November Stitch N ...

I've been recording my starts, finishes and want to stitch nexts in my newsletter updates, but decided that I really 'should' show you what they all look like .. just in case you may think I've been tryin' ta fool ya!

At left is Homespun Elegance's "Holiday Samplings II", stitched using the Palomino linen and fibers the designer used. I've got it 'thumb tacked' to the wall in the shop right now while waiting for the frame to arrive so it can get finished up properly. I absolutely LOVED stitching this one .. something about the colors really really appealed to me! The only thing I DISLIKE is the "A" of the ABC at lower right. I suppose I could have tried to alter it, and I thought about finding another alphabet and changing it from ABC to DRK (my initials) ... but since it will be a shop model for awhile before it goes home to live with me, decided to just leave it as designed.

When at Market and seeing Hinzeit's "Crystal Rudolph and Crystal Ho Ho Ho Sleigh" stitched up and framed as one, I HAD to do it too!

Of course, I didn't have the cream lugana in stock the designer used, but I did have Opalescent White .. and with the Swarvoski Crystals embellishing both, and with the sparkly white snowflakes painted on the frame, thought the Opal would really work! Of course I didn't really "look" at the chart, or I would have seen that there was a 'B5200 white' snowflake stitched on the design (in my defense, the chart photo didn't pick it up either!). When I got to that point, I played around with Splendor silks, Trebizond silks, etc to see if I could get it to stand out from the fabric .. but in the end went with the floss (the hell with it!). Still, I'm very pleased with this one .. it's all glittery!!!

Liked Poppy Kreations "Tree Trimmings III" when I saw it at market too! The little cardinal frame has a front (with opening for the design) and back (to cover up the fabric completely) and called for being put together with wood glue (and under a heavy object till set). I had wood glue, but did I use it? Noooooooooo! I used "Gorilla Glue" which would hold two trucks together and once it's 'glued' will be glued forever! Needless to say, my cardinal frame front and back do not exactly 'match' .. but what the heck .. gives an illusion of 'fluttering wings' that way!

And when Pine Mountain Designs' automatic arrived last week, I grabbed their December Frame-Up and took it home to stitch right away! MINE! It's in the shop right now too ... complete kit and comes with Aida. Since it would be a model most of the year, I stitched it as it came. I really have a terrible time stitching on Aida after using linen/evenweaves all these years! That needle goes anywhere except in that hole!!! So I guess I can say, this little Frame-Up was my most difficult of my stitching projects!

And here is my 'nearly completed' first part (O Christmas Squirrel) of Bent Creek's newest series .. The Christmas Branch. They did theirs on normal old everyday 'browns' ... I knew I was going to stitch it on something else ... but hadn't decided until Kathy stated she wanted an Opalescent Blue so it would look more like a snowy Christmas sky. I pulled the colors and decided, with help from Picture This Plus, on 32ct Crystal Dwarf. All I have left to stitch, right now, is the 'tree' word at the top and the verse at the bottom. It was a bit hard to pic fabric NOT knowing what the finished design would look like (colors used that is), but ... so far I'm a'lovin it!!!!