“Stitching Update” -- July 21, 2008

I’ve finally had a chance to take some pictures so I can share some progress on my stitching projects. Enjoy!

2. Medium Project: “Candy Swirl Santa” by Janet Zickler Casey
Status: I’ve made some progress on the hat. The first swirl is done and I have the second swirl about ½ done.



3. Small Project:
“Peppermint Stripes” stocking by Joan Lohr April, 2008 Canvas of the Month Club
Status: I’m still working on the body of the stocking. The silver and red vertical stripes work up very quickly. The green stripe is the Fern stitch which takes a little longer as I have to carefully lay all of the threads. It’s worth the time and effort as it’s very pretty when it’s done.

“Santa” by Cheryl Schaeffer
I started working on this project last Spring but I had to stop as I mixed up two of the threads and had to order both threads. The Alabaster has come in so I was able to finish the mustache and beard. I’m still waiting on the Fancy Fur to finish the pompom on the top of his hat. Since the border is raised, while I’m waiting on the Fancy Fur, I’m stitching about three rows on basket weave so that finisher has a smoother flatter edge for finishing.
Status: Finished mustache and beard.
Started stitching basket weave edge.

8. Gift Stitching
Status: In the last two + weeks I was able to work on DD’s and DH’s ornaments. Pictures and details in January, 2009! :-)

9. Cross Stitch – Yes it’s a sheep!
I started this little piece which is a monthly kit from my LNS and on an earlier post I asked everyone to guess what it was. Kathryn was the first one to guess that it was a sheep! It’s a free chart from Bent Creek “The Little Sheep that Could”. LOL!
Status: I finished the sheep and I’m stitching the swirls on the background.

11. Random Project
“Uncle Sam” by Janet Zickler Casey
I’m a member of the Shining Needle Society and Gay Ann Rogers in her classroom challenged everyone to stitch at least one hour on a project on July 4, 2008. I wanted to stitch on something with a July 4 theme so I pulled out “Uncle Sam”. I took this class from Janet at the 2001 ANG Seminar in Washington, DC. Unfortunately, “Uncle Sam” and my other class piece “North Star Santa” were put away as after I came home, I became sick. :-(

The first picture is how we looked when I pulled him back out again. The second picture is what I was able to complete this past week. He’s going to be put away again, but not for long! :-)
Status: Face completed.

Progress after class completed.

Progress this week.

I hope you had a wonderful weekend and you were able to stitch a lot! Thanks for visiting my

blog!!! :-)

Cynthia
Windy Meadow

“Stitching Update” -- June 17, 2008

I was trying to post a new entry on Sunday but our camera decided it did NOT want to talk to our computer. After a lot of sweet talking and some muttering we were finally able to load up the pictures from my camera. Sigh…

School ended last Tuesday and I was hoping to get a lot of stitching completed in the evenings. Well, that didn’t happen. Oh well. We still had a lot of odds and ends to wrap up, our son went “downy Ocean” and back and we’ve had some large storm systems come through Windy Meadow in the last week including Monday night!

This is what I’ve accomplished in the last week or so.

1. Large Project: “Holiday Patches” by Susan Krendt
I was able to finish stitching the one green section towards the top and to the right in the picture. I also started the two sections in the center which are about halfway completed.

2. Medium Project: “Candy Swirl Santa” by Janet Zickler Casey
No progress.

3. Small Project: “Peppermint Stripes” stocking by Joan Lohr
April, 2008 Canvas of the Month Club
No progress.

4. Charity/Teaching Needlework
No progress.

5. Organizing Needlework Stash
I was able to purchase a lot of storage containers which I’m going to use to reorganize my beads. I’ll have a picture of them soon.

6. Household Stitching
Fixed a dining room cushion.
Sewed on lots of Girl Scout badges on my daughters vest. This took a long time as I realized when I started stitching that I was ummmm three years behind (she says while ducking). I’m the leader of the troop and of course like most troop leaders I spend a lot of time advising the girls and I guess I kind of got behind on her patches. Well I was finally able to stitch on the important ones for the Community Bridging night. Now we have to wait for a few important ones to arrive as they were out of them at the Council store. We then have to decide what to do with the three baggies of fun patches that she’s received over the last three years. These will probably go in a binder.

7. Beaded Project: “Moonlight Ghost” (2008) MH188205
2008 Autumn Harvest Pins Collection
I’ve finished stitching all of the white. These are always quick and fun stitches. When I stitch these I absolutely don’t worry about laying threads. I took two pictures. One on a white background and one on a dark green background as I wasn’t too sure which would look better on screen.

8. Gift Stitching
Great intentions on working on a project for Dear Son but ran out of time and
energy!

I appreciate everyone visiting and especially those who comment! Thank you!!!

Cynthia
Windy Meadow

“Stitching Update #1” -- May 30, 2008

I did make a lot of progress this past week. Much of it was organizing the rotation system, and writing up a very detailed email about teaching children and teens how to do needlework. I did make progress on my different projects and the pictures are from Sunday night.

1. Large Project: “Holiday Patches” by Susan Krendt
I was able to finish stitching two sections of “Tiny Packages” including the outline stitching. Since these are two small areas, you’ll be able to see these two sections if you compare this picture to the previous picture from the May 11, 2008 post.

2. Medium Project: “Candy Swirl Santa” by Janet Zickler Casey
I have most of the first section of his hat covered in the red ribbon floss but its taking a long time to cover the padding as I need to lay the ribbon on both the front and the back of the canvas.

3. Small Project: “Peppermint Stripes” stocking by Joan Lohr April, 2008 Canvas of the Month Club
This past week, it was put on the stretcher bars and on the table while I’m waiting for the threads for the Santa project. I finished the cuff and the silver band right under the cuff. The picture doesn’t show it well as its white and silver on white.

4. Charity/Teaching Needlework
No progress this past week.

5. Organizing Needlework Stash
More items were moved into the “to be documented/sorted/stored pile”.

6. Household Stitching
Fixed my son’s stuffed crab. One side seam came open. :-)

7. Beaded Project: “Moonlight Ghost” (2008) MH188205
2008 Autumn Harvest Pins Collection
This was opened and organized on the table. About 20 stitches in white were stitched. I’ll share a picture when I have more progress as it doesn’t look like much right now. :-)

8. Gift Stitching
These projects were organized into their own tote so it will be easier to grab them when opportunity strikes!

Cynthia
Windy Meadow

“Candy Swirl Santa” -- May 7, 2008

The “Shining Needle Society” offered Janet Zickler Casey’s “Candy Swirl Santa” this past fall as a class. I love Janet’s designs so I quickly signed up. Once I finished the “North Star Santa” I added “Candy Swirl Santa” into my rotation.

I quickly stitched up the face but then ran into a challenge for the eyebrows. This is a line drawn canvas and on my particular canvas I only had four rows of pink face above the eyes to place the eyebrows on instead of five. The directions called for the eyebrows to be several rows of stacked stem stitch but this wasn’t working on this small area. I spent some time fiddling with this before I finally decided on over stitching the stem stitch twice to get a nice padded look with out him looking like he had a forehead full of hair! :-)

This past weekend, I stitched down the cotton padding for the first layer of the hat. I have started stitching the red ribbon which is going to go on over the padding. This has been lots of fun so far and I look forward to stitching on my Santa!

You can see Janet’s designs at;
http://www.jzcdesigns.com/

The “Candy Swirl Santa” is at;
http://www.jzcdesigns.com/candy%20swirl%20santa.htm

The “Shining Needle Society” will be offering more of Janet’s Santas this summer. You can read about the “Shining Needle Society” at;
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SNS_Home_Room/

Cynthia
Windy Meadow

Canvas of the Month – October, 2004 -- March 5, 2008

In 2004, the Stitching Post in Catonsville, Maryland offered a canvas of the month club. I purchased many of these canvases in 2004 but they were lost in my stash. I’ve found several of them as I’ve been reorganizing my stash. By the way, my goal is to go through at least one storage (40 – 60 gallon) container every month and so far I’m meeting that goal!

The first in the 2004 club that I have stitched is the October, 2004 canvas “Hearts for the Holidays” which was designed by Joan Lohr for Rainbow Gallery. I finished this design this weekend so technically it was finished in March, 2008. Not bad for a four year old UFO! I just noticed that the January, 2008 canvas is also by Joan Lohr!

I am also working on the February, 2008 Canvas of the Month club project which is “Christmas Fantasy” by David McCaskill which I hope to finish this weekend. It just depends on how busy I am this weekend, especially since I’ll be working on Sunday.

I’m also almost done with the Candy Swirl Santa’s face. He just needs his eyebrows so I should hopefully have his face done this weekend and I’ll be able to share a new picture next week.

Yes, I know, I work on multiple projects at one time. This works very well for me as I like to have at least two to three active projects at any one time especially if I’m picking out fibers and stitches for a painted canvas project. I can work on something else while I’m letting my creative brain decide how to stitch a certain section. The other advantage is that since I’m still working full-time and raising children there are some nights where I am more tired than others and I can pick the project that works for me at that moment!

This design is stitched on Victorian Green 18 count mono canvas. The design consists of two Rhodes hearts stitched in Petite Frosty Rays. The other two Rhodes hearts are stitched in Petite Sparkle Rays. The Double Straight Crosses are stitched in Crystal Braid.

This was a fun design to stitch but it does take a while to stitch each of the Rhodes hearts as you need to make sure that the fibers are carefully laid flat. The Double Straight Crosses worked up very quickly.

I keep thinking that I need to keep a stitching log so that I can document how long it takes me to stitch each piece. This has been a stitching resolution for several years but it doesn’t work for me as I’m usually stitching at the dining room table and the family stops by and talks to me as I’m stitching. I’m not complaining but it does make it hard to keep track of the time that I spend stitching!

This project was a lot of fun and it was interesting to see how the two fibers worked up in the Rhodes hearts. There is a lot of dimension with the hearts which I don’t think shows up as well in the photo as it does in person. I’ll probably finish this design as an ornament. As I’m organizing my stash I’m finding many of the pieces that I’ve stitched over the years that I have finished stitching but which I haven’t finished into something. The fun for me is in the stitching and I haven’t taken the time to decide how to finish many of the pieces that I’ve stitched. This is one of my new resolutions. To actually frame or have my finished stitched pieces made into something. I’ll let you know how I do!

Cynthia
Windy Meadow

Original Comments:

- Good luck getting things finished. I saw two 4 foot artifical Christmas trees displaying ornaments at Woodlawn yesterday and they were charming! You should think about using your small pieces this way. This one is sort of Valentine's Day but it is red and that is a very Christmas color!Way to go, Cynthia.
Jane of Chilly Hollow

-I like this and it would be a great Ornament, box cover, pincushion on a stand, part of a collage of small ornaments.....does that help? LOL Nice job! And, I wish I could say I sorted through a container a month! I always run out of time!
NC Pat – Needleart Nut

- Thanks for all of the finishing suggestions. I actually know what I can finish my different projects into... My comment was that I wasn't exactly sure what I would finish this particular project into! I actually enjoy the stitching process more than the finishing process. That's why I send most of my projects out to be finished. I rather be stitching! :-)

Thanks guys for all of the suggestions.

And yes, the organizing is continuing!

More on the trees in the next post.

Cynthia

Windy Meadow

Originally Posted: March 5, 2008

Canvas of the Month – January, 2008 -- February 20, 2008

Update:

I forgot to mention that the flecks that you see on the canvas are metallic gold accents. The whole thing just sparkles!

The kits contain the fibers that are listed on the instructions so every kit contains the same colors. It would be fun to do the designs in different colors and on different colored canvases!

I also wanted to mention that this series is by Rainbow Gallery and you can find Rainbow Gallery at;

http://www.rainbowgallery.com/

The free designs that they offer for needlepoint are here;

http://www.rainbowgallery.com/freechartdownloads.cfm?ID=12

They also offer free designs for Cross Stitch, Plastic Canvas, Blackwork and Hardanger.

Have Fun!!!

Cynthia
Windy Meadow


I don’t have a new picture yet of the “Candy Swirl Santa” as I’m still working on his face and he’s not ready to come out and greet everyone until he has his full mustache! He’s still a little lopsided.

While I’m working on him, I thought I would share with you a quick project that I did this month. Several of the fiber companies share free patterns using their fibers on their websites. In addition, many have a project of the month design series that they offer exclusively to needlework shops. These projects are usually small and work up quickly so this is a great way to try out new fibers or techniques. If you have problems counting, and you know who I’m talking to, this is a great way to learn to count on a small project before moving up to larger projects.

This year, my local LNS, the Stitching Post in Catonsville, Maryland, is offering a monthly Canvas Ornament Club. The designs are from the Rainbow Gallery. For a small fee you can join the club. Then each month during the series, you stop by and pick up your canvas with all of the threads that you will need for this particular design. The cost of the kits may vary but so far they are less than $10.00.

My daughter and I both signed up as I thought this would be a good way for her to expand her horizons in counted canvas work.

The first canvas for January, 2008 was designed by Joan Lohr and is “Medallions”. This was a quick project and fun to stitch. I didn’t time myself but I would estimate that it took me less than two hours to stitch this project. Happy Dance time!

Enjoy and I should have February’s up soon!

Cynthia
Windy Meadow

Original Comments:

- We can wait for Candy Swirl to have his face on, no problem!
And why did everyone in the room turn and look at me when you mentioned counted thread pieces? Your shop is doing something very nice with these little sample kits. Is it fun for you and your daughter to use different colors and threads on the same chart?
Jane of Chilly Hollow

- Nice, and it will be a quick to finish! I wasn't either pointing at Jane!
NC Pat – Needleart Nut

- You were too, Pat. I saw you. Thanks for the update, Cynthia. I thought the speckles were just an artifact of the photo. That happens sometimes. Gold metallic flecks in the canvas should make this spectacular! I like the metallic canvases. They add so nuch to little ornaments!I'm sure the store would have trouble making up kits of various color combos (so much work!) but that would be fun. I just love it when local guild chapters do geometric programs and everyone picks different colors. I'm not good with color and I always learn a ton from that exercise.Anyway, glad you are having fun with this and thanks for the links.
Jane of Chilly Hollow

- Cyn, I named your blog in my Made my day Award listing! Thanks for doing so!
NC Pat – Needleart Nut

- I just found out that Pat “The Needle Art Nut” gave me the “You Make My Day Award”. Thank you so much Pat!

Cynthia

Windy Meadow

Originally Posted: February 20, 2008