Two Ornament Finishes

I needed to get these ornaments "finished" so I can get them mailed. They're for two different ornament exchanges. The one on the left is called "Snowed In," and it's designed by Something in Common. I got the pattern from the December 2006 edition of The Gift of Stitching Magazine. If you haven't subscribed to this wonderful online magazine, do so! You can get all the back issues for a great price and the yearly subscription price is really reasonable. This ornament was finished using felt and glue - no sewing. Made for an easy finish, and justified my purchase of pinking shears.


This ornament is by Prairie Schooler - it's the freebie on their website. I finished it as a pillow ornament - plaid fabric for the back, stuffed with batting.

"My Sister" by Forever in My Heart

This summer, after I'd started cross stitching again, the first needlework shop I visited was Forever Stitching in Idaho Falls, Idaho. There I met Lynda Orme, who introduced me to stitching on linen. She gave me a lot of scraps from her scrap bucket, and also let me select one her own designs from Forever in My Heart Designs. I selected this one about my sister, so I could stitch it for one of my sisters for Christmas. To the left is what the piece should really look like. It has nice soft pastel colors, and it should be stitched on white or cream so it looks good in a pastel frame.

To the right is what my piece looks like. Here's why it doesn't look anything like Lynda's: 1) I wanted to stitch something on one of the linen scraps she gave me, and 2) I needed to change the colors since I was stitching on lavender. I think it will look much better when I get it framed, and I think my sister (I'm not going to say which one yet) will like it!

Thanksgiving Bread Cover

I stitched this for the CSRR Thanksgiving Bread Cover Exchange. The pattern is from Leisure Arts' "25 Bread Cloths for the Holidays." It's going in the mail today for Kita!

Fire Update: Since the smoke from the Slide and Grass Valley fires was blowing south into the valley, all the local districts, including ours, cancelled school for today and tomorrow. I'm using the free time to stitch, of course! Tomorrow I'm going to a conference in Orange County for the weekend, meaning I get to go to Needlepoints Ltd. to browse in a brick-and-mortar store! They're already holding some more Q-snaps for me, and I need some brown/beige fabric - and who knows what else I'll just have to have.

Pictures of the Fires

This one is looking south from near my office in Calimesa - the fire is the Witch Fire in San Diego County, at least 70 miles away. That's the one that's caused my little sister to be evacuated from her home in Encinitas. So far half a million people in San Diego County have evacuated.




This is looking north from the same spot near my office, at the Slide Fire in Running Springs/Green Valley Lake. It is now making us nervous, as the last time a fire came down from Running Springs we had to evacuate because it threatened to cut off the highway that leads to our little town.

Has This Ever Happened to You?

Cross stitching is supposed to be relaxing. It usually is, except when you're frogging. But this weekend a weird thing happened. I was stitching the pastel hen on 18-count. It's a stiff Aida cloth, and I was having a hard time with nearly every stitch getting the needle into the hole on the back side of the fabric. It would catch, make scratching noises, and I found my body really tensing up - sort of like I wanted to scream. I couldn't believe how it was - and I realized I needed to put it down and stop. When I finally finished the hen yesterday, I was so relieved - and decided to start a piece on softer evenweave just so I wouldn't have that "tensing up" with the stitches.

I've noticed that my right (stitching) hand has gotten pretty adept at locating the next hole when I'm stitching - even on linen - and for some reason it just wasn't working with the 18-count.

What about you?

"Pastel Hen" from crosstitch.com

I finished this one just now, after starting it last night while I was camping. It goes with the bunny I did last week, for Tammy's quilt on SOLAK.

A Great Surprise in the Mail

I came home from a weekend camping trip, checked the mailbox, and found this great package from Nelly in France. We're both members of CrazyExchange, a cross-stitching exchange forum that used to be a Yahoo group. It's a simple group to be in - we post our likes and dislikes along with our mailing addresses. When I want to send someone something, I go through the list, pick someone out, make something, and send it! The recipient then has a month to make somthing to send back. I sent Nelly "Boo! Guess Who!" that I made back in August. She had put on her "likes" list that she liked Halloween items, so the little "boo" ornament was perfect.

"Pastel Bunny" from crosstitch.com

This is a bunny I stitched for SOLAK, and it will be a quilt square for Tammy. She likes pastels, so I signed up to do this bunny and a hen that's in the same style. I had to shorten his ears and body a little to make it more like a square. I might do the same for the hen - it's sitting on a colored egg which I might omit from the piece.

Two Jar Lids

I like to give thank-you gifts to people who have done favors for me or have worked hard on behalf of the Association. I used to make little food gifts, but now I plan to make a lot of little jar lids and fill the jars with M&Ms, Skittles, cookie mixes, and other nice edibles. The pattern on the left is from an old issue of Cross Stitch & Country Crafts, and I have no idea where the other one came from. I had one "thank you" stitched that had been sitting around in my stash for 20 years, and copied the pattern onto some graph paper so I can make it again and again. I like the colors since they go so well with M&Ms and Skittles.

How I Feel Sometimes

If you didn't know already, I'm a teacher's union president in southern California. For a glimpse of how I feel sometimes, click on this link, then click on the pig's nose. Wait few seconds.

"Lemon Tree" by Alita Designs

This is a square for Sangeeta's quilt, for which I signed up on SOLAK. She wanted a quilt with lavender or lemon, and I thought this pattern was lovely. It's pretty large (90H x 75W), so I stitched it on 18-count Aida. I'll get it off in the mail today and start on "Crabby All Year" tonight!

Goals Check and October Goals

DoI stitched a great deal in September, and finished some things that were not on the goals list. I didn't start a large Martina Weber mandala - mainly because the fabric just now arrived. So I guess that goes on the October list! I didn't even pick up "Calico Cats," so I'll have to make a point of working on that one, too.

October goals:

1. Start "Alpine Seasons Garden" mandala
2. Stitch at least 2 more cats on "Calico Cats"
3. Stitch at least 2 more hours on "Cape Hatteras"
4. Stitch at least 3 charity quilt squares
5. Finish an ornament for the Xmas Ornie Exchange 2007
6. Stitch two more "freebies" from my notebook
7. Stitch at least one LizzieKate snippet or flip-bit
8. Start gathering goodies for 12 Days of Christmas Exchange
9. Start "Crabby All Year"
10. Do Thanksgiving bread cover for CSRR

"Peace" by Elizabeth's Designs

This is a free pattern from Elizabeth's Designs. Like I did with the Prairie Schooler Santa, I substituted Rainbow Gallery white Wisper thread when I stiched the little lambs. My photo's a bit overexposed, but they show up nicely in real life.

"Santa and Pear Tree" by Prairie Schooler

This one's from a free pattern I got from the Prairie Schooler site, here. I made one change, which was to use Rainbow Gallery white Wisper thread for his beard and eyebrows. I'll be turning this into an ornament, probably, though it's a bit larger than a normal ornament. I stitched it on 20-count lambswool, so it ended up about 3 1/2 inches square.

Two Wannabee Bears - the butterfly ones - Dale Burdett

These are both squares for a CSFC quilt. Since they used a lot of the same colors, I did two at the same time.

I was supposed to get my fabric from Silkweaver this week so I could start on my Chatelaine piece, but they accidentally sent me someone else's order. So while I'm waiting for the correct fabric to arrive, I think I'm going to inventory the patterns I want to stitch in my Cross Stitch and Country Crafts magazines. I've been leafing through them lately, and have found small patterns I want to do for jar lids, medium patterns that can be good for more charity squares, and some nice large ones that might make great projects some day. I also have to get on ebay and fill in some gaps as there are a few issues I don't have, and I'd like to have them all!

Goodies in Today's Mail

After a long day at the office, I came home to not one, but TWO fabulous packages! First, I eagerly tore into the one from Shakespeare's Peddler. This is a fabulous online store! Teresa puts together "___ of the month" packages, and I signed up for two of them. First, I decided to get the "Crabby All Year" kits from Raise the Roof Designs. The first kit has January through March. What a concept - celebrating the things you don't normally celebrate - like taxes! I haven't decided yet whether I'm doing these separately or all on once piece of fabric. I also signed up for the Little House Needlework Designs Fruit Thread Packs. This is a chance for me to build up my stash of overdyed threads. Each month you get a chart for one of the fruit designs, and 5 skeins of Crescent Color threads. So cool!



The second package I opened was from Silkweaver, where I've signed up for the Fabric of the Month Club. They dye their own fabrics, from aida to cashel to lugana and more, and they offer a wide variety of monthly options. I chose the 3 9x13's, and this month they are all in shades of purple. They look blue in the photograph, but they're definitely different purples and are truly lovely. I've also ordered a custom-made piece for my Chatelaine Alpine Seasons mandala, and will show it off when I get it.

Moose from "Wild Wonders" by Something in Common

I stitched this for an international exchange I signed up for on CSRR. In this exchange, you stitch something representative of your country. I asked my partner if she wanted something U.S. patriotic, southwestern, or mountain/rustic (since I live in the moutains), and she chose the latter. The whole design includes bears, trees, an eagle, a squirrel, a goose, and some nice-looking motifs, but I deided to just do this one part of it. It's stitched on 28-count brown linen. I found the mat at JoAnn and the frame at Michael's. My partner's from Mexico, so I'm looking forward to see what she sends me!

"Halloween Night" by Helga Mandl - Finished for Hanging

Here it is, all sewn up and ready for hanging. There's a pocket running across the top of the back, where Dawn (the person I'm sending it to) will insert a small wooden dowel. Then she'll use the black cord I'm sending to hang it. The cloth is a Halloween design - those are small pumpkins. So cute! I wish I sewed, or I'd have done it myself. But at least I stitched the design!

A Meme from Mel

Mel of Oh the Drama tagged me the other day for this meme, and I'm just getting around to giving it a try.

ACCENT -none - except when I'm really tired, and then my old Texas twang makes its presence known
I DON"T DRINK - Beer
CHORE I HATE - all of them!
PETS - We don't have one any more. Pepper was with us fo 14 years.
ESSENTIAL ELECTRONICS - computer, camera, treo, ipod
PERFUME - don't wear it; can't stand it
GOLD or SILVER - both
INSOMNIA - only when I drink coffee at night
JOB TITLE - President (really! of our teachers' union)
MOST ADMIRED TRAIT - frankness
KIDS - Theresa, 25 & Kenny, 23
PHOBIA - angry parents (of students)
RELIGION - none
SIBLINGS - 3 sisters, 2 brothers
TIME I WAKE UP - 6:30 except for Fridays, when it's 5:15
UNUSUAL TALENT/SKILL - hmmm - that's my secret!
VEGETABLE - corn on the cob, brussels sprouts
WORST HABIT - interrupting people
X-RAYS - pinkie, foot, chest
MY FAVORITE MEAL - filet mignon, baked potato, chocolate lava cake for dessert

I guess I'll tag anyone who wants to give this a try!

I Just LOVE Exchanges!

I like exchanges, because I get an outlet for my stitching, and get to make things for other people. Then, I also GET things from other people, which doubles the fun! This little Santa ornament was made for me by Brenda A, as part of an ornament exchange on CSRR. Isn't he cute?

Right now I'm working on a piece for another exchange, and it's looking good. It's a moose, with some sampler borders, and I'll show it off when it's finished.

"Folk Art Anniversary Sampler" by Gloria D. Moore

This one is now back from the framer's. I really fell in love with that frame the first time I saw it. It matches the burgundy in the text and flowers, and the golden yellow scrollwork picks up the golden yellow in the flowerpots. I chose not to have a mat. One thing that's different from my piece and the original is that I chose not to put the heart cabochons in the stitched hearts. If you're interested in this pattern, it's in the October issue of The Gift of Stitching Magazine.

Now THIS is a hardship assignment!

My son Kenny just got back to Okinawa from a 3 1/2 month assignment to the island of Diego Garcia. Can you imagine having a beach within walking distance of your job and barracks?

Another Charity Square

This little guy is an Ellen Maurer-Stroh design, and it's for the safari-themed quilt on WOCS. He's stitched on 14-count white aida, and took me just one night to finish him.

"Lavender Garden Mandala" by Martina Weber (Chatelaine Designs)

Finished! I was pleasantly surprised at how easy this one was. I plan to start one of Martina's larger mandalas soon, and I know they're pretty intense - so I thought I'd "practice" by doing a smaller one. What I like about this is you look at the pattern while you're working one part of the design, and then you don't have to look at the pattern any more - you just repeat, and use your own stitching as the guide. Even the beads were easy on this one. I'm not sure how well you can see them - there are gold ones in long angled rows in the corners, and then lots of lavender ones interspersed among the lavender Rhodes stitches in the border. Even the Rhodes stitches were easy. I think the gates on each side are really interesting - along with the "pond" in the middle (that's what Martina calls it).


About the frame: this was originally a $4.99 art print at Michael's, which was on sale at 50% off. I removed the glass and the backing; used a piece of quilt batting between the fabric and the backing, and then put the design and backing back in the frame. (I discarded the glass.)

Stitched on 28-count white Zweigert cashel
DMC floss, Kreinik gold #4 braid, Mill Hill beads

SBQ - Question of the Week

I have absolutely no difficulty answering this week's SBQ:


Would you ever stitch one of your BAPs a second time? (This does not
include starting over because of mistakes, bad fabric, etc., rather
stitching something from the first stitch for a second time.)



Absolutely NOT! One of the main reasons I enjoy cross stitching is because I like to see the images reveal themselves as I go. I love the mystery of it - beginning with a chart of symbols, and converting it to a beautiful design - and if the mystery has already been revealed, I have no interest in doing it again. As a matter of fact, I have a BAP that I just can't wait to finish, as the main part of the design is complete and I already know what it looks like. I'm almost bored with it. I have to make myself pick it up and work on it.