The Land of Not-Quite-Finished Projects Part 4: Mill Hills

A couple of assorted Mill Hill kits that I've finished stitching.    At some point I'll probably make them into door pillows.   A "door pillow" is just a piece of cross stitch sewn into a small pillow with a ribbon hanger at the top, to hang over a doorknob for decoration.  It's a cute & simple project to do.

Cruising Along on Mermaid of Atlantis

It really seems like I'm smoking through her, but the progress on Mermaid of Atlantis is somewhat deceptive because she's a petite thing compared to say, the Queens.   No worries - I'll take it!

That said - the Mermaid is finished stitching, except for the backstitching and beading, which is fairly exciting!   I still need to do the borders.   I started the scrollwork at the bottom, then there's the shell/fish motifs and the frame.

I am going to be working on her solidly until she's complete now.  I'm jonesing for a big finish, plus I'd love to start one of the new projects I have lined up.

The only think I'm concerned with is that I'm starting to run low on one of the Waterlilies (Espresso), which is supposed to be used for the outside border.   I may use Umbria instead (one of the other Waterlilies used on MoA) since I seem to have a lot of that left and it would still look really nice. 

There's not a ton of backstitching but there's a LOT of beads to go on yet.

If you enjoy Chatelaine Designs...

Have a peek at this link: 

Chatelaine Gallery

The Land of Not-Quite-Finished Projects Part 3: Rose Work

I really love roses, so it's no surprise they show up in my needlework fairly regularly. I believe these are all from "The Ultimate Book of Roses", one of those jumbo leaflet type things with lots of designs. Only one of these is dated - 1999 - but they're all from about the same time period. I originally had in mind to do a bunch of pillow tops for my bed; obviously they got stitched but never made into pillows LOL Such is life.

This "Welcome" is a bit small to frame for an entryway (but could in theory be put OVER a doorway); it was intended for a roll pillow. And another rose pillow top:

There are actually two of these spray of roses. I had two narrow windows in my bedroom of my one apartment and had hung lace panels up for curtains. These were intended to be sewn up as drawbacks for those lace curtains, which I still think would be very pretty. The design is just perfect for that use.

And this is the big rose: it's about 10 x 8 inches so it's quite a large, detailed piece.

I still really love this - probably not to frame but I'll use it for something at some point.

It's interesting how we evolve as stitchers. Not long after doing these, I discovered Silver Lining; although these are pretty, they really do not compare.

Warning: Enabling Ahead

 Mystic Stitch is having a buy 2 patterns get 2 patterns free sale. It doesn't say how long the sale is running.

Artecy Cross Stitch will be putting their chart and membership prices up in April. A lifetime membership is currently $20 and lets you download any chart on the site. I like them for fine art reproductions like Meeting on the Turret Stairs.

The Land of Not-Quite-Finished Projects Part 2: Vintage

These are a few Anne Powell designs that I did around 1999 or 2000. Unfortunately I don't think many, if any, of her designs are available anymore. I still have a couple patterns in stash that I haven't done.

As I previously mentioned, I'm a fan of all things Victorian, and these remind me of the simple but pretty mottos of that era. I generally prefer "Victorian elaborate" over "vintage simple" but I've always been fond of these designs. "Good Night and Pleasant Dreams" was intended as a top for a throw pillow to put in a guest bedroom. Obviously I was planning well ahead because when I stitched it, I had a one bedroom apartment LOL. It's a nice shape to do a roll pillow style. I love florals (as you may have guessed) so I really like the simple roses in this. It's stitched on 28 count lugana with 3 threads of floss over 2.

I think I might prefer to frame this rather than make it into a pillow now. I think this would be really pretty on linen stitched in hand dyed silks and using beads instead of the single stitches. Yes, it's crossed my mind to redo it in this way. I originally intended this piece to be framed, but I'm not sure what I want to do with it now. Again, the single stitches would really lend themselves to being replaced with beads.

If you know anywhere that Anne Powell designs might be available, I'd love to see if there are new ones available. Most if not all of her available designs are these simple but pretty vintage mottos; about 10 years ago, there were probably 15 or 20 available. Hoffman's only has one available, and her website appears to be gone.

My Christmas Stocking

I stitched this in 2001 or 2002 and my mom finished it off for me. The pattern is from a Better Homes and Gardens cross stitch stocking book.  I love Victoriana so it was totally appropriate for me.

What was nice about the pattern was that it had two options - the top of the stocking is the same, but you could either do stripes to finish it off (which I obviously did) or you could stitch the whole stocking with various Victorian motifs. I wasn't thrilled with stitching on black so I ended up doing just the top area.

It's stitched on black 16 count Aida, lined in black moire fabric and backed on black velvet.

I'm going to have to work with the fiance to see which stocking pattern he wants so I can make one for him as well. The plan is to let him pick whatever pattern he wants, but I may "influence" him towards certain ones ;-) You know how that goes!

Fish Tails...

Just a quickie update....Mermaid of Atlantis has grown a tail and the crest is completed except for the beading.

Because I use Qsnap frames to stitch, I wait until everything is done and then do the beadwork. If a piece is small enough (like MoA), I'll just switch to a larger Qsnap set up; for large projects, I'll use the dreaded scroll frame.