Winter Fairy Update - 6/12/11

I've been making progress on WF. The spring/summer weather helps with an abundance of good, natural light to see what I am doing. Even my OTT light does not work as well as pure sunshine! After all the time on her white over-skirt, it was great to work on her blue scarf again and then start on her purple dress. I was pleased yesterday to get down to the bottom of her skirt. If you look closely, you can see the beginnings of bunny ears there. That was actually the trickiest part; it is full of half stitches to make the curves. Once Sassafrass (long story, but that's what we call bunnies) is done I'll move on to the rest of her skirt. I'd say I'm a little over half done with page 2 (out of 4) of the pattern now. Who knows? Maybe I'll have her done for this winter!

Redecorating - 1

When we moved into our house almost 14 years ago it was bland. Two bedrooms were pale blue and everything else was beige - walls, carpets, draperies. Over the years we've brought color and life into the place. I'm sure the previous owner would be appalled. We've redone every room but one - the master bedroom. That's partly because I'm having such a hard time choosing a color and partly because the room is so full that it will be a major project. Well, over the past week I've at least gotten a start. There's a nice little alcove between the two closets (it's my makeup area) and I've known for a long time what I wanted to do with it. So we took down the huge mirror (that's the brown space in the picture - I guess the previous owners just painted around it) and repainted the space. I chose Valspar's Tangerine Ice, a beautiful metallic gold. You have to paint a similar color base coat first, then two coats of the metallic. I wish the pictures showed the color better, but it's just difficult to show. My clever, artistic daughter painted vines for me to add a little taste of Middle Earth. (We used Lord of the Rings designs for inspiration.) I added an antique family mirror and two ceramic masks that I've had for years. I'm so pleased with the outcome!

PS. Sorry for the blank space at the top here. I can't figure out how to get rid of it.

Cross Stitch Update

Yes, it's true. I finally have a cross stitch update. I got the gold Kreinik thread I needed and am thrilled with how much it adds to the picture. It doesn't show up as well in the photo, but it's the border of the green at the bottom of the dress. I also have the grey Kreinik which is the backstitch accent for the wings. I won't do the grey or gold backstitching until all the cross stitching is completed; that Kreinik thread is too fragile to be rolled up when I am between work times. We're getting back to the lovely, quiet Sunday afternoons again and that means time to cross stitch. So here is a picture of my current progress. Hope you like it!

Happy Easter!

Christ is Risen!! Allelujah!!!

I just couldn't stop thinking about the idea I had for an Easter banner, so I gave in and made it. We had a half day at work on Friday so I started on it when I got home. Yes, I mean Good Friday. Nothing like the last minute, eh? I worked on it until time for church that night, got most of it measured and cut out. Saturday morning we went to the Chronicles of Narnia exhibit (which is really neat), then I spent the rest of the day - except for grocery shopping, and making dinner - putting it together. I joked with my hubby that I'd have it done in time for bed. Haha, it turned out to be true. I finished it at 10:30 Saturday night. This morning I gave it a quick press and we took it over to church to hang before anyone else was there. I'm very pleased with how it came out, and the reception at church was very enthusiastic. Here are a picture of my original idea and a picture of the finished banner. It's all felt except for the orange part - I saw this shimmery, sheer fabric and thought it would be the perfect way to add a little extra interest. This is it for banners. My next post will be a cross stitch update.

Kneeler

Many years ago, a group of women at my church decided to do new cushions for the kneelers used for communion. Designs were chosen and I was one of the volunteers to stitch. The cross in the center and the lambs on each end are the same on all kneelers; the other two represent a season of the church year. I asked to do the Christmas one because the Christmas rose is so pretty. It's all done in needlepoint and measures about 5' long by 1' deep. It took me a year to complete, during which time I posted to my first base (I had recently joined the USAF), and met and married my husband. 30+ years later we are living in my home town and from time to time I still go to services at my old church. I'm delighted to see the kneelers still being used and still in pristine condition. So, now that I have my digital camera, I've taken pictures of 'my' kneeler.

Fourth Banner done!

I'm very pleased to say that the fourth and final Lenten banner is completed. I had the basic part done - the background, top and cross. June came over last night and we worked for quite a while on creating a crown of thorns. She'd found a small grapevine at the craft store and thought it would be great to have a 3-D one insted of just felt. I must admit, it is not what I had in mind. That said, I specifically did not want this to be "my project" and I was happy to have her take the lead on this banner. After much experimenting, we came up with the finished product. The 'crown' is attached with wire that was wrapped around one end, poked through the felt, run along the back and brought up through to wrap around the other end. It didn't stand out enough (visually) from the rest of the banner, so we put a bit of white felt behind it to let it show. Finally, we added another small piece of wire to hold the bottom of the grapevine down too. The pictures don't really do it justice, but I think they will give you the idea.

I've enjoyed working on these. They were a stretch of my crafting skills and creativity, but more than that, they are a way to remind me - and others - of Christ's sacrifice and to thank God for it. Now that they are completed, I am looking forward to getting more cross-stitching done!

Although, there is that idea I have for the Easter banner...

March update

At last! I have a stitching update as well as another banner update. I'm so pleased to have made enough progress on Winter Fairy to post a new picture. Let's hear it for quiet, sunny Sunday afternoons! I was able to get a couple of hours of stitching on each of the past two Sundays, and the bright sunshine made it so much easier to work. I'm nearly done with the green band and then I get to move into the purple and blue skirt. I'm looking forward to that!

I've also finished banner #3 in the Lenten series. I must admit I'm particularly pleased with this one. I wanted to show the reconciliation of God and man through the cross, and I think it does that. It was a bit challenging to get the details on the hands right. I didn't want to use a marker because it would bleed in the felt, so I finally settled on cutting thin strips of the dark purple felt. It took a while to cut, place and glue them, but it was worth the work. I'm getting together with June this week to try to get the fourth and final banner done, and I'll post a picture when it is completed.