I got my Broom Hilda’s Hat back from the finisher today. I *love* how it turned out. She did a fabulous job and I adore the fabric she used for the lining. Here are particulars about the piece as well as pictures of it before (post stitching) and after the finishing.

Designer: Margaret Bendig
Canvas: 18 mono
Fiber: Rainbow Gallery Mandarin Floss

Before Finishing:

After Finishing:

I also picked up a couple of new charts for my stash when I was at the shop today. The first was on a complete no brainer for me. Since I’ve already stitched “B is for Bunny” by Sandy of The Sweetheart Tree, I just couldn’t resist picking up her latest “A Bevy of Bunnies”.

The other chart is Quakers & Quilts from Rosewood Manor. I’m only planning to stitch the “Only Quaker” version of the chart and won’t be including the quilt squares.

Since I can’t do any training right now, I’ve been spending my evenings stitching. I finished up another piece. It’s a freebie design from Plum Street Samplers called Coffin Buzz.

I stitched it on 28-count Legacy linen from Picture This Plus. The fiber is Espresso from the Belle Soie silk line by Crescent Colors.

Ok, I know I promised myself that I would wait until I finished Coffin Buzz to start Halloween Fairy, but I just couldn’t resist. She was calling my name too loudly. I ended up starting her yesterday. Here’s my first progress pic after 4 hours of stitching time:

She’s a new design from Nora Corbett (designer behind the Mirabilia line). The chart appears in the September 2008 issue of Cross-Stitch & Needlework magazine.

I’m not exactly sure what this fabric is called. I got it in a grab bag from Silkweaver and it didn’t have any sort of label on it. I’ve had a couple of different people say they think it’s Blueberry Delight, and another said she thought it was Abracadabra. I’m not sure I really think it’s looks like either of those. It seems too purple to be Blueberry Delight, but it definitely seems to have more blue than Abracadabra. I suppose it could be one of the Solos and not a production color at all. What do you think? Here are the two suggested options:

Once I have her finished, I’m seriously considering sending her to Jill Rensel for framing. I saw a couple of photos online of Nora’s other Halloween Fairy that were framed by Jill and thought they were awesome! You can see them here and here. It just amazes me what beautiful work she does and how she can make the exact same piece look so much different just through different matting and frame options.

I also got in a bit of finishing yesterday. This is my first project for the Finishing Line in my Stitching Olympics challenge. I had a small motif that I had stitched earlier this year to test a fabric/fiber combination for a sampler. I really loved how it looked, so I decided to use it to try my hand at creating a floss tag. After I was finished, I was really glad this wasn’t an exchange piece because it sure turned out to be a learning piece for sure! I’ll definitely do things a bit differently the next time I give this a try. It was fun learning a new finishing technique though.

Until next time …

I really seem to be on a roll lately. I finished another piece from my WIP (works in progress) pile last night! It’s the Gingerbread Cottage piece from Country Cottage Needleworks that I posted a progress picture for just a couple of days ago. Since I was so close to having it done after the weekend, I sat down last night and knocked out the rest of it.

Finishing this piece also means I have officially met my WIP Killer Challenge that I set back in December! I’ve completed 10+ projects from my WIP pile without starting anything new other than one pre-defined SAL piece. So, I can start something new now!!

Even though I’m in a major stitching mood right now, I don’t know how much I’ll get done tonight. This is the last week in my current round of swim class, so I won’t be home from the pool until after 8:00 pm and will still need to eat dinner after that. If I do have time to stitch, I’ll work a bit more on Acorn Hill.

Another ornament finish for me. This one is called “A Christmas Wish” by Belinda at Blue Ribbon Designs. I just love her designs!

This design appeared in the 2006 Just Cross Stitch annual ornament issue. I’ve stitched it on 32-count Light Mocha linen using the Weeks Dye Works and Gentle Arts Sampler Threads as called for in the chart.

Here’s a pic of my finished piece. As always, you can click on the image for an even larger view.

Until next time, happy stitching!

Yep, I did it! Yesterday was day 50 of no slips and/or cheats on my eating plan. In that 7 weeks, I even managed to drop 11.2 pounds (another 0.6 this week) which averages out to 1.6 pounds per week. I’ll take it! Even though I’ve come to the “official” end of my 50 day challenge, I don’t really feel the need to splurge of go off plan. I’m just going to keep on keepin’ on.

As I’m sure many of you have heard by now, we did indeed have a pretty good shaker here in southern California yesterday. According to the US Geological Service, it registered 5.4 on the Richter Scale. Even though my office was approximately 40 miles from the epicenter, we were still evacuated for safety reasons. They did a quick inspection of all the buildings to ensure they were safe.

When I got home last night, I had to do a bit of quick clean up since my home was only about 15 miles or so from the epicenter. I mostly just had to pick things up from the floor and put them back on shelves, straighten pictures on the wall that were askew, and straighten things on the countertops that had “wiggled” out of place. For the most part, everything was OK with the exception of one of my candles which did not survive the fall.

In stitching news, I did manage to finish another item for my WIP Killer Challenge. This piece is from the 2006 ornament issue of Just Cross Stitch magazine. It’s called Sampler Noel and was designed by Jane Timmers of Fancy Work. It’s stitched on Vintage Light Examplar from Lakeside Linens using Gloriana silk in Rosewood. It’s a combination of over-1 and over-2 stitching, with the alphabet all being over-1.

Well, I guess that’s it for now. Until next time …

Since I’ve been focusing so much lately on my weight loss & fitness journey, I haven’t provided a stitching update in quite some time. I am still stitching, but obviously not as much since a lot of my free time is now spent either at the gym or in the pool.

I have finished a couple of pieces since my last update. One is the very first painted canvas piece I ever attempted. It’s an ornament called “Lilie’s Quilt Corner” from SHEAR Creations. Here’s a pic of my finished piece (as always, you can click any of the photos below for a larger view):

I also finished another cross stitch piece as well. It’s the Halloween design from the La Petite Holidays series by Curtis Boehringer. I made a couple of fiber changes from the charted design. I used an over-dyed fiber for the jack-o-lantern, and I used a combination of DMC 310 & black Wisper for the cat.

I’ve put in a big more stitching time lately on my Taj Mahal Mandala Garden by Chatelaine. I’d forgotten just how much I love this design until I picked it up to work on it some more. Here’s my latest progress pic at 72 hours of stitching time:

I’ve also been taking the opportunity at the last couple of stitching Sundays at my LNS to learn some new techniques. I’m learning to do Hardanger, and I also learned how to stitch a plaid design in needlepoint. Here are a couple of pics:

In one last bit of stitching news, I have decided I am clearly a stitching masochist. As if I didn’t have enough BAP’s (big ass projects) already, I picked up the supplies for yet another one. It’s Nova by Genny Morrow Designs. The chart book calls for using 18-count canvas, but I’ve decided to stitch mine on 24-count Congress Cloth instead. This project will also be my first experience with using scroll bars.

Well, I guess that’s it on the stitching front for now. Until next time …

I did a test swatch today using my fabric and fiber that I have selected for the Hannah Beeby 1816 SAL. Here’s a photo, but I don’t think it really captures the true color of the fabric.

I really love how it turned out, so I’m very happy with my selections. The fabric is Tundra from Lakeside Linens, and the fiber is Snoqualmie Falls from the now defunct Needle Necessities. I’m thinking of finishing this into either a pinkeep or scissor fob because it seems such a waste not to do something with it as pretty as it is.

As usual, I’ll close with my WW stats for Saturday:

Total Points: 42 (used 3 APs and 8 WPs)
Exercise: 40 mins stationary bike – 3 APs
Weekly Points balance: 27
Water: 48 oz
Days OP: 13

Until next time …

I can’t believe it! I finished the Broom Hilda’s Hat canvas project last night. Compared to where I was at on Sunday night, it’s really amazing to realize I finished this piece on Wednesday night. That just shows how quickly it stitches up. There is another hat design that is a companion piece that I have kitted up as well. Once I get past my WIP Killer Challenge, it will definitely be on my list of starts.

Edit to add: I meant to include this when I posted this initially and let it slip my mind. For those wondering, this is how this piece will look when I get it back from the finisher. The inside lining fabric I selected is a bright lime green with cute little witchy bras & panties on it.

Speaking of the WIP Killer Challenge, 3 down and 7 to go. It’s kind of nice seeing that I’m getting some of these knocked off pretty quickly. I’ve done a couple of exchange pieces this year already as well, so I’m actually at 5 finishes for 2008 already. I feel like I’m off to a very productive start.

The Hannah Beeby 1816 charts I ordered for the SAL arrived from Gittas today. YAY! I just need to coordinate with Darla to figure out a time to hand off her copy. We ordered them on a single order to save on some shipping charges since we literally only live about a mile from one another.

Well, I guess that’s it for now. As always, I leave you with my WW stats for yesterday.

Total: 29.5
Exercise:
WPA balance: 35
Water: 48 oz
Days OP: 10

I have finished the first of my projects for my WIP Killer challenge. I finished “B is for Bunny” today. As of the more recently voting, it was tied in first place for the project you all thought I should finish first. So, that’s what I did. Here’s the pic of the finished project (pardon the wrinkles as I haven’t pressed it):

I’m not sure which project I’ll focus on tackling next. Rosemarkie was the piece tied with B is for Bunny, but I may focus on a couple of the smaller pieces first just to get a few more things knocked off the list. I’ve gotten all the cross stitching done on Rosemarkie, so I only have the backstitching remaining. Unfortunately for me, I detest backstitching and there’s a LOT of it on that piece.

Finally, I just wanted to take a minute to say thanks for the emails and comments that I’ve gotten about the death of my brother-in-law. I spoke with my Mom last night and my sister is doing as well as can be expected given the circumstances. Everyone is trying to keep her stress levels down as much as possible to hopefully prevent any flare-ups with her MS. Weather permitting, I’ll be going out to see her in a couple of weeks. (Feb. 15).