Christmas in April!

Hello everyone!  Long time, no blog.  I swear, I've have had all these Christmas photos uploaded on blogger for at least three months now, but I finally got some time to write a couple of words while DH is entertaining the girls.

I managed to finish up all the stockings on Christmas Eve and I was really pretty pleased with how they turned out, even though a lot of people can't really see the reindeer in the deer stocking.  Oh well...  The finishing was super easy (sewing machine), but I do confess that I did not use the instructions that came with the patterns.  I opted to use an on-line tutorial instead.  It is so much more easy to follow photos than words, don't you agree?  

The stockings were stitched the called for Caron Collection's Watercolors hand-dyed perle cotton (on 20-ct linen), which was a true joy to stitch with.  It is fun to experiment with large fields of the same color over-dyed too; you never know how it'll turn out until you are done.  If you have less patience with cross-stitching and are more skilled with sewing than I am, the designs are also available as applique patterns (check out this link).  

 

 

I really like SamSarah and if I had more time, I would probably tackle the perpetual calendar that she is designing.  I am not a big fan of stitching on perforated paper though.  I like to crumple my linen while I stitch.  :-)

Back to the stockings: I love stockings!  We didn't use them in Sweden, so it is one more American tradition that I am embracing in the fullest!  I love all the BOAF stockings and I will find out a reason to stitch them sooner or later as well (Special Delivery and Snow Day can be checked out here and here are Angel of Peace and Wish Upon a Star.  

And one can always dream.... Mary Beale's stockings (insert dreamy sigh here):

 

 

I love Mary Beale's designs and she is yet another designer that I have stitched way too few pieces from!   (The first 3 pics taken from Mary Beale's Gallery and journal, the 4th from Loudoun Sampler Guild, the 5th from Plum Street Samplers blog, and the last photo from The Life of Miss Pants blog.)

Over "Christmas break", I did also work some more on trying to finish up my Blackwork Angels and Starry Night ornies.  I got this idea for a new way of finishing in my head that took a while for me to get up the courage to test out.  I am doing the classic rectangle using cardboard, but I am doing two "backing" pieces that are slightly larger than the stitched design.,  The thought is that the "front backing" will frame the design.  I think that it'll end up looking great, but it takes a lot of cardboard, backing fabric, batting and thread to finish all of them.

After I am done with these, I'll try to start stitching PS' Redwork Santas and maybe even Cranberry Christmas.  I love the simplicity and elegance of the sparse coloring that PS uses, even though I am a little less in love with the green/red combination of the Santas than I am with the black/blue/gold of the angels.

One set of ornaments that I did not have time to finish was the baby Christmas name plaques. I really like how they turned out and I have even been thinking about making a few more from the other PS alphabets.  (I wish that I had picked a khaki linen instead of a white one, since I had to switch the white details, such as the angel's wings and Santa's beard to grey in order for it to show up.  Next time, I guess...)

If you haven't seen it yet, you have to check out the little banner that Amy stitched for her grand daughter.  How adorable is this!?  She even has some finishing tips on her blog, here!

So, since this is a Christmas themed post, here is a photo of Scrappy, enjoying the Christmas decorations.

I also have to show off these small and totally adorable boxes that I picked up at Michaels.  I use them to keep ornaments and finishing supplies organized.  One of them contains the PS Xmas ornies and the other one is packed full of the CEC Thanksgiving acorns.  One of these days I will finish them all!  :-)

Before I log off, I just have to post a couple of photos of my baby girls.  As you can see, they like bath time!  They are 4 months and 1 week old today and I am still in heaven (and still exhausted!).  I started working again a few weeks back and I promise that I have never found work as relaxing as I do now.  When Monday rolls around, I am ready for a break!  LOL

 

Well, take care everyone and I hope that you get a lot more stitching in than I do!
Happy Spring!

Excuses.....

Hi everyone!  I hope that all of you are doing well and that life has been a good to you as it has been to me this year.

I know that I have been a bad, bad blogger and a very bad blog follower for the last months.  I am not even going to begin trying to apologize for my long absence - but I do have some terrific excuses - I promise! 

The photos below have been uploaded and ready to go since October 2nd...  blush, blush.

So, let me move on to my List of "Grand Excuses"... 

1)  A wonderful excuse:  We bough a new house in a neighboring town last week and we moved our entire household over the Labor Day weekend!  I love the new house and I will be even more thrilled when we get all the boxes unpacked and all our stuff stored away.  The kitchen and the master bedroom and bath are pretty much taken done now.  Bubba and all the birds are moved in and Bubba is thrilled about our fabulous sun porch!  

(DH told me that he was on the verge of crying every time he saw a box marked XS tough... I don't think that he realized the extent of my stash collection until he had to move it out..  Luckily, he had help from 5 friends, so everything went smoothly. 

Oh, and I am turning 40 today, so yesterday we picked out my birthday gifts at Sears; a brand new washer and drier from Whirlpool in a yummy cranberry red.  I can't wait for those babies to arrive!!!!  Not until September 25th, unfortunately....  :-(

2)  A sad excuse:  Work has been very turbulent yet again and we just went through another gruesome mass-layoff - the third one since I started working here 7 years ago!  I was lucky enough to be safe this time again, but watching colleagues and good friends getting laid off is a terrible experience.  You can't help but worrying about them and feel really guilty about still having a job.

3)  A pathetic excuse:  I have been enjoying reading a stack of books on my iPad lately.  It started off with Hip^Hip tipping me off about 50 Shades of Grey.  I loved this trilogy and not only for the s-e-x, I promise (- seriously)!  (Don't judge me!  LOL) 

All right, I know that a lot of readers could not get past all the "kinkiness", the poor and very inhomogeneous language, or the parts that seem less than realistic - like the heroes young age, unlimited assets (money and "other things", ahem), his looks, and that the heroine is supposedly "plain" (an a virgin, of course...), etc, etc - but I still loved it!  There is definitely a love story behind all the "action" and the main characters do evolve and mature immensely throughout the books.

That said, I do agree with the less than impressive use of the English language (heck, I think Ithat I write better in English and this i only my 2nd language!) and how many young American females say "Oh my" to themselves several times a day?  Just wonderin'...
So if you have read 50 Shades, you may, just as me, still find it hilarious to read the reviews at Amazon (the favorite being this reviewer: cupcake on top - I love the "I gave this 4 stars. Don't judge me." comment) and I also found this article that made me laugh til I cried.  I tried to read it to DH, but I was laughing too hard for any of it to make sense.... "public transportation", oh wow!

4)  A tired excuse:  I was really torn up  and drained about losing Princess for a good week or two.  I could not stop crying and anything would set me off.  I never cry at work and now I found myself running for the rest-rooms or locking my office door, crying my eyes out.  I would cry while driving to and from work, while eating breakfast and lunch and dinner, while trying to go to sleep, while putting on make-up (that really did not work at all...).  After I had cried the worst out and a few weeks had passed, I suddenly realized that I was smiling when I thought about Princess instead of crying.  Bitter-sweet, but still, a warm feeling in my heart.  Bubba was confused for a while too, but she seems to be doing really well now.

5)  An ecstatic excuse:  So, something that DH and I have been working on together for almost a decade years finally happened!  We are going to be parents!  We are celebrating our 23rd week of pregnancy today, so I am starting to feel safer and safer for each week now.  I can feel them kick - yes, them - paternal twin girls!  DH is thrilled and I am starting to get relaxed enough to enjoy myself too!

Well, after all of my jabbering, let's get on to what really matters - stitching!!!!  ;-)

I could not pass on the adorable needle-roll from Just Nan, Lady Scarlet's Scissor Roll.  It looks like it sold out within just a few weeks, so I was lucky enough to grab one early.  It was a quick and easy stitch/finish and really very enjoyable.  I also appreciated that this "half-kit" called for DMC floss and not super expensive silks - always a plus in my book!.

This is the out-side:

Here it is rolled up - it looks tiny because it is!

Another view of the roll-up:

Last rolled up "side":

Here is the stitched and freshly ironed part waiting to get finished.  The photo is clickable, so you can get a better view, if you would like.  I love those little panels - they are just adorable!

This is another really fun, small and super-cute small; the Frog Pin Keepe kit from Schoolhouse for the Needle.  It was another quickie, even though the finishing took a little bit longer for this one.

Front:

Back:

Here they are together....

Remember this piece from my crazy post about crows and pears?  I finally stitched it up and it was a joy to work on.  I used hand-dyed chenille for the trim and I picked all the WDW floss randomly from my stash, as well as the linen cut.  The leaves are felt applique, which was not as hard as I feared, so one less intimidation on the "i-list"!  :-)

Here is the back.  I finally tracked down crushed walnut shells to fill the pillow with, so it has a nice weight and feel to it.

The third stocking got stitched up as well.  I did finish the fourth one yesterday - I am happy, since they are not real "fun" stitches.  There is a lot of areas to just fill, fill, fill and fill....  I think that the finishing will be a breeze though.  (If I ever find a backing and lining fabric, that is.)
So, now I have one each for the twins and for DH and myself stitched up!  Good, since the twins are due on December 20th!  :-)

The latest part of the EMS samples has been downloaded & printed and is waiting for me at home.  I tell you, it is just so hard to get started on each new part!!!!  Only 4 more sections to go - almost there!

And last, here is a photo showing why I have to throw so many of my Vera Bradley purses in the laundry machine repeatedly...  This is apparently the place where the cool birds hang out.  Some of them even get in to the purses and sit there until discovered and chased away by someone mean (=me!).  Sigh!  (This is why I don't own any crazy expensive designer purses....)

Well, I know that I have talked your heads off, so I'll let you go!  I'll try to post and keep in touch after we have the computer up and the Internet running at the new house.

Take care and Happy Stitching!

The Happy TV List (and some stitching updates)

Thanks for all your wonderful comments, it is always so nice to hear from all of you.  I know that I have been terrible about visiting all of you lately, but I have been pulled into the craziness of life yet again...  ;-)  I hope that I'll be able to make up for the neglect during the next few days - I am really curious to see what you all are working on!

I did get a question a couple of weeks ago from Bird Cages: "Did you teach yourself all of this or did you originally learn from a class or someone else?".  Well, I learned the basics for cross-stitch in Swedish elementary school - reading a chart, keeping the back neat, making sure that all the legs are slanted in the same direction and so on.  The more advanced stuff I learned through some great designers and kits, and I was really into the designs by The Drawn Thread for a while, learning a lot of specialty stitches.  Hillside Samplings had some really good kits back then too and her instructions were fantastic.  Thanks to Hillside Samplings, I got over the fear of finishing.
As I got more advanced, as in got more skilled in other counted work than cross-stitch (pulled, drawn, Hardanger, etc), I also invested in a few really good books (if you don't already have The Proper Stitch by Darlene O'Steen - get it!  Seriously!) and used the internet more to check on particular stitches.
I did also take a number of classes, but in all honestly, I think that very few stitchers take the classes I have taken to learn new techniques, but rather to get their hands on some fabulous projects, get away from the everyday grind, make new stitching friends and meet up with old ones.  (The exception is probably the Lucet class with Sherri Jones of Patricks Woods, where we learned how to make lucet cord.  That was a lot of fun!)
Speaking of Hardanger, check out this fabulous Christening gown adorned with Hardanger lace over at the Sinister Craftiness'.  Wow, oh wow!

Well, time to get down to the good stuff!  LOL  The big update for this week is the progress on the EMS sampler.  Here it is complete with part 7 all stitched up.  (I did my usual cheating and stitched up the repeating cherry border... patience?  What is that...?  :-))  It is getting closer - almost 2/3rds there!

Below you can see a close-up of the latest additions.  The puppy and the sweet cherry border were by far the easiest stitches, while the two flower clusters to the right took some time and concentration.  I really do like how the flowers turned out; they look so delicate and transparent (you can probably see it better if you click on the pic).  The white flowers are part of a larger motif, which I am real anxious to spend some more time with in a couple of weeks!

Can you believe that there are 23 floss shades in the small flower motif!?  All of the DMCs have been lined up next to the chart so that you can see how incredibly detailed these Biedermeier motifs can be.   I have a hard time grasping that I actually keep working on this sampler, since I am normally not a fan of switching colors every 30 seconds.  It is well worth the exception though; it is so much fun to see the motifs and the entire sampler slowly grow together into one large beauty!  It definitely helps that it is broken up into a bunch of smaller segments, or it would probably already have hit the UFO pile somewhere....  ;-)
Next assignment will be a quickie, so I am already looking forward to that part to come out.

The reindeer stocking did also get some TLC this week.  It sounds like all of you are in agreement that the red rounds are indeed their noses.  It was a fun stitch, even though it was a bit tricky to stitch with the overdyed floss so that the dark and light shades worked well together.  I am pleased, even though it is not as pretty as the original is.  I think that the stockings have turned out to be a great counter-point to the fiddlier switch-floss-every-second-stitch type projects, since there is a very limited amount of changing floss at all.  I think that the reindeer design required a total of 4 different floss-colors!

Perfect timing on the finising too - the next couple of socks in line to be stitched arrived in the mail-box the same day as the last reindeer nose had been completed.  I think that I do need a quick break from the stockings for now, but I'll try to get back to them in a week or two.  I am pretty excited about scavenging for some fun and matching cotton fabric for finishing.  I saw that the local Hancocks Fabrics just started displaying some of their Xmas fabrics, so I may have to go on a shopping trip pretty soon... LOL

The stitching focusing problem hit this week again.  This is the beginning of Just Nan's Lady Scarlet's Scissor Roll, started yesterday.  It has been a fun and pretty quick stitch so far, so it is hard to put away.

And I did get something finished-finished too.  Here is the set of Sweetheart Tree's seasonal welcomes hanging together on the wall.  As always, the idea in my head looked so much better than it ended up being in real life, but it is now on the wall!  All of it is simply pinned together, so it is not too late to get a better idea sometime in the future.....

Here are a couple of us chicks hanging out and discussing the latest news on the net and various TV shows.  Henny and Griffin are not picky; as long as there are no cats or prey birds on the screen, they really don't care a whole lot.  Meanwhile, mommy has watched a lot of positive TV shows lately, and even came up with a list of the current favorites.

 

The TV-Shows-That-Make-Me-Happy Top 5 List:

1. Secret Millionaire - I love it! This show makes me cry, but that's all right - it makes the millionaires cry too.
2. NY Med - I was lucky enough to catch the first episode and I really liked it!  Not all of the patients stories end well, which makes it even more inspiring and makes you think. Supposedly it is just an 8 episode series, but we'll see abut that.  Dr Oz is one of the stars of the show and I must say that I got a whole new respect for him after this show.
3. The Biggest Loser - talk about inspiration!  Nothing is impossible!
4. Extreme Makeover - Home Edition - it is so much fun to see the look on the faces of the receivers!  It is also good to learn about what other people struggle with in life; it definitely sheds a different light on the difficulties in my own life...
5. So You Think You Can Dance?  - By watching this show I have learned that I don't get nearly as moved by song as I do by dance.  The talent pool in this show is simply incredible.

They are all great alternatives to the celebrity gossip, the negative news and the outrageously bad talk-shows (like Jerry Springer and Maury.  No offense to the fans out there, like my DH...).

Anyway, those are the shows the chicks and I decided is what we think is the good stuff.  Any other tips about positive TV shows out there?  We are collecting!  LOL  We don't have cable or satellite though - but we do have Netflix!  (Speaking of, thy just added 4 more seasons of Hercule Poirot - I am in heaven!)

Well, time to get back to things here.  Take care and Happy Stitching,

Early Monday Morning...

Another Monday and life is good!  We got a splash of well-needed rain yesterday evening and it has finally cooled down a tad, so it is a great beginning of a new week.  The incredibly hot weather has forced us to sit indoors most of the time (I am not crying about that.. LOL), which means that a lot of weekend time has been spent stitching on a variety of things.

The In-Laws were down for a visit from Wednesday to Friday and we had a really nice and laid-back visit together.  I took the last couple of work-days off from the lab, so I feel well-rested as you can see.  DH's and my new life-style involves "going to bed at a reasonable hour", which meant that I could not get back to sleep after waking up at 5 AM this morning...  He is happily snoozing away though.

I don't know what to do with myself, but the reign of unfocused random stitching continues.  I decided to pull out the new partial kit I got from Scholehouse of the Needle, Frog Pin Keepe.  It really is a quick stitch (tent stitch, say no more) intended for 35 ct linen.  Since the LNS doesn't carry any 35 ct I opted for a small cut of 36 instead.

Here he is - ribbit!

WIP:

 I love the back of tent stitched pieces, don't you?

There is a back-side to stitch up too before assembly, but it should be even quicker; just year, initials and a couple of simple dragonflies.  Very cute!  Scholehouse of the Needle's designs definitely reminds me of some of the old and OOP Historic Needlework Guild pieces (especially the Tent Stitch Etui and some of the ornament patterns).
(Next time, I'll throw in a quarter in the photo too, so that you can get a better feel for the size.)

We have been productive during out craft-lunches at work too.  The word is spreading and we have recently expanded to include no less than three crocheters.  It is odd how the dynamic of a group changes completely just by adding a few more people and stir.  It is really cool that so many crafters want to join, but it is no longer just a group containing my closer friends, which I know I'll miss.  On the other hand, it is always fun to hang out with new people!
Anyway, I finished the Spring piece from Sweetheart Tree last week.  I have really enjoyed stitching on this series.  I think that all but one was stitched during lunch breaks at work.

As for the winter piece, I changed the text from "Welcome Friends" to "Welcome Spring".  I also found the birds long beak pretty peculiar, so it got shortened - it doesn't look like he minds.  I like the small packets of bling that come with the SHT kits and this time is was small cherry-blossom beads.  Fun, fun, fun!  (And time to stat thinking about what to stitch on at work next.)

I did also finish the first SamSarah stocking!  I am getting used to the fact that all the pieces are a lot darker colored in reality and I think that I have almost gotten over it.. LOL  I do have the button embellishments and we decided that this one will be DH's stocking, so I just ordered the alphabet buttons too.

Here is the progress on the reindeer stocking.  It is pretty interesting; about 50% of people I have asked claim that the big red "balls" in front of the reindeer are ornaments, while I am in the other camp - I totally believe that the red balls are supposed to be their noses (see the cover pic in the upper left corner for a better view)!  Thoughts on that out there?

Yesterday evening I pulled this old Acufactum WIP back out.  It got thrown into the "don't wanna' stitch on this anymore" pile, since all that is left is about a billion French knots.  I got maybe half of them in yesterday and it won't be put away until the rest is done.  See the bird on the left below?  He is holding a sprig of dill... The dill crown is waiting for Fk in three different colors - all pretty much on top of each other.  At least the wings of the birds are now dotted!

 Dot, dot, dot...

So, I had great plans for this piece - it was supposed to magically become this adorable cafe-curtain with a polka-dot ruffle and pretty ribbons for ties.  Well, we have been looking for a new house lately, so I am thinking that I'd better hold the creativity back until I know how my future windows will look...

Finally, despite DH not giving his approval of posting this photo - here are a couple of snuggle bunnies - Alpha Bunny and Bubba.  Sometimes it is really good to be a small, black rabbit.

As always, thanks so much for following my blog and for all your wonderful comments.  It means more to me than I can express!

Take care and Happy Monday everyone!