Gingerbread Cottage day 2

As you can see, I haven't stitched much, mostly because I tend to fall asleep in the evening, so no long night stitching sessions. Not to mention a little cleaning session. Basically my house had stitching stuff all over. That's not the way to go.

But I stitched the roof, and started the white though.
You might notice a colour difference between this picture and the other one: photo vs scan. Yesterday my scanner wasn't recognized by the computer for some reason, and I was in a hurry, so I used my camera instead.

I usually scan wips, because the colours are consistant. If you use a camera, it will depend on so many factors, you will have different hues everyday !

It's Friday, the week end approaches fast, and I have to find motivation to do finishes... And before that, clear out the craftroom, or it's not workable in there.

I would also like to say hi to Edda, Lnanaa and the others who come often but don't dare commenting. Nice to see you here.

Gingerbread Cottage update 1

Here is the picture of day one of Gingerbread Cottage...

I didn't stitch for that long, because I was so tired I was making mistakes upon mistakes.

If you look closely you can see the pinky bit on top of the door isn't centered, and will need to be "surgically removed".

I'm stitching this as part of a SAl, and I decided to try fabric a different colour than everybody else, so I went for cloudy pink. Think candy pink....

Pine Tree Hill finish

Yes, no wip pictures for this piece, as I stitched it in 2 evenings. It's a little piece from Little House Needleworks.

I wanted to do something small as I was expecting my 123 Stitch order, and it arrived yesterday indeed !

I started the Gingerbread house this morning. I know some of the LHN yahoo group have already finished this SAL, but... I know others have just started, so...

This Pine Tree Hill will be turned into a cushion for the mantel piece, probably this week end...

I added a new feature to this blog: a slideshow of my recent finishes on the right hand side... I think it's rather neat, don't you ?

Christmas? What Christmas?

Shops are preparing for Christmas, Nature feels like winter, but I really don't feel in a Christmas mood. 4 weeks before the holidays and 2 weeks of French stitchy madness.

I need a break, and it's frustrating that it doesn't come sooner. oh well ! So I'm not really in the mood to stitch strictly Christmas stuff, although I will stitch winter stuff.

The advantage would be that they will decorate my home until Spring at least ;)

I'm nearly finished gift/secret stitching, so I might be able to show you some stuff soon.

In the meantime, I spent all tomorrow making this "panier de brodeuse" (needlecraft basket). I discovered the tutorial here and nearly a hundred people already made that bag !!!

Originally I thought it wasn't for me. But then I thought about the holidays, and the fact that it would be perfect to get all my stuff in one place at DBF's. Here I just have stitching stuff all over the house with noone to complain about it, so.... it's not so much an issue.

But it might come handy when I switch from "cross stitch lounge" to "sewing craftroom". So far it's an original "naked" version. I think I will decorate it a little bit further...

The pockets are made in "japanese" fabric. Note the same motif but slightly different colour for the small pockets. Lili will recognize the fabric from the big pockets...

And the rest of the bag is made out of a huge piece of fabric I got ages ago. I found the purple "croquet" in a local LNS, and I had the buttons since ages as well.

I think it's the fancier piece of sewing I've done so far, with biases and a round form, not to mention the pockets !!!

SBQ marathon

I realised that with all the moves and such I haven't replied to the SBQs in ages !!!
As i have a bit of time now... there we go. I highly doubt people will read it all through, but well...
http://blog.blondelibrarian.net/archives/category/stitching/sbq/

When you have to frog out stitches, do you reuse that thread or do you start over with a new strand?

It all depend on the state of the thread of course. I try to be careful when frogging, so I can usually reuse at least part of thread. Especially since DMC threads are sturdy enough for that treatment !!!

If you were a cross stitch designer, what would your design style be?

At the moment, I'm very much into simple country style, like Little House Needleworks. So I suppose I would design stuff like that. Or things with speciality stitches.
Right now I try to design little things for ornaments, so it has to be small, and sort of sparkly.

Do you railroad?

No, I'm a rogue, I just let the threads do whatever they want. As the final result is nice, why would I spend extra time railroading?

What proportion of your stitching is for your own personal use versus gifts?

Most of my stitching is for me. Or, more precisely, with no recipient finality. I stitch gifts for birthdays and Christmas, but I feel giving a stitching project again and again looses a bit of its impact on people.
Many projects are still in a drawer, not in use...

What for you means to achieve mastery as a stitcher?

Is there such a thing as mastery?
Stitching bigger projects isn't very a mastery, it's just a proof of patience.
Maybe using speciality stitches? or designing your own projects?

What are your favorite online stitching supply sources?

Sew Discounted and Sew and So.

Would you ever stitch one of your BAPs a second time? (This does not include starting over because of mistakes, bad fabric, etc., rather stitching something from the first stitch for a second time.)

Not sure what BAP means... I stitched "Secret Garden" twice because my mom wanted it a second time. And I'm titching Garden Pleasure a second time as well.

How did you get started stitching? Was there a person that inspired you?

Needlework has always been part of my life. I did a bit in school, but I guess my mom and my grandma are my big source of inspiration. I've always seen them knitting, crochetting, sewing or stitching... So it's just natural.

Have you ever thought of getting a rider on your household insurance to properly cover your stash (some of us have quite an extensive stash that an average household policy wouldn’t fully cover) in the case of some sort of damage to your house that would destroy/ruin charts, fabrics, floss, etc?

Never thought of that, no... But part of my subconscious wishes to start from scratch, so... If such a house catastrophy should ever happen, I would be so distraught by the loss of irreplacable stuff (finished projects, memorabilias I have kept since I was 6...) that material loss seems secondary.

Which project (finished or in progress) are you most proud of? Explain why

Angel of CrossStitching. It was a nightmare to stitch, with all those colour changes... But because I stitched it for my grandma I made the effort to keep going, and finished it in the end, even if I thought about giving up at least a hundred times...

What do you love to do that many people hate? What do you hate to do, but do anyway?

Sorting out threads out of kits. Although now it's not as bad as before, they are removing the fun out of it.
And speciality stitches.
I hate backstitching those very detailled projects, but of course it's necessary, so.. I end up doing it anyway.

Do you consider yourself a “floss miser?”

I guess i will have to. I use the floss until it gets out of the needle because it's so small. It's not so much thread economy as the fact that you have to stop the thread, re-thread the needle, restart, etc...

When you start a new work do you look for something small, do you look for another huge project or do you consider your UFOs?

I usually act on impulse. So it could be anything. If I have no inspiration, I would turn to UFOs by default.

How do you store your WIPs and other projects that you have kitted up?

I don't realy kit projects. I keep wips fabric and patterns in a drawer. The threads are all on bobbins in 3 boxes, sorted by number. I use a smaller box to put the threads I'm currently using.

What has been your most challenging project and why?

dunno, they are all sort of the same... I suppose "Cinderella" is the most challenging as it's big, and I still haven't finished it... shame on me ;)

How many needles do you use during a project? Have you ever loaded up a needle for every color? Do you use a new needle for every project or recycle your favorite needle?

Usually I only use one needle during a project, unless I have a border needing stitching several colours at a time. But this is rare. I tend to use any of the needles on my pincushion, so I end up using the same needle again and again. I only take care of the size of the needle, to use what's most appropriate for the fabric I stitch on.

If you could only stitch one more piece what would it be and why?

whatever I feel like stitching at the moment. Or maybe a big Mirabilia project, so that it lasts longer ;)

How many WIPs do you have? How many UFOs do you have? When does a WIP become a UFO?

No idea. These days I try to stitch one project at a time... wip become ufos with time, but you never know, ufos might come back as stitched project...

How do you decide which stitching blogs are worth repeat and/or regular viewings? Are there certain things you look for in particular? Are there things you wish there were more of? Less of? Is your blog a good example of what you like to read?

Instinct? Obviously my blog is what I like to read. Otherwise there is no point writting it.
I'm first and foremost looking for blogs with projects I like. I like to be inspired. Discover projects I wasn't aware of. Projects that give me ideas. With original finishes.
Text wise, it's even harder to define. Some people have a writing style I like better than others. I don't know...

Do you use your needle, a seam ripper, or something else when you have to frog stitches? Why do you use the method that you do?

Needle. Why? well... I don't know. it's the thing I have in my hand already... and it's just small enough to go under the threads and be precised not to damage the thread...

Do you find yourself stitching faster when you are getting to the end of a design?

No, sometimes I even feel I go slower... don't want to part from the project...

I'm on a roll

This is a Drawn Thread freebie, "Tree fob".

I used a Needle necessities for the green, and red DMC variation around (+cord).

Red and irridescent beads on the tree, and old sort of bronze beads around.

Oh, and I stitched on that great 40 count linen Lili gave me for my birthday...

It looks like a gem...

Replies to you....

This winter ewe... has a story in itself... Looking back in my blog, I stitched it beginning of last years Christmas holidays. Apparently i wanted to stitcht he house "DMC 341, but I met with Lili and she let me borrow some Needle Necessities threads for the house and the tree. So I have no idea what reference they are, maybe Lili could help us with that?

Zohrah, there you are, I missed you, I was just thinking about you, did you move at work already? Do you still read blogs? Do you stitch? Etc...

Kucki, the hanging method isn't definate. I just put a leftover thread for the picture. I don't know if I'm going to put a cord, or a ribbon or whatever, I just had no courage yesterday evening ;)

Hum, not much to say at the moment, and I'm still stitching on "unshowable" stuff, so... there you are...

Actually....

Well... an hour or so later...

I got my courage and mounted this little Country Cottage ornament from last year Just CrossStitch Ornament magazine. this time I just sewed the design on a piece of felt, and backed with another piece of felt, blanket stitch...

All over the place !!!

I feel frustrated not to have my order from 123 Stitch.
I finished something, but can't show it as the recipient reads this blog
Can't show wip of what I started because the recipient reads this blog
I don't like the fabric I started "Gifts of the Season" so I have to start over
I don't feel like stitching "Gifts of the season", I feel like little decorations right now

On top of it, Lauren's advice was good, so I joined the WxsW group, and I plan on starting a lovely Christmas tree.

So all in all... no picture. better luck next time !!!

First snow !!!!

As planned, I finished Simply Snowdays yesterday. Still have to turn it into something like a banner... The end was a bit fiddly, because of the precise backstitching and french knots on the birds.

Now I'm officially stitching "Gifts of the season" from Gail Bussi. It's coming from Cross Stitch Gold from last year. I have a sort of love/hate relationship with this pattern. I don't know why. Sometimes I feel like it's the cutetest thing, and sometimes i find it too naive.

Right now I'm just not so sure about the fabric I took: DMC 32ct winter white linen. There's ahuge difference between DMC and Zweigart linens. French linen are close to Zweigart. But these prepacked DMC linens are weird: the holes are so big you can see through the fabric, it's quite transparent.

From a stitcher point of view, the first difficulty that comes up is that you can't carry over at the back. I do that a lot. So it will be a problem for me... I'll have to be super careful I guess...

I also stitch gifts. Now that I don't have the "password protected posts" feature, I decided to send by email my gift finishes. If you previously subscribe to the password access list, I still have your email, so you're all set. But if you are a recent reader, just give me your email at angelsan1 at gmail dot com

Note that in blogger I don't see the commenter's emails, so I can't guess your email if you just comment.

Well, off to work now...