A Busy Week

So, it's been a busy, busy week for me.  So busy that I neglected to post a pic of my latest finish.  After finishing American Pride for our anniversary, I went back to my Janet Carsels (by The Scarlet Letter).  I really have a thing for Scottish samplers.  I love the illuminated alphabets and the fact that they usually are full of bold reds and greens is also an attractive feature for me. 

I'm trying to get ready for the Counted Wishes online needlework show in September.  So I was making laying tools since I was really low on inventory.   So I decided to post this pic of all my new ones in a needlepoint group on Facebook.   Let's just say that not only do I need to make some more, I need to order more supplies.  What a great problem to have! 

Tweet

One Color At a Time

It's the beginning of 'The Season' so things are getting a little hectic around here.  Any of you who live in a vacation or resort area know what I mean.  Even though the weather is still a little spotty, folks seem determined to go to the beach.  I drove into town on Monday and noticed the difference immediately.  Traffic is way up.  Then I went to the grocery and wanted to pull my hair out!  Way too many people already. 

As usual, I didn't get any stitching done while visiting my mom this weekend.  But I'm learning.  I only took one project with me instead of my entire stitching bag.  So after four days of stitching celibacy and a stressful Monday, I was ready to park myself on the couch with my stitching. 

It's been a couple of weeks since I showed you any progress on the two pieces in my so-called rotation.  The plan was to work on each piece for a week and then switch, but I'm am somehow compelled to keep working until I come to, what I consider, a good stopping point.  Now give me some credit because normally that 'good stopping point' is when the project is done.  In this case, I finished the red portion of Le Jardin de Plaisir, so I decided it was time to switch projects. (Just to be contrary, I did a couple of tiny motifs in the black before I packed it away.)

I just love the center arrangement of flowers, even without the black parts done.Janet Carsels continues to be a fun stitch with a variety of alphabet styles and only a few colors involved.

Tweet

Frog Fest

I'm not even going to apologize for taking the month off.  Just accept it.  I'm an inconsistent blogger. 

I have found some time to stitch even though I lost about 4 days while visiting my mom.  Things were just too chaotic.  Between creating, photographing and listing over thirty new items to my Etsy shop, I managed to make significant progress on Le Jardin de PLaisir and Janet Carsels. 

Hard to believe that any one of these little sections could be more trouble than another since they're all basically the same, just in a different orientation.  But I stitched one of them three times!  I frogged the first time, but didn't go back far enough. Geez, how dumb.  So I had to rip it out a second time.   But, as they say, the third time's the charm.

JC has also presented some difficulties on what should have been a simple vine.  The flat part of the vine is eight stitches and the angled parts are nine stitches.  How hard is that to remember?  Well, apparently, I'm easily distracted.  Of course, it is NCAA basketball tourney time and I tend to get emotionally involved.  But I can't watch without doing something.  So, stitch and frog it is.

I love stitching reproductions because of the stories behind them.  Even if I just make them up, they feel real to me.  This is the first one I've done where the personalization is at the top of the sampler.  I didn't even notice until I started stitching what I thought would be the alphabet.  And I said to myself, "Hey Self, that's not an 'A'."  Maybe Janet had a little ego thing going on.  Maybe she was worried one of her sisters (and I don't even know if she had any) would steal it and try to take credit for stitching it.  But it's an interesting change to the norm. 

Tweet

The Counted Wishes Cross Stitch Festival - Spring 2014 is now OPEN!!

A long winter of stitching has probably used up your stash. Well then we have just what you need to lay in a supply of great projects, and the fabric and accessories to go with them.

Tweet

New Starts, New Finishes, More New Starts

Wow! Time flies between projects.  Actually, I've fill the evenings with some little goodies from The Sweetheart Tree.  But I just don't think to post them because they only take two or three days each to stitch.  These little needlerolls have lots of specialty stitches and, except for the annoying little backstitch vines, they are fun to do.  Unfortunately, I didn't do a very good job photographing the white-on-white stuff, but you get the idea.

 

 

I'm starting a Long Dog Sampler SAL on March 1st.  My project is not a typical LD piece, but I find it very intriguing.  "Le Jardin de Plaisir" is more of a geometric/knot garden type design and I love the original colorway of red, black and gray.  I'm stitching it on 38 count Italian linen (thanks, Laura!) with Splendor silk.

And once again, I'm going to try to work on more than one project in rotation.  Otherwise, I'll finish the SAL piece in the first month.  I have some Scarlet Letter pieces almost kitted and I'll just have to close my eyes and pick one once all the silks arrive.  I ran in from waiting by the mailbox just to post this.  It's kind of cold out there at night, but I'm very anxious for this package to arrive.

Plus, I have been very busy in the 'bead cave'.  It's been a big month for scissor fobs.  Every time I think I'm catching up, I need to make more.  It's a great problem to have except my fingers are too cold to play with the beads for long periods of time.  I'll really be happy to see Spring!  From elegant...

to funky...

there's lots to choose from.  I just hope I don't need more counting pins for this Long Dog SAL piece.

Tweet

A Quick Finish

Well, that didn't take long!  Naomi Dartnall was a quick and fun little project.  I think this one will be perfect for my Mom's Christmas present this year.  Let's just hope I don't lose it in a 'safe place'. 

And, on another front, my missing mojo is back!  That cold I had a few weeks back and the subsequent miserable weather put me in a creative funk for a while, but over the last week I've been a beadin' fool.  Scissors fobs and book thongs have been jumping off the workbench and out of the shop too!  I've probably taken and edited 400 product photos this week.  

Tweet

Pork Chops or Tomato Soup?

Have you ever changed your mind at the last minute on what to stitch next?  (rhetorical question, btw)  I had every intention of starting a small needle roll after I finished Jean Scrimgeowr, but when I went upstairs to kit it up, I just couldn't bring myself to do it.  So I scrounged around in the 'to-do basket' and found this little reproduction by Handworks.   I think I meant to stitch it for someone's birthday last year and found something better because I had already cut the fabric (40 cnt Sandstone) for it.  So all I had to do was pull six colors of floss and I was ready to go. 

I don't usually do motif samplers.  The randomness messes with my brain, but it's fun and uncomplicated.  Now don't assume that it's Christmas-y because of the colors.  I happen to work a piece by color and I started with the red, then the green.  I prefer to do all the counting rather than thread a bunch of different needles required to stitch by area.   Yeah, I know.  Most of you are shaking your heads and picking your chins up off the floor.   I know I'm in the minority, but it's just the way my brain works.

I should be done in a couple of days, so it's a good thing I got in the mood to kit up the needle roll yesterday.  It really wasn't a big deal, but it's like planning pork chops for supper and realizing about half an hour before supper that you want tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich.  Tastes good at the time, but the next day you're ready for those pork chops.

Tweet

What Was She Thinking?

I'm having so much fun with Jean Scrimgeowr that I told my husband yesterday that I might not sell a lot of stuff for a while.  I would rather stitch than promote my Etsy shop.  Fortunately, we don't have to live off the income from my fobs and stitch markers.  And yesterday, I had to take a break to stitch a Habitat for Humanity sampler, so I am really itching to get back to JS.

My New Year's good luck is holding so far...or maybe after decades of stitching reproduction samplers, I have actually learned to look for compensations and other oddities, especially in borders.  As I worked my way across the top border…and unworked my way back a way… I discovered that each repeat of the border motif moves up one stitch all the way across the top.  Now I can hear you asking why I think my luck is holding given that I had to frog a little.  Well, normally, I would make it all the way around the border (and it's a big one) before I thought to look for those aberrations.  And now that I think about it, what probably made me take a second look is one little backstitched tendril extended above the graph and I thought, 'hmmm, wonder what that means'.  So I probably haven't really learned much in all those years, I'm just lucky.  And, it’s a good thing I left a decent sized margin at the top because I thought the top left was the high point in the design.   

What's the lesson?  Never make assumptions when stitching a reproduction.   And it just occurred to me that I'm probably going to go nuts when I frame it!  Do I square up the large border or the truly square inner red backstitch border?  Aaaargh, I'm going to obsess about that until the piece is done.  I hate it when I starting thinking too much.

Another interesting thing I've found is that the vine in the first band is in two different shades of green.  They are so close that it is difficult to tell that they are different unless you look very closely.  It seems to be planned, as opposed to not having enough of either color, but I wonder what Jean was thinking. 

I'm also wondering if the two dogs (one is on the far left side of the first band) are pets, since they are both pictured in two colors.  That green blob will be a bird once I add the legs, beak and eye. 

Tweet

It’s a New Year And I’m Baaaaack!

Happy 2014 to all my stitching buddies.  I’ve missed you, so I thought I would give the blog another try.  Since I tend to work only one project at a time, and usually large ones,  I’m always afraid I will bore you to death with pics and updates of the same thing.  But I decided that if you get bored you will just quit reading, so apparently I’m only in this for myself.

Since September, I’ve been very busy with holiday stitching, commonly known as “The Christmas Panic”.  This year’s ornament total was 28.  I planned (resolved) to work on ornies through January, but I’ve already broken that one.  However, I did get eleven done before I switched over to my latest project.  More on that later.  Here are a few of them, but you can see more here. 

 

Business also took a large chunk of my time since I last posted.  My new stitch picker/needle threader sets have been very popular.  I made a set for each person in my stitch group and found these precious pincushions at UpTheCreek on Etsy to go with them.  

Lots of folks must have received scissor fobs and counting pins for Christmas too!  Thanks to all of you who shopped with me at TJBdesigns this year.  I’m looking forward to creating even more exciting needlework tools this year.  Stay tuned.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/174248457/scissor-fob-quilting-sewing-cross-stitch

 My new project is another one that has been in my stash for almost two decades.  “Jean Scrimgeowr” by The Scarlet Letter.  I framed this one for a customer way back in the 90s and fell in love with it then.  Scottish samplers have a special appeal to me and I’m not sure why.  This one is stunning and I have it hanging by the end of March.  Happy Birthday to me.

 

I look forward to hearing from each and every one of you.  Happy Stitching!

Tweet

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.

Tweet

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!

Tweet

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!

Tweet

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.

Tweet

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.

Tweet