Snow - A Finish

Design "Snow"

Designer - Val's Stitchin Stuff

Chart - "Wish Upon a Star"

Fabric - 28 count Stormy Grey Lugana

Started - 22 November 2009

Completed - 26 November 2009

This was a fun piece to stitch!  Quick and easy, the color of the linen and the colors of the floss really sang! 

From the Cross Stitch Archives - Autumn Basket

Design - "Autumn Basket" (Snippet)

Designer - Lizzie Kate

Chart - "Autumn Basket"

Fabric - 28 coiunt Ivory Cashel

Started - 27 June 2004

Completed - 4 July 2004

From the Cross Stitch Archives - Frost on the Pumpkin

I thought this a fitting post as we had a hard frost last night. 

The world is glittering and gleaming this morning.

Design - "The Frost is on the Pumpkin"

Chart - "Frost" #173

Designer - The Cricket Collection

Fabric - 10 count R & R Alpine Green Tula

Started - 7 September 1998

Completed - 11 October 1998

On the First Day of Christmas - A Start

I spent a couple of evenings going through my old issues of "Just Cross Stitch" magazine; specifically the annual Christmas ornament issues.  In the 2005 issue I fell in love with the Sisters and Best Friends design "On the First Day of Christmas".  Their use of color is extraordinary! 

Happy Turkey Day! Be Ye Grateful

Design - "Tall Turkey" (kit)

Designer - Heart in Hand

Fabric - 32 count Tobacco linen

Started - 22 November 2001

Completed - 25 November 2001

From the Cross Stitch Archives - Autumn

Design - Autumn Leaf

Designer - Ewe and Eye and Friends

Fabric - 40 count Sandstone linen

Started - 20 November 1998

Completed - 1 December 1998

From the Cross Stitch Archives - Autumn

Happy Thanksgiving Week!

Design - "Autumn"

Chart - "Autumn Samplers" #66

Designer - The Prairie Schooler

Fabric - 32 count Wichelt Lambswool linen

Started - 10 November 1997

Completed - 25 December 1997

Valdani Fibers

Valdini fibers are hard to find - thank goodness for Google and the internet!  I have a Stone and Threads chart that uses these and I look forward to working with them.  

Snow - Kitted Up

Kitted up "Snow" a design by Val's Stitchin' Stuff.

I am using Stormy Grey Jobelan - really a lovely color - it mirrors the colors of a "snow sky" perfectly.    

Snowman - A Finish

Design - "Snowman" 

Designer - Twisted Threads

Chart - "Winter Trio"

Fibers - WDS and GAST as charted 

Fabric - 32 Count Dirty linen - one thread of floss over two threads of linen

Started - 16 November 2009

Finished - 21 November 2009

New Fabrics - Adding to My Stash

I have plans, plans and more plans...thus the mondo fabric purchase which wended its way to my doorstep yesterday.  I've spent the past week or so flipping through past issues of  the "Just Cross Stitch" ornament issues.  To say I was inspired...crazed...in over my head would be an understatment!  

There is no way that I will get everything done before Christmas, but even so I can admire all the colors:

Hog Wild Blue, Fitzgerald Red, Sheep's Straw, Stormy Grey, Ice Blue, Cafe Kona, Moss Green, Espresso, Summer Khaki, Iced Cappuccino, Rue Green, Lambswool, 18th Century Brown, and Carol's Buttercrunch.

There is poetry in the names!  

Snowman - Progress

Here's what I've managed to stitch so far...I think it might get tiresome stitching row after row after row of the snow guy!

Brown Paper Packages

Look what arrived in the mail today!  Sometimes the prettiest things do come in "Brown Paper Packages". This line of fibers is new to me - colors are lush and skeins are generous!  I have a "Ewe and Eye and Friends" chart which will use these lovelies!

Snowman - A Start

Kitted up "Snowman" from "Winter Trio" by Twisted Threads.

I am stitching on 32 count Dirty Belfast - one strand of floss over two linen threads.

Ho-Ho-Ho - A Finish

Designer - Ewe and Eye and Friends

Design - Ho-Ho-Ho from 2006 calendar

Fabric - 36 count white linen
Fibers - DMC - changed 613 to 612 for better contrast in beard

Began - 10 November 2009

Completed - 16 November 2009

Just a few specialty stitches and some black back-stitching and this pattern really pops!

Homespun Elegance - Squirrel

Designer - Homespun Elegance

Chart - Simple Pleasures - Autumn Teenies I

Design - Squirrel

Fabric - 28 count Summer Khaki Cashel

Fibers - WDW as charted

Began - 15 November 2009

Completed - 15 November 2009

A quick little piece - perhaps a pincushion as the finish.

Took less than an hour to stitch. 

The Last Outdoor Farmers' Market of 2009

...and so the 2009 outdoor Eugene Farmers' Market ended today.

It was a lovely clear, cold and sunny morning.

I celebrated the day with a wonderful chicken sandwich at "Field to Table".

They source all their ingredients from the Market if possible.  The sandwich was SO good! 

Paperwhites

Carrots

Persimmons

Delicata Squash

Radishes

Additions to My Stash

Recent purchases include:

A couple of new Blue Ribbon Design charts,

Plum Street Sampler charts, a Workbasket chart,

and several older Homespun Elegance charts.

Ho-Ho-Ho - Progress

This is coming along nicely!

New Floss and Fibers

I think that even if I did not stitch, I might just buy floss and fibers as the colors are so lovely!

These are Olde Willow, Needlepoint Silks, Crescent Colors, and Gentle Arts Simply Shaker.

Ho-Ho-Ho

Began a new pattern this afternoon.

"Ho-Ho-Ho"

By Ewe and Eye and Friends

Sweetie Peetie Pumpkin

Finished!

Chart - Sweetie Peetie Pumpkin

Designer - Twisted Threads

Fabric - 8" x 8" 32 count Tumbleweed linen
Stitched - one strand of floss over two threads

Started - 5 November 2009

Completed - 8 November 2009  

Winter Walk - Kitted Up

The fabric is lovely, the colors of floss are extraordinary!

I cannot wait to begin!

Sweetie Peetie Pumpkin - Progress

Very simple pattern - lovely lush autumnal colors.

Sweetie Peetie Pumpkin - A Start

Will use Anchor floss as charted

and 32 cnt Wichelt Tumbleweed linen.

Storm Moving In

Today is dark, and grey, and cool, and windy. There is a storm moving in! 

As you can see below Father Quail is perched on a blackberry cane.  He is on high alert as there is a hawk in a tree nearby. 

I said earlier that November was mostly brown.  There are exceptions.  The cottonwood trees are glowing against evergreens and the gloomy sky.

Early November - Late Afternoon

A lovely sunny, crisp November afternoon.  As a storm is supposed to move into the area late tonight, thought I'd take a walk and survey what delights there might be found.  November is mostly a study in browns.  

Teasel

Mushrooms

Oaks Leaves and Galls

Ferns and Moss 

Symbiotic relationship

Cows' Parsnip

Oaks Leaves and Gall

Oak Leaves and Acorns

Cleo in the Sunshine

Winston the Snowman - A Finish

A great little piece.

I love the idea of a snowman in a heavy overcoat!

Stitched using 32 count Natural Belfast linen and fibers as charted.

Wild Turkeys Make an Appearance

On Sunday we had a rare (to us) sighting of wild turkeys.  We used to have the birds around constantly and continually, but the last couple of years they have stayed away.  Yesterday a Mama and her eight babies came by to check out our bird feeders. 

This is the Day - A Finish

I finished up "This is the Day" Saturday morning.  I love it, I love it, I love it.  It uses only seven total colors, and three of those are just accent colors, yet it seems lush and vibrant.  I enjoyed working with Needlepoint Silks.

October was a strange month for me personally, so the sentiment of this sampler has become very dear to me.  

Close up of flower

Close up of face, etc