Saturday, November 29, 2014

Almost to the End...

As usual, the end of the year is all about tying up those loose ends, planning the next year, preparing for the next year, forgetting about the loose ends, freaking out about forgotten loose ends, working harder on the new year's plans, catching up on the forgotten loose ends and then sighing heavily when you realize you didn't get as much done during this year as you had hoped but had accomplished more than you thought you had, but not in the ways you had planned.

But all that nonsense is news for a later blog at the end of the year.

What's new for now you ask?  Well, I've been working on my Stitching Pirates Secret Pirate Ornament for the exchange and the second try was the right way to go...first try was not so good.

This is the end result that I LOVE.  Teresa Wentzler's "Father Winter" free pattern from her website.  I love the original pattern, but I also love what happened here with mine.

I used some Weeks Dye Works flosses: Celadon, Lucky, Chartreuse and Raspberry.  For the Celadon, Lucky and Raspberry I folded the strand of floss in half which created that blended floss method that TW loves to put in her patterns....you can see the striping effect in the Celadon, not so much for the Lucky or Raspberry.

The Chartreuse has several different colors so I didn't go that route with that one and still came out with some lovely effects for the fan stitches and the webbing on the backside.

One thing you cannot really see in these pictures is the metallic thread added to the backstitching for the holly and the lettering.  It's very subtle anyway and no amount of picture taking would have brought that out which is fine, even the beads on the outside don't show very well.  The recipient will see all of this and appreciate it...I hope.

A woman named Lynn won First Place in the Queen Bee Stitching Competition, but now the race is on for second place.  I'll give that a go, but feel very strongly that Lynn deserved a win more than anyone due to recent tragic events in her life and the best way she found to get through it was with cross stitching.  I applaud her!  She complimented me by saying I kept her on her toes......yep, just when you think you can slow down or have a break...I post an update....(insert evil laughter here).

Here's where I'm at now...so close yet not first place har,  har!

I continue onward and hope for second place, but what is really exciting is what I'm going to do with it once complete....get it framed and give it to a woman who works in my office.  I don't know her AT ALL, but as I've said before:  right after I started this competition I was walking by her office and she has what appears to be a road sign that says QUEEN BEE.  How perfect is that?  No sense wondering who to give it to, right?

That always seems to be how it works with my stitching....I want to stitch something but don't have any idea who I would give it to or if I should give it to someone and then a SIGN....this time was quite literally.

I have my new tabs up at the top of the page for 2015 if you are interested in Tons of Tinys and the TW 2015.  For those of you who love to share new designers or not well known designers then D.E.S.I.G.N. is for you and you should really check that out!  I will definitely be sharing more about that next time.

On a final note....its snowing.  It's still cold so the snow is powder, but snowing just the same.  About time we get some since the Lower 48 Northern states seems to have hogged most of it.  Guess it's officially winter....for how long we shall see.

Until next time my sweet stitchers.....Happy Snowy Stitching!




4 comments:

  1. Love the new look of your blog, I'll try to join you on TOT, I'll need small projects to counteract Cindy and it will meld well with DESIGN
    Your random not quite stranger is going to love Queen Bee.

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    1. Hurrah!! I love how we all support each other with everything :D I also thought about you when I was considering those tiny finishes while doing something big just so you can have a finish more often to make you feel like progress is being made :D I'm a little nervous about giving the woman QB, but have a feeling she will love it!

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  2. Your blog is all wintery now, how fitting for the Father Winter Ornament (which is still georgous, btw)! Maybe half the height would be enough though, my scroll wheel demands to be paid overtime :D

    Remember, I expect a finish on Queen B HERE in this plave NO later than in ONE weeeks time! Got it? *cracks whip*

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    1. I'm sorry about how big the picture is, but it's one of those that cannot be thinned out or I lose the focus of the shot which which is the frosty branch :D Tell your scroll wheel to suck it up ha ha! I bet I'll get QB done BEFORE the end of the week which will be nice :D Thank you for being so incredibly supportive!

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