December Post

Wow it has been quite some time since I last posted. December is not turning out to be a very nice month. Busy at work with some very nasty backlash from a customer that is trying to blame their failure on us. Not going well and we are having to spend money on legal advice to stay out of trouble. Not a happy time.

Then a friend has found out that she has ovarian cancer. She had surgery for it but she is having some complications. I feel really bad for her and I am trying to keep her spirits up. I made her this blanket. The colors are pick because she collects Bauer Dishware, these colors are the closest I could get to those same colors.I put all of my stitching on hold to make this blanket for her. I also make a card but completely screwed up and did not get a picture.

So that is all for this post hope to be in a better mood for the next update.

I am so excited

In my last post I made mention of the pattern that I was desperately looking for it is Stars for a New Millennium by Tony Mineri. well I am so happy to say I have found, bought, and received the pattern. I went to my LNS and spent 3 hours choosing the fibers. Brought them home and now after laying them out and looking at them for about a week I have decided 9 of the colors I do not care for. I can not believe that I chose those colors but at the time I thought......well okay. So hopefully Thursday I will be able to get up there again and exchange out the colors for ones I am happier with. I am then going to wait until after Christmas to start on this as I want to clear away a few of my current WIPS in my rotation.

I had a wonderful, quiet, enjoyable Thanksgiving day. Just hubby, dogs and cat; the day after I decorated for Christmas just as I have for the last 29 years. As some of you who come and read my blog may recall I have an obsession with snowmen. I collect them and stitch them and love them. I even got a tattoo of one, something I never would have imagined doing.  Well this is the time I get to pull out all of my collection along with my other Christmas decorations.

I have 2 trees one for snowmen and other ornaments. But mainly snowmen. The second tree is my Disney ornament tree. 

 These little cuties are suncatchers and they dance all through the day sitting on the sill of the front window. 

 And these are the 2 stitching projects I have finished so far.

Now on to my stitching. In the Wipocalypse I mentioned the Christmas Tree Canvas that was gifted to me. Well I went up and got the canvas onto stretcher bars the same time I kitted up the Stars pattern and got started. I am going to do this twice. The first will be gifted to my daughter next Christmas. Then I will do one for myself in blues and silvers to match my decor.

Worked on just about all of my WIP's I finished the first of 6 snowmen by Joan Elliot. I have all but finished Joy by Kelly Clark, I only have the leaves, and a bit of background right at the top of the bauble. I got the inner circle of Harvest Ala Round by Glendon Place complete and Poof by Ursula Michaels is really looking good.

Finally I am now on page 20 of my HAED Christmas Cottage by Dona Gelsinger I am so happy with my progress for this year I may not get this row finished but it will be close.

That completes this update. I hope you are all enjoying your last few weeks before the Christmas festivities.

Wipocalypse November 14 2016 Referred to a Super Moon

 Oh my there is not much of anything to report since my last post. I have been busy with house cleaning, yard work and garage cleaning. Also I have not felt well so my stitching work is taking a beating. Just no time.

Since it is time for Wipocalypse I will make this post but it will be quite short. The only thing new to report is a wonderful mailing that I received today. A friend from Colorado was cleaning out her stash and came across 2 fully kitted counted canvas patterns. And another pattern for counted work. She asked if I would like to have it and I was very interested so she sent it to me free of charge. We have exchanged several different items over the years but I think this one is the one that would be the most expensive since all the threads are over-dyed or metallic or perle cotton so not a cheap investment. I want to start on the Christmas Tree right away but also want to get time on my Death by Cross Stitch. Oh the dilemma of a stitcher.

This months question:
 What pattern (or designer) is on your must-try-to-stitch bucket list?
I guess currently the one I want to try is the Stars for a New Millennium pattern by Tony Mineri. I am having a hard time finding the pattern. All of the places that advertise it do not have it in stock. I have tried 4 sites and even sent a message direct to the designers site and nothing. I am hopeful of one site I am at least getting emails from them, none of the other sites respond.

So hope this finds you all well and stitching. 

Thank God it is Over.

At this time the election results are not know but thank god the day has come and we can move forward one way or another. It was painful and nasty. 

I fell into the deal of a lifetime. A lady that owns a plaque and trophy shop has a side business of fabric and sewing notions. She has decided to close her walk-in busines and only do busines as an internet business. Part of her notions was embroidery floss with the old DMC wooden cabinets, the ones with the pull out drawers and she wanted to sell them with all of the floss in them. I saw the post on Facebook saying that it was a lady in the town I am from and if anyone wants it, go check it out but you must be able to pick it up. First thing next day I was there at opening. 12 boxes, all the drawers pretty much full and a few other boxes on top. I whipped out my card and said sold!!! The next 2 days I went through it counting threads and making sure all the numbers where in the correct slots. Turns out there were 6212 skeins. If you look on 123Stitch it costs .44 cents that works out to $2733 for just the floss. If you take it down to the sale price at Joann's of 3 for $1 it works out to $2050. No matter how you crunch the numbers it was a great buy. It is not a complete set as there are none of the 100 series of numbers and only a few of the 3800 series but for the most part they are there and I love the cabinets.I have been told the cabinets when you can find them sell for $75. each that is a total of $900. What did I pay for this awesome find you may ask............$350.00

There were 4 drawers that had no floss in them so I am usung them for some of my other supplies scissors, pens/pencils/markers, crochet hooks and needles/pens.

I am just in awe that I was able to get such an awesome deal such as this. I usually hear about this stuff after it is already gone and I have missed out but this time I was in the right place at the right time. I stil just go back in my sewing room just to look at it all. Oh and just as a bonus she had 3 Anne's cloth blankets that she gave me just to get them out of her way. 

For stitching, I have been working on my HAED Christmas Cottage because I was so close to a page finish I just could not set it aside until I had the page done and last night at midnight I meet my goal. 

Here are 2 photos.  The first to give you an idea of the size this will be when completed. The next is a picture of the project this is 19 pages complete. And I think it looks amazing if I do say so myself.

Wel enjoy all I will see you again in a few weeks with my next update.

Halloween

Do you like it??? I really enjoy decorating the house for it. We live 12 miles out in the country so we do not get any kids but the fun of the season for me is the weather the stitching designs and the smells of the cooking apple cider, pumpkin, a good hardy stew. Nothing is better. I do not get people saying it is evil or sends the wrong message. Look back in history the church was the ones that gave it the evil connotation not the Wickens or Pagens they rejoice in the Fall Equinox and being one with the earth. I was raised Catholic but I do not agree with all of their views and this is one I disagree with.

Alright enough of my soap-boxing lets get to the stitching. Looking back my last post was Wipocalypse. Since then I have not had anymore time for my cross stitching but I have been sewing so my thread time is good. I had a request for 2 of my wallets as Christmas gifts. All she said was one she wanted in purple and one in peach. Well as you can imagine that leaves alot to the imagination. I made 2 of each color and will let her choose and the others I will add to my inventory. I really need to get my butt in gear and open my Etsy store.

I have worked on Poof by Ursula Michaels, Autumn Ala Round by Glendon Place and Joy Joy Joy by Kelly Clark

As we all know Christmas is right around the corner.....oh my that is scary. Well that is beside the point but it made me think. I don't have a Christmas stitch on the go. Well yes there is Joy but that is embroidery on cross stitch so it does not count. I need..... yes, NEED to start a Christmas stitch so I pulled out these Snowmen I bought last year but did not get time to stitch yet. They will be stitched on 16 count snowflake aida I bought from silkweaver and they will all be on 1 banner. I will add either Welcome or Merry Christmas over top them. I am using the floss that cam with the kit but I do not really care for it. It feels rough to me so I am thinking they use Sullivan floss. It should be fun as I go along.

I showed you the finished stitching of my sisters card but while I was in the sewing room I FFOed this into a hanging ornament for her. I used 1 of the many stitches that my new machine has to offer and although it is a bit wonky I am sure she will love it.

I hope you enjoy the evening and welcome you back for my next posting. It will be November already and that means Thanksgiving, Christmas and the New Year are quickly approaching.

Wipocalypse October 16 2016 Referred to as the Hunter's Moon

Hello all I am happy to talk to you all again this month. I look forward to seeing all your blog up dates. I will say my stitching time was much less this month. New puppy is taking time to play with and the training of course but he is just such a fun little man!!!!!

 Time for the monthly question:

 What online stitching communities do you enjoy?
Because I really am not a big internet person I limit the places I go for just about everything. 10 years ago I found a fun little stitching forum. At the time it was very new and small we had some great people and it felt like a family. about 4 years in it started to grow rapidly and needed a moderator and because I was one of the original members and I wanted the forum to survive I volunteered to do the job. It was great still small very little drama and still felt like family but then something hapened and the fun started to retreat. Maybe it was because of growth or because I was the one everyone made the complains to or maybe I got burned out. Finally after 10 years I had to take a break. I still love what the forum can give support, encouragement, advice and more but for me right now it is not my first place to go.  http://www.crossstitchforum.com Right at this minute my places to go is Facebook. I am in 2 groups and for me that is enough. I enjoy the sharing but sometimes the drama is a bit ridiculous. And of course I really enjoy the Wipocalypse post and I will make trip to several of the blog from there if I have time during the month.

For the updates small bits on all of the WIP's and of course every little bit is a step in the right direction. Christmas Cottage (HAED) Poof by Ursula Michaels, Autum Ala Round by Glendon Place, Joy Joy Joy by Kelly Clark and Death By Cross Stitch by Long Dog Samplers

I had 2 finishes since last months post a small....Tea cup for sisters Birthday card and Beauty and the Beast

So that is my update hope to see alot of new starts and progress from all you ladies and gents.

Small steps on stitching

My new puppy is still taking lots of my time. I just love playing with him and of course he has so much energy. Training is going very well and I hope to be able to say that we are 100% trained by the end of the month. These are just such smart dog that training is quite an easy thing.

But let's see some stitching did get some of my time. I finished the card I was doing for my sister. So happy I have it ready for her birthday so early.The picture does not show it but the fabric is a nice peach color. JOY- I worked with this on finished the small joy in a soft Silk Lame' Braid from from RG, started on the other Joy that I will do in a deeper gold and I worked quite a bit of the white background. The pattern of the background needs my full concentration so that with all the breaks from the words the pattern meets up properly. I have had many frogs because I miss counted and then have to go back and redo the placement of the diamonds. It will all be well worth it in the end but it is frustrating at times. Finally My Autumn Ala Round got another leaf and some more sparkle. I hate linen.....no really I hate this linen with its slubs and extra counting and so many other things I just do not like. I can not wait to be done with this and then no more linen works.

I did get Poof started and it is looking great. I have subbed out most of the colors. The ones the pattern called for were so dull that it just did not look good on the fabric I chose.Fun stuff.