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)