Labor Day Weekend Finish

Thank heavens it's September! We are having our first bit of cool evening weather this Labor Day weekend and I love it. This really is my favorite time of the year and I look forward to it every year, without fail. 

This latest finish is another project that I really have wanted to do for a long time now. I purchased it several years ago and finally got out the supplies to stitch it up. It went fairly quickly and I enjoyed changing out the flosses to what I had in stash. This, I think, will be another design that I keep as I can see myself stitching it several more times. 

Here are the fruits of my labors:  

Design: Halloween Tree: Spooky #TR187

Designer: The Trilogy 

Fabric Used: 32 count Belfast linen in Legacy  by Picture This Plus

Fibers Used: Carrie’s Creations in Hearts on Fire, The Gentle Art Sampler Threads in #1040 Black Crow, #0570 Bittersweet, #0470 Buttercrunch, #7015 Sarsaparilla,  SanMan Strands #048 Candy Corn,  Weeks Dye Works cotton floss in ##2237 Hazelnut, #2316 Iris, #2196 Scuppernong, #1091 Whitewash. 

Accouterments: Mill Hill beads #42014 Petite Black seed beads

Stitcher's Notes: SanMan Strands is a discontinued floss line. Left off buttons and wording. Converted some of the called for flosses to those in stash. Began Sunday, August 28, 2016. Finished Saturday, September 3, 2016.

I also managed to dye another piece of fabric yesterday. I love how it came out. I think I need to find a more primitive type design to stitch with this fabric. It turned out fairly dark, however, I do love the contrast with the lighter spots.

This is a 32 count Belfast linen, in a color that I am calling Dark Honey Ale:

Well, I had best be off. Time to clean up my stitchy area and find another fall/Halloween related project to stitch. I hope everyone is having a happy Labor Day weekend! :)

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Respectfully submitted,

C.

Fantastic Fifteen!

This finish marks number fifteen that's been completed for the year. In turn, this means I am four away from matching my all time record of 19 out of the  Bin O'Shame  and ten away from my goal of 25. This one stitched up really easily as all of Michelle Lash's designs do, but the backstitching was a bit annoying. Probably because I do so little of it, haha!

Well, here it is in all it's glory:

Design: Spring Welcome Banner #BB03

Designer: Michelle Lash of Brittercup Designs

Fabric: 28 count flax Cashel linen

Floss Used: Weeks Dye Works  embroidery floss in Honeysuckle #1108, Blue Spruce #1276, Morris Blue #2109, Scuppernong #2196, Grapefruit #2245, Hibiscus #2278, and Iris #2316. 

As of Thursday, April 2, 2015:

As of Tuesday, April 7, 2015:

Well, I best be off. I need to clean up my area and get another project out from the  Bin O'Shame . Hope everyone had a great Easter!

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Respectfully submitted,

C.  

Throwback Thursday Project

Grabbed another project out of the  Bin O'Shame and found it amusing that this project on Saturday, January 1, 2004. Throwback Thursday indeed! It should take less than a week to finish up, however, I had to order tow skeins of floss. It never pays to rob Peter to pay Paul. As this was kitted up and started over 11 years ago, the dye lots will not match. I will probably leave it as is, though. 

Well, at any rate, here is my Throwback Thursday UFO, which is now a WIP: 

Design: Spring Welcome Banner #BB03

Designer: Michelle Lash of Brittercup Designs

Fabric: 28 count flax Cashel linen

Floss Used: Weeks Dye Works  embroidery floss in Honeysuckle #1108, Blue Spruce #1276, Morris Blue #2109, Scuppernong #2196, Grapefruit #2245, Hibiscus #2278, and Iris #2316. 

As of Thursday, April 2, 2015:

I have since removed the backstitching, as I plan on redoing that portion of the design. I am also toying with the idea of re-stitching one of the flowers, as it is painfully obvious that I was new to using overdyed floss and it's not really pretty stitching. Then again, I may leave it as a reminder of how far I have come :).

Well, I had best be off. I need to do some chores. Hope everyone has a fantastic Easter weekend!:)

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Respectfully submitted,

C. 

Smaller Finishes

Taking a break from the Purple Blob. So help me, it is driving me plum batty!!! I have made mistakes in it which has resulted in the ripping out of over four hours worth of work. I am not sure if I am going to finish this one in time, but yanevaknow. May it be from my lips to the Heaven's ears. :)


I decided instead to re-stitch one Shepherd's Bush design and stitch up a whole other of their mini kits. These were purchased at Stitcher's Paradise bit ago. They were fairly cheap (less than 15 dollars each) and included all of the silk, fabric, buttons and a needle for stitching. They went *VERY* quickly and I look forward to stitching even more of these. 


Here is the first one, redone on a different fabric with a miscellaneous golden bee charm attached. As I suspected, I thought it would look better on a crisp white linen, instead of the light flax I stitched the original one on. This one was stitched yesterday, Saturday, April 12, 2014:

Design: Be Happy Heart Kit

Designer:Shepherd's Bush

Fabric: 28 count Charles' Craft Carolina linen in Salt

Floss: Gloriana Threads in Dried Pink Roses #119), Thread Gatherer's Silk n' Colors in Medieval Mulberry #091, Rose Blush #100 and Williamsburg Green; Possible discontinued color. Unable to locate any info on it at all. 

Project #2 finished today:

Design: Taste of Summer kit

Designer: Shepherd's Bush

Fabric: 28 count Charles' Craft Carolina linen in Salt

Fibers: DMC in 610, 729, 936, 3012, and 3021. Weeks Dye Works  embroidery floss in Linen #1094, Red Pear #1332, Lancaster Red #1333, Guacamole in #1193 and Gunmetal in #1298. 

Well, I had best be off. Time for more Hercule Poirot  movies. Hope everyone is having a great weekend! :)

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Respectfully submitted,

C. 

Wip-ocalypse Challenge

I've been making good on my promise to myself that I work out what I have already in the Bin O' Shame. I started this one back some time ago, and I don't think I ever posted any pictures of it. I restarted it twice, as I was not digging on the fabric choices AT. ALL. I finally settled on one that I had in stash and I am liking it so far. I am hoping to get some serious stitching time in, now that the madness of the holidays are over.


Well, at any rate, here is what I have so far:

Design: Forget Me Not Sampler 

Designer: Brenda Gervais for With Thy Needle and Thread 

Fabric: Lakeside Linens 40 count in Navy Bean

Fibers: Weeks Dye Works  embroidery floss in Cadet, Confederate Grey, Fawn, Olive, Peach, Sage, Schneckley and Straw. 

Stitcher's Notes: Needle Nanny by Puffin and Company in Bee. Q-Snap frame. Q-Snap cover by Barbara at TrulyN2Stitching. Petite 28 gold needle by John James. 

Well, I best be off. Stuff to do before work and all. Hope everyone is having a great weekend! :)

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Respectfully submitted,

C. 

Winter Solstice Post

Happy Winter Solstice to everyone! For those of you out there in Blogland who can't stand winter, the days from here on out will be slowly, but surely!, getting longer. Which also means my beloved Peeps aren't that far behind. Yay!!


At any rate, I managed to pick something back up that I had sort of started. I wasn't digging on the original fabric, so I changed it to my favorite Picture This Plus Cashel linen in Legacy.  I am loving the project so far, but twice the frog has visited, so I hope he's gone for now!


Here is what I have so far:

Design: Holly and Hearts Mystery Sampler (Part One)

Designer: Linda Ebright for Lizzie Kate

Fabric: 28 count Picture This Plus Cashel linen in Legacy

Fibers: Weeks Dye Works  embroidery floss in Artichoke, Baked Apple, Charlotte's Pink, Chestnut, Collards, Dirt Road, Oscar, Parchment, Pebble and Straw. 

Stitcher's Notes: Stitched one floss thread over one fabric thread. Frame by Q-Snap.  Needle by John James, gold plated in size 28.

I am seriously considering changing the saying in the middle part, but to what I am not sure of yet. I may just do the stitching around the saying and decide later. 

Well, I best be off. Today marks the start of my week and I have to be at work soon. Hope everyone has a great weekend! :)

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Respectfully submitted,

C. 

A finish and making the best of a situation

Got out another project from the Monster WIP Bag and managed to get another one finished just a bit ago. Somewhere along the way, I mis-stitched one lousy stitch on the flames/grass under the cauldron and as consequence, I had to fudge the third row a bit. Very much like my beloved New Jersey Devils tonight, I made the best of it and took comfort in knowing that I did my best in a not so ideal situation. I am no fair weather fan, and I will be a Devil until I die, but sometimes you just have to look for the good in disappointment and vow to do better next time. Since this project was from LAST Halloween, I am going to count this towards the WIPocalypse finishes(or at least my version of it!).

At any rate, here is the fruits of my labors:

Design: Witchy Kitty as featured in the September/October 2011 issue of Just Cross Stitch

Designer: Brittercup Designs

Fabric: 32 count Cashel linen in Periwinkle Prism

Fibers Used: Crescent Colours in Black Coffee, Lemon Lime, Pansy Purple and Tomatillo. Weeks' Dye Works in Marigold and Pumpkin. The Gentle Art in Banker's Grey. Mill Hill beads in #02016 Crystal Mint.

I've gotten another WIP/UFO out of the bag and I'm off to put a few stitches in that before bed. My thanks again to my beloved New Jersey Devils. You guys put up one hell of a fight! Let's go Devils, let's go!

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Respectfully submitted,

C.

Spooky Sunday SAL finish and a Witchy Kitty Update

I managed to finish up the Spooky SAL last night, but couldn't finish the Witchy Kitty. My hands just hurt too badly. DH and I were disappointed in the lack of trick or treaters that we had last night. (We had one. Two if you included the pizza guy.). Better luck next year, I suppose.



At any rate, here is my Spooky Sunday SAL finish:




Design: 2011 Members Only Sunday Spooky SAL


Designer: SanMan Originals


Fabric: 32 count Cashel linen in Periwinkle Prism


Fibers: Au Ver a Soie Soie d' Alger 7-strand silk floss in Black, White, 234, 536, 633, 3224, and 4122.

Here is what I have for the Witchy Kitty so far:


Design: Witchy Kitty as featured in the September/October 2011 issue of Just Cross Stitch

Designer: Brittercup Designs


Fabric: 32 count Cashel linen in Periwinkle Prism


Fibers Used: Crescent Colours in Black Coffee, Lemon Lime, Pansy Purple and Spinach. Weeks' Dye Works in Marigold and Pumpkin. The Gentle Art in Banker's Grey.

Well, I need to go. I have some chores to do before work today. Hope everyone is having a great week!


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Respectfully submitted,

C.

The End of Fall

It's not really the end of fall, however, I think I have hit Fall Stitching Fatigue. My current project is probably the last of this years' fall and Halloween themed stitching, but I never say never. I have one or two UFOs that could stand some stitching on, and I may drag them out and work on them a bit, but for now, I think I'm done and I'm ready to move on to Christmas themed stitching. I've gotten out six, yes SIX Christmas projects to work on, but to be fair, a few of them are WIPs and UFOs, so I will get them off the list this year. Woohoo!



At any rate, here is the latest WIP:




Design: Witchy Kitty as featured in the September/October 2011 issue of Just Cross Stitch

Designer: Brittercup Designs


Fabric: 32 count Cashel linen in Periwinkle Prism


Fibers Used: Crescent Colours in Black Coffee, Lemon Lime, Pansy Purple and Spinach. Weeks' Dye Works in Marigold and Pumpkin. The Gentle Art in Banker's Grey.

I've made a promise to myself that the WIPS and UFOs get stitched first, before I get to start the new ones. It *seems* like a reasonable compromise, however, I suffer from Chronic Startitis and knowing me, I will start something new just to start it. At any rate, the six project I have chosen for this years' Christmas stitching are the following:


1. Christmas Tea by Plum Street Samplers (WIP)


2. Noel Heart by Bleu de Chine (WIP)


3. Companion Quaker Christmas Tree I by Carriage House Samplings. This is actual a redo from last year. I decided I didn't like the fabric that it was on, and since I had put a scant 10 stitches in it, I just decided on a reboot for later. I am not sure if this is a WIP or if it's just a new start, so I'm labeling this one as both. :P


4. Christmas Sampler by The Prairie Schooler, Book No. 73. I want to stitch the whole sampler this time, not just the cabin. Although, to be honest, I am still waffling over that. Do I stitch the whole thing, or do I just stitch the cabin like I did last year so that I can hang it up from Christmas until a February? Things that make you go "hmmmmmm...'. Quoth the Hubmeister, however, "Go big or go home.".


5. Souvenir of Paris by Blackbird Designs from the Joyeux Noel book.


6. Gingerbread Quaker from SanMan Originals for the Merry Members group. I've yet to kit this one up, and it is the only one out of the 6 that isn't ready to go. I think I am going to stitch this in my beloved Au Ver a Soie Soie d' Alger 7-strand silk floss that I am oh, so addicted to.


The really cool thing about all of these projects is that they are stitched all in silk threads! I love, love, LOVE stitching with silk and if I could afford it, that is all that I would stitch in, I think. I love the sheen and the feel of it. It is very luxurious and I so wish I could afford more.



Well, I've bored you all enough for one day. Thanks for stopping by and I hope everyone is having a great day! :)


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Respectfully submitted,


C.

A Bunny's Bloom Challenge

Yesterday morning, before I had my Wednesday stitching fix at Stitcher's Paradise, I came across the cutest design whilst on walkabout on the internet and really fell in love with it the moment I saw it. During the course of the day while stitching, I get up and wander around, as I tend to get stiff when I sit for too long. (I blame it on a job where I am constantly moving around). I found this wee bit of a thing in the shop and bought it, plus the fabric and threads on the spot. I started it right after I finished the Downton Abbey piece. It was a bit of a challenge, as this was my first piece on something that had this tiny count of fabric. I usually stick to my 14/28 counts, venturing only into 32 counts only rarely, although, I have been stitching 32 a bit more here lately. I decided on the 34 as the holes were big enough for me to see and the color, while still the palest of browns, made the colors called for pop. (I am currently on a 'No Stitching On Brown Fabric' kick. I realized a while back that EVERYTHING I was stitching on was some shade of brown and I really needed a break!).


I managed to finish this last night whilst watching my beloved Hercule Poirot putting the smack down on 1930's criminals. Smashing!


At any rate, enough of my blathering...on with the show! :)



Design: Bunny's Bloom


Designer: The Primitive Jewel


Fabric: 34 count Oaten Scone by Access Commodities


Fibers: Weeks Dye Works in 1232-Palomino, 2200-Kudzu, and 2282-Charlotte's Pink

Well, I best be off. Breakfast is calling!


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Respectfully submitted,


C.

A three finish night

Yep, you read that correctly. Three cross stitch finishes for me in one night. DH did some financial manoeuvrings and yesterday he took me to Stitcher's Paradise to get me the much needed threads I desperately wanted. To ice the cake further, he let me get enough to finish FOUR projects. YAY!! I managed to finish three of them last night and worked a bit on the fourth before finally calling it a night. Here's some pics of what I managed to get done:


Finish #1:


Design: Cappuccino


Designer: Little House Needleworks


Fibers: Crescent Colours Belle Soie silks in Vanilla Pudding, Old Crow, Cinnamon Stick, Beanstalk, Sweet Lavender, and Elegant Eggplant.


Fabric: 14 count tan marble starlight aida from Sassy's Fabby's









Finish #2:


Design: Now I Know My ABC's


Designer: Blackbird Designs


Fibers: Weeks Dye Works Liberty #2269 and Rainbow Gallery Petite Treasure Braid in PB03


Fabric: 32 count cream linen


Errata: Stitched two tiny hearts next to the uppercase Z instead of the punctuation.










Finish #3:



Design: Florida Heart from the Hearts of America series


Designer: Thea Dueck of Victoria Sampler


Fibers: DMC and Kreinik that was in the kit


Fabric: 25 count evenweave in white that was included in the kit


Errata: Had to fudge the heart a bit on the right side, as it REFUSED to line up correctly, despite my checking my stitching at least 500 times. Finally said to hell with it and just added an extra stitch!








And now....for the WIPs :D




WIP#1:


Design: Autumn Side


Designer: Sandra Dering for SanMan Originals


Fibers (Used so far! :P): DMC 918, 921, 920, 935, and 938. DMC Antique Effects in E898. DMC Variegated in 115. Kreinik #4 Very Fine Braid in #150V Copper.


Fabric: 28 count Monaco that I hand dyed that I am calling Guinness Foam Cream. (And PS: Yes, it is an EXACT match to the foam head that is made by a Guinness ale. I know this, because my BIL went out and got a four pack of the stuff just to see if it was! )


Accouterments: Mill Hill beads in 62044 Pumpkin, 00556 Copper, 62031 Old Gold, and G03003 Antique Cranberry.








WIP#2:


Design: March birthday needleroll


Designer: Thea Dueck for Victoria Sampler


Fibers: Kreinik #4 braid in #102 Vatican Gold and #4 braid in #684 Metallic Turquoise. DMC White, 727, 743, 3815, 3817, 3808, 3847. DMC #8 perle cotton in white.


Fabric: 28 count Confederate Grey cashel linen (12" x 8").










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In other news, it appears that Ria Lanser of Stofnest is back cross stitch designing! Woohoo! For a while, it looked like she had quit altogether. I was saddened by this as she has such awesome designs, and I really do need to finish her Paris Sampler. I have not worked on it since my last update on 04.06.10.


She has created the Stofnest Club , and from what I have been able to make out via various online translators, is that the club is at a cost of 10 Euros (roughly 12 dollars US or 13 Canadian dollars) for 26 brand new, exclusive charts. That's actually quite a deal, and it would be worth it, IMO. Hopefully, I can do some more monetary re-arranging and get to sign up.


Well, cats and kitties, this High Priestess of Perpetual Starts needs to get a move on. I'm not feeling too swift today (Have a happy period, their ASS!!!!) and need to crawl back into bed with my Autumn Side and the Paris Sampler and just zone out. So may the Finish be with you all!



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Respectfully submitted,


C.

Whew!

The stitching blogosphere had a heart attack yesterday when the much appreciated and much favorited blog, LagattaC, suddenly went black for no apparent reason. When I went to this Blog of Awesomeness, it said CLOSED in big red letters. No one was able to ascertain the reasons why she elected to close down her collection of freebie links from around the web. I had speculated to friends that perhaps she grew tired of updating the million and one freebie sites from around the world or just found something else to occupy her time. Thankfully, when I logged on this morning to update this blog, I found that she had posted an update. Here is the translated text via Babelfish from the original Italian:

From some time I reflect sull' opportunity to close the blog. When I began in the 2006 c' they were little sites that they published " freebies" regularly, the spread of the blogs has widened the creativity of the lovers of the embroidery, and also my engagement. The beautiful season then tries to me with the walks in the forests and on mountains, all' leisure under the warm beams of the sun, the reading all' shadow of the trees in garden. They are elsewhere. To close definitively the blog is not necessary, leaves l' opportunity to continue to consult it even if from today in then I do not guarantee that the modernizations will be regular. Thanks to those who they have written to me, with calm I will answer to all, and thanks for the collaboration offered ones, of it I will hold account. Good day!

Whew! Well, I can't say that I blame her. I'm sure that with the proliferation of blogs and just plain 'regular' folks taking a stab at designing and posting their works for free out on the intarwebz, updating a blog with links to said freebies is probably a full time occupation. I, myself, have been spending a bit less time on the computer and choosing instead to take my stitching to the community pool and stitch poolside, rather than being cooped up in the house. It's getting warmer by the day here in Sin City and it's nice to be out by the pool stitching.

And in other news....

Had 2 finishes yesterday and started yet another project. It was nice to get some things wrapped up and start one I've wanted to start for a long time now. I am hoping after this next finish, I get out an older WIP/UFO and finish that up. Maybe rotate new starts and finishes, to clear some old stuff out and get to the stuff I have put off for so long and really want to stitch. Pic of the finishes plus the new WIPs. Stitchy notes attached! :)

Finish number 1:

Design: Cottage Garden

Designer: Nikki Lehman of Country Cottage Needleworks

Source: August 2006 Just Cross Stitch Magazine

Fabric: 28 count white Monaco

Fibers: DMC 153, 155, 156, 157, and 420. Weeks Dye Works thread in Pecan. Crescent Colours Joshua Tree, Tomatillio, and Summer Spray.

Misc: Decided to skip the outer border as I could not find a nice enough color that would compliment the color changes I made and let's face it, I'm lazy as hell. Ran out of the WDW Pecan and I did not want to buy another skein as I find WDW threads to be thin and have a propensity to shred, so I just substituted DMC 420 and went on with life. The difference is not that stark and I wanted this one just plain finished instead of it languishing in the UFO pile.

Began: (approximately) Friday, March 20, 2009

Completed stitching: Thursday, April 30, 2009

Finish number 2:

Design: Necessities Sampler

Designer: Diane Williams of Little House Needleworks

Fabric: 28 count antique white either lugana or jobelan

Fibers: DMC 420, 739, 869, 924, 926, 928, 936, 3011, 3013, 3371, 3768

Began: Saturday, April 18, 2009

Completed stitching: Friday, April 30, 2009

And now on with the WIPs! :D



WIP number 1:

Stitchy notes:

Design: Bee Pinkeep

Designer: Diane Williams of Little House Needleworks and Nikki Lehman of Country Cottage Needleworks for The Gift Stitching magazine, Issue 12 January 2007

Fabric: 28 count natural evenweave of an unknown type (I need to figure out what it is, cause I'm really digging on it!)

Fibers: DMC 437, 761, 3011, 3012, 3371, 3712, and B5200.

Began: Thursday, April 30, 2009


(Photo removed by Webshots and I do not have a copy)



Hope everyone is having a good day out there in cyberspace!


Respectfully submitted,

C.

Finished already

Finished the Bent Creek bunny. While technically I have finished stitching it, it has yet to make it into an actual completed finish. Ah, well.

Stitchy notes and pic:





Design: Hare Lines

Designer: Bent Creek

Fabric: 28 count black jobelan

Fibers: Weeks Dye Works Snowflake for the bunny, Chartreuse for the border. (I'm thinking that good substitutes would be DMC B5200 and 992 or Crescent Colours Antique Lace and Frozen Margarita.).

Quite frankly, I have no clue why I bothered with the Weeks Dye Works 'Snowflake'. Even on the black, you cannot really see the subtle variegation in the thread, even close up. It's a shame because it has pale blues and pinks in it, if you look close enough. I should have remembered the Whispered by the Wind "Snow' freebie that I stitched a few years ago. I used the same thread and same black 28 count fabric and you can't even tell that I used variegated thread at all. It sucks, but whatareyagonnado?


I have absolutely no clue as to how I will finish this project, however, I have a year to figure it out. :)


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Respectfully submitted,

C.

Scattered, Smothered, and Covered

It's been a while since I've had a post, but really, I haven't felt like posting, let alone stitching. Life is really stressful ATM, and I sort of feel like a plate of Waffle House hash browns: Scattered, Smothered, Covered, Chunked, Topped, Diced, and Peppered. Which, for those of you out there who have not had this particular Sex on a Stick, means that there are a lot of things on my plate, it doesn't look too pretty, and I am not sure if I can finish the whole thing, and if I do, how much heartburn am I going to have. Such is life, I suppose.

When I *have* felt like stitching, it's like I have ADD or something. It's not for very long, and I keep skipping to different projects. I've started two more projects. Oh, well. I suppose it doesn't matter as long as I stitch on *something*.

No updates on the Eiffel Tower project. I've stitched on it some, just not enough for it to matter. That, and I forgot to take pics. :(

Here are my two latest ones plus the subsequent stitchy notes. Both are freebies that you can find on the intarwebz.




On the left of my stitchy bag:

Design: Hare Lines

Designer: Bent Creek

Fabric: 28 count black jobelan

Fibers: Weeks Dye Works Snowflake for the bunny, Chartreuse for the border.

On the right of the stitchy bag:

Design: Love Letters (member only)

Designer: Papillion Creations

Fabric: 32 count mocha linen

Fibers: DMC B5200 and 815

Hopefully, I will soon have a finish and more importantly a JOB. I need one very badly, for my sanity, if nothing else.

Hope everyone is having a ham filled Easter Sunday.

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Respectfully submitted,

C.