Winter Queen Frustration & Disappointment!

ARRRRRRRGH!           I am so frustrated with myself!  I was working on Winter Queen Tuesday night and was just looking at my progress and looking at the photo that came with her and as I was looking at them together, I realized something just wasn't right.  I STARTED IN THE WRONG PLACE!!!!!


I must have miscounted when I drew/counted out the middle line. So I started cutting and picking every stinking stitch I've put in since I started.  I've almost got it all out and will probably finish getting it out tonight.  When I get it all out, I'll give the fabric a quick rinse in cold water, just to help the holes close up a bit and then when it's dry I'll start all over again. 

I just am so disappointed about this.  At least I don't have to have her completed until the beginning of December.  Therese's 21st birthday is December 18th, so I want to have her done by the 1st in order to have her framed and back to me on time.

Now to add a smile, here's a recent picture of my beautiful imp of a granddaughter, Emma Ann - this was taken a couple of weeks ago in Grandpa's arms.  She will be 17 months on May 1.

WIP

Here's where Winter Queen is as of now.  I really, really don't like stitching with cream/white/natural colors.  I don't know why, but they always seem to knot/twist so easily and I feel like the stitches don't lay as nicely as colors do.  Does anyone else ever have this problem?

And here's my most recent picture of Quaker Sampler by the Workbasket.

NEW STASH!! - Picture heavy & long!

I love new stash!  I splurged on new stash with a little of our tax refund and here are the spoils!  I bought Mirabilia "Autumn in My Garden" for myself over a year ago, but hadn't found the "right" fabric for it.  I was cruising Ebay and found this beautiful 32ct hand-dyed Lugana called "Queen Annes Lace" from HomeSweetHome Needlecrafts and I just knew it would be perfect.  I then converted the called for DMC floss to Vikki Clayton HDF and ordered those.  I don't know when I'll start this piece, but I fell in love with it the first time I saw it.  Here's the floss toss.

Next up we have LHN's "Patience" and "Love and Faithfulness" that I got from another stitcher at the HDF message boards.  I've started "Patience" as a birthday gift for my FIL.

These are my "carrots" from my HDF order....I just love the two on the right.

Now we have stash ordered from Down Sunshine Lane.  The first picture are all items from her BOGO/$1 pages with the exception of the ornament form.  I thought I'd try the form out as my "finishing" skills aren't all that great yet.  The LHN "Soft and Sweet" is intended for my granddaughter, "Trustworthy and True" for my daughter and SIL and "Strong and Beautiful" for my daughter.  The other pieces were also bought with the intent to be made for specific people, but I won't detail it here, because they sometimes read my blog.

DSL was having a special when I put in my order where you could order a "Mystery Box" for $30 and so I decided to chance it.  I was VERY happy! This first picture is some of what was in the box and what I intend to keep and stitch eventually.

This is the rest of the box that I will either end up posting for sale or possibly using for a giveaway.  I've never done a giveaway and I think it may be time.

If you made it this far, I'm thrilled!  Thank you for your visit to my blog and for any comments you leave. Have a great week!

A Giveaway

If you like LHN, Shakespeare's Peddler and/or Blackbird Designs, then check out the giveaway that Carolyn is having over at Just One More Stitch.


Happy stitching!

Oakhaven SAL 2011

And last, but certainly not least, I have joined along with the Oakhaven Yahoo group 2011 SAL.  Tonia is designing monthly owls and they're adorable!  I wasn't sure how I wanted to stitch these - individuals, on a big piece of fabric, a few together or what.  So I searched through my stash and found some wall banners that I forgot I had bought a couple of years ago from a lady local to me.  She'd sold cross stitch supplies out of her home and was finally selling off her stash.  I have 5 of the banners, so I decided to do 3 wall hangings with 4 owls each on them.  I've completed the January owl and am getting ready to start February and March has already come out also, so I need to get a move on.  These use DMC fibers, but I did have to alter my first owl though, because the colors were too light for the fabric.  I believe I used GA Sampler thread & Weeks Dye Works, and I really liked the way it turned out and I think these are going to really cute hanging when they're done.  Here's a close up of my first owl. This is a bit washed out even without the flash, and the fabric is more of a cream color. What do you think?

And here's the whole piece of fabric w/the lines between each owl stitched in.

And just because, here's a picture of my adorable Grandbaby Emma thrown in for cuteness!

 As always, thanks for stopping by and I welcome any comments!

2 Cross Stitch Finishes

I have actually finished 2 pieces, but need to "finish" them both still.  I completed these the first week of February and intended them to be Valentines Day gifts, but didn't find what I wanted for the actual "finishing" in time.

This first is a Lizzie Kate that I did for my daughter and son in law for their first Valentine's Day as a married couple.  It's stitched on a piece of 28ct Silkweaver Solo Jobelan.  I didn't have the called for floss, so I substituted with Vikki Clayton HDF and a skein of Caron Waterlilies.  I picked up the frame at the thrift store for it.  I've never yet framed a piece of stitching (for that matter, my first real finish of my stitching was the ornie exchange I sent to Vicky L), so this will be a challenge for me.  I plan to use the tutorial that Meari has on her blog.  I really love the way it turned out and this is one of Therese's favorite sayings.

 

The next finish is a freebie from Oakhaven Designs.  I belong to her Yahoo group and this was a freebie she gifted us with for Valentines Day.  I stitched it on a piece of unknown linen from my stash, that I'm pretty sure is 28ct.  I used Vikki Clayton HDF to stitch it.  When I ordered the floss for Winter Queen, I bought one of the "carrots" that Vikki offers with each order and I got a mini spool of 1 strand premium and it's colors are 2469/3107/2237 and I just really liked the way the blue/green/teal came out on this.  I also used a red HDF for the hearts.  I had intended this to be a little gift for the hubby, but didn't get it done in time.  I plan to finish it as a pillow with the blue fabric for the back and then use the cording as a little hanger.  I need to browse some of the finish sites I have bookmarked for the best one to use. 

 

And a close up of the peacocks.   My Grandma always used to tell us that the peacock was part of the Royal crest of our family back in the Black Forest area of Germany.  I wish I'd paid more attention to the whole story, but it was on my Grandfather's side of the family and I vaguely remember her saying that my many years ago my Great-Grandfather had been contacted by someone over there about claiming family land, but he never did.  Who knows if it's true or not, or got exaggerated over the years, but she always loved peacocks and now I do too.

TUSAL Update

It's time for a TUSAL update! I really didn't get a lot of stitching done these past few weeks, unfortunately my depression seemed to rear it's ugly head for a while. When that happens I just can't stay focused enough to stitch, so here's my TUSAL offering for this New Moon.