Queen Bee ~ finished with her jewelled crown

Fit for a Queen, she is now all finished up and wearing her jewelled crown.

DESIGNER ~ Little House Needleworks

PATTERN ~ Queen Bee chart

FABRIC ~ 35ct WDW Straw

THREADS ~ Crescent Colours (Antique Lace, Hickory Sticks, Queen Bee) & DMC (644, 780, 3011, 3740)

STARTED ~ 23 August 2009

FINISHED ~ 30 August 2009

My Queen Bee has been adorned with those golden beads, and they have been made to create her regal crown. The pattern has this done in cross stitch but mentions if you want to 'doll it up' you can add glass seed beads instead. So I thought that's just what this Queen needs. I hunted in my stash and found a SB kit aptly called Queen Bee Sampler which had the right coloured beads in it. Since their kits always come with more beads than you need, I decided to put some of them to good use. I really like the way it's turned out.

I adore this fabric colour and the picture below (top right) probably shows its true toning more. It has such a warmth to it and suits this LHN design so well.

All the thread colours worked well together and I'm pleased with the change in the DMC Grape from 3835 to 3740 I made. I think the original would have been too bright for it with the fabric I chose. I'm just so thrilled with the overall finish.

This was such a fun and quick design to do and one where you feel enjoyment while stitching it up!

What will I do next, I wonder...

Buzz, Buzz

Do you ever feel like the weekends go by so quickly that you never have enough time to get everything you want done? This is how I'm feeling after the end of another weekend is nearing. If only they made them three days instead of two. One can dream I guess....

So Friday rolled around and I had planned to stitch some more on Queen Bee. I didn't even lift up my needle. After getting home from work and having some tea (dinner), I sat down to watch a bit of TV and started to close my eyes a little. Then a little became a lot, and I ended up nodding off for about an hour! Upon waking up, there was a movie starting called Sleepless In Seattle which I love, so I ended up watching that. So there was not a stitch to be seen on Friday night.

Saturday rolls around and I get some housework done. Meanwhile the weather just starts to get worse and worse, with rain setting in for most of the day. Yippee! Stitching time!! So down I sit and get out that little bee project and away I go. I managed to get the bee done and made a start on the top of the design by completing one of the flowers.

Queen Bee - 29 August 2009

I wonder what all those beads are doing there?

Maybe this is a hint of what's to come...

I'm having so much fun with this design. Please look out for finished photos tomorrow.

A little more of Queen Bee

I did a little more last night and added some honeycomb along with four small bees. Aren't those bees just cute?

Queen Bee - 26 August 2009

I'm very happy with the purple colour I chose in replacement of the original. It's not as bright and goes well with the other threads and fabric I'm using. I can't speak highly enough of this fabric too. I'm just loving it! It's so soft and a lovely, warm tone to it. Weeks Dye Works Straw - go buy yourself some if you can, because I don't think you'll be disappointed.

I'm hoping to get some more stitching in tomorrow night, and over the weekend. Keep watch for more progress pics. :)

Queen Bee started

I had a busy weekend which meant I didn't get much of a chance to start on Queen Bee. Late yesterday afternoon though, I was able to sit down and get a few stitches in.

Queen Bee - started 23 August 2009

Since I'm working on a 35ct fabric, I decided to do this design using one thread over two. Gives it a more delicate look I think. I've only ever used a 35ct once before and find it not much different to a 32ct really. Just a slight adjustment in the weave. I'm also loving the colour of the Straw fabric. I may have to get some more of it in the future. It certainly suits this design well. Speaking of design, what a cute one this is. I love the simplicity of LHN patterns.

If I get some good stitching time in, this one won't take me too long to complete. (Sorry about the dark photos - this morning was very gloomy and overcast.)

Too easy

I guess that was an easy preview for all those LHN fans out there, to guess what my next project was. Congratulations to those of you who picked it was their Queen Bee chart.

I thought I would do something easy and small next. Since we're heading towards Spring here in Australia, this one is just right.

LHN - Queen Bee chart kitted

The fabric I've chosen is a Weeks Dye Works one called Straw. It's a 35ct and has a warm, honey colour to it. I thought it would be ideal for this little bee design.

I'm going with the threads called for (DMC and Crescent Colours), but the only one I'm substituting is the purple DMC. I didn't have 3835 in my stash, so I've chosen a similar one being 3740. I think the colour will blend in with the others.

Now all that's left to do is to cut the fabric to size and get stitching!

What's this?

Here's a sneak peek at what my next project's going to be. Any guesses as to what it is?

If you're not sure, I'll reveal it soon! :)

Another finish ~ Wooly Winter

Here he is, my little Wooly Snowman. I sat down to a lovely stitching session yesterday afternoon and added him to this Winter design. He didn't take long at all to do. Such a joy to stitch up and I love the tassels at the end of his cap.

There weren't a lot of embellishments to add to this piece, so I was able to finish it all up by late afternoon. Then some photos were in order to compliment this cute design.

DESIGNER ~ Shepherd's Bush

PATTERN ~ Wooly Winter (released in 1994 as a kit)

FABRIC ~ 32ct Twilight Blue Linen

THREADS ~ Au Ver A Soie silk (1 over 2)

EMBELLISHMENTS ~ Beads - Creme and Carrot, Charm - Silver Snowflake

STARTED ~ 7 August 2009

FINISHED ~ 16 August 2009

My photos show the joy I have when I get to finish a project. Hours of work involved needs to be captured in pictures.

Now I'm at the place again on deciding what to do next. I'll need to have a look through my stash to see what jumps out. This time I haven't decided what's next, before I completed my latest finish. It's a wonderful choice I have to make though. :)

Til my next project... keep those needles flying with all those gorgeous creations, everyone!

Caps Of Wool

I got a bit further on my progress with Wooly Winter yesterday. Better than the previous night's session. Hearts, specialty stitches, and little caps of wool were completed. I love the woollen hats, and they were a lot easier to do than the mittens. :)

Wooly Winter - 15 August 2009

Now I can work on the snowman and all his trimmings. Think I'll do some more today as the weather is ideal for it. We had such strong winds last night (I kept waking up because of them), and today they're still around though not so strong, but there's also quite a bit of rain falling. Well, I guess it still is Winter here, so I can't complain too much. The plus side to it is that this type of weather does allow me to stitch more. So I'm going to spend a lovely Sunday afternoon stitching and keeping warm inside.

Til next time... happy stitching!

Mittens Bright

Not too much progress on Wooly Winter to show. I worked a little on it last night and managed to get the row of mittens done. This took me longer than I thought it would. The only other row I managed to finish was the wording above 'Mittens Bright'. I had to stitch this row twice, since I started it in the wrong place and didn't realise until I got virtually to the end. Some frogging was done on the row of mittens too, so with all this pulling thread out, you can understand why I didn't get very much done.

Wooly Winter - 14 August 2009

I hope to get more completed over the weekend.

Look what a day's stitching achieves!

Yesterday I managed to get some gardening done in the morning, then I was free to partake in a little needlework for the afternoon. What an enjoyable day it was. Mid afternoon I sat down to stitch. I seemed to be working my way through this small sampler, so I kept at it into the evening. Have a look at it grow!

Wooly Winter - 9 August 2009

Those pesky snow flakes came up again. This time they were a different variety, but no easier than the last ones. In fact, a little harder. I worked through them though and fortunately I didn't have too many to do with this narrow design.

The photos I took were done this morning before I went to work, so they're a bit darker than the last post. They're probably more true in colour to the actual piece though.

I've also just realised what the next stage will involve... MITTENS!!! Yes, those darn little hand warmers have popped themselves up in this design too. They were finicky things to do in Snow Patch, but hopefully practice makes perfect. I'll let you know how I go.

Hope you've all had a wonderful weekend and been able to get all the things you wanted done. I know it doesn't always happen. We can live in hope though.

Happy stitching and til next time, keep those needles flying!

A Wooly Winter it is!

I made a start on Wooly Winter last night.

Wooly Winter - started 7 August 2009

I was cruising along until I got to the snowflake. There's three of these that go along the row and I have completed just one so far. Stitching it in the night light (although I do work with an Ott-lite) wasn't helping, as it was very fine work. I'm still not convinced I have done it with no mistakes, so I'm going to look over it again before I move on to the rest of them.

Nina has just informed me that there's a SB Village Blog which I wasn't aware of. Thanks for letting me know about it, Nina! I'm thinking of joining it because they are by far my favourite designers. I haven't joined any other groups since I don't have the time to get too involved, but I think I should make an exception with this one, don't you think? I remember Tammy telling me about another group a while back, but I never got back to her about it (sorry). So thanks as well to Tammy for passing on this information. You're looking out for me which I really appreciate. This is what I love about the information you can get from peoples' blogs.

I'm snuggled up inside today since it's quite chilly out. Though the sun is shining, there's not much warmth to it. I think I've picked the right time to be stitching on my Wooly Winter because it's certainly been one of those here this season. Can't wait for Spring!