Slow progress . . .

Hi all!

This week has been frustrating for me as I have had such an urge to just sit and stitch and stitch and stitch . . . but sadly life and my health has gotten in the way and I have not had as much stitching time as I would have liked . Still , I have made some progress on the Lavender Fairy.

 

The skirt is really fun to stitch but I felt it was time to move onto other parts of the chart too , so today I began stitching the fairy's green top. I hope to be able to stitch much much  more next week , while I watch the Stanley Cup - playoffs and the IIHF Men's World Ice Hockey Championships . Yes , you've guessed it , I'm an avid sports fan as well as a dog-lover and a cross stitch addict : ))

 

I have managed to do some crochet . I'm making a poncho . . .

 

. . .using this free pattern. It's easy work for times when I cannot manage to concentrate on a cross stitch chart . This poncho is a gift and I am using acrylic yarns for this one, but I would also like to make a summer poncho for myself using soft cotton yarns in soft pastel colours. However , cotton yarns are expensive so it may never be more than a dream project . . .

 

Happy stitching everyone!

 

Annie

More Lavender Fairy . . . and more stash ( Oh No ) !

Hi all!

I had a nice time visiting my grandma over the weekend , but I am glad to be home again with my four-legged boys : )
Sadly my plans to do lots of cross stitching did not go as planned due to bad lightning at my grandma's . I stitched a little ( because I had such a stitching urge ) but it was hard on my eyes and I had to do some frogging at times too . . . Still , this is how far I got on the Lavender Fairy over the weekend . . .

Sorry the photo is so dark : (
Today I was so pleased to be back home in my usual stitching spot on my couch with my own stitching lamp , so I just HAD to stitch some more ! There was dishes waiting in the zink , a messy living room to tidy up , bags to unpack , but I just wanted to stitch some more on my fairy . . .

 

So this is as far as I got today : ) I almost always stitch by colour , and I move to the area that takes my fancy as I stitch . Stitching the beautiful skirt is what takes my fancy right now with all its lovely colours of purple , violet , and blues ! Gorgeous !

While I stitched , one of my darling boys buried himself in the doggy basket...

 

...while one of his 'brothers' kept an eye on me and my stitching !

I bought a new English cross stitch magazine ( Cross Stitch Crazy issue 203) during my trip , since I saw this lady . . .

Art Deco Lady by Joan Elliott

...and I just had to have her ! ! There are lots of beads added to this design which I love , as well as the lovely pinks and greens ! I also like the fact that the design is not too big ( 140 x 110 ) so it will not take too long to stitch ! I had a look through my stash today and I had about half of the threads , so I have to order the rest of the threads as well as the beads before I can start to stitch her . I cannot wait ! I just keep seeing more and more designs I want to stitch . . . which is lovely. . . but annoying!
How on earth am I going to stitch them all ? ? ! !
I am sure none of you have that problem. . . . ha ha ha !

Happy Stitching everyone !

Annie

A Quick Bloggy Query!

Hi all!

I LOVE reading all your cross stitch blogs , but for some reason I have not been able to read the posts on the blog http://thegirlthatstitches.blogspot.se/ lately ! This saddens me because I know she stitches beautiful pieces! Am I the only one having this problem ?

Annie

Lavender Fairy takes off!

Hi all!

Finally I finished the gridding of the fabric for Joan Elliott's Lavender Fairy. Of course I couldn't wait to start stitching . . .

Sadly the photo doesn't do justice to the beautiful fabric and the vibrant threads. . . I must say that I just love everything about this project : ) The fabric is beautifully soft and smooth and the needle just glides through the aida. The colours of the hand dyed fabric are stunning and the colours of the threads are wonderful. My favourite colours are pink and purple so this fairy is simply a perfect stitch for me : )

I'm going away this weekend and I was not planning to bring any cross stitching, but now I have to bring this fairy in the hope that I can add some more cross stitches . She has certainly put a spell on me !

See you all on Sunday : )

Happy Stitching everyone!

Annie

Lots of fractionals. . .

Hi all!

I have been stitching on the delicate 'headpiece' that the Daffodil Fairy has in her hair . . .

I find it a really fiddly thing to stitch . There are so many fractionals and I have to use a magnifier to make out all the different colours on the chart .

 

After being at it for a couple of hours I had done these stitches in different greens and was forced to stop since I was getting tired from concentrating so hard when reading the chart . This fairy will be a real LABOUR of love , but if I can put in a couple of hours of work on it most days, I should be able to finish it this year . . .

 

I'm almost finished gridding the fabric for the Lavender Fairy, and I can't wait to begin stitching it!  

The kit has some lovely green and purple threads that I cannot wait to stich with . . . !

 

Happy Stitching everyone!

 

Annie

My Joan Elliott Fairies!

Hi all!

 

Lavender Fairy by Joan Elliott

 

Oh well , I just couldn't stop myself ! I just had to get the Lavender Fairy Kit out and make a start ! Sadly the start so far means ONLY stitching grids on the fabric . . .

 

 

It is such a tedious , time consuming job and I sure wish I had a marker to do this with instead . However , I don't , and I need the grids so it has to be done the old-fashioned way . Saying that though , the fabric ( Polstitches hand dyed 14HPI aida called 'Snowstorm' ) that came with the kit is stunning with swirls of purple , pink and blue so the gridding is slightly less painful than normal . . . haha!

 

I actually managed to get some cross stitches stitched today too . I decided to pick up an old project that has been on the shelves for a couple of years . It is another design by Joan Elliott , The Daffodil Fairy.

Daffodil Fairy by Joan Elliott

 

This will be a gift for my very good friend T . It originally was intended for her 50th birthday but of course I didn't make the deadline , and then I ran into trouble when I was going to stitch the fairy's delicate skin and hands, and her foot and her hair . . . well , it just got too difficult and I had to put the project to the side . However , I feel I am a more experienced stitcher now - a couple of years later - and with my newfound love for Kreinik and beads I feel ready to tackle this fairy now ! It is going to be a slow process though , but I am determined to try to get it done this year ! Wish me luck !

Happy stitching everyone !

Annie

My secret projects are not so secret anymore!

Hi all!

The last few days have been crazy busy over here! It was my sister's 40th birthday and my mum and I worked hard to make it a great celebration for her , so Friday , Saturday and Sunday were all spent dealing with party business . There was no time for relaxed cross stitching on the sofa , or watching my favorite English murder mysteries such as Midsomer Murders or Lewis . . .

I made a birthday card for my sister . . .

 

 . . . using a cross stitch chart designed by Angela Poole from Cross Stitch Collection issue 200 , and I also made a little brooch/necklace for her using a self-cover button , felt and ribbons .

Finally I could also give my wonderful sister her birthday present that I have been working on for the last couple of months . Knowing that she likes unicorns , I decided to cross stitch Joan Elliott's beautiful design Magical Unicorn for her :

 

This was the first time that I stitched with Kreinik braid #4 and Mill Hill Seed beads and I absolutely loved using these embellisments . The Kreinik was soo easy to stitch with compared to other metallics and sooo sparkly , and the beads were so much fun to attach and made the unicorn look fabulous ! According to the chart I used (which came from The World of Cross Stitching magazine issue 189) the stitching time was 90 hours, but my own stitching time is normally double the time they state in the magazines so with the beading and the Kreinik I estimate that it took me about 200 hours to stitch this beautiful unicorn !

Close ups :

 

 

I made a couple of changes to the design compared to the original chart . I cannot afford the beautiful hand-dyed fabrics so I picked an blue marbled aida instead as an economy alternative , and I decided to use varigated DMC tread for the forest in the background . Both these changes worked out well I think .
Although this was a time consuming project I loved stitching it and I definitely want to stitch a Joan Elliott design with beads and Kreinik again sooon ! In fact , I have the Lavender Fairy in my stash . . . hm . . .

Yesterday I also visited my VERY good friend T who also celebrated her birthday this weekend , and for her I had made a big bag in which she can store some of her stash of knitting yarns : = )

 

I added two stitched decorative cross stitched patches . . .  

. . .using this wonderful little design by Emma Congdon from the Cross Sticher magazine issue 288 . I LOVE this stitching related design and have stitched it several times , although I have had to change the colours since I didn't have the exact thread colours from the original chart .

So . . . now I have to decide if I want to pick up a WIP. . .
or if I should make a new start. . .
or maybe two new starts. . .
or maybe all the above. . . ? ? ?

Such lovely stitching decisions to be made ! ! !

Happy Stitching everyone!

Annie

Stitching daydreams. . .

Hi!

So good news is that I have basically finished my secret projects , but the bad news is that I cannot show you yet . . . ( just a few more days! ) However , I'm starting to dream about the new projects I want to stitch for myself now that I can pick whatever I want again . Of course I have all the magazine charts and the kits that are waiting for me , but now that I have tried beads I want to do more of beaded cross stitch chart : ) Seeing all the beautiful beaded ladies that some of you stitch , I'm feeling really inspired to try out a Nora Corbett design . Of course I would have to order charts and beads online from US which is going to cost a bit , but I have a real strong urge to do more stitching with beads : )

Anyway, checking out online stores doesn't cost anything so I had a browse through http://abcstitch.com/ and found some beautiful Nora Corbett designs that I loved : )
How about . . .
 

Fern - Pixie Couture Collection

Jasmine - Pixie Couture Collection

Lilly - Pixie Couture Collection

Lily Of The Valley Spring Garden - Pixie Couture



Morning Glory - Pixie Couture Collection

Rose - Pixie Couture Collection

Sweet Pea Spring Garden - Pixie Couture

I tell you , I was just drooling over these designs . . .! A lot of you have probably already seen these designs or even stitched some of them, but for me this is a whole new wonderful world full of stunning fairies and pixies decorated with lots and lots of embellishments .

The questions are. . . do I dare to venture out into it. . .?!

And should I use some of my tax refund on one of these charts and the necessary beads . . .?!

Second framed picture in two days!

Hi!

Since I'm on a roll now I decided to frame my Spring Window too today . Whilst I stitched the Summer Window last summer , this Spring Window was a WIP for many years . . .

 I fell in love with the spring flowers on this design but this was way before I really got into cross stitching so it remained a slow-moving WIP for many years . However , last year I decided to get it out and finish it and by then I had cross stitched a lot so it didn't take me long at all to complete the picture . Then , of course , it stayed in a box for another year until today! So , you see , this finish has been a long time coming . . . : = )
Now I finally have these two pictures up on my wall and it feels pretty darn good!!!

 

Happy Stitching everyone!

 

Annie

A Summer Window on my wall - YAY!

Hi!

Today I've been working on different finishes for my secret projects . While I LOVE the actual cross stitch process , I DREAD the bit where I have to turn the cross stitching into something 'real' . I cannot afford having my pieces framed professionally so I have to frame them myself . . . I cannot afford buying expensive frames so it is always a struggle to find a matching frame in the appropriate size that is also cheap . . . It is just a big hassle! Furthermore , despite having sewn my own clothes in the past I still question my ability to sew pretty things incorporating my cross stiched pieces . . . I have a very complicated relationship with my sewing machine to say the least , so every time I have to use it is a big mental struggle for me. . .

The really good thing about today though is that I actually managed to frame a piece of mine that I stitched last summer! YAY! I just couldn't face the washing , and ironing and framing part of it all , but today I got it done! I used a really cheap and colourful frame from IKEA, and this is what the back of the frame looked like when I was done . . .

Luckily you cannot see the back once the picture is on the wall . . . haha! And this is what my picture looked like from the front when I had finished the framing . . .

It's a bit uneven and slightly wonky but considering how little it cost me to do , I'm quite happy to put up with a couple of imperfections in the finishing touches . . . It still looks good I think .
This 'Summer Window' design comes from a Cross Stitcher magazine issue that is more than ten years old , and it is part of a series of four seasonal windows . I have stitched the spring window too and hope to have that framed soon as well.

I decided to use satin thread for the white flowers to make sure that they stood out and didn't just fade into the white aida fabric and I  think it worked out very well : )
It's a wonderfully satisfying feeling to be able to put your own stitched picture on the wall . . .even if it took me a year to get it done . . .!

Happy stitching everyone!

Annie