Stained Glass Window update

Here's another update for my Stained Glass Window project. I think I should be done later today or tomorrow.:

The Last E Ticket Ride update

Here is a project that I've been working on for my family room. It's called The Last E Ticket Ride by James Christensen. Here is what the finished piece is suppose to look like:




I just finished page 2 of the pattern the other day, so here is my progress. I'm doing it 2 over 1 on 20ct hardanger fabric. This was before I tried tent stitches. I think things would be going much faster if I was doing that.:



I think it's kind of cool but the confetti stitches in the face and lower right area were a pain in the ass. I've got to come up with a better way to do confetti stitches. I started this project 2 years ago (October 2009). I've worked on a lot of other projects since then because it didn't take me a whole year to do each page. I'm going to make a conscious effort to work on projects for me and not try to do so many as gifts. Every time I think about doing something as a gift I put my projects aside to do them. That is why it's taken 2 years to do 2 pages . . . and why my walls are bare in my house. I haven't been able to finish anything to hang up.

Curl Up with a Good Book update

So I had a goal of finishing this first page by the end of the year and I don't think I'm going to make it. Oh well. If there wasn't so much confetti I might actually have done it. It didn't help that I was also trying to finish page 2 of The Last E Ticket Ride, crochet an afghan as a Christmas gift and paint a toy box in 7 different colors as a Christmas gift as well. Live and learn I guess.

Stained Glass Window update

Here's my latest progress with my Stained Glass Window project. I moved the hoop over and down a bit so I could do the left edge but I forgot about the top left corner. I guess I'll have to go back and finish it. I also ran out of #844. I don't know of it was a whole skein to begin with or not. I knew I would use a lot since I'm using 3 strands over one but I didn't think I would finish a bobbin with just this much stitching. It's only 5 inches x 5 inches. Luckily I already had a backup bobbin waiting so when I pick this back up again I won't have to worry about going out for more thread. Of course I will have to go out to replace my backup bobbin and also because I'm sure I'll use a lot more thread as well.

Curl up with a Good Book update

So I dusted this project off and I'm trying to finish page 1 by the end of the year. I'm doing it on 22 count 3 over 1 tent stitches. I hate all the confetti stitches but they really do add to the overall look of the piece. I just wish I had a better way to tackle those solo stitches.

Stained Glass project update

So I worked on my Stained Glass Window project again last night and now I don't know what to do. I really like this project and don't want to give it away. On the other hand I'm not sure what I would do with it. I've even thought about doing another one with pink in the middle and yellow flowers. Or maybe, yellow in the middle and purple flowers. Yet, I don't know what I would do with those either. I have to do one more column and one more row on the bottom and then I'm done.

A new project

There's just something about starting a new project that I love. This one is for one of my underwriters at work. I'm hoping it looks like a stained glass window when it's done. It's done on 14ct light blue Aida. It's 70 x 70 stitches so it will be 5"x5" when done. I'm stitching it 3 over 1 because I wanted the fuller look. This is one night's worth of stitching. I did the half stitches so I could start outlining everything, then I started to finish the stitches. This is just the right half of the pattern.

Year of the Snake (Ivory)

So here' my latest Chinese Zodiac character. It's the Year of the Snake and it's done on Ivory 14ct Aida. I'll have to do three of these one but they'll all be on different fabric.

Traffic Sampler - FINISHED!!!

I've finally finished my Traffic Sampler project. It wasn't hard to do as it was very easy to break up the project into smaller chunks like a vehicle or a couple of signs in one sitting. All the back stitching was tedious but it was nice to do as it as I went along instead of all at the end. It needs a good washing and to be framed but at least the stitching is done. It feels good to cross a WIP off of my list. Other than my Chinese Zodiac project I think I'll concentrate on stitching things for myself. I haven't done that in years.

Traffic Sampler update

So here's the next to last update on this project. I'm glad I'm almost done with it even though I don't have the money to frame it (and I don't know when I'll get that money). It's in need of a thorough washing but I'm not worried. I've had worse that have washed up just fine.

Traffic Sampler update

So, I'm almost done with my Traffic Sampler project. I've only got the lane striping border and truck with my nephew's name on it left to do. I'm still working on how to pull that off. I can't wait to cross this one off my list. It's badly in need of a good washing too.

Year of the Rat (on pink)

So the next Chinese Zodiac piece I just finished was the Year of the Rat. I did it on pink 14ct Aida 2x1. I have to do three of these. I'm going to change the color of the rat on one of them to shades of gray because I'm going to stitch it on blue fabric. This one was for a niece so I did it on pink (which doesn't show that well in the scan).

Traffic Sampler update

So this is the Birth Record I'm doing for my youngest nephew. He'll be four years old in January and I'm planning on giving him this for his birthday. It hasn't been all that bad to do. I started off absolutely hating backstitching but after working on each car and sign as I go, it hasn't been all that bad. While I might not like backstitching yet I can at least tolerate it.

I'm having problems fitting his name on the missing truck. I've tried several different fonts but everything is either too big or too small. I've even tried free handing something, but it was awful. I'll figure out something soon . . . I hope.

A weekend of finishes

I was actually able to finish off a couple of projects this weekend. It feels nice to cross things off my Work-in-Progress list. The first one is a birth record for my niece. I can't really say I love the stars and the outlining but it's a cute project and it wasn't too hard to stitch up. Here's the final piece:



The other project I finished isn't actually a final finish. I got an idea to stitch up one of the Chinese Zodiac characters for each member of my family (extended members too). That's 22 projects (including one for myself). I got this idea when I saw an unfinished wooden picture frame at Michael's and I started to think about what I could put in there and how I would paint it. (I've been thinking about doing bookmarks for everyone as a Christmas gift but I don't think everyone likes to read as much as I do.) When I saw the frame I knew instantly that these Chinese zodiac characters would be just about the right size and maybe everyone will think they're as cute as I do. If I get them all done, they'll be my Christmas gifts for next year.

So I hurried up and stitched on of these and now I have to go back to the store to make sure the aperture is big enough. I'm going to add the year and the person's name to the design as well. This first one is for my dad. He's the Year of the Rabbit. Although I think I should have changed the colors to a yellow scheme instead. Maybe I'll redo it, or heaven forbid, unpick the pink and start over. I'm thinking about putting a description of the year on a sticker on the back of the frame. Here's what the first one looks like.

Crossed one more WIP off my list

I finished another WIP!!!! I'm so excited! For awhile I thought I had turned into a serial starter. Always starting projects but never finishing them. In the last month or two I've finished 2. My goal is to finish a couple more before the end of October since they're Christmas gifts. After that I think all the projects I'll be working on are for myself (with the exception of Twilight Balloon Flight for my mother; I want to finish that one by next summer at least). And since a couple of those are HAEDs so with fewer WIPs to do I'll have more time to work on those big projects.

Here's my latest finish. I think it turned out really well . . . especially with all the mistakes and ripping stitches out that I had to do on it.

Canadian Thing progress

I had a nice chance this last weekend to do nothing but stitch (almost nothing, anyway). It was wonderful. I felt like I got a lot done and I'm so close of crossing off a work in progress. I've got too many of those I need to finish. I worked on "It's a Canadian Thing" and I was able to stitch the whole head, teeth and all the wording on Sunday. I've just got backstitching to do before I can call it done. Here's the update. I think he's kind of cute.

Canadian Thing progress

So I'm back to working on my Canadian Thing project. I've redone the legs, shirt and arms. I think my stitching was neater the first time but that might be because this time the holes were bigger and there were some snagged fabric threads that I was trying to secure. Oh well. At least I fixed the error and I'm back to making progress.

Adobe House FINISHED!!!!

I've finished a project! Whoohoo!!!! I thought the backstitching would be a pain in the ass but it wasn't all that bad. I'm just glad I can cross a project off my "to do" list. Hopefully I can scratch off a couple more before the end of the year.

Curl up with a Good Book update

So I finally finished the top half of page one. With all the confetti stitches I had to do it makes me want to stand up and cheer . . . but it's only half of page one so it's not that much of an achievement. I will say it took stitching through 2 baseball games to get from the picture in my last post to this. Oh well.

Curl up with a Good Book

I love this pattern, but I hate this project. There's just too much confetti stitches. And I usually stitch by color but I always seem to miss a square or two of a color I've already done so that make the "confetti" even worse by going back and catching those missed stitches. I think this project is going to kill me. At least it was free. I don't know what I'd do if I had to pay for this torture.

Grim Reaper update

So, here's an update to the Grim Reaper project I started sometime around the first of the year. All I have left to do on this page is black and it's quite boring. I'm thinking of stitching the other colors on the other pages and then all I'd have left to do is black. That could get very boring, but I could use that as a break from all the color changes/confetti stitches in my other projects. When done I'll hang this up in my family room.



I'm staggering the bottom edge because I noticed a seam between pages when stitching all of one color. I'm hoping that if I do it this way it might cover up that page seam.

Traffic Sampler update

So, I'm still working on the Traffic Sampler Birth Record for my nephew. I've done a couple more cars on it and while I hate doing the backstitch for each car I love how they already look finished when I'm doing with them. Some of the backstitching on some of the cars has been harder than others but I still find that whole process tedious and boring.

Here's my latest updated photo. I'm going to take a break from this design for a week or two and work on something else. Heaven knows I've got plenty of projects on the go right now.

Traffic Sampler Birth Record

I'm working on a birth announcement for my nephew. He's 3 1/2 right now, but that's okay because his older sister didn't get birth announcement until she was 5. I started one that I liked but I've had problems and I didn't like the purple panda so I went looking for something else. Since he likes cars and trucks that was what I was looking for. Then I found this:




This is how much I've got done so far. I'm hoping to get it done and framed by Christmas or his birthday in January.

Backtracking

So I've been working on a project for a friend. Unfortunately I found a mistake in what I had done. I could have redone the rest of the pattern to compensate for my mistake or rip out half of what I had already done and do everything right. I'm a perfectionist at heart so any mistake left uncorrected would bother me so I ripped everything out. Here's the before and after pictures of what I had to undo. Believe me when I say I wasn't a happy stitcher.

The project went from this:





To this:

New Stash acquisitions

Here are some pictures of some new stash acquisitions. I don't need any more stash, but I couldn't resist. That's two pieces of 28ct Jazlyn in English Rose and Amaretto. The rest of my Geisha kits, some linen charts and a Christmas booklet.

QS Curl Up With a Good Book SAL

On Heaven and Earth's forums I signed up for a QS (quick stitch) freebie. It's a smaller portion of a larger chart. The one I picked was Curl up with a Good Book. Every other month you get a new page of the chart and you stitch it up. If you can post 6 pictures of your progress throughout the year (even if you don't finish) you get access to the other freebie QS projects. I'm not making much progress but here is what I have so far.

When there's nothing left but backstitching

I love to cross stitch but I hate to backstitch. There's just something tedious about backstitching that I've never liked. The effect of backstitching though can make a project amazing. Unfortunately I usually leave the backstitching until last and then I don't want to work on the project any more.

I've "finished" two projects recently where all the cross stitching is done, but I still have backstitching to do. Those projects are:

A Star is Born:


and

Adobe House:


It's pretty obvious in the first one that the backstitching is necessary if I want the words to show up at least. In the second one I could probably leave it like it is but the backstitching would make it so much better.

Now these projects could just sit around and never get completed but I'm hoping to make a goal to work on them during UFO week. It's the first week of the month were you try to work on Un-Finished Object. You know, those projects you put aside and never think you'll finish. I think I can handle backstitching for one week of the month. And it would be nice to really finish a project beyond the backstitch. Stay tuned.

A new start

This is my next project I started. Can you guess what it is?

SABLE and SINS

Stitching is like any other profession/discipline. It has it's own acronyms that to the outsider or newbie don't make any sense but to the experienced stitcher those little groups of letters mean a lot.

One of those acronyms is SABLE. Stash Acquired Beyond Life Expectancy. When I look at HAED (Head and Earth Designs) projects I think they are so beautiful and that since there is no backstitching or fractional stitches they would be so easy to do, even if quite large. So I bought a few. And a few more. And a few more after that. I counted the other day and I think I have 57 HAED patterns and another 75 on my wish list. Every time they have a sale I want to get more. I see a design and think "I have to have that". It doesn't dawn on me at the time that there is no way I'll ever get all those patterns stitched up in my life time. And that's if all I do are HAED projects.

I have lots of other projects too. I was going through my bins of stash and some of the kits or patterns that I pulled out seemed like I was seeing them for the first time. I always knew I wanted that project, but I didn't remember buying it. Now I have it. And a whole lot more besides. Several months ago I went through my stash and put everything that I wanted to stitch in the next year or so in a separate tub. Everything else went back into the large one. That smaller "year" tub has enough projects in it to last me several years. And yet I'm still adding to that tub and the main one.

I have projects that I loved so much I had to get them at the time. Now when I look at them I still them but there are other projects I love more. But I want to do them all. One such project is a booklet of teddy bears, one for each month. I stitched up the June bear because my birthday is in June. I figured I would stitch each month up and use them as a calendar. While I don't think the bear was that hard to do, it was when my eye sight was much worse (pre-surgery) and I was just getting back into stitching after being out of it for over 10 years. And it had metallics. If I had known then what I know now about using metallics it would have made things so much easier for me. Live and learn.

There's another project that has a little square for each month. And another one that has a different quilt design for each season. And yet another one of a view from a window for each of the seasons. Not to mention the monthly snowmen and doors from Vermilion Stitchery. I'll probably never do them all but which one could I choose?

And that question leads to my SINS. Stash I'll Never Stitch. I have lovely designs that I want but I know I'll never stitch them. The best thing to do would be to give them away to someone who would stitch them. But how can I give away something that I still love even though I'll never do? I'm sure that as soon as I give something away then I'll suddenly need it to stitch something as the perfect gift for someone. But then again I feel guilty keeping stash that I know I'll never use when someone else might want it.

And I've thought of asking people to stitch up some of my projects for me. This way I could get more of my stash stitched up and hanging on my walls than I would otherwise. But most of the fun of stitching is seeing the design come to life on the fabric. I few blobs of color suddenly become a beautiful garden of roses in no time. While I'd love seeing all these finished projects on my walls I would feel sad because I know I didn't stitch them. And who would I ask to stitch them? All the other stitchers I know have there own pile of SABLE and SINS they're trying to deal with. I can't ask them to put aside their projects to work on mine.

I guess my only alternative is win the lottery or marry someone rich so I don't have to spend 10 hours a day wrapped up in working (plus commute time). Think of all the stitching I could get done in that time. Not to mention the loads of money I'd have to buy more stash. That might not be a good thing, but I am willing to try and find out.

What this blog is all about

I'm a member of a cross stitching forum that I love. (crossstitchform.com) I've met a lot of great people there and my stash pile has grown tremendously after viewing everybody else's projects. I've found some wonderful sites for projects and supplies. And I want to babble on about what I'm doing in a more journal-esque format that on the forum. So that is why I created this blog. I'll post pictures and commentary on the projects I'm working on. It will be so riveting that it will put watching paint dry to shame. I'm sure you'll be thrilled. Stay tunes.