Away from the Stitching Spot

Hello again blogger friends!
No needles and ORTs for a few days but I didn't say no blogging:)
Here's my second finish for May:

from Where There Are Bees

by Prairie Schooler

I should have left her like that but the urge to try the sewing machine won. I messed up my first attempt, someone needs to take up Sewing 101. No time to repair the uneven edges because...

Do you see where this bee flew to? She decided to leave the stitching table for some sightseeing. I guess I have to chaperone the Queen Bee for now. I don't think I'll be able to blog pictures on this trip as we go along because I'm not equipped composing with a phone, even the picture I took so blurry (the better to hide the sewing flaws, haha). So no posting while we're in DC but will keep visiting blogs when I can. I really need to sleep and prepare for another busy day, lots of monuments and museums to see:) yet missing my thread and needle:/

Thanks for visiting. Happy Stitching!

Stitching before Celebrating

Hello friendly bloggers.
As we're heading to a new month, I only had one more finish to add for May. But I'm not showing it yet. I think you've already guessed what it is, a small one that starts with "B." (you're so smart!)
Meanwhile, here's Make Do and Mend:

 

 DH's birthday is only a week from mine, so we're having joint celebration this week...which means no needles and ORTs for a few days:(
Thanks for visiting. Happy Stitching!

Birthmonth Haul (part 1)

Hello again blogger friends.
As mentioned last time, this is all about my online craze (which happens once a year, "for real?" "yes DH, for real!"
First up, the fabric: 

A yard of Ivory and Antique White 16ct. aida. Bought these for the Prairie Schooler ABC, but not keen on starting them now due to my download pattern purchase (that will be way below this post... curious?- just to make you read till the end, lol).

Next up, all Amazon transactions (free shipping!): 

Flosstube, what can I say? Been enabled by Teresa Little Stitcher for the Mag Eyes, and by Organic Granny for the Clover needle threader (demo provided in their videos:)

 

Like Teresa's, of course my DH had to say something when I first wore the MagEyes... that he saw this on a Spanish TV channel- a dentist was using it while cleaning a patient's mouth. Oh my, why can't he just say it reminds him of a jeweler like Teresa's DH! Now I'm stuck with that image, I hope the aida squares don't turn to teeth, geesh!!! Verdict: Still have to get used to it, I was moving my head a lot instead of adjusting the angle of the lens holder, lol. Magnification-wise, perfect!

I've also started using the needle threader, love it:)

Now on to some books/leaflets:

Doing a Felicity Hall right now (Make Do and Mend), the one with a sewing machine, I searched for her other designs. These are two books with her work, the one below is a collection with other creative designers:

Inside this book:

I want to do this one for my brother who likes cycling, marathon, anything that can bring extreme pain to your knees, lol. 

Scrabble! Isn't that cute?

Butterfly leaflet by Lanarte, it was selling cheap so that went in my cart as well:)

That concludes Amazon goodies.

And now, ooh, I'm happy to tell you I just made my very first Etsy transaction, hard to believe, right?

I was looking for an Asian theme, and I saw this pattern: 

Yuriko (download)

CrossStitchRinna at Etsy

She's got lots of more colorful Kokeshi dolls to choose from, I love this one.

But couldn't stop with just one: 

Fishermen

Were you shocked? hah. But I was drawn to the colors, and the style is something different - cubism?, something not too feminine which I haven't done before, so I got that too.

There are three other download patterns (from different shops) that I restrained myself from getting. We'll see them around Christmas, lol.

I'm now just waiting for the last package in the mail that has three pattern leaflets.

So there you have it. My own little way of gifting the good birthday girl.

Thanks for visiting. Happy Stitching!

Santa Stitching

Hello dear friends.
I somehow felt I've shortchanged on my last stitching update. So here's a big leap in stitches...

 The Prairie Schooler Santas that I'm stitching along with Annie of My Little X-Stitch Nook. This time I finished another color of backstitching (green), and also managed to get all the red in 2005 Santa. Here's why I finished him first (rather than continue the red that I've started on 2006 (sewing) Santa...

I recently read somewhere that what he's holding is not a quilt... but a bell pull, and the round thing behind him is a hoop. So, I've come to the conclusion that he is our very own "Stitching" Santa (not the quilting I believed him to be, no wonder he's been staring at me that way). So I felt kinda guilty that I had to finish his robe, lol.

Here are the others (with my own title for each):

Sewing Santa

 

Embroidery Santa

 Knitting Santa

Does it make any sense what I'm talking about, haha. Just continue stitching.  

Since my birthday is just around the corner, next update will be on stash enhancement. A seller is "still waiting for arrival of out of stock leaflet" as of today, but I'll go ahead with what I got here now and make it a two-part blogpost.

Thanks for visiting. Happy Stitching!

One for Ripley's

Hello friendly bloggers.
Have you ever seen a one-winged bee?

 

Now you can tell your friends you've seen one, lol.

Thanks for visiting. Happy Stitching!

Two WIPs

Hello friends.
Back for a quick update on my new WIPs:

 

This is the small bee pattern from Where There are Bees. I'm using 14ct. aida and leftover Gentle Arts thread.

Next one is the magazine chart:

 It's called Make Do and Mend from Cross Stitcher (May 2012) by Felicity Hall. I looked up her other works and loved her letter designs, so I ordered two books from Amazon which I'm expecting anyday now. 
That's it for now.
Thanks for visiting. Happy Stitching!

Cute as a Button

Hello friends. 
First off, thank you for the comments you have generously sent on my last finish, truly appreciate them. 
This is what I have been talking about last time:

 

Something to satisfy my sewing machine fascination. That doesn't give much of a clue does it? It's a magazine chart. I'll tell you about it next time because it's also related to the birthmonth haul.

I went out to buy the threads for this one (yep, the supply isn't going to be enough for the dark blues), and look what I spotted at Joann's:

It was right there in front soon as you enter the glass door. Haven't I finished you already? I felt like the queen bee likes me. Nope, I did not purchase those bags, but have started the other bee pattern (small one) from the same Prairie Schooler leaflet of Where there are Bees, and use the leftover GAST floss from I See Trees of Green. 

Update on the birthmonth stash enhancement - everything done online and I have already received two of them, I've been enabled by flosstube for the gadget. I have taken a picture already but I'm still waiting for some charts so I'll put them all together in one post.

Thanks for visiting. Happy Stitching!

Bee Happy

Hello friendly bloggers. Today was a happy dance day.
I'm back with my first finish for the month, woohoo!

Where there are Bees

by Prairie Schooler

14ct. White aida 

 I finished all the gold stitches which include the beehives, letters/words and crowns:

 

 

 

 

Now that I've got that out of the way, I think I can now indulge in a new start. Time to cut that fabric to size:)

Thanks for visiting. Happy Stitching!

PS Santas

Hello friendly bloggers.
Now it's Santa's turn at the stitching table.
I'm still not finished with red but could not resist doing some backstitch (dark gray and red):

 How cool is that sewing machine? My self-control is being put to test right now because of that. I'm so tempted to start a new piece with a sewing machine in it and will make use of my new light blue aida (courtesy of DSIL).

 The others got hold of needles too. That's the extra square of Quilting Santa I mentioned before, can't help the needle from sticking out of the margin. His beard is going to be white while the others are ecru. Doesn't he look like a snob...and he's the only one facing the camera:) 
Here's how they look now:

 Now, I'm only left with green and ecru for backstitch.
Back to my Bees this week.

Thanks for visiting. Happy Stitching!

Bees Update

Hello friends.
Just a very quick update on Bees. I'm done with all the grays, woohoo!

 

 Gold is up next. That's it for now.

Thanks for visiting. Happy Stitching!

Bee-ing Gray

Hello friendly bloggers. Lovely Sunday evening to all of you, and Happy Mother's Day to the loving moms out there:)
It's all about gray. Right now, I'm bent on having Bees be my first finish for the month (before birthday stash comes and ruin my focus, hah:)

Queen Bee finally gets her own crib.

This is how the whole piece looks now:

 Yesterday, I had a lovely time (dinner) with the nieces so I wasn't able to finish all of gray. I'm only missing the words, top and bottom borders for gray stitching, then gold is next. Ooh, I'm getting excited.

Thanks for visiting. Happy Stitching!

Santa's Back

Hello dear friends.
Thanks to all the birthday greets on my last post. I may have confused you, it's my birth month, the actual birthday doesn't happen til the last days of May, but I'm getting a headstart on online presents, lol. Nope, it's not customary to buy for your own, but in my book it's a free pass to splurge on stitchy stuff:)
On to some WIP progress...
Red stitching on both 2005 and 2006 Santas:

I managed the reds on 2005 Santa's quilt,

 and started the robe of the sewing Santa, the stocking, by the way, is a darker shade of red.
Here's the whole piece:

 I'm stitching this along with Annie . It's really fun having someone stitch with you and check out each other's progress, like a workout buddy, except it's only our eyes and fingers that get the workout, how many calories do you think you lose while stitching? hah.
Thanks for visiting. Happy Stitching!

Bee is for Birthmonth

Hello dear friends.
First off, thank you so much for the comments on my last post. Truly appreciate it:)
It's May! Of course I know you wouldn't remember, but this is me in last year's post:

Wasn't that so immature?

I've grown mentally and emotionally this past year. 

So this is me now:

Hahaha. Yeah, I'm ready to attack that wishlist again. By the way, DH never (dare) gets in the way in this deep haul-searching, so that guy in the picture may represent something else, maybe the high-priced vendors? lol (and of course, that girl is not really me, how I wish, haha, those are from Korean dramas I've watched before. I used to watch "all"the time til cross stitch and flosstube and blogging, oh and work too, took me away from it).

I mentioned before that I bought 16ct. aida fabrics with my GAST floss, so that was an early birthday present. I'm now surfing for patterns and gadgets maybe. There's a download pattern that I'm really attracted to. Let's see how the budget will work out. Decisions, decisions.

My Big niece is also back from college, woohoo! Imagine a whole school year has just gone by. I might be spending some time at my sis this coming weekend. That's another thing to look forward to. 

So before everything gets crazier this month, I need to focus on the WIPs (but not as much progress as I've hoped for:(

 

 On Bees, I chose to finish the blues rather than continue the gray. So all those octagons are now filled in, just missing the bear's darling beehive.

I now stitched with the original shade of blue, and also decided to keep the darker blue crowns. Then it's a whole lot of gray stitching ahead, a whole lot. I'm not into it yet so next post will most likely be a Santa update.

Thanks for visiting. Happy Stitching!