A Finish to Finish March

Lavender Fields. 

 It was not a big or complicated project.  Took about 50 hours, but I am so spoiled by Chatelaine Designs and some other designs that are varied that I had trouble letting this one hold my attention.  Once I got about 3/4 of the way done, then I was on a mission.  This is the project I will be donating for the Lavender Festival in Blanco this year.  Hopefully someone will appreciate it.  I will have to do some finishing on it.  Always a challenge for me.  It is not one of my best, but I am OK with the way it turned out.

Kis,

Books Reading Books, HAED

Moved on to the next page, Number  11.  Am trying to work on this weekly for one day and will make another attempt at parking on this page.

Knotgarden, Chatelaine

Did a little ore work on this project but not much.  I will probably make good progress while we are traveling in a couple of weeks.

17th Century Irish Garden, Liz Taylor Deihl

I am having a little trouble with this one.  I think because it is a little tedious as the sections are pretty small.  I am also not too fond of the fabric.  I surely am spoiled!

My sister was here for a visit recently and saw Chatelaine's Old World Vinery.  She fell in love with it so it looks that that will be my next large start.  I am excited about it, but I am well aware how long these can take.   I may put the mini mandalas off for a while and concentrate on this one instead. I plan to start this one once I am back in Texas.  I will be using the (over 30") milinium frame and a floor stand.  I have more room in the living area to spread out so it is more conducive to larger projects.  It is just too large to work on while traveling.  I got an Omanik stand last year while I was there and I really was not that thrilled with it.  I see so many rave reviews of it that I may give it another try while I am there.  I never realised how much "open area" is on this project.  It seems odd that those corner blocks under the leaves are bare.  Hmmmm.  Looks like a possible counting nightmare for me.

Not much work on anything else.  I am getting the house ready for some construction/remodeling and getting ready to leave for Texas at the same time.  I am really glad to be going back East!  Not sure why as the weather here has been so fabulous.  The only problem with being here this year has been that the dogs have been in and out of the vet it seems every week.  Wierd injuries, all healed, nothing serious, just some annoying and scarey things.

And of course there is the dilemma of how much stash, supplies and projects to take.  I always say I am going to take only kitted projects and WIPS and not try to haul any fabric or other supplies, but it just does not work that way for me.  Having two houses and two sets of stash seems kind of silly, but perhaps that is what I need to do.  That way, when I change houses I have all sorts of "new" stuff!  Then again it seems like a real waste of money and I know cannot remember which item is at which house.  I left some Qsnaps there last year, but who knows the size, etc.  Kitted projects and WIPs seems the smartest option, but then how do I leave all my non-DMC threads.  What if I get an attack of creativity.  And of course I simply cannot go without my binder of patterns (which weighs at least 10 pounds).  I am trying to limit myself to one plastic tote thing, but that is not working either!  How fortunate that I have this to worry about, right?

That is it until we are on the road.

Thanks for visiting.

Mid March

It has been a busy and interesting few weeks.  Rocking along on all these WIPS.  But no finishes this month so far.  Trying to do some serious organization before I have to pack up and head East in about a month.

I am sure it is my imagination, but there have been a plethora of little annoying things happening in the past few days.  Makes me stressed and ill tempered.  Nothing major,  just those minor things that get on my nerves and distract me from what I want to accomplish.


17th Century Irish Garden, Liz Taylor Deihl

 I have determined that the Madeira Threads that are with the Irish Garden will have to be put on bobbins as I pull out one strand.  I am not sure I like the Madeira threads as much as I like DMC.  They seem alot "thinner" and prone to tangling and shredding.  So far this project is coming along nicely.  The chart is different in several ways but it is not bad once I get the hang of it.  The instructions are not as clear as I like but it is testing my brain power!  Lots of fractional stitches and back stitching so far but not enough to make it a pain to stitch.  I think the cats are really cute.  There is a story about them that I will put with the finished project.

Books Reading Books, HAED

Still working on the same page.  Try as I might I simply cannot figure out the parking method.  I am going to try once again on the next page.  I would like to at least do the page in some kind of systematic order rather than scattering all over the place.  It makes the tiny holds of the 18 count Aida harder to count than it needs to be.  I really want to figure out a better system as I have many pages to go to complete this project.

Lavender Fields, John Clayton

I find this a little boring as I thought I might.  I am just about 2/3 of the way done and would like  to finish it this month.

Gardens of London, Chatelaine

I finally got the top part of the buildings done.  Now moving on to the left side......more buildings.  Here again, perhaps being able to park my threads would be helpful.   I put it on a different size Qsnap and have not decided if I will try a large scroll frame again until I get to Texas.

Grace Needlepoint Project, Dimensions

Had to do some riding in the car last week so I got a little more accomplished on this project.

I also ordered a new kind of frame.  I am trying to find an easier way to work on the large Chatelaine designs I have kitted and ready to go.  While I like the Q Snaps I dislike moving them around and I do not like the way the excess fabric as to be wadded up.  In particular, because I know I will not be able to launder the chatelaine design projects I am concerned about constantly messing with the stitched areas.  I look at it and it looks like some of the stitches are worn.  Probably my imagination.

Here are the "fabric stretchers".  I have not yet put them to use.  I have been trying to avoid starting a new project!  I put the marks on the bars for lining up the fabric.  They are from Just a Thought.  I have two of their stands and am anxious to use these bars.

Pumpkin Swirl, Glendon Place

And last but not least, I frogged the incorrect stitches from Pumpkin Swirl and put it back on the scroll bars.  It was one block off so the center did not line up correctly.    I have been beading as I go so  I think I will just finish up the stitching before I add any more beads.  I hope I can get this done this year.  While I like this project and have a couple of other Glendon Place dessert series kitted I am not sure I will be starting another one any time soon.  It is not that they are hard, but they are a little tedious with all the beading.  Time will tell I suppose.

I seem to have a few projects that I have put aside (at least six).  I call them my TWIDME (this WIP is driving me crazy).  Pumpkin swirl is only the latest.  They are haunting me lately so I think I will try to get back to them one at a time.

That is it for now.  We have a busy few weeks coming up; guests and birthdays and packing for our trip.  Hopefully I will be able to put in a little stitching time.

Thanks for visiting and for putting up with my ranting!

March is Here at Last

March Start

17th Century Irish Garden by  Liz Turner Diehl, Inc. 

      The fabric is a 28 count Irish Linen Natural Color by Charles Craft.   It is very stiff, but what the heck, it came with the pattern.  It also came with Madiera cotton threads, which is different for me.  They are a little tough so I put them all on a ring.  You pull the strand out from the bottom of the little sleeve thing, but then what to do with the other threads once you have separated one out for stitching.  I sure do not want to put the all on bobbins, that is for sure.  This pattern also calls for a couple of Rainbow Blending Threads, Lacquered Jewels and a Burmilana Wood Blend that I am going to have to substitute but it is basically a black silk, so I should not have too much trouble.    I got the chart from Ebay last year.  It included the linen and Madiera threads, and 123 stitch had the Rainbow Blending threads.  I am hoping this project goes really fast.  It does not look to complex at this point.

This will be my first Non-Chatelaine mandala garden.  The chart is different from the way Chatelaines are charted so I will see  how it goes.

February Finishes

Claddagh Ring, Cross Stitch and Needlework Magazine April 12016

I though it would be perfect for March and it worked up really quickly (about 16 hours).  Of course I added some beads for bling that were not called out in the pattern.  I did this one from my stash so I substituted a couple of the colors.  I am really appreciating my DMC chart with the actual threads attached.  It was pricey, but I have used it often in substituting colors so I do not have to purchase anything.  The photo does now show that the material is a 28 count even weave in Mushroom that I had put some green dye on.  The shading is very subtle.  It looks really light in the photo

 I think this project is screaming for a border.  I will certainly be on the look out for one.  There are lots of options on the internet for Celtic knots and the like so I should be able to find something suitable.

Moonrise Castle, Camelot Designs

I also started on Moonrise Castle at the end of February.  I got this pattern from a thrift store for 25 cents some years ago.  The pattern is so old that is calls Kreinik "Balger".   I have been wanting to do this for a while.  I am using a 14 count aida that I ice dyed last year during my dying phase.  I am anxious to see how it will turn out.  Had to order some of the threads so am waiting for them to show.
Am using my EZ stitch scroll bars with my lap frame.

You cannot really see the Kreinik used in the photo but they are there.  I am happy with it.  It took about 24-26 hours of stitching.  I did not even mind the back stitching (since the thing is pretty small)

I do have to refrain from starting these smaller projects a they tend to keep me from working on my others for some reason right now.  

WIP Work

I decided that I will work on my HAED, Books Reading Books on Sunday each week.   I usually watch the NASCAR race so that gives me a good 3 hours or so that I can make some progress.  The confetti is still killing me on this project.    And while I am complaining I am trying to figure out how to make my Gardens of London easier to work with near the border.  All that fabric!  I gotta hit the dollar store for some hair clamps!  All the other WIPs are, well, WIPs.

That is it for now.

Thanks for visiting.