Trying to get out of my stitching slump...

November was super busy. With work, Thanksgiving and our Vacation I feel like November came and went in a blink of an eye. Jon and I went to Las Vegas with some friends of ours. We went to several shows, the best one that we saw was La Reve. It was similar to a Cirque Du Soleil performance, we loved it!
December has been full of Christmas parties at work, shopping, and finishing Christmas gifts.
On the stitching front I have only worked on Christmas gifts I haven't worked on anything for myself. Now that I have gifted several items I can share. This past Monday was our annual Stitch and Bitch Dinner. I brought a gift exchange that I completed, this is by Old Colonial Designs.

I also brought Sally's gift, since she opened it I can share. This is a free sampler online by Linen and Threads. I decided to take a motif off of the sampler to complete this easel.

I also made a wreath using burlap ribbon and matching ornaments and decorative ribbon.

I am hoping that now that I have completed my Christmas items and shopping that I will go back to stitching on my WIPs!
I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas!
Candi

Progress

I am making some progress on the Linen and Lace design. So this is supposed to be the outside of the case but I do believe I am going to make it the inside. Where the 3 lines are on the right in the bottom heart is going to have a slit when it is put together. It is going to form a pocket that fits a pair of scissors. On the opposite side of the heart there is going to be a piece of felt to hold needles.

I am also working on several designs for Christmas gifts so I will not be able to post those until after they are gifted!
This past weekend I went to a Halloween get together to stitch. I worked on a Lauren Sauer Sampler. I will be posting progress in a future post.
Have a great week everyone!
Candi

Getting things done!

Tuesday I went to Stitch and Bitch at Salty Yarns to stitch with our stitchy group. I completed stitching Witches Harvest by Milady's Needle. This piece was the missing piece from the last post. It was one of the class pieces from this years Jamboree. I finished putting it together this evening. Now I have completed 2 out of 3 class pieces from Jamboree! Whoopee... Hopefully I will finish the gold work piece within the next few weeks.

Last night I started a new piece by Linen and Lace. I have made a ton of changes to this piece. It is supposed to be a needle case when it is done but I am making it into a case that holds a pair of scissors and needles. The picture below does not do it any justice. I needed a picture when the sun was up. The fabric is a gray in color. The vertical and horizontal threads in the center are a green while the couch stitches are purple.

You are probably wondering why I took a picture of this heart upside down, well there is going to be a heart connected to it right below. This will be for the back (which is done) and the front which will be connected. Then there is another set of hearts that have different patterns that will be connected and these will make up the inside of the case.
I hope everyone is having a great week!
Candi

Busy Busy

Last week was a whirl wind! I barely had time to stop and take a breath. I decided to help out at my previous school for the book fair for three days. The first day I was like awe they are all so cute I think I miss teaching little children. By the second day I asked myself.... what were you thinking? I would rather be at home stitching! So I am glad I helped out but I am also glad I am taking the year off.
I did get a little bit of stitching done last week. I continued to work on my needlepoint by Needle Delights I love working on this piece the colors are absolutely stunning.

This past weekend was a great way to end the week. It was the annual stitching Jamboree at Salty Yarns in Ocean City. During the Jamboree you attend three classes. This year the first class I attended was Sue Hillis from Sue Hillis Designs. This was a pre stitch, I posted in a previous post and look at what we did. We turned it into a beautiful easel. We were able to pick our own fabric colors and additions to the piece such as lace.

The next class was by Gloria Moore from Milady's Needle. I do not have a picture of this one yet. I am almost done with the piece and I intend to finish putting it together tomorrow. Pictures to come in future posts.

The next class was very unique it was traditional English goldwork by Deborah Merrick-Wilson. When this piece is done it is going to be stunning. I have never been a person with much patience that is mostly why I love to stitch and have a hard time putting it together because it takes a lot more patience. Well... goldwork it requires more patience than putting together! But look at how amazing it looks!

I am off to work on my last class piece to share!

Tata for now!

Candi

Another finish... and an almost finish

Below, there is quite a few pictures. The first picture is a class piece for the upcoming Jamboree at Salty Yarns in OC. It still needs those beautiful buttons, that are in a bag, stitched on. I tend to put off finishing... such as... putting on buttons, putting together, making tassels, and cording etc. It will get done, just probably on Friday before the class on Saturday. The next set of pictures are the Virgin Queen's Stitching Pocket by Willing Hands Needlework. This pattern was so much fun to stitch. I stitched it extremely fast and then... came the finishing. I just procrastinated but I finally finished it this week, I am so proud of myself! One of my previous posts, I posted the companion piece to this one, which is the wallet. I just love how the running back stitch looks and it is fast to do after you get the hang of it! I hope everyone had a great week and enjoying their Saturday!                                          Tata for now, Candi

 

A Finish!

The other day I finished Mermaid Mending Box by Olde Colonial Designs. This was a previous Jamboree piece. I completed it just in time for this years Jamboree. I was so inspired after I completed this piece that I have almost completed another! I should have it done by tomorrow, so I can share. Now I just need to complete the cording.
Off I go!
Candi

Making Progress

These past few days I have been super busy with work, chores, and errands. But when I found some free time I worked on Mermaid Mending Box by Olde Colonial Designs. There is a few more little details to add, such as the charms and a few more stitches but for the most part it is complete. After the charms I need to complete the every other backstitch around the design. I will hopefully not put in in the basket of no return. I have such a love for stitching but when it comes to putting the smalls together I would rather just start a new project. But who knows maybe when I put this design together I will feel inspired and put some other completed projects together! Wishful thinking!

I wanted to share a photo of my moonflower vine. During the day the vine has buds on it but at night they bloom into huge beautiful white flowers.  When I came home from work the other night the flowers were breath taking.                      "Where flowers bloom so does hope" -Lady Bird Johnson              Until Tomorrow, Candi

Indecisive

Yesterday we finally got AC around 3:45. That was just in time for me to go to work, Lucky me. While I was sitting in the heat I worked a little bit on a previous class piece. It is called Mermaid Mending Box by Olde Colonial Designs. 

I have been trying to work on a few pieces that are close to being finished. This one is pretty close, I just need to finish the alphabet at the top and the spine of the box, which is not pictured. I really need to focus and finish some of my WIPs! I would make a rotation for my projects but I probably would not stick with it. I usually look at all my projects and decide which one I want to work on. I am kind of picky. Some days I want to work on one and others I want to work on something completely different. So maybe I will work on this again tomorrow or maybe something different.
Until then,
Candi

Last Day with no AC... hopefully

My husband and I had off for two days in a row, THAT is unheard of. Yesterday we decided to go to lunch in Ocean City at Liquid Assets, which was amazing. Jon had a burger while I had a gourmet grilled cheese.
Next we went to Salty Yarns to pick up a few threads for my needlepoint piece in a previous post. After that we went to the Casino to give our donations. Overall we had a great day even though the weather was windy and rainy.
Today was different. I cleaned the attic... yes the attic which is only accessed at the moment by a ladder. Even though I said I cleaned it does not meant it is done by any means. The house may be hot but the attic, WOAH! was way worse. I brought down my Halloween decor because I decorate for halloween and then Christmas there is no redecorating in between. Oreo helped.

We threw a ton of stuff away in the attic, while people worked under the house on the AC. Man in charge said that he should be able to turn the AC on in the morning tomorrow. WoooHoo. Then hubby cut grass while I cleaned the house. I finally relaxed and have been working on Quaker Diamonds by Rosewood Manor. I absolutely love working with these amazing threads. I am working on a large diamond, bottom right. It still has quite a bit more detail to be added.

Tonight I think I am going to go back to the class piece in the last post. While it looks like back stitches it is actually a running stitch. I have actually got the hang of doing this stitch and can move pretty fast. I am off to stitch!

Happy Stitching!
Candi

Bedroom Prisoner

Today makes day 13 that I had to stay in the bedroom all day until work. Let me explain the reason why I now am a prisoner during the day. 13 days ago we came home to our air conditioner that decided to go to AC heaven. We have known for about 2 years that our AC was on its last leg. I have been getting quotes all summer so we could have a new one in the fall. Well after it went Kaput I called the company with the best deal and today was day 1 of installation, well more like deconstruction. The took out all the old duct work out and brought new to install tomorrow. The first few days of no AC was actually not bad, it was cool and not humid. Well these last 7 days have been terrible! It is so humid that everything in the house is sticky! But things are looking up today, Jose is driving by and dropping off cool winds, so tomorrow I should be able to enjoy the rest of my house.
Being stuck in one area hasn't been all terrible, I get quite a bit of stitching done during the day. Today I worked on Virgin Queen's Stitching Wallet by Willing Hands. I started this pattern as a class. The pre-stitch was a needle book that fits inside the wallet.

Then today I worked on an outside panel of the wallet. The bargello panel also has another bargello pattern on the opposite side. When put together these panels fold inside the wallet. This piece is super fun to work on, and moves relatively quick.

Here is what it will look like when it is done.

Tonight I may work on Quaker Diamonds by Rosewood Manor, I am over half way done. I am trying to find the motivation to finish it!

Until next time,
Candi

New Beginnings

It has been a loooong time since I have posted! There have been quite a few changes recently to free up some of my time, which I am so thankful for. For the past 7 years I have taught elementary followed by high school. During those years I have worked at my husbands family restaurant at the same time during the evenings. I also cleaned several houses and went to school to receive my Masters and this year my Doctorate. If that wasn't enough I also have been selling a clothing line for almost 2 years. To say I had a full plate is an understatement.
I began thinking about my life before I started teaching. This entailed spending time with my husband, going on vacations, stitching more, crafting, and spending more time with people that I never see. So this past April I gave up cleaning houses and I did not sign my letter of intent to continue teaching. There went two things from my long list.
Now I do not have a day job, I work evenings with my husband, and during the day I work on my final project for my degree and of course cross stitch. Even though I still sell clothes I have slowed down and I mostly do it when I have a bit of free time. Do I miss teaching? Yes but that was an important chapter in my life and now it is on to the next chapter which will eventually be teaching college after my degree is complete.
For now I am enjoying my free time and cross stitching a ton! Today I am sharing with you Starstruck by Needle Delights Originals.

 

This is a needlepoint pattern that I began earlier this year and just picked it back up. Today I completed the three left bottom squares. I love working on this project but the frame is very large and hurts my hand to hold for long periods of time. I should probably purchase a stand of sorts so I do not have to hold it. Does anyone use a free stand? Do you use the one that is floor length or lap size?

Tata for now,
Candi