A Bit of a Frustration

Has anyone noticed that Cross Stitch and Country Crafts magazine does not list the designer of the piece (except when they do a designer spotlight)?  I know they probably were done by staff designers but many of them have probably moved on to open their own design houses.  Most other magazines like Cross Stitch!, Country Stitch and Just Cross Stitch credit the designer.  Boo!

WIP Part 3

I'm down to two more weekdays of freedom before class starts again.  I managed to work on three more WIPs.

Do Not Meddle - I gridded the next page and put in a bit of the green.

Country Grace - I got the missing color of DMC so I was able to start the border and backstitch the leaves.

Winter on Logan's Creek - Doesn't look like much yet.

WIP Part 2

I had a bit of a setback this weekend when I split my right thumbnail with a cheese grater right down into the pink. After being stuck in a band aid for a few days, I was able to cut part of it off so it won't snag anymore and I am back to stitching.

We had knitting and crochet at the library this Saturday.  I was able to finish my first crochet project.

The pattern is the Original Crochet Prayer Shawl from off the web.  It is not quite even on the edges so I am thinking about adding a border.  The pattern itself was not terribly hard:  one row of single crochet and then three rows of double.
I admit to doing a bit of shopping this weekend.  I hit Jo-Ann's DMC sale and picked up a bunch of floss and another piece of 28 ct. Sand Carolina Linen.  Then, I went back later to the Jo-Ann in Lewisville for another two skeins of floss and another piece of Carolina Linen.  I also got some stuff for our Father's Day present (which I hope to share in a few weeks).  I've been picking up the Carolina linen a little at a time.  I need four pieces of it for a project I want to do (yes, I know I've started so many patterns but, well, who cares!) and Jo-Ann is one of the few places that carries it.

I also received some stash from Needle in a Haystack.  I was finally able to get the final charm to finish my Gardner's Cottage.  I have not yet assembled everything but I hope to have it done shortly.  I also ordered the Rainbow Gallery threads I needed for Fuji since neither 123stitch or ABCstitch carry them.

I had two more starts this week.  I was not intending to start these projects but I finally found a solution to my problem.  I have had these two projects on my list for a long time but the problem was that the fabric I needed for one of them had been discontinued.  It was 26 ct. Golden Flax linen.  The other was natural linen which is easy enough to find, but since they are both the same size, I wanted them to have identical count fabric, meaning I had to find a solution for the Golden Flax first.

I was staring at the remainder of the champagne linen I had from Nancy over at Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe and I realized that it would be perfect.  It is 32 ct and I had natural linen in 32 ct. so now I have two starts.

I also was able to touch a few more of my WIPs.

Fuji - With the fuzzy Wisper floss

Marsh Marigolds on Logan's Creek - Almost to the very top!

Jingle As Ye Enter, Jingle as Ye Go - that red part is one of the "ye"s

A Time of Thanksgiving - A little more of the top done

And that's all for me now.  Join me later :)

WIP Work Part 1

I had a dentist appointment this morning.  After I got back, I set to work on some of my WIPs in the basket.

I started with "Snow White Discovers the Cottage," a kit that I know I will be working on for awhile because it's solidly stitched.

Houston, we have a tree!

After I worked on it for awhile, I pulled "Trimming the Tree" back out. I was able to complete a bit more of the center tree.

Then, I pulled out "A Year in Cross Stitch" to add a bit to the Grapes and Vines portion.  Here's some pictures.

Next I put a few stitches in "Jingle as Ye Enter, Jingle as Ye Go," which is a new start for today.

Next, I put "Sunflower Sampler" in the Q Snap and finished the bottom lettering.  Then I extended the border and started on the left side leaves and flowers.

Stitch from Stash - May Update

I spent quite a bit this month: $16.19 (the linen doesn't count because it was a gift).  I actually bought new patterns not from SCRAP that I've been wanting for awhile.  I also got some fabric for an upcoming project and one skein of DMC (because I am always needing yet another color).

I also had a lot of starts this month.  I haven't had this many WIPs in a long time.  I've been trying to stick to only a few pieces but with college crunch time coming up, I figured this would by my only chance to start stuff.  Starting always takes the longest with having to measure and cut the fabric, finding the center and putting in the first few stitches.  I started one more piece today which I will show in a minute.

First, the starts.

I did start a Hardanger Pincushion kit that I had but I don't have a picture of it.  I'm not terribly happy with its progress.

Fuji

Winter on Logan's Creek

Starlight Angel

A Time of Thanksgiving

Country Grace

And the newest start today:

Trimming the Tree - Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe

I had a few WIPs that were carried over from last month:

Marsh Marigolds on Logan's Creek

A Year in Cross Stitch

I also had two finishes.

The Seasons

Autumn Sampler

I start summer school in June.  I am hoping to touch each of my WIPs over the summer.  We'll see how that goes.  

New Stitching Basket

Up until now, I haven't really had a "stitching basket."  I know many of my fellow bloggers have a stitching basket where they keep all their WIPs.  My husband got me this basket for all my Mother's Day presents and I am now using it to hold all my new WIPs.

I also did some work on "Country Grace."  I am missing a color for the border so I have stopped here until my next trip to the string store.

Progress Report

I got most of a page of Fuji done.  It's missing the Wisper floss and there's still some backstitching to do.

I've made a bit of headway on Marsh Marigolds too.

I also was able to finish the bottom border on Sunflower Sampler.

Stash

I received two pieces of stash in the mail.

The first was a piece of linen from Nancy over at Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe.  I ordered it to go with the two patterns I had: Trimming the Tree and Jingle as Ye Go. My husband told me to order it as a Mother's Day gift.  It looks like it will be fun to stitch on.

The second was two patterns from Crossed Wing that I've been wanting to stitch.  My grandmother stitched their work extensively and now I hope to be stitching a Nuthatch soon.

Unfortunately, the mailperson folded them to cram them into my mailbox :(

A Time of Thanksgiving

I was able to stitch some more on A Time of Thanksgiving today.  This is the piece that I have modified from the original a bit.  The patterns is out of Cross Stitch! Magazine.  It originally called for 16 ct. Sandhill Aida but I am using 14 ct. Beige Aida because that was what was in my stash (Stitch from Stash, after all).  It also called for one strand of floss for both cross stitch and backstitch.  I think that's a little light, even for 16 count.  One strand on 18 count looks a little thin and this piece definitely does not look thinly stitched.  Especially since I've upped the count, I'm using 2 strands.

That's actually green floss, not black.  The lighting played with the color a bit.

Marsh Marigolds

I spent some time stitching on Marsh Marigolds today.

Fuji Progress

Hello Everyone.

I stitched quite a bit on Fuji yesterday.  I've decided I'm going to switch to something else in the meantime.  I'm missing a color of needed DMC.

Hermiting

For my Mother's Day present, my husband is letting me hermit and stitch which is nice.  I decided to finally start a whole bunch of projects that have been at the top of my "want to stitch" list."

First up was a Dimples Designs piece called "Fuji" which I picked up at SCRAP for $2 a few years ago.

I am stitching it on a piece of 32 count antique white (at least I think it's antique white, I get antique white and ivory confused some times).  It calls for mostly DMC but I will have to order some Whisper and Splendor to finish it.

The second piece I started was called "Winter on Logan's Creek."  It's the companion piece to "Marsh Marigolds" which I have about 2/3 finished.  Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of the finished piece out of the magazine.  It's being stitched on 14 ct. light blue Aida which I had in my stash.

The third piece I picked up was "Starlight Angel" which is out of a leaflet I've had for awhile.  I have talked about wanting to stitch it in the past but I was missing a lot of the threads for it and I thought it was supposed to go on 28 count Monaco but then I found it that it was really supposed to be stitched on 18 count Aida, which I had.

I only stitched a bit of the sleeve so far.  I will have to order some more blending filament and also the ribbon eventually.  It also calls for Medicis but I don't know what that is.

Next, I set my sights on "Quail Family."  I only put a few stitches in to mark the center and they blend in so I did not take a picture.

I have two other pieces that I am also going to start on: "Give Thanks" and "Country Prayer."  I have the fabric for both but I have not found the center and put stitches in them yet.  I did not have the 16 ct. Sandalwood Aida for Give Thanks, but I was able to substitute some 14 ct. Beige Aida and I think it will look fine.

Happy Mother's Day