Forever Fred

 Here's the original ....waiting to move...doesn't look too happy here

And here is the finished canvas!   He looks like he's arrived at his new home in his box!  I used almost every brightly colored bead in my arsenal!  Thank you Susan Portra for your guidance!

Next up is the 4th ornament ....the Walneto stitch which I have stitched once wrong and once right....

This is the LAST program for Frances and me to teach at our ANG chapter meeting in July.  I will leave in the one on the right and try try try to figure out how I did the correct one on the left.  It's not just following the graph...it's the manipulation of the needle AND following the graph that makes it work. Maybe that's why there were 4 out of 5 needles (in difficulty) on the top of the stitch guide :)

Have a great weekend,

Linda

Christmas in June

King No.1 (3)

Christmas in June can mean many things.  In Miami believe me it is NOT the temperature outside.

Last night around 12:15 we got an early Christmas present when the Miami Heat won Game 6.  Now you might say...they haven't won the Championship....but  it was do or die last night and they came through.  This little bear is from the dark ages when there was only ONE king in Miami, Dwayne Wade.  When he won his first Championship they temporarily changed the name of Dade County to Wade County.  He even lived in our neighborhood then (he was a rookie) and now of course he lives like a king along with LeBron James and Chris Bosh somewhere probably close to South Beach.

The other meaning to Christmas in June is finishing up your 2013 Christmas projects so they can get to the finisher.  It's a pain, but also an indication of how popular our art form has become that there is a waiting line for finishing.

Here is another piece of my mother's Gingerbread Village - the gingerbread lady with purse.

And here are some closeups... the star tassel.  I am always looking for great star patterns

...and the hat.  Another learning experience here.  The white fringe is doubled fuzzy stuff satin stitched and then stitched AGAIN!  It really does fluff up much better than putting in twice as much thread in the needle and doing it once.

For those of you thinking that I am getting all this stitching done while watching basketball you have NOT watched the Heat.  I am either standing up or jumping up and down or I have a blanket over my head because I can't bear to watch.  On to game 7!!!!!

Keep cool,

Linda

Under The Sea

I don't know about you and your children, but I have a 30 year old daughter who LIVED for Ariel (aka The Little Mermaid).  We had movies, cassette tapes (yes, those), coloring books and dolls.  Oh, and Halloween costumes - how could I forget.  Caroline even practiced swimming like a mermaid!  This canvas dates from those long forgotten days when I sat in the car at preschool and stitched....tent stitched.....in WOOL.  Ok, it was Medici, but still it was wool. I have no earthly idea what possessed me to finish this, maybe it's my new baby Emily who makes me live outside :)  Or the Miami Heat who make me sit in front of the tv forever!

I am also making progress on Fred's fish.  For years I had a marine aquarium - until multiple hurricane power outages drove me over the edge.  So I have all these books with fish pictures...

Now the OCD in me has tried to make Fred's fish as close to real fish as possible, although I doubt that the real Fred would care...

Here he is watching them... the thread going around the border is my spacing for the fish...

Have a great weekend,

Linda