A little bit of finishing!

A rainy Sunday seemed the perfect time to work on some finishing of old cross stitch projects. Since I wasn't able to get the correct colour of thread...the elusive DMC 209 that none of the craft stores had in stock....I decided to bash ahead with what I had on hand - otherwise this project might never get done!  First order of business was to make a tassel for the bookmark. I had planned to take pictures to show how I made it, but it was such a rainy miserable day that they turned out rather dark. It was so easy that I will certainly be making them again and will take pictures next time!

Being Mrs Indecision, I couldn't decide if I wanted a white background for the bookmark or if lilac or purple would look better. After humming and hawing for ages I decided to go with the white felt for backing. I ironed the stitching, folding the edges over to give a nice crisp edge then drew out the finished bookmark shape on a bit of card stock then cut out the felt to the right size and shape.

Using fabric glue to put it all together was super-quick and easy....just how I like my finishing to be :) and my bookmark is already in use.....

No threads have arrived from Dimensions and since there hasn't been a response to my email, I'm beginning to wonder if they will be sending me any replacement threads for Ice Cardinal. 

I decided to work on another quick stitch design that I have in my tin of magazine freebies. June isn't too early to start working on Christmas designs is it?!!!

A couple of evenings and this little cutie was completed! Now I just have to look out the double sided tape and my first Christmas card for this year will be done!

Until next time....happy stitching!

Rhona

At a standstill.

I'm so frustrated. Ice cardinal is at a standstill till I get more of the missing threads....

....I've stitched all that I can. Soooo close and yet so far!

I haven't heard back from Dimensions about my email request for more threads, so I'm hoping that they are just going to mail me the threads....keep your fingers crossed for me.

In the meantime....what can I start?!! 😏 

Until next time....happy stitching!

Rhona

Arghhh....the trouble with kits!

As you can probably tell from the title of this post, the dreaded curse of stitching from a kit has hit....you've guessed it....not enough thread......

I've been stitching up a storm to get this finished and I'm almost there...

....and then I ran out of thread! I'm sooo close to finishing too.

I emailed Dimensions requesting some replacement threads and then found a conversion chart on-line that might be helpful to anyone who stitches from kits. It can be found here and converts Dimensions colours to both DMC and Anchor threads. Of course the colour that I need to finish off this design I don't have in my stash....typical!

Anyhoo....here's what the whole design looks like now...

So maybe next week, I'll be dusting off the dancing shoes ready to do a happy dance....let's hope so!


Until next time....happy stitching!

Rhona

Ooops...it feels like it's Monday!

The trouble with long weekends is that we all get the following days mixed up! It feels like it's Monday, so does that still mean that I'm late posting?!!  :)

So, as you know, I'm determined to knuckle down and get the last, not-so-little bit, of the Ice Cardinal design finished. Here's where I was last week...

....and here's where I am now....

I was rather naughty and didn't take my stitching off the q-snaps just so that I would stitch each night....I don't know why I thought that having it stay on the q-snaps would make me stitch more, it doesn't really make sense, but it worked!

I can see the end in sight!

At the weekend I decided to tackle my finishing pile and, of course, as it ALWAYS happens, I was missing the one thread colour that I needed. Don't you hate when that happens? I needed DMC 209 so I popped into my local WalMart only to discover that they don't carry that number. Since I was determined to make headway in my finishing pile, I decided to drive another 35 minutes to the nearest craft store and get this one single skein of thread that I needed.....the things we do for our hobby! Lo and behold....this is the horror that met met my eyes when I got to the cross stitch section of JoAnns....

And there wasn't even a sale on! So many empty sections in their display......I'm hoping that they were just late in filling up their thread displays and not getting rid of the cross stitching section altogether. I'm now rethinking my finishing plan so that I don't have to use the elusive DMC209 thread!

Until net time....happy stitching!

Rhona

What a week!

This was not a very productive week for stitching....even although I was told to just sit and not do anything! I had surgery at the beginning of the week and was all set for a few days of doing absolutely nothing but stitching (sounds like heaven, doesn't it?)...I has my stitching basket all prepared, some books to read, my sketch pad with nicely sharpened pencils at the ready....and felt miserable and couldn't concentrate at all. So nothing was done. I did manage to do a few lengths of thread on the cardinal at the weekend when my head seemed to be a bit clearer and I was able to concentrate a bit more.....

So, a little bit more of one of the branches was done...not much....but it all counts and it's just that little bit closer to being finished!

Here's how the whole design looks so far...

On a brighter note, some little buttons that I had ordered (and forgotten about!) arrived....

Aren't they cute?  They are about 1.5 cm in diameter so the perfect size for adding to little cross stitch projects. Can you believe it...... now I want to tackle my finishing pile and use these super-cute buttons....that's a shock isn't it?!

And talking about super-cute.......I have been desperately trying to get some pictures of hummingbird (which I think are super-cute!) and I finally got a picture that I love...

This is a female Ruby-throated Hummingbird who was coming to our feeder. They are so tiny....only about the length of your thumb and weigh only a few grams! Hopefully they will keep coming back to the feeder and I can snap some more pictures.

Until next time....happy stitching!

Rhona

It's been one of those weeks!

Wow....where did the week go? It was over in a flash and I didn't get much time to stitch.

I guess I must be truly addicted to stitching as it just doesn't feel right to have a day without pulling out the stitching basket and putting in even just a few stitches. Am I the only one that feels like that? 

There were a few nights that I managed to get some stitching time, so, looking on the bright side of things, I did make some progress...

  
Those dark greys on black fabric are a bit boring - you can see why I was so excited to work on brightly coloured small projects the last few weeks. Here's the cardinal design off the q-snaps...

Please forgive the rather crooked picture!  Looking on the bright side of things, I really don't have too much left to do....on the flip side, the bit that's left to do is heavily stitched. Guess there's nothing to do but get the needle and thread out on plod on with it!

Hope you're making better progress than I am!

Until net time....happy stitching!

Rhona

Enjoying the little things!

That could be a philosophical take on life as well as my cross stitching week!

The small cross stitch projects have been calling to me recently (I think I need a break from big projects)  so I have been indulging myself ....life is short, so do what makes you happy - my new outlook on life!

So here's what I've been doing this week. I finished the back stitching on the little card I started last week...

Isn't he cute?!!

The printed card that came with the freebie kit wasn't cut out perfectly so I added some more stitching on the grass and his boots so that the design filled the space better (you know that I'm a bit OCD about these things!) 

  
I also trimmed the card as it wasn't folded perfectly either! You can see on these pictures how the back page shows... a quick trim with the craft knife makes it look perfect.

Attention to small details make a big difference to the end result....

I found another cute little design in my stash of magazine freebies and started working on that...

I'm usually a Aida girl so this is stepping out of my comfort zone and testing my eye sight...all those tiny holes just blur together.....I'm surprised that everything is lining up properly! This little key ring design shouldn't take too long to finish....the making up into the key ring might be a different story though!

Today I am playing  working with threads to get the perfect colour combinations for a new design for a magazine...

I can't wait to show it to you, but you'll have to wait till 2020 to see it.....yes it takes that long to be published!

I think I have managed to get my email problems fixed, so I should be able to respond to your comments....so please do leave some 😉....I love hearing from you.

Until next time....happy stitching!

Rhona

Small projects...

This week I decided to work on some smaller projects so that I could have some finishes under my belt! Sometimes you just have to do something (anything!) to make yourself feel good! Having a small finish made me feel good...

This was a freebie kit with the World of Cross Stitching magazine and since I had lost my old cross stitch bookmark by leaving it in the book I returned to the library, the timing couldn't have been better. And being bird watcher, the design was perfect too.Each little bird cage is done in cross stitch and the back stitching is done in one and two strands...

 Aren't the colours wonderful?

The only thing I changed was the lilac thread for back stitching - I used a slightly darker shade from my stash so that it would show up more.  It shouldn't take to long to finish this off into a bookmark and hopefully I'll have it finished for you to see next week.

I also started another freebie kit from this months World of Cross Stitching magazine. I need a card for my son-in-law's birthday later in the week, so another fee kit that landed at my door just at the right time!

As you can see, just the back stitching to be done! I do love those quick to stitch kits.

So now it's time for an apology. I love reading your comments (please keep them coming!) but when I went to respond to them, they were nowhere to be found! I've checked both emails that I have for blogging but nothing is showing up. Maybe I missed some important news from Blogger about emails while I was away? So for all of those of you who were kind enough to take the time to comment, I'm sorry I can't reply to your comments but thank you for making my day by commenting.

Until next time...happy stitching!

Rhona

Finished, framed and gifted!

And best of all....loved!

After a little mad panic by me the day before the bridal shower  - who knew that Michael's couldn't cut a mat for your stitching without having three days notice (and charge you $77 if you didn't have a coupon!) - everything ended up being fine.  With a little extra work on the stitching I managed to make it fit the frame that was also a last minute purchase....yeah, I like living dangerously!

As you an see in the picture above, the design had the swirls being cut off, but since I couldn't get the mat cut to the right size and, of course, the frames weren't the right size either, I ended up adding the top part of the swirly bits to make them complete. I thought it looked better that way....

 A plain-ish black frame and it looked  wonderful! And best of all....the bride-to-be loved it.

So let me give you the details of this design....

• Kit by Dimensions
• Ever After Wedding Record 70-35361
• Stitched on 18 count Ivory Aida
• Finished size 5 x 12 inches (30.4  12.7 cm)
• Large colour symbol chart
• Stitches used - whole cross stitch, long stitch, french knots and lazy daisy stitches

The kit had more than enough threads to complete the design as you can see by what's left over....

I marked the key with the DMC equivalent threads colours as this design is one I would definitely stitch again.

After gifting this, I realized that I should have recorded on the stitching or on the frame who had stitched it.....something for future generations to know. Of course, I always come up with these ideas when it's too late to actually do anything about them. I had a look on Amazon etc and there doesn't seem to be anything to add to a frame to note the name of the stitcher. There are some lovely labels that you can personalize with your name etc  that would look nice on cushions or small ornaments etc......and you just know that some of them will be making an appearance in my amazon cart, don't you?!!! Anyway, my question to you today is.....how do you record who stitched the piece when it's in a frame like this?

Until next time....happy stitching!

Rhona

Loving the back stitching!

Hello again, dear readers. It's wonderful to be back blogging and reading the lovely comments so many of you left for me on my last post. Thanks you....they mean so much to me. 

Since the bridal shower is coming up fast....eeek..... I'll have to get cracking and finish the wedding sampler really quickly. Last week's post I had shown it to you with the cross stitching finished, so this week was a case of bringing it to life with the back stitching.....

As always, the difference is incredible....you'd think we'd get used to the difference after stitching for a long time, but no, each time I'm always amazed at the difference...

This design included lots of french knots...

....luckily for me, I love doing them....how about you? Love them or loathe them? Do you swap the out for beads instead?

All the back stitched swirls make the calligraphy come to life...

I just have the 'after' part of the design to do and the happy couple's names at the bottom, then I can get it matted and framed - hopefully in time for the bridal shower! 

I guess I should go and find that turbo charged needle!

Until next time...happy stitching!

Rhona

Helloooo!

Yoo-hoo! Anyone still there? It's me....I'm finally back. 

What was supposed to be a two week break over the hectic Christmas period turned into a longer than intended break. Turned out I really needed some 'me time'. So now I'm back a raring to go :)

So what have I been working on since Christmas.....well it turns out to be quite a bit. I'll start with the cardinal cross stitching that you last saw like this.....

I decided to really push on with it as it was fast becoming one of those pieces that's relegated to the bottom of the stitching basket and ends up as being yet another UFO. Here's what it looks like now..

You'll have to excuse the poor quality pictures, but it's a rainy miserable day here and I couldn't get enough light to take pictures with my camera so the cell phone came to my rescue!

This has been put to the side (and not to the bottom of the sewing basket!) to work on some other projects that had/have firm deadlines.  Stepping out of my comfort zone I decided to make a couple of rag quilts for some newborn babies. The great thing about making quilts for babies is that since they are for babies they don't have to be too big and are therefore much more do-able for a newbie quilter like me. After searching on Pinterest I decided to do a rag quilt....great for anyone new to sewing and not sure about their skills with a sewing machine. The first one I made was for my friends daughter....and I totally forgot to take a picture of it! That's what happens when you're out of the habit of blogging! The second one I made is for my daughter's friend....this one I did remember to take some pictures......

I never realized just how difficult it is to take an interesting picture of a quilt....until now. Here's the quilt with the little bunny that was made by the amazingly talented Helen Phillips. You can check out her blog here. The bunny is staying with me and not a gift for the baby but just used as a kind of prop to make the picture a bit more interesting.

To make a rag quilt you have to do LOTS of snipping to make the rag edging (obviously!) It's tiring work, but well worth the effort. I invested in pair of spring assisted scissors which I would highly recommend if you ever decide to make one of these rag quilts. 

The rag quilts on Pinterest had the edge of the blanket snipped, but I thought it looked kind of unfinished, so I decided to add an edging which I think really pulled it together and finished it off nicely.

The baby shower is next weekend, so I'm feeling good about having this finished in time.

And the last piece I have to show you today is a wedding sampler which has been such fun to stitch...

I have the stitching finished and now have to do all the back stitching which is a big part of this design. I loved all the colour changes in the flowers....so many bright colours that don't really show up well on the photograph....

This has to be done in time for the bridal shower (first one I have ever been to!) in a couple of weeks time. Fingers crossed that I can get it finished and framed in time!

Well, that's everything that I have been working on....time now to go and visit your blogs and get caught up with what you have been working on!

Until next time....happy stitching.

Rhona