The fight over the Indian

When I began stitching this Indian and had only a portion of the face and some hair completed, my step-daughter asked if it was for anybody and I told her no. She asked how big would it be, I told her. Then she asked if she could have it. Wow, coming from her, that was a big compliment and of course I told her yes! She likes "white" for her home decor, just a few decorative touches on the walls, so this really was a shocker to hear her ask for it, she's never asked for any of my stitching items before although she has always admired my work.

As soon as I finished it, I posted a picture on facebook and my cousin immediately commented on it and soon got around to asking about having it. His house is a southwest decor and he loves indians so I expected him to like it, but he fell in love with it so much and really wanted it badly, so I told him that I would stitch one for him but I wouldn't start it for several months. He was really happy and I pictured him doing a happy dance as if he just won an ebay auction at the last second!

Then, I sent a picture of it to my sister so she could show the picture to my mom, who doesn't have a computer. My sister said it was beautiful and when will she get it! Ohhh myyy! No, I'm not stitching one for her, it's not part of her home's decor and besides, I have a large project in mind for her, a Victorian Lady called Perfect Poise from the Cross Stitch Collection British magazine, issue 202. It's more her style and I haven't given her anything in a few years, so the next project is for her.

Well, my husband and I showed my step-daughter the finished Indian and she loved it. Then my husband told her about the other people who wanted it and she said they could have it, but we informed her that no, it's for her and I'll stitch another for my cousin. Then she got excited again and did a little jig about it. Makes me feel so good! Here's the completed picture:

It is stitched on 32 ct. Belfast, hand-dyed by Silkweaver linen called Cinnamon Roll. The lighter splotches you see in the picture are actually on the fabric and looks like it is a painted on suede. I waited years to find the right fabric for this piece and I whole heartedly love how well they go together!

Since it's my husband's daughter, he wants a hand in it and will make a frame for it. We've been looking for some wood and so far haven't found what we have in mind. By looking, I mean out in the woods, down by the creeks and streams. Not wood from Home Depot or Lowe's. We may have spotted some wood but we have to ask permission to get on the property. Will post a picture of it framed when that happens. Now on to a few fast projects before that Victorian Lady starts to come to life.

Alright, let's get busy

Here is my first start and finish for the new year. It's Lizzie*Kate's Winter Fob and I stitched the year at the bottom instead of the wreath and swirly wind.

I like the colors she used, not normally something I would put together so I'm glad I didn't change them, other than the placement in the houses.

My big project is the portrait of an American Indian. I was truly hoping to have finished it in 2011 but the last few weeks of the year brought an out of town funeral and upon return, a cold. Trying to get back in the groove, but still have the cold.

The fabric is an oops piece from Silkweaver Fabrics, it's 32 ct. Belfast dyed Cinnamon Roll. The picture isn't acurate because the color is more rust like the face. It's turning out beautifully, I now have the shoulders complete and need the rest of the bust, then up to the top to add the feather. This is a design that I have never stitched before, meaning an Indian. I always thought him captivating, the chart is dated 1989 so I've been waiting for the right fabric and now I've found it. My step daughter has asked if she could have it so it already has a home to go to.

My New Year's Resolution? to figure out how to make my blog look more fun. One day, I keep saying that about my blog. Maybe, one day in 2012. Who knows? Until next time, keep those needles flying!

God Bless America

I love the 4th of July for two primary reasons: 1) My birthday is on the 2nd of July and I always look forward to that and then there's a major holiday right after it and everyone is in a good mood in spite of the heat. 2) It's a major holiday celebrating our freedom and basically being a great country to live in and let's face it, it's a beautiful country where you can travel all over and see beautiful sites and scenery and for the most part, people are friendly and intriguing where ever you roam.

Every year I stitch something patriotic, usually after the 4th (heehee). I always hang my stitched piece of America by Jean Farish that I completed on July 4th, 2007. I am proud of this design because it represents something unique to each state. Here's a picture below:

And here are a few close up pictures:

Here's the middle section:

and here's the bottom, what's funny about the bottom is I made a booboo. I didn't consult the chart when stitching the box for the bottom and made it the same height as all 50 boxes, then when I started stitching "Land that We Love" I discovered my mistake. So I changed the words to say "Land That I Love" and inserted a flag mounted in the "land" (with flowers) surrounded by "sea to shining sea". I couldn't believe how well it turned out and am so proud of the whole thing in general. Such a fun piece to stitch on, if you have this pattern do it!

Here's a couple of other smaller designs that I display:

This one is titled "Boston Tea Party", I get a kick out of the titles of some designs, they just make you want to stitch them and this one makes me laugh:

Those were all a Secret Needle Night design from The Silver Needle, so cute.

This last one to me, represents the whole summer:

Hope you enjoyed these lovely pieces. If you like Landy Antebellum's music listen to "Perfect Day", that's how I feel about the 4th, carefree!

Happy 4th of July Y'all!

Celtic Spring - before and after the snow/ice storm

OK, I believe I am back on the "able to post an image" again! I have been trying all sorts of things to get my computer unblocked from posting pics. I finally just left it alone a few weeks and stitched, stitched, stitched. Much progress there and now all of a sudden, I can post pictures again. So, on to my update.
Here is the before picture of Celtic Spring in January 2011, before any of the cold spells swept the desert land of El Paso:

The above picture is of the bottom portion of the skirt, the very top of the picture is the rest of the fabric rolled on the scroll rod.
Now, here is current picture after the snow/ice storm from early Feb 2011, plus 10 days more:

I still have a little bit more to fill in the scrolls near the bottom of the skirt, then the ornamentation along the sides. Then, the fun part. BEADS! I am giving myself a deadline of 2 weeks and 2 days, which will be March 6th, my mom's birthday. I want to start another large project on that day and it's a date I'll remember.

The bad thing is the fabric I ordered for the next project was in December stupidly expecting it to come in that month and I would have a New Year's start, but it didn't come in. In January, I was told the fabric was shipped to the United States from Zweigart and will be dyed. Well, mid February I was told the dying process was complete so I might be expecting shipment soon. Great! I'll be done with Celtic Spring by then. Now I'm getting nervous about the cost of this piece of fabric, I think I ordered a yard, it's to stitch a flag with each of the states listed in order that they joined the union, starts with Delaware and ends with Alaska. I'm imposing a very ambitous finish date of July 4th for this one. Hopefully, July 4, 2011 and not 2012! Wish me luck.

I'm going to post a picture of the humongous cactus in our backyard that has "fallen" from the incredibly cold temps from early in Feb. El Paso set a record low of 1 degree. For this region that is extremly low. I realize other areas can have temps lower than that, but this is a desert region and the vegetation cannot handle that temp.

I tried to clean up the cactus expecting to cut it up and make it look attractive (small) but the cactus literally attacked me, first I got a thorn in my right hand and had to go inside to have my husband take out the thorn but the very tip broke off in my skin and it hurt like the dickens. Had to get my nurse instructor in class to dig in and remove it - it really hurt! But when I went back to finish my task, I was hatching at some of it and juice was flying everywhere, ok, well mostly in my face. I kept at it until it spit some of that juice right in my eye and I had to take off the gloves and use my shirt to wipe my eye. Then I spoke to the cactus and said, "let me finish chopping this one little area that I started and I'll leave you to thaw out and return to upright position." Things went well after that. I picked up all the pieces that had frozen off and left the cactus to heal itself.

Driving around town, many of the cactus are still wilted over. It seems as though ours is beginning to stand up a little bit again so I'll post updates. Every year in May, this cactus has the most beautiful, vibrant yellow flowers. One day I counted 135 flowers in bloom, not counting the ones that had already closed up, nor the buds that had yet to open up. It's a big cactus! A neighbor has a giant sequoia in the front yard and another on the side of his house and today I noticed that it looks brown like it's burnt from the cold. I really hope they both survive. Each year I take pictures of the blooms that happen only one a year for about a week. Beautiful white flowers like a crown on the top of the cactus. Very unique! Pray for them too!!

This post is long in lengh and long overdue! Happy stitching and enjoy the spring like temps!
S~

Happy 1/11/11

Today is a much anticipated day for different reasons. First off, the obvious: the abbreviated date with all the ones - 1/11/11. Then, my son has been waiting to update his phone since Nov and our contract will allow it later in Jan so he has been patiently waiting, and today Verizon has announced the iPhone will be available early in Feb. My son has been anticipating this moment since iPhone first came out 3 yrs ago but at the time we were under contract with T-Mobile. We had to switch although we could have gone to AT&T, the fees were higher and my son decided on a Droid at Verizon and so we signed with them last year.
Verizon's press conference was at 11 am, on 1/11/11! Then, driving him to school this morning, this very anticipated day, there were white pigeon doves on the electrical lines crossing the street above us. That was very unusual because the birds on a wire are almost always a black or dark color and these were all white, can't say I've seen that before. Then, for some unexplained reason, I decided to count them and lo and behold, there were 11 "white" pigeon doves! We both could not believe the irony of that number. We are praying that is a good sign and not a bad one like 9/11 turned out to be.
Needless to say, I had to text him with the info from Verizon's announcement. He was hoping that the iPhone would be in a white color and I was hoping for a Verizon Red. We expected the 3G network which is fine with me because 4G costs more. No tears lost here!!! He's a little disappointed they didn't mention white (his favorite color) but now he'll finally get an iPhone, his little dream come true. Now, we'll have an extra itouch that is less than a year old.
What a fun day, yes? So happy 1/11/11, make it a great and memorable day! Blessings to you and your needle.
ps. I still can't add images to my post and so far, my pc hasn't crashed - yea!

Here Goes Another Year - both going and coming

What a whirlwind of a year 2010 has been. First off, it was an adjustment of going through each month without my sweet dad and his humor and wise words. He is missed beyond words and tears still sting my eyes often just thinking of him but none more than his birthday, Dec 16th. That was hard. Then there was the very unexpected death of my brother in law and helping my sister and the kids get through these past 2 months. It really seems like it's been 6 months. Wow! hard to believe it is only 2 months. The days seem longer.
Then, there was a major life adjustment as my husband and I started nursing school and going full blast into that before my husband got sick and landed in the hospital with complications of a kidney stone. Forced us to drop out of school after 6 months while we dealt with his complication and treatment. Then we started another school in the fall and are doing well in it.
I spent the majority of the summer stitching while we were waiting for classes to begin in the fall. Got a beautiful piece finished for my aunt ( The Art Nouveau lady) and then started another beauty (Classy Lady) for my cousin. Was nearly finished when my BIL passed away and then I didn't get to stitch for a whole month after that. But, lo and behold, it is completed and framed. I have to make time to meet with her and give it to her.
For Christmas, I had two Shepherd's Bush pieces framed for my mom and gave them to her for Christmas and she is really pleased with them. They turned out beautiful in matching frames and complimentary mats. They are Sophie's Roses and Peter's Patch. I bought more stash this year and seemed to stitch less but I am a happy stitcher with my stash!
My stitching goal for 2011 is to stitch more meaningful pieces, especially from my stash, and to clear out alot of older patterns that are piling up and I've lost interest in them. I still intend to continue my collection of Gingher Designer Scissors and GAST threads as I have the complete line of threads and many of the Limited Edition skeins which I realized that there are more LE skeins than the regular line now. That's ok, I stitch from both and my collection of Weeks Dye Works is growing. I am not trying to get the complete set of WDW as there are many colors that I'm not interested in.
I don't know what's going on with my computer and blogspot, I am not able to insert any pictures lately. That makes for some boring blogs. What's going on? I really hope my computer isn't about to crash.
So, Happy New Year to all and many blessings to everyone. I wish for everyone to stay safe, healthy and to find ways to help other people! God Bless!!

Merry Christmas to All

Wanted to wish everyone reading a very Merry Christmas and look forward to a prosperous 2011.
Finally this day is here and gifts are wrapped and under the tree. The size of the presents are small but the price is not. The kids are too eager to open presents and excited to see the looks on the faces on other people as they open their presents. My son did most of the wrapping as he has in previous years. He's such a good elf and gets excited with the decorating and the Christmas music. I love all the love in his heart!
Keep safe and enjoy the celebration of Jesus' birth, keep Him close to your heart!