The End...

Fair Warning:  this is not a happy post about needlework.  If you aren't in the mood for sad news, move on...







Dear Friends,

My four legged constant companion, Carmen, has been such a central part of my life for the past 12 1/2 years that I feel obliged to share the following.   The past month has been difficult for her, to say the least.  Age and arthritis were taking their toll while Mommy and Daddy were frantically trying to find the right combination of medication to make the age and arthritis tolerable.  Every medication seemed to make things worse, not better.  No medication at all made things much worse.  Ultimately, desperate for answers and the best diagnostics and medicine money could buy, we journeyed to Columbus OH where the MedVet staff and docs were so caring, thoughtful and thorough.  We got answers, but not good ones on Tuesday, 7/31.  Yesterday, Hubby and I made the hardest decision of our married lives (and that is saying ALOT!) to bring our girl home and bid her farewell.  Believe me when I say, we agonized over this decision but know it was the right one for our girl.  These are the hardest words I've ever written and I am only sharing because I've made Carmen such a fun part of this blog.  I hope to be able to blog again about silly things like craft fairs, tote bags, stitching finishes, and the like but it might be awhile... 

While my husband has three (human) boys from his first marriage, she was our only child.  His only "little girl".  We both are grief-striken and heart sick and will need some time to recover.. Twelve years is a long time, but, not long enough.

Together, we were 'The Fam'.  She was so special to us both...

Many tears...

Technical difficulties

***

It seems the storms of two weeks ago caused a major problem with our internet service provider which they remedied by upgrading some piece of equipment that in turn rendered our older modem useless, although it appeared to be functional.  So, after two weeks of the most frustrating attempts to reset, connect, call customer service, etc., we finally had a 'house call' tonight by a tech and in all of five minutes, he replaced the modem and we are back up and running.

Bad news is we are also having major K9 medical issues and will be making a fast trip to Columbus tomorrow. 

More news later...

Christmas in July

***

Got a jump on some Christmas ornament finishing...

If you've ever wondered about it, I have figured out the formula to accurately predict the amount of time you need to "finish" an ornament, pillow, project bag or just about anything else you aren't framing...

You take the amount of time you believe to be reasonable to finish the object, then you multiple by 5.

This will give you the low end of the range of the time it is going to take you to finish it.

Regardless of the ridiculous amount of thought and time I put into this tiny little gingerbread house, I believe it is my favorite of the batch:

Until next time, happy stitching friends!

Another finish and a new tote

I forget how slow counted cross stitch is compared to most all other kinds of needlework, so when I fly through a few small (alternative style) needlework pieces, I'm gently reminded that it really is possible to finish more than 5 or 6 things/year.

Here is my latest canvas finish:

I've wanted to do a stained glass style piece for a long time now and this one was just the right size for me (about 3"x 5").  It was so much fun to stitch!  And did I say fast too?  Really fast..  Once you have your grid pattern stitched, you could obviously use any colors and stitches you like...

Here's what I've done with it:

I've kept my eyes peeled for years for a cool Ott light tote bag, but never have found any...so, what's a girl to do?  Make one!

That's all I've got for this Friday night, friends.  We've got a busy busy weekend ahead, so I may not post again until later next week.  Until then, stay cool and keep your needles hot...

American Eagle framed!

Just got American Eagle back from the framer tonight and I honestly couldn't love it more!  It's hard for me to believe that it only took about a week to create this little guy which I am sure has just become my new favorite piece...

If all goes according to plan, he's fly away to the State Fair next month.

Hope you all are finding time to stitch and stay cool.

                    Hugs,

July - in like a lion!

***

Hello Friends!  Here is it July 1st and we have found ourselves in a verifiable heat wave here in Wild, Wonderful West Virginia.  The heat reached an all time high of 108 last week!  And, we suffered through the worst storm I've ever seen in my life Friday night.  It was my husband's birthday and we were having dinner out, about 40 minutes from home.  The power went out several times during dinner and the rain and wind were indescribable.  The drive home was like driving through a war zone.  I know many of you, all over the East coast have experienced the same.  Luckily for us, we didn't have any serious property damage and we have electricity but many of our neighbors were not so lucky.  Our new (like they are in the process of moving in) neighbors had a tree fall across their car.  We have tons of limbs and sticks to deal with, but escaped virtually unscathed.  However, we are praying for all of our friends and neighbors who are dealing with much worse..

Now for the Share-A-Stitch report... What a wonderful five day get-away!!  The facility (Meadowbrook Conference Center) in Kingsport TN is just fabulous.   The staff was excellent, the service was spotless and the food was tremendous.  In short, I can't say enough good things about the place.  My roomie and I traveled down mid-week and since only one of us can drive at a time, I stitched until it was my turn to take the wheel.  It was a pleasure to get a few hours of power stitching in on a few small projects.  A couple of hours go so far when you're talking about small projects!

The first is an amulet bag/name tag by GPA (Giulia Punti Antichi).  I've had this kitted up for at least a year and a half.  The beads Giulia has had made to accompany her designs are addictive.  You can click on the photo below to get a better look at the one I've used for the scissors fob.   

The only thing I have left to do on this project is to add the focal bead and tassel to the bottom of the bag.  I can't wait to wear this to our next meeting.

My other car project is a small canvas piece that looks like a piece of stained glass.  I'm in love with everything about it..

It's been a blast just filling in the blocks with whatever new stitch I decide I want to try.  I'm envisioning this on the front of an Ott light carry bag when finished.

As for class, I took studio time in order to get my Monet piece started.  Well, I got it started and that's about all I can say for it.  When I have enough to warrant a photo, I'll share..  It could be awhile..

Per usual, I enjoyed the boutique and bookstore a great deal.  I picked up 5-10 new threads, a couple of pattern books, a couple of needlepoint stitch guides, some slender stretcher bars (which I love!), and a bunch of blank needlepoint canvas.  I have big plans for the canvas (stay tuned...)

All in all, it was a huge success.  The only thing that could have made it better was to have had dinner with my husband on Thursday night, which was our anniversary.  Being the kind soul that he is, he encouraged me to take the trip anyway and sent this gorgeous arrangement in place of actually being together on our special day...

They just got more beautiful by the day...

What a guy... I'm a lucky girl!

Road Trip!

Yippee yippee ya ya!  Bright and early tomorrow morning my BSFF and I will pile her trunk full of everything we 'need' for a four day stitching convention and hit the road for Kingsport TN.  I'm very excited to have several straight days to work on the Monet piece but I'm also super excited to see all the girls from EGA again.  I didn't attend the National seminar in Naples FL last fall so I feel like it's been a long time since I've had a chance to catch up with all the ladies and see what wonderful things they've been creating since the last time we all got together.  Many of the member of my local chapters are going to Kingsport this week, so it will also be a great time to catch up with them.  I'm really excited!  Can you tell?  Honestly, except for the gray hair, we could be confused for a bunch of teenagers at summer camp when we get together at these conventions.  We talk our fool heads off until our throats are sore about stuff nobody cares about but us.  We stay up way past our bedtimes, visiting up and down the hallways just to see what everybody else is doing.  We let someone else cook and clean for us.  We form lasting friendships and renew those we made the year before.  Throw in a bonfire and we are one "Kumbaya" short of summer camp.  And, it all does my soul a world of good.  I think every die-hard needlewoman should be able to experience one of these conventions at least once.  You just might become addicted!

Lee needlepoint luggage tag

18 ct mono canvas

threads: perle cotton #5 in 310, 321, 738 and blanc

And, how about my new needlepoint luggage tag?  These little guys are so fun and fast to stitch up, I really would like to make a whole batch of different ones.  This one is the well-known Burberry plaid that is so popular today.  I have a book of plaids and just followed the photo. The colors I chose are 310, 321, 738, and blanc.  It would be pretty in pink and grey, too.  If you are interested in making one for yourself or as a gift, check with your LNS first but if you can't get them there, google "Lee needlepoint luggage tags".  They are currently available on eBay and few other stitching websites.  Prices vary.  I paid $20 for mine but I've seen them as high as $30 (canvas not included).

So, until next time friends, keep your needles threaded and have a great week!

Let the BAP begin!

***

Alright sports fans... today is a BIG day.  It is the day I put Stitch #1 into a BAP that I've been dying to sink my teeth into for years.  I've finally decided to let it wait no more.  Next week, I'm headed off to Kingsport TN for the EGA Regional seminar and only taking studio time so I should be able to dedicate at least three full days to this beauty.  The piece is straight-forward;  100% cross stitch, except it has about a bazillion color changes and the graph looks like confetti.  I guess that's what you get when you want to recreate an impressionist painting with needle and thread.

Here's the "AFTER" pic:

Wish me luck!

Happy happy joy joy

***

Happy Wednesday friends!  I'm so excited to have finished my first handpainted canvas that I just had to pop in for a quick minute to share it with you...

canvas by Lee

Like I said earlier, I purchased this canvas in San Francisco at the EGA National seminar in the fall of 2010 along with two Lee luggage tags.  I promptly plunked the tags and the canvas down in a large zip bag and began adding (from stash) any red, white and blue thread I thought might come in handy to the zip bag.  You've never seen such a bunch of red, white and blue thread in all your life.  I let the options paralyze me for awhile.  Too many options.  Had to decide where to start and work from there.  I studied the nine little color blotches along the edge of the canvas until I felt like I had a good handle on the "true" colors of the project.  The brown was such a pretty brown that I decided to start there.  So, I had the 'perfect' brown thread in my hand, ready to start, but, uhhhh, how should I start was the next question...

Luckily, I have picked up a few basic needlepointing books along the way so I referenced them and came up with some fairly easy stitches for the eagle.  I just love how he turned out which spurred me on to get the flag started.  Cue the koo-koo crazy music... 

It took me about two nights of trying different stitches before I found the diagonal stitch you see above throughout the flag.  I don't remember what it's called in real life, but I call it the long-long-short stitch.  Long-long-short became my best friend as I stitched and ripped, stitched and ripped...

The flag needed to have some sheen to it, I thought, but not too much... So after MUCH trial and error, I decided I'd use two kinds of thread in each color block of the flag - one shiny, one not so shiny.  If you look closely you can see that I've used a #5 perle cotton and a rayon in the same exact color, in altering rows for the entire flag.  The flag has two shades of red and three shades of blue, thus I used 4 reds and 6 blues for the flag.  The stars were the last to be stitched.

Again, for about two full nights, I tried every thread and every stitch I could think of but nothing looked right.  I stitched and ripped, stitched and ripped...

I finally gave up and threw myself on the mercy of a couple of my needlepointer stitchy friends.  What we landed on for the stars is what is called a Rhodes star.  I think it's just about perfect!  The thread for the stars is called Hi-Lights by Rainbow Gallery.

Special thanks to Miss Pat for that suggestion!  Kiss Kiss Miss Pat!

So in the span of about a week, I nearly tore my hair out figuring it out, but I started and finished my very first handpainted canvas.  All in, I think I used 19 different threads from 6 thread 'families':  perle cotton #5, DMC floche, DMC rayon, DMC antique effects, Rainbow Gallery Hi-Lights, and Mandarin floss (bamboo). 

It's so uplifting to finish something quickly, don't you think?

And, as promised, here is "And the Rain Fell"  all framed up:

sorry about the glare... couldn't be helped...

And that's all the news that's fit to report folks..

Have a great remainder of the week and keep on stitching!

1st handpainted canvas and a giveaway

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Hi All!  I'm posting a rare Thursday message to share my excitement over starting on my very first handpainted canvas, purchased in Fall 2010 at EGA National in San Francisco.  One thing I know for sure is that I am not a needlepointer so even though this is a very small luggage tag, it was with great trepidation that I made the decision to bring it home.  As much as I know I'm not a needlepointer, I am a confessed and convicted flosstitute.  I love Love LOVE threads of all varieties and have a pretty respectful cache just waiting for the right projects to come along.  I'm told this is a very good thing for anyone getting into canvaswork.  And, as I admire all those perfectly gorgeous pieces of canvaswork out there on the web, I can see why.  There's nothing like a handpainted canvas to show off a multitude of splendid threads. 

I'm very pleased with how the eagle head has turned out.  I used a combination of DMC floche and Mandarin Floss for everything but his beak. It is stitched with #5 perle cotton.  The Hungarian ground stitch (white and gray part) seemed to work out great for what I had in mind.  Now, I'm on to the hard part... the stars and bars.  I think I must have 11,001 reds, whites and blues to pick from.  Not to mention all the sparkle-y, metallic threads that could be added for impact.  I'm also stumped about what kind of stitches to use for the flag.  Seriously wish that this little project had come with a stitch guide...

So, if any of you seasoned canvas workers have any suggestions for me, I am all ears!  For every suggestion I get, I'll put a patriotic "something" in a giveaway bag and pull from the list of commenters at the end of the month.  Please encourage your canvaswork friends to drop by and comment too.  The more suggestions, the more swag in the giveaway... 

I told you I was desperate...

Happy (almost) Weekend Friends!