“Birds in Snow” Stocking -- January 27, 2009

I stitched the “Birds in Snow” stocking in the early to mid 1990’s.



At that time we were pretty much limited to DMC, Kreinik metallics, wool, and Mill Hill beads, or at least that’s what I had access to.

The entire ornament was stitched in Continental and Basketweave using either Paternayan or DMC’s Medici.

It’s been finished as a stocking with blue wool cording and with a blue wool tassel. The back and inside are white moiré.

I would have selected this design as I enjoy stitching designs with birds. This is an interesting design as it’s a night scene and there is a stream flowing through the snowy landscape. I would have selected the wool threads to soften the design.

I don’t have any records as to the designer. If you know, please let me know.

Hope you enjoyed my “Birds in Snow” stocking!

Cynthia
Windy Meadow

“Heartstings Drum Nutcracker” -- January 24, 2009

I started working on “Drummer” over the Holidays but I haven’t gotten very far.



Pat Thode of Heartstrings includes stitch suggestions with all of her designs and I enjoy using her ideas. For the Drum Nutcracker she suggests stitching large and small Thodes stitches in the black border using black Kreinink metallic. The rest of the black border will be stitched in Basketweave using black Impressions.

This is working up very well but I need to stitch it during the day with daylight and with a red piece of fabric underneath. Unfortunately, we have not had too many sunny days when I was home and I had time to stitch here in Windy Meadow!

So glad that you could stop by today!

Cynthia
Windy Meadow

“Heartstings Bittie Pumpkin” -- January 22, 2009

I’m not quite done on my Heartstrings Bittie Pumpkin but I’m close! I’ve finished stitching the design and I’m adding two to three rows of white Splendor around the outside for finishing. Should be completely finished soon!



Then I’ll write the journal entry and put it in the box to wait until it can be finished.

Hope you earned Heartstrings Bittie Pumpkin!

Cynthia
Windy Meadow

“Snow Cone Santa” -- January 20, 2009

I’ve been focusing the last several weeks on organizing my needlework stash and taking pictures. I’ve also been working on journaling already completed projects. These two activities which have kept me quite busy, especially since returning to work and the children back to school!

I have been doing some stitching which I’ll be sharing with you this week.

The first is I’ve made quite a lot of progress on my Snow Cone Santa. When we last left “Snowy” (December 15, 2008 entry), I had completed his face and was beginning to work on his hat which worked up quickly.

I then moved on to his hat brim and that’s when I decided that I had to change what I was doing. His hat brim, mustache, and pompom are done in very fuzzy fibers. Since I usually like to add two rows of stitching around the outside for finishing, I decided to stop working on the hat brim and start stitching the outside stitching. In this picture you can see that I’ve started adding two to three rows of Splendor around his beard. This will take a while so you won’t see “Snowy” again until some time in February or if things get really hectic… March! :-)

Glad that you stopped by to visit!

Cynthia
Windy Meadow

“Baby Its Cold Outside!” -- January 19, 2009

This has been the theme for many blogs over the last few days! And yes it’s been very cold and windy here in Windy Meadow!

Today we had a small snowstorm! Since it’s usually brown during the winter in Windy Meadow, I thought I would update my blog header with a picture that I took early this afternoon when it was snowing.

We had a lovely light snow for several hours. It would snow for a while and then the sun would come out, then more snow. This continued for most of the day and I think we had about ¾” to 1” of snow accumulation.

Once the snow disappears, as it doesn’t last long around here, I’ll take another picture so you can see how Windy Meadow usually looks in the winter.

A while ago, there was a discussion online as to what colors do you think of when you think of the winter season. Here in Windy Meadow we have many shades of brown from the trunks of trees, branches without leaves, dried grass, and dormant bushes. We also have various greens from the evergreens and in late winter, we can start to see the new grass growth and the leaves of Daffodils and other early spring flowers.

Hope its warmer where you are or at least that you are warm and cozy!

Thanks for stopping by!

Cynthia
Windy Meadow

“Christmas Trees” -- January 19, 2009

A year ago I talked about all of the Christmas trees that we put up every year. So I had several comments asking for me to share them. Unfortunately, we had already taken them down! So I promised that I would share pictures of them this year. :-)

The first tree is our “All American Tree”. This tree is about four feet tall and all of the ornaments are of course red, white or blue! We put this one up in a corner of our finished basement. I have lots of red, white, and blue ornaments in my stash which will be added to this tree as they are stitched and finished.

The next tree is our “Fiber Optic Tree”. This was a gift from my parents many years ago. When lit, it rotates around in a circle. We place it on an inexpensive round table with a gold tablecloth. It came with a collection of gold ornaments. My mother spray painted dried Honesty plant gold which she added to the tree. It just glistens at night!

We also put up a “Tomato Cage Tree”. Many years ago, my parents made a tomato cage tree for us. The first step is to put the first tomato cage on the floor with the large round side on the floor. You then add the second tomato cage on top and drop it down so it sits on top of the first tomato cage forming a tree shape. You then wire them together. You then take a long lighted garland which you wrap loosely (you may need to wire to the cages) around the tomato cages. You now have a large green tree shape. You can then add ornaments and a tree topper of your choice. Ours has white and gold ornaments with a lighted star at the top. I was planning on taking a picture of this tree to share with you this year, but sigh… I forgot…

The next tree is the large “Christmas” tree. This tree is set up every year in what we call the music room. Most of the ornaments are hand made by me and many are stitched ornaments. I’ve also made a lot of jeweled Christmas balls over the years. I’ll be sharing these with you many of these ornaments over the next several weeks. We also have some memory ornaments and our children’s Hallmark ornaments on this tree. The family jokes that Mom’s decorating philosophy is that there should be no green showing on the tree!

Ummm… I guess I should now add that I don’t do simplistic minimalist decorating. :-)

We also put up a tree on our large kitchen counter/bar. The theme for the kitchen tree is blue and white, and snowman. We also have quite a few mini cookie cutters on the tree. It is fairly close to one of the lights but it does look nice in person.

The final tree that I can share with you this year is our “Raven’s Tree”. This one has been a lot of fun over the years as the Raven’s colors are primarily purple, black and gold. Not your typical Christmas colors. :-)

For the Raven’s tree, I purchased a two foot tree and then wrapped it in purple lights that I purchased during one Halloween season. We place it on an inexpensive round table with a gold tablecloth. We then added the buttons from the year that the Raven’s won the Super Bowl as ornaments. That year our local school received a donation of purple, gold, and white pompoms which are placed at the base of the tree on the gold tablecloth. I then took the purple and gold football necklaces that you can buy at party stores and cut them at one point so I could use them as garlands. I found purple and gold Ravens’ candy canes. The final decorations on the tree are small purple and gold ball ornaments and small purple light ornaments. We’ve also added some Raven’s stuffed animals and other items around the base of the tree and the base of the table. The Raven’s tree stays put up as long as the Raven’s are still playing. The year they won the Super Bowl it stayed up for a week after the Super Bowl!

I’ve always planned on making an Orioles tree. I’ve been collecting decorations and I have the orange lights but I haven’t purchased a tree yet. Maybe next year!

Each of our children have their own small trees which they setup in their rooms. We started a collection for each of them when they were very young so that they would have a starter tree when they were ready to leave home and setup housekeeping. Now that they are older, it’s up to them to decide if they want to set them up each year.

Cynthia
Windy Meadow

“Red Cardinal with Snowy Tree -- January 11, 2009

I stitched the “Red Cardinal with Snowy Tree” probably in the early to mid 1990’s.



At that time we were pretty much limited to DMC, Kreinik metallics, wool, and Mill Hill beads. Or at least that’s what I had access to.

The cardinal and tree, including the snow, were stitched in DMC Floss. I then stitched the blue sky using a Kreinik metallic for night time sparkle. Beads were added on the tree to add some depth and glitz. I also added french knots for the snowflakes.

It’s been finished as an ornament with a red velvet back and with blue cording. The finished ornament is about 4” across.

I don’t have any records as to the designer. If you know, please let me know.

Hope you enjoyed my “Red Cardinal with Snowy Tree”!

Cynthia
Windy Meadow

“Stitching Goals for 2009 -- January 10, 2009

At this time of year, many needle workers make a list of their stitching goals for the year. They then post through out the year on how they are progressing on their goals or they cross them off of lists published on their blogs.

Last year in January, 2008, I prepared a list of projects that I wanted to work on and hopefully finish during the year. I did accomplish a lot but not necessarily a lot on the projects listed in my 2008 goals.

During the year I accomplished the following;

1. Moved blog to Blogger.
This took quite a while!

2. Copied over all previous blog posts and comments.
See above…

3. Developed my needlework rotation (section rotating).
This took a while as I tried out different options and styles.
Finally decided that I can’t rotate based on time or when I finished
a length of thread. I found that I’m comfortable rotating after
I finished a section of a design. This is what I’ve been doing for years and I decided that it still works for me. :-)

4. Had a needlework article published!!!
This was exciting!

5. Began the MAJOR reorganization of the needlework stash.
“I have how much stash?”
“Oh my!”
This was said after throwing forearm over forehead.

6. Began documenting, with pictures, all completed needlework projects.
“I remember stitching this. That was in xxxx, oh my goodness how long ago was that?” Sigh… “That long ago…”

7. Finished 11 needlework projects.
Wahoo!!! And one of these was started two years ago!

This year I spent some time thinking about what I wanted this year’s goals to be and this is what I came up with;

1. Have Fun with my needlework!

Yes, that’s it!

That’s all you ask? Well, yes I finally decided that I’m not a goal stitcher. I have more fun working through different projects without worrying about what I have to finish for this year, especially at this time in my life.

I’m planning on continuing to reorganize my stash and yes I do actually have fun organizing. :-)

I’m also planning on writing some additional articles/information on my blog.

I’m also planning on continuing working through my needlework rotation.

I’ve taken lots of pictures to share with everyone and to document the projects that I’ve completed. It’s been amazing to look at what I’ve stitched and to see how far we’ve come! And this is only the pieces that I still have as I’ve given lots away! :-)

I’ve removed the “Needlework Status” section of my blog as it was a challenge to keep it updated.

I’ve added the “2008 Completed Needlework Projects” section to my blog.

I hope everyone is having a great start to 2009!

By the way, is anyone else having trouble trying to remember to write 2009 on everything? I am!!!

Thanks for stopping by! :-)

Cynthia
Windy Meadow

“Bargello Marquis” by Joan Lohr -- January 6, 2009

The last needlework finish for 2008 is…

“Bargello Marquis” by Joan Lohr for Rainbow Gallery!



This was the June, 2008 Canvas of the Month club from The Stitching Post.

This was a fun stitch and worked up very quickly. I’ve already added several rows of basketweave for finishing around the outside of the design. Now, I just need to journal this project and set it aside for future finishing.

I have several other projects that I’m very close to finishing within the next few days/weeks that I’m looking forward to sharing with everyone. :-)

I’ve also been taking a lot of time to take pictures of many of my needlework ornaments as they are out right now decorating the house for the Holidays. I’m planning on sharing these with everyone and then adding them to my journal entries before they are put away until next year. I think you are going to enjoy seeing how far needlepoint design has come, especially in the last 10 or so years!

Now on to comments and questions.

I enjoyed reading all of your recent comments and everyone especially liked the “Chimney Santa”. He was a very fun stitch and I would highly recommend any of Pat Thode’s projects – “Heartstrings Designs”!

Annemiek asked how I was going to finish the “Chimney Santa”. I’m planning on having him made into a standup figure. I send most of my projects out to a professional finisher as I prefer to spend my time finishing. Yes, I know I can do my own finishing but after spending that much time on a project, I want it to look professional, not amateurish. :-)

Beth asked about my rotation system. I’ll write up a detailed post soon on how I rotate between my projects.

One of my dear friends, Kelly, has started her own needlework blog. Please stop by and say how and welcome Kelly to our needlework blogging world!

http://kellysorts.blogspot.com/

Glad that you stopped by my little blog!

Cynthia
Windy Meadow