Hello... today I'm going to talk about something old, somethings new, nothing I've borrowed and something blue... and it has NOTHING to do with a wedding so get that right out of your pretty little head... I'm going to talk about my cross stitching so far this year... I know there is another week or so left in this month but it definitely feels like 6 months have passed... and on one hand days have flown by, but weeks have taken their time.
In looking back I have finished some lovely pieces this year if I do say so myself, and I do... but I have also started a significant (for me) number of BIG projects... and the Catholic guilt in me has me thinking about circling back and perhaps finishing one or two of them... BUT and that it s BIG BUT... it didn't stop me from starting ANOTHER BIG PROJECT this week... hanging my head... I have no self control... good thin I'm not into drugs, alcohol or gambling... I'd be toast...LOL... and we aren't going to speak of my issues with fabric and flowers at the moment...
OK... let me start with some old... something very very old... like a decade old... I was showing some charts to a friend and we got to talking about Rosewood Manor... I LOVE so many of Karen Kluba charts and she has a ton... and in perusing my stash I found this project in a rumpled ziploc bag and why did I stop stitching on this? Excuse the wrinkles...
This is Quaker Diamonds ...it is a BIG piece... it is on an unknown piece of I think, 28 ct. evenweave , and it is a lovely rosy brown... I think the Valdani threads really pop on this... now I checked back on the blog (and boy I'm glad I have this history of what crazy stuff I've gotten into) and I found that I dyed this piece of fabric... I have no recollection of that ... it appears I used Cocoa Brown Rit dye... and I started this back in April of 2012... and at one point I almost stitched in the date 2013 as I thought I would finish it that year... ROFL and laughing and laughing. That means this has been hanging around for 12 years... sheesh... anyway I did put some time in on this and it may be a BIG one I can finish this year... my plan right now is to give this one some attention once a week.
Let's more onto something new... I stitched these adorable little spools from Crafty Bluebonnet on some bright mottled yellow...
I need to get them FFO'd.. just going to be simple little pillows... I did stitch the "spool" part as satin stitches instead of cross stitches... I like the bit of dimension. Oh do check out her Etsy ... she has lots of other cute spools that I'd like to add to my stash...
And then there is this guy... I was scrolling through Etsy and well he just buzzed past me... this is Bee's Knees by Notforgotten Farms...ain't he the cutest little bee?
I loves me a creature wearing clothes... so spiffy... and I don't think I've stitched any bee stuff before but I thought he'd be cute in my Summer/garden display... you can't have flowers without bees... I need to see if I have a small frame I can pop him into, or I'll make him into a little pillow.
Moving onto intermediate projects... not OLD but only slightly new... those started this year and have been tucked into lovely storage envelopes for a little nap... first there is Summer Schoolhouse by With Thy Needle and Thread... this was a Leap Year Day start ... and it got some attention of a couple of weeks ... but not very long...
I started this with Judy from the Patchwork Times and Denise from Just Quiltin'... Denise is just about finished ... check it out here... and as far as I can tell Judy has a small start, but she had planned to work on it here and there... so I'm somewhere between the two... this one requires thinking as I'm making changes in almost every section... and lots of times I don't want to do any thinking when I'm stitching, so this is gonna take a while.
Another BIG project from this year was Teresa Kogut's Faith, Hope, Peace and Love... I started this the beginning of April and I lost interest before the month was over... sheesh... my attention span seems to be shrinking with each passing day...
it is pretty... and I will say that the pictures I'm posting today are a really good capture of the colors of the linens I've dyed. I have a terrible time with my Iphone ... it has a particularly hard time with greens and I seem to do a lot on green linen. Anyway this is one where I'm not making any changes to the motifs but I am using my own selection of floss colors and it requires some thinking... not as much as Summer Schoolhouse... but enough to tax my little pea brain some days...
And wait... like that Ginsu knife commercial.. there's more... Pennsylvania German Stocking by Carriage House Samplings...
love the color I painted the linen... love the flosses I chose... only 4 colors... easy motifs some of which are mirror images and easy repeats... minimal thinking... OMG... I started this less than 3 weeks ago... worked on if for about 2 days... then some other shiny thing popped up and bam! it finds itself napping ...like I said... rapidly decreasing attention span...
And to wrap this us... Something Blue... another BIG project... this is Red Rhapsody from Rosewood Manor... and yes your eyes aren't deceiving you there is nothing red about my version...
I dyed the linen with Sage Rit dye... its a new color as far as I can tell and I LOVE IT!! It is a dusty turquoise, and while the other pics on this post came out true to color this one is a bit off... but it it very pretty and I love how mottled the fabric is... the floss I found for this is called Something Blue from Gentle Arts... I love that there is quite a bit of variation in this floss ...that's what I was looking for... I want some areas to stand out and others to be "ghosty"... As you can see I haven't gotten real far but we all know how happy a new start makes us feel...
As for being more focused...well... not sure it is going to happen... I keep thinking I should take a break from seasonal pieces and concentrate on some of these BIG pieces I've already started ... and we aren't even going to delve into some to the BIG samplers I started last year... they are quietly snoozing... so maybe... just maybe I will shift my focus and confine my seasonal stitching to one or two smalls ... after I put away the patriotic stuff I want to get out my chickens and gardening stuff... decisions, decisions.
As for sewing I haven't gotten a thing done this last week. I brought home 2 quilts from Delinda... got the big one trimmed and realized I don't have enough of any one fabric to do the binding, so I need to make a scrappy binding... I started but that's as far as I got. Elliott didn't want to play downstairs on Tuesday... he wanted to sit out on the sunroom porch with is robot toys so I let him...I did get a little cross stitching in that day... we'll see what this coming week brings...
Like lots of other places in the US it has been HOT HOT HOT here in southwest Ohio... upper 90's and no rain... so glad I had my AC unit replaced last month... every day I see AC repair company trucks in my neighborhood... even on a Sunday... I probably should water morning and evening but I've just been doing it in the evening... and I even broke down and got out the sprinklers for the grass... I HATE watering the grass... my yard is so irregularly shaped that I end up watering the sidewalk as much as the grass... I shudder to think what my electric bill and my water bill are going to be this month... the meters are spinning like slot machines... and I ain't a winner. Fingers crossed for some rain today and maybe mid week.
Got lots of stuff on my calendar next week that has me out of the house ... probably won't get much done and I'm in the mood to just work on whatever is the easiest ... both of those samplers from Rosewood Manor fill that bill... and I'm pretty sure there are a couple of new things from 123Stitch that will be making an appearance in my mail slot... I have no restraint...LOL ... but it sure is fun to get happy mail!!
I'll link up with Kathy's Quilts... I hope that wherever you are the temperatures are lower than what they are here ... it seems too early to be this hot... and yet I know we've been this way before... and there isn't much I can do to change it today...
happy stitching-
carol fun
Those are some delightful projects for sure. It's been not quite as hot here as other areas of the country. Your projects make me think maybe I should try some dyeing some fabrics. I've just been too scared of the dye running. How has your luck been so far? Happy stitching!
ReplyDeleteLovely projects you are working on! We have been 100+, and I am looking forward to 90 degree weather this next week!
ReplyDeletePreciosos bordados y las telas teñidas tienen colores ideales. BESICOS.
ReplyDeleteI always want to try some of the seasonal pieces that I see, but I have so much already in progress that I stop myself. I hope you get to finishing some of these gorgeous projects. I love that little bee.
ReplyDelete