Saturday, March 21, 2009

I almost forgot.....


.....to post a picture of the pinkeep I did for the Year Long Prairie Schooler exchange. It isn't a great picture but I think it turned out ok generally. I hadn't ever stitched a Prairie Schooler design when I ran across this exchange but I liked a lot of the patterns so I joined. I received a beautiful pincushion from my exchange partner which I will post a picture of another time when the light is good and I can take a better picture of it. This was also my very first pinkeep creation. The fabric was hand dyed and tinted a bit more yellow then the picture shows. I'm looking forward to the next round of the exchange.
I will also be part of the Blackbird design exchange coming up in April. Goodness, with the two exchanges, the teapot, a Nora Corbett design (letter J), and two very large pieces I'm starting from Scarlett Quince for my gran'ma and mother, I should be busy for awhile. It is hard to put down one to work on another!

Gran'ma's cross stitching project is done!

Today is a lazy day in the Pacific Northwest. The weather is to lazy to make an actual effort to either rain or sunshine. We get a bit of rain occassionally followed by some sun followed by some more light rain. Our household is doing the same. A bit of cross stitch, some housework and some homemade scones. My boy is up on the mountain snowboarding and my husband is listening to a motocross race on the net. Nobody has much ambition but we are getting a little bit done here and there.

My grandmother lives with us. She is 93 and moved in at the end of '08. Last summer I showed her how to cross stitch. She started off on stamped but quickly moved to Aida cloth. Her first project was on 11 count and was finished on a photo album to be given to a new baby when he is born. She will stitch his name below the horse and attached it when we are sure of his name. On a humorous note....the expecting couple are thinking of naming the baby Ryder which we didn't know at the time that gran'ma picked the horse. We couldn't have planned it better!
Next she made a very pretty bookmark that I haven't taken a picture of yet.

After that she started working on a pattern that I found in an online cross stitch magazine and had been saving it for another time. She made it into a needlebook.

She put white felt on the inside to hold her pins and needles.

I thought it was cute so I had to make my own! I'm going to send it to a friend. The linen is 28 count that has a bit of stiffness to it and I also made a scissor fob using the same linen but I did it with one floss thread over one linen thread. It is only a couple of inches tall.

I put a tangerine colored feltish fabric on the inside and finished it with a blanket stitch. On the back I stitched my initials and her intials with the date. Her name is on the back of the scissor fob.


Last but definitely not least.....

I'm working on a teapot that I found in a Just Cross stitch magazine. I love our local library. I have access to 3 different cross stitch magazines and a multitude of books. When I saw this picture I immediately thought of a friend of mine. She collects teacups, teapots and loves the color pink. I think I will finish it like a pinkeep but bigger. I have some really pretty pins that will go nicely with it. The poor teapot doesn't have a handle at the moment (it should be on the left side of the pot) because I have ripped it out 3 times. I am not happy with how the light pink is laying down. I might have to change the color.

Later I will post my grandmother's new project. She also likes teapots and picked a hand dyed pink sparkly Aida cloth to put one on. The pattern is from a series of teapots that came out last year by Just Another Button company. I believe it was for June.
Have a great day!
Sheril

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Ok, this is the last post for today


I am finding that my picture taking abilities leave something to be desired. I'll definitely be working on that!

I really enjoyed working on this piece. I have an aversion to 1/2 and 1/4 stitches of which this piece has none. This will get framed at some point and hung on a wall at my house. Can you believe that after over 20 years of cross stitching it will be my first major piece that I have kept? I wish now that I had created it on linen but I was still in an aida cloth stage of life and hadn't found the wonderful world of linen.

I regret .....


I regret the fact that over the years I was remiss in taking pictures of most of my projects before giving them to others. I will try to post pictures for the few I do have and I will definitely be taking more pictures from now on!

I haven't decided on the finish for this design yet. I found the pattern while on vacation in New Jersey. I'm sure most of you will understand when I say that the first thing I did was located the nearest cross stitch store and went shopping!

New to blogging!


Ok, this is my maiden blog voyage so forgive me if it takes awhile to figure things out. I love these horses so I thought they could be my first official picture post.