Ah, spring in Wisconsin!

Contrary to my previous post, in which I didn't stitch as much as usual due to wonderful, springtime weather, this past week was more typical of a Wisconsin spring: cold, windy, rainy and even snowy a couple of days. Not so great for being outside, but terrific stitchy weather!

I spent all day this past Saturday down in my craft room with my kitties. Here's Gracie, sharing "her" table with me while we watch a marathon of "My Cat From Hell" episodes:

I hope she didn't pick up any bad habits!

I couldn't quite finish Day Nymph, but she's getting close:

A bit more of the Orange Blossom Valdani floss, then some Kreinik and the beads and she'll be done. I'm really happy with her dress; I wanted it to have the colors of a sunrise, and the silks I used had nice blends of pink, peach and orange. 

Another couple of days and the whole piece will be done:

Hope everyone has a great stitchy week!

Day is emerging

I must have a bit of spring fever, as I haven't been in the mood to stitch much lately. It's been so nice outside that I've been going for walks and working in the yard, which leaves me too tired to do much stitching.

However, I did get a bit more done on Day Nymph:

I'm hoping to finish the top wings in the next couple of days; I'm looking forward to seeing them with all the beads attached.

Here's the entire piece so far:

Hope everyone has a great stitchy week!

Night Nymph is finished!

I finished Night Nymph last Friday, and am really happy with how she turned out:

I'm even more excited to see the rest of my "vision" for these two come to life, as Day Nymph starts to make an appearance:

Here's a closer picture of Day:

The colors in her wings are even prettier than Night's, and I can't wait to get the wings stitched! I'm hoping I can get this piece finished before my trip to Italy, which is now in a bit less than a month.

I'm also excited because I finally obtained a kit that was "the one that got away" (I think most stitchers have at least one chart/kit that they really, REALLY want!). It is a kit by Vervaco, called Autumn Fairy, and it was a Herrschner's exclusive about 10 years ago. I finally found one, and I think she will be my next start:

Finally, I had a question from my last post that I thought I would answer here:

AnnieMarch 30, 2015 at 1:54 PM

"It is soo beautiful!! I can see that you have already added some beads? How is that working? When I read advice in magazines they always say to do them last..? I've just started using beads, but they still scare me, the little things...haha!"

Annie, I think the only rule to cross stitching should be that the top leg of every stitch should go in the same direction; everything else is fair game! I also used to do everything in a particular order: stitch with floss, then add any metallic threads, then back stitch, then add beads...now I just do what works for me. 

I start from the top of a design and work my way down, extending my QSnaps as the piece grows. On larger designs, the QSnaps can get pretty big by the end, and I wouldn't be able to go back and stitch comfortably on such a large frame. So, before I add extensions, I finish up each part as I go, including the beads. Honestly, I think you should do whatever works best for YOU--the stitchy police will never catch you! ;)

Hope everyone has a great stitchy week!