Sunday, May 13, 2018

Pattern: Alice in Wonderland by Cute Patterns by Maria
Fabric: 32ct cream Belfast linen by Wichelt
Threads: recommended DMC
Start: 5/7/2018

Good evening everyone! I hope all the moms, aunts, grandmas, etc. had a wonderful Mother's Day today. I presented my mom with the geranium design I had stitched up by Mill Hill. She liked it. I think she might put it on her dresser next to her plants. My sister got our mom a weaving book, a llama mug, and chocolates (our mom has a thing about llamas - if she was a millionaire, she'd own llamas! LOL).

I got my aunt the new Landscapes of Anne of Green Gables book and my sister got her a book and some chocolates (can't go wrong with Godiva chocolates!!).

I spent the day stitching, which was nice after yesterday. Spent a lot of money at the tire shop on new tires and two new oil gaskets. Ugh......why do car repairs have to be so expensive? If we can have health insurance and even pet insurance, why can't we have car insurance for repairs?!?! Not accident repairs, but you know 'wear and tear' repairs. Sigh.....

It had to be done....doesn't mean I have to like it!!

Anywho, back to stitching. I'm liking the pattern so far. Luckily it comes with a color and black/white copy so I can go between the two as I stitch. I tried to highlight the color copy as I go along, but with some of the darker colored squares, I couldn't see if I had highlighted anything so now I'm using both the color and black/white copies to work from.

I have been watching Flosstube while stitching for the most part. I have gotten addicted to Emily C of 'Eclectic Possessions Cross Stitch'. She's a stitcher from Georgia. I love her accent. (Yes, I said I love her accent - I'm a Southerner without an accent so I love hearing them).

She has some lovely projects that she has worked on in the past several years. I wish I had her fabric stash!!! 

Wishing you a great work week! 

Until next time ^____^

Sunday, May 6, 2018

Parterre de Fleurs Finish :)




Pattern: Parterre de Fleurs by Jardin Prive
Fabric: 32ct cream Belfast linen by Zweigart
Threads: Belle Soie 'Noir', Crescent Colours 'Secondhand Rose', 'Weeping Willow', Gentle Art 'Lemon Drops', and DMC B5200
Start/Finish: 4/22-5/6/2018

Good evening everyone! I hope you had a good weekend. My weekend was so-so. I went by the oil change place to get my car's oil changed and its coolant refilled. I came away with notes about needing new tires, a possible oil gasket replacement, and the coolant hoses looked at.

Sigh......so I'll have to take my car in on Saturday to get new tires and the oil gasket looked at. If they can get that done, I'll see about getting the coolant hoses, etc. looked at for a leak. Seems like a lot, but doesn't really surprise me because it's a 12 year old car. LOL

So after all that 'good' news, I went by Hobby Lobby and bought threads for a new cross stitch project and I broke my diet by getting a Frappuccino; my feelings needed it even if my tummy didn't.

I came home and sat down to bobbinate threads and go through my stash to see what duplicates I had. That took all day and part of this morning, but I liked the fact that I had all my threads organized. All my duplicates are in a bag. I plan on pulling them out and seeing how many I have of each color and making a list for the bag for future reference.

This afternoon I finished up the Parterre de Fleurs design! I had to change out the Bamboo color with DMC B5200 as the Bamboo threads were blending in too much.

I had two colors of Secondhand rose so I alternated on each side of the fabric. The lighter Secondhand rose had more variation in it compared to the darker shade.

I was hoping to get started on the CCN Cakes, but when I looked at the fabric I had the other cakes stitched on, I noticed that I would only have maybe about two inches left on the bottom of the fabric. That's too close for comfort so I went through my stash to see if I had any more 32ct Belfast cream linen and sadly I didn't have enough.....since I used it for the Parterre de Fleurs design.

Hobby Lobby has stopped selling a lot of their Zweigart and Wichelt fabrics so I'll have to order some Belfast online.

Well, that didn't stop me from starting a new piece or at least planning for it. I found a cute Alice in Wonderland PDF pattern on Etsy. So yesterday I got the threads I was missing and today after bobbinating and finishing up Parterre de Fleurs, I got the last of my 32ct Belfast out, ironed, and prepped.

It calls for a lot of DMC threads....about 30+, I really wish I had one of those large DMC thread rings so I could put them on there by color and number order instead of my normal project bag which is stuffed to the gills with all the threads. LOL

I hope you have a lovely week!

Until next time ^___^