Ta-DA!!!

Sanctuary

CW Designs

stitched with called-for DMC threads

 on 14 count aida

 

 

I finished this this week. I am so STOKED to be finished with it. It's been a journey. I bought the chart in 2006, but had to stop because I got lost and couldn't find out how to fix it. In 2016, when I spent 6 months on UFOs, I restarted it and worked on it off and on for the past three years. I just loved how it has turned out. It's so calming to me. Really soft, lovely colors, and then those pops of amazing hot reds and pinks in front. I am going to try to frame this myself this year. It would be nice to have it ready for Easter, so we'll see.

 

 

I also had the brilliant idea this week of trying to pull all the things that I might want to work on this year and put them in a bin to have at hand. I found a really simple bin at Dollar Tree (for $1, no less) and put a bunch in there, and then filled up a box, and then another box. I have more ambition than skill, I think. :)  But, you have to have a goal, right? I did find a bunch of projects that need to be finished, so it was not all shameful. I think March may be a month where I focus on finishing items fully. I will have to see how that goes.

 

 

Right now, I am trying to finish up Winter on the Square by Just Nan. It's been a fun stitch. I will post a photo when I take a good one. I am going to finish it as an ornament. I think it would have a better chance of being used in that condition vs. as a picture on the wall.



Another finish and an almost finish

Busy week this week. I had some dentalwork done on Thursday, so I was slightly worried about that all week. It wasn't a big deal in the end and I already feel much better. I did get a twinge tossing the moldy WIP, but, on the bright side,  I found a piece of black fabric in my stash that the new start will fit on and so I may be starting that in a few weeks.

I finished this sweet wee man this week. I don't have a lot of information about the finish, other than he came from Needlecraft, a British magazine, and he was part of a series, probably in the late 90s. I stitched him on Lugana with DMC. I think I need to work on my lazy daisies, but, all in all, I am so pleased with him. He is going to end up with my mom, since she has taken care of and loved my Gus since I got married (Left-brain has allergies, and is very allergic to my cat-son). Gus is almost 20 and having some major health issues now and Mom's having a hard time with what is going to happen. It's funny, he has outlived every other cat in the cat colony he came from by two years, and those two were ours as well, he is probably the oldest cat in the vet practice. He is the oldest cat we have ever had, he was my first cat, and probably the last cat I will ever get to have, and we've had him since he was 7 weeks old. And we still don't think it's been enough time with him. Anyway . . . this looks like him in his prime, since he was on the richer orange tabby side, so it's a nice tribute of him. I would be happy to think of him chasing butterflies on the other side of the Rainbow Bridge when it's time.

 

 

This is my current large WIP, hopefully soon my latest finish:

Sanctuary 

CM Designs

14 count aida with called-for threads.

 

 

I originally started this the year the chart came out, 2006. But I had to toss that start because it was so hopelessly confusing starting in the middle. I restarted it in 2016 in the corner, using my stair-step method, and it's been worked on on and off since then. It's almost finished and I love everything about it. It feels like it's happening on Easter morning, that or an early summer morning, and it's so comforting to me. I love working with those stunning reds and pinks after so much green, but the whole thing has been a pleasure to stitch. I am hoping to have it done this week. I may try to frame this myself, it's not a totally weird size, so we'll have to see.

 

 



 

Sorry about that!

I didn't realize the links wouldn't work. Ooops  Here they are!

A baby wolf

look at this cute fox!

This designer is rapidly becoming one of my favorites

I am really drawn to this style of design lately.


I thought they were nice. In case you need to buy something.

I have made the decision to toss that mold-splotched WIP and start over. It's not the easiest decision, but I would rather start fresh with clean supplies and not end up sick. I need to order a new piece of fabric, since this was not a standard size cut, but I will hold off on that purchase til I NEED enough to make it worthwhile. I think, if I use the stairstep method I adopted after I started it, it will go faster. Maybe in the summer, I can start it.

I have a couple recent finishes, although these photos are arguably not great. I will try to get some better ones.

 

This and That

Cricket Collection Freebie

kitted up by my LNS

 

 

This was intended to be a basket tie on, but, after working on it, I realized I am not the kind of person to tie things onto a basket, so I snipped some fabric off the sides and will make a little pillow out of it.It was sort of a pain to stitch, but I think some of that was the fact that my hand was starting to hurt when I worked on it.

Fox Forest

Workbasket

called-for threads on unknown aida

I have had this chart since it came out.  Please take the following as my personal opinion that may or may not  affected by the face that I was in A LOT of pain working on this. I loved the design, I did not enjoy stitching it. I realized I have been spoiled by using GAST and CC floss. It covers better than Weeks. This coverage felt skimpy to me, and I think of foxes as luscious and fluffy. That poor guy in the middle, he even looks like a coyote to me. Poor dude. I may redo this with DMC when my hand doesn't hurt. The burning, raw sensation is starting to go away, though it came back this week when I was brushing snow off the car, it's mostly just achy. I know I posted I would go to the doctor, but I have had some dental issues crop up, and my kids have been dealing with respiratory stuff since the beginning of the year. Hopefully we are going to start feeling better.

 

 

 

But I did want to share this darling tabby gentleman:



 

He is so soothingly perfect in his orange sweetness. The stitches are laying correctly. The backstitch is falling into place. The long stitches are so satisfying. Most of my work is not this even and . . . pretty at this distance. This is stitching ASMR. The chart was torn out of an old image of British Needlecraft (with no identifying issue information) and it's just lovely. I have had it for several years, and just decided to work on it. It also uses lazy daisies, which I suck at, so it will all even out. I will post a photo when he is done, but thought you might like to see him in process.