Kimono Lantern Mermaid Update

Isn’t she pretty? Once I got started on her eye, there was no turning back, before I knew her entire face was stitched up!  I considered working on her neck and shoulders next but realized that the whole stick and carrot motivation system works well for me. So rather than working on more solid areas I decided to work on her kimono some more. I’ll be working on the bottom half of the peice for a while, starting at the right. Once the confetti starts getting to me again, I’ll return to her neck and put in some time working on easy solid stitching.

 

Before that can happen though, it’s nearly the end of May and I’ve not even started an ornament yet, never mind finish it! I’ve decided to work on Ephinea’s Snowflakes by Beehive Needleworks. It’s a simple single color piece that I should be able to stitch up quickly. I’m working on it in DMC cotton floss in 816, stitching 1 over 1 on some tea dyed 32 count linen I have. This should make for a lovely delicate little piece that will look nice finished into a pillow style ornament, maybe with a bit of matching fabric sewn to the bottom to make it slightly larger. I’ll decide on that once the cross stitch is done. Keep an eye on this spot for an update in a couple of days!

Stitch From Stash – February Report

Wow, has it been a month already?  I know February is a short month, but that went by fast! I’m here just by the skin of my teeth to get my report for Stitching from Stash in for this month.  Up first is what I spent – a whopping 80 cents! What does one buy when spending 80 cents on stash? You would think floss, right? Not in my case. Here’s my purchase. 

That’s four 1/2 inch 90 degree PVC pipe connectors that I picked up at Home Depot. A bit of an odd purchase I agree, but I had an idea that I want to try out, and this was the only missing item. I’ll post more about that a little later after I’ve played with it.

I did acquire a bit of stash this month however – three new patterns. However they don’t count towards my spending budget because they were a prize. Yes, I won last months giveaway!

Thank you Mel from Epic Stitching! This is the year of the ornament for me, as I am hosting the Ornament a Month Stitch-a-long over at CrossStitchForum.com, so that Santa ornament will get stitched as soon as the set I am working on right now is complete. I especially like needlework pieces that are about needlework themselves, and to think that Santa is a stitcher makes me all kinds of happy!

Speaking of the Ornament a Month Stitch-a-long, here’s mine for February. I am working on a set of 6 ornaments put out by Dimensions called Christmas Village

It doesn’t look very ornament like does it? I seriously under estimated how long it would take me to stitch this and started too late in the month to get it done. No matter, I’ll finish it soon and then start a bit earlier on March’s ornament which will be the second in this series of 6. As it is I finished two ornaments in January, so I’m still on schedule for twelve for the year. The ornament uses all kinds of variations on number of strands of floss as well as full and half cross stitches to give the pattern lovely depth and three dimensionality within a smaller palette of colors. Overall a very enjoyable stitch, if a bit fiddly from time to time!

Little Lovebirds – a WIP

Sometimes I see a pattern that I simply must stitch right away. What I’m going to do with it, I haven’t the first idea. But that was what happened when I saw this lovely little pattern in the February 2014 edition of Cross Stitch Crazy Collection. Sure, I tried to hold off as long as i could, but finally I had to admit defeat and start stitching. I’m sure none of you will blame me, it’s so adorable!

It’s such a quick little stitch that I don’t even feel guilty for starting something new. I’m stitching it on a piece of non-even weave cotton that I bought for a mere $2.97 per yard. The weave of this fabric is decidedly rectangular, so stitching over 2 gives me 20 stitches an inch one way and 15 stitches an inch the other way. But in the case of this pattern, it doesn’t matter one bit, in fact by placing it on the fabric so that the wider stitches ran horzontally, I got even plumper little birds than the original pattern. How can plump little lovebirds possibly be a bad thing?

How would you finish this piece? It’s approximately  4×5 inches in size. Please leave me your ideas in the comments!

Update: Oops! I goofed and originally stated that I got this pattern from Cross Stitch Crazy. Turns out it’s Cross Stitch Collection. To Carolyn and anyone else this confused, I’m really sorry!