Enjoy!

Some of you have expressed an interest in my conversion of DMC to Splendor that I used on Virtue Outshines the Stars.  So here you go.  Please note that in the original there are three symbols that called for a blended needle.  Since I stitched mine on 40 count, I used only one strand.  Therefore I could only choose one color for those symbols.

DMC                                                               Splendor

355                                                                                                                        94

356                                                                                                                        1103

758                                                            1150

3064                                                          1132

632                                                            1141

934                                                            1064

3052                                                          1062

3362                                                          1158

3363                                                          1063

924                                                            987

926                                                            948

315                                                            953

612                                                            1056

3045                                                          1038

422                                                            1010

355/356                                                     1103   

356/758                                                     1085   

758/754                                                     1084

Have fun!

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Happy Dance Time

It's been so long since I posted I couldn't even remember where I left off with Virtue.  It's been another month of houseguests and general busy-ness, not to be confused with business, which has also been hectic. 

Plus, I had a klutzy moment in the kitchen one night and ended up going to the ER for stitches.  Thankfully, I did not cut a tendon, but they put my thumb in a splint to keep me from opening up the lovely smiley face wound.  That eliminated stitching for a week.  The stitches came out almost a week ago and my thumb is still really stiff, but I can stitch.  I was a little worried because right before the accident, I had stitched "August 2013" into my sampler as the finish date.  I did not want to rip it out!

Thankfully, I got all those queen stitches finished and did the Happy Dance Tuesday evening!

 

There are several interesting areas, such as this base on which the flower pots rest.  It consists of alternating Smyrna crosses and Algerian eyes in two very soft colors.  I wasn't real sure about it, but it's quite effective, I think.  (That's why Darlene designs and I merely stitch!)

 An this little flower pot is just adorable with the four color Queen stitch flower and strawberries.

So while I was doing the Happy Dance, my husband asked me if I had something else to stitch!  WHAT?  I may have to take him for a mental health exam.  Has he not seen the thousands of charts in the bookcase right next to the computer where he spends eight hours a day?  Needless to say, I pulled another project right out of my bag, threaded the needle and off I went.  What project, you ask... "Buttons and Berries" by Homespun Elegance.  Another piece I've had in my stash for years, but not nearly as ambitious.  In fact, it probably won't take a whole week to finish.  

 

That's probably a good thing, since I'm up to my eyeballs making stitch pickers and counting pins for my Etsy shop.  I'm selling the stitch pickers as a set with a color coordinate needle threader.  

You can see more of them here.

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Quiet Time Means More Time to Stitch

I think there is a very small light at the end of the tunnel...no wait, that's my Dazor ready and waiting for me to finish all those Queen stitches in the border!

But if you've been watching, you'll see that I've made significant progress in recent days.  Geometric motifs are so much quicker because I can memorize the pattern. So I don't have to spend as much time looking at the chart and figuring out where I am.  Plus doing an entire row of eyelets is easier than doing them one at a time in some kind of pattern.  I stitch the top half all the way across the row and the bottom half on the return trip.  That method also makes the eyelets themselves more consistently balanced.  I don't have to worry that one side is bigger/tighter than the other, thus creating a lopsided eyelet.  For some reason, when I stitch a complete eyelet, one side always ends up bigger than the other.

My friend, Donna, who owns my LNS, Angelwing Needlearts, called me the other day to tell me that Darlene O'Steen, of The Needles Prayse, had been in the shop that day.  Apparently, Darlene and Chris are looking at property down in our area.  Donna forgot to mention that I am working on one of my all-time favorite samplers, Virtue Outshines the Stars.  I'm sure Darlene would get a kick out of know that I've finally gotten around to it. LOL  I really wish I had been working that day.  I haven't seen Darlene in years and would love to visit for a few minutes.  I can only hope that she'll stop by another time.  

On the needlework bling front, I had a request for 200 purple stitch markers for a 'knitting event' in mid-August.  What a great opportunity to show my wares to some enthusiastic knitters.  Each participant will get one in their kit! Thanks so much to Jen at WoolGirl.  Here's a sampling.

 Stop by TJBdesigns for a look at all my stitching accessories. You can never have enough stitch BLING!

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I'll Be Your Honey Bee

Well, the visitors come and go and I'm back in my nest.  I took a short break from Virtue last week to stitch this little piece for my husband for our 31st anniversary! Happy Annivesary!

 "June's Honeysuckle" by Cottage Garden Samplings

And now I'm back on Virtue.  For those of you waiting on the color conversion that I'm using, be glad I postponed giving it to you.  I've had to make a couple of adjustments for the symbols that were originally blended needles.  Since I'm working this on 36 count, I'm only using one strand of Splendor, so no blended needles for me!  But, never fear, I will post the list as soon as I'm sure about it.

I'm currently working on a big wholesale order of stitch markers for a knitting 'event' in Oregon.  Every single one has at least one purple bead included!

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Summer Stitching

Since the massive frogging incident, I've made good progress considering that I haven't had that much time to stitch.  When you live at the beach, summer visitors tend to mess with your stitching schedule.  Plus, I usually have to give up my 'nest' so that everyone has a place to sit. 

I just started the first flower in this huge band.  Thank goodness I get to add a color that I like!  All that green and yellow was getting on my nerves.  Hopefully, I'll get back in my normal stitch routine this week and have time to post more too.

It's also time to reorganize my yearly stitching list.  I've indulged myself for several months now working on Virtue Outshines the Stars, but it's time to get crackin' on those thirty Christmas ornaments, birthday presents and Christmas presents too!  Where does the time go? 

It's too hot to spend much time outside, so you'd think I would get a lot of stitching done during the day.  But most days, I'm busy making new scissor fobs and counting pins and promoting them online.  Thankfully, they seem to be more and more popular and the knitters and crocheters want their share of needlework bling too! 

And in case I haven't mentioned it lately, thanks for stopping by and commenting on my stitching life!  It's great to hear from all of you.

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How many stitching projects do you take when you go on vacation?  Even when I'm only going for a long weekend at my Mom's, I usually pack three or four.  It seems silly since I generally only work on one piece until it's done.  But you never know when you might be stuck somewhere for weeks with massive amounts of free time.  It's never actually happened to me, but I want to be prepared, just in case.

I keep thinking I should interrupt Virtue Outshines the Stars and start on some Christmas ornies or a birthday gift, but I'm having such a good time that I just can't do it. Things have been really busy at TJBdesigns, so, despite my good intentions, I'm still not finding much time to stitch during the day.  Most of my stitching is done while watching TV in the evenings.

When I get tired of Queen stitches, I abandon the border for  a while and work on the 'innards'. 

Maybe I'll have something new to show soon, but don't count on it.  The big stuff on Virtue is coming up next.

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Where Does the Time Go?

I know, it's been a a while since I posted. I've been really busy, but I when I try to figure out why, the list isn't very long.  But I guess some of these tasks are time consuming.  I've had several large pieces of needlepoint to block and mount for the frame shop.  Fortunately, I received a wholesale order for stitch markers that took several days since my available inventory was pretty low.  And I had to take time out to go talk to the local postmaster because the employees don't seem to know how to handle my international packages.  And they talk to me like I'm an idiot.  If they only knew how much that does NOT help their case. Then, of course, there's the usual housekeeping, walking the dog, groceries, ...  Okay, not so much time spent on housework, but the rest is true.

Anyway, Virtue is a pleasure to work on.  I manage to put in at least a couple of hours almost every evening.  Every now and then a frog wanders through, but I find them only mildly annoying.  I'm pretty sure my brain hasn't completely turned to mush yet, so I must be mellowing in my old age.

The little birds can eat and fly now. They have beaks and wings and tail feathers.

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Chugging Away

Just because I haven't posted doesn't mean I haven't been stitching...except for the four days I spent with my mom.  I just can't get settled in the right spot with the right lighting at her house.  But I continue working on Virtue Outshines the Stars.  Just in case, you want to keep track, there are 45 queen stitches in each one of those flowers in the vine.  Good thing I love Queen stitches.

I seem to be breaking my normal pattern on this one.  I usually work with one color until I'm done, but I just can't do that here.  So I'm jumping around and surprisingly, it's not making my brain hurt.  Must be an aging thing...everything else is.

My little birds are beak-less just because I haven't gotten to that color.  But they are beginning to bother me.

 

 

This little piece of hardanger is going on a quilt that was made by the niece of my friend, Judy, who passes away recently.  I hope Judy's husband will be comforted by the knowledge that her friends remember her so dearly.

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Learning Patience

As I ponder the frogs around my stitching nest, I find myself wishing I'd taken up yoga.  Although my potty mouth has been moderated quite a bit given the lack of progress on Virtue Outshines the Stars.  So maybe I'm maturing. Not likely. Perhaps I'm just getting too old to waste the energy swearing involves.  Whatever, I stitch, I rip, I stitch again. 

 At least, I'm adding color and new motifs.  My normal modus operandi is to stitch everything of a single color before moving on. But, for some reason, I find myself stitching more by section on this piece.

The Qeeen Stitch fest continues, but Algerian Eyes have joined the party too.

I have a couple of small things I need to stitch in the next few weeks, so if the frogs reappear, I may take that as a sign to take a break. But for now, I'm merrily stitching away and working on that virtue called patience.

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What Do You Call a Room Full of Frogs?

A flock? fleet? battalion? herd? Whatever, it felt like one of the Biblical plagues! 

As I was proudly posting yesterday's pictures, I thought to myself, "Self, that doesn't look right?"  So I pulled that sucker out of my stitching bag, and lo and behold, a big, stinkin' bullfrog landed on my lap!  I was shocked, because besides being slimy and laughing hysterically at my expression, that frog was sneaky.  I had meticulously checked to make sure that the border matched all along the sides as I went along.  What are the odds that an error of two stitches on the top right would cancel out a two stitch error on the top left diagonal so that the rest of the border appears to be correct? 

The really scary thing is that my only reaction was a quick "damn it" and a methodical search for a quick solution, which produced no results.  I must be mellowing in my old age.  So off to stitch group I went for sympathy, which I did receive, and two hours cutting and fuzz removal.  Add to that, another hour and a half at home of same said cutting and fuzz removal and I was ready to start stitching again. 

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Let the Queen Stitch Fest Begin!

I tried, I really did.  I just cannot work a piece by section. I wanted to do a part of the vine and then start the flowers, but every time I ended a length of green floss, I automatically threaded up a new one until the whole vine was done.  So now I know exactly how big it is and the flowers are started.  I actually have the whole top row of flowers done, but I didn't take a picture this morning.

I love queen stitches! And it's a good thing because there are forty-five of them in each of the flowers in the border.  It only took a couple of them to memorize the pattern and it won't be long before I have the starting points memorized too.  However, I don't think I'll have any problem switching from queen stitches to the body of the sampler.  I'm anxious to get some of the alphabet done and those little birds in the top corner.

 

Who knows how long it will take, but I am going to enjoy every minute of Virtue Outshines the Stars!

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Who Doesn't Love a Bunny Hop?

My New Year's resolution to spend more time stitching is paying off.  Of course, it's not like more stitching time is a big sacrifice. "Bunny Hop" is ready to frame.  I think I'm going to whitewash a simple pine moulding and give it to my mom for Mother's Day.   The decision to go with the brick stitch for the grass was definitely the right one.  And thanks to all of you who've expressed your approval.  I can't wait to see how many of you stitching "And They Sinned" will try this.  Just be careful of the compensating stitches...you don't want to see the frog as often as I did.

So, as soon as I signed and dated "Bunny Hop", I was pulling out "Virtue Outshines the Stars".   I've been trying to get to it for almost twenty years and I'm finally taking the plunge.  It's full of Queen stitches, which I love, and Algerian eyes, which I don't.  But you gotta take a little rain with your sunshine.

Darleen O'Steen published this piece in 1984 and it is charted for DMC.  I tried to convert it to my favorite silk, Soie d'Alger (au ver a soie), but there were too many colors that didn't match up well and I really didn't want to take a lot of artisitic license.  So I turned to Spendor.  They tend to match DMC colors more closely.  I still have a couple of question marks, but I'll have to see them stitched before I make a final decision. 

 

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A Stitchy New Year's Eve

After a fun and, as usual, chaotic, Christmas with my family, I'm happy to be home again.  Yes, I'm a homebody and proud of it.  Lester and Otis have settled down and all is right with the world.  I've even managed to start my New Year's Resolution to stitch more, a little early!

Don't ever be fooled into thinking that just because a project is small that it will be a quick stitch! This little Button and Beaded kit from Mill Hill has seemingly taken forever! But I finished it this afternoon while screaming at the TV.  I love watching the bowl games, but my NCSU Wolfpack turned the ball over almost as many times as I dropped a  bead. It was miserable...for all of us.  But I finished this little piece and can now move on.

After almost twenty years, I'm finally going to stitch one of my all-time favorite samplers.  "Virtue Outshines the Stars" by The Needle's Prayse is a class example of Darleen O'Steen's amazing work.  It's charted for DMC, but I'm converting it to silks which will delay the start just a little, but I'll enjoy it so much more. It's full of Queen stitches, so I'll have to forego my favored 40 count linen for 36 count. 

In the meantime, I'll be stitching this little beauty.  A good friend of mine has had her house on the market for over a year and it has recently sold. So she'll be moving away very soon. :(  I decided this little sampler would be just perfect for her.

Tomorrow the Christmas decorations come down and my tree skirt gets packed away for another year, but tonight I stitch!  I am such a party animal!

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