“Merry” -- November 25, 2008

“Merry” was put in my travel bag in mid-October, 2008. I have all of the kits in this series and I’m enjoying working on them!

“Merry” worked up quickly. As you can see, the cross stitches have been completed. I’ll pick it back up again one evening at home to stitch on all of the beads as beads don’t travel well!

“Frosty” has been put into my travel bag and I’m making great progress so you’ll be seeing him soon!

During my reorganization efforts, I found lot’s of Mill Hill kits that I’ve stitched but that I’ve never finished into ornaments or pins. I’m planning on having a finishing party sometime after the Holiday’s. It’s easier to finish a bunch at one time then to do them individually. :-)

Have fun visiting with “Merry”!

I’ve enjoyed reading the different comments about the Bargello Monthly club. The fun thing with this club is that these are small ornaments. And unlike food they don’t spoil so if you can’t stitch a project during the month it’s released, it’s still good later! And please don’t look in that container over there where I have all of my monthly club canvases/kits. Yes, I’ll get to them! And, no I don’t feel a bit guilty! :-)

If I remember correctly, the kit prices ranged from $6.00 to slightly less than $20.00 per month.

Glad to enable those who have decided to look into the club!

Cynthia
Windy Meadow

“Heartstrings Chimney Santa” -- November 16, 2008

I’ve been able to make some progress on my Heartstrings Chimney Santa!

When you last saw him, I had finished the face and was working on his coat. I was able to finish his coat and the fur on his coat last week! I’m planning on stitching his mittens, stocking, tree, and the star during his turn in the rotation.



Pat writes great stitch guides and even though I’m comfortable choosing my own stitches for painted canvases I usually follow her stitch guides.

The main reason that I make changes to a stitch guide is that I like full stitch coverage on my canvases. Now, before you all comment that lighter stitch coverage is perfectly acceptable and that it allows the painting to show through let me add that this is a personal preference and that I prefer to cover most of the canvas. And, yes, I’ve tried lighter stitches but I just don’t like them. :-)

I’ve modified my rotation a little bit as I’ve been playing with different options during the last few months. I’ve already discussed that rotating based on a set time doesn’t work as I can’t sit down for an hour at a time. What I’ve found that is really working is to stitch a section or sections on a project when its turn comes up in the rotation. During another post I’ll share with you how many projects I actually have in my rotation. It’s quite a few! LOL!!!

A quick note about the Mill Hill kits as I’ve been receiving some questions. For those who are interested in these kits and who have not tried them before, they are very well written and are a quick and easy stitch. The line is now carried by Wichelt Imports, Inc. To find a retailer near you, visit the Mill Hill site at;
http://www.millhill.com/

I’ve been stitching and collecting the Mill Hill kits for many years. When the Holiday decorations come out of storage again, I’ll share my finished pieces with everyone!

Madonna,
The stitch on the cuff of the “Peppermint Stripes” stocking was called Woven Ribbons. I’m not sure if it’s in Father B’s stitch book as right now my copy is deep in the reorganizing pile!

Beth,
Yes, I love the Mill Hill kits and I’ll be sharing a picture of “Merry” soon!

Jane,
Yes, the “Moonlight Ghost” is a Mill Hill kit. If you can’t find them locally, you can view the line at the Mill Hill link above.

Judy,
Thanks for letting me know about the new pens and your high tech testing methods! If they don’t run after all of the things that you have tried, they should be safe! :-)

Thanks for all of your comments and emails and for stopping by and visiting my blog!

Cynthia
Windy Meadow

“Moonlight Ghost” -- November 13, 2008

I started Moonlight Ghost in the summer as I was going to stitch him as a travel project. I spend a lot of time waiting for our children at different events and I like to have at least two to three small projects in my tote bag for those moments. I had added Moonlight Ghost to my travel bag but I quickly found out that he was not a good travel project. I’m usually stitching in low light conditions and since he’s stitched on black perforated paper well, this was just not working! :-(


Ghostie was quickly promoted from a travel bag project to a table project. I finally had a chance to pick him back up last week and I was able to quickly finish all of his cross stitches. Beth, I didn’t forget him!

The next time that you see him, he’ll be beaded as doesn’t every ghost need a little bling? :-)

Have fun visiting with Moonlight Ghost!

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