Small Finish

I just finished what I think they call a primitive embroidery, lol.  It was fun and fast and easy and turned out cute for spring.  I also painted the frame myself.   Anyway since it was needlwork I thought I would share a couple of pictures.

I started working on Teresa Wentzler's Tapestry Cat again.  It is one of my WIP's from before I was married so at least 7 years ago, lol.  Anyway I have found I am really enjoying myself stitching this one again.  I love all the colors and am having fun with it.  I think last time I put it away I had finished the cat and was pretty tired of it.  I think I will put off getting a new project for a while and just work on this one.  Our local needlework shop closed so I have to drive about 45 minutes to the one in Salt Lake.    Here a few pictures of my tapesty cat in progress, the leaves and flowers are all new work.

Decisions

So I have narrowed my new project down to two.  The first I love and is so cute and my girls would love it.  It is the "spookiest" advent calendar for Halloween made by Blue Ribbon Designs.  You can see more pictures, supply list etc at the Designers website HERE.   I really liked several designs they had including the new valentine release and the Christmas advent calendar.

The 2nd one I love and I keep going back to, but honestly I think it would end up being one of those WIP's I have for years.  I guess it is my ADD I have a hard time sticking to one project for that long to finish LOL.  But honestly it really pulls on all the mothering feelings I have and I love looking at it.  The designer is Mirabilia, Mother's Arms.  The most beautiful example of this piece completed can be found at another cross stitch blog:  Life In Stitches.  I encourage you to click on the previous link to view her finished piece.  It really makes me want to go and start it today.

So as I am without project I went through my WIP's box and I really have to laugh at myself, I had a shepherds bush kit I started working on and realized the reason I had put it away was the border that was 1/3 complete was missing a stitch from basically the VERY beginning and needed to be removed and restitched.  I removed some of it and then got distracted when I got back to stitching I dug back into the WIP pile and started on a Theresa Wentzler piece and realized that the tape I had used on the edges was so old it was no longer sticky and was falling apart and I could not stitch it in that condition without fraying the linen.  (yes, I know better and overcast all my edges now, but I think I started this piece over 10 years ago and didn't know that then)  So I actually completed the overcast on the entire piece and spent several hours doing so.  So although I have spent hours "stitching"  I don't really have much to show for it, lol.  

Project Finished!

I am so excited to have finished this one. It really turned out nice too. I finished it this morning instead of doing dishes, laundry or various other household tasks that could really use my attention, lol. My excuse is I have another cold so it just felt better to sit and stitch. The beads are opalescent in color and really play off the dark peach well. Things that don't photograph well. All images should be clickable so you can view a closer look if interested.

I decided now that the beads and everything is in the quirky heart works so I am going to leave it the way it was graphed. I was reading a site that explained what stitching judges look for in winning pieces and the 2nd one was no pet hair. LOL I WILL NEVER achieve that one. All of mine have pet hair no matter how hard I try to keep it out of there. Guess I shouldn't be suprised having two cats and a long haired dog. I am really excited to take this and my other daughters birth announcement in to be framed, I will have to actually work this month so that I can afford to have them done, lol.

Now for the fun part, what project do I get to buy now I have finished one?! Also which WIP am I going to pickup until I have the new project?

Current Project

I am currently working on the birth announcement for my 2nd child who is oh 3!  But it is getting close!  I have made myself not start anything new until I finish a project, OH SO PAINFUL, lol.  Plus the last few months I haven't worked on anything but this so I could finish it!  I made a ton of progress on super bowl sunday.  It was super bowl stitching for me.  I love when I get this close to finishing but I hate it as well because I find that my dishes pile up and my children complain they have no clean clothes, lol.    The designer is Marie Barber of Marie's Garden printed by Just CrossStitch, titled Celebration of Life.  I have really enjoyed stitching this one as my daughter has been so interested in the progress, she so doubted I was stitching a bear and then the back stitching went in and she could see his face and she was soo excited, lol.Before the SuperBowl of Stitching:

After the SuperBowl of Stitching:

What do you think of this heart?  It is not symetrical and kind of funky, it is stitched exactly as charted, I guess my OCD is kicking in and I really want to match up those sides of the heart, lol.  I have decided to leave it for now and see if it grows on me but I would love to hear your thoughts!

I have really enjoyed stitching the white work pictured here, the photo doesn't do the floss justice.  It is Caron Collection Waterlilies Opal 118 and has a subtle varigation that doesn't show up in the picture but is really beautiful.  I love stitching with this I think I will look for a pattern I like that uses all or a great deal of the waterlilies.

I thought it was interesting, totally unplanned but my first daughter's birth announcement that I stitched was also by Marie Barber titled Welcome Little One.    I think I stopped working on this one for almost a year because I was so afraid to cut!  But I was really happy with how it turned out and really like the drawn thread.  Yes she will be five this month and it is still not framed but it is at least complete!  I thought I would send both of them in together and frame them in a similar way.

I think I will spend some time searching for tips on photographing needlework it has turned out to be more challenging than I would have thought and I have a great camera!!