Tam'Lin

Look what I've been working on.
A Heaven and Earth, "Tam'lin" from my favorite artist, Stephanie Law of www.shadowscapes.com
I started this in January 2017 and have been working on it exclusively every day for about 2-4 hours per day.
I am stitching it with one thread on 25 count. 1 over 1 because I love that look.

Oh yeah!!!!!

I got....not very good at blogging and I neglected to tell you the BEST NEWS of ALL!!!!!

I DID get the Best in Section but not only that!!!!--- I got Best in SHOW!     S H O W !!!!

Of course I started to cry when I really realized just exactly what that meant.
I heard voices behind me, "Look! She's crying! That's her picture"
A lady came up to me and told me she was there when they did the judging and the way they decide on Best in Show is they lay all the Best in Section things out on a long table. Then the judges look over them and vote on it.
She said they looked at it and it was like  "Duh..."
Can you imagine my surprise (if you read my previous post), that I almost cried on the way home from watching the judging thinking for sure I wasn't going to get a Best in Section to actually getting Best in SHOW?!!!

Eleanor framed

Here's the long-awaited framed picture of Eleanor.
Sigh
I just can't seem to use the photo editing program to make this picture look anywhere near as gorgeous as it really is in person. My tablet just doesn't show the richness of color, at all. An example is to mention that the blanket its sitting on is really a lovely shade of gold...

I do LOVE the way it came out though and am so happy with the frame my favorite frame friend picked out. It has waves in it that a perfect with the mane on the horse and the swirls in her dress. And my framer also found this lovely inner frame that, to me,compliments the bridle and the coins in the chest strap of the bridle.

And of course, the suede mat is a nice, dark navy... (in REAL LIFE)

So, I entered it in the fair and one of the ladies told me that this year would be "open judging" and I was welcome to come and see what they judge on.
OH MY GOSH! Was I ever excited.

So I went...

Well. SIGH. Big sigh.
I really wanted to have Best in Section.
I got Best in Section last year with my Amy Mitten picture, the reallllly long one.
And I got Best in Section the year before with my REALLY big garden picture, called "Flower Power"
I just thought it would be SO COOOOL! to get Best in Section THREE TIMES IN A ROW!
Then I could quit.
lol

So anyway, back to the judging...
I'm ok with the points off for a bit of kitty hair.
I expected it. To me, I think its AWESOME because its hair from my very favorite kitty of my whole life and he died a few years ago. (Its amazing how THEY can find it, too, btw. I was constantly picking it out with my tweezers as I would stitch and I didn't even see any)

And SHOOT! I did not clean the glass well enough, apparently...more points off!    sigh

And oh yeah, out of the 80, 500 stitches, there were "about 10-15 LOOSE stitches" (which, truth be told were probably not actually LOOSE, but where I had the wrong color and stitched right over the top of it--lol)    oh well

TOTAL  92.
Wow. 92? ok, well that's still a blue ribbon, first place.
I really wanted Best in Section.
But I told myself I would still go to the fair and see it after she finishes judging the others and maybe, just MAYBE I'll still get Best in Section.

FINISHED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Eleanor of Aquitaine

Eleanor of Aquitaine is finally finished!!!
I started her in...2008?
But she got put away and I worked on other projects.

I decided she was worthy of finishing. And did NOT belong in a box.
PLUS, I have special friends that always tell me they check my blog and NO SIGN OF WORK ON ELEANOR.

So surprise to all of you, she's complete.

I was actually planning to work exclusively on her this year and (hopefully) finish her in time for the fair. BUT, my favorite framing shop and is closing and my FAVORITE FRAMER is moving to another state so I  had to work on her NON-STOP!

I had to wake up at 5 each morning and start in on her before taking off for my day. And then rush home and work on her MORE. (Lucky me to have such a patient husband)

Anyway, I have a lovely frame and mat all picked out and she's going to shop on Tuesday. I've picked a navy blue mat with gold frames. I'M SOOO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you for all your cheering me on and wonderful compliments along the way.
They were sooo very much appreciated and truly helped keep me going.    xxoo

Queen Eleanor

Isn't she just amazing?!
I have more done now than shows.
I've been working on her exclusively.
It's my goal to finish her and enter her in the fair this year.

I am going to add probably another inch or so in length so the horse's foot will show.

My gift

Our Bay Area Sampler Guild (BASG) does a gift exchange each year. I drew the name of someone I really really like! So I sort of knew what I thought she might like.

I found this gorgeous fabric (picture just does NOT do it justice, unfortunately) and since she is Jewish, I found the Hamsa Hand chart. And then I went about matching up the colors to the fabric.

THEN, I came across this really neat purse frame handle and thought to myself, "Hmmmmmmmmm, I've never made a purse before, but wouldn't it make a cool gift if I could figure it out?!"

So I did!

Sampler update for Bay Area Sampler Guild

Here's a quick little update.
I didn't take the time to pull out the ironing board and heat up the iron, because I just wanted to snap a quick pic and post.
I really haven't spent much time on this lately.
I did take a wonderful trip (stitching in the back seat--3600 miles--and I took Dramamine so I wouldn't get nauseous--I planned stitching and stitching and stitching!) so I did get a bit done on it.

Anyway, that's what I have so far

the cake

I just had to include this here...
So, it was my birthday and my sister put the cake on the table when no human eyes were watching. My daughter and I walked by and saw it there.
With a BITE out of the corner.
 And there was my sweet puppy, Ruby. Looking like she knew something.
 Holly and I laughed and when I went to get the camera to take the picture, the guilty party moved in quickly and tried to get another bite! LOL

My girl wasn't guilty afterall.
Never assume... never believe anything you hear and only HALF of what you see!

Well, I'm going to make a good go at following through each month on posting! I have such good intentions when I start out.

Each month there is a topic to blog about.

Here it is for this month:
 "Reality or Fantasy. Which do you prefer to stitch? Figures or Abstract?"

Reality or Fantasy...

Hmmmm I like to stitch things that are intricate. That pose a challenge. That are not the "usual"
I prefer not "cutesy" things. I love pretty flowers and SPARKLE. Love the beads and the gold and silver braids. So I guess my things have a touch of the Fantasy to them.

Abract, never my thing. Makes me think Contemporary... I'm not crazy about Contemporary.

Anyways, there's my little comment for July!

 If anyone is interested, here's the info:

http://measi.net/measiblog/wipocalypse_main/2015_wipocalypse-basic-info-sign-up-page/

Happy Holiday weekend, I hope you get some stitching in. Its my birthday tomorrow!

WIPocalypce Eleanor update

Happy July Full Moon!

As you can see, I've done a bit of stitching on this queen  :)

Silver Lining Iris

I finished the lovely Iris for my mom, Iris.
I just might even enter it in the fair this fall, too.
Next step...frame it up!

p.s. Its a shame photography doesn't do the colors justice

Magnets

Hello my friends,

Thank you for your nice comments! They make me very VERY happy.

Vickie asked how I get the magnets to stay in place.

There are a couple of ways that I will share.

First of all, I like to use the "ring" ones. You can take some perle cotton size 12 and button hole thingy around the edge of it to cover it and make it look more pretty. And then you can use some clear thread (sewing thread kind) and stitch it on. I was going to do that and after I covered it, I decided I didn't want it to show afterall, so I hid it inside the lining.

If you're going to hide it inside the lining, its a good idea to stitch it to a small piece of linen to give it some extra strength.

After I did that, I took my clear sewing thread and stitched around the outside of my design (I think one side was where the seahorse was) so I just stitched around the seahorse to enclose the area.

I actually used 2 different sizes of magnets. One was bigger than the other. These magnets are SO STRONG that they can be difficult to pull apart.
I used #R841  (.52 each)  and #R842  (.83 each)....plan ahead, there is a $5 shipping charge.  I used to mind high shipping charges for small purchases, but now I think to myself, "It would sure cost a lot more than that if I had to drive there and get it myself!"

Here's the site I use to get my magnets
http://www.kjmagnetics.com/products.asp?cat=16

I hope you all have a wonderful day

Just Nan Pouch front

Here's the completed look for the front. This is what I came up with after copying and pasting and repasting...
(I still need to get some hand dyed silk ribbon to "ruch" the sides)

There are magnets inside the lining for the closure.

Just Nan pouch back

Here's what I came up with!

My Just Nan pouch

Remember when I showed you  Siren's Sampler from Just Nan? I bought it to combine with the Mermaid's Heart, also from Just Nan.

So I got busy cutting and pasting until I came up with something I liked.

I've been busy stitching. I'll show it to you very soon now...

Silver Lining iris update

As promised,  here's my update.
Oh, and the name of the design is "Snow Mound"
Thank you everyone for your comments, I love them!!!

Another Silver Lining iris

In my newly organized stash, I  found this iris that my mom had started. This is how it was last week when I pulled her out and put her on the Q snaps.

I'll post next time I move it around.

I'm feeling so productive!
Enjoy your weekend,  I already am

Silver Lining iris

My friend, Valerie came over and we organized my stash...
She  had us gather together all the charts...and put them in one spot.
Then she had us gather together all the UFOs... and put them in a different spot.
And then all the kits--not started at all...
And then the finished things that still needed to be made into something.

SO!
I pulled out this iris that my mom had started and worked half of. (My mom was a Gemini and she loved to start things, do half of them and then off to the next exciting thing!)

I finished it up.
I love that she put dates on the chart of when she started it.
This was one of the very first pieces she did, back in 2003.


I sure miss my mom but its really nice to be able to finish some of her things.

Just Nan

I finished!
And, if you can tell, I added lots of sparkle! lol
I think what I'm going to do now is figure out how to make it into a little purse thing.
I purchased the Just Nan Mermaid chart, Under the Sea or something like that...Siren? I forget (its in the other room...) and I want to take parts of it and make it work. Like...the mermaids could be the flap...

We'll see!
Oh I know... I could add a screen shot. lol

There we go

Just Nan Mermaid Heart

Here's a pretty something I'm working on.
I just have the outer border to do now.

I think it needs some Kreinik and or Rainbow Gallery sparkle braids!
(It just wouldn't be "mine" without those added sparkles)
Those will  be next. For sure.

Happy Easter my friends