Thursday, January 21, 2010

Catch Up

I realized last night that there are a few things that I talked about on here as ongoing projects,but I never posted pictures of the finished product.

Here is a picture of George by Peiti:




I told you all about the Cow Jumping Over the Moon Canvas, but I did not tell you all about the smocked outfit that I was sewing as well. I just did the smocking- not the outfit! At the time I was sewing this, my cousin wanted to wait to know the sex of the baby when he/she was born, so everything had to be neutral.


And a picture of the baby- Patrick.


Here is a picture of the finished Cow.


As a finale, the photos of the finished Basset Pillow.


I know this was a lot of pictures, but I thought a trip down blog memory lane would re-energize my stitching soul! Back to the Schnauzer!

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

My sweet Molly!

I just thought I would share some pictures. Enjoy!

Molly getting used to the new South Carolina scents.

You have a camera!!??!!

Beautiful Labbie in the Houston snow.

Molly loving her new backyard.

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Charleston

My wonderful husband, as part of my birthday present, took me with him to Charleston when he visited the law school where he works part of the time. I got to tour the city while he was working- oh well! My "tour" really involved two needlepoint shops and the areas around them. The first shop was called Cabbage Row, and it was on the beautiful and elegant Broad Street. I did find some lovely canvases, such as this Scottish santa for my mom and a beautiful seated lab, but on the whole I was a tad disappointed. The, I presume, owner is a lovely woman and very happy to help and talk about needlepoint. The thread selection was very up to date. While Silk and Ivory and Neon Rays are present, some others like Burmilana, etc are not. There is a wide selection of Paternayan though. I personally do not prefer to stitch with Paternayan. It's one of the original needlepoint threads used during the time when all you did was tent stitch. I have done a piece with Paternayan: a beautiful rocking horse that my grandma picked out with Paternayan wool that she could barely even start because it was on 18 count canvas. The owner had a beautiful Melissa Shirley that she was doing all in Paternayan and in tent stitch. I think that is fine if that is how you want to needlepoint something, in fact, I think a few pieces in tent stitch look lovely, but with all of the lovely threads and stitches out there, I can't fathom doing every piece in tent. In spite of the lack of threads, etc, I would definitely go back. I love the location, the canvases are beautiful, and the owner truly loves needlepoint. In fact, she had some canvases that I have never seen before and really liked.

After I visited Cabbage Row, and successfully restrained my purchases, I walked back to my car to feed the meter. On the way back, I realized that I was walking on Rainbow Row, beautifully restored multi-colored houses. Beautiful. Then I walked down East Bay street to look for a place to have lunch. Most of the menus contain a lot of seafood because Charleston is on a penninsula and it is a port town.


I had lunch at Carolina Bistro. I dined on a yummy crab cake and salad with a diet coke- heavenly. Carolina Bistro is amazing, and I highly recommend it.

Next, I drove to It's a Stitch on John's Island, which is considered part of Charleston. It was closer in thread selection and canvas selection to the shops that I am used to in Houston. The owner is of Scottish descent, so guess what! She had amazing Scottish santas!! The canvases were lovely too! Very up-to-date selection, and the thread selection was very modern as well. The only "cons" are: the price of the threads were a bit steep (not out of line, but still on the expensive side) and the shop does not do stitch guides. I got this lovely Silver Needle canvas there as well as a large piece of blank canvas (24"x 34") for my ANG American Flag. This "flag" that I keep talking about is the stitch guide for the Lone Star ANG's 2008 seminar auction item. It is lovely and huge!


Despite the fact that there is not a needlepoint shop in Columbia, I am very pleased with the selection in Charleston. ANNNNDDD I have a great excuse to go to Charleston :)

Friday, January 15, 2010

O Come All Ye Faithful Finished!!!

I am happy to report that I finished the O Come canvas on Monday!! What a great thing to have finished just after the holidays. It makes the Christmas spirit last a bit longer. Now whether to start the American flag or finish the Schnauzer?????

Prairie Schooler Design on needlepoint canvas by Stitch-its. Stitched with Planet Earth fibers, Caron Watercolors (snow white), and Vineyard Merino (yellows).

Sunday, January 10, 2010

New Year's Resolutions- the Stitching Kind

Hello Everyone! After seeing what other bloggers posted for their new year's resolutions, I decided that I would review what I had accomplished stitching wise and then what I want to accomplish in 2010.

In 2009, I lost my job, but I think because of that, I stitched a ton! Here is my list:

1) Cow Jumping Over the Moon
2) Lee Blue Egg
3) Basset Pillow
4) Lab with Santa
5) Falcon Crest
6) Kelly Clark Scottish Santa
7) Girl Schnauzer
8) ANG name tag
9) Barbara Russell round Black Lab
10) Peiti George Washington
11) Peiti Martha Washington

Wow! When I actually list all my pieces out- Holy Cow!- I have stitched a lot! 2009 was a good stitching year. Hopefully 2010 will be just as prolific, but a job would be nice!

Here are my stitching goals for 2010:

1) O Come canvas
2) Patty Paints George and Martha- a huge canvas!
3) Boy Schnauzer
4) one Kelly Clark piece- maybe the Noah's ark or my Texas Santa that I have in my stash
5) 2 Rebecca Wood Ornaments
6) Liz/ Tapestry Tent Basset Hound- eBay canvas!
7) Melissa Shirley Cardinal (part of an 8 bird series she came out with a year or so ago)

I think that is it for now. I don't want to set my goals too high. I do think that 2009 was a bit of a stitching anomaly, and my George and Martha canvas is really large. The largest I have tackled thus far. So in 6 months, I will reevaluate and see if I need to add more canvases or remove some from the list.

Thursday, January 7, 2010

A Little Late for This

Hi Everyone! I have not posted in a while because of the holidays, a terrible cold, and moving to South Carolina! My new house is sooo cute! DH did an awesome job picking out the house.

My needlepoint time has suffered a lot between the packing and unpacking, etc, but I have managed to get a bit into the Christmas spirit with my O Come canvas. The Christmas spirit was a bit lost on me between my lack of serious employment, leaving my family and friends in Houston, and a mountain of boxes. However, I did find time to be grateful for all of my blessings this year which are too many to name but here are a few: the few projects I did have that enabled me to buy Christmas presents, my health, my DH, my Molly, my family, a roof over my head, health insurance, an education, the birth of our Savior, etc. When I thought of those things, it was impossible for me not to grab hold of the Christmas spirit, so all and all it was a good holiday season.

Here is a picture of O Come. I have mostly finished the background (in Caron Watercolors with tent stitches).