Progress and how to entertain your cat

On New Year's Day I had a great time with miss Murphy behind the computer. I really thought she'd attack the screensaver at some point. So here's a list of what you need to entertain your cat:

1. Find the weblog of a prolific stitcher who is nice enough to set up a slide show of her accomplishments in 2007. I used Carol's weblog.

2. Get your cat to get near the computer and get their attention towards the screen. You will see something like this:

Miss Murphy: What amazing stitchting this is!

3. Make sure that the slide show moves quickly enough that your cat doesn't get bored. In fact, they should get so intruiged by the stitching that they want to move closer:

Miss Murphy: Can I see this up close and personal?

4.  Make sure you don't touch the keyboard so that the screensaver will kick in. Your cat should show signs of distress:

Miss Murphy: Get out of the way, I want to see the stitching!

5. After a couple of minutes your cat will really try to get that pesky little screensaver away:

Miss Murphy: Move it or I will really get after you!

6. Touch the keyboard so that the actual slideshow will come up again. Just to make sure that your cat won't attach your computer and win the fight.

Miss Murphy: FINALLY! Was that so hard to get?

I have never seen her so engrossed in a computer screen. She won't even twitch an ear when there's a cat meowing on the TV. Carol, thanks for entertaining not only Miss Murphy but me as well.

As for the stitching part of this weblog, I have promised to show a picture of Rosina Luger part 1 and 2. It's a great sampler to work on. I am stitching it on 30 count off white banding with 2 strands of Soie d'Alger. The silks make it feel soooooo smooth and soft. The banding is 4 inches (10cm) wide and the stitching is close to 2 3/8 inch (6cm).

I also have some progress to show on Whimsical Heart. As I am working on a project that has a deadline, I can only stitch on WH every now and then, but it's coming along. I hope to get it finished by Sunday.

That's it for today, I have about an hour of stitching left and hope to make progress on my deadline project. I don't know about you, but stitching with a deadline always makes me wanna stitch on something else. The project is really nice, but I am just not good with deadlines. 

Happy New Year!

There are about 90 minutes left of 2007, here in my neck of the woods and I wanted to use at least some of those minutes to wish every visitor of this weblog a Happy New Year. I hope that 2008 will bring each of us love, health, wisdom, caring, creativity, stitching time and stitching projects, compassion, understanding, generosity, shoulders to cry on and friends to laugh silly with, friendship and maybe a little more peace in this world.

This last year hasn't been easy for me, seeing my dear aunt fight her illness and realizing that the illness would win and finally loosing her in the summer, was the most significant event this year. It also showed me the kindness of people I only know through email or my weblog, the kindness of friends who offered more than one shoulder to cry on and the kindness of our customers who were so understanding. 

As for a stitching recap, I can't recall how many projects I finished and I think I don't want to recall how many projects I started. Looking back over my pictures I think it's about 32 finishes, of which 5 were needlepoint and one was the front of my knitted pinball. Moulin Rouge never got to see daylight and even And A Forest Grew had to do without sunlight for most of the year. Large projects are really not my cup of tea.

I haven't yet figured out my goals for 2008, I'll probably use tomorrow for that. One of the things I really would like to do is stitch a few more gifts. Small ones, mind you, see my comment above. I know how much I love receiving a stitched gift and I would like to use 2008 to spread some of that pleasure.

As for now, I am going to get myself some tea and stitch for as long as this year will last. Fireworks are going off all around us and Miss Murphy definitely doesn't like it.

See you again in 2008!

 

Sweet finish, tiny progress and a start

Before and after all the counting (one of the blessings of having a shop) I need to do some stitching to keep me sane. Not to mention that I'd like to get a good start on the workshops.  Here's my progress on JDD My Stitching Treasures, there's not much to show as I had to frog quite a few stitches. It seemed that my counting abilities were left in the shop .

Then I finished my second E&E&F project in a week. It's Tiny Teacup scissor companion and I changed the colors to match the fabric and they were so conveniently laying around from the other scissor companion I stitched.

You can see the dyed fabric a bit better in this picture. Note to self: Make picture of the original stitched piece, it looks quite different.

And finally I started yet another E&E&F project, one that I have been looking forward to stitching for a long time. Don't know why it never happened, but this week I decided that I had carried the colors around long enough and since the green fabric was still laying around, I could just go ahead. The original is stitched on pink fabric, but so far I like how the pink shows up on this fabric.

In between I managed to get the newsletter written and hopefully it will go out today. So next week I can update the website with all the new workshops and special days.

Christmas stitching

 The newsletter is almost ready to get printed and get mailed which means that most of the workshops for 2008 are chosen. And one of the workshps we'll do is My Stitching Treasures by Jeannette Douglas Designs. I really like this design, it is all based on stitching treasures and besides the nice motifs, it will teach you several stitches. Here's my progress so far.  I try to stitch one block each day during my vacation, that will give me a nice start on this project.

 And since I am afraid that I'll get bored if I don't have enough to do, I also will give a workshop to shopowners in Nashville. I'm rather excited about this. The design I'll be teaching is a box cover and the way the design is built, gives you the opportunity to change it so that it will fit almost any box. It's designed with craft shops like Hobby Lobby and Michaels in mind, but I'm pretty sure you can find a suitable paper mache box here in the Netherlands as well.

Anyway, the box cover will be stitched in 4 different colors ways. Below you will see the Valentine's/Mother's Day version. I am now working on the version for Halloween. I did most of one box today but found out that I'm out of WDW Whitewash, so will have to pick that up in the shop tomorrow. Shops that will attend the workshop also get a scissor fob design, that will match the box cover.

In between these two projects I have finished another Ewe & Eye & Friends project and have started a third. I guess I"m really on a roll here. I'll show you the two projects tomorrow. I have at least 3 more that I'd like to do from them, so I will see if that will fit in the stitching schedule. Workshops will take priority for a while, but every now and then I want to be able to stitch something "just for me".

Merry Christmas

Just wanted to say Merry Christmas to everybody. I hope you have a wonderful day.

This is my Christmas gift to my parents. It's stitched on 50 count Italian linen with Tentakulum handdyed soie surfine. The design is by Midnight Stitching and is called Quaker Christmas. It was so much fun to stitch, it measures less than 4 x 7 inches. Luckily my framer had a frame that is just as tiny.

I'm off to my parents for the day, I brought the entree, mom takes care of the rest. Lucky us as she's a wonderful cook.

Ornaments from another dear friend

Another dear friend has stitched two ornaments for me as well. It is fun to go back and see from whom I have received ornaments in our yearly exchange. This needleroll is from Ria and I think it is from 1999 or 1998. Also from the JCS Christmas issue and it's from a designer who quit designing a while ago, can't remember the name but I know that I have another needleroll by the same designer somewhere around. 

And here are three pictures of the ornament Ria stitched for me this year. I've shown it before, but it was a lousy picture.

It's a threesided ornament by Cherished Stitches and Ria did a wonderful job of putting it all together.

I haven't stitched any ornaments for me this year, I've been busy with other projects. Halloween seems to be growing on me more and more and already I have selected some Halloween designs that I want to stitch in 2008. We did stitch ornaments for the shop and they turned out really cute.  Next year I really want to stitch at least one ornament for my tree at home.

Of course that wouldn't be so hard to do if I didn't get sidetracked by other projects . Yesterday I really felt the need to start a Ewe & Eye & Friends (E&E&F) project. I went through my stash and came up with Purple Rosebud Scissor Companion. It's a real quick stitch but I love how it turned out.

It's a bit hard to see but I stitched it on 36 count evenweave. It's a light green fabric that is slightly spotted as in a handdyed fabric. I want to finish this as a little scissor fob (what else could it become) with a beaded edge.

E&E&F have great projects, I love most of their designs. Some of them are a little too whimsical to my taste, but especially the ones that combine whimsical with sampler style appeal to me. I have another E&E&F lined up, Whimsical Heart. Will show y'all more about that once I got started.

Way back in the days when I had lots of stitching time, I used to stitch models for a shop in the US. One of the assignments I got was to stitch quite a few of the scissor companion kits that were put out by E&E&F. I think that's when my interest in these charts started. Of course meeting the designers in 2000 helped as well. I'll see if I can find the models I got back, they are finished really cute.

From a special friend

The two ornaments I'm showing today are from a special friend. I've known Candy from The Workbasket for 9 years now and really treasure our friendship. She's a wonderful and generous woman with a kind word for everybody. Not to mention a great designer.  

We are both part of a little stitching group and get together every 2 or 3 months. As we're scattered around the country, it's not always easy to come up with a date so that everybody can make it. A few posts ago I mentioned our ornament exchange and these two are from the same group.

This is from Country Cottage Needlework in last year's issue. Candy stitched it over one and finished it into a kinda pinkeep. It's really adorable.

This is from Little House Needleworks, Candy changed all the threads to Silk 'n Colors and turned it into a cube. It is placed on my little cabinet on which the TV is so that I can see it from the couch when I'm stitching.

Now I know she did another ornament for me but I am not able to find it. It used to hang from my table lamp, but since I got a new lamp, the ornament somehow got misplaced. I'll go look for it and let you know if I'm succesful.

I knew them before they got famous.
Topic: Cross Stitch

Ever since I got on the internet in 1995, thanks to a persistent brother who insisted that I should have a ocmputer and dial up, I have been part of a great stitching community. I joined some groups and found that stitchers are indeed a lot of fun and generous as well. They helped me to get to know all the new and wonderful threads, designers and fabrics that were out there.

And amidst those stitchers I met two that are quite "famous" today. Deborah ,from Midsummer Night Stitching, stitched this great Prairie Schooler ornament for me. I met her a couple of years ago when I had another stitching retreat in Tennessee. 

It is all stitched over one and definitely one of my favorite ornaments

Then last year I met Fran from Legacy Designs while staying at the Ackworth School in northern England. A wonderful woman with a great talent and passion for antique samplers. We had belonged to the same stitching group some years before and for one of the Christmas ornament exchanges, she stitched me this great ornament:

Fran included a hanger that is now in full use in the shop all year round. We put the Christmas ornament of the month on it near the cash register.

Well, I'm off to the shop in a short while, have to make a stop before I get there and will tell more about that later on. It looks like it is a bit white outside, yesterday we had about half an inch of snow, but it seemed to be only in my neighbourhood. From what I can see now, the trees are white, but I'm not sure if it is snow. I think it is just frost on the trees, it does make for a beautiful picture though. Will see if I can get a nice picture of it.

Have a good day!

A special stocking
Topic: Cross Stitch

In October of 2000 I went to the US for my very first stitching retreat. It was put together by a gal I knew from the Internet and we would hit all the shops around Denver. Back in those days Denver still had a lot of stitching shops, I'm not sure that is still the case.

As I was coming over from across the pond, she invited me to come a few days early and spend some time with her, her parents and her daughter. As you might have guessed, that was the first time Miss D and I met. I still remember arriving at the Denver airport and taking the escalator down to the underground train. I vaguely heard something that could be my name but didn't really give it much thought. It turned out Miss D had been trying to catch up with me for quite a while, running after me. 

I had a wonderful time, Miss D and her daughter and her mom showed me around the craft shops and we even got to Stitch Night at one of the LNS's. I still have the project somewhere. We went to a good bookstore and I could stock up on books. And of course we went to Starbucks.

On Friday we met up with the other gals who had come over. One of them was my exchange partner for a Christmas exchange. As we both knew we'd see each other in Denver, we didn't send our ornament in the mail, but rather would hand it over in person. Danya stitched me a wonderful Drawn Thread mini-stocking. It's a design that's OOP (I think even back then) and it always has a special spot on my tree.

The picture is not the best, but it gives you a good idea. The funny part was that I had stitched her also a Drawn Thread mini-stocking, I am not sure, but I think it was the snowman one. I have the other 2 in this series as well, even the fabric they're supposed to be stitched on, but never got them stitched.

I stitched, laughed, talked, laughed more and more and saw more needleworkshops in three days than I had seen ever in my life. The basis of my current shop was laid during that very weekend. The shops were so friendly and excited about us coming, some of them even went so far as to have special cookies and drinks for us. And I don't think I ever bought that much in a week for personal use .

At the end of the weekend, I said a tearful goodby to Miss D and off I went to Utah, to Ogden. And as many of you probably know, Ogden is the residence of the Shepherd's Bush sisters. But that's another story for another day.

Christmas ornaments

Last Sunday I put up my (artificial) Christmas tree and gathered all the stitched ornaments I have received over the past years. While I was putting them on the tree, I realized how much these ornaments mean to me. The gift of something selfmade is much more than the actual gift. The realisation that somebody, and sometimes a complete stranger, has taken the time and effort to create something beautiful, is so valuable.

I thought it would be nice to show my ornaments and tell a little of when I received it and who stitched it. There are some that I stitched myself, some from close friends, some from people I only "met" through the exchange we participated in.

The first one I'd like to show is the very first ornament I ever received in an exchange. I believe it was somewhere in the late nineties. I got the ornament from a gal in the UK and I loved how she had finished the ornament with cording around it.

She used Wildflowers Holiday for the design and since I had just gotten on the computer, it was the first time I saw an overdyed thread used like this. How the times have changed since then. The back is a neat Christmasssy fabric but unfortunately it doesn't have any initials or year.

Another first is the first needlepoint ornament I made. My friend Denise got me hooked (I am sure I have blamed her before on this weblog for this new addiction) and patiently told me how to do the basketweave on this ornament. For some reason I could do two or three rows and then get stuck. It is hard now to imagine that I wasn't able to figure out how it was supposed to be done, but it just shows you that practice makes a good stitcher . Or should I say a good needlepointer.

I just realize that the whole ornament is done in basketweave and tent stitch. Which just shows that I definitely have progressed since this ornament.

There are quite a few more ornaments to share, I hope to do 1 or 2 every day till Christmas. I need to find one or two more that are in the shop, but as I'm heading over this afternoon, I'll go for an ornament hunt.