Bookmark #5 Done

I kind of zipped through bookmark #5. It was a bit different, as it used a single thread over 18 count. It was fun and simple enough that I could work on it while watching TV - so I did. Isn't it cute? The fabric and pattern were a kit. I changed up the colors slightly, so I would could use floss I had on hand, but they're very close to what the pattern specified.

Just one more bookmark to complete for the package to St. Judes. I will go through my patterns tonight and set up a new kit. We're busy for a lot of Saturday, but I'll try to get a start on it. I've designated all Sunday sewing as purely WF time. I may work on WF at other times, but any sewing on Sunday is on her. Once I finish the last bookmark I'll start on the Christmas present I plan to do. I also need to choose and make a gift tag for my office Secret Santa gift. Busy hands are happy hands! Meanwhile, here's a picture of #5.

Ah, September

I don't have a favorite season. My favorite time is the beginning of each new season - the first snowfall of winter, the first crocus in the spring, the first time it's warm enough to wear short sleeves with no coat, the first nip in the air that brings out all the snuggly clothes. So I'm happy to see Autumn arriving with all its glorious, intoxicating colors. I love switching out the flowery summer decorations for the rich, deep leaves and bright chrysanthemums.

Stitching, however, is a year-round pleasure. I've been going great guns in my "snippet time" (little bits here and there) and am nearly done with bookmark #5. I'll have a picture of that to post next time. After this, I have one more bookmark to do by October, and then finish them all to send to St. Judes before Halloween.

I have also made some more progress on Winter Fairy, as you can see. Got more wing done and a little bit of her hair that frames her face. However, barring winning the lottery and thus having nothing to do but sew all day every day, I've reluctantly come to realize that there is no way she'll be done by this Winter. So my goal has shifted to finishing this first page and getting a start on the second page by Thanksgiving.

I have one other project to start after I finish the bookmarks, but that is a Christmas gift, so I will not post any descriptions or pictures until after it's been received.

End of August update

I haven't updated for a while but I have a lot to show you. We had a very nice vacation in Vermont, although never as long as we'd like. It was rainy a lot of the time, and the light wasn't good for my WF project so I finished bookmark #4 instead. I hope some child at St. Jude's will enjoy this little ghost. Of course, once we got home it turned sunny and hot again. Before I got back into cross-stitching, though, I made some cute rice bags for all my college girls - I have 5 this year. The bags will be nice for them at "that time of the month". Meghan and Tracy picked out the fabric and I think the other girls will like it. We got Meghan safely back to college and then I settled in for some stitching time on Winter Fairy. In spite of having to do some frogging, I finished a wing and got most of WF's lovely shoulder done. Ahhhh! Wish we had, say, another week of vacation so I could sew a lot more! Oh well, back to work this week and then we'll have a 3-day weekend for Labor Day.

Update-August 9th, 2010

What a great date - 8-9-10! lol Yes, I am easily amused.

Been making some more progress on WF. I finally finished the skirt on this page and have moved on to her wings. I will have about 45 minutes most afternoons this week to sew while waiting for my daughter's bus, so I expect to get a lot more done. The wings are fun and work up quickly, partially because I'm so happy to be off that darned skirt for a while! I've also gotten some sewing done on my fourth bookmark, the ghost. I'll post a picture of that when it's completed.

I was getting a little concerned about the creases in my fabric from folding it between stitching times, so I got a mailing tube and am keeping it in there. The tube isn't quite as long as my fabric, though, but someone at the Yahoo cross stitch group recommended the simple solution of putting a plastic bag over the end. I had been keeping everything in a large canvas bag, but it was a lot more bag than stuff. Now that I have a different way to hold the fabric I've transferred all the rest to my handy-dandy DMC cross-stitch organizer. It holds all my floss, needles, patterns and other accoutrements, and is much neater. The tube with my fabric fits between the handles when I carry it.

Enough details, if you're here you probably want to see the update photo, so here it is.

Bookmark #3 done!

I haven't stitched on my Winter Fairy since the 4th of July weekend. Last weekend was taken up with: Taste of Buffalo on Saturday morning and attending a high school graduation party Saturday afternoon; church on Sunday morning and then Sunday afternoon we went to see The A-Team movie, which is a perfect summer movie - fun, lots of action and just enough plot to keep going. Anyway, add in little things like grocery shopping and laundry and that was the weekend.

During the week, however, I had plenty of stitching time while waiting to pick up my daughter and her friend from the camp bus. They're counselors at a Girl Scout day camp and also bus aides so I drop them off at the bus in the morning and collect them in the afternoon. This week I averaged about 45 minutes of sewing time in the afternoons, and gleefully completed my elephant bookmark. I like him so much I know I'll do the pattern again sometime. I changed the headdress colors and added the backstitching because he didn't stand out well enough against the white plastic. I'd love to do him as an ornament or hanging sometime and do the headdress in beads. So, here is a picture of the fine fellow. I haven't decided on finishing yet. I may leave it in a rectangle or I may cut out the outline.

EDIT: This pattern came from an issue of the Australian magazine, Cross-Stitch & Beading. They show how to do every piece in both cross-stitch and beading, with charts and photos of both. It's a bit expensive, but has really wonderful patterns of all sorts. I do all my Christmas ornaments from them.

I've already chosen my next bookmark and set up the kit. It's a fairly simple ghost but I'm tweaking it a bit. I'll post a pic when it's done.

Ah July!

Had a lovely, long Fourth of July weekend and got some good stitching done. I finished the scarf on WF while watching "Yankee Doodle Dandy" (which we watch every year). I had hoped to finish the skirt portion today (7/5) and even though I didn't quite manage it I did get a lot done. I even got to start a new color (light green)! I could have sewn a bit longer but it's so hot that I'm working up a sweat just sewing. Enough is enough! So here's a pic of my progress.

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.