My December Project

 Hi all,

This Christmas will be quiet...VERY quiet... so I have been working on my first canvas in the Zero Degrees North series.  Here are some pictures.  I love the way the beading on the North Pole sign looks!

Here's the sign almost finished in basketweave beading.  This piece is a study in beading.  The snow and icicles are beads done in clusters and bridges so will try that after I clean up a few things.

Have a Merry Christmas!

Thanksgiving Finish

Yes I really did finish this on Thanksgiving!

 

Floral Harvest

 Hi all,

This "almost" finish is for Mary and Millie!  It's not quite there but will be this week.  Here's yesterday's progress...

The pumpkin pieces are laid out on the canvas.  I was supposed to cut out the big pumpkin piece and then baste the middle onto the bigger piece but when I cut out the pattern I cut it out BACKWARDS as in it was perfect if I wanted the backside of the fabric to be on top!  So I had to recut the suede for the pumpkin  into 3 pieces and baste it on to the canvas.  Believe me there was no room for error the second time!

Next...it's all basted on so the next thing to do were the acorns and the red berries

Acorns are done

Then the beaded berries on the right and the beaded stem.  Now I've covered up the stem so that's just guess work - still need to finish that.  Plus that gold berry is done in messy beading so may need to tame that one.

Last will be to do decorative stitching on the seams and then it will be done.

Then I will get back to finishing the Pumpkin Parade!

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Pumpkin Parade

I am still unpacking and organizing after my journey from North Carolina so the Gingerbread House is still under wraps so to speak.  I left the Pumpkin Parade in Florida so it was easy to grab.  Naturally I left the trickiest parts for last....the ribbon on the skirt, the felt pumpkin hub and the gnarly trees!  IN THE CLOSET FOR 2 YEARS!

In the past few days I've done 2 out of the four remaining areas.  OMG folding ribbon is slippery!

The felt was challenging in its own way - 2 circles of felt, basting and embroidery...the pumpkin  now has a stem- not to worry

The last part is to finish the background and put branches in the trees.  Then it would be FINISHED

More House

 Hi all,

We are packing up to migrate south for the winter and all I have out is the Gingerbread House so I am trying to get as far as I can before getting in the car and taking 2 days off.

Here's today's story...I finished the backstitching on the turret roof and am continuing on down the left side with the background.  I started on the snow yesterday - it's not finished yet - needs random beads.  That wasn't as bad as I thought.  The secret to doing French knots on a stalk and having them look good is to do them upside down.  I still don't like the pink beads around the finial on the left but may need consultation with my stitching friends on that.  Tomorrow I will keep going with the background for sure and maybe some more snow.

There's still a lot to do!

xoxo

House Update

 Hi all,

I managed to finish the upper middle section of the roof so I moved down and did the candy path.  It's really coming along and looking cute!

The background is going to take a while so I'm back to that and the left side of the house.  Then I'll probably go up and finish that cupcake so I can work on MORE background!

xoxo

Back to the Gingerbread House

I've decided to finish this before going back to Needlepoint in Paradise for another class next February.  I took this class several years ago and it's time to get it done!  I'm going to split it up into sections and intersperse the sections with working on the plaid background so I don't leave all that background to the end.

This section is the middle part of the roof.  There's cording to lay down on the roof line but I already have that made up.  You can see there's a lot of icing that needs to be done too so I will work on that as I go along.

There's a lot going on with this piece but it's nice to accomplish small sections so it's not so overwhelming.

xoxo

Valentine House

 Another finish!

It's Fall

We are loving the weather - don't expect to see leaves on the trees for too much longer with Hurricane Delta on the way...

Folk Art Kitty Finish

 So sweet!

Work Stoppage

 Hi there,

I'm back to the little cat and after finishing the flower on the left, this morning I moved to the next flower  where I have now broken my needle in the back of the center.  Of course all my beading tools are in Florida so I will be at the hardware store looking for wire cutters this afternoon.  This has happened to me before with these smaller needles so I guess I need another bead kit in my stash!

Front of the purple flower - I was cruising until I wasn't!

There's the pesky needle! The eye is broken and snagged.  YUK

Hope to get back to it this afternoon!

M is for Margaret

Hi there,

I'm so glad I finished this.  I will have it framed and then who knows?  Maybe I will do another cross stitch project someday😍

Off to start Lady Audley's Secret by Mary Elizabeth Braddon!

Finished my summer scarf project !

I just finished my "summer" scarf!  I try and knit a scarf every summer and hopefully I'll get to keep this one.  I really enjoyed knitting it and look forward to using it now that it's 40 degrees in the morning.

I've already picked out next year's scarf - I have 2 skeins of dark red pashmina wool that I want to make into a cable scarf - but that's next summer!!

 

I should be able to finish up the cross stitch fairy initial this week and then back to needlepoint (the thread is on the way!)

xoxo

While waiting on Thread...I turned to CROSS STITCH!

 I am trying to work with the new blog format which is a challenge but I'm going to try.  

I'm waiting for more thread for my little cat and decided to try and finish something (anything).  I have ONE cross stitch project and here she is.  I bought this for my daughter Molly (officially Margaret now Margot- at least it's still an M) and once the wings are done there's backstitching and beading before finishing.  Not sure I like the quality of the photo though - will need to work on that!

Have a happy and safe week!

 

Melissa Shirley Hearts Completed

Yeah!

Wacky Polar Bear

Ornaments on the way!

Flowers NOT Pots

Sure took me a while to see this!

Kitty is done!

Hi there,

The Kitty is done so now back to the background which is tone on tone so super hard to follow.  It's flower pots in case you can't tell!!  Then,  I thought I had made a mistake but they are offset so I don't think I did (not that you would ever notice) so I kept going.  I may put a colored thread through as a guide just to stay on track.  

Can't wait to get back to the flowers!

Sleepy Kitty

I was originally going to make this into a pillow but now that I've been through the stitch guide and seen the ribbon work coming up....it will probably be framed.  If I can finish the body of the kitty today,  I can try and do that one flower to see what it's going to look like.

Happy Monday xoxo 

Going through my Stash Looking for the Next Project

Now that I am almost through with Happy 4th I've been thinking about what's next.  There's so much to choose from!  Some big, some enormous but mostly medium sized.  It took me a month to finish  Happy 4th so if I choose ginormous it won't be to finish it- just make progress.

There's the Lani bunny collage

The Melissa Shirley hummingbird canvas - the ginormous one- there is a stitch guide.  Well, they all have guides and threads.  Look at the little guy holding it down - better finish him too.  I had to order the evertites so this will not be next up.

I also have a Mystery Hummingbird from Ruth Schmuff but that is not in North Carolina so I'm saved.  My inspiration...out my husband's office window.

Then there's my cross stitch project for my daughter Molly who is now known as Margot - at least it's the same initial!

And another one for Molly who loves cats.  This is one of the group of HAD TO HAVE IT canvases in my stash.  I bought this on sale from Ruth and she wrote a stitch guide.  I actually worked on this last night because the border is tent stitch.






Will probably continue with the little cat in the flowers for now - just to be able to finish something.
Watch,  it will take me all of August!


Stay safe and please wear a mask to protect others.

Linda

Oh Happy Day

I FINALLY finished beading happy and am now on to finishing the last white stripe and beading the 4th!  I could get used to finishing projects 👍. I am hoping to get this done by the end of the week - especially if it rains.

I

I think I will pause with the red white and blue theme and move to another color palette .  The last Tony Minieri class that I took was the Lani bunny collage.  There are 9 sections and I am going to try and do 2 every summer until I finish the whole thing.  Of course that works out to 5 years so I may have to step it up a little sooner or later.  All that thread is from working on it in class.

The 3 eggs first...

Then the bunny vase

I'm trying hard not to get distracted and start on this right away - so tempting!

Stay safe and please wear a mask!

Working my way towards HAPPY

This is a picture from yesterday.  I'm now on the "Happy" beads and can see the end of this stripe!  You can see how I'm compensating through the letters so I don't get lost.  Hopefully my next post will be Super Duper Happy!

Blue Stripes Complete!

Hi there,

Last night I finished the blue stripes!  Yay!!  On to the white ones and the beading and then I'm done. I think I'll finish something SMALL next.  No kidding- I have plenty of small projects too.

There's a bigger version of this that says Stars and Stripes - so glad I opted for this one.



Stay safe and wear a mask please

Stuck Behind A Desk

Hi there,

Not much to report as I have been stuck working for the last 3 days. Here's where I left off and maybe I can get back to it this afternoon.  I think I will finish the last two blue stripes while I still have the pattern down before going back to the white.

At least the beading is easy!

It will be awesome when IT'S DONE!

More Progress

Hi all,

The weather is still cool and misty here in NC so I am forging ahead with my 4th of July canvas.  Now I know why there are so many arts and crafts in the mountains!

Here is the first blue stripe completed!




And I just now finished the first white stripe.  I had such a hard time with the pattern so you can imagine doing the compensating on each side.  Hopefully it's correct because I will refer back to it for the other 2 stripes.  I'm almost looking forward to the beading because it's mindless.





And here is a photo of my new flowers which LOVE this weather!





Have a safe week!

Tis the Season

Tis the Season...for Red White and Blue stitching!

This is from my Amy Bunger stash.  It does look like it was abandoned abruptly, but now it's back in rotation for at least July.  I'm glad have a few (well quite a few) Amy projects and stitch guides now that she's retiring and this is one.  My favorite so far has been the 4th of July apples which was surprisingly easy to finish.

Here's a closeup of the blue stripe.  All the blue stripes are the same and all the white ones are the same.  I just need to get the pattern down.

My other Amy projects are the Creche and Nativity Home Studies and the Sultan's Tray plus I think 2  rent Amy day projects.  So I'm set.

It's raining here in the mountains and my dog is trying to get in my lap so I'm off...

First Hibiscus and Orange Prep

Here's the hibiscus on the left with it's beads.  The other one is not beaded.

And with the center

The oranges are done in clear beads - brick beading so that should go fast.  The stitch guide called for different color beading thread but my beading thread is in Florida!  So I am going to use 3 shades of Splendor instead.  Hopefully that will work out.

It's Monday again - lets hope the news gets better this week!

First Marigold

Apparently they look like this

My first one looks like this






Going to try the hibiscus on the left next

L