Tuesday, March 15, 2016

A few finishes to celebrate

Enjoying a nice quiet Tuesday today with no errands or appointments to go to.   Time to update my blog and get some good stitching time in!  Recently got 2 more pieces back from the framers.   Both of these had been sitting around for months waiting.  I always get museum glass on my framed pieces but it sure increases the price!   That's the one thing about stitching that really adds up.   I'm very happy with how both of them came out and glad to get them off the framing pile.

Here's "Strawberry Fields Forever" by Blackbird Designs:



And finally got this big one below done - this is "Frosty Forest" by Country Cottage Needleworks. I took some liberties with the design on this piece - I modifed the blue house block to make it into a millhouse with water wheel, designed my own center block using some trees and bears from an LHN chart I had, and I charted my own border using a snippet of pine bough from a LHN chart and adding random 'snow'.  Love the frame as it has a brighter silver tone on the part of it that goes well with the white floss in the piece - I added a closeup photo of one corner.





I also recently did some finishing work for a stitching pal....thought you might enjoy seeing these cute pieces.

This is a Prairie Schooler piece made into an ornament

A cute scissor fob......

and a Christmas bird made into an easel finish

Did everybody enjoy the Downton Abbey finale?  I thought they did a great job - so happy that there were so many happy endings - Edith finally finds love, Anna & Mr. Bates have their baby,  and even Daisy on the verge of having a new beau.   I hated to see the series end but guess it was time.  A few years back I received a boxed set of seasons 1-4 for Christmas, so now I need to pick up Seasons 5 and 6 to complete the set.  I think I'll wait until the prices come down though....I saw Season 5 in a store and the price was more than the entire 1-4 seasons set!    Prices on DVDs and Blu-Rays are trending downward as more people use streaming and on-demand for viewing.  That's good for me as I've been picking up lots of cheap movies on clearance lately.

I've been working on this Quaker sampler over the last week and making some good progress.  This was a piece that was on my wish list to do for years and I finally started it last year I think.  I kind of went through  love/hate phases with this piece...for awhile I was sorry I even started it as I wasn't liking it that much but now that I'm just about halfway through I'm liking it again.   I'm stitching this with silks on 40-ct mystery linen from my stash.  Odd thing though...this linen looks like a neutral beige by day but at night it looks light green - must have some greenish tones in the dye I guess. 

"Emblem of Love" by With My Needle

I'm also making a little progress on block 3 of Fruit Bellpull.  Doesn't look like much but I'm happy every time I can hilite a little bit that's done on my chart - all the leaves take forever to do in a zillion shades of green. 


Keeping busy as usual with appointments for this and that - got new glasses and I'm getting a series of 5 injections for my knee arthritis.  So far I'm not feeling any improvement yet and this treatment is very expensive but I'm hopeful....the doctor says some people don't get any relief until a month or so after the injections are finished.   DH is heading out of town tomorrow to go see some of the NCAA basketball tournament games in Denver.  I plan on having a 4-day marathon of stitching, sewing, and movie watching!!   The weather here is beautiful and hope the rest of you are starting to get some nice spring days. 

27 comments:

  1. ooOoo! Both pieces look great all framed up. You did such nice finishing work. Ugh. I hear ya on the arthritis.

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  2. Strawberry Fields is just gorgeous, and I adore the changes you made to Frosty Forest!! The bears...!! Too cute.

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  3. Wow, your framing looks great and I'm in love with Frosty Friends. I have all the Frosty Friends charts (wink wink) and fabric, I should just start it! Such finishing skills, Jeanne, they all look great. Enjoy your 4 day marathon!

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  4. Love your framing, and the finishing too is just wonderful! Enjoy your stitching and sewing marathon, sounds like fun!

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  5. Strawberry Fields and Frosty Forest are both so pretty!
    Love the changes you made, and the frames are just perfect.
    The Quaker is pretty.
    The Fruit Bellpull will be so pretty with all of the color changes.
    Great work!
    Marilyn

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  6. What lovely framed pieces you shared! You are making good progress on the Quaker piece and the fruit bellpull. Love your finished finishes especially the Prairie Schooler ornament! Enjoy your 4-day marathon of stitching and sewing.

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  7. Really nice pieces. REALLY NICE!

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  8. Your framed pieces are fantastic! Love yout personal mods on Frosty friends. And what lovely ornament finishes! You have such great ideas and the fine workmanship to follow through. I am duly impressed!

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  9. Beautiful stitching, especially Frosty Forest! I love it!

    Enjoy your stitching time!

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  10. Your framed pieces are stunning.
    Love the Prairie Schooler ornament very much and am very impressed as to how you managed to cut that shape AND apply cording to it.
    Your current WIP is very pretty.
    Margaret

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  11. Emblem of Love is so beautiful - I hope you will persist even if you have to set aside from time to time. your framing is gorgeous! Both pieces - so wonderful. I know what you mean about costs. Everything just keeps going up - you are very lucky you can do creative finishes of smalls and ornaments. I haven't watched the 2 hr finale of Downton yet. Waiting for just the right mood and night - I just can't believe it's over so I skipped your comments. Lucky you getting a 4 day to stitch and have fun, if I was closer (ha - 1000 miles closer) I'd love to come and stitch with you. Take care Mel

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  12. Both your framed pieces are gorgeous and I love the other finishes you are very talented.
    Hope you enjoy your stitching and movies.

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  13. Your framed pieces are Stunning! Your finishing work is perfect and I adore those WIP! Hope the injection prove helpful and all goes well!

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  14. They are just beautiful. they will make you smile each time you see them.

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  15. What beautiful finishes! The colours in Strawberry Fields look amazing, they really stand out against the frame. You've inspired me to get stitching again on my Frosty Forest, I kept up with the first two months and then stopped. It really does look lovely framed and even though I will be sticking with the original design I want to stitch mine again now!

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  16. Your framed pieces are stunning. I love both designs and they are so different from each other. Love your small finishes as well. I got the Downton Abbey Season 6 DVDs from the library and bingewatched the whole season in 2 days. I loved the finale! :)

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  17. They're both so gorgeous! Lovely finishes too. Great progress on your sampler and bell pull:)

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  18. beautiful framed pieces! Love the finishing you did for your friend too. Lovely WIPs as well. I miss Downton Abbey. I guess it had to end sometime. Hope your knee treatments work for you. I have arthritis too and would love to find a solution for the pain.

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  19. Beautiful framed pieces. Love your Frosty Forest and its unique-ness. The small finishes are lovely too, especially the PS one.

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  20. Love your beautiful framed pieces!! Your finishing is so beautiful - gets me inspired to work on some of mine. The Quaker project is so pretty as is the bell pull. Keep up the beautiful work!! Enjoy your stitching marathon.

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  21. Thanks for sharing your framed finishes... nicely done! Also the finishing you did was wonderful... your friend should be thrilled! You are making good progress on the Quaker piece and the Bellpull, tho you think they are taking forever! Little by little... they will grow into finished projects! Hugs!

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  22. Your Framed Pieces are just beautiful...wow...Your WIP's are looking so pretty....I love them.

    Happy Stitching

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  23. Your framed pieces are beautiful. I am so impressed with you design talent. Your changes on LNH design are wonderful.

    The PS ornament finish is impressive…I would never have thought to put the edging around the wooden area…it looks great!
    I like the way that you make your stand ups and the fabric selection on Christmas Bird is perfect.

    Nice progress on the bell pull and quaker design.

    I just returned from Denver where I spent 10 days over the Easter holiday. :-) It's such a pretty state.

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  24. Whoa!! I thought I had a big stash, but you have me beat by miles! I wish I could go through your patterns--I always collect more than I can do. I have often wished of a pattern location site where we could post the name, manufacturer, and maybe a photo of a pattern we are looking for and simply CANNOT find. I know someone else would have saved a copy of it! Right now I am looking for a sampler-- unfortunately, I did not note the name or manufacturer, but for some reason I think it is by Medeiros, called Nantucket Sampler. At the top is a boat and lighthouse, at the bottom a woman and boy watch the setting sun. In the middle is the alphabet and the phrase 'Be ye thoughtful and kind, be ye steadfast and true.' I don't have a web site or blog or I'd start this myself and call it "Pattern Search," LOL.

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