Lovers!

It's been a long time since I worked on this one!  QS Lovers is from a Freebie SAL several years ago on the HAED bulletin board.  The artwork is by Nene Thomas, who I think is retired off the site. Here's the original art:

Here's how they looked last time I worked on them:

And I finished the first page, finally!!!:

Then I got a good bit more work done, mostly on page 3, but a little on page 2 and 4 :D

I'm pretty happy with this one's turn!  I think I'll move on to Unspoken while I'm in a HAED sort of mood :D

Happy Stitching!

Tama

Flower of the East - 2016 #1

So I chose my lovely adopted 'Flower of the East' to work on next - this one I am very, very slow with because she is on the worst, floppiest linen ever and yet I can't put her in a hoop or frame.  I have to work with her in hand - it is the only way I can make my stitches look the same as the ones already done.  I suspect they were stitched in hand, as well.

Anyway, here's where she was:

And here's where she is:

I finished all the cross stitches for the tree branch, all the flowers on the right, all the missing peach shades of half cross stitch in the 'sky', and all the backstitch on the right.  There are still french knots to do, but I'm going to finish the left side flowers and backstitch them, then put her in a Q-snap for the french knots.  There's no way I'm trying to get those done in hand.

As I work on her this year, I'm going to continue working from the top down, filling in all the random missing bits - the lady who gave her to me stopped working in the weirdest places on her!  After I get the tree branch done, there are random missing bits in the parasol to do.

For now, though, she's put away and I'm off to choose my next rotation piece!

Happy Stitching!!!

Tama

A Large Chunk of Wufei!

That title sounds a little weird, lol!

It's accurate, though - Wufei was here the last time I worked on him:

And I apologize for the flash burn, but he's here now:

I have reached the bottom of the pattern!!!  YAY!  I also got several hundred stitches of blue on his chest done.  I'm quite happy with this rotation turn.

I think I know what I'll work on next, but I won't say in case I change my mind in the morning.

Happy Stitching!

Tama

Portrait of Christ #2

Here's where I got to by the fourth - going fairly quick for slowpoke me :D

I remember seeing this kit on several blogs a few years ago and all of them called it difficult - I think that was why I got it.  For the challenge, lol!  There is a lot of confetti and blends but after a HAED - this is easy-peasy.

(Hopefully, those won't turn in to 'famous last words'!!!)

I haven't really picked a project yet for today - I put a few stitches on the October block of my Snappers but I don't think I'm sticking with it.  I feel the need to work on another WIP and then pick up the Snappers on the 10th.

Maybe Wufei will be next!  Nice big blocks of color :D :D :D

Happy stitching!

Tama

Unspoken, Snappers AGAIN, & Another New Start

I worked on 'Unspoken' for maybe 2 of the 5 days he should have gotten - I got distracted by jigsaw puzzles.

He was here:

Now he's here:

At least there are some soft-focus branches starting to show up!

Snappers got another turn but I neglected it, too.  I managed to finish up the September block and all the border next to it:

So Snappers is now 3/4ths of the way done!

The lighting was dim so the colors are still not correct - the leaves are a beautiful medium green and the grapes are brighter purple.  Oddly, the pear looks almost right.

I didn't finish 'Acquainted with the Night' for my father's Christmas present last year (obviously) but I had intended to finish it up this year.  I had some unopened kits laying on my table when he came up the other day, though, and he picked one up and said, "Wow - I haven't seen that picture in years!  That's a really old picture - my parents had that on the wall when I was a kid.  Are you going to stitch that one?"  So of course I am!!!  He may get two stitched presents this year, because I want to finish up Night, as well.

But here's the one he liked - excuse the flash, please:

'Portrait of Christ' - Designs for the Needle by Praying Hands for Leisure Arts.  How's that for a title? lol!  I started it on the 30th, so it's this far:

I haven't worked on it yet today, but I will.  And I will be working on it until the 4th :D  Then I will probably pick the Snappers back up - I want to finish them!  But I may work on Gift of the Eagle Feather first.  We'll see how it goes.

Happy stitching, guys!  I'm admiring all your new starts!

Tama

Profits Pouring, and Bent Creek Snappers

Three rotation turns, and two projects!  I worked on my Snappers, then my China-kit, then my Snappers again, because the first time they got very little progress.

So here is where the Snappers were:

Between the two rotation turns I managed to finish up August  (the white gulls show up clearly in real life but not with the camera) :

And get a fair bit of September done:

So now I am almost 3/4 s done with this project.  I need to finish up September Brings and get the border further down on that side.

'Profits Pouring' is my partial-printed, pre-inked China kit.  I had this much done, which is all of Part One:

I did Part Two, which was much smaller - only the second crane:

And started Part Three, which is the blue bird and the flowers in the lower left corner.

There is backstitching in this part for the first time.  My stitching is covering it up, but I have also got a pattern I can go by.  I'm thinking of putting a little bit of backstitching in the cranes' wings, even though it is not called for on the pattern.

I'm having a weird issue with this - sometimes when I'm working on it, the fingers holding the needle will suddenly turn dark red at the tips and they feel like they're burning.  When I stop stitching, it fades in just a few minutes.  I don't know if it's because of some chemical on the fabric or the floss (I have a lot of skin allergies) or because I sometimes have to hold the needle tightly to get the floss through the fabric.  The 11 count with 3 strands should be easier but the dye makes the holes smaller, so it is not easy to pull through.  I'm not sure which is the reason, but it's annoying and slows down my progress with this kit.

I'm working on Unspoken now and will be until midnight on the 24th - on the 25th, I may pick my Snappers back up.  I'm thinking of making them my focus piece so I would have my Mother's Day present for 2016.

Happy Stitching!

Tama

Gift of the Eagle Feather, #1

Here is my first rotation turn for Gift of the Eagle Feather!

It actually only got four days, since my rotation is to pick up something different on the 5th, but that's okay.  I'm pleased with what I got - I'm actually pretty close to the first eagle wing :D

I had left out one project on my rotation list so I just made a new page of '2016 WiPs'.  It's up top!

Hope you all had a Happy New Year :D

Tama