A Few Finishes

First up, the second of the JCS Strawberry Scissor Fob ornaments, the flower.  I stitched this on Lakeside Linens 28 count Buttercream with Carrie's Creations Sassy.

Next, Harvest Blooms.  I decided to frog the brown shading after all.  I went with WDW Terra Cotta.

And a new start and finish: Workbasket's Quaker Bear.  It was meant to be a polar bear but that didn't fit my theme so I made it a brown bear.  I used my darkest dye lot of GAST Maple Syrup for the solid area and much lighter dye lots for the Quaker motifs at the center.  If you look carefully at the head of the bear, you will note a gradually darker to lighter wedge extending from the face to a point at the back of the neck.  I was running short of the darker dye lot and blended a strand of Maple Syrup with a strand of DMC 3371 [for two 18" lengths] to transition from two strands Maple Syrup to two strands DMC 3371.  I think the strategy worked well.   I used two other dye lots for the motifs: one with a grey undertone and one  with a rosy beige undertone.

Next, I resurrected a needlepoint class piece: Making Waves ... from July 2015.  When last seen, I'd worked only two and a half rows of satin stitch.  See this link.  I am much further along and the color gradation from  white to palest blue to darkest blue is becoming evident.  The bulk of the piece is done in the satin stitch, giving me the chance to use my lovely laying tool.  Later there will be some basket weave, some eyelets and some bullion knots.

And then, because I would like a few quick finishes, I pulled out Ink Circles Celtic Halloween ornaments and completed the Celtic Cross and the Spider.  I am using some scraps of Lakeside Linens 28 count Luna and some partial cards of Catherine Jordan and of Carrie's Creations over dyed cotton floss for these little beauties.

These are fun stitches.  Even the designer's notes are amusingly macabre, as befits Halloween, explaining that the spider's legs look like a cat had played with the hapless arachnid [though no actual spiders were harmed in my project].  There are also suggestions for making boldly unrealistic color choices as in key lime spiders.  I went with the slightly more conservative Purple Pansy blend of medium purple and raspberry from Carrie's Creations.

I started the Polipus, aka octopus in Scot's Gaelic.  For this one I am using Needle Necessities 194, a color way of violet, blue-violet and pale sage.









And a short shout out to Rita re the recent giveaway: I sent an e-mail but have yet to receive your mailing address.

Then and Now: Workbasket's Quaker Squirrel

I am still concentrating on the WIP list that I compiled in October.  Once I have pared the number down below 10, I'll add a few more UFOs and perhaps one new start to keep things interesting.  I may as well take advantage of the momentum I am gaining now that the weather has turned cooler and I am spending more time indoors,.

I hope to be able to cross the Quaker Squirrel off the list by the weekend but for now I'll just show a when last seen photo and a current progress photo.

Since I consider this project one of my active WIPs, I was stunned to realize when I checked the blog archive that I haven't worked on it since July.  This is what it looks like after a day's stitching.

I have been mulling over what will be my next new start" either Workbasket's Quaker Bear or Sleepy Hollow.  The former would work up rather quickly but I am itching to stitch the later ever since I saw rspory's finish on her blog.  Enablers lurk everywhere on the internet.  The matter will be decided by what fabrics and floss I have in stash that might work for either project.

Serial Stitching

It has been more than a few days since I showed photos of stitching progress. I seem to have fallen into a pattern.  Most of my current projects belong to a series of similar designs.

Town Square series: The Abecedarium by R & R Reproductions.  The stitching on this one is finished but it has yet to be made into an ornament along with two others stitched earlier this year.  I plan to get a bit of sewing and assembly finishing done later this week.  I have now stitched quite a number of a possible 42 charts in this series.  I will probably stitch two or three more.  A few of the buildings in the series simply didn't appeal to me.  Check out the gallery post here if you want to see the buildings already stitched.  I need to go on line and look for a tall but very skinny Christmas tree for this ornament series.  I'll decorate it with a Small Town USA theme using these ornaments, several strands of wooden cranberry beads and some small white twinkling lights.  I like to have a few themed trees in different rooms during the Christmas season.

Workbasket Quaker Animal series : The Squirrel.  I am not quite done with this entry in the series.  I am using two different dye lots of GAST Cinnamon: the more muted one for the floral motif in the center and tail as well as the acorn caps and the brighter one for the body of the squirrel.  To add a little more depth to the color way while still remaining in the same tone family, I am using GAST Sarsparilla for the body of the acorns.  I still have the bear, the peacock, the turkey, the robin, the cardinal and the eagle to stitch.  Check out the gallery post here if you want to see the animals already stitched.

Prairie Schooler's Year Round series: July.  I am using Belle Soie Poison Apple, Puritan Blue and Oatmeal Scone for this patriotic eight pointed star motif.  When I am done with this piece, I will add these very same silks to the kit for the next PS project listed below.

Prairie Schooler's Primitive Americana series.  Though I've had this leaflet a very long time, I haven't yet started on this series.  But I will soon since I have just purchased some antique ivory 28 ct linen for this very purpose.  Although I have plenty of lovely overdyed linens on hand from the days of my Silkweaver fabric of the month subscription, none of them worked for this.  Not even the pale blue color ways.  Much as I love overdyed fabrics, sometimes a solid neutral is the only answer.  I really think there is nothing uglier than an inappropriately chosen overdye.  It can turn a piece from charming to ever so stomach churningly off.  These charts were charted for 10 ct Congress cloth but I will be using the higher ct linen since I am going for ornament size.

M Design's Name Trees: I have the names for my adult children, including my daughter-in-law, for my husband and for myself.  I hope to get the kids' done in time to use as name tags this Christmas.  This one is for my oldest son, Sean.  That's one started and three more to go.

Stitching Round-Up

I am still dealing with vision issues and, unfortunately, will be doing so for a while longer.  I couldn't schedule my cataract surgeries any earlier than August 3rd and 17th.  And, of course, I have only just finished dealing with the end of the school year madness, which has limited my stitching and other leisure activities considerably.

This post will be a bit long and somewhat picture heavy as I have been stitching smalls for the most part in the weeks that I haven't been blogging.  It's been two months or so since I last posted photos, so I have a bit of catching up to do:

From the Prairie Schooler's Year Rounds:

March: The Shamrock: I substituted Belle Soie silks for the DMC called for in this piece.

April: The Rabbit and Tulip.  I substituted Belle Soie silks for the DMC called for in this piece.

May: Flower Basket.  I used the recommended DMC for this entry in the series.

June: Bird on a Branch:  I have substituted Belle Soie's Collard Greens, Cinnamon, Pecan, Chocolate and Poison Apple for the suggested DMC flosses.  

Workbasket's Quaker Animal series:

Workbasket's Quaker Owl:Stitched in several different dye lots of GAST Maple Syrup.

Workbasket's Quaker Bat.  Stitched in GAST Crow.

Workbasket's Quaker Squirrel  Started stitching using GAST Cinnamon and Sarsaprilla.  I suppose the designer lives in an area where reddish squirrels abound.  In my neck of the woods, we see mostly grey squirrels with the very rare black squirrel.  I must admit, I prefer stitching this little guy in warm browns rather than greys.  All the black in the bat was quite enough drab floss for me.  I am at a standstill, for the moment though, as I am waiting for two skeins of Cinnamon in the same dyelot with which to stitch the main body of the squirrel.

The Town Square series:  I have finished work on Sandie's Sweet Shop  and The Creamery.

For Sandie's Sweet Shop, I used the recommended DMC flosses.  There were just so many color changes, some with very subtle variations, that it just wasn't practicable to substitute Belle Soie or WDW or GAST as I tend to do with this series.  Better to stick with the charted thread selections than to make a mess with poor substitutions.

For The Creamery, I had a few of the recommended WDW: Tin Roof, Chestnut, Sophia's Pink.  For the rest, I had to make the following substitutions:

WDW Purple Haze > GAST Sweet Pea

WDW Camelia > GAST Tea Rose

WDW Grapefruit >GAST Terra Cotta

WDW Daffodil >  a rice stitch done in GAST Daffodil and WDW Chartreuse.  [Never assume that just because two different manufacturers use the same name for a color that they are indeed referring to the same shade.  A mistake I corrected by turning a cross stitch into a rice stitch using something closer to the correct shade.]

WDW Winter White > Whitewash

WDW Kohl > GAST Soot

WDW Morris Blue > GAST President's Blue

WDW Periwinkle >GAST Babbling Brook

These Town Square charts are deceptively time-consuming.  They are smalls in size, being between three or four inches square.  But they are densely stitched and very detailed.  Though I've been working with the series for nearly two years now, every chart takes more time to stitch than I anticipate.  You'd think I'd learn.  Each of these charts took most of two weeks' stitching time.  I'd probably have given The Creamery a pass had I seen a stitched model; it's very kitschy what with the spotted walls a la cow hide.  Most of the details [topiary, door, window trim, etc.] are pastels that almost bleed into the off white walls.  There just isn't a sharp enough contrast for my taste.  The Sweet Shop is a bit more to my taste even though it, too, uses a pastel palette.

Next up is The ABeCeDarium, stitched in the recommended WDW and GAST, for the most part.  I didn't have enough WDW Brick and have substituted CC Used Brick in its stead  I found some 30ct. medium blue [periwinkle] linen that I bought at the last Stitcher;s Hideaway retreat I attended.  The irritating thing about this chart is that the key lists five colors and the chart has six symbols.  To further complicate matters, not all the symbols on the chart match up with the symbols on the key.  Doesn't anybody proof read charts anymore?  So I am winging it and pretty much guessing what color goes where.  Since it is 30ct, it has become my current travel project, at least until my next order from 123stitch comes in with the flosses I need for my Quaker Squirrel, Bear and Peacock [all of which are stitched on 28ct linen].  Again it is hard to tell without a photo of a stitched model but I am thinking this colorway will be more to my liking.  I am even tempted to think it will be a quick stitch, not as much fussy detail and not as many color changes.  Did I mention I have a somewhat steep learning curve?

And finally, last week I found myself needing to start a new traveling piece on 28ct since I can't manage my regular 36ct and 40ct WIPs away from my craft lamp/magnifier.  I had a piece of 28ct antique pink linen that I had been saving to stitch something for the Diva of All Things Pink [aka, my granddaughter].  I thought I'd make her a summer tote for lugging her stuff to beaches, parks and picnics and I figured this ice cream cone chart from Cross Eyed Cricket would do nicely as the central motif.  Of course, strawberry ice cream had to be one of the scoops, in keeping with the pink theme.   The other scoop is pistachio.  While the tote will be for the Diva, I am thinking of filling it with all the makings for a great ice cream cone: several different kinds of sprinkles, those pourable "syrups" from Smuckers that harden up into candy shells, some cherries, chopped nuts and of course, several different kinds of cones.  Doing that will make it a gift for the whole West Coast clan.  Some of my happiest childhood memories revolve around walking a block and a half to the corner candy store with my grandfather to buy hand-dipped cones for the whole family.  The choices may have been limited to chocolate, vanilla, strawberry or butter pecan, with the occasional addition of pistachio or peach to the list when the summertime gods smiled, but, my word, were those cones the most delicious ever.  Eating ice cream cones and catching fireflies [the 50's were not a particularly ecologically enlightened era] on warm summer nights were a child's idea of pure bliss!  I can't take my grandchildren out for ice cream cones; the walk from NY to Seattle is a bit of a deterrent.  But I can do the next best thing and send them all the fixings: all my son will have to do is spring for some ice cream.  I'll have to include a letter describing the memories of Brooklyn in the 50s.  I think old timers should share their stories with the young.  It gives the grandchildren a sense of where they came from and it gives the grandparents a sense of continuity.  I will enjoy writing about my grandfather and about Jack who ran the corner candy store on the corner of Church and Schenectady Aves and even about the insulated bags we used in the olden days to carry ice cream home: foil lined with a layer of waxed paper.  Simpler times.  I expect, I'll even write about the old ice cream trucks: Bungalow Bar trucks whose doors were pieces of white picket fencing and roofs were done up in red shingles and the Good Humor trucks that played a cheerful melody that could be heard a block away, giving us children plenty of time to beg our parents for nickels and dimes.  Yes, I am old enough to remember paying only a dime for an ice cream cone!  I can also remember when a chocolate bar cost a nickel.  Wouldn't it be fun to have today's income and yesteryear's prices, if only for a day?

My little granddaughter has made me very proud: when asked what she wanted for her upcoming birthday, she told her Dad that she wanted something she could "sew" just like Grandma.  So I am sending her some child-friendly and age appropriate needlepoint kits.  I think a large mesh, a blunt needle and a simple tent stitch might be more manageable than cross stitch for a six year old.  If that makes a hit, I'll try and find some stamped cross stitch suitable for a child her age. It's a pity we are 3,000 miles apart. I'd really enjoy teaching her the craft myself.  I'll bring some large check gingham , a hoop and some pretty floss when I visit next and start her on cross stitching.

Granted this isn't all that much accomplished for a full two months: mostly small and medium projects.  But when I retire in September, I plan to hit the ground running, tackling BAPs and major sewing, crafting and re-decorating projects.  For the moment, I will content myself with slow and steady progress on projects that are easy on the eyes.  I'll have most of the month of July off and will work most of the month of August, taking off only for the eye surgeries and follow-ups.  So I should get a bit of a start on the stitching, crafting, gardening and re-decorating then as well.

By the way, I am not loving the new computer.  Loading photos to my blog was once a 4 step process and is now a 6 step process that feels like a gazillion steps because I  keep forgetting what comes next,  Once I get used to the routine, I'll stop using foul words at every second keystroke.