Quick Update

Stand by for a much longer post with more pictures ... I received my stockings back from Vonna (she did a great job) yesterday as well as the ornament she made me for our ornament exchange. I wanted to do a quick post to share that I will be participating in the December Photo Project this year. I hope you enjoy a peak into our holidays!

No Posting but Lots of Stitching

I know it's been awhile since I have posted. We've been somewhat busy around here so this has been the thing to fall off of the shelf. Around the time of my last post, my daughter was diagnosed with hip dysplasia so we have been dealing with that for the past few months. She has gone through being in a pavlik harness, an unsuccessful closed reduction, a successful open reduction, six weeks in a Spica cast, three weeks full time in an abduction brace and we're a few days into three weeks of the abduction brace only while sleeping. I think that about covers everything. She has been a real trooper through out the whole thing.

So in stitching news, I finished my Christmas stocking on Sunday. Here she is in all her glory:

Design: "Christmas Angel Stocking"

Designer: Joan Elliot (The Cross Stitcher Aug '06)

Fabric: 14 ct White Aida

Thread: Recommended DMC, Kreinik and beads

I started her at the beginning of Dec 09. So she took a little over 10 months to finish (I was able to cut the time that it took me to finish hubby's stocking in half). She and the gingerbread stocking will be heading to The Twisted Stitcher's Finishing Service soon. I can't wait to see what Vonna does with them.

On the subject of finishing, I also finished a couple of fall pieces that I had (both were squares I received in the Fair and Square Exchange). I choose to finish two as cubes. Here's one of my finishes (I still need to add ribbon my Halloween cube):

I love this fabric with this stitched piece. What do you think?

I have a few other projects that I am working on for the holidays. I have been keeping busy but don't have too many other pictures to show of my WIP (and most of them are for gifts). So instead I leave you with a picture of my little one and one of her baskets of books. Have a great night!

June's SBQ

Here's this month's stitching blogger question from Lee at Lake Stitcher:

Tell us about something that you have stitched or plan to stitch for any father in your life. Maybe it’s for your father, your father-in-law, your children’s father, your grandfather, your godfather, or someone who was or still is an important father-figure in your life. Why did you choose this particular piece of stitching? Tell us the story behind it.

And because a simple one part question is never adequate, let’s go some more:

Often times we identify our love of needlework and our skills with our mothers or grandmothers or other women. It’s understandable because often they were are first teachers or role models. Now let’s think about our stitching life as it relates to our dads. Is there anything about our approach to stitching that we can recognize as traits of our fathers? For instance, does your dad (or any other important man in your life) have an approach to one of his interests that you can observe and think, “Hey….if I substitute the word “needlework” for “fly fishing”, we’d be pretty darn similar!” So tell us about it.

The first piece that came to mind was "Thank You for Serving" by the Sunflower Seed. I stitched this for my grandfather in the summer of 2008, right before I left on deployment. When I saw the design I thought of him and the other military men in my life (my other grandfather, step-grandfather, father and husband). I stitched it to remember the years that he spent in the army. I was able to drop it off at my LNS before I left and my mom picked it up when it was done. She gave it to him when she saw him at Christmas time. It is a design that I hope to stitch again for others in my family as they complete their service.

As for the second part of the question, I think part of my love of cross stitch comes from having a very analytical mind. This was inherited from both parents but especially my father.

Quilting and Stitching

Well, back to my regular scheduled programming ... at least somewhat. I've started to get into quilting as well as cross stitch. I has a chance to finish a project this week, which I was really excited about. I still need to finish the second bag but one has been completed. My first project was a Child's Activity Bag. I found the tutorial on Moda Bake Shop and it was created by Melissa Stramel of Lilac Lane.

The Front of the Bag

Fabric: Sandy Gervais' Nautical and Nice

Pattern: Child's Activity Bag

Designer: Melissa Stramel of Lilac Lane

The Back of the Bag

My local quilt shop, What's Your Stitch N Stuff, is celebrating is 20th Anniversary this week. So I stopped by to pick up some backing and batting so that I could complete the strip quilt top I had finished (the kit was purchased from there as well). I picked up some brown minkee for the back of the quilt. Here's the top with the backing and binding:

I know that I still need to iron the quilt top. I had started one night but realized that I really needed to do it on our full ironing board downstairs instead of the little ironing board I keep in the guest room for my quilt projects (great for blocks and small units, not so much for long strips). I really love the different fabrics in this quilt. I have a few more strip quilts to make ... it's one of my favorite kits that my LQS carries.

I also picked up a kit for a Christmas present for my sister (hopefully for this year) as well as another strip quilt that used Wine Country by Barb Tourtillotte.

I have been spending quite a bit of time stitching as well. I completed the center part of my stocking (well, except for a small part of her hand since I didn't have the color at the time and wanted to start working on the bottom).

I'm hoping to complete this in time to be able to send it out for finishing and still have it by Christmas. I've also been working on the Letter L that I showed to you previously. I've almost completed all of the stitching and will just have the beads left to do. My other project at the moment is a wedding sampler for my sister. It's been a lot of fun to work on with changing the colors to match those she picked for her wedding. My daughter's birth sampler has been framed ... I just need to take a picture of it to share as well as actually hang it on her wall. I hope it won't be too long before I can share some more projects with you ... both stitching and quilting. Hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend! God Bless!

Quilt Festival 2010

Since I'm starting to explore quilting as well as my cross stitch, I wanted to participate in the Blogger's Quilt Festival this year.





Unfortunately, I have yet to finish a quilt. I have a quilt top upstairs that needs to be pressed and quilted (it's a strip quilt kit that I picked up at my LQS eons ago) and a few other wip. I've started the cutting on little one's baby quilt so I'm hoping to finish that before her first birthday (I figure that's a good goal ... gives me about 8 more months ;)). Since I don't have one of my own to show off, I wanted to show case a quilt that my sister made for me as a wedding present.



If you look closely, you will see that there are pictures from our wedding included in the quilt. My sister completed it shortly after our first anniversary about three years ago. She had started to do picture quilts for special occasions. I think I also received the first one she made as a graduation present when I graduated from college. This quilt has a place of honor on our bedroom wall. My sister has inspired me to explore quilting as well. I love the special memory quilt and hope to return the favor soon to her.

Thank you for visiting. I hope that you enjoy looking at some of my other work in cross stitch. I have some plans for some projects that combine the two ... quilting and cross stitch but they are years in the making. God Bless!

May Stitching Bloggers Question

Lee at Lake Stitcher has started up a monthly SBQ. Here's this months:

Suppose we say that there are two types of stitchers.

There are those who enjoy the “process” of stitching. They stitch for stitching’s sake and if something gets finished, so much the better, but it’s not necessarily the end goal. Primarily, it’s the application of needle and thread to cloth that makes them happiest.

Then there are those who are “project” stitchers. They move steadily through their projects, certainly enjoying their stitching time, but finding their greatest joy in the completed stitching.

If you had to pick one to describe yourself, which type of stitcher would you be? I imagine that we could all say that we fall somewhere in between, but really think hard about this and try to pick just one. And once you’ve decided whether you’re a Process or Project stitcher, tell us if your recognize that approach in other parts of your life.

I would say that I am a Project stitcher if I had to pick one to describe myself. Part of the reason that I enjoy stitching is that there will be a finish project at the end. There is something tangible that results from the work I put in. In other parts of my life, the work does not always have the tangible results. I am satisfied in what I do, but some of it can be very repetative both at work and at home (ie standing watches or doing laundry). I love the repetiveness of taking thread to fabric ... it is very relaxing after a long day. However, for the most part, it's not just about the stitching to me. It is about the project. Many of my stitchings have been gifts for others, with deadlines and such. Others are projects for myself that have a purpose. I enjoy being able to have a finished project and start a new one. I try not to have too many projects that I'm working on at one time ... though I do enjoy have a few different ones to work on so that there is some variety. So what about you? If you take the time to answer this SBQ, please go and leave a comment on Lee's blog. God Bless!

The Promised Pictures

WARNING ... PICTURE HEAVY POST AHEAD :)

Here's the finished birth sampler for my daughter ... I guess it's time to take a trip to my LNS to have it framed :).

Anchor's Classic Pooh Birth Sampler

Threads/fabric included in kit

Close up of personalization

Close up of top of sampler.

Here was my last finish of 2009 which I realized I never shared for the LHN ornament SAL:

LHN's Fa La La

Threads: Recommended DMC

Fabric: Random scrap piece (stitched over 1)

Next up, the current progress on my stocking. I haven't worked on it for probably a month now so it's time to start again. Hoping to finish it before Christmas, with time to possibly have someone else finish it.

And the last WIP is Nora Corbett's "L" ... a gift for my SIL (I don't think she checks my blog).

Until next time ... happy stitching and God Bless!