September Fades Away

It has been a busy month heading into an even busier month.  Good things, however; grandgirls are coming from California for a visit and some dear friends from California are coming for a visit, then we are off to California for the winter.  This is the month of California I suppose.

I did make a little progress on stitching:

FINISH

Mini Mandala 05, Chatelaine

All done.  As it turns out, I ended up enjoying the specialty stitches and beading and even the subtle color pallette.  I wish you could see how shiney it is...you will have to use your imagination.  I am really happy to have this finished.

I probably will not have a chance to frame it before I leave so it will go with me I suppose.

WIPS

Books Reading Books, Heaven and Earth

This is still going slowly.  I try to work on it a little every day, that way all the confetti does not get so overwhelming.  I decided only to post photos of page finishes.

O Canada, Jeanette Douglas

I am still really, really enjoying this piece although it is somewhat tedious.  I think because I am gifting it I am attempting to be extra careful.  Or perhaps because it is the first thing I have done using only one thread.  It is pretty different and has inspired me to do more samplers.  I am still waiting for the thread to complete the lettering, then I think it will go really fast and will be off to its forever home before the end of the year.

I did a couple of NEW STARTS this month

Hatching Christmas, Better Homes and Gardens

Am doing this as a gift on 28 count Opalescent  from Fabric Flair  but I am not sure of the color (looks ivory to me) using DMC threads.  I may or may not put all or part of the lettering but I do like the border even though it may take a while.    I am planning to do this as a flat fold so I will consider the size before I make a final decision.

Bee Keeper, Plum Street Samplers

I really HATE the fabric that came with this, but I am afraid if I do not use it, I will never use it for anything else so I am going with it.  It is very, very stiff.  I am, however enjoying it. The sample was stitched on 35 count Natural Northn Cross Linen  but I am not sure if that is what came with the chart.  It uses Weeks Dye Works threads.  I picked this up while we were in Canada over the summer from Traditional Stitches in Calgary.

I have not picked up any other WIP in the past couple of weeks.

I will be moving into Christmas projects in October  (hence the Hatching Christmas start) and I have several that I want to do so I am trying to get them kitted up and ready to go next week.

While I was picking up some missing DMC for my projects I ran across these two Kreinik sets and simply could not resist.  They are so colorful and sparkly!  They reduced them to half price so how could I resist 18 spools of kreinik for $25.00?

I have whittled my current WIPS down considerably (I am less than 10 now) so I am planning on more new starts.  I also decided that I am going to leave the Americana projects and Halloween projects (as well as some others) rather than taking them back and forth with me.     I typically work on those two types of projects while I am in Texas, so I will see how it goes this year.

Yes, I am already planning the trip West.  At least my needlepoint projects will get some attention!

If you have comments or questions do not hesitate to post them.    The blogosphere is becoming more and more sophistaced and I am still not that good at it but will do my best to find and answer your comments and inquiries whether they appear here or not.

Thank you so much for visiting.

WIP Udate

Have been busy with chores this month.  We are going to be having some company in the next few weeks so not much stitching progress being made.

I will post photos of my progress at the end of the month

I have so many projects that I want to start.  I am trying like crazy not to start anything new until I finish something.  I had to order additional threads for the O Canada project so I am not giving it much attention.  Not sure how long it will take to get the one thread I need.  Annoying.

I did get Be Thankful framed:  I did not put glass on it nor did I put paper on the back but I wanted to get it done before out company arrived.    It turned out to be 9 x 12.

I got a new lap stand.  I am still getting used to it.  So far it is working OK and I think the more I use it the more comfortable it is going to be.

Last but not least, remember the center of Old World Vinery that I did for my sister?  Well she got it framed and it really looks nice.  I am so happy she likes it.

Thanks so much for visiting.  I hope to have alot of progress to share by the end of the month. Who knows, perhaps I will even have a finish!

Beginning our Travels and Beginning a Project

We are in San Angelo, Texas for tonight.  There is some kind of update to our RV that needs to be done and the place to do it is here.  They open at 7am so we will be up early.


I have mostly brought straight DMC projects of various sizes and subjects.  I also have prepared a couple of needlepoint projects to do while we are driving along.

Lilac Time,  Laura J. Perin Needlepoint

I got a fair start on this one today.

These are the projects I will work on during the trip.  I will post progress as it happens; this is where these are at the present time.  That way you do not have to go backwards on the blog.

Knot Garden, Chatelaine
  I would really like to finish the DMC potion of this project during this trip.  We will see.

Books Reading Books, Heaven and Earth Designs
  I would like to get a couple of pages (or perhaps just one) done during the trip.

Blue Heron, Imaginating
  I should be able to finish this if I really give it some attention.  There is very little back stitching (Hurray) and it is not a full coverage piece.

Great Blue Heron, Crossed Wing Collection
  I am not sure why I included this one.  I have barely started it.  This project is also not full coverage so who knows, maybe it will go quickly.

Starburst Flag of Canada, Cherry Lane Designs
Am doing this for my cousin we are headed to visit in Calgary, Canada.  I hope it goes quickly.  I am a little nervous about it since it is specialty stitches and I am afraid I am not going to be able to count it accurately.  I will give it a whirl, but I already feel overwhelmed by it and I have only put in a few grid lines.

Mini Mandala 05, Chatelaine
  I threw this one in at the last minute because I decided I could not go a month without doing a Chatelaine.  Am I loosing it or what.

Also taking along my Americana small projects and my Halloween small projects.  Why?  Because I have completely lost my mind!

I am sure I am being overly ambitious.  If I only took one or two projects perhaps I could actually have finishes!  Not sure why I feel compelled to take so many.

Tomorrow we are headed to Amarillo.  It always takes at least 2 days to get out of Texas ya know.  I should have some great progress on the Needlepoint project, and who knows what I will work on this evening.

Thank you for visiting.

Oh, There is some magic thing about comments and being able to contact me.  I messed with the settings (Google + and whatever else I ran across) so hopefully all will be well.  I do enjoy your comments (well, most of them anyway) so feel free and I will attempt to respond to them all.

Mid June Chatelaine Progress

Old World Vinery by Chatelaine.

Working on this project exclusively before our upcoming trip I am making good progress, but I have run into a little difficulty.

I have found that no matter how many times I read the instructions I ALWAYS make some kind of mistake.  I used two threads instead of one for the half stitches that are purple all around the center.  Of course I had done the whole thing before I realized it, so I am going to leave it.  Grrrrrr.

I also discovered that I am terrible at backstitching.  I tried and tried, and frogged and restitched, but I just cannot get the backstitching around the leaves just inside the orange border to look right.  So, I made the executive decision to just leave it off.  (for the time being anyway). It feels like I am cheating somehow.....so an entire day of stitching was taken up with the silly backstitching.  Enough!

Am beading as I go even though it is a little hard to see in the photos,  using batting (as recommended by some other Chatelaine stitchers) to pad the beading as I roll it up on the frame.    I hope I can finish this center portion before our trip.

So enjoying this piece alot and am sure I will miss it.  I never cease to be amazed by these incredible designs.  It seems that the use of variegated threads makes each stitchers piece just a little bit different.  Of course, with all the errors I make, my pieces tend to be overly unique!


Thanks for visiting.