A Treasure Saved

First of all, let me tell you that I am a pack rat when it comes to special things of mine. I have always kept a "treasure box" of sorts all of my life. In my box are things like: letters from friends, pictures, awards/ribbons, and special mementos.

Last weekend I decided to look and see exactly what I had in my trunk. After spending the afternoon sorting out items and memories I came across this cross stitch piece. This piece is special to me not because I stitched but because my best friend, Renee, stitched this for me. She came for a visit once and while she was visiting she asked me to show her how to cross stitch. I was more than happy to show her how to cross stitch.

A couple of months later we moved to Mississippi where she was living at the time and one of the first things she did was to give this cute teddies to me. So not only did my best friend spend time stitching this for me but it was the first stitcher to stitcher gift. After seeing it this weekend was another surprise as I thought it had got destroyed along with all of my pieces I had stitched up until 2001 when my house got hit by a tornado and lost everything but the clothes we had on our backs and a few odds and ends.

I will keep this treasure in my treasure box as that seems to be a very safe place for it and if you knew my luck anything could happen to it if I did not put it in my box.

I stitched on ABC Bears last week. It is one of projects that I have in my weekly rotation. So far, knock on wood, my rotation seems to be working out excellent for me. The only bad part I have discovered so far is that when it is time to switch pieces I don't want to switch but I have to make myself which leads for the anticipation of stitching on it the following week.

SBQ of the Week

Thanks to Karen F. (http://stitchmania.blogspirit.com/) for today's"Stitching Blogger's Question" and that is:

When starting a new project, do you start in the middle? If you do,once you've worked down to the bottom, do you turn your chart and fabric around so that you are stitching the top section downwards again or do you just stitch upwards from the middle?

When I start a project I always stitch from the center outwards. The order in which I stitch really depends on how many pages/folds are in the chart. If there are only 2 halves I stitch from the center downwards and then start from the center again and stitch upwards. If a chart happens to divided into quarters I locate my center point and stitch one page at a time. My method of stitching from center down and center up is still the same. I have tried turning my work and chart upside down but I find that way I have a tendency to miscount more often.

Four Seasons Chairs

This another pattern my children gave me on my anniversary. It is called "Four Seasons Chairs" designed by Diana Thomas.

Starting A Rotation

Lately I have been considering starting a rotation for my stitching. Right now I do not use any sort of rotation, I just stitch away on a piece until I get bored or frustrated with it and then I pick up another one and stitch on it the same way. So my plan is to start doing a rotation of one piece for each week. Currently I have two WIP's (ABC Bears and Geisha) and my RR piece. For the last two weeks I have been doing a "trial rotation" of one piece each week. This past week I have worked on ABC Bears and the week before that I had worked on Geisha. So far it seems to be working out pretty good for me. I have made significant progress on each one during the week that I stitched on them so I think I will keep doing the rotation.

I went to the local craft store to purchase my Kreinik #4 VF braid colors that I need for my RR and found out that they had all but one color I needed. I had planned on working on the dragons this week but it looks like it will be next week before I start on my dragon but you never know I might just go ahead and work the areas that don't use the Kreinik.

Anniversary Gift

Today is a happy dance day for me! Today Mike and I have been married for 12 years.( A whole dozen!) It does not seem that long but yet there are times when it does seem like that long. Anyways my kids surprised me with a gift this morning. They bought me this pattern called Collecting Shells by Nancy Cole. I had seen this one before and had made a comment that I really liked it because the little girl reminded me of myself when I was that age. Since we did not live near the ocean I did not get to hunt for sea shells but instead I would look for clam shells at the lake. This now gives me a good reason to make a re-supply run to the craft store and by more stuff.

I have finally picked out the theme for my RR. I have chosen dragons from the 2004 Generosity/Elemental Series from Dragon Dreams. My post date is not until September 1 but I have a feeling I will be done well in advance. I am really excited about doing this RR.

SBQ of the Week

Thanks to Cathy (http://itwillbefunny.blogspot.com)/ for today's"Stitching Blogger's Question" and that is:

Are there any types of designs that you won't stitch?

I will stitch anything I can get my hands on as long as I like the look of the design. I honestly can not think of any particular designs that I won't stitch.

ABC Bears

I started this piece over the weekend. I was not feeling well due to allergies and wasn't in the mood to work on Geisha. It is called ABC Bears and was designed by . I am stitching it on 28 count evenweave with 2 strands floss. I purchased this pattern over 7 years ago when pregnant with my son and I am finally going to get it stitched! This will be the second time attempting to stitch this one so let's hope for the best.

I have been progressing pretty good on Geisha but I haven't stitched on her since last Friday. I had to put her aside because of all the details on the robe making me go cross eyed. It is one of those patterns that if you look at it up close it seems like a mess of colors but if you hold it out a little you can see the design.

May Your Sorrows

Here is another one of my "oldies". This one was done in 2002 while we were living in Omaha. It was stitched on 14 count oatmeal aida. I used 2 strands(loop method) of DMC floss. I got the pattern out of a magazine called "Cross Quick" from Apr/May 1989. Our library here has a room where all the books are a quarter. I found this treasure there and best of all the lady informed me that all the magazines were free!!

I managed to find three issues of this particular magazine. I have the premier issue, Feb/Mar 1989, Apr/May 1989. The best part was that they all were in great condition. My mother while going garage sale shopping she found an old issue of "Cross Stitch & Country Crafts" from Sept/Oct 1988 and bought it for me for fifty cents. All of these magazines have some great patterns to stitch.

SBQ of the Week

Today's "Stitching Blogger's Question" was borrowed from a bulletinboard (Rotation Stitchers -http://p096.ezboard.com/btwbbrotationstitchers, I think) and is:

Do you feel the need to stitch a design from a specific designer just to say that you've experienced stitching one of their designs?

Since I have brought my stitching online I have discovered several designers that I adore but when I choose a pattern to stitch it is not because who designed it but if it is appealing to me. The patterns I choose literally have to jump out and say "Pick me! Stitch me!" There are certain themes that I would like to stitch but to say that I stitched a piece by a certain designer just is not me.

Bad Bad Kitty

This is one of my "older" works. I got the pattern out of a book of patterns called Cats Galore by Leisure Arts. The book has over 66 designs of different kitties. I stitched this on 14 count aida cloth using 2 strands of floss. I love how the eyes came out. They are so real looking. While I was stitching this particular piece my brother and his Siamese cat were living with us and she was trying to eat our fish in the tank and other horror stories.

RR Areas Ready

Last evening I finished up stitching the blocks for the RR I joined. The blocks are 7 inches wide by 6 inches tall (98 stitches x 84 stitches). I have allowed 3 inches for finishing. I even finished the edges to keep them from unraveling. Which that leads me to my little own stitching question:

How do you keep you fabric from unraveling while stitching?

I have two different ways that I use to keep the fabric intact. I will sew the edges with a zig-zag stitch using light thread. The other way and not so pretty looking is I use masking tape. I will be the first to admit that it looks really tacky but it is a quick and easy way to keep the edges neat.

I didn't get a chance to work on Geisha this weekend but here is my progress on her so far. I will work on her later this afternoon as I have to go in and work at 2 pm. Sorry ,the picture is a little dark but I took it late last night and did not use my new camera. It is pretty detailed but I think it will be worth it.

Catching Up This Week

A person would think that since it is summer vacation time that I would have more time to stitch but so far I have had less time to stitch than I do during the school year! I did start the Geisha pattern this week. I could not resist. The colors that are used are really pretty. I already know that I am not going to get rid of this one. I just have to figure out where to put it.

I have been teaching my two daughters, Krissy (11) and Allie (10) to stitch. It has gone just as I thought it would. Krissy has lost all interest in stitching so that leaves Allie. Allie is doing pretty good so far. She is stitching a small cat pattern. She likes to bring her stuff into the front room and stitch with me. I have told her when she finishes the piece we will post for everyone to see but don't hold your breath waiting for her to finish. Allie is a very active girl. Since it is summer time she is either doing cartwheels across the yard or walking backwards everywhere so I don't know if she will sit still long enough to finish it.

This week I also started getting my fabric ready for the RR I joined. I am going to stitch the border in 3371 DMC floss. I am using a 20"x 24" white evenweave fabric. There will be five 6"x 7" area blocks for each stitcher to stitch the pattern. So far everything seems to be going fine....knock on wood.

Oo-la-la She's Done

Oo-la-la I finished the angel earlier this evening! The final running time on this particular piece is 5150 minutes! Whew, the hardest part of this project was keeping my time. I am going to start doing this with every project so hopefully as I stitch it will become habit for me to write my times down. I had not intended on finishing this project this soon as I was going to set it aside and start another. I had a small problem. I could not decided which one I wanted to stitch first, Geisha or ABC Bears. So, now I have to decide which one I want to start.

I have the fabric for my RR. There are 5 of us in the group so I am going to stitch the borders creating 5 blocks for each of us to stitch a design. I have a theme in mind but I am not 100% for sure yet.

I Just Had To Have...

Today when I went on my re-supply run I found another pattern that I just had to have! It is called Geisha by Nancy Rossi. I really like this one a lot. It may find its way to the front of the line for patterns to be stitched next.:)


Last night I did gather up the floss and fabric for my next project called ABC Bears by Jo Hunt. I have had this pattern for over 7 years. It was originally bought for me to stitch while I was on bed rest with my 3rd child. This was also the very first pattern that I chose to try and stitch on evenweave. It was a very bad thing! A lot of my problem was I was a tad bit cranky after being on bed rest for 6 months. I am going to stitch it on 28 count white evenweave using DMC floss.

After having a few questions answered I think I am ready for the RR I joined. I will be stitching with Jo, Renee, Vash, and Cathy. I am looking forward to getting to know these other stitchers. I have been reading their blogs the past few days and all of their projects are fabulous!

Avoiding A Slump

I finished all the cross stitches on my little angel so now onto the detail work. I am at a good spot to put this piece aside for a little while. I normally do this in order to prevent myself from getting to the point where I do not want to stitch on it. I have considered stitching another cherub but I think I need to give myself a small break on cherubs so maybe tomorrow I will go out to the craft store and see if they have anything that I can not live without which, of course, we all know is true. I do have to purchase a new pair of small scissors. The ones I am currently using and have been using since before my son was born (which is 7 years) and are very dull and do not fold closed anymore. I am also going to look for a bag to carry my stitching supplies to work with me which is about 50 feet from my front door. Since summer is here I think I am going to look at the beach bags and see if there is something that is cute.

I have just joined a RR and got the forecasted post dates. My first post date will be roughly September 1, 2005. I will keep repeating myself I hope that I don't muck it up :)

November Cherub

I have been stitching away on this piece. This is the first piece that I have actually kept track of how long I have been stitching on it. I officially started on this cherub on May 10 and have stitched on it everyday. I am not for sure on how exact my time is because I did not stop my time for potty breaks but I am pretty sure it is somewhat accurate. As of this morning I have stitched for a grand total of 4455 minutes (74.25 hours)! On the average I stitched about 4.25 hours a day.

I have joined a Round Robin and I am pretty excited (and nervous!) about doing this RR. I have not ever done one before so hopefully I don't mess it up to much

SBQ Week 13

Today's "Stitching Blogger's Question" is:

What do you like *least* about cross stitching?

This is a hard question for me as I love to stitch! The only bad things are that I know I will never stitch all that I would like to stitch and I will never have enough room to display all of my creations!