Old Stitches

I thought I would post pictures of two long-ago finished projects. These were done in the days before internet (gasp!) and I've never gotten around to posting pictures of them before. The blue stitching is hardanger, which is challenging and particularly nerve-wracking when it comes to snipping threads, but it makes beautiful patterns. I did it for my hubby's return when he was stationed overseas. The second is my daughter's birth announcement. I really had to search for a pattern that wasn't too cutesy-custey and I liked this one as soon as I saw it.

Update - 6-27-10

I've been busily stitching lately. My third bookmark, the elephant, is coming along nicely. I'll post a picture of him when he's done. Meanwhile, here is the latest update on Winter Fairy. Working on her scarf is fun because the colors are so lovely and I love how they blend to make it seem three-dimensional.

Bookmark #2 Done!

It took a little while but I have finished bookmark #2. Isn't it lovely? Thanks to Dottie for the wonderful plastic Aida canvas. Partway through I wondered if I should have worked it on a lighter color so it would stand out more, but I really like how this looks in the end.

I've already started my next bookmark, an elephant. The pattern for that is also from the wonderful magazine, Cross-Stitch and Beading from Australia, to which I subscribe. I would probably get more bookmarks done if I stuck to the very simple patterns like my first one, but where's the fun in that?

Update - June 13th

Wow, here we are halfway through June already. The year is going fast, so I'd better get to work on my WF if I'm going to meet my Thanksgiving deadline! I have made some good progress on her this weekend (especially good because, knock wood, I haven't had to frog for a while), so here's a new picture. All the pale stitching goes faster when I'm simply filling in an area. I'd really, really like to finish this page (page 1 of 4) by the 4th of July weekend so I can start the second page then. That would be big progress!

Poking along

Sorry, couldn't resist attempting a clever title. I finished and have mailed both my entries in the Pokes-N-Seeds Exchange. I know the one arrived in Virginia and hopefully the other will make it safely to England soon.

The first picture here is of the beautiful poke I received from Gina. Didn't she do a wonderful job? It says "Sam's Garden" because Sam is my Hobbit alter-ego, both of us being fond of our gardens. This poke is in the pot with the Rex Begonia that was my father's and I can see it from my desk at work every day. The second picture here is of the two pokes I made. My oh-so-clever hubby made the little wooden stakes for me and drilled a tiny hole through each for me to thread the, er, thread. I painted the stakes to compliment their respective pictures before putting everything together. This was a fun challenge for me. I rarely (okay, never) do tiny pictures, so I had to hunt around to find some. I added tiny beads for the teddy bear's eyes and the stamens (is that right?) on the flower, just to give them a little more interest.

In other news, while I haven't worked much on WF, I am about 2/3 done on the rose bookmark I'm doing. I'll post a picture when it is completed - hopefully by next weekend.

WF Update-5-23-10

By working hard on Saturday, we managed to have a "proper" Sunday. Went to church in the morning and then had no chores to do or errands to run for the rest of the day. I completed sewing my second poke for the Pokes & Seeds exchange, and put the backing on both of them. I'll post pictures after I've mailed them, as I don't want to spoil the surprise for the recipients. I also made some more progress on the Winter Fairy, so here's an updated picture. All the recent sewing has been in the white/almost white/very pale blue of her skirt and it goes s-l-o-w-l-y! Happily, Sunday was a beautiful, sunny day, so I had very good light for my sewing. I'm looking forward to the long weekend coming up and hope to finish this portion of that darn skirt so I can get back to some colors!

Update, 5/11/10

It's been a little while since my last update. Sewing is still going slowly. I have finished one of the pokes for the Pokes & Seeds exchange and finally got a kit together for the other. (It's maddening when you're trying to put a kit together and realize you don't have the colors you need and you can't get to the store until the weekend.) I'm starting on the second one today, and as it's small I hope to have it done quickly.

I cannot, however, work quickly on the Winter Fairy. As I've said before, it's a more detailed pattern and on finer fabric than I've ever done, so I have to be careful or I make mistakes. Hubby laughed when I said my goal is to finish her by this Thanksgiving but I'm sticking to it. Among other things, we have a week's vacation at the end of August and I tend to spend at least 50% of that relaxing, so I'll get a lot of stitching done then. Meanwhile, I've finally gotten enough done to warrent an updated photo, so here it is. I will be very glad when I'm eventually done with all that white and pale blue in the skirt!