Christmas Ornaments I Made For Us

 Lest you think I forgot about our tree, I did make two stitched ornaments and one papercraft ornament for our tree.

This is one of a Mill Hill Winter Holiday Collection - MH18-1736, Holiday Boot (c) 2017. It is beads and floss on 14 count perforated paper and I backed it with green felt. It is approx. 2.5" x 3"

 

I made this one for my hubby.

This is a "rollup" designed by Kathy Schenkel.  I have made these before as gifts for my family, but I thought I should make on for myself. I even stitched on it during the World Series! Here is the front with it hanging on our tree and then backside not on the tree.

This is a papercraft ornament using dies from Birch Press Designs and various colors of foiled or metallic cardstock. By making two of each layer, I was able to make it double sided. If finished it off with a ribbon bow at the top. 

I think that is all for 2020! 

Happy New Year!

More Christmas Ornaments for 2020

 Again, these were gifts so I had to wait to post about them.

This first one is a Foxwood Crossings Design called Snow Grateful and is designed to fit on these sleds, also by Foxwood Crossings. It is worked with DMC floss on 14 count brown perforated paper.

This next one is from the 2010 Just Cross Stitch Christmas Ornaments issue. It called When Santa Got Stuck... and designed by Patricia Page of Patricia Ann Designs. I changed some of the threads to use my stash. I also changed year on the sled to 2020. I figured if there was any year Santa would get stuck, it would be 2020! It is sitting on the fabric I used for the backing and I made it into a flat fold.

I still have a few more to show you in the next post!

Some Christmas Ornaments for 2020

 

These were gifts I made for friends so I could not post about them until after Christmas!

The red truck is worked on perforated plastic and is from a kit I purchased from Mary Maxim. It is called Holiday Pickups and is designed by Marianne Savage for Design Works Crafts. Besides this truck in red, there is one with a Christmas tree and one with a snowman. Then there is a blue version with same items in the bed of the truck. Total of 6 trucks. I backed it with red felt.

This jolly gingerbread man is from the 2004 Just Cross Stitch Christmas Ornaments issue.  It is called Gingerbread Boy and designed by Sue Hillis. Instead of 14 count perforated paper, I used a 28 count linen from my stash. I shaped it around a 6" diameter finishing form. It is sitting on the fabric I used for the back.

This next cute ornament is from 2010 Just Cross Stitch Christmas Ornaments issue. It is called Consumed by Gifts by Michelle M. Lash of Brittercup Designs - I just love her stuff!! I used DMC floss instead of the overdyes called for on the chart. Again, it is sitting on the fabric I used for the backing, it was 4" square and I made it into a flat form.

I love stitching for Christmas! Two more ornaments in my next blog post.

A Very Special Christmas

 While 2020 was a pain of a year, my family did have some good news! In February, my niece and her husband adopted a beautiful one month old boy named Eli. This of course required a first Christmas ornament of some sort!

I found a Baby's first Christmas ornament in the 2016 Just Cross Stitch Christmas Ornament issue and adapted the original design by Frony Ritter to fit my needs. 

I changed the word Baby's to Eli's. I made the buggy blue, I added the year, added extra red seed beads and I changed the teddy bear into an elephant, because I have seen many photos of him with an elephant!

The finished ornament is 4 inches square and I made it into a flat fold. I used some cute Santa face fabric for the back. 

I created a card with an inside pocket and placed it in a plastic gift box I had and off it went!

More 2020 Christmas ornaments in future blog posts, so be sure to check back!

Some Holiday Cards for 2020

 While stitching is my main love, I also dabble in papercrafts. Here are some holiday cards I made this year.

Now get ready for stitching posts every day for the rest of the year. 

Be sure to check back! :)

2020 ANG Stitch of the Month FINISHED

 

I put in the final border squares (center left and center right) along with some divider lines on the American Needlepoint Guild (ANG) 2020 Stitch of the Month (SOTM).

The design is by Kathy Rees and is 8" square. Previous posts on the topic provide more information.

It was LOTS of fun to stitch!

I wonder what 2021 will offer?

Happy Stitching!!

ANG 2020 Stitch of the Month - November

 I finished the November portion of the American Needlepoint Guild's 2020 Stitch of the Month.

The upper right and lower left corners are the November Stitch and it is called the Hungarian Stitch.

Past posts with this project include:  October 23 and August 16

That about covers it for now! Happy Stitching everyone.

SANQ 2012 Band Sampler

 Sampler and Antique Needlework Quarterly magazine had a year long project in 2012 that I fell in love with. 

I started in May of 2012 and got this far by August of 2012. I am working on the final section of Part 2 and probably a little over half of the entire sampler is done. However, part three has a LOT of stitched area and not very much open space, so while I may be over half way down the fabric, there could be more than half the stitches still to go! I hope that made sense.

When I finished the Maria Antoni Sampler, I decided to start this one back up. 

When finished the stitched area will be approximately 26" x 10"

It is stitched on 30 count cream linen using two strands of DMC floss over two threads, with some specialty stitches.  

These links should take you to previous posts about this sampler if you are interested.

 https://www.suncitystitcher.com/2012/01/stitching-gods-are-against-me.html

 https://www.suncitystitcher.com/2012/05/miss-maddie-new-start-sampler.html

 https://www.suncitystitcher.com/2012/05/band-sampler-update.html

 https://www.suncitystitcher.com/2012/05/band-sampler-progress-report.html

Well, 2020 seems to be the year of samplers for me. I have more than I thought in my stash and since many are on a higher count fabric, I thought I would try and get them done while my eyes let me.

Maria Antoni Sampler FINISHED

 I am finished with this sampler. I made a few changes, but am happy with it so that is how it will stay!!

Many of the areas in the lower third called for long arm cross, but there were areas with a lot of color change and I just could not get the hang of the stitch, so I did regular cross stitch. 

Also, there is some other lettering and numbers under her name, but I could not figure out what they said and left them out. I did put my initials and the year in an empty space to the right of the tree.

I started this at a Sampler Guild of the Rockies Retreat in 2015. All I got done then was the black and yellow stitches in the motif at the upper left. I picked the project back up in April of this year and have worked on it most evenings since. Finishing it on October 24.  It is 12.5" x 17" on 36 count linen and uses Soie d' alger silks.

Here is a close up of the beaded area:

Now on to other projects. This is one plus of being retired during a pandemic, I am getting a TON of stitching done and I try to look on the bright side.

Happy Stitching!!

ANG 2020 Stitch of the Month

 I  finished the October sections for the American Needlepoint Guild (ANG) 2020 Stitch of the Month.

October is the top and bottom middle sections, called the Willow stitch. Next month we finish the corners. 

In case I forgot to mention it, the September stitch is a Diamond Pavilion.

I have been working on Christmas stitching, but can't show those in case the recievers read my blog!

That about covers it for now!!

A Halloween Finish, Finish

 I was going through my finishing supplies and found a 6 inch finishing form. Wondering what I could use it for, I went into my box of finished, unfinished items. Those are projects for which the stitching has been completed, but they have not been finished into anything (framed, pillow, bell pull, etc.).

I found this piece called Hey Diddle, Diddle, which I completed in 2010! It is from the Sept/Oct. 2003 issue of Just Cross Stitch magazine and had a companion piece in the Nov/Dec issue of a reindeer hopping over a Christmas tree.

More information in this post from the past.

Here is the back:

It just shows it is never too late to finish, finish something!!

Maria Antoni Sampler Update

 I have been making pretty good progress and I am close to being done. I did make one change. On approximately the lower third, it called for the long armed cross stitch for all. I am ok with long stretches of this stitch, but the design had individual elements using this stitch, changing colors etc. So, to save my sanity, I did these in regular cross stitch. 

I took this picture at the end of my stitching day on Saturday, October 17, 2020.

Happy Stitching!!

A Little Beading and A New Project

 My local bead club decided to try a zoom meeting and suggested a project to work on. It was fun and more of a get together to chat and bead than a learning class. We all worked on the same project. This was the first time zoom was attempted and it looks like the club will keep it up as an open beading event twice a week. 

The project we worked on was 3D Peyote Squares by Kelly Dale of Off the Beaded Path. It was a lot of fun and as you can see I did quite a few and played around with colors a little. I made them into earrings and a necklace! This project used No. 11 Delicas.

The "chain" for this necklace is a spiral rope using No. 11 seed beads that matched the Delicas.

I also have an update on the Maria Antoni Sampler, progress as of August 26:

A little closer up here:

Last June I took advantage of an opportunity to get a limited edition kit commemorating the journey of the Mayflower to America. Designed by Brenda Gervais of With Thy Needle & Thread, it honors the Women of the Mayflower by listing their names in the sampler.  I am doing it on 40 count (the smallest I  have ever stitched on) because I loved the fabric color choice for that count. It is kind of mottled. I ordered my kit from Sassy Jacks Stitchery in North Carolina. I knew the owner when I lived in NC.

The kit arrived a couple of weeks ago and came in a nice box and included a cute pilgrim needle minder, a label for the back when finished and framed, a ring to hold threads and a card to put on the ring to mark the project the threads were for. Of course the fabric, threads and chart were in the box too!  

It also had a bonus chart and some fabric to use as backing if we wanted to make the bonus into a pillow, along with finishing instructions to get the best use of the fabric. It is a reproduction of the page of Mayflower passenger William Bradford.

Since 2020 marks the 400th anniversary of the Mayflower, the general idea was to start the Sampler on September 6, the day the Mayflower set sail, and finish the sampler on November 11, the day the Mayflower landed in Cape Cod. It was a 66 day journey.  

Since I am doing it on 40 count linen the finished size will be approx. 6 1/4 inches by 21 inches. Here is my progress so far:

I will be doing this with lots of lighting and magnification!! I am looking forward to it since I love history and this combined with my love of stitching! 

Happy Stitching!!

ANG's 2020 Stitch of the Month (SOTM)

 I started the American Needlepoint Guild's (ANG) 2020 Stitch of the Month (SOTM) a bit late, but I am catching up fast - the section I am working on is July. August finishes off the star and then we proceed to the back ground. It is on 12"x 12" stretcher bars. 

The original is in red and blue with a cream background. I LOVE that look, but did not have the stuff in my stash. So I found two watercolors (Mountain Meadow - it has green in it) and Apple Blossom (pinks and yellows) and went from there. I had most of the type of thread called for except a good silk lame, so I am using Splendor instead. I also only had one good Neon Rays plus and am using regular Neon Rays.

The star point at upper left (kind of 10 o'clock) which is mostly pink has a small error, I accidentally used the Mountain Meadow, so it now has some green. But I figured it out after I did the last stitch and I liked the look. So, it is staying in!

Also I had a devil of a time marking the canvas. This is side two, so when I put that diagonal line in the wrong place it has to stay since I have no more canvas!! It will be covered by background anyway, so I think I am good. I also noticed I missed on one star point, but it should get covered up with background and I think we are putting in a dividing line between the star points and the background. If so, that will help too!

I have been reading in the evenings and have not picked up the Marie Antoni Sampler, so no update.

That about covers it here from HOT Arizona. Take care all!!

Happy Stitching!!

Vintage Log Cabin

I have been on more of a reading kick than stitching, but I did manage to finish an Embroiderer's Guild of America (EGA) cyber course during the time allotted. It is called Vintage Log Cabin and is designed by Terry Dryden. The finished piece is six (6) inches square. 

I did not use all of the suggested fibers. I liked the overdye used, so I purchased it along with the other Treenway silks used for the project and then I filled in from my stash.

It called for Treenway Silk Montano Harmony Eden Valley (the overdye), which show up best in the scotch stitches in the left and bottom areas third from the center.

Also used are Treenway Silk Zen Shin in Cedar Rose, Tuscan Gold and Winter Sage (the darker green). These show best in the left and bottom areas next to the center.

I used very little of the Tuscan gold, but it did help me coordinate the other yellows needed. I have quite a bit of #8 perle cotton and floss so filling in from my stash was not a problem. The original colors were a pinker.

It is stitched on French Blue 18 Count Mono Canvas.

It was lots of fun and I am happy to have taken the class!

Next on my needlepoint frame it the American Needlepoint Guild (ANG) 2020 Stitch of the month. I am using totally different colors since going to a shop is not so easy right now and I have a good stash!

I am still working on Marie Antoni Sampler, just not as often as before.

Happy Stitching!!

Maria Antoni Sampler, Agatha Christie & Coloring

Hello below is how far along I am not with the Maria Antoni Sampler. My pace has slowed because I have been doing a LOT of reading and took a coloring class online. As you can see I am at the halfway point. I do hope to get it done before the sampler kit I ordered for the 400th anniversary of the May Flower comes in Sept. The ideas is to start stitching it the date the May Flower left England and finish on the date it arrives in the New World. But that is for another post!

Did you know that 2020 marks 100 years of Agatha Christie? Her first book, The Mysterious Affair at Styles was published in 1920. More information can be found at her official website

I found this out around June 25 and since then I have been reading her books in an attempt to get them all read in 2020. We will see how THAT goes. Many years ago I subscribed to the Bantam Books Agatha Christie Mystery Collection with the idea of reading them when I retired, so I have all her mystery books (plus a few others) and decided to give it a go. I am reading them in order to see if I can notice a change/development of her style. But honestly, I read for fun so I probably won't notice. So far I have not figured out any of the guilty parties, except for in a few of the short stories. Enjoying it tremendously. 

I have read these so far, having finished Thirteen for Dinner last night and now I am on to Murder on the Orient Express.

The Mysterious Affair at Styles

The Secret Adversary

Murder on the Links

The Man in the Brown Suit

Poirot Investigates

The Secret of Chimneys

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd

The Big Four

The Mystery of the Blue Train

The Seven Dials Mystery

Partners in Crime (SS)

The Mysterious Mr. Quin (SS)

The Murder at the Vicarage

Murder at Hazelmoor

Peril at End House

The Tuesday Club Murders (SS)

Thirteen at Dinner

I also decided I wanted to color better with colored pencils. I found this really good online class from Kit and Clowder. She has free classes, some great general information, and classes you pay for.  She is in Australia, so the price is not too bad after the conversion and I LOVE her accent. She is also very positive and encouraging and offers free consultations. She covers pencils and while she uses Prismacolors, she has charts for other brands. She also has Copic marker classes with conversion to other marker brands. 

The June/July class was called Brighten Your Day and her is my result. I used Faber Castell Polychromos pencils and Springhill Vellum Bristol Cover Digital - 67# and 147gsm. It fits in the manual feed of my printer without any trouble. You need to be able to print out the images to color.

That about covers it for now!!

Stay safe all.

Maria Antoni Sampler Update

I have been stitching a bit on this in the evenings and working my way through it. Some parts have been harder than others, but I am well on my way to half way.

The chart for the section at lower right was a bear to read, I had to use the color photo of the sampler to figure it out. But it is FINALLY finished! Now on to the pretty flowers.

That is all for now, take care everyone!!

A Little Bit of This and a Little Bit of That

More reading than stitching since I have been in a bit of a reading mood the last few weeks.  I am in the process of reading Christmas Boutique by Jennifer Chiaverini.  I think what started this reading trend was our bookmobile returning (pick up and drop of only) and I finally broke down and bought a Kindle. Here is what I have read so far.

Lost Among the Angels	Alice Duncan
Angels Flight	Alice Duncan
Fallen Angels	Alice Duncan
Angels of Mercy	Alice Duncan
Thanksgiving Angels	Alice Duncan
Scraps of Paper	Kathryn Meyer Grifith
Owl Be Home for Christmas	Donna Andrews
Love & Death Among the Cheetahs	Rhys Bowen
The Victory Garden	Rhys Bowen
What Child is This	Rhys Bowen
Above the Bay of Angels	Rhys Bowen
A View to Die For	Richard Houston
Christmas Bells	Jennifer Chiaverini

I have also been quilting and did a little finishing, so here goes the updates.

I  have worked a bit more on the Maria Antoni Sampler and it is a little over 1/4 done.

I also put together the blocks for a quilt top and moving on to the borders.

I used Layer Cake pre-cuts from the Moda Fabrics Farmhouse II collection and solid white layer cake pre-cuts (10" squares). I then followed Layer Cake Recipe Card 2 to create the needed half square triangles and sewed them together to make the T blocks. Used my "fancy" design wall (the back of a fleeced plastic tablecloth binder clipped to my bookshelf).

I also made a disappearing four patch star based on month 4 of the Missouri Star Quilt Company's 2020 block of the month club. I am not a club member, but used their you tube video to recreate the block using my fabric. It was fun!!

Finally I did a bit of finishing, turning this gingerbread man I stitched in 2014 into an ornament. It was from a challenge put out by the Columbine ANG chapter in Denver, CO to trace a cookie cutter and stitch an ornament.

I think that covers it for now. Take care everyone and 

Happy Stitching!!!!!!!!!!

Maria Antoni Sampler

I last told you about this sampler here on May 1.  I have been stitching on it in the evenings and average about 3 hours a night. It was a 2015 workshop offered by the Sampler Guild of the Rockies. The piece is designed by and the class taught by Margriet Hogue of the Essamplaire.

Here is the progression so far and I plan to post an update every Monday. 

April 28, 2020

May 3, 2020

 May 10, 2020

Happy Stitching!!

Been Busy Stitching!

I have gotten into a bit of a routine. When I stitch during the day I work on a needlepoint project and in the evening I am working on a Sampler while sitting on the sofa "watching" TV. In the process I finished a needlepoint piece first started in 2003. I took a class with my Raleigh Needlepoint group from Debbie Stiehler, it is called Lucky Gecko. Is on a 15" x 17" frame and its size made it perfect to work on in my studio vs on the sofa.

Here are a few other things I finished recently. The first three are projects from a Sampler Guild of the Rockies Retreat, a needle fold and a bookmark. I think both are from 2012.

I also finished a project done last year by my Saguaro Chapter of ANG (American Needlepoint Guild). I attached the stitching and fabric to a finishing form which helps keep it nice and round.

I also finished a 2" square practice piece into a pin. It is designed by Catherine Jordan and was a Cyber course. We made the small square first to practice making a larger piece that consists of multiples of this square. It is call My Granddaughters quilt and the idea is for it to look like a quilt top when done.

Tomorrow I will have a post on the progress I have made on the Maria Antoni sampler, which is what I have been working on in the evenings. My goal is to post an update on this sampler every Monday until it is finished, so stay tuned!!