It's a WIP Fiesta!

Ok, so really not a fiesta, but I thought it sounded like a good title.  :)

Very rarely do I take pics of all my WIPs on one day and show them all off at the same time.  It's been quite a while since I've shared anything here (I usually keep them updated in my Facebook album) so I figured it was about time for a show & tell.

I'm going to post these in the order I'd like to get them finished, provided my stitching ADD doesn't kick in again.  And for all those serious stitchers out there, you know exactly what I'm talking about...you already have multiple pieces on the go, but you see one more that you just have to start, and then another, and another, and ooooh it's a viscous cycle!

First up is a piece called "Let the Stress Begin".  This will be a wall hanging that will be for sale at The Good Goat Gallery in Lakewood, OH sometime after October 27th.  I'm stitching it on a 18-count Ultra Very Light Dusty Rose aida I hand-dyed myself.

Next up is a round robin piece that is looooong overdue.  It is a Margaret Sherry design and I'm stitching it on a 22-count light blue aida that was hand-dyed by....you guessed it, me!  Oh, and this one is being tent stitched using 2 strands of floss.

The third piece I'm going to show you is my "Crane Silhouette" and this will eventually be a pattern that is released in my shop.  It's not finished yet, but you can get a basic idea of what it's going to look like.  Still more colors to add to it, but not too many as I didn't want to take away from the simplicity of a silhouette.  It's being stitched on 14-count plastic canvas.

Next up is a piece that doesn't get a lot of attention right now, because I only work on it a few minutes at a time, a few days a week.  It's the piece I've been carrying too & from work for my lunch hours.  It's called "Swirled Heart" and is being stitched on 14-count vinyl aida.  The finished piece will be an insert into a mousepad and this is also the model for my own pattern.

This fifth piece is an exclusive I've been working on with Karen Tomlinson from Purple Cats Corner.  It's titled "Black Manx Fairy" and is from one of her paintings.  I'm stitching it on a 16-count hand-dyed lemon yellow aida.  It will eventually be a pattern available in my shop.

And here's another piece that is an exclusive artist collaboration with Jonathan Labbe from What About Photos.  It's titled "Nature's Love" and is from one of his photos.  I haven't worked on this piece in way too long and it's definitely calling at me.  Oh, and for those that are wondering what the other fabric stuff is, it's the grippy liner you can put on shelves & in drawers and it works great to keep your fabric from moving around in your q-snap frames.  It's being stitched on a 28-count Wedgewood evenweave fabric, 2 over 2.  And yes, it will also be a future pattern in my shop.

And you guys won't believe this one...this piece will actually be for ME!!!  This was a piece that I did in a round robin.  I need to finish it off and have it framed to hang in my living room.   Top left is my son Zach, top right is my dog Max (you might recognize him from my avatar picture here on my blog), bottom left is my much missed dog Lobo and bottom right will be my picture.  All of my boys (human & furbabies alike) are the most important thing in my life and it will be awesome to see them all together in an original piece.

The eighth piece is one that will also be a future pattern for my shop (shocking, huh?) and is one that gets attention a couple of times a year.  So sad I don't work on it more.  It's being stitched on a 14-count Polar Blue DMC Fabric (I think that's what it's called).

And finally, last but not least (and I hope you're not all bored yet), is probably the most adventurous piece I've ever decided to stitch.  My first HAED piece Chakra Fae.  It has like 205,000 stitches in it and I think I have like 1,200 done or some pathetic number.  I've put this last because it will take me years & years & years to stitch it.  It's something I'm stitching just for myself, which of course always goes to the bottom of the priority list behind items for my Etsy shop and now items for The Good Goat Gallery.

I hope you've enjoyed seeing pics of what I'm working on, and I'll try to be better about posting updates here and not just on my Facebook page.

Happy Stitching!

Freebie Friday - September 14, 2012

Today's freebies, yes there is more than one, come from my designs / private collection.  I used to stitch these cute smileys and sell them in my shop.  I haven't done that in more than a year, and after stitching 100+ of them in a 2 year time period, I don't think I ever want to stitch another, lol!  So I figured it was time to share the patterns with everyone else.

And thanks to my friend Jen at SewJenaissance I now know how to share a PDF file via my blog...woohoo!!! Simply click the photo that you want the pattern for and you'll be taken directly to the PDF file of it.  :)

Happy Stitching!

 Dead Smiley

 Drunk Smiley

 Happy Smiley

P.S.  I almost forgot.  The smileys are 2" x 2" when stitched on 14 count fabric.

My First Piece

Do you remember your first piece of needlework?  Do you still have it or is it long gone?

I still have my first piece I ever made.  Granted, I had to pull it out of a box in my closet to take a picture for this post, but I still have it.  :)

It is a small needlepoint pillow, measuring about 5 inches square, that I stitched when I was about 6-years-old, so about 35 years ago.  I remember sitting with my dad at the table designing it.  We had the piece of canvas and quilting markers.  He colored off the design on the canvas for me as I told him where I wanted the colors and what shapes I wanted them to be. If I remember correctly, the colors of yarn I had to choose from were what my mom had leftover from a previous project(s).

I remember being so proud of it when I was finished.  Now I look at it and chuckle thinking how elementary it looks and all the mistakes I made, lol!  It's all OK though, because this one little piece is what started my passion for stitching that has stuck with me through the years and continues to grow as I age.


Feel free to share what your first piece was in the comments section.  I'd love to hear about them!

My Private Collection

I've had many discussions on various forum threads regarding the pieces I've stitched for myself that are currently hanging in my home. Some of these have taken me YEARS to complete, in between working on various other projects. Today I thought I would finally share them with you. None of these are for sale, as they all mean something to me. The price would definitely have to be right for me to ever part with them, and there aren't too many collectors that are willing to pay HUNDREDS of dollars for a framed cross stitch.

Please excuse the quality of the photos. Once a piece has been framed and is behind glass it becomes more difficult to photograph.

This first piece is one of the first full cross stitches I've ever completed and the first one to be framed. I'm sure everyone can tell that it was a birth sampler I stitched for my son. I started it when I was pregnant, and we just won't discuss the fact that it wasn't finished until 1996. It used to hang in my son's room until he was about 11 and then decided he was too old for it and took it down. As I have no place to hang it at my new house, I keep it safely boxed with other valuables to one day give back to him when he's married & has kids of his own.
This next piece is the first one I ever designed with my PC program for cross stitch design. As you can tell, it's very simple. I was just trying to learn how to use the program, etc. It may be simple, but the quote from Charles Dickens is one that I try to live by daily. This piece is also one of the patterns I have available for purchase in my Etsy shop. If you click on the picture, it will take you to the shop where you can see much better pics of this piece.
This next piece is one I thought was appropriate not only for my husband, but one I stitched on our vacations at a fishing lodge on the French River in Ontario, Canada. They writing on it says "Early to bed, early to rise. Fish all day and make up lies." Now tell me, what fisherman doesn't that saying not fit?!? One of the things I really liked about this piece is the wood looking frame I chose. It just reminds me of old driftwood you would find on a beach somewhere. Rather appropriate for a fishing theme.

Until this year, I had been a member of the Stan Hywet Needlework Guild. This piece was the 2nd piece I entered into their annual Stitchery Showcase. Needless to say, when I walked down the stairs into the auditorium and found that I had received a blue ribbon, I cried like a little baby! I was completely overwhelmed, as there was approximately 80 entries into my judging category, and I took first place. The title to this piece is Harmony & Tranquility and it currently hangs in my dining room.

When you talk about YEARS to stitch a piece, this is another great example. It took me over 10 years to finish this one. Granted I lost the original set of directions and eventually had to write to the company to get a replacement so I could finish it. I originally started stitching this piece to hang in my bedroom 2 houses ago. I had no clue when I finally got it done it would be the perfect piece to hang above my couch in the living room. When I was in The Guild, they liked for you to have a minimum of one entry per year. This was one of my entries. I was cutting it really close to deadline to have it to the framers. The last thing I had to stitch was some leaves that were done with the lazy daisy stitch, which I had never done before. I took an extra piece of fabric and did them over & over until I felt comfortable with them and they looked like the pictures I had seen. When it came time to do them on my actual piece, it was like I was back to square one and had never made them before. I got to the point I was so frustrated and was out of time, I just took the picture that came with the kit and back-stitched leaves on to look the same. This was one of those times that evidently the judges had never seen this pattern and didn't realize I should have used lazy daisy stitches because I earned a blue ribbon on this piece also!
My last piece I'm going to share with you is also one of the patterns I have available for sale in my shop. I love sunflowers! They are always so bright & happy looking and there is something about them that brings a smile to my face. This piece didn't receive ANY ribbons when I entered it into The Showcase, but that's OK. It hangs at the bottom of my stairs and I see it every morning when I get out of bed. What a way to start the day. If you click on this pic, it will take you to the item in my shop where better pics are also available.
I think this is probably the longest blog post I've ever done. I hope you've enjoyed getting a look at some of the pieces I've enjoyed stitching that hang in my home for me to share with my family & friends on a daily basis.