Merry One Finish

This latest project is another one that I have wanted to do for a very long time. I had to wait to see if it was going to become available as a stand alone chart, as this was a former club piece. I am not a huge fan of clubs, because of the expense and hassle of them. I would rather just purchase a chart outright and then stitch the design with the materials of my own choosing. A big case in point is this latest project of mine. 

I purchased this piece some time ago and have just now gotten around to stitching it. It is stitching up quite quickly, which gives me hope that I will make the goal of 30 projects stitched for the year. I am quite pleased with that thought, although, I do need to decide what the last project of the year will be. As of right now, I am leaning towards finishing Block Three of of Christmas at Hawk Run Hollow by Carriage House Samplings . That would be a good way to end the year, I think. 


Well, at any rate, on with the show! 

Design: Merry One

Designer: Paulette Stewart of Plum Street Samplers

Fabric Used: 25 count Natural Oatmeal Floba by Wichelt

Fibers Used: Crescent Colours Belle Soie silk in Collard Greens, Harvest, Malted Milk and Tulip. Rainbow Gallery Splendor 12 ply silk floss in S899, Dark Ecru. 

Began: Tuesday, November 29, 2017

Finished: Saturday, December 09, 2017

Stitchers' Notes: Stitched one strand of silk floss over one fabric thread. Substituted called for fabric and floss for in house materials. 29th project stitched for 2017. 

Well, I must be off. Lots to do today. I hope everyone is having a great week. 

Happy Stitching!

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Respectfully submitted,

C. 

Craftapolooza

Lots and lots of stitching and kitchen crafting today. Managed to finish Autumn Sampler and get in some cooking. I love to cook more than even stitching. I wanted to be a professional chef, however, 'back in the day' your only avenues were professional schools in France or quit school at 13 like Jacques Pépin and work in kitchens my whole life. It never happened, but DH has promised me that if we ever get the money, I will get to go to Le Cordon Bleu in Paris for both the Diplôme de Cuisine and the Diplôme de Pâtisserie. When you get both, Le Grand Diplôme is awarded. How exciting would that be?! :)


Well at any rate, I will post stitchy pictures first, then the cooking pictures. 

Design: Autumn Sampler

                        Designer:  Diane Williams of Little House Needleworks

Fabric: unknown 28 count Flax linen (Possibly Zweigart's Cashel linen)

                 Fibers Used:  Crescent Colours Belle Soie silk in Beanstalk,                                 Old Crow, Pumpkin Carriage, Red Fox, Teddy Bear, and                                                            Vanilla Pudding



Stitcher's notes: Stitched one over one. Did not stitch the called for border. Stitched checkerboard with Crescent Colours Belle Soie silk in Old Crow and Vanilla Pudding. Pumpkin stitched in Crescent Colours Belle Soie silk in Vanilla Pudding. Date stitched in Roman numerals. Only one berry stitched in Crescent Colours Belle Soie silk in Red Fox in upper corners due to space issues. 

And, now for the cooking pictures. I made up a huge batch of beef stew for dinner tonight. I was really in a fall mood. I am tired of salads (Hold that thought till January there, sweet pea! :P) and wanted something completely different. This fit the bill. This same stone killed another bird by being prepared before DH and I go camping at Prairie Creek Redwoods. Now, that particular meal is covered and I won't have to scramble to make it because I forgot to plan ahead! :)

I also made a Pumpkin Spice Cake with a Honey Buttercream frosting. DH gave it a 4 out of 5 stars. We both think that the frosting needs to be on my Pumpkin Loaf that I make. :P

Welp, I best be off. The work week starts tomorrow and I have tons to do before bed. Hope everyone has a great weekend and hopefully I will have a stitchy post next week for you all! :)

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C. 

The Ghost Pumpkin

I have a confession to make. I absolutely ADORE white pumpkins. I have no idea as to what fascinates me so with them, but I just love them. As consequence, whenever I get the opportunity, I buy one in the supermarket and stitch them whenever I can. I have another planned piece that I want to do, however, it will have to wait until next year. Autumn Sampler, however, did not escape the White Pumpkin Obsession and now boasts its' own white pumpkin. The thing is, due to the pale flax color of the fabric I am using, you know it's there, but you can barely see it. I am fairly amused by it and I am calling it the Ghost Pumpkin as consequence. This morning I managed to get a fairly decent picture to where it will show up, but I am fairly certain it will not make an appearance next time :).  I am ok with this because for several reasons:

1. I refuse to rip out one over one if it can be helped

2. While I love my silks, it is cost prohibitive to rip them out if it can be helped.

3. I rather like the idea of a pumpkin being there but not. Kinda ties in with the whole Halloween/Fall thing, yea? 

Well, without further ado, here is my progress so far on Autumn Sampler:

Design: Autumn Sampler

                        Designer:  Diane Williams of Little House Needleworks

Fabric: unknown 28 count Flax linen (Possibly Zweigart's Cashel linen)

                 Fibers Used:  Crescent Colours Belle Soie silk in Beanstalk,                                 Old Crow, Pumpkin Carriage, Red Fox, Teddy Bear, and                                                            Vanilla Pudding

I best be off. Need to have breakfast then I have to go get my hair done. Hope everyone is having a fantastic week! :)

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Respectfully submitted,

C. 

Autumn, maybe?

It's a sign of getting older when the days fly by and you go into a store and realize it's already the next season. I was still in 'Summer Mode' when I went into the grocery story the other day when I came upon Halloween candy out. I suppose in retail it's never too early, but honestly, I think you only need one month to stock up on candy for Halloween. As I practice crafting, I can see the need for having things out a few months earlier. I have projects that will take YEARS to finish, so yea, I need the extra time. Not food however. :P


At any rate, I felt the need to start a fall themed project since I managed to get another finish up under my belt. I'm not in the mood for Halloween, but since September 1 is not that far off (2 days!!), I thought something Autumn/Fall related would be ok. This also means that come September 1, everything you know and love will be pumpkin flavored until the day after New Years! However, this also means that the Barnes and Noble Cafe will have the maple pecan scone back in stock and my beloved New Jersey Devils are back in action. Woohoo!!! And not only that, my beloved Hubmeister got us tickets to go see my beloved New Jersey Devils play in November. Yay!!!!! Here is where we will be sitting:

Not only is it closer to the visiting goaltender, it's also where the visiting team enters and exits the ice. Woohoo!!! Let's go Devils, let's go!!! 


At any rate, here is what I've chosen to stitch fall related wise. I really love Diane Williams of Little House Needleworks  work as it lends itself easily to not only over one stitching, which I am doing in this piece, but it also lends itself for customization. While I am stitching this in the called for colors that were included in the pack, I am seriously debating making the pumpkin white instead of well, pumpkin orange :P. I'm not sure yet, but comments are always welcome! :)

Design: Autumn Sampler

                        Designer:  Diane Williams of Little House Needleworks

Fabric: unknown 28 count Flax linen (Possibly Zweigart's Cashel linen)

                 Fibers Used:  Crescent Colours Belle Soie silk in Beanstalk,                                 Old Crow, Pumpkin Carriage, Red Fox and Teddy Bear

Well, I must be off. Got some stuff to do before I can get back to my stitching. Hope everyone is having a great week! :)

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Respectfully submitted,

C. 

Finally a finish! :D

I know it comes as a shock, but about 10 days ago, my husband took me camping. I must also state categorically and for the record, that I do NOT camp. My idea of camping for the weekend is checking into here and not ordering room service. Having to schlep down stairs to get food instead of ordering room service like a civilized person is my idea of 'roughing it'. That being said, it's taken my beloved husband 6.5 years to get me to agree to go camping. And how did he accomplish this minor miracle? By promising me indoor plumbing and the chance to see bears. What can I say? I am a sucker for bears. *Shrug*. Go figure. 

The site of our first trip was Plumas-Eureka State Park in California. We had a nice time and even saw signs of early fall (YAY!!!). No bear sightings (awww!!!) but here are some of my favorite pictures that I took:

Our campsite:

Little Jamison Falls:

Early signs of fall:

Grass Lake:

To commemorate the trip, I decided to stitch a camping themed piece. I dug around in my stash and I came up with Little House Needleworks' Tall Pines. I started in the car on the way to the campground and finished up earlier today. I would have posted a picture of the finish, but I had to bolt for the door to get to work :P. 

At any rate, here is the finished piece, with the changes I made:

Design: Tall Pines

Designer:  Diane Williams of Little House Needleworks

Fabric:  28 count Lugana in Mushroom. The color of the fabric is close to DMC 613).

Fibers: Crescent Colours cotton floss in English Ivy and Garden Gate (substituted for DMC #712 - cream). DMC 434 (substituted for Crescent Colours Brandied Pears). The Gentle Art Sampler Threads in Buttercrunch (substituted for Weeks Dye Works Straw), Sarsaparilla (substituted for Crescent Colours La Tierra) and Mountain Mist. 

Errata: Stitched one over one. 

Welp, I need to go. Got some chores to do before I go to bed. Before I go, here is a picture of Doro, being 'helpful':

Hope everyone has a great week! :)

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Respectfully submitted,

C. 

 

Glory House Finish

Managed to get Glory House finished up just a bit ago. This was a really fun stitch. I decided to leave the borders off, as I thought it made the piece look a bit crowded and I changed the initials to the year of my country's birth. I stitched the numbers on the fly and I think it turned out fairly well. :)

Design: Glory House

Designer: Chessie and Me

Fabric: 36 count Vintage Pearled Barley by Lakeside Linens

Fibers Used: Crescent Colours Belle Soie silk in Attic Tea, Chocolat, Icing, Mer Blue, Puritan Blue, Red Fox, and Weathered Vine

Techniques Used: Cross Stitch, Rice stitch, Smyrna Cross, One Over One

Well, I best be off. Have things to do before work today. Hope everyone has a great weekend! :)

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Respectfully submitted,

C. 

Glory House Update

Been plugging right along on Glory House by Chessie and Me. I am really liking the way it's coming together, however, I am seriously considering leaving off the top border. It would make it look less 'crowded' to me and more 'open', if you will. I think I am going to finish stitching the mini motifs within the design and then make a decision.


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

Design: Glory House

Designer: Chessie and Me

Fabric: 36 count Vintage Pearled Barley by Lakeside Linens

Fibers Used: Crescent Colours Belle Soie silk in Attic Tea, Chocolat, Icing, Mer Blue, Puritan Blue, Red Fox, and Weathered Vine

Techniques Used: Cross Stitch, Rice stitch, Smyrna Cross, One Over One

Well, I best be off. Have errands to run today. Hope everyone has a fantastic weekend! :)

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Respectfully submitted,

C. 

A tiny finish

So I got out Gessie's Flower kit  which was an exclusive to Needle In A Haystack. It was purchased during the Birthday Fest almost two weeks ago. I loved the colors and the design and I really couldn't wait to start it. I had initially started stitching it with two The Gentle Art Sampler Threads over two Lakeside Linens threads. I didn't get very far, when I realized the project was too big and bulky for me! It must a by-product of working on smaller thread counts. I have just become too used to stitching with one thread over two threads of tiny count fabric. 


So, I quickly removed all of the stitches that I had done (which was all of six) and restitched it, by stitching it one over one. I found that I was much happier with the outcome. AND I have the added bonus of having enough of the special fabric left over to stitch it again. Yay! 


At any rate, I finished this up late last night and I am excited to present you all with a finish. :D

Design:  Gessie's Flower

Designer: Unknown. The motif is inspired from an 1800 Italian Sampler in the private collection of friend of Needle In A Haystack.

Fabric: 28 count Graziano Milan in a Needle In A Haystack exclusive color Fagioli by Lakeside Linens

Threads Used: The Gentle Art Sampler Threads in as of yet unknown exclusive colors. 

Stitcher's note: I place a Kelmscott Designs' needle minders by the piece so you can see how small the stitching is. Stitched with one strand of The Gentle Art Sampler Thread over one thread of Lakeside Linens. 

Well, I best be off. Allergies are really playing havoc today and there's another project I'd really like to finish. Hope everyone is having a great week! :)



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Respectfully submitted,


C.