Current Project

This will be my project till finished at this point. My husband brought this in from an auction of an estate of a family who the husband was abusive, got released from jail, and tragically went home and shot his wife, son, mother-in-law, father-in-law, and himself. Only the father-in-law survived. When I saw the box and found four unfinished items she had worked on in there I just knew I had to finish them. One because I liked them myself but mostly because this was probably her safety retreat and deserves to be finished, placed in a loving home, and appreciated. I know my stitching is my therapy and in her situation this just had to be the same. So, while she was a knotter she did very nice work, she also held tension almost identically to me so I can blend my work with hers and get these done. I have already finished and posted photos of the one that required only some back stitching and a few stitches she missed to complete. So.... this is where it was when I got it and this is where it's at this morning.  I do see a couple of the berries where she's made a small error on them but I'll try backstitching over it first and if that doesn't work then I'll pick that out and redo it.... actually knowing me I'll probably just pick it out.  It's the back stitching that really makes this one come alive so there will definitely be a wow at the end on this one.

 As it came to me.... minus the tape I took off the edges...

 

 

As it is this morning 12/10/2015

 

 

House of Mouse Designs Four Seasons Cross-Stitch ...... Sweet Pea

So I wasn't going to do anything new until I finished a few things but my SIL is laid up for awhile after surgery so I wanted to send her something cute and I did the sweet pea pattern from House of Mouse Designs book. It was really quick.... worked 5 evenings on it .... and only did one change which was the blue. The pattern called for DMC 827 and I used instead 3325 for two reasons, one I wanted to do something just a touch deeper in shade and two I had used up all my 827... on Maxwell that I'm working on right now. I did this on 28 count white Cashel linen and the framing was a snap as I only padded behind it with a little batting as the frame had no depth to it at all. Finished design was put in a 5 x 7 frame. I do almost always sign my pieces and did so with my latest incarnation.... I looked back and the only thing I've changed since the 80's in my first name is I used to put a tiny heart beside it. .... talk about hanging on to something you like :o)

New Cross Stitch Start ..... House-Mouse Designs

So one of my facebook groups is doing a SAL concerning the four elements and I picked water and this little guy.  He's in the spring section of Four Seasons of Cross-Stitch by House-Mouse Designs.  They call him Maxwell and he's going to be trouble because I'm addicted to him already.  Sooooo cute!  I don't usually as a rule back stitch along as I go but for him I may do that.  All that cute sticking out fur is back stitch work and of course you want to see his super cute face.  I will have some pin stitching to do in this one also in the rain.  Haven't done that in so long I can't remember the last time I did, if I ever have, so that may require some practice.  He's quick enough to be something enjoyable but has enough challenge in him not to be boring, plus just look at that face.  He's definitely going to have a place in the house.... I'm thinking he'll hang in the bathroom or laundry room.  Probably the laundry room as I'm in there so much I'll get to enjoy him a lot and that way there's no fighting over which bathroom he gets to live in.    

 

And so it begins..... had this 28 count white linen gridded up to do a Heaven and Earth pattern but decided to go with a 25 count for it so Maxwell had no delays in getting started as I already had the grid work done.  He probably would have been just fine without gridding but I did already catch an opps on counting last night thanks to it.  I would have caught it a couple rows down but who wants to frog out two rows when all you have to take out is one stitch.  Definitely like to have my fabric gridded.  I grid using Sulky Sliver and here I used gold.  Advantages.... you don't have to worry about it leaving anything behind when you pull it out, it's easy to push to one side when you are working, and you can't pierce it with your needle so no thread residue or acrobatics when you do remove it at the end.  A spool goes a long way and even on smaller count linens there's no stretching of the holes of the material.  Very clean when you take it out and it really does pull out fast even if you do stitch over it in a spot or two. 

 

 

Progress 10/21/2015

 

 

Progress on Maxwell 10/24/2015

 

 

Progress on Maxwell 11/2/2015

 

Progress on Maxwell 11/15/2015

 

 

 

Progress on Maxwell 11/24/2015

I did take five days from this time and do another project so not quiet finished but close.

 

 

Maxwell is almost done.... just backstitching now .... 11/25/2015

 

 

 

He's finished 12/7/2015

 

 

 

 

 

 

Janlynn Cross Stitch Kit Winter Sampler Progress

Here's a peek at progress on the Janlynn Winter Sampler kit I talked about on the 19th.

As of 10/19/2015

 

 



As of 10/20/2015

Current Project......

This will be my project till finished at this point. My husband brought this in from an auction of an estate of a family who the husband was abusive, got released from jail, and tragically went home and shot his wife, son, mother-in-law, father-in-law, and himself. Only the father-in-law survived. When I saw the box and found four unfinished items she had worked on in there I just knew I had to finish them. One because I liked them myself but mostly because this was probably her safety retreat and deserves to be finished, placed in a loving home, and appreciated. I know my stitching is my therapy and in her situation this just had to be the same. So, while she was a knotter she did very nice work, she also held tension almost identically to me so I can blend my work with hers and get these done. I have already finished and posted photos of the one that required only some back stitching and a few stitches she missed to complete.... that's ironic as it's God Bless this Home and I'll turn it into a pillow. She had two Christmas ones and one other. So.... this is where it was when I got it and this is where it's at this morning. I've worked very briefly on it prior to last week and after finishing the unicorns I picked this up. This is going to be one of those oh my when you see what it is, then the backstitching going in. I don't think I will frame this one. I think I may turn this one into a wall hanging...maybe.

When I got it

 

 

 

Where it is on 10/19/2015

This is the first of the four I completed.

 

 

When I got it and just started the back stitching.

 

 

 

 

When I finished

I put the last stitch in the unicorns this morning.  This one was a long journey.  I started it shortly after my mother started dialysis in April 2011.  Worked on it fairly well while we got her training taken care of and I got her going well.  Then I really lost the time to stitch.  Between working and homeschooling and Mom I just barley had time to breath.  So it got put aside and was only worked on a tiny bit here and there over the next two years. 

Then October 2013 I picked it back up for some serious work. Of course something else came up.  We had to do some renovations and had to move my mother in with us as her dementia had gotten to the point she couldn't be alone any more... not a lot got done and it pretty much got put away again.

Then about a year ago Mom took a pretty dramatic down turn in her health and I started having to sit a lot with her both at home and in doctor's offices and through transfusions so the unicorn came back out about the middle of October 2014. 

Unicorns  Oct. 21, 2014

 

 

 

First of the year I worked a little bit here and there but work and Mom had me tied up.  My husband had brought in some unfinished items from an auction so I carried that a bit with me when I took Mom to the doctor and finished the backstitching on one of those.  Then Mom took some down turns and I had the unicorns with me a bit, spent one hospital stay working on a baby sampler and the unicorns.

Unicorns Feb. 22, 2015

 

 

 

Spent another trip in the hospital with Mom and was working a little on the unicorns... they were at a point that you really had to concentrate so I also worked on a Mirabillia that called me during that time.

 

 

 

Unicorns March 2, 2015

 

 

Then we had to start going three days a week to hemo dialysis as Mom couldn't do the home dialysis any more.  So I took along the Mirabillia and finished it up.  May and I had another project, my husband's niece was getting married so I worked on her wedding sampler and the unicorns got put away as I had to put a wiggle on it to get that done in time for the shower. 

 

End of May I pulled out the unicorns again.  Took them with me to the dialysis unit and worked when I could here and there.  Mom was again in the hospital so they went with me and I had it with me while I sat with her the last days o her life in July.  It kept me from flying apart. 

 

August and September I worked up two baby samplers so while I wanted badly to work on the unicorns I just had to put them down while I did the two samplers. 

 

About the middle of September I finally got this back out and on the frame and set my jaw to finish them.  Today I put in the last stitch.... yeah.   Not a bad year of cross stitching at all considering the amount of time I spent running with Mom.  After the first of the year I've had four new starts and finishes all full sized patterns.    Now this is finally finished. 

 

 

 

Unicorns 10/16/2015

 

Recent Finish ..... My Favorite Teddy Cross Stitch

Here's my latest finish.... actually am working a second one of these that will be finished here in a couple days.  Love this pattern.... did substitute my own materials for this one as I wanted to use 28 count linen instead of the 14 count aida in the kit.  Finished piece is in a frame found at Hobby Lobby.... size 8 x 10 and the blue is perfectly matched to the blue in the cross stitch.... love it.

 

Here's the second one completed

 

 

Snapped a quick photo of some canning I did late last evening.  Stewed tomatoes, so good in soups,  it's just home grown tomatoes, some celery, and onion simmered for 10 minutes then ladled in  the jars and pressure canned for 20 minutes.  Didn't have a huge amount of tomatoes as I canned up several a few days prior but I was pleased.  I know there's a lot of headspace in these.  I normally fill right up to the lower ridge which is good for headspace but didn't want any bubbling out on this one and was evening out what I had to can so I left a tad more space than I normally do.   

Finished the Mirabillia Scent of Old Roses.  Still don't have it framed just yet as I'm looking for just the right frame for her and I want to double mat this to give some clearance for the beads.  Would love to find a vintage frame for her and am still holding out on that one.