WIP UPDATE: HAED Dreamer Max Colors by Nadia Strelkina

Hi Stitchy Friends -

I have completed my two work week session on my Heaven and Earth Design Dreamer in Max Colors by Nadia Strelkina. This one is full of confetti on the first page due to the beautiful tree and the leaves so it is a lot of color changes and a lot of colors where there are maybe 1 or 2 in that area and that is it. Slow going but will be well worth it in the end! Here is my Beginning and ending pictures and what this beauty will look like finished.

Beginning: 

Ending: 

What this will look like finished:

Next up for my Two Work Week rotation is my HAED New Girl 3 by Bec Winnel. I am close to having 2 more pages complete (less than 100 stitches) so that will be exciting!

Thanks for stopping by! Happy Stitching!
Laura

Design Details:
Name: Dreamer by Nadia Strelkina Max Colors charted by Heaven and Earth Designs
Fabric: 28 Count White Lugana
Stitched:1 over 1 Full Cross 
STARTED: January 22, 2017 
Needleminder - Heaven and Earth Designs - Little Blue

Mill Hill Angel With Cardinal by Jim Shore

Good Morning Stitchy Friends -

I realized that I had not posted the Christmas Ornament that I made this year for my Grandma's remembrance ornament. I posted the one that I finished for my Grandpa a few days ago. If you missed that post you can see it here.

As I mentioned in that post I have been making a Christmas Ornament each year in honor of my Grandma and Grandpa since they have both passed. This is the second year that I have done this and this year I wanted both of their ornaments to feature a cardinal. For Grandma's ornament I chose to stitch the Angel With Cardinal Mill Hill Kit by Jim Shore.

I did make a small modification to this and changed the eye color to a hazel green like my Grandma's eyes were.

Here are a few progression pictures and then my finish:

I still need to fully finish this one as well so I will post a picture of that when I get that done. This was my very first time stitching a Mill Hill kit and I think it turned out beautifully! I will definately be stitching more of these!

Thanks for stopping by!
Laura

Design Details:
Name: Angel With Cardinal by Jim Shore - Mill Hill Kit 
Fabric: 14 count perforated paper
Stitched: As charted in the kit
STARTED: May 17th, 2017
FINISHED: June 19th, 2017
Needleminder - Gina's Unique Boutique

WIP UPDATE: HAED King Coda Story Teller by Aimee Stewart SS MC Version

Hi Stitchy Friends!

Since I started my new rotation about a month ago I can say that it is really working for me so far and I love it. If you missed my post on what I am doing for my rotation you can see it here. Since I have started this rotation I have cycled to my Heaven and Earth Designs King Coda Story Teller by Aimee Stewart twice. I am stitching the supersize max colors version on 28 count Lugana 1 over 1 full cross.

Since I work from the large format PDF charts I have been completing two rows across the page each time this is up for the rotation. I decided that if a 10x10 block was split between the two pages, I would complete that block. So since I am just on page one still after restarting this on my favorite fabric for HAEDs - each rotation I am stitching a little over 1400 stitches. After 4 rotations to this I will get a page finish!

Here is my progress on it to date - just over 2800 stitches completed on page 1:

And of course what this will look like finished:

I love working on this one and am amazed at the detail coming through in the tapestry curtain area already. My next two cycles on page one will have a lot of black to do so hopefully that will help it go a bit faster since there won't be as many color changes.

My cute needleminder is from Maggie's Minders on Etsy :)

Thanks for stopping by and have a great stitchy week!
Laura

Design Details:
Name: King Coda Story Teller by Aimee Stewart - Supersize Max Colors charted by Heaven and Earth Designs
Fabric: 28 Count White Lugana
Stitched:1 over 1 Full Cross 
STARTED: August 9th, 2017 
Needleminder - Maggie's Minders on Etsy

Start & a Finish - Mill Hill Festival Friends Santa by Jim Shore

Hi Stitchy Friends!

When I first found floss tube about two years ago I was watching one of Carolyn Mazzeo's amazing videos and she talked about how every year on her Dad's birthday she would stitch a Christmas Ornament in his memory for her tree. I had recently lost my Grandma when I saw that one and thought it was a beautiful way to honor your loved ones when they are no longer with you. So I decided that I would stitch an ornament for both my Grandma and Grandpa each year.

This year I decided to stitch a Mill Hill Kit for each of their ornaments and I wanted ones that had cardinals on them since they say that when you see a cardinal it is a loved one from heaven making a visit to you. I just finished my Grandpa's ornament a few days ago so I thought I would share that one with you. I stitched the Mill Hill Festival Friends Santa by Jim Shore for Grandpa's ornament. I started this one August 17th ad finished it on August 25th. It turned out beautiful and had about a million beads! I think there were more beads than cross stitches so it is super sparkly and pretty in person :)

The needleminder I chose for this project is from Nifty Needle Nannies on Facebook. When I saw this one I had to get it because this was Grandpa's favorite saying to us kids whenever we got impatient about something :)

Here are some progression pictures:

This was a fun stitch and turned out so pretty. I still need to fully finish it so I will post a picture of that once it is finished completely! 

I think that doing this every year is a wonderful way to let Grandma and Grandpa know that we still think of them everyday and around the holidays when we miss them even more, this is a way to still make them a part of our family get togethers.

Thanks for stopping by today and happy stitching! 

Laura

Design Details:
Name: Festival Friends Santa by Jim Shore - Mill Hill Kit 
Fabric: 14 count perforated paper
Stitched: As charted in the kit
STARTED: August 17th, 2017
FINISHED: August 25th, 2017
Needleminder - Nifty Needle Nannies

My Current Rotation

Hi Stitchy Friends -

I have been a horrible blogger! I have been absent forever! I have been stitching but have not been very good at updating my blog with postings. I most of the time pop pictures up on my Instagram, but even then I am not as consistent as I need to be. I will work on it :)

I thought today I would share how I am currently rotating my WIPS. I currently have 17 started, about half to three-quarters of these are fairly large pieces. It is what I am drawn to apparently :) I have kind of 2 rotations - I can stitch at work so I have my work rotation and then I have my at home rotation so I will share both.

Since I can stitch at work and work the overnight shift, I am usually able to stitch for at least 3 hours most of the time, sometimes more, sometimes less depending on our call volume that evening. Weekends are busier ( I am a 911 dispatcher for police, medical, and fire) so not as much on those nights. So in our downtime we are allowed to do crafts, read a book, anything you want as long as it doesn't interfere with your work. I have 4 Heaven and Earth Designs that I rotate as my work projects:

1. Heavens Little Angel by Katerina Koukiotis
2. Dreamer - Max Colors by Nadia Strelkina
3. New Girl 3 by Bec Winnel
4. Dog Double Shelf by Randall  Spangler

My work rotation is 5 nights working, 2 days off, 6 days working and then 3 days off and it cycles through that. I have started working on one of my HAEDS for a 2 work week period, so 11 days and then I switch. I was changing each week buy since the time I get to stitch on my projects at work is limited and unpredictable, some weeks I would barely get to touch a project. I wanted to see some decent progress when I worked on them so I have recently decided to try the 2 week rotation and am loving that a lot more. I almost had a page finish on my angel which was the first project I tried it on. Here are pictures of my starting spot...and my ending spot after working on the Angel for it's rotation:

So I am loving how this is working so far. This rotation is my Dreamer so watch for that update...I have 1 week left for it.

My at home rotation has been the biggest struggle for me. I don't get to stitch at home very often, maybe an hour before work if I am lucky but most of the time it is on my days off, or an hour in the mornings when I get home for work while I am letting the dogs out to potty and stretch after being in their kennel overnight. I tried setting a week rotation for a project and then switching, but sometimes in that week I would never get to work on it so that wasn't working. I then came across someone (sorry can't remember who said they did this) but they switched projects after working on it for 10 hours. It is enough to get some decent progress, and not as much that you feel you are stuck working on something too long before switching. I have tried this for not quite a month now and this is working AWESOME for me!

I have one Supersize Heaven and Earth Design chart, King Coda Story Teller Max Colors by Aimee Stewart, that I recently restarted on my preferred fabric for my HAEDs, 28 count Lugana stitching it 1 over 1. So since this is a massive project I have decided that in between each of my 10 hour wip rotations, I will work on my SS HAED . I have a large format chart so my plan is to work 2 rows across my page and then switch. On the large format charts each row across has 6 full boxes and then usually a partial 7th box that extends into the next page. So I finish the whole 7th box. So for 2 rows it is roughly 1400 stitches. After rotating to this one 4 times, I will get a page finish if I do it this way :)

For my other at home WIPS - I wrote them down and numbered them. I also wrote a number in for a "New Start". So my plan is to let random number generator choose my WIP for the 10 hour session :) If I hit the "New Start" then I will choose a new project and start it and work on it for the 10 hours. So far I am on my 3rd project since starting this rotation and it is working really well. Here are the projects and progress I was able to make:

Project #1 - Durene Jones Lakeside Needlecrafts Fantasy SAL - I need to do the never-ending border so I am making myself stitch all of the border on a page before I can do the little character. In my 10 hour rotation I am happy to say I was able to get all of page 1's border complete and some of the little flourishes and the snowflake during this round! So next time it comes up...I am free to stitch the January block :D

I forgot to take a picture of my starting spot but I only had a small corner started in the upper left to work down to the circles, and then I did all my circles and no border. Here is what I accomplished in my 10 hour rotation (basically everything but the circles)

After this project I then rotated to my Supersize Max Colors King Coda Story Teller. I completed the first two rows of page 1 - totally a little over 1400 stitches:

So I will be coming back to this one to do 2 more rows in between each 10 hour switch.

The project I am currently working on was my New Start for this 10 hour round. I have worked on it for 2 hours, so 8 more hours to go before switching. This is my 2017 Christmas Ornament I am stitching in memory of my Grandpa. It is the Mill Hill Festive Friends Santa by Jim Shore:

I will work on this later today as well.

I think this rotation will work well for me since I want to work on all my wips and not just have them sit there untouched. Plus 10 hours is a great way to get some decent progress you can see, and not be so long that you feel like you are working on the same thing for a long time. Sometimes it might take me a full week or two in order to get 10 hours on a project, other times I might stitch all 10 on a day off! It is so random, but this way all my wips will get equal working time.

Anyway...I hope this made sense to you and that you might get some ideas from it. Any questions feel free to ask :)

Happy stitching everyone!
Laura

Lesley Teare - Victorian Angel Letter "S"

Hello Stitchy Friends!

Today I wanted to share a finish that I had on March 31st of this year. I actually started this one for Stitch Maynia last year and had only worked on it the day I started it until March of this year when I picked it back up to get it done. It is the Lesley Teare - Victorian Angel Letter "S" that I stitched as my 2016 Remembrance Ornament for my Grandma Shirley. I plan on stitching an ornament for my Christmas Tree every year in honor of my Grandma and Grandpa both. I still need to FFO it.
Here are my progression pictures:

This picture is what the design will be similar to. The one I did did not have a finished picture just the chart. This alphabet is found in the hardback book called Cross Stitch Angels.

This was my progress on the day I started it for Stitch Maynia 2016. I started on May 2nd, 2016.

This was my progress after working on it March 27, 2017. This was the first time I had worked on it since starting it back for Maynia!

Here is the finish on March 31st, 2017. I did a few changes to the design when I stitched it. I used Wisper White thread for the wings to give them some texture and softness. I also added mill hill beads in the flowers and her head piece instead of doing French Knots.

Now I just need to get my ornaments FFO'd one of these days! Hopefully before Christmas!

Thank you for stopping by today! Have a lovely stitching week!
Laura

Design Details:
Name: Victorian Angel Letter "S" - Lesley Teare - Cross Stitch Angels Book
Fabric: 28 Count White Opalescent Cashel Linen
Stitched: 2 over 2 
Changes Made: Used Wisper White thread for wings & mill hill beads in flowers instead of French Knots
STARTED: May 2nd, 2016
FINISHED: March 31, 2017

Adorable Panda Freebie Kit - Start, Finish & FFO!

Good afternoon stitchy friends!

Today I wanted to share just a quick little start, finish & FFO with you :) I had this cute little freebie kit that had come with a Cross Stitch Crazy magazine and decided to make it for my Mom's birthday card this year. It took me a few nights to work up but it turned out really cute. Here is the finished stitching and then it completed as an FFO into a little card.

Here is it finished as the little card:

Because this is small, about 3" x 3" finished or so...I told Mom that she could glue the card shut and put a magnet on the back and use it as a little fridge magnet :)

Hope you are having a great stitchy day! Thanks for stopping by!
Laura

Design Details:
Name: Freebie Panda Card Kit from Cross Stitch Crazy Magazine
Fabric: 14 count Aida
Stitched: 2 over 2 
FFO: As a small card about 3"x3"

FINISH: Little Green

Good Morning Stitchy Friends!

I have just finished my LITTLE GREEN!! Yay! Here he is all finished:

I did make a few changes to this. I used white wisper thread in the ears. I also used DMC light effects for the wings as I wanted to add a little bit of sparkle. I used E3821 for the gold in the wings and for his antennae balls, and then E5200 for the white. I stitched this 2 over 2 on 28 count Jazlyn in Citrus Burst from Crafty Kitten Fabrics, except the DMC light effects I only used 1 strand of that over 2.

I loved stitching this one, he was so fun! Yes the magazine says that it is a HE :) The pattern is from the Cross Stitch Crazy magazine (UK) April 2006.

I thought I would share my stitch journey on this piece through wip pics if you are interested in taking a look.

Started January 7th, 2017:

Progress Update on January 13, 2017

Progress Update March 19th, 2017

Progress Update - Only Backstitching Left: March 22, 2017

And again....THE FINISH on March 26, 2017!

Thanks for stopping by! Happy Stitching!!

Laura

Design Details:
Name: Little Green - Cross Stitch Crazy magazine (UK) April 2006
Fabric: 28 Count Jazlyn Citrus Burst from Crafty Kitten Fabrics
Stitched: 2 over 2 
Changes Made: Used DMC Light Effects E3821 and E5200 for wings and antennae. Wisper White thread in ear
STARTED: January 7th, 2017
FINISHED: March 26, 2017

New Start - Red Birds by Maria Barber

Good Morning Stitchy Friends -

Last night my Mom came over for stitchy night and I could not decide which of my 17 WIPS I wanted to work on because none were screaming at me to pick them up...so I decided to take the plunge and start a pattern that I have been wanting to start for quite awhile. I had meant to start it for my New Year New Start...then as my Year of Starts for January....then February...and it never happened. It is called Red Birds by Maria Barber and is in the Just Cross Stitch Magazine Issue Nov/Dec 2011. I remember back when this magazine came out in the store I browsed through it several times and hemmmed and hawwwed over buying it because at that time I had no stitchy bug but the pattern just grabbed me. I decided to go ahead and get it just in case my stitchy bug returned someday! Now I am glad I did because it is still as gorgeous as I thought it was when I first saw it! I am also super excited to see that in the issue of Just Cross Stitch that just came out, April 2017, that Maria has done a Spring Chickadees design that would be a great companion to this one!

Here is what the Red Birds Design will look like finished:

This piece is special to me because I am stitching it in memory of my Grandma and Grandpa Barber. How fitting that the designer has the same last name even though I don't think she is related. I was always super close to them and my Grandpa passed away in 2008 and my Grandma in 2015. They say visits from cardinals are your loved ones coming down from Heaven to let you know they are still around and with you. Yesterday driving home from work as I turned the corner there sat a beautiful male cardinal right on a branch next to the road. I think it was Grandpa telling me to get my butt in gear and start on my cardinal piece :) So of course I had to listen to Grandpa :)

Here is where I made it to:

I started in the middle so I working on one of the white flower petals. I love this piece, the colors are gorgeous and I love that it features both the male and the female cardinals and I love that they look more realistic. I think when I start hitting the reds and greens around the white petals they will really pop. I love the fact that there is no backstitch in this design also. I am looking forward to working on this and seeing the details emerge!

Design Details:
Name: Red Birds by Maria Barber - Just Cross Stitch Magazine Nov/Dec 2011
Fabric: 28 Count Lambswool Jobelan from Wichelt
Stitched: 2 over 2 
Grime Guard: Brenda's Minders and More
Needleminder: Bellastitch (closed now)

Have a great stitchy day and thanks for stopping by!
Laura