My Latest Finish!

These are three different patterns from "With My Needle" A Quaker Pattern Book

A Few More of my Favorites from Victoria and Albert in London

Look at the Detail

Isn't this just wonderful? At the museum, you are able to take the samplers out of this wooden case (still covered in glass of course) and take them to a table where you can study them up close. Only a sheet of glass between you and the actual piece! It was heaven.

Close Up!

Just one of the panels from the Mary Queen of Scots Group.

Mary Queen of Scots and her Friend

This is a group of needlepoint which has been ascribed to Mary, Queen of Scots during her captivity and her friend (can't remember the name). What is so wonderful is the brightness of the colors...they stayed very true!

The Grand Daddy of Them All

Just got back from a business trip to Prague and London and I was lucky enough in London to have time to visit the Victoria and Albert Museum. What a treasure trove of stitching. In the next few days, I will be posting plenty of pictures of what I saw. First though, to start with the granddaddy of them all....The oldest dated sampler! I have read about this hundreds of time, but I actually got to pull it out and look at it up close and personal. It is much smaller than I imagined, but the colors and the stitching are incredible. I have some close up pictures of this one that I will also be posting soon!

My First Attempt at Stained Glass!

Or to be more accurate, Art Glass! I took a six week class at a stained glass studio and this is the result of my first try! I was more difficult than I thought, especially the soldering! I hate to solder as it gets messed up quick! You don't have much chance to really think about before it just starts to go! But for a first try, not bad!

Blackbird Designs-Just Finished

Put the last stitch in at midnight! I really like this piece. I plan on having it frame and then putting it on a small wall shelf with a brass blackbird that I bought at TJ-Maxx. I will post another picture when I finish.

More stash enhancement this week. Got four of the next Prairie Schooler designs. Getting ready for a trip to Georgia later this week for business and then to Prague and London at the end of August. I can't wait!

My First Quaker Piece

My first quaker piece. This is from Ellen Chester's A Quaker Pattern Book, Panel C. The thread is Caron's Waterlilies "Cedar". The piece measures about 5 x 7 inches on 32 count French Linen Permin linen. It only took about a week to stitch up, so it worked up very quickly.

And the Winner Is...

Cathy from the 123 stitch message board. I have already e-mailed her and will send out the chart once I receive her address.
Thanks to everyone for participating!
Also thanks for checking my site. I have over 380 people visit the site!

Chart Give-a-Way

If you would like to be entered in drawing for this chart, please leave you name and e-mail address. My DD will be picking the winner tomorrow night at 7:00 p.m. Will mail anywhere in the US.

Good Luck!

The $175 Cross Stitch Piece!

I figure that I am about 25% of the way done. I have the repeat the same pattern as shown now three more times. I will probably be retired by the time this piece is finished!

The $703 Cross Stitch Piece!

I was trying to figure out why this project is taking so long...it seems like spaghetti. No matter how much I stitch, it just doesn't seem to make a dent in the project. So, I thought I would take a minute and calculate how many stitches will be in the finished project. The circle is 10 inches across, which gives it a radius of 5 inches. To calculate the area of a circle, you square the radius (5 inches) which equals 25 inches. You then multiply this by pi (3.14) which equals 78.5 inches. Now this is being stitched on 14 count aida, which means each square is 14 stitches by 14 stitches which equals 196 stitches per inch. So, you multiply 196 stitches by 78.5 inches and it equals 15,386 stitches! Now, I read on some cross stitch board, that 150 stitches per hour is considered average. So this piece should take 102.5 hours. If I earned minimum wage ($6.85) on this piece, it would have a value of $703.00.
Just in case you are wondering what I do for a living, when I am not cross stitching, I am an ACCOUNTANT!

More Mandala Process

I have been working on this piece most of the weekend...slow going but so far so good...

Finally Finished!

This pattern is from http://myauntsattic.web-log.nl/myauntsattic/ My Aunt's Attic which is digitizing patterns from the early 20th century. It has literally dozens and dozens of patterns. This was one of my favorites. I chose Hand Dyed Fibers silk in Garnet and then used a yellow silk Mori from Kreinik. I think it turned out pretty good. This is the first time I have used the Hand Dyed Fibers silk and it was a real stitching pleasure!

Stash Enhancement Saturday!

I was lucky enough to find a blog of a fellow stitcher here in southwestern Ohio who through e-mail told me about a local cross stitch shop called "Keepsake Framing and Cross Stitch". I realized it was about 10 miles from my home so I decided a Saturday expedition was in order. What a beautiful shop! An older house converted to a cross stitch and frame shop, with each room decorated with antiques and loads of patterns, threads and fibers. Check out my purchases! I am especially happy with the material, as they are scrap pieces of linen, no more than $1-$2 each. I love these small pieces for needle fobs, ornmanets, etc. I also just like trying out the fabric without investing in a large amount. Thanks to Pam whose website is just beautiful...

http://crossroadsofmymind.blogspot.com/

My Newest WIP using Vikki Clayton Silk

Since I got the silk yesterday, I couldn't wait to try it. So, I chose the garnet (which is a mix of red and maroon) and am using it on 28 count linen with a pattern from My Aunt's Attic. It really is simple to use! I love the varigated look and think it should look wonderful when finished! I got all this done today! I should be able to finish within a couple of days.

My Vickki Clayton Silk is Here!

I ordered my silk on Wednesday and received on Saturday! I got 9 skeins and one "grab bag" spool. I ordered the colors at random to work on monochromatic patterns from My Aunt's Attic. I am going to be looking through all the patterns tonite trying to pick my next one!

Don't Miss the Sale!

http://www.nouveauencore.com/

Starting today thru July 7th, all standard samplers are 15% off. They are beautiful samplers, made using copy-right free French patterns that are 100-200 years old. I bought the sampler above. This is one of the smaller sizes. Many are over 400 stitches square! I think I could buy just about every sampler they have! But, gotta put a daughter through college!

Something a Little Smaller

I found this freebie on Blue Ribbon Designs. It is the first time I have mixed one over one with two over two designs. The phrase and the not yet started alphabet are one over one. It is enjoyable and the result is really special. This is the smaller piece I can do later at night when I have put the bigger piece away for the evening.

Doesn't look like I made must progress but it really took a long time to do the black outline on the left side. You really have to pay attention to the chart. Once I get some more outlined, I can do the filling color pretty easy.

Another close-up

Another close up of my progress on the Mandala. I am stitching on 14 count Aida cloth which I don't use much any more but since it will be completely covered by stitches, I thought it would be a good choice. I wish now I had done the piece in silk, but too much done to change now!

My first Vicki Clayton order

I have read so much about Vicky Clayton hand dyed silk threads, that I placed my first order today. Didn't go too crazy, I started out with a $20.00 order. The prices are so reasonable and I have read nothing but good things about this thread. I can't wait because I have a small piece that I want to do as a needle keep. The pattern is from Blue Ribbons designs, http://www.blueribbondesigns.com/ called Crowned Heart. It just looks beautiful. It calls for Gentle Art sampler threads but I think the silk would look great also.

Still working on the Mandala and made some good progress. But as soon as I get the silk, I will have another WIP. I usually only have one or two projects at once, usually a large piece and then a smaller piece. But I have set a goal to finish the Mandala by the end of July which I think I can do.

One of the Prettiest Stitiching Blogs on the Net

http://gigir.canalblog.com/

I stumbled across this blog by accident and was literally amazed at the beauty of the site. Gigi is a very talented designer, as shown by her letter series which is available at http://www.hand-dyedfibers.com/oscnuked/index.php. These are magnificent letter samplers, which currently feature the letters A, B, C, M, S, V and the most recently introduced L.

What I really like about these designs is that they are timeless. Hanging in your house now or in your great-great-great granddaughter's house 100 years from now, they will still be cherished.

I just love this picture! I have been fortunate enough to travel to Paris once, about five years ago. You know how some cities never live up to your expectations? Well, Paris lived up to all of them and even more. It is the most beautiful city I have ever been to. Someday, I hope to call it home, at least for a couple of months...it would take that long to see everything!

This is a close-up of a picture I took at the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. I love the look of the embroidery on the clothing.

A close up of the piece. Eventually, the entire 10 inch circle will be filled in with stitches.

My current work in process. This will eventually be the centerpiece in a small round table. It will look like a stained glass window when completed.

Another unframed piece. It is from the Debbie Draper design in Gift of Stitching but in different silk colors.

This is one of my favorite pices. It is from Cross Stitch Art and I changed the Chinese symbol from blue to red to make it stand out. The website is http://cross-stitch-art.com/. Be careful because every pattern is gorgeous.

This is a unframed piece from Prairie Schooler.

This is from a small sampler that I found in a sampler book by Brenda Keyes.

This is from a free pattern from Papillion Creations which I did in several different color schemes. Please check out the web site:

http://www.papillion-creations.com as it is one of my favorites! Join her newsletter and receive monthly installments of a wonderful sampler. I particularly enjoy her samplers and have purchased the Mary Queen of Scots which I think is just gorgeous.

I did the same piece but reversed the colors. On both, I used Needlepoint silk which was the first time I ever used silk in a project. I looooovvvvee silk!

This is one of my finished pieces. It is from a Debbie Draper design which was featured in The Gift of Stitching, an on-line cross stitch magazine. The original pattern is much bigger but I chose only to do part of it. It is such a perfect size piece to do when travelling, especially since you only need two colors.

Take a look at the rest of Debbie's designs at :

http://www.debbiedraperdesigns.com/

One of the newest, "Quaker Moments" looks especially delicious!

Your Personality Profile

You are dependable, popular, and observant. Deep and thoughtful, you are prone to moodiness. In fact, your emotions tend to influence everything you do. You are unique, creative, and expressive. You don't mind waving your freak flag every once and a while. And lucky for you, most people find your weird ways charming!

The World's Shortest Personality Test

http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/textiles/video_casket/broadband.html

This is a link to a wonderful hand embroidered "casket" or jewelry box from the mid-1660's which is housed in the Victoria and Albert museum in London. It was done by an eleven year old girl. Keep that in mind as you watch the video. There is no sound but it does have text to explain.

I am back!

I finally have a chance to work on my blog...that no one is reading! But that will change because I plan on adding something almost every day.

Today, I want to add one of the coolest cross stitch sites I have found called My Aunt's Attic...it is a site which is digitizing old cross stitch patterns and offering them for free. They are excellent! There is also a link to a designer "Noveau Encore" who has used the various patterns to create a wonderful sampler for free. Check out her other gorgeous samplers while you are there...

http://myauntsattic.web-log.nl/

http://www.nouveauencore.com/