Elf Christmas Banner

Hi All,

Just finished my Christmas Banner which as of right now is the ONLY banner in my stitching group.  That will probably change, but at least I'm out in front.  I'm going to try and stitch Christmas canvases during December and finish up some things to send off in January. 2018 is going to be a finishing year in my house - it's starting to pile up in the finished canvases drawer.

Here are some photos.   I think my friends were more impressed by the beaded letters than anything else.  It does look cool with three different color beads.  I was impressed that I was able to "scatter" the snowflakes randomly.  Go figure.  Also, there were 47! rows of T-stitch under their feet.  That was a challenge!!

If I don't get back, everyone have a Merry Christmas!

Linda

Getting Teeth!

Happy Sunday 😊

First Garden Tool

Happy Monday!

Yay Finishing!

I wanted all the bells and whistles and I got them!

Happy Saturday

Finger Recovery

Hi there,

I've been doing a lot of stitching lately (more than usual) and my fingertips are pretty poked out.  Plus my poor eyes need a break from staring through the magnifier.  So for a few days I'm switching over to my new 13 canvas.

Here's the latest on the cookbook.  Yes, Diane I did redo the chain stitch. And you are right, it doesn't look one bit better or worse.

And here is the "finger recovery piece".  I can even stitch this with my left hand if I want.  And nice easy stitches - no thinking involved!

And if I ever send in a clip for America's Funniest Videos this is it!  I don't know which one of them is more frozen in place!

Congratulations to Emily our favorite Good Dog Citizen 💓💓

Love you,

Mom

All That Work

And I went back to the Cookbooks ...go figure.  They are like an old shoe and I guess as long as I want to work on them that's a good thing.  Plus they are right in front of me on my desk.  That helps.

Just finished the fork and spoon book and I'm going to move on to the burgundy book next.  We have been attacked by germ warfare here in this house so I have plenty of time. BUT NO FRIENDS since I'm in isolation.

Have a great weekend.  Hopefully none of you live in New Orleans.  It seems like the weather has turned against everyone this year.  Yuk.

Linda

Auditioning Projects

Hi there,

I've been cleaning out my stash (well organizing it...not quite ready to "clean out") and decided to audition some of my WIPs for my next project.

 Mind you these are just the BIG ones, as in ones I can't hide very well.  Oh My!


One month TOPS left

The one I really want to do next

On my blog as a constant reminder.  There is hope here because I outlined the path last Saturday
.

One of the first.  All tent.

Waiting on Lisa to finish President of ANG.

What can I say - need to work on the background and lady 4

This is huge and have to finish the leaves.  But so cute

Have a great Wednesday!

WHY OH WHY DID I TAKE DOWN MY SHUTTERS ?!?

Here's the blue book as promised with the compensating stitches in the midde

See you soon (I hope)

Linda

No Power, No Gas, No Internet

Until Yesterday!

We now have one out of three of the essentials here in Irmaland.  Without gas for the car and most of my area out of power we have been stuck at home.  We are slowly coming back and as past hurricane victims we know it can take a while.  Our personal worst was 3 weeks. That's why we got a generator.

Here's my hurricane work.  I still have to finish the top book but the red book and Joy of Cooking are done.  I'm going to work on the blue book today.  I was working on it last night went the generator shut down and we had to go outside and give it some oil.  By the time we were done with that I was too tired to finish, so will try today.  The edge is alternating scotch stitch but the count is not perfect so I am compensating in the middle of each section.  Will show a closeup of that tomorrow.

Have a great Saturday.  We are supposed to get out power back by Sunday.  Now who do I call when THAT doesn't happen?!?

Linda

YES I CAN !!!

YES I CAN FINISH AN AMY HOME STUDY!!!

Here is a photo of the ribbon holding the little apple which is the LAST thing I had to do on the apples.

I will probably take it off the stretcher bars and hang it up in my office until next year and then get it finished.  Too much Christmas stuff at the finishers now.

Next up is more Gingerbread House and back to the COOKBOOKS!

Have a wonderful Labor Day!

Linda

Tandem Projects

Hi there,

I am closing in on finishing my first Amy project and and actually doing a little Amy project along with the apples.  Just to reinforce those crescents.  Yuk!  Everybody has something they would rather put off - those are mine (along with bullions- gee, those haven't been done either).

Here's Y...that was pretty easy.  Love the stars.

Here's L with the crescents - still waiting.  Sigh.  Going to have to do them sooner or later.

Here's the Amy Christmas Club project I picked up at the Cookbook class.  So I can practice doing more crescents.

And here's a crescent closeup..I really am nuts.  Oh well.

Today I'm going to work on the background stripes while pondering the crescents and bullions.  Sometime this week will be THE MOMENT I DO THEM.😅😅

Have a wonderful Sunday!

Almost a Deal Breaker

Hi there,

You all know what a "deal breaker" is...especially in needlepoint.  Sometimes there comes along a part of the project that you just can't get past and then it hits you - is this what makes me put it in the closet?  That's the deal breaker.   For me it's the Jessica stitch - or in Amy's case the "Heart Crescent" on the 4th apple. Which is like a super advanced Jessica.  I actually did stop there but in my defense, it was in order to go to Memphis for the Cookbook class and then home for surgery and out to LA.  Well,  here I am back home again and I thought, well ....I've come this far....let me tackle it again.

The first one took 3 hours - YUK.  As I recall I broke a needle.

Then, when we were in the Griffith Park Observatory we saw the Tesla coil and maybe that helped

So here's the second one - way easier.  It's right underneath the first one.  So I guess the key is not to give up.  And not to look too close.

Here's Y which as you know is the last letter in JULY so I am near the finish line.  There are a lot of beads in Y, but I like beading 😊

And my daughter's bunny pillow arrived from Ruth and is sitting on her bed!

So that's the scoop!

See you soon,

Linda

Better Get Cracking

Hi there,

I've been reading about all the Christmas deadlines and decided it was time to get SOMETHING done about Christmas.  So for the next week it all about getting on with it while surrounded by my
4th of July needlepoint.


This first one is a banner that was a Correspondence Class with ANG.  I was going to put it on a scroll frame but I had 10x10 stretcher bars so am working with that and so far it's good.  Most important lesson so far...COUNT TWICE,  STITCH ONCE!  Already messed that up because as I was basting the left side I was off one thread.  RE-DO!!

These last 2 are for my baby who has a little tree - awesome - the first one is self finishing.  Double awesome.

Got to sign off - my littlest baby is ready to be picked up from the groomer :-)

Linda

Joy of Cooking

So nice when it works out!

Things I Learned in Memphis

Hi there,

I'm Back!  I had a great time last weekend in Memphis and met some great girls who I hope to see again some day.  I took the PickYour Poison class and my pick was the cookbook.  The biggest issue over 3 days was whether or not to put in the black lines between the cookbooks.  Poor Amy had to contend with that.  And yes I was one of the ones asking constantly.

It's a great Alice Peterson piece and the rumor is that there are 2 more - one with the classics and one of children's books.  Naturally, competition set in and there is a race between the Houston girls to  finish.  I think the pace is 2 cookbooks a month.  Right now I'm in the "clean up the threads from class" mode and so I'm working my way around the canvas.  In the lower left corner you can see where Amy taught me the twisted lazy daisy stitch - now I can finish Joseph!

The Blue Check Cookbook aka Fanny Farmer
There was a great deal of interest in figuring out the cookbooks, too :-)

There was also shopping- Amy tried to keep us in class but we kept drifting over to the shop where Jill showed off all the finished samples (tricky Jill) - very effective.  This is a singles club ornament.

And this is a corner of Scheherazade which is an old home study of Amy's that I had to have.  OMG the colors are beautiful.

I must say that I am super thankful to Amy for letting me take as many photos as possible of all the home studies that I have and have not finished.

 When I got home my beaded watermelon was ready for pickup

All in all it was a great get away and if I do my homework maybe I can go next year!

Linda

PS  You know you've arrived in Memphis when 90% of the planes on the runway are Fedex!

Ready for Memphis!

Jam-Packed Memorial Day Weeekend

Hi there,

I hope everyone had a safe holiday.  One of my husband's pet peeves is when someone says "Happy" Memorial Day.  So every time we saw a sign or someone said that to us I had to cringe because I knew what was coming..."there's nothing HAPPY about it".  But we still had an awesome weekend.

Starting with Emily's dog show ribbons😊 which are now on my refrigerator.  A long time ago there were report cards up there!

When we got back on Tuesday I went back to work on Putrid Pumpkin.  I am off to Amy's next week for a cook up class so I want to take it and turn it in for finishing.

 Last night I did the tendrils and some of the ooze.

Those beads are worms.

So I hope to finish in the next 2 nights and put it in my suitcase for hand delivery!

Have a great week!!

Lost My Mind...Briefly

And started a new project.  Worked on this all day yesterday while I was at the eye doctor.  Yes, you can even do this with your eyes dilated.  I love the background except for the compensating.  Can't wait to do the lamb and the flowers.

But I am back to the poison bottle now.

Phew,  that was a close one!

The Sign is Done

Hi,

Last night I finished the sign.   Those are colonial knots done on a 24 needle.  I had to refresh my memory on those - went straight to YouTube.  Today I'm going to finish up the background and work on the lid to the bottle.

Should have it ready to go sometime next week 😊

This Shouldn't Be Too Hard to Finish

Just the bottle top, french knots on the letters and the ooze and I will have another finish!

Apple Fix

Here I am almost done with apple number 4...meaning I will have to go back to the background soon
😖 and then work on one of my WIPs until we get the last lesson in July.  I figure I have 2 nights to finish the strap stitches and the beads in the letter.  I have been binge watching Lark Rise to Candleford on PBS - doesn't get any better than that.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day.  I sure did.

Linda