbird Designs. Finished 04.10.11.

22. A Very Merry Spring by JBW Designs. Finished 04.05.11.

23. Summer Iris by Blackbird Designs. Finished 03.30.11.

24. Cupcake by Blackbird Designs. Finished 01.26.11.

25. A Stitcher's Companion by Blackbird Designs. Finished 01.17.11.

26. My Home threadkeep by Blackbird Designs. Finished 01.07.11.



Well, I had best be off. I have a TON of stuff to do and time's a wastin'! I hope everyone has a blessed and prosperous new year!


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Respectfully submitted,


C.

Here a WIP, there a WIP, every where a WIP WIP

Goooooood morning, sports fans! Hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season so far. I have made little progress on my Thread Basket SAL and have even started yet another project. I have decided that I am going to treat the 2012 WIPocalypse hosted by Measi as a Bacchanalian free for all fest. I have all of my WIP and UFO bags dragged out and on stand by. I am going to start with the projects that are in my stitching area and then I am just going to grab one out of the bags and GO. I am NOT going to make any lists of specific projects to get done, because when I did that this year, I was less than successful. As in I only completed FOUR out of the TWENTY ONE I had wanted to do. For the most part, this also means going on the wagon and not buying a anything other than the odd floss that I ran out of and/or didn't have. I may buy the odd chart now and then, because let's face it, we are spoiled enough to have wonderful designers who manage to produce such lovely things, and Nashville Market is in a few months, and you know what THAT means. Guaranteed stitchy goodness and probably overtime for me to pay for it. :D


At any rate, here is what I have so far on my stitching:





WIP #1:


Design: A La Belle Etoile SAL

Designer: The Thread Basket with C Mon Mode


Fabric: 28 count silk and linen in natural by Wichelt

Fibers: Crescent Colours Belle Soie silk in Empress, Ivy League, Sweet Lavender, and Tumbleweed. Gumnut Yarns Stars silk floss in #991 ecru. KreinikVery Fine (#4) Braid in 001 Silver.

WIP#2:


Design: Sew Red


Designer: iStitch Designs


Fabric: 28 count linen in Vintage by Fleur de Luce Hand Dyeds


Fibers: Au Ver a Soie Soie d' Alger 7-strand silk floss in 2926. Rainbow Gallery Petite Treasure Braid in PB03 Gold.

Well, I am off for now. I have a mild headache and looking at the computer screen is hurting my eyes a bit. I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday with all joy, peace, and lots of eats and treats! :)


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Respectfully submitted,


C.