May Stop Blogging

Good morning! Google has changed the format for Blogspot.com. They have also confiscated all my stored pictures. Since I am blogging for fun I may not invest a whole lot of time trying to figure out the format or how to retrieve my pictures. I am on Instagram if you would like to follow me there. Thanks so much for all the support over the years. I hope I will be back!

Not Since the Fourth??

 

I can't believe it's been so long since I posted.  I lost my stitching mojo a bit but got back to it with my massive sampler, His Eye is on the Sparrow.  

I got my initials and the year in.  I am now obligated to finish in 2020.   

Happy Fourth of July!

Shelly Tribbey 4th of July Angel with guide by David McCaskill

Always Check the Back

How cute is this?  EG stitched this for AT who loves nutcrackers.  Extra special touch is the fabric for the back. 

Clearly Need to Clean

 How cute is this?  I took this picture at Chaparral in Houston many moons ago.

Guess what I found in the upstairs closet?  Clearly need some more organization around here.   It looks like I was planning on basketweaving mine.   Stitch guide for the above is by Carolyn Baird. 

More Comparisons

A follow up from yesterday's post.  Here is the same Petei Santa canvas stitched two different ways.  Bothe are super cute. 

Petei Nativity Set by KH

I love to see how other stitchers interpret canvases.  This set was stitched by KH.  She took the guides created by Diana Bosworth at The French Knot as her starting point and went from there.  Super cute backgrounds she designed.  AND the finishing!  Which she did herself.  

Here's part of my set which is stitched from the same guides.  I like KH's!

Coming Home from Ewe and Eye

I started pulling out all my Amy stuff and wondering how much more does a girl need?  So much!

Lousy lighting but you get the picture

Cute colonial knots for the flowers?  Stones?

Random Diagonal Cashmere for the house

Tricks I Learned from Amy Bunger

I am going to miss Amy's classes so much.  Her guides are wonderful and hopefully will be available for quite some time to come but the tidbits you pick up being around her are invaluable.

Here's one example.  I am now stitching the background down the side of House #5.  Obviously the full pattern does not fit.  What's a stitcher to do?

Use stick'ems or pieces of paper to create the space you are stitching.  You can see I blocked off the eight canvas threads that make up the blue area down the side.  I don't have to constantly look at the stitch diagram and count and recount.  Easy peasy.

Halloween House Row Update

The guide calls for beading the weather vane on House #5.  Here we go:

Done!  Amazing how the light can change the way the color looks.  The bat was not painted the same on both wings so I chose to bead it to look balanced.  We'll see how that looks when I go over the part not beaded with the background stitch.   It looks like some frogging and restitching in that area.
Overall I am pleased with how it looks.

I stitched the other side of the roof of House #4.  I wasn't happy with how the compensation made the peak of the roof on the left side look.  I took DC's advice and put a long stitch at the peak and it made me like the end result more.   The guide calls for using Wired Kreinik to outline the peaks.  I did not like that stuff.  I think it would be good for curled areas but it would not straighten out completely.  When I formed the peaks, the metal showed through the fiber.   Lastly, GG pulled on it to help me and a piece just broke off.  I am going to try regular Kreinik size 16 to see if I can get the result I want.

 Happy Stitching this weekend.  More on Monday...

Been Out at the Lake

Hello!  I've been out at the lake with some of the SWANs.  We had a good time stitching and catching up.   I took my Melissa Shirley Halloween House Row with the stitch guide from Amy Bunger.  I did a lot of background while talking but did get the moon done.  I LOVE IT.  Not so hot on my execution of the witch's skirt.   That's a redo for sure.  

The moon stitch is the Ming Divided.  The outline thread is Petite Silk Lame and the inside is filled in with two strands of silk.  It's beautiful.

Big News!  Amy Bunger is closing her shop at the end of 2020.   She has announced her retirement.   I had to be sat down to hear the news.   She is one of the most talented teachers and such a fun happy person.   I will miss seeing her regularly so much.  I wish her all the happiness and health in her retirement. 

P.S.  I am going to go wild  buying everything I ever wanted from her store before she closes!  Pics to follow...

To the Finisher

We have a great framers here in Austin called Blue Skies.  They do a great job framing needle art.   These lovelies are off to let those ladies work their magic.

Can't remember the designer

 
I finished this years ago.  I didn't know what I wanted to do with it so it lay dormant.  Carolyn Baird had these fabulous ribbons at her store, The Ribbonry.   It's inside Chaprral. The vintage sunflower strip down both sides is going to be heavenly.   This is a Melissa Shirley canvas with a stitch guide by Amy Bunger.   I think the guide is available for sale at amybunger.com.

Melissa Shirley's Cream Farmhouse

  I finished the White Farm in the last few months.  This is a canvas from Painted Pony Needlepoint and stitch guide by Amy Bunger.  Yes, I adore Amy Bunger and her stitch/thread selections.  This one won't have any ribbon or mat.

White Farm by Diane Ulmer Pedersen from Painted Pony Needlepoint Designs

Halloween House Row - House #3

She's done!  Thank you Amy Bunger and Melissa Shirley.  On to House #4...

House #3

Halloween House Row

House #5 is up.   The bottom story is Framed Hungarian using four strands of silk for the diamond shape and size 8 Kreinik for the frame.    It's coming along!

Back to Halloween House Row

Back to Halloween House Row by Melissa Shirley.  I am stitching this using a guide created by Amy Bunger.  It is available for purchase at amybunger.com.

House #1 is complete

Doors and trellis for House #3

House #2 is complete

Love is Kind by Diane Ulmer Pedersen

I just did not feel like working on that big background of my Halloween House Row.  Did I go to another part of the canvas so that I might finish it someday?  NO!  I pulled this beauty out.   I believe it's called Love is Kind by Diane Ulmer Pedersen from Painted Pony Needlepoint Designs.  

Background stitch idea from Carolyn Baird

I saw this while thumbing through Instagram when I should have been stitching.  I'm thinking of adding this one to the stash too.  I just love it.

Painted Pony Needlepoint

Halloween House Row by Melissa Shirley

Good morning!  There is not much to report here.  When I'm stitching I am stitching the background on this big'n.   Amy Bunger chose the perfect stitch and thread.  It's Alternating Stones using one strand of NPI silk.  There is a lot of area to cover.  I'll just keep plugging away. 

Overview

Halloween House Row

I am certainly skipping around on projects around here.   I put the Halloween House Row from Melissa Shirley back on the stand.  I am using a stitch guide that is available from Amy Bunger.  It's so fun to stitch.  

Roof of House #3

 The background stitch is Alternating Stones.  I am using one strand of silk.  It is perfect for this canvas.

I stitched the stones leading to the houses and filled in the grass.  I am using three strands of Dinky Dyes in the Cobblestone stitch.  Pretty cute!

The stones for House #5 were a bit different.  The guide calls for a different thread but I goofed and used the wrong one.  I'm not sure it's worth taking out and redoing.  

Sunday on the Commons

Another Diane Ulmer Pedersen canvas from Painted Pony Needlepoint Designs!  I love these designs.  I took this canvas to my last Rent Amy Day.   She has the best stitch ideas for these canvases.  I sure do miss her and Jill and the other lovely ladies at Amy's Golden Strand.  I so hope we get to go on this year's trip.

Oops.  Forgot to flip it when I downloaded the photo.  The common area is the Staggered Leviathan stitch using one strand of overdyed floss changing the color to match the shading on the canvas.

This tree top is stitched using Staggered Cross with a strand of Wildflowers.  Some of the small cross stitches are done using two strands of an overdyed floss to create the shading.  So perfect. 

 
The bush in the lower right hand corner is a Helen's Lace variation using an overdyed floss.

Overview

All of The Hart Hunt

These are all the photos of The Hart Hunt by Diane Ulmer Pedersen from Painted Pony Needlepoint Designs.