More Gold

I -think- the majority of the gold in the background is done.  There are still at least two more sessions' worth of work on it, though.

Bearing Everything at Angelo's

No pictures of the excellent barbecue at Angelo's on White Settlement in Fort Worth, but a  couple of pictures of their cute bear!

Last Finish in the States

Yay, one last finish before I left!  It's The Sweetheart Tree's In the Land of the Free, and it was part of my Crazy January Challenge.  I'm happy with the way this turned out.  It's more sparkly and brighter in person.  It'll be turned into a door knocker, and I've been informed that Freedom Rings will be framed.  I'm just happy I got something else done!

Blackeyed Pea!

This is probably one of my favorite meals ever - chicken fried steak, fried okra, and squash casserole from the Blackeyed Pea.  We had fried pickles (no picture) as an appetizer.  I couldn't finish it, but it sure tasted good!  Andreas had fish and chips.  It was good to be home in Texas.

Tasseling Alnong

This has been coming along fairly quickly, as I've been working on it daily.  You can see the tassels taking shape.

Greens and Blues

I've got about an inch done all the way across.  When I work on this, I see significant progress every time.

Breakfast at Ol' South

Ol' South pancake house on South University in Fort Worth is a local icon.  People of every walk of life start their day there with a ginormous breakfast that's not hard on the wallet, either.  On weekends, the line stretches out the door and into the parking lot. 

These pictures are from two breakfasts we had there.  Both were excellent and we left stuffed!

Almost to the Top

I'm almost to the top at the right side now.  It seems to be coming along more quickly than when I stitched the left side.

Still Struggling

The way the stitch guide is written, I'm almost convinced I'd be better off without one.  I'm definitely getting off the reservation on how I'm approaching this now.

Summer's Done

I finished the heart!  It's now ready to be finished into a pillow. 

A Real Life Note

I leave for Moldova today.  I loved my time in the States, with the exception of driving in Northern Virginia.  We do not already have internet set up at our house, but hope to have it within one to two weeks.  In the meantime, I'm scheduling some posts for you over the next few days.

A New Round Robin

Since I'm almost done with my move, it's time to start a new round robin.  The theme of this one is roses, so I made a nice foundation for them.  My plan is to have only yellow roses and then donate this to some people I know for funds for the firefighters in Texas.  It got sent off last week.  Hopefully the first one to work on will be waiting for me in Moldova when I land tomorrow.

A Bit of Wheat

I added a couple of wheat ears and have all of one row left on the skirt.  Yay.  Progress!

Still Gilding

Still working on the background.  There's a lot to do!

Still Gardening

I'm still working on part six, and am about halfway through.  I don't know why, but each of these parts takes a long time for me.

Just a Bit

I've got the tops of two fruits done.  Some more leaves, too.  It's taking shape.  More color soon.

Almost Seventh

There are bits of two more buildings to cross stitch before I can say it's done but the specialty stuff, but part seven is definitely getting close.  It's so close, in fact, that I've used some of the thread lengths from seven to start eight!

Still Going

The Lady's skirt is almost done. I'm feeling this project is dragging at this point, but with all the travel, I haven't been able to do much stitching. Maybe once I settle in in the new house, I'll be able to do more with her.

Starting a Lattice

A bit more done on this stitchalong.  I'm beginning to wonder if I should have done this over one, but otherwise, I'm okay with it.

Gilding the Background

There is finally a bit of color in this.  The background's coming along nicely; I'm on the last, but longest part.  All these white threads have  to be couched down in gold.  At least it's started.

Two Flowers Done

I've got three, not two, flowers stitched.  Their stems and leaves aren't done, but the flowers themselves are.  While I really love the design, I am becoming less and less a fan of the kit and stitch guide.  So far, I've not been able to figure out which thread goes where on each flower because the stitch guide doesn't tell you.  I've ended up substituting two different threads of my own so far, and there are no diagrams for the stitches called for.  On top of that, the stitch guide's very disorganized.

Despite the problems, I'm making fairly substantial progress and will probably finish this before the end of the year.  I had been thinking about buying another kit from The French Knot - a cute little Fort Worth piece, but after the way this kit has been put together, I'd rather not.

Close to Done

The heart's almost done.  One more stitching session....

Little Bits

Little pieces are progress.  It doesn't look like much more, but I'm steadily working to the end of this side.

Blue in the Heart

I got some more done on this, too.  It's beginning to call to me to just sit and finish it.

Freedom is Ready

Yay, I finished something!  It's Freedom Rings from The Trilogy, and I finished it here in Virginia.  I'm going to make it into a door knocker, but not until I get to Moldova.  Another one of my Crazy January 15 done.

Top Row Done

A bit of progress; this one is a project that's easy to take along, as I don't have to read a chart or instructions as I do it.  Top row's done and some background added. 

Very Slow

Over the week of Labor Day, I made very little progress on everything.  Here, you can see some, but it's still not much.

More Fabric

I visited a quilt shop in Shreveport, too.  I bought significantly more there than the needlepoint shop.  A stash picture is here.

Almost Tailed

I am getting to the point of being almost done with the salamander/dragon!

A Disappointing Shop

Although The Needlepoint Shoppe in Shreveport has a large selection of canvases, the theme seems to resemble a sorority house - lots of pastels and cutesy along with the obligatory sets of Greek letters.  Displayed models were stitched almost exclusively in basketweave.  They do carry the complete line of Rainbow Gallery Splendor and seem to have all the Paternayan colors.  Other thread lines were incomplete or just plain not stocked.  I had visited to buy some stretcher bars for my Carole Lake kit.  They didn't have any.  The shop owner claimed that you never need stretcher bars to o needlepoint, so she didn't stock them. 

I know this shop has been in business for quite a while - I've visited it a few times when I've been in town, and I swear the inventory has not changed at all.  Call me disappointed on behalf of the needlepointers of Shreveport - they have no shop that allows them to experiment and expand their skills.

On a recommendation note, the finishing I saw in the shop was professionally and well done.

No Castle Yet

Still working on the background of Mersburg Castle, but some trees are definitely leafing out.

Butterflies

Added some butterflies and roses as I've been working to get this done.  Some days, it's been the only project I've been able to work on.

A Different Sampler

I was finally able to start the Berlinwork Sampler from Sticklounge this week.  I'm even doing it in the original colors!  Anyway, here's the first bit.  It'll go into my daily rotation when sommerherz is done.

Hobby Lobby Sale

 When we were in Shreveport, Hobby Lobby was having a needlework sale.  Needless to say, we went over.  Because Andreas was there, we came out with much more than I was planning. 

I told someone in a comment yesterday that I don't really do animals, but looking at this, I am now correcting myself.  I tend toward frogs and insects such as the Nora Corbett butterflies and dragonflies.

I also indulged in ribbon and some transfers that I can use in surface embroidery.

Afghan

If you've been following my blog since this spring, you'll know that our friends Florine and Saint are expecting their first baby.  It's due at the end of October, and I offered to make an afghan and quilt.  The afghan's done!  Here's a (not so good) picture of it  The yarn is a Turkish brand called Alize, and is an acrylic/mohair/wool blend.  It feels scrumptious and I plan on buying and using a lot of it in Moldova.  It's not available in the US.  It gets put in the mail today, so it'll be to them in plenty of time to cuddle the little one!  They're in temporary housing at the moment, so I hope this brightens Florine's day when she gets it.

On to Only Five

Started with stitching only part five now.  It's weird, but I'm halfway through this part even before finishing off the specialty stitches on part four.  It's progress, at least.  Maybe I'll get this part done before the end of the year.

Hearting It

Laughably expecting my air freight to arrive in one to two weeks, I put this in it from Montevideo.  It took more than four to reach us.  Because of that, this languished in darkness for a while.  It's back and going strong now, though.

I had yarn and some time and a lack of potholders while we were in Texas, so I made this one.

Over Halfway Now

I'm now over halfway done with my purple garden.  That middle part had a lot of stitching!  Now on to finish the rest.

More Leaves

I apologize for being so behind with my posting!  I should have set up some automatic posts, but I didn't.  Blame the Baltimore Grand Prix, where we were all weekend.  It was fun, but I wish I had bought grandstand seats instead of the Grand Prix Club seats.  They didn't treat us premium people as well as the regulars. 
Anyway, on to the stitching!  This is Passiflora Trellis, and it's getting a few more vines coming down and the leaves are plumping.