Candy Tin

I love these German candy tins. They're perfect for tucking a small project in my purse. This one has a piece Vellux blanket glued inside. Great for those small Mill Hill bead kits. 

And I just finished the stitching on my Eyeball Martini! 

 

Sewing Wild Oats

 Last week I went to my guild's retreat for the first time since 2019.

We hold this at Graves Mountain Lodge in Syria, Virginia. Where the views are terrific and the food is incomparable. 

We were a small, but dedicated band of stitchers.

I started and finished a Lindy Stitches design. Worked on a painted canvas. Started a small painted canvas and put in a few stitches on a Mill Hill kit.

It felt so good to be back. The lodge has upgraded the wifi and made improvements to the rooms. But Margie is still in charge of the kitchen, though she's talking about scaling back. 

We'll be going back next year. And I am planning on being there. 

Mill Hill Finish

 

One cute little pin. Teddy bear dressed as a pumpkin. 

Outside Stitching

 Enjoying a late fall afternoon outside stitching. It was EGA meeting day. Then a quick stop at the grocery. Came home and watched one more episode of House of the Dragon. I'm a little bit behind.

But I was sitting there and the sunlight on the leaves outside kept calling me.

So I am creating a few little designs on perforated paper for a guild class. I've gone and done the thing I said I'd never do. I volunteered to head up our anniversary committee. That's fine. But as part of that I volunteered to be the program person for the year. That's what I said I wouldn't do. And here I am.

And look what arrived today. Fine Whitework by Jenny Adin-Christie. Wow. I've had a quick look. Impressive book. 

That Time of Year

 A few years ago, I was fortunate enough to win this fabulous bag created by Merrilyn Hazelwood at an EGA seminar auction. 

Makes me smile every autumn.

https://merrilynheazlewood.com.au/

Seize It

 

I picked this from my stash a couple of weeks ago. A quick stitch. 

Mystery Band Sampler

 From the vault. In this photo you can see the 10th band of a 9 year old project. And the backside of two other bands wrapped around my scroll frame.

This was a year long project with the Loudoun Sampler Guild we did in 2013. And I am trying to finish it before the end of 2022.

This band is a mash-up. It's based on a pattern that I found on the internet maybe 20 years ago. I apologize for not remembering the designer name. The quote was something about going to my grave a well-read woman. 

But I mixed this with a different quote by T. Kira Madden, which I shortened. And some design elements like the turkey from our November band. I am only going to have eleven bands because I did a mash-up already of two months.

I see the end... 

Mid-Atlantic Region Meeting

 It was fall meeting time even though officially it's still summer. Certainly felt like summer.

Traveled north to Mount Laurel, NJ. Not a horrible drive except for construction on the Delaware bridge. Ugh.

I had an enjoyable evening to myself in the hotel. First, listening to jazz and stitching. Then watching the new episode of Rupaul's Celebrity Drag Race. We'll just call it a guilty pleasure and leave it at that.

In the morning, we finally had our long awaited class with Catherine Jordan on stitching blackwork on magnolia leaves.

Here's mine:

I have a few more leaves to expirement on. Definitely an interesting concept. 

Whitework Extravaganza

Weekend workshop with Catherine Theron at the Loudoun Sampler Guild.

It will be sometime before I make serious progress on this. Six and half inches by 17 on 32ct linen with silk thread, all single strands.

It's a beautiful piece. I hope I'm up for the challenge. 

The Count

Presenting the Count of Needlemania. 

Stitching done a few days after it should have been done, but somehow I misplaced a card of Frosty Rays. 

He'll be heading to the finisher to be made into a stand up. 

We were vacationing in a log cabin last week on a ridge above the Shenandoah River. So relaxing. And a great time for me to start my Blue Ridge Stitchery ornament. 

 

Gifted

 I made two Terri Bay Ukrainian whitework pieces as gifts. I personalized the back with their initials.

28ct Picture This Plus Helix linen. I just had a small piece, but it was big enough to stitch two of these. A little bit of DMC floss for the black and Finca pearl cotton in gray. Finally some River Silks ribbon for the finishing.

Still Counting

 

Yesterday's progress. Once I finish the cloak collar on the right, I will stitch his ears and mouth. Just got to say this is a lot of black.

If you are interested, this is a class by Janet Zickler Casey. But it is also available as a painted canvas thru Danji Designs. 

And I'm Counting

 Progress photo on the Count of Needlemania. There's a lot of black to stitch. So I worked on the cloak collar. When I finish the right side, maybe I'll add his ears and mouth.

Next Up, The Count

 I have been organizing again. Literally have had my hands on every kitted canvas I own both counted and painted. And I documented them. So I know where they are.

Now if I want a new project I should just dip into the bin and get stitching.

Bonus. I found a canvas that I was ready to buy from our current trunk show. And it has all the threads.

Meanwhile, this canvas came out to play.

The Count of Needlemania by Janet Zickler Casey.

I remember stopping when I came to the black cloak. I think we did this as a guild project in 2011 or around then. 

August Finish

 I have not fallen off the earth. I am still here and still stitching. Just been working on gifts, etc.

I do have another JoAnn finish. This is the second of three British pub canvases designed by Trubey. JoAnn had barely begun the roof and I had a bag of threads. I changed a few. This was a fairly straightforward stitch. Lots of satin or gobelin stitching. A good amount of basketweave.

It'll be a box stand up.

Round and Round

 Have you seen the fantastic photos being produced by the James Webb space telescope?

I was wishing I had a space based WIP, but I don't. 

So I picked up this project from last summer.

This is Round and Round, a design by Jennifer Riefenberg. It was our July class last year for my EGA guild. I've changed the colors slightly. Kind of has a planetary vibe to it. Finishing this one soon. 

Assembly

 

One Erica Michaels strawberry completed. Many more to go. Here's hoping they don't all take four years! 

Waves of Stitching

 Mid-June saw a return to normal in which the Mid-Atlantic Region of the EGA met finally for a regional seminar in Norfolk, Virginia.

I took two classes. And today I'm going to talk about my second class, Starry, Starry Night Kimono by Toni Gerdes.

This was my 3rd or 4th class in person with Toni. I love that she is such a calm, low key teacher. I never feel any pressure in her classes. And I know that her directions are complete and well-written that I can complete the project with relative ease.

Here are the threads and the line drawn canvas. 

I have the Macintosh, Wright, and Klimt kimonos all started. 

But the Van Gogh is really calling me. 

Here's a photo of the point at which I have 10 meters of overdyed Kreinik braid completed. Another 20 meters in the kit. 

Stitching Finish

One cross stitch piece stitched. Now to make it into a strawberry.

Progress

 Sometimes it pays to look back in my photos and check my progress.

June 11th - I was pretty stoked to actually be stitching on this strawberry again. 

June 27th - I came home and finished my petals after dinner. Have a leaf, three little bees, and some over one words to go.

Almost done! So cheerful and bright. 

Summer Ornament

 I got my Kathy Shenkel Santa ornament back from the finisher. This piece was half stitched by my friend, JoAnn. She had mostly followed the stitch guide that came with it except for one thing. When I took over, I mostly followed the stitch guide except for the background.

He's a cute guy. His beard was done with Santa's Beard, a thread that's no longer available. 

Summer's Here

First, though I didn't manage to document stitching every day of spring, I did stitch every day of spring. Most days that was much more than one thread worths of stitching, too.

Stitching habit firmly established. Blogging habit, not so much.

Here's a quick look at our new boys, Rico and Remy. They are a constant source of entertainment and joy. And have mostly left my stitchy stuff alone. 

A quick project from Terri Bay that was in Needle Arts magazine a few years ago. The linen is light gray, threads darker gray. And purple for the blackwork bits. Assembly coming up. 

Day Eighty Three

 I had two Zoom lectures today which gave me some time to work on my Sunshine Berry by Erica Michaels.

I think I started this four years ago when it came out. Truth is I do best with a magnifier now on certain 32 Ct linens. Which means I need to be sitting in my studio.

Anyway. I still like it and let's see if I can finish this.

Day Eighty Two

 Slowly building a wall behind the monster. 

It matches the wall behind the monster's bride. 

Day Eighty

Took a break from documenting my stitching through spring. But I have not missed a day since the spring sprung.

Today I'll share my latest finish. I picked it up yesterday, finished it tonight, and why didn't I finish it sooner? Story of my stitching life. 

I'm sure I put it down because I was using black Neon Rays which is 100% rayon. And rayon threads can be painful to use.

So black Neon Rays, black Splendor silk, and black Kreinik. But it's done and I'm happy with it. Melissa Prince Designs.

Day Fifty Nine or is it Sixty

 Honestly, I don't care. But I have been stitching every day of spring. Got another 30 days till summer, but we're in the 90s for the next couple of days so I think summer has unofficially begun.

A little Ukrainian whitework piece designed by Terri Bay for Needle Arts magazine. Assembly required. But I'm debating putting something on the back to use this as a gift. 

Another assembly required, but stitching finished piece. I decided maybe 6 years ago to turn my I voted sticker into a pin. Well, I finally pulled it out of the unfinished pile. And here's the result. 

Days Forty Eight, Nine and Fifty

 Getting lots of stitching time. But documenting is tough.

So here is progress on my black bellied whistling ducks from Lindy Stitches Bird Crush Club. Fabric is greener than the photo. 

Wow. I just counted and I should be on Day Fifty Three. So my numbers are off, but I have stitched every day since the first day of spring. Tomorrow I'll adjust the number to Fifty Four. 

Day Forty Four, Five, Six and Seven

 And it's a finish. I've stitched every day. Just having difficulty documenting that.

Cooper Oaks Design by Warren Kimble. 

Phew. Funny how well it matches this comforter. It is one of four. Time for more basketweave! 

May the 4th

 Or Day Forty Three. 

Still stitching snow. I decided to just continue the basketweave avalanche of white. So I update that photo tomorrow. 

I've got new distractions at our house. 

Day Forty Two

 Been ripping. But I got to go pick up two samplers from the framers. Applause to Total Framing, like always. Happy to live near experts in needlework framing.

Day Forty One

 In which we pick up the Warren Kimble winter panel. I'm trying to figure out my snow.

The Stardust thread gives off particles which makes me cough. I have the same problem with Fuzzy Stuff and some wools. Stitching along and cough, cough, cough.

Day Thirty Nine and Forty

 Another finish. Makes for 16 total this year. Mahalo!