More Witches Hollow

On Saturday I finished the second scene (which I think will be my favorite):

Yesterday I started on the third scene (there are five total):

Teresa, the kind person who loaned the chart to me, commented that she liked that I had a different needle minder each week. At first I was using a witch hat, which I had picked up at my LNS. Then I received a big, blingy bat in the mail, so I had to use that one for a while. But both of those were large, so they only fit  when I could put them at the top of the fabric; now that I've extended the Q-snaps, I need smaller minders that fit along the side. Besides, it's always fun to switch things up a bit!

For those in the US, I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving; to everyone else, a great stitchy week!

More Progress...

... on Witches Hollow by The Primitve Needle:

I'm hoping to finish up the second "line" this week; then I'll be about 2/5 finished. :)

Stitching will slow down around Thanksgiving, as I can't spend as much time in my craft room when there's cleaning, cooking and visiting to be done. I've got a small project kitted up that I can work on in the kitchen while my mom is here (hi Mom!!).

Hope everyone has a great stitchy week!

Progress on Witches Hollow

I'm working steadily this piece, and have now completed the top "line":

There are four more "lines" like this one in the pattern; if each one takes about a week and a half to stitch, then I should finish this one around the end of the year. Although, it might be a little longer because holiday preparations take a bite out of my stitching time this time of year. I am really enjoying working on this, though; it's hard to put down!

As I've mentioned before, I spent several years stitching models for Karen Kluba of Rosewood Manor. Part of the contract is that once she is done with sending the models to trunk shows around the country, I will get my pieces back, already framed. Well, I finally got a couple back, and they are gorgeous!

The first is the first model I stitched for Karen, called My Token of Love:

I stitched this right before my husband and I celebrated our 20th anniversary, and I was allowed to personalize it, which makes it even more special.

Having passed the "test" of my stitching abilities, the next project Karen sent was Past & Present, which I absolutely love:

The last model I've gotten back is My Heart's Desire Needleroll, which appeared in the February 2011 issue of The Gift of Stitching:

That's all for now from my little corner of the crafting world; hope everyone has a great stitchy week!

Stitchers are the best!

Every year about this time a wish list is started on the 123Stitch MB, in which people post any stitching wish and grant wishes, either from their stash, by ordering items or sending a gift certificate. It's really a mood-booster to see the generosity of stitchers, as some pretty hard-to-find charts/items are gifted.

My wish this year was a long-shot, as I wanted to borrow someone's Witches Hollow by The Primitive Needle. This chart is hard to come by, and sells in the $150 range on eBay, which I just couldn't bring myself to pay. I'm not even a big fan of primitive designs, but something about this one really struck my fancy; the motifs and colors used just called to me. :)

Amazingly enough, a fellow stitcher offered to lend the chart to me (thanks Teresa!!), and it arrived last week. Here is my start on it:

With a close-up of the owl:

I think part of the reason I don't usually care for primitive designs is that so many of them are stitched on brown/tan fabrics; I barely have any of that color range in my stash. For this one, I pulled out a piece of my favorite Halloween-stitching fabric, PTP's Haunted on Edinburgh. I'm looking forward to seeing how different the design will look on this fabric; I think the colors will pop nicely.

Speaking of colors, this chart calls for a lot of over-dyed flosses. Luckily, I had about half of them in my stash, and I ordered and received the rest last week. However, last night as I was finishing the owl, I was thinking that it had used a lot of floss, so I looked at the instructions and, sure enough, I was supposed to be using one strand of floss instead of two! That's probably another reason I don't like prims; even on 36ct fabric, I'd rather use two strands of floss, because I don't like to see fabric through the design.

So, I am going to continue to use two strands, and just raid my stash for more floss in colors that I like. This will definitely be a one-of-a-kind finish!

As far as my previous WIP, Lightning McQueen & Friends, it has now been put away until this one is finished. I was able to finish Mater before I put it away, and he is just adorable:

Hope everyone has a great stitchy week!