Red Stitching in February

My mission in February was to stitch all things red. At the end of January though, I was so close to another finish, so I kept working on this Stacy Nash piece until it was done. Here is Butternut House Pinkeep. I’m not sure how I will finish; it’s kind of big for a pinkeep, but I’ll figure that out another day.

When Butternut House was done, I started stitching red. I started a red drawstring bag from Needlework Press, the three red pears designed by Annie Beez, and a red hornbook from JBW Designs.

Red Pears from Annie Beez is done. The picture is a little dark. I noticed that she designed three blue pears for market. These will be really cute when finished.

No picture for the hornbook from JBW, but I’m closing in on a finish, so you’ll see that one soon enough. I’m also contemplating starting the Needlework Press piece over; I don’t care for the linen that came with the kit.

Last time I posted I did not include a photo of Lizzie and my mother asked about it. So, Mad Tatter, this photo is for you! Lizzie is on the left and our daughter’s dog, Nala, is on the right. They are keeping tabs on the goings on in the neighborhood!

January Finishes

Back on January 6th I posted 10 WIPs that I wanted to work on in January. I successfully finished stitching six of them, plus I finished stitching one other project. Seven finishes total! January was a very good stitching month! Here are pictures of my three latest finishes:

What Remains is Love by Blackbird Designs

Feliz Navidad by Blackbird Designs

Exclusive tree design for the Delaware Valley Historic Sampler Guild by Hello from Liz Mathews

Winter Wind by Prairie Schooler

I also made good progress on Butternut House Pinkeep from Stacy Nash, but it’s not finished yet. I’ll keep plugging away on it. The other WIPs are going back into the WIP basket. I think I will be working on red pieces in February.

Oh, and did I mention that my Partner In Crime and I spent a weekend at Welcome Stitchery’s 24 Hours of Cross Stitch? Carolyn Manning was there. Great fun!

Thanks for stopping by.

Stitching at the Ranch

Experienced almost five days of stitching bliss this past weekend. Here are the projects I worked on:

Sampler Book from Erica Michaels - G and H blocks are finished!

Another Erica Michaels project that I had started and is now finished - The Orphanage Sampler.

This Prairie Schooler chart entitled Winter Wind is almost finished. Just need to complete the filling stitches at the bottom.

Last but not least, this is one of Liz Mathews trees. This was designed as a special project for the Delaware Valley Historic Sampler Guild. Just need to complete the filling stitches at the bottom of this one too!

I worked on one other project for a few hours before realizing I had made a major counting mistake. Not sure what I’m going to do with it. I would need to frog quite a lot - it might be easier to restart.

Overall, quite a productive weekend.

Leaving you with this sweet shot of my happy pup!

Whittaker and Feliz Navidad

When posting my WIP photos the other day, my intent was to take them to my upcoming retreat and finish them there. Well, I won’t have to take two of them with because they are finished!

Whittaker from Stacy Nash was such a relaxing stitch! I don’t mind stitching all those filling stitches. He’s stitched on Fox and Rabbit 36ct. Baked Clay.

Whittaker and Paisley are going to make a lovely pair!

Today, I also finished Feliz Navidad from Blackbird Designs. The picture below does not do this piece justice. It is really pretty. Stitched on 36ct. PTP Legacy with the called for threads.

I have a couple more finishes from our Finishing Extravaganza weekend that I forgot to post. First up are these really sweet scissor fobs from Samplerbird Stitchery. The kits are available on her Etsy site.

This sweet little pillow is from the Prairie Schooler chart “January”.

Thanks for stopping by. Need to figure which WIP to finish next!

WIP Parade #1

Tonight I organized some of my stitching; I will be going on another stitching weekend soon. I pulled out some WIPs that I’d like to focus on finishing. Some of them are pretty close!

1. H. Purdy from Needlework Press. This one is not close to being finished, but it is a fun stitch. One color  ( CC English Ivy) and I’m stitching it on 36ct. Fox and Rabbit Saltbush.

2. Feliz Navidad from Blackbird Designs. So close! Called for threads on 36 ct. PTP Legacy.

3. Winter Wind from Prairie Schooler. DMC on 36ct PTP Fog. Still a bit of stitching left, but it’s possible!

4. Butternut House Pinkeep on Stacy Nash. Called for threads. I think the linen is R&R American Chestnut. There’s a lot of stitching in that house!

5. Remember this one? The Sampler Book from Erica Michaels. I need to keep plugging away. DMC on various 32 ct. Belfast Linen. The letter G is next!

6. I thought I had finished this one! This was a special kit offered by the Delaware Valley Sampler Guild. Of course, it’s one of Liz Matthews famous trees!

7. Early Christmas Morning from Blackbird Designs. Stitching over one with called for fibers. A recent start so quite a bit to go!

8. What Remains is Love from Blackbird Designs. Stitching on 36 ct Lakeside Linen with Amy Mitten silks.

9. Harvest Huswife from Chessie and Me. This was a Quilter’s Station project last fall!

10. Bristol Berries from Erica Michaels. Not sure of the linen; stitching with a pretty red silk.

Wish me luck!

2022 Finishing Extravaganza Part II

Very snowy here in Minnesota! Winter has arrived and is taking up permanent residency!

Here are three more finishes from the weekend. The needle-book on the left and the pinkeep on the right are both designs from Stacy Nash. They both are so sweet!

The finish in the middle is the Round Red Sampler from Heart in Hand. It sits on top of their red heartware bowl. I stitched mine on 40 count and adjusted the pattern so that it more closely matches the top of the bowl. It’s so petite!

One more day until the weekend. Woo Hoo!

2022 Finishing Extravaganza

My Stitching BFFs and I decided to go out in style. We spent the New Year’s weekend together and focused on finishing! It was a productive two days for all of us. Here’s a picture of our collective finishes.

I will share my finishes with you over the next few posts, but here are a few to start with.

These two ornaments have been stitched and finished into a pillow since 2020. All they needed was cording! Sad that it took two years to get the cording done.

This is the La D Da project from the Quilters Station retreat in September 2021. Lori had most of the finishing done for us, we just needed to stitch the front and finish putting it all together.

I think this might have been a make and take at Needlework Galleria, but Cathy did have them available on her website (Hands on Design) for awhile. The design is stitched on perforated paper. There’s a piece of wool felt in the middle and it’s backed with another piece of perforated paper. Sweet needlebook!

Enjoy. Will share more soon. Happy New Year!

On the Second Day of Christmas

Today I started Early Christmas Morning from Blackbird Designs. Lest you think your eyes deceive you, yes, I’m stitching it over one on a 28ct Cashel linen. My Partner in Crime stitched it over one and her finish was to die for. So, of course, I must do the same. I think I made pretty good progress for a couple of hours of stitching!

Before I pack the Christmas ornaments away, here are a couple of my favorites. All were stitched from various JCS ornament magazines over the years.

Here’s your Lizzie photo for today. She thinks she’s hiding from us!

On the First Day of Christmas…

I hope that all who celebrate had a lovely Christmas. We spent the day with family, eating good food and holiday treats and just enjoying each other’s company.

On both Christmas Eve and Christmas Morning I had time for a little stitching and worked on Feliz Navidad by Blackbird Designs. The border is complete along with the words “Feliz Navidad” at the bottom. Now I just have several motifs left to stitch in that open space.

Today, my sister-in-law, my two nieces, and a friend of my mom’s gathered at the Mad Tatter’s house for an afternoon of tatting (or crocheting, or stitching). My nieces are both trying to learn tatting. 

My start for the First Day of Christmas is Whittaker by Stacy Nash. Whittaker will be a companion to Paisley (see my previous post). I’d like to get the outlining, eyes, nose, mouth, and buttons down the front finished tonight so that all that’s left are the filling stitches.

Tomorrow I plan to start another piece. In fact, I hope to start a new piece on each of the 12 days of Christmas. Let’s see if I can do it!

Hope you are warm and safe wherever you are. I’ll leave you with a Lizzie picture. She was soaking up the sunshine coming in our front window this morning!

Paisley, Feliz Navidad, the Jingle Ball, and Lizzie!

Here’s what I have been stitching on these past two weeks…

Paisley from Stacy Nash. She’s all stitched and ready for finishing! Stitched on Fox and Rabbit 36ct Baked Clay. I used the called for threads with one exception - I used Weeks Parchment instead of Roasted Marshmallow. The Roasted Marshmallow was too yellow for my taste.

Next up is Feliz Navidad from Blackbird Designs. Hoping to finish this by the end of the year. Stitched on PTP 36ct Legacy with the called for fibers.

Had a great time this weekend connecting online with designers and other stitchers at the Jingle Ball! What a great weekend of entertainment, classes, and fun. It was a great way to start the holidays.

Let me leave you with a photo of Lizzie. She was on her throne this morning monitoring her kingdom.

Thanks for stopping by.

Cathrine’s Big Heart

Happy Thanksgiving weekend!

I had a finish at the end of October that I wanted to share with you. It’s called Cathrine’s Big Heart from La D Da. I loved stitching it. I didn’t love the over one so much, but I got through it!

I thought I’d share some of my favorite fall stitches with you - these were stitched in the past.

These are from Blackbird Designs. The framed piece was one of their original Loose Feathers. On the left are the projects from the Quilter’s Station retreat in September 2021. (Finishing of the bag and drum was done by Joy Hayward.)

This is Betsy Morgan’s Gathering for Winter Etui. Love this piece and all the smalls that go with it!

This is a La D Da piece. I love the colors! My Finishing Touch finished this flat fold for me.

A few more assorted pieces, some stitched by me, some stitched by friends. Some collected on shopping excursions.

This little lady was really tired after all the Thanksgiving festivities!