Framing among the kleenex

No stitching this weekend thanks to the miserable sinus, allergy, cold fit I'm having. So, I'm slacker for the week again on ATS...but, I'd rather not stitch on it than stitch when my head isn't on straight and have to rip it out later. Instead I spent some time framing and finishing.



The best Halloween piece out there IMHO is "Remember Me on Halloween" (Birds of a Feather). I stitched this in 2004 and finished it up in Utah before attending the Shepherd's Bush retreat that fall. I even had someone offer me their Hog River frame for it. That Halloween hubby and I were in San Diego at the Hotel Del Coronado (the ultimate haunted house) so this just never got put together. This year I plan to be home on Halloween and I plan to hang it and enjoy.

"Come Let Us Adore Him" (Lizzie*Kate). You saw this gift (from 2002) after I found it again for the upteenth time floating around my house. Now I've found a perfect gold frame for it and did my magic and it's ready to hang at my parents house.

This is Easter Treat Bag (Shepherd's Bush). I had this one stitched in time for Easter, and now I finally have it put together. (I even ironed it, but you sure can't tell).

Flea Market Tray & a little Stocking Progress

It's been some kind of week. We started it off with a funeral, and it was all downhill from there. My grandson Bryce had a fever all last weekend and then DD and the grand darlings were sick with a nasty stomach bug for a few days, and are just now starting to feel better. I've got another miserable head cold that feels like just a different version of what I've had since February and compounded by allergies now that spring has sprung.

Remember when I said I found just the right frame for my Flea Market Souvenir (Blackbird Designs) piece. Well here it is all put together. I had to really rehab this baby, but I could not be more happy with it. I used a dark teal suede mat that matches parts in all three sections of the piece (the urn, the windows of the house and the bird and flowers) . Tonight I pinned, cut, stretched and laced and once into the frame I glued dark green felt on the back and it's all ready to use. (The jeweled carriage you see on the tray was a Christmas gift that my husband picked up a couple years ago at the del Coronado Hotel while we were in San Diego. I used to let Bryce play with it, until I found out what it cost. EEK!).

Here's a couple more hours progress on Elisabeth's Stocking (Shepherd's Bush). I didn't get a chance to stitch on her everyday, so I did pretty good and would have done better, if I had all the fibers I need.

No progress was made on ATS this week. My mind just wasn't into it and I never seemed to sit still at home long enough to consider picking it up.

Henry's Queens

This sampler was derived from a class I took in 2004. Linn Skinner and Eileen Bennett (with the assistance of Libby Streuli) presented "The Queen Sampler". This was not a stitching event where you went to stitch (thank goodness) it was much more. It was the history of Henry VIII and his six wives with a presentation complete with slides and it was captivating. The kit we got consisted of fabric, DMC floss and a charted band for each wife. Eileen designed bands for what was referred to as the three "good queens" while Linn had the three queens that Henry seemed to have issues with, one was even called "a tart in the cart". We were encouraged to take our kits home and be creative and make our own sampler from what we were given. I frankly could not wait and set off designing a simple layout using the alphabet that Eileen provided and topped if off with six crowns. This was a most enjoyable stitch, so much so I hated to see it end.

Our battle cry during the class was "divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived." I've traveled near and far taking classes, but this class was hands down the best class I have ever taken and I will forever remember the fun we had that night.

Anyway, it was time to get it framed so I can get it hung up to enjoy. Here you see it pinned to the coreboard, so I could play with the alignment. (Who says I NEVER frame anything I stitch??? Such TOTAL BS).

Once I had it where I wanted it, I laced the back of it across and then up and down until it was secure on the coreboard. This entire process is very labor and time intensive (and frankly I'd rather be stitching) and for that reason I have to have a block of time where I can finish what I have started and I have to be totally in the mood to stretch, pin, lace and frame the piece. I have long considered framing part of the "process", much like doing the finishing work on smalls and I'm always happy with the results I get in the end.



This is the final product. I used a gold metal frame to set off the gold metallic stitched crowns that closely border the bands.

I didn't want to go to work, I just wanted to sit and look at this all day once it was done.






A crown for each wife.
Thanks Linn, Eileen and Libby for a most enjoyable evening. We will have many more.

ATS start/Stocking fever

It was a dry stitching week, but I did manage to start "And They Sinned" (Examplar Dames) and I have to say that when I can sit down with it for a while and get a rhythm going I've really enjoyed it. Sadly, sitting for very long is never much of an option. I'm stitching on 36ct Elegant Bean, with GAST fibers.

The other piece I'm working on is Elizabeth's Stocking. This is two days of lunch hour progress. I also worked on Reed's Stocking at work a couple days but need to sort out the fiber situation before I continue on. I also need to throw Christian's Stocking into the mix once I find all the fibers I have for it.

Today we visited antique stores in search of the perfect frame for Flea Market Souvenir and I think I've found it. I took the frame apart and really worked on it as the back had been glued on....thank heavens for GOO GONE! I also managed to get LKs Come Let Us Adore Him pinned and laced and framed tonight for my mom and got my Henry's Wives sampler pinned and the gold frame put together. I hope to get it laced yet tonight. I've been in a stitching mood rather than a framing mood, so it seems to take twice as long.

Happy Easter and The Gift of Stitching

There won't be any stitching for me this holiday weekend so I thought I'd share something stitching related that I've found and grown to love. It's called The Gift of Stitching magazine and it's an online monthly publication by Kirsten Edwards of Sydney Australia. I subscribed to this magazine when it was first offered because I wanted to support anyone who was brave enough to undertake such an endeavor and I'm so glad I did. In fact, I'm so impressed that in January I re-upped for 2 more years. Kirsten has really done a very professional job and each month I find myself saying "well how's she going to top this one" and the following month she does. This month she introduced us to a designer I've never heard of before "Spotted Skink" and the Noah's Ark design is just a delight with such bright colors and crazy antics going on in the scene. I can't wait to find some time to stitch this for the boys. Another treat for me was a feature done on Italian Designer Giulia Manfredini and her daughter Sophia.

Anyway, I would encourage anyone to sign up for this wonderful magazine, even order back issues, and start enjoying it today. (Insert the usual disclaimer that I do not have a financial interest in this publication, just a happy stitching customer).

I did manage to stitch Easter Treat Bag by Shepherd's Bush the past couple days and once I find the time to put it all together, I'll share a picture.

While I won't be stitching, I will be enjoying our family and wishing it were a lot warmer outside for our egg hunt. Our son Colin is coming down today from the house on Loon Lake in the new Camry he got this week, and Bryce can't wait to see it. Tomorrow at my parents house our daughters Sarah and Emily will help with dinner and cleanup and my grandsons will be busy hunting Easter eggs, if they can beat the squirrels to them. Last year Bryce had a little competition. Tanner at 9mo is taking his first steps alone now, (goodbye babyhood) and I'm sure he'll have to get into the action.

Happy Easter everyone।

*Vero L. pointed out that it wasn't Giulia who designed Little Paradise as I had earlier stated, but Virgine Menzildjian. Thanks Vero. My first remembrance of Giulia is for her spectacular 9/11 design Justice in Our Hearts that she did for Caron Collection.

(I would actually like to know more about Virgine Menzildjian as I've sent her a picture of my sampler she designed, but never heard back from her.)

DT Gameboard FINISH

It's done. Not just done, but completely done and ironed and it feels and looks so good. I charted our house for the bottom right square and put a US flag in the square where initials and date go (since it already has my initials and date in the border). I also included my son's name and birthdate in the square with the crown since this is his Christmas gift. (His older sister's name is Sarah which means Princess, so he was our little prince). This feels like quite an accomplishment as I started it last August, and only seriously started working at it January 1 when I joined a SAL blog group and later a SAL yahoogroup that kept me going. (THANKS TO ALL OF YOU). I have to admit that I learned a lot of things about myself while stitching this, and one of them was that I really don't like stitching the same thing over and over and over and those houses were almost the death of me. Next up is something a little more "heavenly" called "And They Sinned" (EFTH) which I expect will hold my interest a little better if it doesn't completely kill me after a year.

WELL HAPPY MONDAY MORNING TO ME....I just realized the FLAG is UPSIDE DOWN!

Gift from a friend

A package blew into my mailbox on Friday, and it was such a treat to come home after a very long week to find a very special friend has been thinking about me. Receiving something from Italy always means it's going to be something amazing, and it was. This is a Chessie & Me Design pincushion. The floss Angi sent me is something I'm not familiar with, but they are yummy and just scream SPRING! Thanks gf, it's another treasure.


There are also pictures on Angi's blog
Below is the translation from Italian to English via google of what she's posted, it's such a giggle:

"Enough the thought… that is The gift is small but friendship is all.I have embroidered this pinkeeper for Adana and ringraziar it of its friendship.Between the fans of point cross the likeable custom represented from the exchanges exists in fact: he is always pleasant to arrive from time to time to house and to see a package that it waits for to you in the hole of letters. And then to discover the treasures that this hides. Therefore in order to exchange again the likeable thought, than it has sended to me for S.Valentino, I have decided to embroider for Adana of the strawberries…. waiting for those true ones.The model is of Chessie and me, embroidered on linen R&R with threads vanishes WDW to you.