Category: cross stitch

She is Pink and She is Finished!
cross stitch · Elegant Ladies · Fabric · Hand Dyed Fabrics · Nora Corbett · Pixie · Romanitc · Uncategorized

She is Pink and She is Finished!

My Time Stitching29 Comments

Queen Annes Lace 1

Isn’t she a beauty!  I finished her last night and couldn’t be more happier with her.  She is Queen Anne’s Lace by Nora Corbett.  She is featured in the current issue of Just Cross Stitch magazine and is a FREE download on their site.  I stitched her on 16ct Aida Carmel Macchiato from Hand Dyed Fabrics by Stephanie.  And while the stitching above is more true to the colors, the fabric is a bit washed out.  Below is a better picture of the fabric.

Queen Annes Lace finish

This picture was taken last night after I finished her.  The first photo I took this morning in natural light.  What a difference.  But I am so excited to have her finished and can’t wait to get her in to be framed.  I am thinking something silver, to match my new craft room (which I love, by the way).  So I stitched a little bit more on Ella last night after finishing Pixie Anne, and here is where I am with her:

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She is coming along, but I am afraid that something else has caught my eye (as if we didn’t think that would happen, sheesh!)

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I was going to wait until this Stitch Along was finished before investing in all the materials and the patterns, but I saw someone on the Wherefore Art Thou Facebook Group stitching it in pink, and that was all she wrote!  The colors looked so lovely on her fabric.  And I knew I had some kind of pink fabric in my stash.  So while out last weekend, I just happen to run into the patterns and couldn’t resist!  And I am going to stitch it in all the specialty hand dyed threads instead of DMC.  As you can see, I picked up sections 1 and 2.  Section 3 will be released on March 31, in Italy, where Nora Corbett will be attending the Casa Cenina shop.  They are probably having a big party to celebrate the beauty who will come to life when the stitching is finished.  Can you guess who it will be?  Once I returned home with pattern and threads, I began the search for the perfect pink fabric.  I had only one that I thought would compliment the lovely floss colors.  Here is my floss toss.  What do you think?

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The fabric is 16ct Aida Pink Impatiens by Silkweaver.  The recommended fabrics are Chocolate Milk and a Gray linen.  With all the rich dark colors, I think it needs a lighter, prettier color fabric.  I am so excited.  I think I may be starting it this weekend if not tonight.  I will be sure to post photos of my start.  What new project are you looking forward to starting or what project are you enjoying at the moment?

Knit, Frog, Knit, Frog…
cross stitch · Elegant Ladies · Knitted Shawl · Knitting · Mirabilia · Uncategorized

Knit, Frog, Knit, Frog…

My Time Stitching24 Comments

So, over the last couple of weeks, I have started this shawl about 12 times now and knitted back I don’t know how many rows.  I am at the end of my last nerve with this pattern.  Here is what I have knitted back on the needles and have completed row 17.

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It is such a cute shawl, featured in the Creative Knitting magazine Wraps, Capelets & Cowls.  Looking at my knitting and the pattern, I don’t think I am doing it right, but can’t for the life of me, figure out what I am doing wrong.  It is just a bunch of yarn overs and K2tog and Make 1 stitches.  And I am afraid to go any further for fear of not coming up with the correct number of stitches at the end of the row…again.  The pattern is Roman Stripe, which I have never done before, but doesn’t seem to be difficult.  In fact, the pattern says it is for “A Confident Beginner” giving it a ease 2 rating out of 6.  I have been knitting for about 30 years, so I think I am beyond a confident beginner, but just can’t figure this one out. If anyone knows this pattern and can tell what I am doing wrong, I would greatly appreciate it.  On a side note…I LOVE the Addi Turbo needles!!  They glide so nicely and may just be my new favorite needles.  I give them an A+ rating.

In between knitting on this and waiting for threads and beads for Pixie Anne, I have picked Ella up again.  Here is where I left off last night:

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She still has a lot of yellow, but it is so much more relaxing than knitting on that shawl!  I am also still working on my craft room; adding things and organizing my supplies.  Having fun 🙂

So, have you ever just scrapped a project because it wasn’t coming out like you wanted or had been working on it too long and decided enough was enough?  I have done it once, and am seriously thinking about doing it again with this knitting project.

My New Craft Room, Injured Back and Pixie Anne
Craft Room · cross stitch · Nora Corbett · Pixie · Uncategorized

My New Craft Room, Injured Back and Pixie Anne

My Time Stitching37 Comments

So my new Craft Room is pretty much finished.  I still have things to move in and some organizing to do, but I have a new room!  Here is a before picture of my sons room before we had it painted:

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And here it is after the walls were prepped and patched and painted:

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My husband worked very hard putting all of my furniture together and set up.  My first desk went in on move in day on Feb 7.  And then the rest of the furniture arrived and started going in.  My space kept getting smaller and smaller and I realized that everything I wanted to put in this room was not going to fit.  But that’s ok.  It’s going to be wonderful.

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My other desk went in but when we opened the carton with the corner piece, it was shattered, so we had to wait for a replacement.  And it came rather quickly and the decorating began!

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I just love it!  I have even created in it already.  It is not finished.  I am still waiting on some organizational shelving and I still have drawers and cubby’s to fill.  But last week I injured my back-first last Monday night and then again Tuesday, bringing in boxes of furniture the UPS guy delivered. It was the worst back pain I have ever had and I have had a few.  It’s still not 100%, but getting better a little bit everyday.  I am hoping to get back in my new room tomorrow and fill up a few drawers 😉

I couldn’t even stitch last week, but in the last few nights I have put a few stitches into Nora Corbett’s Queen Anne’s Lace.  She is so sweet and will be the first thing I hang in my new craft room when I get her finished and framed. I am stitching her on 16ct Aida Carmel Macchiato, a hand dyed fabric by Stephanie.  Here is my progress on her:

Queen Annes Lace

Once I get the metallic pink portion of the right wings finished, I will have to put her down until the rest of the supplies I have ordered for her come in.  I have had the silk thread and the rest of the beads on order for 2 weeks or so.  She must be a very popular design.  She is so sweet and I cannot wait to get her finished.

I worked on some knitting while my back was hurting, but I guess I couldn’t concentrate as I had to rip out many times and re-work.  I hope to work on it a bit more this week and then I will post a picture.

So, while I was moving into a new craft room and nursing a hurt back, what have you been up to?

It Was Only A Matter Of Time
Craft Room · cross stitch · Nora Corbett · Pixie · Storage · Uncategorized

It Was Only A Matter Of Time

My Time Stitching28 Comments

Warning, this is a long post, so grab your favorite beverage and hang out for a bit 😉  I have put Ella down to make a new start.  As the title says, it was just a matter of time before some beautiful design captured my full attention, making me want to put Ella aside.  Here is my new start!

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This is Nora Corbett’s new design, Queen Anne’s Lace.  Right now it is a FREE PDF from Just Cross Stitch Magazine.  Gotta love that!  It will be in the April issue of the magazine but for now you can download it from JCS magazine site.  It will be the first piece to hang in my NEW craft room when she is finished.  More on the NEW craft room in a second 🙂 I am stitching little Miss Anne on 16ct Aida Carmel Macchiato from Stehphs Fabbys.  Can I say I am already tired of green and want to get to the Pink?  I am not a fan of green, but there is not as much as the yellow in Ella.  Here is how I left Ella yesterday:

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She is coming along, but not fast enough for me.  So Pixie Anne is the perfect distraction.

OK, so I mentioned a NEW craft room.  A few years ago, hubby was encouraging me to take one of our boys’ bedrooms for my new craft room.  Our oldest moved out 3 1/2 years ago, and while the thought of a new craft room sounded wonderful, I couldn’t take over my son’s room. So last year, my youngest said I should take over his room, he will move into our oldest’s room and I can have my craft room.  So I decided I would do it in the Spring of 2016.  The last few months hubby has been pushing the idea and I have been thinking about how I would like to decorate it.  I will be losing quite a bit when I leave my current room; like a desk, shelves above my head, cupboards to the right of me.  You see, my current craft room is a narrow space in my laundry room, which also contains the furnace and water heater.  Here is a glimpse into my current space:

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I have made great use of the space I have had for 17 or so years.  But I have really outgrown it.  And the floor is concrete and is very cold.  Here is the other end of my current room:

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So a couple of weeks ago, hubby and I were at the office store and I ran into some furniture that just blew me away!  I was originally thinking a new desk would be white, to match my current cube furniture.  But this furniture I fell in love with is glass!  And silver frame. So I thought about it for a few days, had taken measurements and went back to the store on the last day of the sale to take a final look.  I even gathered some things from the store to put on my desk to see how it would all feel.  LOVED it and ordered the furniture.  That was on Jan. 30.  That day, hubby also called a painter to come in and give us an estimate.  The painter said he could start on Wednesday and be done by Sunday!  What???  That only gave us 3 1/2 days to box up one room and move the other room in!  It was moving way too fast.  I thought I had until Spring to start on it.  So, hubby and I began the move on Sunday and the painter arrived on Wednesday evening to an empty room that needed some patching and a border removed and prep for painting.

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So I am SOOOO excited about my new room!  I want the walls Pink (of course) and the trim gray.  The carpet is a light gray, even though the photo looks like it is purple.  After many times changing my mind, I made my final decision on paint swatches last night:

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So many pinks and grays to choose from (there really are 50 shades of gray, or more! LOL) but I finally decided: Impatiens Petal pink and Software gray. Sorry for the blurriness on my color choices.  So by Sunday, I think the painter will be done and sometime next week we can start putting my furniture together, which were delivered this week.  I plan to have all of my stamping, scrapbooking, cross stitch and knitting and crocheting all in this one room instead of spread throughout the house.  The room is not really that big, but bigger than the space I have now so I am looking forward to decorating and organizing it.  My wonderful husband is totally responsible for this happening.  If it wasn’t for him, I still wouldn’t be getting a room.  Spring would come and I would still have reasons not to move the boys’ things. My  boys are perfectly fine with what I am doing and my youngest was even here earlier in the week going through his things, and helping me move stuff.  I am feeling better about the whole process and can’t wait to move in next week 🙂

If you are still here, thank you for listening to me go on and on about my craft room.  Do you have a special place where you like to do all of your crafting?

Birthday Surprises and Ella Update
cross stitch · Elegant Ladies · Hand Dyed Fabrics · Mirabilia · New stash! · Stitchy Gifts · Uncategorized · WIP

Birthday Surprises and Ella Update

My Time Stitching23 Comments

So last weekend was my birthday and hubby spoiled me with a weekend get-away and some fun shopping.  He also surprised me with a techy gift.  Did you notice my new blog address??  I’m a dot com now!  and I have my own email address attached to my blog so if you ever want to drop me a note, you can at ginny@mytimestitching.com

I received a couple of stitchy gifts for my birthday.  I received these from my VBSF (Very Best Stitchy Friend):

Stitchy birthday gift

Johanna knows I LOVE tea pots and tea cups.  It is so perfect.  If I had a needle, scissors and a hoop on my getaway, I would have already started this cute stitch. This will look lovely in my kitchen one day.  And the beautiful pendant she made from clay. This photo really doesn’t do this piece justice.  It is really gorgeous in person.   She is so talented.  Thank you so much, Johanna.

I received a surprise package all the way from Singapore from a dear blogging friend, Angela.

Stitchy gift from Angela

A beautiful stitch kit that will be perfect in my new craft room (coming this Spring).  It says DREAM, sorry I covered that up with the cute little scissors.  And a bag full of buttons and charms.  I can’t wait to use them in my crafting.  Thank you for thinking of me, Angela.

And now my update on Ella, the Frog Princess:

Ella update

I feel she is going so slow.  I have been working on her for about 4 weeks now and this is only the middle of the dress layers. I guess I have my wish to stitch on a lady with a big dress 😉  This is definitely a Big Yellow Dress.  I hope to have much more done the next time I update her.  In case you are viewing her for the first time, she is Ella, the Frog Princess by Mirabila.  I am stitching her on Pandora 16ct Aida from Hand Dyed Fabrics by Stephanie.

So, are you working on a project that just seems to be slowly getting done?

Winter Whisper #2
cross stitch · Passione Ricamo · Uncategorized · Winter Whisper

Winter Whisper #2

My Time Stitching16 Comments

Where has January gone?  It just seems like yesterday I was celebrating the New Year and now here it is, almost the end of January.  Well, I guess that does mean that we are that much more into winter and closer to Spring 😉

I finally received the Hornbook and finished Winter Whisper #2 for my Mom.

Winter Whisper for Mom

The hornbook had to be ordered from a different company than the one I did for the contest, and this one turned out to be a Navy Blue instead of Black.  The edges had the worn look of raw wood and it was smaller than the original one I had purchased.  But I thought it would work.  I used some white ink to make the worn edges more white and stamped the snowflakes all around.  I glued the finished piece onto the hornbook. I  made a bow from seam binding, glued it on and added a pretty, sparkly jewel.  My Mom really likes it.  I still have one more Winter Whisper to make, for myself, but have decided on a different finish.  The Winter Whisper design is now available for purchase on Passione Ricamo‘s website if you are interested in stitching this beauty.

I had planned on adding more today, but I am out of time.  I will post again tomorrow.  Until then, happy stitching!

 

So Much Yellow!
cross stitch · Knitting · Mirabilia · New stash! · Uncategorized · yarn

So Much Yellow!

My Time Stitching16 Comments

Hello friends.  I hope that your New Year is going well.  I can’t believe that we are already over half way into January!  I have a funny feeling the rest of the year will fly by also.  So, here is to taking one day at a time and enjoying each day doing whatever makes us happy.

So…what have I been up to? Well, I am still stitching on Mirabilia’s  Ella, the Frog Princess  and trying not to let all the yellow get me down! Here she is as I left her last night:

Ella progress

As you can tell from the photo, I have a long way to go. I am trying not to let that sea of yellow get the best of me.  Thankfully I have some pretty flowers to give me a boost of color when I get too bored of the yellow.  I have been overly tired lately, so the progress has been slow.  But I am still enjoying her, so far.

A few weekends ago, I found a couple of knitting shops that I had never been to.  Here is what I added to my stash 😉

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Yarn and needles to knit a pretty little shoulder shawl from the book shown above.  Forgot to take a photo of the actual shawl.  But I will when I start it.  I also bought my first Addi needles.  I have heard they are nice, but have never tried them before.  I am not a fan of circular needles, but this pattern called for circulars, in a size I knew I didn’t have.  So I will let you know how I like them when I get to knitting on them.

And from the other shop that I visited, I found this:

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This shawl was actually done up in the store and I fell in love with it immediately.  The yarn it calls for is Saki, a hand dyed yarn by Prism.  The color I chose is Portofino and I can’t wait to see how it knits up.  I have actually started it and this is where I left off with this one:

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I started with 11 stitches and increased up to 161 stitches in just that little bit!  It is full of pattern and the last row that I did, I ended up with too many stitches, so had to knit it back 2 rows.  I have put the purl row back in, but was a little afraid to pick it back up for fear of making another mistake.  I have been too tired lately and I know better than to tackle a pattern when my brain is not up full speed.  I am loving how the colors are knitting up  already.

So, that is what I have been up to this month.  What are you working on?

Happy New Year 2016!
cross stitch · Games · Knitting · Mirabilia · Stitchy Gifts · Uncategorized · WIP

Happy New Year 2016!

My Time Stitching30 Comments

I hope you had a wonderful holiday season and I wish you a happy, healthy, wonderful 2016!

I had a great stitchy year in 2015 and hope to have another great one in 2016. Usually I grab something new to start on New Years, but this year I decided to work on a WIP.  And this one may as well be considered a new start as I didn’t have much done on it when I picked it up.  It is Ella, The Frog Princess from Mirabilia. Here is Ella when I started her in November, 2013..

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Not much of a start, so that is why I say it’s like a new start 😉  Here she is after I put her down last night..

New year start on Ella

It sure is a lot of yellow.  But I am trying to keep her going until I finish her. Or until a wonderful designer releases something that I just have to start right away 😉  The lovely flowers give me a nice break from the yellow when I need it.

I only received one stitchy gift for Christmas this year, but it is one that I have been wanting for quite some time.  A dear friend gifted this to me..

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An adorable yarn bowl!!  And I have used it to make a couple of scarves already 🙂  I love it.  And it looks so pretty on the table with yarn inside it.

While this next gift isn’t a stitchy item, I have designated it to be.

Mermaid journal

It is my stitchy journal made and gifted to me by my VBSF (Very Best Stitchy Friend).  She made this amazing journal cover from clay.  She is so talented with her new clay hobby and she knows me so well.  I just love this little journal and will keep all kinds of stitchy info on projects and materials and such, inside.

And one other gift that isn’t exactly stitchy per say, but stitchy related..

Yoshis wooly world

Hubby bought me the Yoshi’s Wooly World game for the Wii U and I am so addicted to it!  Everything in Yoshi’s world is knitted, crocheted or sewing related.  Even Yoshi 🙂  As you can see in the picture, the trees and walkways all look like they were knitted or crocheted.  There are buttons and crochet hooks and needles throughout.  The object in each level is to find all the yarn balls to knit a new Yoshi back together.  So cute and I love that all the scenery is stitching of some sort.

So that is my update for the beginning of 2016.  I have a long list of things I want to accomplish in 2016.  Most are stitching or craft related, like finish up WIP’s, scrapbook all of my page kits, stamp more cards, use up my yarn stash, etc., etc, etc.  What do you hope to accomplish this year?

Finished Stitching for Christmas
cross stitch · Elegant Ladies · Hand Dyed Fabrics · Mirabilia · Passione Ricamo · Queen · Stitchy Gifts · Uncategorized · Winter

Finished Stitching for Christmas

My Time Stitching20 Comments

Well, we are down to the final 2 days before Christmas.  I finished stitching my last Christmas gift this week, but it will have to wait for a finish as the hornbooks I ordered have not come in.

Winter Whisper 2

This is my 2nd Winter Whisper.  It is a gift for my Mom.  It is stitched on 16ct Aida Ice Goddess by Stephanie.  This fabric turned out a little darker, but she still looks beautiful on it.  I will turn it into a flat ornament (kind of)  and have it all ready to mount onto the hornbook when I get it in.

Speaking of Whisper Winter, I wanted to thank everyone who voted for my piece.  With all of the votes and the decision of the designer and her assistant, I was awarded 3rd place.  I am just thrilled.

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And here is my wonderful prize package sent all the way from Italy by Laura from Passione Ricamo.

prize package

I received a beautiful piece of blue 30ct linen.  I have never stitched on 30ct, but may give it a try.  Some beautiful post cards with Laura’s beautiful artwork on them.  A package of 25 skeins of floss and a pattern of my choice.  I chose The Night as it has been on my wish list for quite some time.  I love all of my goodies. Thank you again to everyone who voted for me.

I also finished stitching another piece this month.  It is the Raven Queen by Mirabilia.

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She is stitched on 16ct Aida Twixt N Tween by Stephanie.  I LOVE how she turned out on this fabric.  Like there is an awesome sunset behind her.

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A few nights ago I started stitching the train on the Gingerbread Village by Country Cottage Needleworks, but ended up ripping it out last night.  I had about half of the middle train car done when I realized that the white stitching really doesn’t show up well on the Lambswool fabric.  I was stitching on 16ct Aida, but after talking with my LNS this morning, the Lambswool Linen (which the pattern calls for) is not any darker than the Aida.  So I ordered some Dirty Aida for both the Gingerbread Village and the Santa’s Village.  I want my white to show up, especially since there is so much.  It seems that several of CCN patters are on the Lambswool which doesn’t make any sense to me.  Not a good match to me.  So I will work on Mirabilia’s Moon Flowers until the end of the year.

I want to wish those of  you that celebrate, a very Merry Christmas with your family and friends.  Happy Holidays to those who have a different celebration.  And I hope that you get some relaxing stitch time in for yourself 🙂

Mermaid Trio back from the Framer!
cross stitch · Mermaids · Mirabilia · Nora Corbett · Sunny Dyes Fabrics · Uncategorized

Mermaid Trio back from the Framer!

My Time Stitching26 Comments

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I picked up my Mermaid Trio from Stitches N Things today.  I think it turned out really well.  It is quite wide; measuring 30 1/2″ so I haven’t yet found a place to hang it.  I may have to start rotating my projects around.  I am happy I put all 3 of these sweet mermaids onto one piece of fabric.  Just in case you are not familiar with the designs, they are all separate mermaids by Nora Corbet; the same designer that does the Mirabilia patterns. I love all of her designs.  On the left is Mermaid Azure, Coral Charms is in the middle and Mermaid Verde is on the right.  They are stitched on 16ct Aida Summer Showers by Sunny Dyes Fabrics.

Who is your favorite designer to stitch?