Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Thank Your Hairdresser



Hi everyone,

Here is our first lady sporting the world's most famous bangs.  Does this look easy to achieve?  Well, it's not!  I have been working on my March angel and she has bangs too...Fortunately for the little angel when hers don't work out I can cut them out and start over.

In my first pass I used 6 strands of floss for the turkey work - which meant 12 with the loop and they stood STRAIGHT UP - not the look I wanted :(





So I cut the thread down to 4 strands and her bangs lay flatter- they may not be even but they're flatter.




At least Michelle Obama doesn't wear a headband- that's so Hillary...

Happy Stitching,

Linda

Monday, February 18, 2013

Better Late Than Never



Hi everyone,

Here's my first finish of the Kelly Clark Angels of the month.  Can you guess which month??  These are so incredibly cute!!!

I learned two new techniques with this one canvas...

The first is Closed Raised Herringbone which is used on the pumpkin leaves.




The second is the Casalguidi stitch - can you say that 3 times fast?  Casalguidi is an Italian embroidery stitch and is used here on the broom handle.  She needs to swat that spider!




I have also started using the tutorials on Mary Corbet's site Needle n Thread which are super helpful especially when you are trying a stitch for the first time.

Happy Stitching,


Linda

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Best in Show


Hi everyone,

Here's my choice for Best in Show.  I love a real dog!  Although the Sporting Group may not be politically correct right now ....especially GUN dogs.  But Emily is a gun dog through and through!

I recently broke my foot following that little gun dog around the backyard so I have had a lot of time to stitch and watch tv. And Emily is practicing extended downs. :)  My latest finish is yet another cracker.  This project is a BEAD FIX.  If you like to bead these are for you!





Now that the bead fix is over I have moved on to the next Melissa Shirley 12 days of Christmas (#5).
I hope to finish 4 of these this year so that's through 8 Lords a Leaping!

Here's the first pass of the turkey work- do you see a heart under there?

Cut loops
Looks like a bad haircut...

Side view

Here's the cleaned up heart - still needs a little more TLC.  I think I'll take it outside into the natural light!



Happy Valentines Day,

Linda

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Backyard Stitching






Hi everyone,

I've been doing a lot of stitching in my backyard while I babysit (dogsit) Emily and try my best to dissuade her from digging to China.  Here is my latest cracker which is simple enough to work on by the pool (yes I live in Florida and it is 75 here).

Here's a side view



Well,  I don't bead outside but all the foundation work is so easy that it can be done out there and the light is perfect.


Now, the best outside project is a belt canvas.  I had this especially painted for my husband so it's a one of a kind Everglades belt - NO PYTHONS ON THE BELT!  Just our favorite turtle, ibis and a Florida Panther :)








Happy Stitching,

Linda