TUSAL and a Finish

Man, time has just flown by! I haven't added much floss, but here is my TUSAL jar posing next to a pretty shell:



I've been working on Rapture, but most of the work has been turning this:



into this:



Much better! Now maybe I can get back to the stitching - I really, REALLY want to work on Ice Wind but I need some progress on Rapture first.

I have a love/hate relationship with two things in cross stitching
1. French Knots
2. Rustico Fabric
So that made this little ornament really, really ...interesting.



I do like the way the Rustico fabric breaks up the monotony of all that antique white. I'm not using the big piece of fabric that came with the kit; I started to cut it up per the kit instructions, then I remembered that once upon I time I had bought someone's abandoned stitching at a yard sale. In the bag were a lot of little squares of antique white, all backstitched with the word 'His' or 'Hers'. I have no idea what they were supposed to be for - maybe coasters? Anyway, I've been frogging out the backstitching and using the squares for ornaments and Sprites.

There were a few squares of Rustico among the white, all of them with very badly stitched little hearts, like so:



I feel a little guilty for frogging out someone else's work, even if the stitches do go in all directions, but not guilty enough not to do it. And now I have the big piece of kit fabric left to play with, so, bonus!

Hopefully I'll have a pic of Rapture later this week - happy stitching!

A Sock and a Boat

Stocking #9


and the progress I made last week on my Nautical Sampler. I had to frog and restitch part of it; I kept looking at it and I knew something was wrong but I just couldn't figure out what. All the counting was coming out right. Turned out I had stitched some of it with three strands of floss instead of two. So this is after restitching. It's still on the q-snaps. All of the boat has been stitched twice, except for one of the sails, or I could have gotten so much more done.

IHSW

I had a lovely, picture-full post planned, but my camera betrayed me by eating its batteries far, far too quickly.
So although I got a bit done on my Nautical sampler, I'll have to show it off later.
I did get pics of two smaller projects:

Aerith


x2



I also got two pretty patterns from the HAED sale!
I um... I'll admit I really don't like the 'Faces of Faerie' series. At all. Little girls with big eyes and cupid mouths are just not my thing.
Yet somehow, this wound up in my basket.
I'm still blinking.
I think it was the egg. I'll admit I like Faberge eggs. That it was a fundraiser for Japan helped, too.

Faces #150

Anything by Sessler, however, I love. I'm determined to get almost all of them... I especially like the fact that she creates males. There are so few patterns of guys in the stitching world.

Sunset Fire

On Vacation

I have been there!
On vacation, that is.
I'll show you guys some pics later - it was a very quiet little trip to a very pretty little farm. I really needed it.
I got some stitching done while I was there!

Finished this:


Worked on this:


Started & finished this:


Bought these:


Good vacation! Now to catch up on a WHOLE LOT of blog posts!!!

My TUSAL Jar is Surrounded by Owls