Winter Welcome

I've been busy! I have been stitching pretty steadily in the evening while working on the house during the day. Here's what I have accomplished!

This is Waxing Moon's Winter Welcome:

And this is Winter Welcome in the frame it will go in:

This is the frame that the model was framed in. I thought it was too cute!

Info on My 'Tis The Season Finish

Thanks for the compliments! The thread for the scarf is Bethlehem by WDW. The fabric is Silkweavers 28 ct Brandywine lugana. If you want to see what it is supposed to look like: 'Tis The Season. As you can see from the description, it was supposed to be stitched in Belle Soie, but I couldn't afford to get those, and I really like the way it turned out.

Not that anyone asked, but I am pretty impressed with myself with the colors I picked, so I'm listing my color conversions. I did not try to pick things that exactly matched the Belle Soie although I did try that at first. I found colors I liked that worked together, and used those.

Belle Soie to Crescent Colors:
icing = khaki mocha
fresh raspberry = razzleberry
collard greens = English ivy
noir = Zach black
Chester's blue = deep sea blue
blue lagoon = blacksmith blue
carrot cake = fallen leaves
love dove = lunar eclipse

DMC:
318 = 646

The scarf on the snowman was supposed to be red and green, and the one on the cat was green (I think). Anyway, I had the WDW Bethlehem that I had used in one of my Christmas ornaments and I really liked the color, so I just used it instead. If I stitched it again, I would used a deeper grey or black for the mouse though. I wish he stood out a little darker so he was more noticeable.

Some Recent Finishes

I spent some time earlier today sewing on charms, etc and now I have more finishes to show!

This is Snow Tuck by SanMan Originals:

This is Magic Hat by SanMan Originals (yes, I know there are hoop marks, but it will be an ornament and that part will be cut off):

This is Stockings Were Hung by SanMan Originals:

This is 'Tis The Season by Val's Stuff...I left off the words and changed the colors:

And this is tonight's finish hot of the qsnaps! It is Warm Hearts by The Trilogy:

Decisions, Decisions

Well, I debated for a day or so, and finally decided to take out what I had done on Inspiration. Since that was not much, it was not really a big deal. What settled the matter was measuring. Although the piece of fabric...which is huge by the way...looks almost square, it should be slightly longer one way. So before I created a disaster, I decided to remeasure and make sure I was stitching the right way on the fabric. When I measured, I remembered that I had done a smart thing. Since this piece is large, I had decided to leave 4 inches all around instead of 3 inches. That meant I had an extra inch that would help the fabric stay in the qnap better. I tried to use 11 inch qsnaps but it's just too much to handle without my arm getting tired. This should be a joy to stitch, not a chore. So I went back to my 8 inch qsnaps. I started the border again last night, and it was SO much easier to stitch. I really enjoyed it. I realized that I had been avoiding it because it was not comfortable. So I hope to get some done on it now.

Last fall and on through Christmas I had been stitching smaller seasonal things and really enjoyed it. I had picked out several snow-themed things that I was really looking forward to stitching as soon as the holiday stuff was out of the way. Then I saw the Inspiration SAL right at the end of the year and it was kind of an impulse thing. But that leaves me with my snow things that I still want to stitch. I have done Got Carrot? and started on The Trilogy's Warm Hearts. I think I'll still stitch on those which should be fairly quick and easy. I am loving the feeling of accomplishment of finishing so many things lately.

I also finished a design called Snow Tuck by SanMan Originals that I have to cut down and put in the little tuck hanging that it goes in. I hope to get that done later today and then I can post a picture. I also have 2 more ornaments that I finished that just need charms sewed on, and I'll try to get them done and post pictures of them as well.

Got Carrot?

This is Bent Creek's Got Carrot? that I started a couple of days ago. I stitched all day while I was doing laundry, and this was all I wanted to work on. Isn't he darling? I love the little bunny eyes!

About Inspiration. I'm not sure what to do. Since this is a big piece, I counted down and in 3 inches because I left 3 inches on each side for framing. That is what I always leave. So even though the edge of the top border is in just a little from that 3 in and 3 down point, I figured it would be ok. I didn't think that the side border was more than a couple of stitches out. Well, after stitching the border on the first page (there are 30...) I am finding that it is hard to keep the left edge of the fabric in the qsnap. I don't want to take out what I have done, but I'm also thinking that it is not very much, and I will be stitching on this project for at least a year, and I really don't want to fight with this fabric. It makes my stitching more irritating, and there are enough irritating things in my life as it is. So I put it up for tonight and I will wait and see how I feel in the morning. Why is it only the big things that I mess up on? why can't I mess up on some small little thing?! Sigh.

New SAL For Inspiration by Rosewood Manor

A day or so ago, I saw a thread on the 123Stitch message board about a SAL for the year 2009 to stitch Inspiration by Rosewood Manor. I have had this kitted up but had not planned to stitch it just yet. However, the idea of a SAL, which I have never done, just sounded fun. So I have set up a blog for those of us stitching it to share progress. I started mine today and got the border from the 1st page done.

I also started Got Carrot? by Bent Creek. It is one of their older Zipper kits. It is on 18 count linen, using 1 strand of perle cotton over 2 threads. Well, what I read was "18 ct...you stitch over on on that...ok...." So I got to about the middle of the chart and realized that this was in no way centered on the fabric and in fact it would not fit if I kept stitching it where it was. Because it is a kit, and had perle cotton which I don't happen to have laying around, I had to carefully unstitch what I had done so I could save the fiber to use again. I had counted up from the center as if I was going to stitch it over 1, and then proceeded to stitch it over 2. Sigh.

But I got it all put back in, and got further than I had been too. AND I started my SAL!

Happy Stitching New Year!