A Good Day

Here's the doily I've been working on - 'Pineapple Centerpiece' from the House of White Birches book 'Pineapple Sensations'. It's only about halfway done, which will make it the biggest doily I've ever made. I'm not quite sure what the finished dimensions will be; I'm making it in size 10 crochet thread instead of the size 30 the pattern called for, because I wanted it to be big.
And see what the lovely mailperson brought me! An autographed copy of 'Fantasy Wedding Blessing' by Dragon Dreams!!! It was sent to me for free by the designer, Jennifer Aikman-Smith. And it came without being bent! All the way from Canada to WV! Absolutely amazing... now to get the pretty silk floss I need so I can start it! Sis gets married in August. The photo kind of washed out the pic of the pattern, but trust me, it's a beauty.

I stopped at a yard sale on my way home from the post office, and found these:

An ornament kit, four yards of metallic gold-red-and-green trim, and a cute lil' doll with a basket full of tiny sewing notions. And I got it all for $2!

Here's a slightly better view of the doll... she needs a little TLC, but she's adorable... and if I can't get her looking better, I can always steal her notions for another project... hehehe...

And last, does anybody know the name of this pattern/kit? Or which company it's from? My aunt wants it - she found the picture, but had no information and I don't think I've ever seen it before.

One Whole Doggy

This is what I got done last night - this morning, I finished the purple and started the cushion before I left the house.

Amazing what I can actually get done... normally I'd have already stuck her in a drawer and moved on to another project, hehehe.

Pretty Good Progress

I didn't do too badly with my stitching for a work day! In fact, I think I got a little more done than I do on my days off...

Spike went from 567 stitches to 790. He's still only a block of dark green, though. No point in taking a pic.

My puppy needs half a back leg to have a whole body.

I started 'My Baby Duck' because I said I was going to start it in March. I got about 15 stitches on it, but hey! it's started!

And I still have more of the evening to go. I bought 'Rose Red' on DVD the other day, so I think I'll watch it and work on the puppy some more. Slow going, because I sit there staring at the screen just holding the needle, but it's a looooong movie. Like, 4 hours long. I may not finish it tonight, but I should finish the puppy's leg!

Also, I was looking through some old - very old - cross stitch magazines when my Mum stopped by. Usually she's just 'oh, that's nice' when she sees my stitching, but this sampler she actually liked! So she'll be getting it for Mother's Day if I get the puppy done for my grandmother in the next week or two. It's called 'Shaker Mulberry Sampler' and is from Women's Circle Cross Stitching magazine, October 1987.

It'll look cute with the Schoolhouse Sampler I stitched for her... way back in 2003, before I had to give up stitching for a while. That's one of the few other things she liked before it was actually stitched up. She loves everything I give her, but I'm not entirely sure if she likes them because of what they are, or because I made it for her. She is a mummy, after all. I hear they're like that...

^__^

If I get the puppy's body done before bedtime, I'll post a pic!

And if I stay up all night because the movie terrified me, I'll post a pic of even more stitching!

Just chattering

Here's the SBQ for this week:

When you stitch a pattern that you have downloaded do you print outthe pattern or do you stitch directly from your computer screen?

I print it out. I can't imagine even trying to work from the screen, and I was amazed at the number of people who said they did. I have to be able to scribble all over my patterns and use those see-through rulers or I can't keep my place at all. I've only tried working from the screen once, when I didn't have ink. Didn't last five minutes.

I got some more of Rose of Sharon done but still not enough for a pic. She's very confetti-y in that arch. I'm trying to work down to her arm so I can alternate between the two different parts of the design - the girl and the stonework/roses. Doing that makes it easier for me. Like on Archangel, I'm alternating between the over-one and the over-two stitching. So much easier! Tomorrow I'll be picking the puppy kit back up. I have three days off this week so I'm going to see if I can get her done. If none of my family pops up out of nowhere with movie/shopping/dinner/whatever plans, I could do it... we'll see how that goes.
I think they have radar for when I sit down to stitch: 'oh, she's stitching! time to go interrupt!'
Hehehe...

It's Earth Day!

I'm going to change my playlist - 'What A Wonderful World' by Louis Armstrong shall be the first song for a while. I love that song anyway - so it may be the first song for a good long time! And my other grandmother, who has passed away, loved 'Blueberry Hill', so that's second. They both make me think of outdoors and all that... Well, I'm going to spend some time outdoors, myself! But I'll post some WIPs tonight if I get enough done! I'm going to spend my 'Earth Hour' - the one where you turn off all the lights and such - outdoors, but then I'm coming back in, turning on one light, and stitching.

~

Well, here's some of what I was doing on Earth Day!
Starting my garden! It's getting close to being warm enough: 2-3 more weeks and there shouldn't be any more frost; a month at the most. So I've started the basics inside. The big group is mostly tomatoes - I love tomatoes! - and other veggies. The small group is my sister's herbs. We plant flowers, too, but usually just directly into the garden for them. Flowers do better than vegetables around here.

I also got some of my stash in - these were ordered before I started my 10-project challenge! There'll be more trickling in later. The first two I've had for a little while, I just didn't put a pic up. Brinkerhoff Home by Debbie Patrick, and Why Hoard Gold? by Dragon Dreams. The group at the bottom is all the pieces of 'The Album Quilt' from old issues of Just Cross Stitch. It's a huge project and it will probably be next year before I start it - but I found an offer to get them for just the shipping, and since I've wanted them for a long time, I just snapped them up! ^__^ I was also sent the threads for The Wave by a stitcher who'd finished the project and wanted her leftovers to get a good home - I'll put them to good use, since I usually use up all the floss from kits and sometimes need more. She has a really awesome blog, go visit it here!

I'll be getting more pre-ordered stash in over the next few days - I hope - the last of stuff for a while! Got to get some money saved up for summer and a possible job change. I should be finished with my part-time classes then and ready for a new work experience... which makes me nervous but it's something different. I have trouble sticking with any one thing for a long time. Not great for retirement planning but... I can't seem to help it.

As for stitching, I got a wee bit done on Archangel but not enough for a photo. I will be working on Rose of Sharon for the rest of the weekend, and hope to get a decent chunk done. Then it's back to the puppy!

WIPs and a Finish!

Here's what my doggie looked like as of yesterday - she has front legs! Although, the white paws are not easy to see...

And here's Nautical with a bit more stitching - also with white that is difficult to see. The sail I've stitched on the boat just doesn't show up on my camera... if you click the picture, you might be able to see it.

And then there's my finish - it's a freebie from Mosey 'n Me called 'Bad Hare Day'. I scanned it and took a picture, and neither one does it justice. It's absolute adorable IRL! I used Rustico fabric because I didn't have any blue, and I thought they'd be cute on it. The chubby bunny on the left is my favorite!

The Epic Battle of the Scroll Frames

We're having such weird weather here - it's sunny and bright out and yet it's snowing. The snow doesn't stick for long, only in the mornings. Just long enough to either close the schools or put them on late schedule. Then everything clears up and is fine.

Anyway, I finally broke down and put Archangel on the scroll rods - he didn't fit in my Q-snaps anymore without mashing his stitches, and I hate to do that.

So, the frame was occupied by an old UFO - 'Pray Without Ceasing'. I almost started working on it instead of Archangel, but I resisted! I took it off, then realized that the rods it was on were too small for Archangel. So I have to hunt down the longer rods.

Then I have to fight to get him on them - I don't like to sew my projects on, or tape them. I'm too nervous that I'll ruin them. So, once he's safely on the rods, I have to get the rods on the frame ends.

Guh. Not easy. I got my Dad to tighten them up with his tools last time... you know, cheap frame, comes loose easy? So now, of course, they didn't want to come loose.

Then it was time to get the stand out. I haven't used it in ages, so it was dusty. And wobbly. And pathetic. It took my sister and I both to get it all set up - one holding bits together while the other person tightened the lil' wing nuts. Why, again, do I use these things? There are a dozen of those little things to battle, and if they're not positioned just right for stitching, you have to loosen-tighten them all over again.

Then neither of us could find the acid-free tissue paper that we use for a lot of our crafts - I always put it between the frame and the stitching.

Then, we finally found it and it was all put together, the blasted thing was too heavy and kept tilting forward. I remember setting a cinderblock on it last time, but the thing wasn't packed when we moved - why would I pack a cinderblock? lol! Anyway, maybe you can tell what we finally did in the picture... hey, whatever works...

Anyway, I am still working on the puppy, too! I'll try and get a scan of my progress of it tomorrow. She has a little over half a body now!