TUSAL and Preparing for a HS Happy Dance

Time for the February TUSAL check-in. I'm using a small jelly jar to collect my orts. Once the little jelly jar is full, I'll dump it into the large Ball jar setting beside it. Most of the orts are from the little sampler that the jar is sitting on. 

A "Berry" Nice Sampler by Hillside Samplings

Stitched on 30 ct. Northern Cross Natural linen with DMC floss.

Changes: Switched to a slightly deeper yellow for the strawberry blossom centers and replaced the stitched center strawberry with the porcelain strawberry button that was intended for the pin pillow. 

A couple of weeks ago, I was in a funk and needed something colorful to stitch. Went stash diving and pulled out "A "Berry" Nice Sampler" from Hillside Samplings. This has been on my "want to stitch" list since I first laid eyes on it. I loved stitching this little sampler! With such a pretty palette of colors and an interesting variety of stitches, it was hard to put it down! Finished the stitching last night, ironed it today, and I'll be adding the the porcelain strawberry button to it this evening. Then I'll be happy dancing!   

This is a picture from the leaflet cover. Notice the center strawberry is stitched. When I bought the pattern, I also bought the linen and the porcelain button. Imagine my disappointment when I set down to really look over the pattern and discovered that the button wasn't used for the sampler. Probably one of the reasons that it has been waiting for 10 years to be stitched!  

Here's another view of "A "Berry" Nice Sampler". Sorry about the bad lighting. The actual colors show up much nicer in the first photo. 

A few of the orts in my TUSAL jar are from Carriage House Samplings "Alphabet Sampler". I'm stitching it from the cards that I collected before the full sampler chart pack was released.

"Alphabet Sampler" -  Carriage House Samplings

Stitched on 40 ct. Sandstone linen using overdyed threads. (Again, the lighting does not do the colors in this sampler justice.)

I have this by my stitching chair and whenever I am between projects or need to take a breather from what I am stitching on, I pull it out and stitch awhile. 

I'll leave you with a picture that I came across when I was browsing through some of my pictures. This is why I no longer leave my laptop on the floor if I have to step away.     

 

Megan, the queen of warm and cozy places.

Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the world today. And sincere thanks to all that left comments to my last post. It means so much to me. 

Hope you are staying warm and finding time to do something you love!

No finishes to report, but I have an answer for Glenna...

First of all, thank you for the kind comments regarding my pile of unfinished finishes. I appreciate that no one scolded me for not being more proactive in the finishing department. What can I say, I'm just the kind of girl that enjoys stitching. As for the finishing, well, not so much.

I haven't finished anything this week although I have been experimenting with paint colors. I'm trying to decide what color to paint frames that I made last spring for:

"Sally Spencer" from Birds of a Feather
Stitched on 32 ct. hand dyed linen with overdyed floss.
Personalized with my immediate family's initials and the first two letters of the name of each of the cats that I have had.

Which of the two darker paint colors (see craft sticks to the left of the sampler) look best? Thoughts?

And...

"Button Button" from Hillside Samplings
(I can't find the chart right now, but I think that's the name.)
Stitched on 32 ct Lt Mocha linen with Caron Waterlilies in Fir and embellished with pearl buttons.

I finished stitching this sampler in 1997 and I mounted into the frame with glass and three layers of spacers to accomodate the buttons, but I'm not happy with the stain I used. Too light. Can't restain because I sprayed a coat of sealer on it. I'd like to find a coordinating paint color, slightly darker than the Waterlilies for it. Everything I've tried so far looks too bright (see light paint colors on craft stitcks in the picture above). Any suggestions for this one?  

In my last post, Glenna left a comment asking about one of the pieces in my UF (unfinished finishes) box. I think this is the one that she described. (Glenna, I would have emailed you sooner but I was unable to find your email address. Let me know if this isn't the one that you were asking about.) 

"Woodland Snowfall" from Little House Needleworks
Just Cross Stitch 2004 Special Christmas Ornament Issue
Stitched on 32 ct. scrap of mystery brown linen.
My plan was (and is) to finish it as a needlebook.

Well, my stitchy chair and my cat, Sophie, are calling to me. Time for a diet coke, some tummy rubbings (Sophie's, not mine) and some stitching. Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the world. Take care and stay warm! 

2011 Goals (kind of) and Finish Finishes

I kind of set a goal to pick out two of my stitched finishes each month to finish finish. I say "kind of" because I'm not going to kick myself  if I miss a month or two along the way. Life happens, right? My plan is to frame one piece and finish one piece into a small of some kind each month. If all goes as planned, by year's end I'll have 24 finished finishes.

Recently Diane invited me to join POSSIBIL(I)TIES, a blog she started for stitchers to encourage one another to finish-finish stitching project finishes. I jumped at the chance and joined right away. I am also practicing goal visualization. I have this picture in my mind of me smiling on December 31 looking over all my finished finishes and wondering why it took me so long.   

So with my goal in mind, last weekend I opened up the 6" x 20 1/2" x 14.5" tote that I use to store my stitched finishes and thought, "hmm, where do I start?"

I have no idea how many stitched pieces are in there...but as you can see, it is pretty full.  

I reached in...held my breathe...and pulled out a couple of Blackbird Designs finishes. I dug around in my stash for backing fabric, trims, buttons and charms, dusted off the old sewing machine and got busy. Here are the results: 

"Small Token"
Reward of Merit Pincushion by Blackbird Designs
Stitched on Vintage(?) 32 count linen using overdyed threads.  Finished using the background fabric for the backing and lace from my miniatures (old hobby) stash.



"Bluebird"
Reward of Merit Pincushion by Blackbird Designs
Stitched on the recommended fabric with the reccommended overdyed floss.  Finished using the background fabric for the backing and charms and buttons from my stash. 

 I attempted tacking tan rick-rack around the Bluebird pincushion but after several rocky attempts, I decided it wasn't worth the battle and frogged it all out. Not sure if I'll have another go at it or not. What do you think, should I or shouldn't I?

Thank you for stopping by today. And thank you for the comments regarding my last post. I've loved peaking at all the 2011 Challenge starts across blogland over the last couple of weeks and as a result, I'm just bursting to start some new projects myself. But so far I'm staying focused on a little set of winter themed needlework smalls that I'm designing and filling in on the CHS Alphabet.

Take care and hope you are enjoying your stitching as much as I am enjoying mine, which is A LOT! Hugs...

TUSAL

Happy New Year! Here's wishing many blessings for you and yours in 2011!

I joined Daffycat's Totally Useless Stitch A Long and here is my first TUSAL picture. 

I've been collecting orts for awhile so I can't place a timeframe on the collected orts in the big jar. I didn't think to start a new jar until today and I was too lazy to pick out the orts from the last few days. So everything was dumped unceremoniously into the big jar. I start filling a new jar tonight.

I'm behind (a lot) due to several unanticipated events. First, my Mom's water heater died right after Christmas. I had to locate a plumber that had the right size water heater in stock AND who was available to install it the next day. I decided to spent the install day at my Mom's in case there were any problems. Luckily, everything went smoothly and my Mom and I had a nice day watching movies. I stitched and Mom helped my pick out buttons and charms for 'Blackbird Designs'' Bluebird pincushion. Then, the next day, my brother called stressing about the New Year's Day party he was planning. Long story short, being the big sister that I am, I volunteered to have the party at my house. Let's just say I was NOT prepared, and had to hustle my bustle to get the house and  food together. Despite limited sleep, everything turned out well and everyone had a good time, including me.

I planned to sit and stitch all day Sunday, but ended up sorting, straightening, and organizing my stash instead. I decided to avoid the 15-new project challenge and opted to be the cheerleader for all those that joined. Instead, this year, I plan to "finish finish" some of the things that have been lanquishing in my "stitched" box. I've kind of set a plan of framing one piece and finishing one unframed piece each month. If I stick to my plan, by year's end, I will have 12 framed samplers/pictures and 12 ornaments/smalls.

I am finishing a few things that I'll share with you hopefully tomorrow, that is if all the appliances continue working and my siblings don't have any emergencies. :)

I'm thankful that you stopped by my little corner of the world today. Take care, stay warm , or cool, depending on your location, and find time to do something you love.

And the Winner Is....

I am thrilled to announce the winner of my "Merriest Christmas!" Giveaway. I used Random.org to generate the winning number and the winning number selected was #16. After counting comments and then then recounting to be sure, the giveaway winner is Lisa V of Perth, Australia!

Congratulations Lisa! I'll be sending an email to you shortly to gather all the mailing details so that your Samplerbird Stitchery gifties can be on their way to you. I  hope you have fun stitching it up for yourself or someone you love!

A big Thank You to all for taking time to comment on my last post and a hearty "Welcome" to my new followers! I can't tell you what a heart-warming and encouraging experience it has been to read through the comments. At a time when my self-confidence is struggling with the out-of-work blues, it means the world to me. Thank you for brightening my day!

EMAIL: If anyone sent an email to me in the last week and I have not responded, please resend it to me. For some reason, AOL placed emails related to my blog in the Spam Folder and as I was sorting out the true spam, I accidentally clicked "delete all" instead of "delete" so I lost it all. Arrrgghhh!

Finishing: I've been trying to do some Christmas stitching finishing over the last couple of weeks. Here are a few pics:

Peace and Joy (front) - The Drawn Thread
Stitched this year on 32 ct. raw linen over 1 and over 2. I substituted over-dyed cotton floss for the silk threads that I did not have and used beads and buttons from my stash for embellishment. Santa's beard and coat trim are stitched with Whisper. Finished using Cynthia's wonderful directions included with the pattern.

 

"Peace and Joy" (back) - The Drawn Thread



"Frosty" - Designer unknown.
Stitched long, long ago on 18 ct Aida with DMC. One of those stitched designs that had been lanquishing away in my 'finished' box for years. Wanted to try the finish I've seen on so many blogs this year and pulled this out to experiment with. 



"Festive Redbird" - Homespun Elegance
Stitched in 2009 on 28 ct. linen remnant from my stash using over-dyed floss. I substituted a brighter shade of red to match the beads that I wanted to use. Finished using Sandra's directions included with the patttern.



"Angels Sent" - Susan Greening Davis (Still Stitching with Susan) from the 2010 Just Cross Stitch Ornament Issue. Stitched on 30 ct white evenweave from my stash using DMC 115. 
I had the pleasure of spending numeroues hours (and $$$) in Susan's Michigan shop when it was open and I couldn't resist stitching this up for me and one for a friend.



Samplerbird Stitchery News: I'm busy stitching the model for the "Peace on Earth" ornament that I will be offering as a freebie before New Year's Eve (stay tuned for a sneak peak in a day or two) and I am working on a couple of new design ideas, the first is based on two things that I love, samplers and quilts, and the second is a set of smalls with a winter theme. Hope to have them ready by mid-to-late-January. 

Several of the comments to my last post mentioned that it was nice to find a design that fits in a standard size frame. I wholeheartenly agree. In fact, that is one of the factors that I am taking into consideration as I design. It is frustrating when we stitch up a perfectly lovely design and then put off framing because a custom frame costs so much. I was lucky enough to grow up with a Dad who was a master-woodworker and he showed me how to do so many things (if only I had paid more attention). I did learn how to construct a frame and over the years I've accumulated the equipment to do so but I don't always want to make a frame, sometimes I just want to go to the store and pick out a ready-made frame and get on with the framing. So I will try as I move forward with my designing to accomodate those of us that prefer to use a standard size frame. 

An Anniversary: I'd also like to mention that this week marks the 4th anniversary since our little Birman twins, Zissou and Zoe, joined our family. 



Zoe and Zissou settling into their new home.

   

Zissou and Zoe, this year, supervising the annual "putting up the tree" event. Note: Zoe (right) is smaller than Zissou (left) although it doesn't look like it in this picture. Sorry, the flash hides their blue eyes. 



By the way, I neglected to acknowledge Zissou as the model in the "Merriest Christmas!" picture from my last post. He has been a little miffed at me so I promised that I would show his latest glamour shot today. Isn't he handsome!

Thanks for stopping by today and a big CONGRATULATIONS to Lisa V for winning the "Merriest Christmas!" pattern pack, linen and threads.

Happy Holidays!