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

Stitch Maynia 2017 - Day 2

Good Morning Stitchy Friends!

Yesterday was Day 2 of Stitch Maynia 2017 and I decided to continue working on my Teresa Wentzler The Fortunate Traveler WIP.

Here was my starting spot:

And here is where I got to yesterday - still just worked on some border:

And here is what this will look like finished:

If I get some stitchy time for Day 3 today I think I will work on this one again before switching for the "May the 4th Be With You" SAL that is tomorrow :)

Thanks for stopping by!
Laura

Design Details:
Name: The Fortunate Traveler - Teresa Wentzler
Fabric: 28 Count Cream Cashel Linen by Zweigart
Stitched: 2 over 1 Full Cross & 1 over 1 in some areas
STARTED: May 1st 2016
Needleminder - Brenda's Minders and More

Stitch Maynia 2017 Day 1 - The Fortunate Traveler by Teresa Wentzler

Hi Stitchy Friends!

It is time for Stitch Maynia! If you are not familiar with Stitch Maynia it is a facebook stitching group that was started a few years ago and the original idea was to start 15 new projects in the first 15 days of May. Since it started Maynia now means different things for different people. You can focus on WIPS and work on a new one everyday, have new starts as many or as few as you want, monogamous stitching if you are used to working on quite a few things or vice versa - whatever works for you and fits your schedule. The point of it is to have fun and kind of push yourself to try new things, get a little out of your comfort zone or try something that to you is Maynia!!

Last year was my first time participating in Stitch Maynia and my goal had been to try for 16 starts for 2016. Well I failed at that and only got 7 started. Of those 7 that I started I only finished one of them since then. Kind of a weird fact about me - starting projects intimidates me a little. I really enjoy searching for patterns I want to stitch, choosing the fabrics and kitting things up - but when it comes to actually starting them - well I have no idea why but it is a little intimidating sometimes. Once I get started and get going I am fine but there is just something about starting them.

As of today I currently have 16 wips total. Many are larger sized pieces that will take me awhile to finish. 5 of these are Heaven and Earth Designs - 4 regular and 1 supersize. My 4 regular size Heaven and Earth Designs are my work projects and I rotate these according to my work schedule which is close to a weekly rotation. So my other 12 Wips are my "at home" ones. I don't get to consistently stitch at home so I work on them sporadically. Usually it is the one already on my scroll frame or q-snaps so I can just grab it and start stitching. So what I decided to do for my Maynia this year is to focus on these 12 neglected wips and also have 4 new starts, one for each week in May. That way I work on the things I have started plus get to have a few starts as well.

For Day 1 of Stitch Maynia I decided to work on the project I started on May 1st of last year for Maynia which I have not finished yet. It is The Fortunate Traveler by Teresa Wentzler. This is my very first Teresa Wentzler pattern that I have stitched. I remember back in the 90's when we didn't have a lot of money for things and I was obsessed with cross stitch, my hobby consisted of mainly buying and hoarding cheap pattern finds from garage sales and ebay, not actually stitching things because we couldn't afford for me to kit things up. Teresa Wentzler was that one designer that intimidated the heck out of me back then. I think her work is gorgeous and stunning but I wasn't confident in my ability to stitch them at that time. Her work was what I aspired to stitch someday....and now I am :)

Here is what The Fortunate Traveler will look like finished:

Here was my starting point for Day 1. 

And here was were I was able to get to today:

I mainly focused on getting the width of the outer border done so I could be sure that this was going to fit on my fabric and that I had did my math correctly :) It fits and is actually pretty centered which I consider a miracle! I have had a lot of fun working on this one so far and it hasn't been as bad as I had pictured in my mind. Lots of blended threads which is fine and just cross stitches so far so I can handle that! Isn't my needleminder cool?!?! It is my Dragon Eye from Brenda's Minders and More. LOVE it!

I plan on working on this one again tomorrow for my Maynia project as the one I had started for Day 2 last year was the one I finished :)

Have a great stitchy day or night! Thanks for stopping by!
Laura

Design Details:
Name: The Fortunate Traveler - Teresa Wentzler
Fabric: 28 Count Cream Cashel Linen by Zweigart
Stitched: 2 over 1 Full Cross & 1 over 1 in some areas
STARTED: May 1st 2016
Needleminder - Brenda's Minders and More