Just Cross Stitch Halloween 2017

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I just received an email from my sales rep at Annie’s, letting me know the 2017 issue of Just Cross Stitch Halloween will be out soon. So far only the cover photo has been released:

2017halloween

As soon as I receive more photos I will post them here. Hearing this news, I decided to get out my copy of the 2016 issue and take a look at it again. When it came out, I had other things going on so I didn’t do much more than glance at it. Now, looking through it again, I found a project I really MUST stitch! It is a sugar skull and was designed by Breanne Jackson.

sugarskull

As soon as I saw this design, I knew exactly what fabric I wanted to use. I have had a piece of Aida in my stash for a few years, not knowing what it should be used for. It is a gorgeous lime green, and it needed just the right project. Now I just needed to find the prefect floss for it. The pattern calls for all black, but that’s not my style. I love colors! I got out my bin of silk floss and found something perfect. It’s called Ada’s Rainbow and it is from Gloriana. I have only used silk one other time, and never on Aida, so this should be interesting.

greenaida

I think the bright colors will really pop on this fabric, and I think they would make a wonderful sugar skull. I can’t wait to get started, but I am feeling guilty about all of the projects I have lined up. There’s the red haired mermaid, the bright butterflies, the primitive pincushions, and of course at least a dozen Egyptian designs. It’s already been a month since I received the magazine that had the mermaid in it, and I have made very little progress on my pyramids. Oh, why can’t there be more hours in the day?

XXX
Carrie



Slow Progress

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Progress has been slow on this willow tree sampler. I got my braces on Wednesday and so my teeth have been hurting for the last 4 days. I haven’t felt much like stitching, but here is what I have done since my last post. The roof was really difficult. I am using two strands of Silk Mori even though the directions call for one, because I am using a different count fabric (28 instead of 32). The roof is not done in cross stitch, but a slanted stitch. It turned out really well and definitely gives the look of real shingles. But it was difficult to find the holes in the fabric on all of the partial stitches. The grass is also going to be done in this stitch, but worked all the way across, not start and stop every few stitches like the roof. So that will be a lot easier. The colors on this are a bit different from what the pattern called for, but it was what I had on hand. I didn’t want to order more colors when I had some that were good enough.

willowtree2

XXX
Carrie


So Little Time…

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Wow, so much has been going on lately, I feel like a chicken running around with its head cut off! My two favorite men (my hubby and father) have been replacing the roof on my store. On Tuesday they worked from 7:45 a.m. until 9:45 p.m. Hubby came home for a can of ravioli for lunch and then skipped dinner. Wednesday and Thursday they quit at dinner time, I think from sheer exhaustion. This roof was probably close to 100 years old, and had layer upon layer that had to be ripped off. I am hoping they get done today because tomorrow is probably going to be the last day without rain. Actually, while they were working it started to snow. Yes, I said SNOW.

I have been going to the orthodontist since November to try to address my major TMJ issues. In January I got a bite splint which makes me look really weird, and for the first few weeks I couldn’t talk very well. But I was amazed at the results. My headaches disappeared, as did my sinus pain. My earaches went away and I actually got the hearing back in my left hear. I could walk up and down the stairs or around the grocery store without my knees killing me. I could sleep at night. And I was finally able to eat again. I had lost about 9 pounds, which is not a good thing on an already skinny person. Now that I have had the device in 24/7 for 4 months, we decided to continue with braces. I go next Wednesday to get them on my lower teeth only, so that I can still wear the bite splint on my top teeth. So running to the orthodontist for bite splint adjustments, x rays, impressions, and consultations has really eaten up a lot of my time.

It’s just about the end of the school year, which brings about lots of excitement and stress at the same time. The kids are excited that they only have 10 full days and 2 half days left, but I am stressing about their fighting which will start up about 5 minutes after they are forced to be together on the first day of vacation. I am not sure how I will handle that all summer long. Next year they will be in separate schools, which will probably make our routine even harder than it is this year.

We have also been making plans for the summer, which include going to DISNEY WORLD! This will be my son’s 5th trip and my daughter’s 4th. It will also be our longest trip by far. Normally we do 3 or 4 days, and the last time we went we did 5 days because Disney gave us the 5th day for free when booking a 4 day trip. This time around we will be in the park for 7 days! My daughter’s birthday is the middle of August and our trip will be right after that, and we will get home just a few days before school starts up again.

I have been stitching a little bit each night, but not taking progress photos. My current project is one I kitted up last summer, so it is technically from my stash.It is worked entirely in silk, which I had not used before. But I am finding that the Kreinik Silk Mori is a dream to work with. It doesn’t knot as bad as DMC, and it glides through the fabric (I am stitching on linen). The pattern is from an old issue of Just Cross Stitch, which I found at a thrift store. After deciding to stitch it, I found that issue on my Just Cross Stitch DVD which has 10 years of issues (see my previous blog post). I was able to print the pattern out so that I could cross off my stitches as I go and not ruin my physical copy of the magazine. I LOVE these DVDs!

house1Here is my slow progress from the past couple of weeks. Maybe since it is a holiday weekend (and my birthday!) I will get some well deserved stitching time in the next few days.

house2

XXX
Carrie


Digging through the stash

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Tonight I needed a break from stitching and decided to go through my stash of threads. Oh, what fun! I have picked up silks, cottons, and overdyes from various sources, but mostly shop closings. The rainbow of colors is simply breathtaking! And I love the feel of these different types of fibers. Hopefully these photos will inspire you to go through your own stash and find some things you can use to create your next masterpiece. Here is the first tote of goodies.

Inside, I found Weeks Dye Works Pearl Cotton:

Northern Lights silks:

Kreinik Silk Mori:

and huge hanks of Gloriana silks:

I also found a stash of what appears to be one skein each of the entire line of overdyed floss by JAR Designs in Florida. I don’t know anything about this company, and an internet search didn’t provide much information. It looks like they are out of business or just don’t have a website any more. The skeins are small, but I am sure I will find something to use them on!

By far, my favorite from this stash is the lot of twisted skeins of Silk N Threads from The Thread Gatherer. They are sooooo gorgeous! I can’t wait to find a project to utilize some of these. If I can bear to cut into them, that is! They are so pretty the way they are.

XXX
Carrie