Lara's Loose Threads

"Summer" update

rhubarble@gmail.com (Lara) — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 18:09:00 +0000

Here's a status photo of the "Summer" section of the four seasons design that I mentioned in the previous post. Since a lot of it is half cross stitches, it goes pretty quickly.

Latest small, with a big OOOPS!

rhubarble@gmail.com (Lara) — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 19:45:00 +0000

I kicked this one out quickly a couple of evenings ago, but apparently a little TOO quickly, since there is a big ooops in it. I'm not sure how obvious it is if you aren't familiar with the chart or if it isn't pointed out, but the smile on the Jack o' Lantern is a little lopsided. Somehow I managed to make an extra stitch of the black on the right side! Oh well.

The chart is a freebie from Casey Buonaugurio's website.

In other stitching news, I decided to set Catherine of Aragon aside for a little while (I'm tired of looking at black, brown and yellow) and do the "Summer" design of the four seasons set I've been doing (pictures of fall and winter are here). I finally had an idea about how to finish them once all four are done, as a wall-hanging, maybe in a "stained glass" style with black borders around the designs. Of course, all of this is dependent on me being able to not jump right in and stitch Nora Corbett's "Halloween Fairy" in the newest Cross Stitch and Needlework magazine!

A little catching up

rhubarble@gmail.com (Lara) — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 02:15:00 +0000

I don't have an update photo on Catherine, although I have made some progress on her. I also sewed the border on an old quilt top that has been in the making for over a decade, but I didn't take a photo of that either. But, I do have a couple of photos of some of the long weekend's work!

The first photo is probably the last of the old magazine cover kits. I did the quilting on it ages ago, but just now finished the bag up.

And the second is a little ornament from the 2007 Just Cross Stitch Magazine ornament issue. I didn't have a charm for the star, so I stitched it with the DMC gold floss and I stitched it on a scrap of 32 ct evenweave from a grab bag.

Catherine of Aragon update

rhubarble@gmail.com (Lara) — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 01:03:00 +0000

I haven't done much stitching in the past couple of weeks, but I have managed some progress on Catherine. It goes fast when I do get time to work on it, although I think I might be stitching a little too fast since I've noticed some sloppy stitches in places. Oh well!

Catherine of Aragon - first photo

rhubarble@gmail.com (Lara) — Mon, 26 May 2008 21:26:00 +0000

Here is the first progress photo of Catherine of Aragon originally from New Stitches magazine no. 7. The design can also be purchased at StitchDirect.com

I've stitched a bit more on it during the long weekend and will post another update this week. This one is coming along pretty quickly, especially compared to the Heritage Stitchcraft Dragon!

Heritage Stitchcraft Dragon finished!

rhubarble@gmail.com (Lara) — Mon, 12 May 2008 16:58:00 +0000

Above is with all of the cross stitch finished, but no backstitching and below is the final version with all of the backstitches.

It was nice to work something with all of those bright colors, although I wish now I had done the backstitching as I had gone along because it took quite a while to do it all.

Now I'm on to the first of the Six Wives of Henry VIII designs - Catherine of Aragon, originally from New Stitches magazine no. 7.

Updates

rhubarble@gmail.com (Lara) — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 17:06:00 +0000

I didn't mean to go so long without posting an update, but Blogger and other things were conspiring against me!

First up is the Heritage Stitchcraft Dragon progress photo from about two weeks ago, after he gained a wing and a head:

And here is a photo of the dragon from a day or two ago, with a lot more filled in:

The flash went off on the second one, so it looks a little washed out. I don't know if I'll have a large amount of stitching time this weekend, but there is a chance I'll get the cross stitching finished. There is a fair amount of backstitching on the design, so that's going to take a little bit of time.

I also did this little cottage design during the past couple of weeks. It's originally from Needlecraft Magazine (Nov. 1996) as part of a set of six. I'm thinking about doing each of them separately on different fabrics and then framing them in little 2.5 inch square frames. The fabric I stitched this on was 30 or 32 ct. and was from a grab bag I bought a few years ago. I used DMC threads for this one, but I've been toying with the idea of doing it again with Anchor threads just to compare them, out of curiosity.

Halloween freebie!

rhubarble@gmail.com (Lara) — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 00:12:00 +0000

Here it is! I'm still not sure how I'm going to finish it (I'm leaning towards trying my first flat-fold). I stitched it on Silkweaver 32 ct. Opalescent Lugana (color "Glistening Heather") with DMC floss. I left off the "Boo"s and I substituted beads for the French knots for the eyes.

The pattern is available here.

Quick update

rhubarble@gmail.com (Lara) — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 21:52:00 +0000

I realized that I never got around to posting the latest progress on the Heritage Stitchcraft Dragon, or the first hardanger piece, so here they are!

I haven't stitched on this one in a week or so, since I decided to take a break and work on a Halloween freebie. I'm almost done with the freebie, so I'll post a photo when the stitching is all done.

And here is the first hardanger piece I've ever attempted. The pattern and instructions were from "New Stitches" magazine (Issue 5, I think... definitely one of the very early ones). I did it with the pearl cotton that I had on hand, so that's why it's done is rust colors instead of the traditional white-on-white. It's not great, and I definitely need some better scissors for doing the cut work (the ones I have are great for some stitching stuff, just not that!), but it was fun to try. I'll be trying some more in the future, that's for sure!

Dragon update

rhubarble@gmail.com (Lara) — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 15:45:00 +0000

Here, finally, is the Heritage Stitchcraft Dragon after spring break and a little during the week stitching.

Very colorful, isn't it? I've actually finished almost all of the background stuff (one little bit on the right is going to wait until I do the dragon over there) and have started to work in the dragon head. I didn't really plan to end up with a dragon silhouette, that's just the way it worked out!

I might take a break from the dragon to do another small freebie or two for something a little different. Even through we're into spring at the moment, I have a bunch of autumn and Halloween freebies, so I figure I should stitch some now so there is an outside chance that I'll have some of them framed (or finished in some way) by the time that part of the year gets here!

This week's stitching

rhubarble@gmail.com (Lara) — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 01:13:00 +0000

I took spring break off of work to relax and, as it turned out, recuperate from yet another cold. The down time gave me a chance to get some stitching done, and here are some of the results:

First is the Hedwig Four Patch freebie from The Sampler Girl. I stitched it on some of my Silkweaver purple sparkly fabric and used DMC variations thread on the border and letters.

The second small that I did was another freebie, this time from Cyberstitchers.com. Since I love penguins and Italian food, I decided that my kitchen needed this:

And lastly is an update on the Heritage Stitchcraft dragon. This is actually from last week, so I'll have to post another picture with the progress that I made this week.

I also did my first hardanger piece this week, but I haven't taken a photo of it yet. It's not great, but it was a first attempt after all!

Dragons, framing and fabric

rhubarble@gmail.com (Lara) — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 00:22:00 +0000

I actually did this framing over a week ago, so I'm a little behind. This piece has had the stitching finished on it for about 4 and a half years, and now it is finally in its frame. I didn't get the tension exactly right, so there is a slight bump visible, but other than that, I'm pretty happy with it. (And the bump doesn't show up as much as it does in the photo, since there was bright light to the side.) Right now it is sitting on the mantle in the living room since I haven't figured out where I want to hang it.

Next up is a progress photo of the Heritage Stitchcraft dragon, although it's a but out of date. I've actually done the top band now too, but no photo right now.

And last but not least, my first batch of Silkweaver "Fabric of the Month" fabric arrived! I'm on the rotating schedule, since I wanted a variety of counts, colors, types and sizes. I don't have anything in mind for the pink fabric, but I know just the thing for that sparkly light purple fabric! Stay tuned, since I'll probably stitch it up during Spring Break, when I'm planning on taking a lot of time of off work.

New stash!

rhubarble@gmail.com (Lara) — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 20:14:00 +0000

This actually came in a couple of weeks ago but I'm just now getting around to posting it. I saw on another stitch blog that Designs by Lena Rose were closing up shop and selling off their stitching supplies in a "grab bag" of basically how much stuff could be crammed into a priority mail box. Below are the items they put in my box... all of which I got for a grand total of $22 (including shipping). There were only a couple of things that I probably won't use, so it was a GREAT deal. I was really happy to get some more sizes of pearl cotton so I can play with hardanger embroidery (and I got a huge piece of white 22 ct. fabric for it too!). I also now have my first overdyed Watercolours thread to play with!

Belated photo of a finish!

rhubarble@gmail.com (Lara) — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 20:39:00 +0000

I meant to post this ages ago, but I've been very busy and then I had some computer issues (back light went out on my laptop... which makes it pretty useless!). But now everything is back up and running.

So, here is the completed Texas Panorama, although the mounting and framing still needs to be done. I have in mind the kind of frame that I want for it, but I need to write down some measurements and then catch a sale on frames.

I did a little Mill Hill beads snowflake ornament kit last weekend, but I haven't finished it yet (I'm thinking about doing a fabric backing on it), so no photos.

My next big project is a Heritage Stitchcraft kit that I bought a few years ago. It came with 14 ct. Aida, but I've switched it out with a 28 count evenweave (just a generic one from Michael's, I think). I actually started it over Christmas, but I'm going to wait until a bit more is done to post a picture. In the meantime, here's a link to the kit at a UK Cross Stitch catalog.

Cross stitching finished on Texas Panorama

rhubarble@gmail.com (Lara) — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 16:22:00 +0000

Now on to the backstitching. I finished most of the backstitching around the "S" last night, but my eyes were burning so I didn't get far. I had a horrible allergy attack late Tuesday/early Wednesday and I'm still recovering. At first I thought it might be a really short cold, but then several people at work were having the same symptoms at the same time and the pollen count was high during this, the notorious "cedar fever" season in Texas. (I put that in quotes because it is actually not cedar and you rarely get a fever from it!) So, I'm finally starting to feel better and the weather is supposed to be nasty for the day off tomorrow for MLK's birthday, so I hope to get a lot of stitching done.

Another Texas Panorama update

rhubarble@gmail.com (Lara) — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 15:03:00 +0000

Just a quick post with Texas Panorama, now with the T complete... so I guess it's TEXA panorama at the moment. :)

I've started into the S just a little. After that, lots of backstitching to finish! The X in particular has a bunch, so it's going to take a while to get to the point of putting in that final stitch.

Last finishes from 2007 and Texas Panorama update

rhubarble@gmail.com (Lara) — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 15:28:00 +0000

I made a few ornaments late in 2007 to include with some gifts, but being sick and having a broken computer conspired to keep me from posting pictures at the time. Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of one of them before I wrapped it up in its box, but here are the other two. The poinsettia ornament was sort of my trial and error one that I was going to keep for myself. The other was a gift. I was really happy how the stitching came out on the Santa, since I was trying really hard to keep the white stitching clean and even. Both of these designs came from a book of quickies (sorry, I don't have the exact title handy!).

This is another ornament that I finished at the end of the year that I thought I had posted, but I didn't see it. It was originally a little kit that came with a plastic round frame, but I decided to make a little pillow out of it instead. The design also called for French knots as the garland on the tree and I substituted some old leftover red beads instead. I also stitched the yellow accents with some Kreinik gold braid instead (I have several partial spools left over from Celtic Christmas).

And last but not least, here's an update on Texas Panorama, although it's already out of date, since I finished the "T" last night. I'll post that picture later.

More old stitching and goals for 2008

rhubarble@gmail.com (Lara) — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 19:56:00 +0000

I'm almost done posting all my old stitching (well, the stuff that I have photos of, since I've given some away over the years). It's nice to have an almost complete record of all my projects! I'll probably post photos of some of the old large projects that still need to be framed (or re-framed in some cases) when they are finally totally finished.

First is a DMC kit that I stitched mostly while on vacation in Maine on vacation a couple of years ago. It's still in the unframed pile.

Next are two Cross My Heart cottage magnet kits that I got at the Spirit of Cross Stitch festival many years ago... they were both on the little refrigerator in my office, but unfortunately one of them was lost somewhere along they way (the one on the left). Someday I'll have to get a replacement for it, since I like the Tudor-like half-timbered design.

Next up are the remainder of the various Textile Heritage miniatures that I've bought on various trips to the UK over the years.
The one of the left are the four national symbols of the British Isles - the rose for England, shamrocks for Ireland, a thistle for Scotland and a daffodil for Wales. The picture on the right are (clockwise from upper left) - the crown of Scotland, the White Tower of the Tower of London, bagpipes, Hampton Court Palace and a Welsh dragon.

And this final image is another of the Textile Heritage bookmarks that I've stitched. I still haven't finished this one or the Tudor rose one with a backing fabric or ribbon, but that is part of the goals for next year. More about those goals below.

So, now the stitching goals for 2008. The goals are two-fold... the first is to put the finishing touches on some of the unfinished projects that I've been posting about here. There are a lot of things that need to be framed or otherwise completed beyond the stitching. My other big goal is to start working through the kits in my stash. I have lots of leaflets and magazine patterns that I want to stitch but the kits take up a lot more room. :) I have four fairly large Christmas-themed kits, so I'm sure I'm going to be stitching one or more of them at some strange time of year (like July), but that hasn't stopped me before (most of Celtic Christmas was stitched watching baseball).

Texas Panorama update and a recent finish

rhubarble@gmail.com (Lara) — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 00:08:00 +0000

First up, a progress report on "Texas Panorama":

The "A" is finished now (although still no backstitching) and I've begun the "E" (although no photo of that yet). This project has been on hold for a week or so as I've stitched up some Christmas ornaments to include with some gifts... at least I hope so! I have been pretty picky about choosing patterns and I might not get them finished at the rate I'm going.

I was originally planning on doing 3 or 4 of Theresa Wentzler's "Peacock Tapestry Ornament", but the first one took me long enough that I was pretty sure that I wouldn't be able to finish all of them in time. But I do have one! And I think I'm going to keep it for myself. :)

This is actually the first TW I've ever stitched, although I have several of her leaflets in my stash, along with most of the excellent freebies from her website. I love how it turned out, and it certainly won't be the last of her designs that I stitch! Now to figure out how to finish it... I'm leaning framing, even though I was really hoping to start trying some other finishing techniques. But I think this would look great in a frame (and on the wall in my office!).

Texas panorama - first photo

rhubarble@gmail.com (Lara) — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 21:13:00 +0000

Here's the first photo of the progress on "Texas Panorama" after about two weeks. A lot of it was done this past weekend. The flower parts on the lower section of the X took a while, but the rest has gone very quickly. I still have all the backstitching to do, but I might wait until all of the cross stitches are done first. I've never actually done that on a medium-to-large project before... I'm usually a "backstitch as you go" type.

Recent finishes

rhubarble@gmail.com (Lara) — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 22:12:00 +0000

I've been meaning to post these for over a week!

This is one of the last of my Textile Heritage miniatures that I've bought on my various trips to the UK. I think I only have one left and they'll all be stitched!

And this is the Winter piece of the Four Seasons design, all finished.

(here is the leaflet and the previously-finished Fall section)

I'm now working on Texas Panorama from Bestitched. I bought this at the LNS years and years ago and I have been intending to start it for ages, but just now finally got around to it. I'm starting with the letter X in the middle and I'm about 60% through that. I might even get the X finished this weekend, but it has a lot of backstitching around the flowers in the bottom half, so maybe not. Maybe I'll scoot over to the E or A next and go back and do the backstitching later. :) I'll post a picture of the current progress soon.

Some Tudor-themed designs

rhubarble@gmail.com (Lara) — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 20:08:00 +0000

Since I'm supposed to be finishing my Tudor podcast right now and I'm procrastinating, I figured I would post a few of the Tudor-related Textile Heritage kits that I've stitched.

First is the "family" of Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn and Elizabeth I. The kits are supposed to be cards, but I'm planning on framing them together.

And these two are Tudor roses. I haven't finished bookmark yet, because I've been trying to decide whether or not to use the ribbon backing that came with the kit or to put some nice fabric on the back. The coaster is all finished and sits on my bedside table. (I took the picture before I put it in the plastic so there wouldn't be any reflections.)

My largest project to date

rhubarble@gmail.com (Lara) — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 17:22:00 +0000

... and probably still my favorite.

Sorry for the not-so-great picture. This obviously isn't a professional framing job either. I bought the frame before I finished (maybe even before I actually started) this design, but when I saw it in the store I knew it would be perfect. I did a temporary framing job on it a few years ago so I could have it up for Christmas and I still haven't taken it in to get it done professionally. Someday!

The design is, of course, Celtic Christmas from Told in a Garden. It's still the largest project that I've done, and it was my first large linen project. I think I had only done two very small linen projects before tackling this one.

More old projects... still waiting to be framed

rhubarble@gmail.com (Lara) — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 18:56:00 +0000

And I really don't have any excuse on this first one, since I have the perfect frame. I just need to get off my butt and mount the darn thing.

This is a Welsh dragon that I bought as a kit from Cambriana Designs, who have a whole line of Welsh symbols, castles and scenery pictures.

This is the frame for the dragon. I was thrilled to find it, since it looks like it's covered in scales!

I have a goal of stitching pictures of most of the places I've visited in the UK, so I was really pleased that Cambriana had a design of Criccieth Castle, which is certainly not one of the better known castles in North Wales (being overshadowed by the big Edwardian Castles like Harlech, Caernarfon, etc.) That is stitched up below:

In both of these, I switched out the kit fabric for choices of my own. The dragon is on 28-ct mushroom Monaco and the castle is a natural (kind of linen-like) 28-ct that I bought a full yard of a couple of years ago. I really like this fabric since it adds a nice rustic look to pictures of crumbling old castles.

And one more for today's post: This is another kit I bought in the UK, this time down in Portsmouth, England and it is of Henry VIII's ship The Mary Rose

I thought this one would be appropriate to add since yesterday was the 25th anniversary of the raising of the ship. If you're ever in the south of England I highly recommend a visit to Portsmouth and The Mary Rose (you can see the HMS Victory there too!)

More recent finishes

rhubarble@gmail.com (Lara) — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 00:21:00 +0000

I finally found some cute little bows to finish off the bottoms of this set of ornaments that I've posted before. So these are ready to hang now!

This next one is still not completely finished, but it is one step closer to being a completed project. The pattern is from an issue of New Stitches (pretty sure). I had this old green aida cloth and wanted to see how a light thread would look on a dark fabric, so I stitched this one up quick. I was originally just going to toss it, but I was was inspired by some of the finishes I've seen on other needlework blogs and stitched this into a little pillow. I'll probably wrap some cording around it and put a tassel at the bottom and make an ornament out of it.

The next two are some little kits that I picked up... The ribbon sachet was a kit that I bough during the short time that I was working at Hobby Lobby to make ends meet after college (the research job that I continued in after graduation was only part time). Ribbon embroidery was really taking off at the time and I wanted to try some. I finished the ribbon stitching fairly soon after buying the kit, but only made up the sachet a couple of weeks ago. I can't believe that I've had things sitting around that long!

This next one was another kit that I bought at some big-box craft store a few years back and was mostly stitched at the house of friends that my boyfriend was staying at until he found a house to buy. I spent most of the weekends there too and stitched this on some of the lazy evenings at their house. I love how seeing some of these older project have strong memory associations with where I stitched them.