I Forgot to Post!

Sorry, I have been a bit under the weather for the past little while - I did stitch, although not as much as I had been, and I completely forgot about posting.  Ah, well!

On the 20th I picked up 'Unspoken'.  Here's his before pic:

And his after pic:

I got two columns a little over half done - for some reason I chose to work over twenty stitches instead of in columns of ten.  I dunno why :D

Then on the 25th I picked up 'Acquainted with the Night'.

I went from here:

To here:

I really wanted to get the horse's shadow done, too, but I didn't make it.  But I will be stitching the cowboy and horse next turn and I'm really looking forward to it!!!

I picked up another project yesterday but I will say what it was at the end of its rotation turn :D

Happy stitching!

A Report on Little Projects

This post will include finishes, a start, an old WIP, stash, and the bunny story!

First off - I finished 'The Great Light' on 7-17-15:

It came out really pretty!  I did do the tiny french knots in the scripture reference in the wrong holes - they were supposed to be in the middle of the squares.  I fixed it, but the holes they were in are kinda big now.  Usually washing will fix that, though, and this one is gonna need a bath since it went to work with me :D  The only thing I really don't like about it is that the cross on the steeple is off center.  That's the way it's charted, but I may redo it.

That makes 4 out of 7 of Bucilla's 'Christmas Promises' kits done.  Here are the three I have left in my stash:

'Emmanuel', 'Guardian Angels', and 'Peace'.  I will probably do either 'Emmanuel' or 'Guardian Angels' next, since they are similar, and then work 'Peace' in between them.  I won't be starting one yet, though.  I pulled out a Crazy January start - I think from 2013! - to work on next.  It is 'Three Kings' from the 1988 Gloria and Pat freebie pattern leaflet.

I only have the head of the King in green done so far.

And now for a Bunny Story!  I said in an earlier post that the Bunnies were another CJ start, and I had gotten this far:

Originally, I had intended to do just two bunnies, a pinky-white one and a brown one, and give them to my sister, who is a rabbit lover.

Then, this Easter, I made these cakes - remember?

One went to my oldest nephew, whose family was staying with my Mum and Dad.  Everybody ate some of it, but when they got up the next day and looked for the rest - the cake was there, and the candy was there, but the bunny peeps were mysteriously gone.

I also had about thirty bunny peeps left over, and my sister, who doesn't like carrot cake, had asked that I save them for her.  She loves peeps!

Well, they also mysteriously vanished.  Turns out, my Mum has discovered that SHE loves peeps, too.  This is the first year she ever ate any.  The ones at my house had gotten a tiny bit stale, and she says she likes them even better that way.

Weird mother - and this is a lady who will take the food off her own plate to give to someone who wants it - but she was absolutely, 100% unapologetic about eating all the peeps!

So here's how I finished up the bunnies, and the trim I bought for making them into a cushion, a cube, or a flatfold - haven't decided which:

And they will be presented to my Mum on her birthday :D  She will LOVE this and laugh like a lunatic!

Lastly, a start.  I have three nephews - 12, 6, and 2 - and they all are obsessed with Lego!  So I bought this alphabet on etsy:

And I have started the first of three names to be stitched in Lego blocks :D  There is a truckload of backstitch in these and I will be doing it as I go along :D  I'm stitching it on white 18 count.

So, two 'purse' projects done and two more to take their place.  Yay!

And now, I go back to my regular rotation, because I don't have any double shifts for at least the next two weeks (I hope).

Wufei, and a Silly Dilemma

So, the 10th's project change meant I picked up my pattern of Chang WuFei.  I think I haven't worked on him since... March?  I think.

Anyway, I barely got anything done.  :C   I had a double shift on the 10th, the 13th and the 14th, and so he was sadly neglected.  Here he was then - I neglected to take a wide shot:

And here he is now:

And here is something I wasted about a half hour on - I made a copy of his pattern (I created the original myself, in PCStitch) and then used a green floss color to block out everything I had already stitched because I was having trouble, for some reason, working out what was his sleeve and what was his torso.  The only bit I forgot was the edge of yellow that outlines his other shoulder.  Anyway, here is a green alien head XD

And the regular pattern picture for comparison:

The reason I wanted to know is that I've made myself a small goal on this, and won't mind a bit if I don't make it - I want to get his torso done by the end of the year.  Then I'll just have his arm, wristband, and hand left.  I'm not pushing for a finish with him - I've got too many Christmas Prezzie ideas.

Now to kinda change the subject - I have a rotation dilemma.  Normally I would pick a new big project to work on today, but I have already pulled a double shift on one job and have to go to my other job for a few hours this evening.  I have doubles tomorrow and Friday, and a single shift on Saturday, then about four hours on my other job, again, on Sunday. (bleh, I want a vacation!)  So anything I pick is not going to get much love.

On the other hand, I finished up the last full-stitch color on 'The Great Light':

Cream - it's only on the path.  I've already started backstitching and finished off the church and part of the words at work today.  This gave me a bit of inspiration - what I was thinking of doing was taking a break from my rotation and trying to polish off this and the bunnies, and maybe another small project.  What do you guys think?

And then on the 20th I would pick up a big project again.

Stashy Saturday - China Kits

When it comes to stash, I've never yet done anything by half-measures.  So be warned, there are a lot of pictures in this post!

I have showed you guys my first kit, the one I started.  It is called 'Sunset Birds' in the website title, which I forgot to mention before.  I bought it on AliExpress.com and it took about 3 1/2 weeks to arrive.

It is a partial-stitch kit, with the printed background.  It's called a 3D kit and it is four feet long.

This is the next one I bought.  It is 'full embroidery', as they put it.  That means every bit is stitched.  It is called 'Gold Fortune' in the website title and I got it on Aliexpress, too.

It is 3 feet and 9 inches long.  Sorry about the glare!  I didn't take it out of the package for a pic - it is one of the ones with completely different colored symbols to the floss you use and looks like an acid trip, lol!!!

This one is also called a 3D kit, but all that is not stitched is the small areas of plain white background.  It is called 'Lucky Fish' and I bought it on eBay.  It took two weeks to get here.

It is also four feet long.  The pattern is 14 pages, the same size as a HAED page, and most of them fully stitched :D :D :D  Three of them are a little over half.

And this one is also from eBay; it is called 'Magnolia' and is pretty small.  It is a 3D kit with the printed background and I just wanted to see what size the cheap, cheap kits were.  I paid $3 for it.

It's going to be pretty pixelated but I'll prolly stitch it, anyway :D  That's a full-size magazine laying next to it, to give a size idea.

From ebay - this one is for my mother.  'Sunflowers' and it is in three pieces.  Called a 3D, again, but only the white blank space is not stitched.  It comes with all three pictures and each one is about 18" square. 

And here's what I mean by 'acid trip'.

From Aliexpress, 'Love Forever'.  Also for my Mum.  Another 3D kit - the green and the words are printed on.  This one is going to be gorgeous!  That's a picture of a stitched piece on the front, not a CG picture.

Here it is with the same full-size magazine next to it for size reference.

(Here's an issue I have created for myself - I showed these to my Mum and told her to pick which one would be her Christmas present, and she informed me that she saw no reason why both of them shouldn't be her Christmas present. O__O  I hope these really are as fast as they say!)

And then one more - this one is my pride and joy and my moment of complete insanity.

It is called 'Ancient Beauty'.

Can you see the stitch count?  It's not a typo.  960x400.  On 11 count, that's 7.5 by 3.  As in, 7.5 feet by 3 feet.  It's huge.  It's like doing a HAED on 11 count, except there is backstitching in this.

Here's the pattern bit that shows the pages.

52 pages.  Only eight of them are less than half stitched.  I can't start this one for a while, it's too big to handle.  My father is going to build me a floor stand out of PVC pipe that I can use my q-snap grips on.  I don't even want to think what this would cost if I wanted to frame it.  It will probably never be framed.  I might edge it and use it for a show-off piece across the bottom of a king-size bed.  MAYBE.  I don't know.

Lest you think I spent a fortune on these - the Ancient Beauty was the most expensive at $30.  You can't even buy a piece of 11 count that size for $30!!!  All the others were much cheaper than that, and most had free shipping.

So that's my China kit stash and I'm trying not to buy any more, but there are some beautiful things out there!  I'm eyeing a huge one of tigers right now and telling myself no no no no no!

A New Kind of Kit, A Lot Less Progress

So, I have a new start!

With almost no progress.

I enjoyed it, but we had my father's birthday on the 6th and then I had three days of double shifts at work.  So I had very little time and I pretty much just came home and went to bed.  So sad, right? lol!

But I found a new kind of kit and I wanted to try it even though I knew I'd only have a little time.

Have you guys seen the printed kits from China?  They look really cool!

Here's my first one:

Now, this is a huge one but at the same time it is very simple and easy.  They are all on 11 count aida, and use water-soluble ink to put the pattern directly on the aida.  You can just look at the symbols and you don't have to count and yet your stitches look normal and not those weird things on the plain fabric of a normal 'stamped' kit.  When you're done, you soak the fabric in plain water and all the symbol-ink lifts off, leaving no trace on your thread, and yes, I've seen video and it does work!

The reason I call this one easy is that the background is printed on in permanent ink, and you only have to stitch little pieces.  I normally would not like this, but I saw this picture in the first Chinese restaurant I went to with my dad when I was a very little girl, so when I saw the kit, I wanted it!  I could have got it in what they call 'full embroidery', which means you do the background and all, but I knew it would lose detail and I love those thin waterfalls.  So I chose a partial stitch for my first go.
(If you are looking at these kits, this kind is called '3D'.  Some of the ones with plain or white backgrounds are also called '3D' so study your pictures carefully!)

It came with really nice thread - very, very soft and shiny!  It's not DMC but they give DMC reference numbers and they MATCH, which is a nice change :D

Yep, the key is printed on the fabric, too.  Some of them also come with a pattern you can use as a reference check.  This one does.  So far, I haven't needed it.

It's huge - it is four feet long.

For size reference, I put a finished project on it.  The stitched area on that one is 5x7.  Unfortunately, I couldn't get right over it so it still looks smaller than it is.

Anyhow, all you stitch on this one is the words, the flying cranes, the bird and the flower beneath it, the big pink flower, the boat, the pink-flowered branch, the two big cranes beneath it and the rock/bank they are standing on.

All I got done was the first two words, most of the third, part of the fourth, a lot of the first red-crowned crane and a little of the second.  I will admit the fabric is pretty stiff and my fingers got a little sore when I was pushing the needle through.  I switched to a smaller needle and solved that bit.  But I wish I had gotten more done.  Ah, well.  What I did do was pretty fun!

Do you like my needle minder?  My postmaster knows I like to collect stamps, so when she was tossing out the old display magnets, she gave me this one :D  I turned it in to a needle minder.

I had no idea what the kanji on the project meant - first I looked at a translator and got 'long life' but I knew that wasn't right.  These pictures usually say something good, yes, but also that sort of relates to the picture subject.  So I asked on a site I go to where I know several of the people speak other languages, and one lady said it formally says 'Your wealth/money source overflows' and colloquially says 'Profits Pouring'.  Makes a lot more sense :D

I have a few more of this type of kit - all of them are BIG and they are a lot more detailed than this one.  This one is a little pixellated but I don't mind.  I will show the others off in a Stashy Saturday post!

I did get the next color of Great Light done - light purple.  There was only a little bit.  Only the cream on the path to go as far as full stitches, and I got a good bit of that done but no pic yet!  I started a bit of the backstitch, too.  This one and the bunnies should be done soon.  That's good 'cause I need to start Christmas prezzies!!!

Back on the 10th with another project, but not a new start!!!  LOL!!!

More Snappers!

Happy Fourth, to those who are celebrating :D

I chose to work on my Bent Creek Snappers again, starting on the 30th.  Was a little busy so not quite as much done as I would have liked!  Here's where the project was:

I finished off April Glooms:

Then did May Blooms - both are in the pic because I also did more border to the left:

And finished up here, rather wrinkly:

So not too bad, I guess.  That suitcase in June is a monster, compared to the other blocks.  It's over 1,000 stitches.  But I'll conquer it next time - it may be the only block I get done, but I'll get it!

I have to pull at least three double shifts in the next few days so I am going to pick something really easy, next.  It may be another new start.  I dunno.

Oh, and here's a pic of the Darkest Green that I had already stitched up on 'Great Light'.

I'll be back at least by the 10th with another post!  Hope everyone's having a great stitching week :D :D :D