Tease

As promised, I've returned with show and tell but am being a tease and only showing one of the two pieces I got framed by Jill. I probably should have mentioned that these are not extravaganzas like the Letter G I got framed. In fact, after I received Letter G, I emailed Jill gushing over her talent and then asked if she could do "simple". She said she could and to send whatever I wanted framed to her. So I did! I decided to send on my Bent Creek Snapper Year and Plum Street Samplers Christmas Tea.

Here's Christmas Tea:
I liked how the model looked so much on the pattern that I wanted to frame it exactly as pictured. That was harder than I thought though because Jill didn't have any moulding that matched the one in the photo and I couldn't find it online anywhere.

Then out of the blue, I received an email from Sharon Crescent about some old duplicate magazines I was unloading that I posted on a message board and lo and behold...we traded! Yay! I was so happy! Off went the frame to Jill and ta-da! I'm quite pleased with it and I haven't even seen it in person! The package came Monday but since the housecleaner was coming today, I didn't want to make a mess or have things in her way of cleaning. Yea, I know...I'm weird.

This was stitched with the recommended fibers but I changed the color of fabric to Lakeside Linens Tundra because I liked the silvery-blue effect.

I'll come back with Snapper Year. *The boy* is playing photographer and this piece is very hard to capture due to it's size. So...I'll be back! :)

Photos, Photos!

OMGosh...aren't you glad I'm not subjecting you guys to another pictureless post?! I rushed home at lunchtime today to heat up soup, take pictures and load them into blogger!

First up is my Plum Street Samplers Christmas Tea finish. This fabric seems difficult to photograph...or it might me the intense gray dreariness of the day but I tried! The fabric is really a blue-ish gray color.

Plum Street Samplers Christmas Tea
Lakeside Linens 40ct. Tundra
Recommended Belle Soie

The funny thing about Christmas Tea is that it's charted for Cranberry where there are little spaces in the letters but the model photo does not have the Cranberry spots stitched within the letters. I saw some photos stitched as charted and I decided I liked the model more so I went without. That's part of the reason why I also went with Lakeside Linens Tundra. The model photo looks like it's stitched on a blue-gray color but the color linen recommended (which I can't remember the name of right now) is actually a green color. It's always so interesting how the camera and lighting can really change the look of things.

Over the last week, I received some lovely goodies in the mail. Staci sent me a cut of some "Staci-dyed" linen. That was so nice of her! I was very touched to receive a goodie from her and I can't wait to figure out what to stitch on it. I just love the color and the mottling! I was also lucky to receive an "honorable mention" on Ruth's blog from a giveaway she was hosting and she sent me these lovely threads. She included some GAST, WDW, Belle Soie and Threadworx. All the colors are great and I actually didn't have any of these colors!

On Tuesday, I rushed home anticipating and worried about my Jill Rensel package. When I walked through the door of my apartment, the package was safely sitting there, waiting for my arrival. Whew! All I can say is that Jill is a fabulous framer and I may just have to start sending her all my projects that require framing from now on! She does such a good job and is so sweet! Letter G came out fabulous and just what I wanted! I'm kind of sad my name doesn't start with a G so I can keep it for myself. I'll let the pictures do all the talking. They are all clickable! These photos actually show a truer color of the fabric too...a soft pale yellow.



I am thinking about getting my Snapper Year and Christmas Tea out for her for framing. I'll be simple with those...just a frame since I don't think they require matting or anything fancy. Now time to pack up Letter G and get her on her way to her new home.

Until next time....

Brrrr!!!

I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving Day yesterday. Mine was better than I expected but still trying. The day was made easier by my brother not coming to town for the holiday so it was just me, my parents, 4 loads of laundry and a turkey dinner. The Whole Foods meal was very yummy minus the pumpkin pie. My pie is 4x better but it was included with the meal. There was loads leftover and I was able to load a plate to take home for dinner today. Mmmm...mashed potatoes, stuffing, turkey and green beans. Nomnomnom! Thanks to everyone and their kind comments. I feel quite bad that people are so joyful when I'm a bummed out Scrooge but it's nice to know there are others who understand and might even feel the same way about holidays.

Today is a cold, cold dreary day in the Bay Area...even sprinkling in the morning. I am freezing and my poor little fingers are like icicles! Makes stitching a little hard!

Here is the post I had intended for Wednesday. My pj pants experience was unsuccessful last Sunday. They are about 4 inches too wide in the waist and about 5 inches too high in the rise. Oopsie! They need an overhaul that I have yet to pump myself up to doing. So on Sunday, I decided to treat myself to a little selfish stitching and I started Plum Street Samplers Christmas Tea. I had hoped to finish the words this morning but I am one word shy. OMG...so close!! If I had had the time to stitch yesterday, I think I could have finished this as it's much smaller and easier than I thought but I was busy running around collecting food, heating up food, chatting with the folks and washing lots of laundry.
I am really enjoying this little project. I started this in such a flurry of excitement and I didn't inspect my fabric. As I adjusted the q-snap last night, I noticed a tiny fuschia spot on the fabric! I am hoping that I can stitch over it once I get to that part. If not, I may have to add an additional snowflake. I wonder how the spot got on there...it's quite small. But it's too late to frog and flip the fabric. The spot is still on the other side anyways...just more faint than the side I'm actually stitching on.

I decided that it's time to keep better track of my projects and their details so I bought myself this book from WatermarkBindery to be my stitching journal. Ther service was fast and look at it. I love the colors and the little koi fish!
Christmas Tea is the first entry in my new stitching journal. On one side, I'll glue a picture of the finished project and on the other, I will write out all the details so I can reference back to it many years from now. At the rate I stitch, I figure the journal will last me three years. Not bad!

Well, time to go get ready to meet some dear friends for afternoon tea. When I get back, I'll start Mary Wigham!

Until next time...