“Chimney Santa” by Heartstring Designs -- December 30, 2008

I’m very pleased that I’ve finished stitching the design on my Heartstrings “Chimney Santa”!

When you purchase a Heartstrings design, Pat Thode includes a stitch guide with lots of fun stitch and thread suggestions. This was a fun stitch and I stitched it pretty much as suggested by Pat.

I’m not sure yet what I’ll do for the background stitching. I’ll put it aside for now while I consider my different options.

The PC is finally back up and running so I’ll be able to post more in the next few days. Thank goodness! I’m way behind on my blog reading. :-)

Enjoy!

Cynthia
Windy Meadow

“Stars in the Sky” -- November 22, 2008

I’ve finished the May, 2008 Canvas of the Month club. This one is by Margaret Bendig and is offered by the Rainbow Gallery.

I enjoyed stitching this design and it worked up very quickly. I added two additional rows of basketweave using the Old Gold for finishing.


I’ve had several questions about the Canvas of the Month projects. These were offered by The Stitching Post which is located in Catonsville, Maryland. They will be offering a Bargello Christmas Ornament Club again next year. This time you will be able to choose between 18 count canvas or 18 count linen. You can read about the club in their quarterly newsletter at;

http://www.the-stitching-post.com/documents/Newsletter-December2008.pdf

I’ll be signing up for the 2009 club but I need to get the rest of this year’s ornaments done. On to June’s ornament!!!


Comments, Questions, and Answers:

Pierrette,
Since I usually do rotation stitching, the Heartstrings “Chimney Santa” will probably not be finished by the Holidays. He’s actually not that little. He’s apx. 5” by 7” and that doesn’t include the background. Though I might decide to pull him back out again soon! :-)

Thanks for stopping by and I enjoy reading everyone’s comments!

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

“A Tale of Two Finishes” -- October 21, 2008

I’ve been able to finish all of the stitching on two of my current projects.

Two Happy Dances!

The first one is “Santa” by Cheryl Schaeffer. This was the project for the July, 2004 Canvas of the Month Club from the Stitching Post in Catonsville, Maryland.

When we last left this project… I had admitted to some reading confusion where we learned that I had misread the pattern and I had mixed up the Alabaster and the Fancy Fur threads. Sigh…

I was able to easily pick up more of the Alabaster but I had to order the Fancy Fur from my N-LNS (not local needlework store). Once the Fancy Fur arrived it took several weeks before I could put this project back on the table but now it’s done!

The pompom was stitched with alternating Tent and French Knot stitches. I’m pleased with how it has turned out!

The second finish was the “Peppermint Stripes” stocking by Joan Lohr. This project was the April, 2008 Canvas of the Month Club from the Stitching Post in Catonsville, Maryland. It’s been a while since you last saw this project as it took quite a while to stitch the body of the stocking. The silver and red vertical stripes worked up very quickly. The green stripe is done with 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.

I outlined each project with two rows of Basketweave using Splendor S802. This will help with the finishing.

I hope you enjoyed seeing my latest finishes. Thanks for stopping by my blog! :-)

Cynthia
Windy Meadow

North Star Santa - Almost Done -- February 3, 2008

I started the "North Star Santa" in Janet Zickler Casey's class during the 2001 ANG Seminar in Washington, DC. I enjoyed the class and wanted to continue working on my Santa but when I arrived home I was sick with sinus and ear infections. I had planned on picking the Santa back up to finish the stitching when I felt better, but several days later was September 11, 2001. With everything that was happening I put this project away and it became buried in my stash. Every once in a while I would think about my "North Star Santa" as I knew I wanted to finish him to add him to my needlepoint ornaments.

I also wanted to stitch more of Janet's designs, but the only way that you can purchase one of Janet's designs is by taking that canvas class with Janet or at ANG Seminar's Expo where sometimes Janet offered canvases from discontinued classes. You couldn't purchase any of her canvases directly from her or from an LNS. One of my stitching friends had attended several more ANG Seminars since 2001 and had picked up several more of Janet's Santa's at ANG's Expo. Yes, we are both Janet Zickler Casey canvas collectors!

This past fall, Kate Gaunt and Marie-Therese Baker started the Shining Needle Society which you can read about here;

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SNS_Home_Room/

They announced that their next project would be two of Janet's Santa’s, "Candy Swirl Santa" and "North Wind Santa". Wahoo! Since I didn't have either of these canvases and I was interested in what they would be offering in future classes, I joined the Shining Needle Society. There is a fee for each class but membership to the Shining Needle Society's Home Room Yahoo group is free!

I then learned that Janet had created a site where you could see all of her projects at;

http://www.jzcdesigns.com/

To see Janet’s Santa’s, click on the “Christmas” link or go directly to;

http://www.jzcdesigns.com/christmas.htm

Not only do I have several more of her Santa's but I also have "Tom Turkey"! Of course, now that I can see all of her projects I want all of her Santa's, and of course I need "Miles" and "Prudence" to go with "Tom Turkey" and “Miss Liberty” to go with my “Uncle Sam” and...

I ordered both of the Santa’s that would be offered through the Shining Needle Society classroom. I then decided that I needed to finish the "North Star Santa" as he was the first one in my collection before I could start on the new Santa's. I dug around in my stash, and believe me this took a while as it had been packed up and moved around several times as we finished our basement!

I still had quite a bit to finish on my "North Star Santa". When you are taking a needlepoint class you usually can't finish the project in class. The teacher moves around the canvas teaching the stitches or techniques for different sections/areas of the project and answering questions. Now this is very hard for someone like me who, for want of a better word, tends to be a little bit AR. Okay, a lot! :-) I've found I do better in classes if I concentrate on one area at a time, and write down the notes from the instructor for the other areas and sometimes I may stitch a sample of the stitch for that area. In other words, I had finished stitching "North Star Santa's" face. I had laid down stitches for his hat, mustache and beard so I would remember how to stitch these areas when I arrived home. I've found this especially helpful when I have to put a project down for a while. Okay, okay, in this case several years!

This was a fun project and worked up fairly quickly. I've posted a picture I took a week ago showing the areas that were completed. My goal was to finish him by the end of this weekend, February 3, 2008. I'll post another message in a day or so to let you know if I made it!

Cynthia
Windy Meadow

Original Comments:

- Very cute Santa, Cynthia. Good luck getting him done quickly so you can start on the others.
Jane of Chilly Hollow

- This is a cute one! Can't wait to see how you do!
NC Pat – Needleart Nut

- Hi Jane and Pat,Thanks for the enouraging words. Stay tuned and I'll let you know if I finished the North Star Santa on schedule!

Cynthia

Windy Meadow

Originally Posted: February 3, 2008