~ Happy July 4th! ~

Since July 4th is Independence Day in the USA, and being that I love Americana things, I thought I would stitch a new kit from Shepherd's Bush called Flag Bag. It's a quick one that you can do during a day or night session. I managed to complete it all last night.

DESIGNER ~ Shepherd's Bush

PATTERN ~ Flag Bag kit

FABRIC ~ Tan burlap bag

THREADS ~ DMC and WDW (stitched 3 over 2)

STARTED/FINISHED ~ 3 July 2009

This is such a cute and easy design to do. The only awkward thing is trying to work within the bag itself. I've done another of these bags called Dashing, which was also fun.

Flag Bag is a new one from SB and I received it during the week in my latest stash buy. I'll show you the rest of what I got in another post.

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!

Working my way through

This is where I'm up to on The Rain Fell after some more stitching last night.

The Rain Fell - 30 June 2009

The grass is now growing and I'm about to plant some flowers next.

Some new stash arrived in the mail today, also! The Rocking Horse had a sale on the middle of last month, and I took the opportunity to purchase a few things. Will take some photos over the weekend and show you the goodies I got. :)

Early needlework

Just thought I'd side track a bit and show you some pictures I took of one of my first tries at needlework as a young girl. I must have been around 12 years of age when I stitched it, so we're going back about 30 years ago that this little piece was created.

I remember that the whole design came as a kit, but I'm sorry to say that I have no idea who the designer was nor what brand name it came under. It was stitched on a natural linen with probably Anchor threads.

It was framed quite a number of years ago with a simple, dark wooden, recessed frame. I think it was a cheap one bought at a craft shop which came with glass. Mum and Dad would have mounted and framed it for me, since I was still only young.

I have it hanging in my computer/craft room and as the years go by I cherish it more and more.

A stitched verse

I was stitching like mad last night trying to get the wording completed on The Rain Fell. Mission accomplished!

The Rain Fell - 27 June 2009

I did have to frog a little but nothing that couldn't be easily fixed. While stitching the words I also realised that the flower head next to the tree trunk was one thread over too far and would have made the wording next to it out also, so I had to rip that out and redo. Luckily it wasn't a big flower. :) No matter how hard you try to get it right the first time, there's usually at least one mistake made that you discover later on.

I'm glad you're enjoying looking at my photos and thank you for the compliments on them. Although they're only progress pictures, I still try to make them interesting and appealing to the eye.


Hope you're all enjoying your weekend ~ happy stitching!

Progress

I've been working on The Rain Fell the last couple of nights. Here's my progress...

The Rain Fell - 26 June 2009

It's a sweet design and I'm loving the colour of the House Wine thread. A beautiful, rich coloured pink with a red undertone.

Think I'll start on the words next. :)

I've made a start!

Yes, albeit small, I've started on The Rain Fell. I didn't stitch for long last night but managed to get the scrolling done on the bottom of the design. The fabric I'm using is the recommended Americana Blend, but mine is 32ct instead of 30ct which was used in the chart model.

The Rain Fell - 22 June 2009

Since there's not much to show on my WIP, I thought I would show you a couple of photos I took of my furbabies, Sophie and Charlotte. I just love them both to bits!

Sophie - 16 May 2009

Charlotte - 23 May 2009

I was too tired to stitch tonight, but hopefully I'll get some more done during the rest of the week. Keep stitching!

I've changed my mind

I was going to work on the Stacy Nash Group piece next, but now I'm looking at doing LHN The Rain Fell. Since it's Winter here I thought it would tie in well with the season. I've been itching to do a LHN or CCN design for a while now, and I think I need to satisfy that desire. I've got everything kitted and ready to go.

LHN - The Rain Fell kitted

I already had the fabric for it (Americana Blend), the Crescent Colours threads I'd bought another time, and the DMC threads I had in my stash. The only difference is the Peach DMC thread (754) I've substituted for 3774. I thought the 754 was a bit strong as it's meant to be a skin tone. The 3774 is a paler shade.

Now all I need is a bit of spare time to get started on it!

Moonlit Garden ~ finished!

I got stuck into the rest of the wording last night. My Moonlit Garden I finished at 12pm! I didn't want to leave it until today to complete, so I persevered. A happy dancing I am doing ~ ~ ~

DESIGNER ~ Blackbird Designs

PATTERN ~ Moonlit Garden (Loose Feathers #22)

FABRIC ~ 30ct Broomstick Brown

THREADS ~ Weeks Dye Works (2 over 2)

STARTED ~ 25 April 2009

FINISHED ~ 13 June 2009

I took a while to get going on this one, which had nothing to do with the design. I love it! I didn't even get sick of doing the stars. I think I'll eventually have it framed.

I just adore the Autumn colours in it!

I still wasn't able to get the true colour of the fabric through my photos. It's almost the same as shown on the front of the chart though. A beautiful, warm tone to it, which compliments the thread colours.

I hope you've enjoyed my latest journey with me? It took a bit longer than I would have imagined, but I got there in the end. A wonderful pattern to stitch.

My next start will be the second Stacy Nash project from the 2009 Group. We'll have to see how my finishing skills turn out with this one. I haven't read through the instructions yet to see whether there's too much to it. I don't think it will be too difficult though. I'm looking forward to working on it!

It's all in the words

I've started on the words for Moonlit Garden now. I must admit that I think having the words really adds to the design. I could see it coming alive as I stitched every letter.

Moonlit Garden - 11 June 2009

Fingers crossed that I get this one completed over the weekend!

I've actually finished the stars!

I wanted to get some more out the way on Moonlit Garden last night. I achieved more than I thought I would and managed to get all the stars completed. I quite enjoyed stitching them. I really thought they would get repetitive, but each one of them was a pleasure.

Moonlit Garden - 9 June 2009

If you wanted to, you could leave this design just as it is at this stage. Maybe even add another row of stars on the bottom. But of course I'm going to continue with the words as in the original design.

Terri has asked how I take 'such gorgeous pictures'. Firstly, thank you so much for your kind compliment! It really pleases me that other people get enjoyment from them. I do try to be a little creative by either taking the photos on various angles, adding props or even bits of ribbon and lace, and usually doing closeup views on a macro setting. I also get some help with software programs to add finishing touches (like sharpening). The most important thing I find when taking photos is lighting. I like to use natural light as I find it the most pleasing to the eye. Being Winter here at the moment, the light is not the best as you can see in some of my photos (like in this post). I like to take pictures on the weekends when I can use the best lighting conditions. I work during the week and it's dark before and after work this time of year. So any photos I take weekdays come out a bit ordinary as far as colouring goes. I also get inspired by seeing how other people with stitching blogs take their photos.

I can really see myself finishing this current project off by the end of the week. Ready for me to take a few 'creative photos' of it finished. I already have one prop picked out that will go so well with it! I have an abundance of knick knacks about the house to add extra interest to my projects. It's fun picking out what to use next. Til next time... happy stitching!