August Stitching: A Finish, Progress, A Start, & Plans

Hello Stitching & Crafting Friends & Followers! 

So here we are, already 5 days into September! Only 111 days until Christmas, and I'm sure that will fly by! 

So I am very happy to show you the finished piece of Coffee Motto that I made for my Grama and her new husband. Here it is before and after matting & framing ... 

You'll remember on my last post how I mentioned about one of the groups I am in on Facebook doing a different White Willow Stitching tribal pattern SAL each month. Last month (August) was the Tribal Cauldron. Since I was using the size 5 cotton perle black floss and had never used it before, even tho I am stitching it on 28 ct evenweave, it is proving to be quite the challenge to stitch with. But I am getting thru it very slowly. This is the only progress I've made on it so far ... 

The pattern that we are doing for the September WWS Tribal SAL is the Tribal Cat. Originally I hadn't planned on stitching this one, but once it was added to the SAL list, I thought why not. I still haven't decided what fabric or floss to use for it, so I'll keep thinking about it. This is what the Tribal Cat looks like ... 

Towards the end of August, I decided to start working on the Kincavel Krosses Rules for Life. My dear friend that passed away, Momma Anna, I showed this pattern to her after I bought it. All the many years we've known each other, she had never asked me to stitch her anything specific before. But as soon as she saw and read the Rules for Life design, she said to me, "I really like this one. Please stitch this one for me." I had never gotten to get it stitched for her before she passed. This of course saddens me. So I am stitching it. And I am going to give it to Momma Anna's daughter after it's finished. I am stitching it on 14 ct light oatmeal aida and using ThreadworX 10342 Earth Stones floss. I think the fabric & floss combination is looking really really good. I'm still doing the border of the design so I don't want to post an update photo yet, but here is what the design looks like, as well as the floss & fabric together right before I started it ... 

Also during all of this, I am also trying to completely revamp and reorganize my entire craft room. That in itself is quite a job & quite time consuming. But it's going to be so worth it once I have it finished. 

Well that's all I have for this time. I should be posting some update photos soon! Thank you, as always, for reading and following my blog! 

Happy Stitching & Crafting to One & All!

Until Next Time,

♥ Margie ♥

Where Does the Time Go?!

Hi Everyone! 

Wow! I can't believe that we're already about 2/3 of the way thru 2012 already! I don't know about all of you, but to me it just seems that time goes by faster and faster the older I get! I sure could use an extra couple of hours everyday. 

So I am still working on HAED's Hold on to Hope. I haven't gotten much actual stitching done. But I thought I'd give gridding a try. I see many others doing it. And it seems to me that it will make things go a little smoother when stitching. I posted in one of my Facebook groups, asking others what their favorite gridding methods are. There were several responses. Some said to use the already gridded fabric from DMC called Magic Guide. But to get that I would have to order from the UK, and I just can't afford that right now. Between shipping and the currency conversion, it would cost quite a pretty penny. A couple people said they just use regular floss to grid. I have tried that on smaller pieces, and I end up getting the gridded floss caught up in the stitching and it becomes a mess. Some use a quilting pencil that is supposed to wash out easily when the fabric is washed. This makes me a little bit nervous bcuz I worry that it will not actually wash out and all that stitching will go to waste. One person said they use the Crayola washable markers. She said it always washed out completely and works great. I do like this idea, however, just like with the quilting pencils, I am nervous about it not washing out completely. Another suggestion is to use fishing line to grid the fabric. Now this idea, I like. I don't have to worry about it not washing out or getting caught up in my stitches of the pattern. And once I am finished stitched the pattern, I just had to cut the fishing line knot and it will pull right out. So that is what I've decided to go with this time. I may try the other gridding methods later on. But for now, the fishing line seems to be the best method that will work for me. So that is what I am working on right now, is gridding the fabric for Hold on to Hope. I will admit, I had some difficulty threading the fishing line onto a needle. And not using the needle was more difficult. But I was able to finally get it on the needle and it's going along nicely now. It is a bit of a tedious task. But I do feel it will be worth the work. I bought the fishing line at Walmart. They didn't have much of a selection of color. I didn't want clear, bcuz I want to be able to see the grid lines easily. So I bought this transparent green. It's not too bad. But I think the next time I need to buy some, I will check the sporting goods stores instead of Walmart, so that I can find the red fishing line, or some other brighter, more visible color. 

Anyway, next topic. Do any of you use a method called "parking" when you stitch? I have seen several people using this method, and to be honest, it confuses the heck out of me. For one, I don't know how the floss colors don't get mixed up. I mean, there are so many floss colors that are so similar, so how do they not get mixed up? Also, if you do "park", how do you not keep from getting the "parked" strands of floss caught up in the strand of floss that you are stitching with? Please share your thoughts and feedback on this, as I would really like to know. 

Most of you have seen that my existing WIPs and UFOs are quite large patterns. So, I've decided that to break up working on these larger pieces, I am going to get back into doing the ATC exchanges that I used to do, as well as a coaster exchange. I am in groups for both on Facebook. And I think it will be fun to do the ATC exchanges again. And the coaster exchange I think will be lots of fun and exciting too. The first ATC exchange, is a fairy theme. And I must say, it is not easy finding a fairy pattern small enough for an ATC. The theme for the coaster this month is flowers. I came up with a cute idea for the flower, but I don't want to give it away here yet, as I don't know if the person receiving the coaster will see or read my blog. After she receives it, I will post a picture. 

Well that is all I have for now. I'm off to stitch and grid! Happy Stitching, Crafting and Blogging to all! 

Until Next Time,

♥ Margie ♥