Monday, December 30, 2013

Stitch Challenge!

I got the sweet Charley Harper piece at the trunk show at Chandail. 


Well, I took it the Carolyn's class at the Chaparral and because there were so few people in the class (Friday morning after Christmas), I was able to get a guide and threads for the entire piece (among others).  

I started stitching this hound on Saturday morning (in Carolyn's class again) and it stitched up so fast that I thought I would issue a challenge to myself. This piece is a surprise for my mom and dad and I have to work on it without them seeing and I want to see how fast I can actually stitch it. Soooo on January 6, 2014, let's see if I am done. That is my goal- one week. 



Progress pics. 



Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Labrador Christmas!

This was my progress when I first started this piece by Cheryl Schaffer. I got this sweet canvas at Po's Point in Charlotte, NC. After I stitched this, I put it away for a while. 


Then I felt inspired to get it out of the Work In Progress drawer. Probably because this canvas is Christmas but not wholly Christmas. This year, I could not start stitching something so Christmas-y. 



Almost done!  


Done!  Thank you to Carolyn at Chaparral  for suggesting the snow flake beads!!





Sunday, December 22, 2013

Bama Girl Finish!

I stitched and stitched and it's finally finished!!  








Love my 'Bama Girl sister!!




Friday, December 20, 2013

Needleworks Sale!

I caved!  


In all fairness, I've had my eye on this piece since I saw it in 2010. The fact that it is still around meant that it was meant for me!  




Sunday, December 15, 2013

Day 2... A bit late


Day 2 of Meredith's class was just as fabulous as day 1!  I got the rest of the stitches and threads for the cute dog canvas, enjoyed yummy carrot cake, and shopped til I dropped. I learned new techniques too- turkey work with silk lame braid, making ruffles with sparkle rays, brick beading, etc. I learned a ton from the other students too. Colleen is going to offer Meredith's class next year and I already have a canvas picked out!  

Here are some pictures. 





The following are pictures of my purchases!!




This cutie is a Halloween scissor fob from paprika pi and the fabulous Joey!









Saturday, November 9, 2013

Day 1

Between my crazy days at work and everything in life, I completely forgot until last weekend that I had a Meredith Willet Canvas Enhancement class at the Needleworks in Austin this weekend.  Well, I'm glad I remembered!!  It's a two day class with the fabulous Meredith and her sweet personality and easy going teaching style. I've gotten lots of cute stitches and fibers and I've enjoyed shopping at the Needleworks!!  Here are a few pictures!! 


My canvas is "Snow Day" by Maggie. It's three labs dressed as jesters. It's cute and completely silly and fun. 


More photos tomorrow!  Off to bed!



Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Queen Mary I


So excited!  Another Petei Queen and Elizabeth's sister!

Forgot!

I forgot to show you all my cool door prize from camp Allen!!  I'm going back in December and I'm already counting down the days!


Friday, October 25, 2013

Camp Allen

At the beginning of October, a bunch of my stitching friends and I went to Camp Allen in Navasota, Texas. Julia And Karen Lea from Chaparral lead the trip. There are massages, lots of food, lots of laughter, and tons of stitching. It was exactly what I needed to get over my stitching slump and to come out on the other side. And it was a nice break from everything. 

I finally finished my lab with a tennis ball piece. It's a DJ Designs piece with Carolyn's stitch guide. It's definitely Molly. And it will be a pillow like the one Carolyn posted on Facebook. 




The beautiful girl herself with a clean bill of health after her yearly check up!

I also finished this cutie. One of the 12 sheep of the month. I've stitched July, September, and October. 


This is the last piece I finished that weekend. 


Time to go back!  Can't wait until March!






Monday, October 7, 2013

'Bama Girl

Started my very own Bama Girl canvas for my sister!  I'm excited to stitch it after seeing it completed on Facebook. I have lots of finishes and a cool needlepoint trip to discuss next!  Just have to take pictures! 




Sunday, September 29, 2013

Dutch bunny

This piece is a Brenda Stofft rabbit that I fell in love with the moment I saw it. I dutifully put it on my needlepoint "need" list to think about and buy later if I still wanted it. Well, I did. I jumped on the chance to purchase this canvas at the Brenda Stofft trunk show at Chandail in 2012.  All of the stitches are from the fabulous Carolyn Baird. The background was my choice- skip tent in silk lame. I'm not sure whether this will be a pillow or a framed piece but I love it nonetheless. 




Sunday, September 22, 2013

Hard Post


Thank you to all of you who are still reading this blog after a few months of absence. I went through something so sudden and devastating, it's been hard to even sit and think about writing this post.  My husband asked for a divorce and concurrently started having an affair with a married woman at his office. I try to keep this blog strictly needlepoint related and not too personal, but this has affected every aspect of my life including my needlepoint life. I haven't really felt like stitching and have only started to get back into it with a belt project and a few smaller ones. I'm praying everyday for him and for me and our relationship with each other. I know this is silly, but I still love him very much despite all of this. I know my life is in God's hands and that God uses times like this to make us better people for Him. 

Thank you for reading so far. Below are some progress pictures on my latest projects. 

Roll Tide belt for my dad. It's all basket weave but it's been really nice just to stitch. 


Wrong side up, but lots of good progress. 


Carol Dupree candy cane. It's a quick stitch using silk lame, splendor, and Kreinik. 



Finished candy cane. First finish in a while. 

I also started the Petei nativity. I'm so happy that Petei is coming back thanks to Painted Pony. 









Saturday, June 22, 2013

Small pieces

There is so much satisfaction working on small pieces. So much of the piece gets done quickly. There are a few that I have been working on lately. Every time I took a photos to post, I would just get more stitching done and the photo would be out of date! So I thought I would post have now!






Saturday, June 8, 2013

Paprika Pi and Rebecca Wood

My sweet stitching friend, Joey Barnes, is the owner of the fabulous Paprika Pi.  I feel so privileged to know her and to be able to stitch with her.  Her creativity and kindness is apparent when you first meet her.    Paprika Pi has been at a few stitching events- Bluebonnet Studio, EGA seminar in Sugar Land, etc- but  the scissor fobs, magnets, etc are sold exclusively thru the Needleworks in Austin.  When I saw the dog house scissor fob, it called my name loudly.  So I pounced!  It came home to me along with this Rebecca Wood April Sheep  (this means I have: April, July, September, and October.)  



Paprika Pi's fobs are awesome.  Not too heavy or light.  And sturdy.  


Tuesday, May 21, 2013

St Francis is Here!

In my effort to finish my finished pieces, I had St. Francis framed at Davis Hardware in Houston! I think they did a great job with the frame and the mats. Wow! I'm glad the finishers I took this to originally couldn't match the background to a fabric and returned it. I like this framed more than as a stand-up.





Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Miracle Worker


I finished working on this Santa piece and started the background.  As you can tell from the pencil marks, there were many starts and stops.  After finally settling on a background that follows the outline of the Santa and not a complete square, I didn't want to take out what I had already completed.  


This is a picture of the piece as-turned-in.  The finisher will have to be a miracle worker to make it come out right.  Biting my nails on this one, but I have faith in her talents.  


This is the piece I needlepointed for my grandma in it's final resting place without the plastic wrap.