Coffee and Cross Stitch

Quaker Christmas | Cross Stitch

It's been ages since I picked up my Quaker Christmas piece, "Faith", and I finished it last weekend.  This is the second of a three-part series, "Joy", "Faith", and "Peace".  I thought it was a perfect time to share this piece, given that we're all kinda anxious right now, not knowing when we can stop carrying Lysol wipes and hand sanitizer everywhere.  The news is exhausting - anyone else shut it off and only catch updates here and there?  It's all a bit much. 

I finished "Joy" a few years ago (did I even tell you guys about that one?  I can't find a post about it...), and started "Faith" over two years ago now (where does time go?!).  I was making steady progress for a while, until I realized a miscount on the giant star in the top right corner, and put her in timeout after I ripped it out and stitched it again. 

I didn't realize how long it'd been since I worked on it, until I scrolled through my posts to see when I'd started it: December 2017.  Quite long enough to be in the WIP pile, thankyouverymuch.  Although...not quite as long as Shores of Hawk Run Hollow...but that's neither here nor there...

Ahem.

I stitched this on 40 count fabric that I had in my stash.  I'm sure it's one of those ginormous pieces I've had since forever when I was part of a fabric of the month club...so it's Silkweaver...I just don't know what the color is :-|.  My stitch club members from back in PA are still laughing at all that fabric I had on hand...and still have on hand....ugh.  haha.

There are so many gorgeous motifs in this piece, that I don't think I could pick a favorite.  I wasn't sure how I felt about the three wise men being stitched in such contrasting colors to the motifs surrounding them, but they grew on me.

Those snowflakes...took.....forevvvvvverrrrrrrrr to stitch.  Forever.  They're everywhere.

I have one more to go in this series:  Peace.  For now, though, I'm gonna take a break from the Quaker style and move to something different.  Not sure quite what...but I'm not sure I want to start another sampler just yet.  Maybe I'll move to an autumn or Halloween piece (like the Little Bits that I started last week!), or possibly patriotic.  I found a remnant of PtP Heroic that I used for a Blue Ribbon Designs piece (I really need to start taking stuff to be framed...once shops are open again...) that I might use for a patriotic piece I've been itching to start.  We'll see...

Happy stitching everyone!   I hope you're out there making beautiful things or reading your favorite novels, or whatever makes you happy :-).

Land of Liberty | Cross Stitch

Well, friends.  Here we are in August!  I can hardly believe it.  We've had some blistering hot days, but the past few days have been less humid with cooler days coming next week.  Summer so far has been busy; the weekends have been packed with activities, with work keeping the weekdays busy.  I am looking forward to vacation at the end of the summer, that's for sure!

This weekend looks like it's going to be beautiful, so I plan on heading out and enjoying the sunshine.  Perhaps a stroll through Georgetown is in order.  It's been a while since I've taken in the architecture of the city.

I've been doing a bit of stitching; more lately than the past few months, so I've actually gotten a few pieces completed.  

One is "Land of Liberty" by With Thy Needle and Thread.

I stitched this on 40 ct. Almond from Silkweaver.  I think it helps bring out the red, white, and blue in the flags and Uncle Sam's outfit.

I didn't like the color on the chart for the lettering - Heirloom Gold - so I switched it for Apple Cider.  Much better, I think.  I also changed the color of the pup - I used Hickory Sticks...so he kinda looks like Toto from The Wizard of Oz.  

There's never a bad time to be stitching patriotic-themed pieces, and I have quite a few more in my stash.  I'm still muscling through Shores of Hawk Run, and I've got a cute Country Cottage Needleworks Christmas piece I'm almost finished with, and Snow Queen that's been untouched for months (I found out the shaded areas don't actually overlap, so I need to copy one side and match it up...), so God only knows what I'll get myself into once I'm finished one of these in my WIP pile!!

First Day. | Cross Stitch

We're officially in the Christmas season, which makes me beyond giddy.  I mean, Thanksgiving is fantastic with all the food and pumpkin pie and all....but, Christmas.  

Lately, I've been stitching some seriously big pieces, and I needed a break from all that.  So, I decided I needed to incorporate some smalls, like ornaments, into my WIP rotation.

Enter, Plum Street Sampler's fabulous Christmas freebies.

Have you guys gotten on this wagon yet??  Paulette has the first six days posted on her website - she's posting them all as freebies! (fun fact:  the twelve days of christmas are actually the twelve days after christmas, leading up to the epiphany, not the days before christmas...)  I'm a huge fan of her designs, and these are no exception.  

She doesn't have specific colors listed in the charts, she just says to use red, green, gold, and black.  This one only calls for red and green, so I used the same two I used for Quaker Christmas II - Currant and Blue Spruce.  They're superb Christmas colors, and I have a ton of them left over, so it's a great excuse to use up some thread in my stash!  

I'm so far behind already, but Christmas comes every year, so here's hoping I can get all twelve all done by next Christmas!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas | Cross Stitch

Yeah, I know.  It's been looking like Christmas since before Halloween, but places are starting to put up their lights, so it's really starting to look Christmassy here :-)

If you couldn't guess, Christmas is my ABSOLUTE favorite time of year.  I'm a summer baby through-and-through, but Christmas makes me so happy I can hardly stand it.  The music, the lights, the decorations, the card making, the cookie baking, the mulled cider, the hot chocolate, ALL OF IT.  I want it to be always.  

But, then it wouldn't be such a special time of year, so I have to settle and only have it be during December. 

(sigh)

All this Christmas excitement has me pulling out some of my newer (to me) Christmas stitch patterns, like this one from With Thy Needle - 

 This is "Letters to Santa" and is adorbs.  I am in love with the snowmen and the giant candy cane in Santa's hand.

 

And the reindeer!  I die. (ps - this second shot is closer to what the fabric really looks like - the lighting distorted the top pic a little)

I haven't decided if I'm gonna frame this (I stitched it on 40 ct. Purely Primitive from Silkweaver, because the 22 ct called for in the graph is just too much.) - it's a 5x5 square - or make it into a small.  I pulled the green fabric from my sewing stash, just to see what it would look like with this piece, and I'm really torn.  I'll probably decide sometime in 2017 what to do with this, but until then, I'll just keep on stitching.  :-)

Are you guys working on anything for Christmas right now?!  Or are you already 2 seasons ahead of me and working on summer stuff???

October.

Well.  It's October.  I don't know how, but it is.

The month of September flew by so fast, and I'm already terrified that I'm going to blink and it'll be Christmas morning.

September is always a busy month for me at work, which doesn't help as time flies on by.

However, I was able to finish Halloween Delivery --

 

I love that pumpkin in the middle.  I'm not quite sure why, but I do.  Might be the dark burgundy shade...makes it kinda look purple....

I love the flowers that creep down the back of the buggy....

And who doesn't love a raven drawn buggy?  I love this piece, and I'm looking forward to stitching some more of Paulette's creations!  I can't decide if I want to frame this piece, or make it into a little pillow...decisions, decisions.....

That's all I have for you today, guys.  I'm spent.  This week was rough. Hopefully this weekend I'll be able to fully recharge and be good as new :-)

Happy Friday, everyone! 

A Baby Gift | Cross Stitch

For the better part of a year, I was working on a pretty big project - a baby gift for my friend, Becky.  I gave some sneaks here and there, but for the most part, it's been super-secret-on-the-down-low.

I gave the gift to Becky yesterday, so I'm now able to do a full reveal of the piece...

I actually had to lay it down on the dining room floor to get the whole thing in the shot.  

Some close ups....

Considering all that backstitching...it'll be a long time before I do this pattern for anyone.  It was brutal.  BUT - the payoff is that it looks amazing.  The detail is incredible.

As always, Lise at my LNS did a phenomenal job with the framing.  It's perfect.  Thank you, Lise!

In case you want to try your hand at this, the graph is ABC Tapestry from Rosewood Manor.  I stitched it on 40 count Purely Primitive from Silkweaver Fabrics.  .

I hope you all have a fantastic weekend!  Happy Stitching!

Beggar's Night | Cross Stitch

In amongst all the travel I did recently, I was able to find some time to stitch.

Not much time, but some.  I've actually been reading a lot more, too, which is fabulous.  I miss it.  I'm in the middle of about six books, so when I was sitting on the beach on Monday, I made some headway on Elizabeth I.  Yeah.  You read that right.  Elizabeth I.  Because I'm a nerd & stuff.

Here's my latest WIP report on Beggar's Night:

Got the urn done, and all the leaves.  Now I'm onto the raven, starting with its tail....

Have a wonderful weekend, my friends!!

 

"S" is for... | Cross Stitch

I find that even though I want to be outside more now that the weather seems to finally be getting warmer (although Tuesday there was a wind chill of 28 degrees. i cried a little.), I also have had more of a desire to stitch than I did over this horrid winter.  You'd think when we're all hibernating, I'd want nothing more than to just curl up on the couch and stitch. 

Nope.

I think I was just too miserable to want to do really anything, even stitch.

But, this past week, I picked up my needle and thread, and got definitely some serious progress done on my Rosewood Manor piece.

The snail in the corner just kills me.

And that seahorse is pretty cool, too.

Stay tuned for the next installment.....

Much love ~~~

Backstitching. Oy.

I have quite a few cross stitch WIPs going on right now...and one very important one, which is a baby gift for one of my good friends from high school.

Now that her son is already a year old, I guess I should, you know, finish stitching it.  

Ahem.

I don't want to give away too many peeks of the gift, so I'll just show this...

As you can imagine, that backstitch is KILLER.  But....it does look pretty awesome.  The pattern is from Rosewood Manor, and is called ABC Tapestry.  I'm stitching it on 40 ct......something.  I'll have to get back to you on the actual color.  It's a Silkweaver fabric, that I know. 

Getting old sucks.  I can't remember anything.  (sigh)

I'm stitching with DMC 843, which is a dark navy.

I promise to give a few more updates as I go along, and I'll post a pic of the finished product once I'm done!

What are you all stitching this weekend?!  It's supposed to be nice here in Philly, so I know I'm going to try and get out and enjoy the weather, but I will be working on this gift, as well!

Much love ~~~

                 

 

Six More Weeks of Winter. Thanks, Phil. | Cross Stitch

Well, our buddy, Phil, out in Punxsutawney, PA predicted six more weeks of winter yesterday, and I'm not happy about it.  We've had plenty of snow already, thankyouverymuch, so I'm done.  I'm ready for spring.

Oh, but funny thing.  Today's another day with snow in the forecast.  A winter storm warning was issued.  This one's coming with ICE.  

Yay.

Moving on from that wretched topic.

Friday, I stopped by my LNS to pick up my Quaker Christmas II.  I am not even kidding you --- I may be slightly biased since I stitched this, but dear God --- this piece is STUNNING framed.

I apologize - this is not the greatest lighting - the only place I can get decent pics is in my dining room, with the piece laying on my table.  The red is "Current" and the green is "Blue Spruce", both from Crescent Colours (which is now Classic Colorworks), and are the colors called for in the graph.  They're both much deeper, richer Christmas colors than this picture can demonstrate.  

When I brought the piece in to pick a frame, I was going back and forth with red frames, not really considering black.  Then, we asked the framer for her opinion, and she suggested black to really bring out both the red and the green, and viola!  This also happens to be one of my favorite frames - I got the same frame, just a different finish, for my Cricket Collection "Sleepy Hollow".

I mean, really.  This frame.  Perfect.

A close-up of the top portion of the piece ~ the "We Three Kings" motif is one of my favs ~~

 And the "I Saw Three Ships" motif is also a fav ~~

Like the shop owner said, every time you look at it, you see something different!  

This piece was SO fun to stitch (even though it took a LONG time, it's well worth the effort!!), so I encourage you all to put this in your "to stitch" pile!  

Special thank you to Lise for framing this for me, since she wasn't in the shop when I picked it up so I could thank her in person!  It's stunning!  Thank you!

Stay warm, my friends, especially those of you out in the MidWest!!