Last finish of 2008

I finished my bellpull on the last day of 2008. I stitched the four seasonal patterns from Prairie Schooler #123 "Country Seasons" on a 16 count aida band. The banding had a very open weave - someone told me it was tapestry banding - so I had to fill in all the unstitched spaces with ecru DMC to make it look right.

This was one of the few pieces I've had to stretch and block as it hung wonky even after I washed and ironed it. But I finally got it all finished and here are pictures of the whole thing and of each panel individually.

A note from my stitching chair: I am now stitching on the 50th anniversary piece for my parents. I didn't stitch a lick on Sunday as I OD'd on football. I wish I had a mute button for Phil Sims as I had to put up with him commentating on the Steelers/Ravens game. He seems to blurt whatever comes to his mind regardless of the facts. At least I got my wish for a Cardinals and Steelers Superbowl!

A bovine completion

Yippee skippy! I finally finished my bovine, "Texas Longhorn" by Redbird Designs. Stitched on 32 count antique white Lugana with DMC and GAST "Bluebonnet" for the sky.

Yeehaw! I finished DH's "Bandanna Stocking!"

Yippee-skippy! I finished DH's "Bandanna Stocking" last night. I was all ready to start a new project but didn't have the fabric. DH serges my fabric for me at work, and he was really busy yesterday and didn't have time. I could have over-edged it on my sewing machine, but that's hard to do when the fabric is still at work on DH's bench. Hopefully, I'll get the serged fabric and be able to start "Texas Longhorn" by Redbird Designs tonight.

I hope to find time to actually finish this into a stocking before we move. I have some Texas Tech fabric to back and line it with. Who would have thought I'd find Texas Tech fabric in the heart of Aggieland? But I did indeed find it at Hancock when it went out of business here last year (one block from A&M!).

Anyway, here's the stocking:

A quick little finish

While waiting for my fabric for the "Bandanna Stocking" to arrive, I stitched a quick little Altoid tin topper. *Note self: check colors of floss if pattern lists DMC equivalents from a GAST and WDW original. I started stitching without paying attention to the weirdness of the colors. But I decided that it added to the funkiness of the pattern.

I went on a stitching retreat in March, and this pattern was in a tin topper kit given to all attendees. Of course, the hostess provided us all with a lovely tin that had been spray painted pink. I immediately gave the pink tin to one of my stitching buddies. Mel loves pink as much as I hate it. My inner tightwad always feels good when I can re-home a pink item; the pink-hater in me always wants to chuck the item in the trash can. Luckily, my inner tightwad can usually beat up my inner pink-hater.

Finished February boot!

Yeehaw! I finished the February boot from Redbird Designs "Southwest Seasons!"

I'm still waiting for my hand-dyed fabric for DH's "Bandanna Stocking." So I think I'll stitch a little Altoid topper pattern I got in March at Camp Stitchalot - a stitching retreat put on by Ginger's Needlearts in Austin, Texas.

A deer in the frame is better than one in the headlights!

I stitched this for my DH. He is going to take it to work and hang it where his deer hunting coworkers can become green with envy. I will not, however, stitch it again for anyone, no matter what they offer to pay me. This pattern was very boring to me to stitch. It came out great, but I didn't enjoy it. It is "Touch of the Wilderness" by Brittercup Designs. It is stitched on 32 count antique white lugana with DMC and GAST (leaves and grass). It is framed in one of the frames DH made this past weekend. He chose the frame style and didn't want any matting.

JBW Dog is finished!

Here he is in all his glory! JBW's "French Country Dog" is finished. He and I will be taking a trip to Hobby Lobby tomorrow to pick out paint for his frame. I'll try to match the green tones in the floss. And the picture is crooked, my stitching isn't. I just LOOOOVE stitching with silk floss. NPI silk is my favorite, mainly because it is colorfast. I wash everything I stitch and prefer not to have to worry about lack of colorfastness. If I was a millionaire, I'd have the whole line of NPI silk in my stash.

"Summer" is finished!

I finished the "Summer" panel (from PS Book #123) on my bellpull last night. This is stitched on 16 count Aida banding with DMC. I'll put this project away for awhile - I'll probably finish it this year though. I count it as a finish because I did complete the "Summer" panel. Nitpicking, yeah, but I'm okay with it.