Victorian Light

Design: Lamppost Ornament by JSC 1992
Fabric: 28ct glass blue Monaco linen
Threads: DMC 310, 317, 321, 367, 415, 498, 727, 890, 973, and 976
Start/Finish: 10/19/2011

Another ornament from the 1992 Christmas issue of Just Cross Stitch. I love this design. For some reason it reminds me of Dicken's London.

Until next time ^____^

Pagoda

Design: Blue China Ornament by JSC 1992
Fabric: 32ct cream Belfast Zweigart
Threads: DMC 341, 792, 793, 820, and 823
Start/Finish: 10/18/2011

Blue Willow

Design: Blue China Ornament by JSC 1992
Fabric: 32ct cream Belfast Zweigart
Threads: DMC 796, 797, 800, and 823
Start/Finish: 10/16/2011

I found a lovely series of Blue China ornament patterns in an older edition of Just Cross Stitch magazine from 1992. I stitched one of them this afternoon while watching the 1986 version of The Little Princess on DVD.

The design actually has a border around it that mimics the pattern of old blue willow dishes, but I opted to just stitch the design in the middle.

I'll have to think of something else to stitch tomorrow :)

Until next time ^_____^

Dans Mon Jardin biscornu

Design: Dans mon jardin by Jardin Prive
Fabric: 32ct cream Belfast
Threads: DMC
Start/Finish: 8/14-19, 22-27/2011
Finished: as biscornu on 8/28/2011

I put the last whip stitches on this biscornu a little while ago. This was a fun design to stitch and try my hand at making a 15-sided biscornu. The only downside was the bumpiness of the design even though I trimmed the edges inside.

In other news, I had pre-ordered the JSC Halloween Collection book from Down Sunshine Lane last month and I received it in the mail on Friday. I was excited to get a book from JSC full of Halloween designs, but when I received it I was a little disappointed. The last section of the book is the 'best of the best' past Halloween ornaments from JSC magazine. I would have rather seen more new designs and left that whole section out. People who buy the Halloween magazine issues when they come out every year usually keep them for future use so I didn't see the point of the 'best of the best' section.

I was also disappointed in a lot of the larger designs. Maybe I'm just biased because I'm not a fan of designs on Aida or that involve a lot of backstitching as it makes the design look 'amateurish.' But that is just my opinion.

I will be stitching some of the designs from the book so no worries :)

Until next time ^____^

Strawberries

Design: Tea Time Samplers #5, Strawberry Basket by Just Cross Stitch
Fabric: 32ct lambswool Wichelt-Permin
Threads: DMC 319, 320, 347, 610, and 3328
Start/Finish: 3/6/2011

Tulips

Design: Tea Time Samplers #2, Tulip Basket by Just Cross Stitch
Fabric: 32ct lambswool Wichelt-Permin
Threads: DMC 433, 924, and 3364
Start/Finish: 2/27/2011

A lovely day for stitching a spring-themed design. This small sampler motif is part of the Tea Time Samplers #2 leaflet. There is another design on the leaflet that I would like to start, but I need to get some more of lambswool color linen.

Until next time ^____^

Where my cross stitch lives, part 2

My friend in New Zealand received her package last week, just in time for the holidays. Here are pictures of the cross stitch goodies that went to go live with her.

Ornaments

Design: Christmas tree and Christmas Bells by Heritage Series (JCS 1989)
Threads: DMC
Fabric: 32ct cream Belfast Zweigart and 28ct Quaker Rue Green
Finished as ornaments: 12-19-2010

Merry Christmas

Design: Merry Christmas by Glory Bee
Threads: DMC Alternatives 225, 347, 500, and 814
Fabric: 32ct cream Belfast Zweigart
Start/Finish: 12-19-2010

Christmas Tree #2

Design: Christmas tree by Heritage Series (JCS 1989)
Threads: DMC 666, 700, and 973
Fabric: 32ct cream Belfast Zweigart
Start/Finish: 12-16-2010

Hi! I hope you're having a great week so far! I stitched these ornaments earlier in November as Christmas gifts for friends. I stitched the Christmas Bells and Christmas tree again this week for my mother who thought the ornaments were lovely and wanted a set for herself. I plan on putting them in picture ornaments this weekend.

By the way, a BIG thank you to the people who have commented on my stitching!! It means a lot to me!

Until next time ^____^

Silver Bells

Design: Christmas Bells by Heritage Series (JCS 1989)
Thread: DMC 727 and 762
Fabric: 28ct Quaker Rue Green
Started/Finished: 12/15/2010

Where my cross stitch lives, part 1

My friend in CA received her package today. Here is a picture of the cross stitch goodies that went to go live with her ;)

Ornaments

Designs: Wreath by The Needle and I (JCS 1989)
Christmas tree by Heritage Series (JCS 1989)
Christmas bells by Heritage Series (JCS 1989)
Fabric: 28ct cream Zweigart
Finished as ornaments: 11/21/2010

Finished using photo ornaments purchased at Hobby Lobby.

Holly Berries

Design: Holly Berries Mini Biscornu by Cherished Stitches (JCS 2008)
Threads: DMC 498, 700, and B5200
Beads: Mill Hill Antique Glass Beads - Red
Fabric: 32ct. cream Belfast
Start/Finish: 11/20/2010

Wreath

Design: Wreath by The Needle and I (JCS 1989)
Threads: DMC 221, 367, and 500
Fabric: 28ct cream Zweigart
Start/Finish: 11-17-2010

Christmas Bells

Design: Christmas bells by Heritage Series (JCS 1989)
Threads: DMC 436 and 666
Fabric: 28ct cream Zweigart
Start/Finish: 11-16-2010

Christmas tree

Design: Christmas tree by Heritage Series (JCS 1989)
Threads: DMC 666, 700, and 973
Fabric: 28ct cream Zweigart
Start/Finish: 11-16-2010

Autumn display and activities

Hi, everyone! For those of you on the Gulf Coast, I hope you are enjoying the cooler weather as much as I am! My favorite season has finally made its appearance not only outside, but inside as well.



While taking a picture of my Pumpkin Patch design, I decided that I needed to change the living room display from playful bunnies and a pitcher full of hydrangeas to some of my autumn items from last year ;)

Speaking of Fall and all the fun things to do during the season, for those of you that live in Ontario there is an event called The Victoriana Show: A Celebration of Elegance coming up. I picked up the latest issue of Romantic Homes this evening at Target because it had some lovely ideas for stitchery gifts and I ran across the ad for the Victoriana Show. I'm so jealous!!! The show runs from October 22-24. For those who are interested, the website is www.victorianashow.com.

(sigh) Well, I'm not too disappointed. The local museum in town is hosting two new exhibitions towards the end of the month, American Landscapes and Illustrating Fairytales! I can't wait.....especially for the Fairytale exhibition! One of my favorite children's illustrators is in the exhibition, Kinuko Y. Craft ^___^

Until next time!! Have fun with your fall activities!!

Pesky blind stitch!

Hi, everyone! I've spent part of the day helping my sister do some school research and then sewing together some pillows out of my small cross stitch designs.

I stitched up two Christmas designs, which turned out to be disasters, but at least they were small designs so I can always stitch them again ;)

I had more success with my Autumn Has Come design.





What do you think? I did better on the blind stitch on this pillow than on the other two designs. I think the next time I sew a pillow I'm going to start going around so that my blind stitched area will be on the bottom ;)

Not bad for my third try at this stitch today! I'm not even going to show you the other two as they are the craziest things you will ever see O_o"

Until next time!

Oct 31 – Halloween ornament

Hi! What a busy weekend! I hardly had time to stitch with everything going on, but I managed to finish the Oct 31 design by Glory Bee yesterday. I saw the pattern in the newest issue of JCS when I was at the bookstore on Saturday and I knew I had to stitch it :) With a frantic run to my LNS, I bought the required Gentle Art Sampler threads that I could find and substituted DMC for the others.


Design: Oct 31 by Glory Bee in JCS Sept 2009 issue
Threads: Crescent Colors and DMC 937 and 3820
Fabric: 32ct lambswool linen Wichelt
Start/Finished: 8/30-31/2009


Backing fabric of the pillow-ornament.

What do you think? No, unfortunately, I didn’t stitch the pillow together. I still need some practice with the sewing machine before I can feel confident enough to attempt sewing on one of my cross stitch patterns!! O_o”

One of my aunts stitched up this pillow on my grandmother’s old Montgomery Ward sewing machine. She also blind stitched the opening after I had filled it with some stuffing. At least now I know how to thread a needle on the sewing machine and do a blind stitch. I think I’ll take some fabric scraps and practice sewing this weekend.

The last time I sewed was in home economics in 7th grade……in a galaxy far, far away! We were suppose to make ‘name’ pillows, but we only had enough sewing machines and time to stitch up one pillow. I think I have my ‘R’ initial pillow somewhere….I wouldn’t doubt it if I had stuffed it away in the attic as a horrible attempt to sew. I was always afraid I was going to sew over my fingers or something during that home economics class!!!

Maybe now that I’m older, I won’t dread the sewing machine anymore. I just have to remember to be patient with my sewing >___<

I’m off to start another Halloween design for my SAL. I think I’ll make the next design into a pinkeep.

Until next time!