Not Quite According to Plan

Sadly, the big plan to see some real progress on my Good Day Syre Christmas cross stitch went a little sideways last week. Thinking it would be the perfect small stitching project to pack for a getaway was all well and good, until I came down with a cold on day two of our trip. Things continued to worsen as the trip progressed so any potential quiet stitching time turned into nap time really quickly.

We were home again by Friday but that's when things really went south; I spent much of my long weekend either sleeping, trying to breathe, or coughing up a lung (okay, maybe a little exaggeration, but it wasn't good). 

For whatever reason, half way through the weekend I decided to pick up my stitching. Not the best decision as this snowflake just about got the better of me. I feel as though I ripped out just about every stitch that I put in. Surprisingly, I did end up with a little progress but I can't say it was the most enjoyable time I've spent with a needle in hand, so I put it down again.

A day or two later - after better drugs - things went better. Good thing, as I was starting to wonder if this pattern just wasn't for me. I'm now well into the snowflake doily and it is moving along nicely. Happy to have things back on track and hoping that this cold is on its way out the door soon....M

Playing Chicken With My Stitching

I'm slowly picking away at my Syre Christmas cross stitch but will need to pick up the pace now as I've just heard that the shop where I like to get my framing done is closing at the end of June, so I've got some motivation to finish it up, and quickly.

I've been working on the large snowflakes, all the while keeping an eye on my supply of white floss as it's coming to an end. 

I thought I was in good shape until I looked at the pattern; I'll never have enough to do the large snowflake/doily that sits near the upper right corner, regardless of how good I am at stretching it out. 

The floss that I had came with the pattern but it wasn't in town, so I thought I might be stumped. Not so - I found some today! No excuses now....M

I'm Slow Today

It's Sunday. It's also the first day after the time change and losing an hour's sleep always slows me down a bit, so time for a little slow stitching.

My Christmas cross stitch is filling in one little bit at a time; the clothesline is half full now.

I'm almost finished the holly leaves and soon it will be time to start on the large white snowflakes at the top of the pattern. Looking at the skein of white that I have, I'm thinking that a trip to the shops will be in order soon as I used up most of it for the first one that I did like this. 

Nothing like a little hand work to slow life down, is there?....M

Doing Santa's Laundry

Merry Christmas! With all of the prep and celebration for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, it's been like living in a snow globe these past couple of days, but in a very good way. And now that Santa's rounds are complete, it's time to freshen up his suit.

Time to catch my breath a bit, so I picked up Good Day, Syre Christmas and have been enjoying some very relaxing cross stitch by the light of the tree with my eggnog nearby.

Freshly fallen snow and icicles have been added to his house.

And the laundry is starting to be hung on the line.

May you find time to relax and soak in the joys of the season with some quiet time as well....M

Soggy Stitching

We're home again. Thankfully the heat wave has broken to some extent, and with that change came rain. It's been nothing if not variable - sunny one minute, pouring the next - but the rain is a welcome change. And a little more cross stitch is the perfect way to spend a soggy Sunday.

This time around I decided to start with Santa's house.

Then there was a little landscaping.

And now I'm into roofing. It's fun to see it come together though invariably, as I add new colours, I see where I have occasionally misplaced a stitch. No worries. The pattern is flexible enough at this point that I can fill in as desired and it's close enough for me....M

Counting On Santa To Keep Me Cool

We're on a bit of a holiday this week and we've also been under a massive heat dome, the likes of which we've never seen before, so I have been looking to Santa to help cool things down a bit. 

I'm starting another Good Day, Syre Christmas cross stitch. The one that I made last year was lots of fun but you work it over two threads of linen so at times it's tough to keep your stitches where you need to. For that one, I basted a line through the centre of each axis as a way to help keep me oriented to the pattern, but it still made for lots of counting and recounting.

So, this time I'm basting a grid every 10 stitches apart. It's not the fastest process, again because of the linen, but I've finally finished. Sort of reminded me of Sashiko stitching but more stressful because it is finely woven. Time to start putting a few stitches in and see where that takes me. 

Hope that you are finding ways to stay cool in this heat....M

Christmas Greetings

The dust is beginning to settle on our Christmas hustle and bustle. I hope that you have enjoyed the holidays thus far and that you are able to connect with family and friends to share some time together. We have had a terrific Christmas, including gifting a few last minute projects.

My sister Betty has a thing for doing laundry; she calls it her meditation. As I was looking at finishing up this sampler of Good Day Syre Christemas - a view of Santa's rustic home in the woods with his laundry hung out on the line to dry - it occurred to me that it would make a perfect gift for her.

Three large snowflakes were the last of the elements to be worked on. Placement was the biggest challenge because of the linen that I was using, but I managed to get them into the correct spot. It occurred to me after the fact that I could have run a basting stitch to help position them and avoid counting and recounting to make sure that they were where I wanted them to be. I'll do that for the next one.

The very last details were the deer tracks that run through the woods. They are faint in colour but add a special little touch.

It's a really sweet piece and I love the humour of it. All pressed and ready to be framed, it will be interesting to see what Betty chooses for that.

I ordered two pieces of linen when I ordered the pattern so maybe I will start a second one for me now.

Merry Christmas everyone!....M

Slowing It Down a Bit

A week today it's Christmas Eve, so it's going to be a busy week of prep in anticipation of the big day. Actually, I had great plans for this past week too - chores set out by day, all very organized - and then a cold laid me low for several days.

Unfortunately, it has found a home in my sinuses that it really likes, so I'm not bouncing back into action as quickly as I had hoped, so today's plan is to lie low and give it another day to get me on track, because those floors aren't gonna scrub themselves!

I'm picking up a little seasonal cross stitch that I started a while back called Good Day Syre Christemas in the hopes that it contains some medicinal powers....M

A Good Day

Things were really smokey here again yesterday from the forest fires that continue to burn up north and in Quebec, which meant that we were pretty much confined to the house. A good time to spend cross stitching.

All of the trees on one side are finished now, with the exception of the footprints from the reindeer, so I moved on to the type at the bottom of the pattern. This area is worked with a single band of floss over one thread. Oh my! Suddenly my earlier stitches looked like giants!

It took me a bit to get onto it, especially since I was trying to watch golf at the same time, but eventually I got the swing of it. My task lamp was invaluable. All in all, a good day....M

Santa's Laundry

It's been quite a while since I have picked up any cross stitch to work on, but I started a fun new project this week. 

It's called Good Day Syre Christemas and is a rustic view of Santa's home in the woods with his laundry hung out on the line to dry. Couldn't resist.

It's worked on 28 count raw linen, which makes for teenie tiny stitches, even when worked over two threads. This little guy is just a little larger than an inch in size.

We took a bit of a getaway so I started working on it there but the combination of our outings, my older eyes and poor lighting made for very little progress. That large snowflake just about drove me to distraction. I got a few more rows in than are shown but I decided to park everything until I was home and able to work under a good light. I think that I've discovered one stitch that is made in error so the trick will be whether I live with it or rip everything out and start again...

Despite the size of the stitches, the pattern is quite open so I expect that once I get my mojo in place it should work up quite quickly (she says confidently). That little line of laundry should be fun. You can order the pattern online from Goodflora Stitchworth, if you are so inclined....M

30 Years Later...

Yup, just 30 years after starting my 'Believe' cross stitch its now completed (maybe it's only 28-29, but what's a year here and there?). That didn't take very long, did it?

When I picked it up a few weeks ago I thought that I just had a bit of outlining to do, but noooo - there was quite a bit of it still to finish up, along with more stitching to add. As I went along I realized why this had been set aside - I had run out of the deep purple floss for Santa's sack.

I checked with a few shops in town and finally found DMC floss but the colour code that I had was nowhere to be seen (I almost think that DMC codes have completely changed since this project was started because there was nothing in the 6000 series). Not having been smart enough to take the piece shopping with me so that I could match thread colours (I just took the colour code) I was left trying to figure out which might work; these three came home with me.

None of them were a match but given the area that needed to be stitched I was able to get away with using one. Whew!


At long last it was finished, or at least so I thought. When taking photos I noticed that there are four tiny red stitches missing in this candy cane (just above the toy elephant), so I'll put those in today and that will wrap it up.

I still like it as much as the day I started it, particularly that it is stitched on linen, and think that I will get it framed. I had thought of using it for a cushion top but I'm afraid of how the cross stitch would wear. Every now and then we enjoy the company of a little four-legged visitor who likes to beat up on my cushions, sending them flying to the floor. I think Santa would be much safer in a frame.

Yesterday we celebrated my favourite niece's birthday so I made a white, snowy cake to match the day. Lots of fun celebrating this lovely and talented gal...M

PHB

I'm in the PHB zone now (Post Holly Bazaar) - that time when all the prep is behind me and I'm left looking around wondering what it is that I should do next. It's nice not to have a list of pressing projects and baking to deal with but it leaves me a little adrift.

I wasn't quite ready to sit in to my hoop to do some hand quilting or to go down and work on the sewing machine, but I did want to do something. Then, while I was rummaging around in the project basket in the study my bag of Christmas cross stitch fell into my hand.

This was going to be my holiday stitching project last year but that didn't bear much fruit. When I looked at it again last night the timing seemed right to pick it up and I got a few stitches in before bed.

There really isn't that much more to do, just some outlining and highlights at the bottom of the piece, so that's going to be today's slow sewing project. If I put my mind to it I should be able to finish it today. I just have to 'believe'!....M

Saying Thanks

Remember when I was making Sea Glass and Linda offered up the perfect grey print for the backing? She very generously just gave me the fabric and I've been looking for a way to say thank you. Well, on the weekend I finally did. She's a fan of pincushions and of birds so I cross stitched this pincushion for her.

It's a sweet pattern that her sister Jane sent me from Pinterest a few months ago and it just seemed like something that Linda needed. It has been years since I've cross stitched on linen and either the weave has gotten tighter or my eyes have gotten weaker (I'm going with option B on this one) so it took a bit to get it right, but with a good lamp I was off and running.

The pattern more or less dictated that the piece would be long and narrow so I set to work finding a backing and a little trim to finish it off. The red gingham is a piece that mom picked up years ago on a trip to the States so it was nice to be able to incorporate that as well.

It's filled with lavender scented walnut shells so it smells lovely. This was the first time that I had used this filling and, while I like the weight it gives the piece, I have to say that it's a tad floppier than I would have liked, but I couldn't figure out how to stuff it more and still sew it closed.

I'm sorry that it has taken so long to be delivered but she was happy with her new little friend and I suspect it will be well used. I also have a heart garland for her that Julia made but it was AWOL from the gift bag so now I need to figure where I've laid it. If I only had a brain....M

Happy Easter!

Last weekend Jane pulled out the pattern and materials to stitch this little bunny and cut a piece of fabric for me too, and in no time it was done - just in time for Easter.

It's the sweetest pattern and the thread that she had for it was ideal. We got half finished Saturday when we were together so she sent me home with what we hoped was enough floss to finish it up. There were a few anxious moments but in the end there was just enough - what you see in the needle is all that I had left. Guess it was meant to be.

I'm not sure what I'll do with it, but for the time being I'm just going to enjoy looking at it. Thanks so much Jane.

And because it's Easter there are all kinds of goodies are around. If you live with the Official Cookie Tester it also means its time for pumpkin pie. This is hands down his favourite and he's been hinting lately that he'd love one, so the Easter Bunny delivered.

I hope you have a beautiful Easter shared with family and friends....M