Fairies · Joan Elliott Round Robin

Last Finish of 2013 and First Finish of 2014


Now that Christmas is over, I can show you the last project I finished in 2013.

Carol with her wine stitchThis is my friend Carol.  I made her this Wine A Little stitch by Sue Hillis Designs, Inc. I tried framing it myself…what a disaster.  Let’s just say I am leaving the framing to the professionals.  I’ll take it into Stitches N Things sometime this month.  It was a pretty quick stitch and even came with the little wine bottle charm.

My first finish of 2014 is Iris Fairy on Debbie’s Joan Elliott Round Robin.

Iris on Debbie's RRShe turned out very pretty with lots of sparkle.  Someday I will have to stitch her in full.  While I wait for the next Round Robin to come my way, I will be working on “The Angel” and will get her done this year. And since it is -35 degrees out, I think it’s a good time to cover up with a blanket and do some stitching.

Thanks for stopping by to see what I have been up to.  What are you stitching on?

Stitchy Gifts

Lots of Stitchy Gifts


I am finally just about over the flu.  I still have a bit of  a lingering cough, but I feel much better.  I want to share some wonderful stitchy gifts I received from wonderful stitchy friends.

First, from my best stitchy friend, Johanna, I received a subscription to Just Cross Stitch Magazine:

Just Cross Stitch magazine

I am hoping to receive this issue in the mail as my first issue, but if not, I can view it on-line.  The subscription also included the last 2 years of digital issues.  So I have been having a lot of fun looking at all the patterns in the back issues.

Next is a beautiful handmade project bag from Karen:

project bag from KarenIt is Beautiful with all those fairy frogs!  I love it!

Next is a gift from a fellow-blogger- Angela over at Pretty Little Things in a Box.

pincushion from Angela

A pretty stitched pincushion and some stitchy supplies all the way from Singapore. What a sweetie.

I also received this wonderful knitting book from Sue:

knitting book from SueIt’s a wonderful book full of great knitting projects. I love the cute hat on the front. The project that really caught my attention is this scarf:

scarf in knitting bookI love how soft and lacy it looks.  I will have to pick up the perfect yarn when I am ready to start a new knit project.

I received these wonderful gifts from a new stitchy friend, Annie:

Stitchy gifts from Annie3 wonderful pixie patterns to add to my collection and a gorgeous froggy scissor fob.  He is so cute and I can’t wait to stitch these Pixies.

This next gift I received from Stitches N Things as part of the stitchers club.  I always look forward to the wonderful gift Deb comes up with for her stitchy club members.

stitchy gift from SNTA beautiful wooden box with the option to add a stitched piece to the center.  I rather like the the Stitches N Things name and logo.  And a miniature thread holder scissor fob.  So cute!  I also received a $10 Gift Certificate for the shop.  And since this month is my birthday month, I will use it when I go on my 25% off shopping spree (also part of the stitchers club rewards).  Can’t wait to shop there!  I already have a list going 🙂

My last stitchy gift is from my wonderful hubby:

yarn shelfHe bought me this shelf for Christmas with the thought that I could put my yarns in it just like a yarn shop.  Isn’t he sweet!  I’ve already added a few yarns that I had in bags here in the house.  The rest of my yarn is in bins out in the garage.  I think this week I will go out to the garage and bring in some of those yarns I haven’t seen in a while.  Maybe it will help me use them up if I can see them 🙂

I hope I haven’t forgotten anything.  Thank you for visiting and seeing what I have been up to.  What stitchy gifts did you get for Christmas?

Fabric · Joan Elliott Round Robin

A Butterfly finish and some Goodies


I’m so happy!  I have a finish!  And by today’s deadline for mailing, too!  Yay!  I stitched Joan Elliott’s  Butterfly Fairy on Rachel’s Round Robin.  She turned out lovely!

Butterfly Fairy on Rachel's RRHer hair was a crazy mess and I didn’t think I would ever get it done, but I did and it’s lovely.  Hubby really likes this one and has asked that I stitch in full.  I do believe he said that about the last JE fairy I stitched.  I will add it to my future list of things to do 🙂

Here is the RR in full:

Rachel's RRIt’s a beautiful piece and Rachel is going to love it when she sees it.  So many sparkly beads!  Amazing!

I received this lovely piece of fabric in my mailbox yesterday:

Lunar EclipseIt’s Lunar Eclipse 16 ct Aida by Stephanie. I can’t wait to see what I end up putting on this one.  Though it’s really more green than blue.

I also received these beauties from Silkweaver on Monday:

More Silkweaver stashFrom top to bottom we have: Hocus Pocus 14ct Aida, Spellbound in 18ct Aida which I plan to use for The Gift, Spooky Day Gray in 14ct Aida, Witch’s Brew in 14 ct Aida and Spooky Day Grey in 28ct Lugana.  They are all lovely.

Last night I put a few stitches into Ella after finishing Butterfly Fairy.  It was a nice change.  Especially to work on Aida again.  Well, that’s all for today.  I’d love to hear what you are working on or what goodies you have acquired lately.

Cross Stitch Patterns · Dragons · knitted scarves · Knitting · Mermaids · New stash! · Uncategorized

Lots of new stash, but no new finish


I am working on Rachel’s RR and as soon as I get it finished I will post a picture. Now that I am about done with the hair, it may go quicker.  I have recently acquired so much new stash, I don’t know where to begin…Yes I do.  A stitchy gift from my BSF (Best Stitching Friend)

Gift from my bestieThis cute little packaged arrive so pretty! Johanna sent it to me as a thank you for stitching the Royal Holiday on her Queen RR.  Isn’t she a sweetie?  Here is what was inside:

gift 3Sorry about the blurry photo.  I’ve always wanted to do a sweetheart tree design, but never knew which one do do.  Now I have the perfect one.  Complete with a key charm inside. The colors are beautiful.  I am hoping that when I stitch this up, I can finish it just like the picture.  I may have to get some help with that.

Next is last month’s Fabric of the Month from Stephanie. It is called Bewitched.

Bewitched 16 ct AidaIt is 16ct Aida and it is BEAUTIFUL!!  I love the colors in it.  Can’t wait to find something special to stitch on this baby!

I received this pattern in the mail:

The Gift pattern

It is a gorgeous pattern I saw on Patricia’s facebook page.  There is a mermaid in it.  I just had to have it. And hubby likes Dragons, so it is the perfect combination in a cross stitch pattern 🙂  I picked up a piece of fabric on Silweaver’s auctions last week and I am hoping it will be perfect for this pattern.  If you are interested in this pattern, you can contact the designer Particia Aikin by email at particiaallisonarts@hotmail.com  I can’t wait to stitch this one up.

And last I have a knit project I picked up this last weekend:

beaded scarf projectHubby and I stopped at a local knit shop on our day out this weekend and I found a partially knittied beaded scarf sitting on a shelf at the shop.  It was pink, so you know I had to see what it was all about.  It wasn’t even half knitted, but it was so heavy with the beads.  I loved it!  And had to have one!  They didn’t sell the yarn used anymore, so I decided to go with a cream yarn.  That will go well with my red coat.  At Joann’s I found some clear beads with a copper looking center that I thought would look good with the cream yarn.  It’s done on a size 5 needle, so I’m sure it will take me a while to knit.  Someday I will start it and it will be beautiful and sparkly when it is finished.

So, that is all of my new stash as of late.  Still working on some pidge scarves as well as Rachel’s RR. It is due in the mail next Wednesday, so I had better get to stitching a little faster.  Thank you for stopping by and seeing what I have been up to.  What have you added to your stash lately?

Mirabilia · Queens · WIP

A Royal Finish and Ella Day


In my time away, I actually had a finish.

Royal Holiday completedI stitched Royal Holiday on Johanna’s Large Stitch Mira.  She turned out so Regal and elegant.  The entire piece is just gorgeous and I have to say that I would have loved to have kept it for myself.  One day I plan to stitch this design myself.  Here is the piece in it’s entirety.

Johannas Large Stitch Mira completedLast week I received this in the mail:

Ella and Pandora fabricSo I designated yesterday as “Ella Day”.  Here is a close up of the design and if you know me, then you know why I had to start stitching on her right away.

Ella patternYes, she has a frog!  She is the Princess and the Frog and her name is Ella.  My favorite Princess and frog 🙂  So yesterday I started stitching Ella on Stephanie’s hand dyed Pandora 16 ct Aida.  Here is what I accomplished yesterday on Ella Day:

Start on EllaNot much.  Lots of yellows.  But I had been itching to start something new and now I have to put her aside.  I am currently stitching on Rachel’s RR and I have a couple of other projects that I need to finish and work on.  But when I get bored with a design and need a pick-me-up, I will be pulling Ella out to give her some love.  Thank you for visiting me to see what I have been up to.  What are you working on?

knitted scarves · Knitting · Mirabilia Round Robin

This Week’s Stitching


Here is what I have accomplished this week in the way of stitching:

neck scarf with a cable look

I had some yarn left from the pidge scarf I made here.  So I made this neck scarf.  I loved, loved this pattern!  4 rows are repeated over and over to get a look like cables.  Every 4th row makes a hole, so instant button holes, as loose or as tight as needed.

neck scarf with a cable look 2I received this pattern free when I purchased some yarn at a shop while on vacation.  I will be making more of these.  It only takes about 100yds of a worsted weight yarn, so I was able to get 2 neck scarves out of the skein with a little left over.  It would make a nice flower or embellishment for a hat or sweater 🙂

Next, I started Johanna’s Royal Holiday on her Large Stitch RR. I feel guilty for having it in my possession for so long and Johanna really needs to see how beautiful it is in person.

Royal Holiday startI am just starting on her face.  I will show the entire RR when I finish it.  It is truly a beautiful piece and I plan on duplicating it someday.

And last, my new look.  I have decided to go quite a bit shorter with my hair.  I had it cut about 6 weeks ago and it was a little difficult for me to go short.  But I loved it and   wore it wavy through the summer.  But now that fall is here, I needed a new shorter look.  So I took the plunge yesterday.

My new look

It’s very hard for me to take a picture of myself and I cut the top of my head off.  Oh well.  You can see my new short look.  I think I look very business like.  Hubby calls it short and sassy.  I like it.  What have you been stitching on this week?

Geisha · Joan Elliott Round Robin

Gorgeous Geisha!


I finished stitching Eastern Promise for Julie’s Round Robin.  Here she is:

Eastern Promise Geisha

This photo really does not do it justice.  I just can’t seem to photograph my stitching very well lately.  Anyway, she turned out beautifully!  I love the colors.  I wasn’t sure about the orange background at first, but I do love it.  I have this Geisha to be stitched on my Round Robin as well, so I am glad to see that the orange color is not really a bad color after all.  Here is Julie’s Round Robin so far:

Julies RRIt is going to be sooooo beautiful when it is finished.  What are you stitching on today?

Geisha · Joan Elliott Round Robin · Knitting · Uncategorized

A Stitchy Weekend


I was able to get quite a bit of stitching in this holiday weekend.  Here is my progress on Julie’s RR:

Progress on Eastern Promise

Sorry about the bad photo.  Maybe I get too close to the design when taking  a picture.  I will make a note of that for when I take my final photo.  As you can see, I am almost done.  The colors are gorgeous!  Her face is a little off as she doesn’t have a nose or lips, but that will come when I do the outlining.  I love her and can’t wait to finish her.  Maybe tonight.

I also added a few stitches to the Passione Ricamo Stitch A Long, but not enough to take a picture.  Only about 35-40 sts.  Section 5 just came out on the 1st and I need to catch up as I haven’t done sections 3 or 4.  Section 3 should go pretty fast, but 4 and 5 will take me a bit.  I hope I can get caught back up before section 6 comes out.

I did get a little knitting done this weekend also.  Working on my next pidge scarf for Sue.

multicolor pidge

I LOVE this yarn!  It is Kudo by Plymouth Yarns.  I love how the stripes form as I knit along.  This is a worsted weight yarn and the pattern is for a chunky yarn.  I tried adding some stitches to make it wider, but for some reason, I could not get it to work out.  There really isn’t a pattern  that would need to have a certain amount of stitches added to make it come out properly, but for some reason I had to keep pulling it out and starting over-many, many times.  When I casted on the required amount of stitches and continued knitting, I had no problem.  I should have gone down a size or 2 in needles, but I knew that would make it too narrow.  So I have continued on and will see how Sue likes it when I am finished.  I did pick up a pattern for a pidge scarf when I was on vacation last month.  It requires worsted weight, so I will try it out and see how it turns out.

So that was my stitchy weekend.  I had fun just stitching (and laundry) all weekend.  How was your weekend?

Mermaids

Siren Weekend Update


In the middle of cutting tons of card stock this weekend, I was able to find a little time to stitch on Siren and Shipwreck. Here is my progress:

Siren update

She is coming along fabulously.  I am working on the tail and loving the colors.  Unfortunately, I have to put her away for a while as I have 2 Round Robins in my possession that are screaming for my attention.  In case this is your first time seeing posts about my Siren, it is Mirabilia’s Siren and the Shipwreck and I am stithcing  her on 16 ct Aida Under the Sea from Sunny Dyes Fabrics.

Fairies · Joan Elliott Round Robin

Another Round Robin Finish


It’s been a crazy, busy with a whole lot of nothing the last couple of weeks.  But somehow I managed to finish stitching on Kaye’s Round Robin:

JE Spring Fairy on Kayes RRThis is Joan Elliott’s Spring Fairy.  She turned out to be a sweet stitch.  She does have quite a bit of confetti stitching in her hair, but it was not so bad.  I usually don’t like to stitch on anything but Aida, and especially linen.  But Kaye’s fabric was such a breeze to stitch on.  It’s coming along nicely and will be a lovely fairy piece when finished.  Here is what the entire project looks like so far.

Kay's JE RRJust lovely.  Can’t wait to see it finished. Thanks for stopping by 🙂