Works in Progress Update July 31

This is a piece I started back in 1985. That's 22 years ago! I've mentioned before that I took a long (20 years) break from stitching - I guess it's time to finish this one. It's called "Calico Cats," designed by Dale Burdett. I have 6 1/2 more cats to finish. It's being done with two strands on 18-count cream Aida. This is the piece that made me realize I'm getting old. When I picked it back up a month ago, I couldn't see what I was doing. I don't remember having that difficulty before. We had just left on our vacation, and I went in search of some sort of magnification help. In Forever Stiching, in Idaho Falls, owner Lynda Orme sold me a magnifier that clips on to my Q-snaps. Saved! (She also taught me how to stitch on linen, so with the magnifier, it's easy!)

This is a piece called "Cape Hatteras National Seashore," designed by Cheri Fulmer from a painting by Robert Dance. It's part of the National Park Needlework Collector Series. I'm doing this for my sister-in-law, Alice. My brother Barry, who passed away this past March from lung cancer, loved this lighthouse. He painted it several times, visited it often, and I remember a family visit as a child when he threw toy soldier-parachutes off of the top of it. I know Alice will love it. It's on 14-count light blue Aida, and while the directions called for four threads (!), I'm just using two, and it's coming out just fine. I'm not sure if you can tell by looking at the picture, but I really like how the clouds are looking. They're a pain in the &*$% to do, but the colors look nice. More than half of this piece is blends--white/ecru, white/gray, white/blue, green/light green, and more that I haven't gotten to yet. I hate doing blends, but they sure do look nice.

I will be starting another piece soon, one for me on linen. It might be one of the mystery samplers from The Gift of Stitching Magazine, or maybe a Prairie Schooner Santa.