Framed

Two more back from the framer.

Holiday Wreath by Laura Perin and River Dance by me.  Happy with them both!

(Blog refuses to put them side by side!)

Christmas Reindeer

This charmer was cross stitched by a friend and put into this very cool snow globe-y thingie.  Is this the cutest or what??
The design is available, for cross stitch or needlepoint, on the website.  You're on your own for the snow globe though 😊.

Two Bargellos for Christmas

Here are 2 Bargellos I did over the past couple of months.
The one on the left, Bear Dance, went into a Sudberry House tray.  The one on the right, Button Up Your Overcoat, is a key rack (I couldn't put the hooks on or it wouldn't go back in its box!).  
Both were Christmas gifts, now delivered.

These patterns are based on musical notation, a technique I came up with many years ago, but have never written up.

Holiday Wreath progress

1-10-2018

12-31-2017

Picture problem solved.  Computer won't take the memory disk anymore, but we can load directly from the camera.  I had forgotten that!!  Anyway, above pics show where it was when I last posted and where it is today.  I'm doing the bow in Criss Cross Hungarian in 2 shades of red Petite Very Velvet, without the shading shown in the directions.  By the weekend I should have the bow finished.  Then the packages have to be "decorated".  

(Blog wouldn't let me type next to the pictures today!  Guess you can't fix everything at once!!)

Holiday Wreath

My Holiday Wreath is coming along well. Unfortunately, since we updated my computer last week (Windows latest update) it has apparently forgotten how to read the memory card from my camera!  Hence, no pictures. The packages are done, I've started on the greenery and looking forward to the big red bow. Decorating the packages will be last. As soon as I figure out how, I'll post pictures!

Holiday Wreath

Just before Halloween, I started Laura Perin's "Holiday Wreath".
I've only worked on it a couple of times.  It is larger than I thought it would be.  I only manage one or two packages per session.  It may not be ready for Xmas this year, LOL, you think?!!




Here's my progress so far:

Christmas Littles

I have no excuses!  I just keep forgetting to post.  I have been stitching ornaments and they are almost finished.  I did some of the "finishing" today and hope to have them all done in the next day or so to photograph the next time there is a sunny day!

These designs plus a few others will become a collection of designs called Christmas Littles that will be available after the first of the year.  They are all little!  Some as small as 1.5" square.  The biggest is not quite 5"x7".  Great stash busters.

Stay tuned for publishing announcement next month!

Back from the Finishers!

 Finally!  I shipped these off to be finished and they have been returned.  It's like Christmas!!
The little clutch turned out really nice.  This was a Stitch & Zip and so the zipper went all the way around.  Now it is finished so it only opens on one side, and lined nicely as well.  
The brown/purple piece is a magnet!  What a great idea, which I would never have though of. The 2 little ornaments are just so cute and the pumpkin one has a little spider charm that doesn't show in photo.  Then there's the bookmark which is really nice.  
But the Star of this Show is the stand up.  It is 2 sided, with a piece of needlepoint on each side!  How cool is that?!  Below is the other side:

Merry Christmas!

I hope you all have a very Stitchy Christmas.

Twelve Days of Christmas Bargello

www.lizartneedlepoint.com

Candy Cane Ornament

Merry Christmas everyone!  Can you believe Christmas is tomorrow already?!

This cute ornament stitched up in minutes, well, maybe a couple of hours.  And the prefinished fabric ornament is a dream!  Just stick in the finished stitchery & you're done!  A friend told me about these "Christmas Tucks". I love them!  Your LNS can order them online from the Yarn Tree.

Bargello Crackers 1 & 2

Crackers are not just for Christmas!
I have completed two Bargellos which are destined to become Crackers.

#1 is a Spring Cracker and #2 is a Christmas Cracker.
I used Silk & Ivory, Watercolours and FyreWerks.

These stitch up so fast!  Now, off they go to the finisher!



Finished Ornaments

Well, I got four of these finished.  The 5th proved to be too difficult for me and will have to be sent out to be finished and saved for next year!

The top 2 and the lower left are Laura Perin designs from her Mystery Monday Series.  The lower right is Ro Pace's Starry Night.

The top two are prefinished banners, very easy to finish.  Just stick in the needlework and then I use little strips of fuseable web to insure the edges of the fabric stay down.  The bottom two are the same deal except they are little pillows.  Bless the people who make these prefinished items!

MERRY CHRISTMAS, OR WHATEVER, TO ALL OF YOU!!

Bookmarks finished

These are two of the prefinished, painted canvas bookmarks that I just completed.
The quail is all in floss, for a boy.
The red one is in Neon Rays with a #8 Kreinik background, for a girl.
These will accompany books to the birthday kids - on Christmas day!

Christmas Caper Framed

This week I picked up two pieces at the framers.

I can only show you one of them as the other is a Christmas gift and I don't want to spoil the surprise!

Here is Christmas Caper all framed.  I do love this piece!  It just makes me smile every time I look at it.  I've decided to get an easel to use to display it so I can put it right where I can see it from my stitching chair.

Mini Mystery November

I think this is the last Christmas ornament for this year.  This is Laura Perin's Mini Mystery Monday for November. 
I love it!  It turned out so pretty!  The photo doesn't do it justice - it is very sparkly!
I changed the colors to all greens & whites for Christmas.  I used Watercolours #066 Jade, two #5 pearl cottons, white and dark green 890, FyreWerks #F45, and a little bit of #4 Kreinik #5982 (used double). On dark green canvas.

I love the way the FyreWerks picks up the colors around it.  When worked directly on the green canvas, it turns light green.  When worked on the white it is white!  Wonderful!  That is the same thread I used on the red one on white canvas and it looks very white.

I hope to have all the ornaments "finished" by the end of the week to show you next week.



Mini Mystery Monday #8

Another little Christmas finish.  This one is Laura Perin's Mini Mystery Monday #8.  Isn't it pretty?
I made a few changes because I didn't want a border around the outer edge.  It turned out pretty good, although a tad larger than I wanted.  Oh well.  It is much, much sparklier than the picture shows!  The canvas is white silver sparkle and the silver is #8 Kreinik 001.  There is also some FyreWerks #F45.  The red is Watercolours 219 Cardinal, not as much variation as I would have liked, but this is what I had on hand!  Then there are 2 #5 Pearl cottons, White and 817.

Christmas Caper, Finished

Happy Thanksgiving to you all.

The Christmas Caper by Charley Harper is finished.  I love this piece - it is just sooooo cute!

The garland took quite a while.  The popcorn is French Knots in snow white Watercolours and the red balls are Neon Rays Rhodes variations.  The tree is in Arctic Rays and I added a few gold beads.  I found a cute little silver moon to hang in the night sky.  Using the glitter canvas, I didn't have to do the stars!

Now to try to get it framed in time to enoy some before Xmas!!

Christmas Caper, Progress #4

These Raccoons are just getting cuter every minute! 
I have made some serious progress on Christmas Caper.
All 4 raccoons are finished.  The candy cane is done and the star.  I just used straight stitches for the candy cane, in Neon Rays.  The star is a Jean Hilton 8-pointed star, compensated. 
I worked the candy cane and the star out on graph paper first.  The star was really tricky!  But it turned out pretty good, in Kreinik #3 braid.  I haven't decided yet if I will put something in the center of the star!
Next up will be the garland.

Mini Mystery #3

Christmas is coming fast!  So I decided I'd better get busy and make up a few small things.

Yesterday I stitched this one up!  It is Laura Perin's Mini Mystery #3.  I've been printing out her Monday Mysteries every week since she started doing them.  Thanks Laura!

I changed the colors slightly.  I used:
Watercolours 025, #5 pearl 890 and 817, Fyre Werks F3 and Kreinik #3 002.  The beads are Mill Hill Glass 02011, which I put on this morning. 

I'm not sure exactly how it will be finished, but will post a pic whenever.

Christmas Door Hangers

I have been doing some sewing lately.  These 3 little door hangers are my efforts to save money & make my own!  The cross stitched pieces had been laying around for several years.  The hangers turned out pretty well.  I did one more, but gave it away & forgot to take a picture of it.  Once I got the process down, each one takes about 2-3 hours to make up.  I am not a fast sewer!