RAK from Melissa!

I received this very nice 28ct evenweave in mushroom color from Melissa, since I was the first follower on her blog! She is stitching some beautiful items; a Raphael Angel, a cherub, and a Teresa Wentzler bellpull.  She also has some patterns and kits for sale. Pop over to her blog and encourage her to stitch away!

Golden Wedding Sampler - framed!

Wow! That was quick! Beth framed this at her shop the day after I gave it to her, and I picked it up tonight. I will take a pic with my parents holding this when I give it to them.

Tonight I stitched on Fairies for the WOCS quilt. There will be two fairies flying together.

Golden Wedding Sampler - finished!

Hurray!  Another finish on time!  I took it to my friend Beth, the framer, tonight.  She will work on it in the next few days.  It feels good not to have a deadline looming.  Now I can get back to stitching something for me that doesn't have a due date!

"Golden Wedding Sampler"
Bothy Threads
Started 8/1/2011, Finished 8/29/2011

TUSAL #9

My ORT jar filled up faster this month because I stitched like crazy on A Paris Kiss and finished it on time for my daughter's birthday! No more brown threads for awhile!

OK, I bought my first HAED!

Flaming June by Frederick Leighton

OK, I finally did it!  After thinking about this for months, I took the jump before the HAED 30% off sale ends.  I also went ahead and ordered the large print version to be mailed to me.  I'm just going all out!  It's nice that they provide the floss list so you can stock up before getting the pattern.  It will be 12"x14" on 25ct fabric, or 13.6"x16" on 22ct, or 16.6"x19.5" on 18ct.  That seems pretty big.  I will have to look at an actual piece of 25ct or 22ct fabric.  Maybe it's not so bad.

Golden Wedding Sampler update #4

I'm almost finished!  The only part left is some more flowers at the top by the hearts.  I have a gold frame with an old cross stitch in it that I made when I was 10 years old.  I hope this will fit in it, so I can take it to my friend Beth, who is a professional framer.  She will mount it on acid-free foam board with pins all around the edges and cut a mat for it.  She doesn't mind if I bring my own frame to save money, and she puts the paper on the back and a heavy wire for hanging, so it looks very classy!

Oops! Need to frog 11 stitches!

I misread the color symbols and stitched the woman's hair in metallic gold instead of brown! Should I just leave it? Haha!
I guess it's too late to be stitching at 1:45 AM.

Golden Wedding Sampler update #3

All that is left to stitch are the flowers across the top and the woman. I wanted to work on this all day on Saturday, but my dad brought over his brand-new digital camera tonight. He wants me to read the book and figure everything out and teach him how to use it tomorrow! They are going on a trip next week for their anniversary. I hope this won't take all day! LOL.

Two new starts for WOCS!

I am stitching a purple butterfly square for World of Charity Stitching.  The members all stitch the same butterfly pattern, but in different colors.  The squares will be made into a beautiful quilt!  You may think it's not centered in the Q-Snap frame, but I did that on purpose, since it will only be 6"x6" square, and then I can save the leftover Aida to make bookmarks.

I also started stitching Fairies, a chart from a book, Top 100 Cross Stitch Motifs by Michaela Learner.  I am stitching 2 over 2 on 28-count opalescent Zweigart evenweave and using DMC Pearlescent and Light Effects floss.  These fairies will be so pretty on a Fairy quilt to be donated to a child at a domestic abuse shelter.

The pretty Q-snap huggies are made by Christine Wilson and you can order them on her website.

Gracie suggested a postcard exchange and I sent and received 5 postcards from stitchers in Arizona, Pennsylvania, and the United Kingdom. My cat Billy wanted to be in the pic too!

My Flaming June choices

Six months ago, I got a chart for Flaming June designed by Karin's Cross Stitch Favourites.  Since I have been visiting blogs and finding more and more websites for cross stitch patterns, I see that this painting by Frederic Leighton has been made into a chart by several different designers.  But now I realize that they are all different stitch sizes with different numbers of floss colors.  I have never stitched a full coverage design before and I didn't want to go smaller than 18 count.  Before I start on this beautiful picture, I would like to have your opinion if I am making a good choice with this chart.  I've been thinking about it for months!

These are the choices (using 18 ct).  Which do you think would be best for me?  I already have the chart from Karin.  It seems like a good size to me, not too big or too small, and it has more colors than the HAED chart, so would that make the picture even more realistic?

Designer                            Stitches     Size (inches) Colors
Pinoy Stitch                         150x150   8 x 8              89
Mystic Stitch                        200x200   11 x 11           ?
Karin's Cross Stitch             283x265   15.7 x 14.7    90
Heaven and Earth Designs  300x351   16.6 x 19.5    50
Golden Kite                         500x586    27.7 x 32.5   199

Thanks for your advice and suggestions!

Everyday life at my work station!

Yes, I work at home! To the left is my personal computer and the work computer is on the right. My work assistants at the moment are Bubbles the calico cat, Teddy the Labrador puppy, and Billy the tabby cat. Not pictured are Blueberrie the tuxedo cat and Sophie the Sheltie/Shepherd dog.

Oh, I found Sophie on the other side of the desk and Blueberrie sitting in the kitchen window.

I love my job, don't you?

I've been RAK'd!

Judy Sisley Harris is a new member of World of Charity Stitching and she offered some Aida fabric on the WOCS Facebook page. I received this RAK (random act of kindness) of an awesome package with printed 14 ct Aida, 16 count white Aida, linen, 18 count Aida bookmarks, and evenweave border fabric. I'm so excited to start using these wonderful stash supplies! Thank you so much, Judy!