What a Gift

Look what I got for my birthday:

Approximately 7 inches.  Blech.  At least I didn't have to go to work.  The last time we had this much is December 25/26, 2010, when we had 12-13 inches.

Can you believe there are daffodils coming up under all this?  I bet they are wishing they had slept in a little later, lol.

As usual on inclement weather days, I didn't get much stitching done.  Here's an update on Nature's Little Helper.

Getting near the end of the page now.  I plan on stitching for the rest of the day if I can lift my arms.  I'm feeling very sore from shoveling so much snow.  But the cleared areas are already melting nicely, so it will be worth it in the morning when I have to leave for work.  I can't tell you how happy I am to see the sun brightly shining this morning!  I'm ignoring the weathermen who are saying clouds will move in again this afternoon.  Boo!  The weekend is supposed to bring us temps back in the 50's and next Wednesday is supposed to be 60F!!  Heat wave!  Lol.

Happy Stitching!

Tamara

Progress Report

We got about 3 inches of snow here Tuesday night and with temps in the teens and 20's, it isn't disappearing very fast.  You would think with being stuck in the house yesterday and again today, I would probably get something done.  Yeah, not so much.

Nature's Little Helper:

Current socks, one finished and one in progress:

Morticia, finished, but not yet blocked:

I'm off to snuggle up under my blanket again and hopefully peck away at Nature's Little Helper some more.  Although, I was comtemplating having a little look at Sanctuary...

Happy Stiching!

Tamara

Progress

I seem to have lost some of that steam I had over the last 1-2 months.  Bummer. 

Here's my progress on Autumn Romance:

 

 

(Click on the picture and it looks much better!)

I only have two more blocks on the 15-sided biscornu and the beads to complete the stitching portion.

And lo and behold, I finally have a page finish on Dress of Daydreams!  This is 10/42 pages complete.

Happy Stitching!

Tamara

It's All Okay

Lots of pictures today!  I'm glad to report A Treasured Time made it through it's ordeal relatively unscathed.  Unfortunately, I never took a picture of the piece after the first wash.  99.9% of the bleeding washed out. Yay!  Basically, I just soaked it overnight in clear, cold water with a dye catcher.

A Treasured Time
Dimensions
completed 2008

I only have a tiny bit of progress on the 15 sided biscornu.

My new piece is Autumn Romance by The Victoria Sampler.  I've had this one in the stash for about 5 years.

This is the first two bands.  I still have to obtain the pearls that go on the first band.  The next band is a cut work band and I thought I would try to show the steps.  This is not meant as a tutorial, but just to show how easy it really is with the hope of enticing some of you over to the dark side if you haven't tried it.  :D 

Step 1:  cut the 8 horizontal threads at the center.  (Take a deep breath, it's all okay!)  I cut every thread individually so I make sure I don't accidentally snip a vertical thread.  You need sharp, pointy scissors for this!

Step 2:  withdraw every second thread past the margin of the sampler.

Step 3:  Unweave the threads that are left to the margins of the sampler.

Step 4:  thread the needle with the remaining fabric threads and reweave into the fabic at the sides, replacing the withdrawn threads.  Here, the top two threads have been done.

Here, all threads have been rewoven and it's ready for the hemstitching.

And here it is complete.

It's really more tedious than hard.  You do have to be gentle unweaving and weaving.  This particular fabric did not like the process much and ended up a bit fuzzy at the edges.  This will be mostly hidden by a mat, so no problem there.  It would be more troublesome if the fabric theads break, though.  So, give it a try!  I dare you!

I hope everyone has a very happy holiday season! 

May you have Peace and Goodwill along with your stitching!
Tamara

A Finish and a Potential Disaster

Heart Collector is finished as of this morning.

Heart Collector
Jeannette Douglas

Back in 2008 I completed Dimension's A Treasured Time.  Having done a few Dimensions kits before, I knew there is always a danger of the red threads running when washed, so I had been very hesitant to wash the piece to get it framed.  So, I finally bit the bullet, held my breath and threw it in the sink.  All seemed well.  I blocked it out to dry and the next day ran the iron over it and didn't notice any problems.  Then the sun finally came out and I went to admire it and noticed several areas where the red and brown threads had run!  Grrrrrrr....  It wasn't horrible and considered throwing it back in the sink to soak to see if it would improve the situation, but was too chicken because I was worried it would go from bad to worse.  I've just decided I can't live with it after all and it's now soaking in the sink with a dye catcher.  I'll keep you updated on the result.  I guess if I make it worse, I'll be stitching it again one day...in DMC.

Happy Stitching!
Tamara

What's in the Box

So, if you were thinking I finally got around to buying a needlework stand, you'd be right.  I was comtemplating stands last year and couldn't decide so put it on the back burner.  My stitching mojo waned and the issue seemed moot.  But when my stitching itch came back recently, I craved band samplers and Chatelaines and the only good way to tackle some of them is with a stand and scroll frame.  Now, I am a die hard hoop girl and my fleeting experience with scroll frames turned me off them completely, so I have not been excited to revisit the experience. 

I received the Needlework System 4 with the frame clamp and medium scroll frame last week. 

Set up was quick and easy.  Basting the fabric on the rods was not too terribly bad.

It fits well between the coffee table and sofa with a little maneuvering.

Since last Wednesday after setting it up, I have already finished the first quarter of Jeannette Douglas' Heart Collector.  (I've converted the threads to DMC and one Caron).

I purchased the stand from Threadneedle Street in Washington State and received excellent service.  I like that I can easily get to the back of my work by rotating the scroll or hoop (in the frame clamp) without having to loosen knobs or such.  I am curious as to how much rotating (and I do a lot!) the frames will take before the bolts loosen, but it looks like if it is ever a problem, a little tighten with a wrench on the bolts will probably do the trick to fix it.  I am dealing with the scroll frame much better than I anticipated and am actually enjoying stitching on it!  I guess I'm not quite as set in my ways as I thought.  Two handed stitching, however, is agonizingly slow and my tension not as good, so I still tend to use just my right hand with my left in the back to feel for knots in the thread. 

In other news, I have a Christmas finish.

Ho Ho Ho in a Row
Lizzie Kate

And I finally tackled the last monster row on my Morticia shawl and started the monster bind off.  Maybe before the end of the year I will have that finished. 

Happy Stitching!
Tamara

On A Roll

So, I did find the gumption to sew the buttons on Dressed to Kill last night.  Looks pretty much the same as the previous picture except now the buttons don't fall off when you pick it up.

Some progress on Ho Ho Ho in a Row:

I started on a 15-sided Christmas biscornu.  This is the free pattern from Kathrin's blog.

And I wonder what this might be?

Stay tuned!

Happy Stitching!
Tamara