That Lonely BBD

Thank you all for your sweet comments about my 3 problems on Friday. And an especially big thank you to everyone who encouraged me to get that Cheesecake Factory! I'm going to be letting DH know how you all feel ;)

I didn't find any time to pick up my current stitching project this weekend as I had hoped. I'm working on BBD's "Something Sweet." I started it over 2 weeks ago, but haven't touched it in over a week. So it's only got 1 week's worth of work put into it - which isn't many hours considering I have 2 small children. It will get some quality time this week I hope. Pay no attention to the stairs. I will be fixing that mistake! Oops.

Something Sweet by Blackbird Designs
Thread: recommended CC, WDW, and GAST
Fabric: 28 Count winter white linen
Started: 6/6/09

We had a good Father's Day. Cuddle Bug and I got up and made Daddy the usual Father's Day breakfast of cinnamon rolls. When they were ready we woke up Daddy and Ladybug and all had a wonderful breakfast. We gave Daddy the gift we had prepared for him. Then we loaded up into the car and drove to Ironton, Missouri to spend the day with some family. It was wonderful and low key. I finished up the day very sick. I think I had become terribly dehydrated in the heat. My head was pounding and I was dizzy and tired. I guzzled a bunch of water upon returning home, took a bunch of advil, and laid down to close my eyes for a bit. 2 hours later DH woke me up to nurse the Ladybug. I felt terrible to have napped so long on Father's Day, but I was really not feeling well at all. DH assured me he didn't mind.

This is what we gave Daddy for Father's Day (one of the rare moments you will get to see a picture of the bugs or see their names on my blog):


I have a question for all you wonderfully helpful seasoned stitchers out there in blogland. I am stitching my BBD project in a hoop. I find it makes my stitches more even and consistent than stitching in the hand. But it's leaving ring wrinkles in my fabric and I'm finding it impossible to iron them out. Since I'm using hand dyed fibers, I can't get it wet to force the wrinkles out. Any suggestions???

Well that's about it around these parts. I hope everyone else had an incredible weekend! Sending you all wonderful stitchy wishes!

Needle Roll Help!

Today is the 1st of April and that means the dreaded needle roll challenge is upon us! I'm sure there are many of you out there who have no anxiety about this particular finishing at all - but frankly I'm very nervous!

This being my first adventure in needle rolling, I've decided a simple design is best in case I need to re-do it should something disastrous happen during finishing. I've found a small free pattern from The Floss Box that I'm pretty sure I will be doing. But my question is - how much extra fabric do I need to leave around the stitched design for finishing purposes? I want to get this right!

In other news, I got another crisp white envelope in the mail with the wonderful Handcrafts Online return address label in the upper right corner today :) It is my LHN Wool Needlebook and Scissor Fob chart! And Mary Kathryn included a beautiful skein of "School Yard" green from The Gentle Art because I placed my order on St. Patrick's Day. How sweet is she?!


No new development with my "Thankful" tin. I need to make a trip to the craft store and mosey around to figure something to put in it for my sister. That will have to wait until tomorrow. Tonight DH and I are going on a double date to see the Blues play (hockey). And of course that means Tivo will have to manage American Idol for us as well.

A Finish and a Challenge

Today I finished my little lovebird tag. All along my plan was for it was to use it as the gift tag on the gift I am taking to a baby shower this weekend. I had planned to put "to" and "from" on the back. But that changed at the last minute. After all the time and work that had gone into it - from the stitching to the tassel and the cording - I decided just making it a gift tag wouldn't be special enough. So I skipped putting my name on it all-together and made it more of an ornament or door knob decoration with a message on the back. I had given a lot of thought to at least signing my name really small on it somewhere, but I thought it might detract from the overall feel of the ornament as a gift in-and-of-itself for a very special new life. I want to put up pictures of it, but it's late and the artificial lighting around here mixed with the flash makes any picture I take look way off. It's just too beautiful to put up a picture that won't do it justice. So pictures will have to wait until tomorrow. It's worth the wait, though. I promise!

Today I got up the courage to venture outside my comfort zone and join a challenge hosted by BeckySC of BeckyBee's Stitching Hive. She has started the Monthly Finishing Challenge where she gives participants a finishing technique to complete every month. I thought this was a really good opportunity to try out different finishing techniques since I am familiar with very few and have actually tried even fewer than I'm familiar with! I'm sure my finishes won't compare to those of the experienced stitchers and finishers, but I am taking the opportunity to learn more about project finishing. The month of March is a pinkeep. So I have until March 30th to complete my very first pinkeep - something I have been itching to try out and that Michele tells me is not as difficult as it looks. But I need to figure out where I can get the pretty pins everyone uses. Any suggestions?

Progress

Thank you to everyone who has commented in response to my many questions in my previous entry. I still haven't exactly decided what to do about my floss storage but baggies are definitely something I am considering. And I did alright finishing my backstitching when I personalized the "gift tag" last night. I found a font that has some regular cross stitches, so that helped too. But when I finished the "R" I made good use of everyone's suggestion to weave the tail back in. It worked very well! Thank you all!

Yesterday I had a fun first - I made my very first tassel! I keep seeing little hand-made tassels in everyone's finishings and I found some instructions online here. When I first read through them I thought for sure I was doomed. But it was actually much easier than it seemed when I actually got to it. I used the same DMC floss I used to stitch the piece so it would all coordinate. For me, the hardest part was getting the bottom relatively straight when I trimmed it. But I think it turned out well. And I even followed the cording instructions to make a little cording for the hanger part. I have the bird all trimmed up now and ready to pair with a back. I will be personalizing that today and hopefully get it all put together by the time I go to bed tonight! Here's what I have done:


Yes, I know the "obbie" is one stitch too many away from the "R." Is it obvious? And if so, does it look terrible? I could frog the "R" and move it over one. I don't know if I should bother or not.

But I do have (another) question. Should I have done the backstitching around the outside over 1? I'm worried I won't be able to get my needle through it to attach it to the back if I do so I went ahead and did it over 2, but I'm having second thoughts about that decision. Any suggestions?

Questions from The Beginner

So I'm getting around to personalizing the little bird gift tag I'm stitching for a baby shower this weekend. I want to put baby's name on it and then put a "to/from" on the back. The problem is, I can't figure out how to start or finish lettering that is entirely backstitched and not near regular cross-stitches to tuck the ends under. When I did the lettering on the Peace of God project - I'll be honest - I knotted the thread. I could think of no better way to handle it. Is there an alternative?

And where does everyone get the pretty alphabets they use to sign their work? Is there a book or anything that anyone can recommend?

While I'm on the topic of asking questions, I have one more to throw out there for anyone/everyone who reads this modest blog. How do you store your threads? I have some "specialty threads" coming and that is new for me. I've only acquainted myself with DMC thread. I've been storing those on paper bobbins. Should I be using the plastic bobbins instead? Or should I not be using bobbins at all? And should I store specialty threads the same way I store DMC? It looks like many people store them hanging on "thread drops." Is that a better alternative? And if so, how do you keep them from collecting dust? Wow, that was quite a series of questions. Sorry to overwhelm!

Michele asked what goodies I ordered from eHandcrafts. I ordered the Love and Faithfulness Thread Pack from LHN, A Place We Call Home from CCN, and all the specialty threads I need to complete the CCN design and two other patterns I have (Gingerbread Cottage from CCN and Peach Tree Cottage from LHN). Little House Needleworks and Country Cottage Needleworks are hands-down my favorite designers to look at. I haven't completed a single one of their designs but I love the way they look. They're so simple and lovely. I am really enjoying watching Michele work on Gingerbread Cottage! It sure is coming along!

And finally, I've been trying really hard to get over my insecurities about commenting on everyone's blogs. I have a long list of blogs I check daily for updates and I feel like the best way to acclimate myself with the stitching-blogger world is to go ahead and comment on the wonderful entries. But I have this fear of commenting - like who on earth am I to comment on anyone else's work (even if they're all positive comments)? I really need to get over that.

Snow Day

It has been snowing non-stop since Cuddle Bug and I got up this morning! It's amazing. As a native of the desert southwest, the snow fascinates and terrifies me at the same time. I opened all the blinds and we have been watching with delight all day as the snow collects. But the thought of going out in it is enough to make me want to want to go back to bed and hide under the covers! So we are definitely staying in today. Here is the view of the backyard:
I have been stitching away at the lovebird freebie on linen. It has gone pretty well. I got everything done but the border by the time I put it down last night. I'm pleased with how it has turned out.

Here's what I finished last night: And this is what I have done up until now:

I did run into a bit of a snag as I was working on the border, and now I'm dealing with a frogging dilemma. To frog or not to frog? When I got around by the "e" at the end of "love," I noticed a little error in the letter. Now I can't decide if it is going to annoy me enough to just rip out the letter and do it over. Here is the boo-boo:

See the stitch on the far right in the loop of the letter? I went one thread too far, and didn't realize when I was finishing the adjacent stitch. So the stitch on the far right goes up one too many threads, and the stitch next to the left and above it is too short. Any thoughts?

I only have about an inch on each side of the stitching since I didn't calculate the size of my fabric right. But Jennifer suggested this fabric calculator and it looks great! It takes all the guess work out of it for you by letting you put in the margins you want and the stitch count and voila it tells you how big to cut your fabric. I will definitely be using it from now on.

When I'm done with the border, this pattern I'm working on has little speckles of pink around the curvy border line - just one stitch all by itself. I figure I'll use the loop method to start off that Michele told me about, but I'm wondering how on earth I will secure the stitch at the end?? Does anyone have any suggestions or ideas? How does one put a single stitch out by itself and secure the ends of the threads?