All Cracked Up

I opened my exchange Christmas crackers with all the other presents last night. They were fun and full of goodies! This top one is from Rose Ann. She pieced the pretty crazy quilt block and added three motifs to it. Then she stuffed lots of fabrics with unusual textures, some lace, and some threads in it. Oh, and lace and beads, too. Thanks, Rose Ann!

Lyn sent me a pretty medieval block with a lady in the middle. My daughter's already claimed it; it's getting made into a pillow for her once I'm done embellishing it. She spent about twenty minutes last night deciding what charms and stuff were going to go on it. Thanks, Lyn!

And I got this bunch of treats from Kerry - lots of glitzy fabrics and goodies inside, especially beads. I also got something called a mesh button maker. I've never heard of one, so I'm going to get to learn something new. Thank you!

I hope everyone who got what I sent likes their goodies, too.

Seamy Side Home

My seamy side round robin block came home to me late last week. Doesn't it look neat with all the additions on it? The ladies who worked on it did such a good job! Thank you Kerry, Jeanne, Bonnie, Clairee, and Candi! Now I need to figure out what to make from it.

Cross Stitches Done

Yay! I've finally finished all the cross stitches on this! Now all that's left is the specialty stitching for the last part and then all the beads for the whole piece. I feel like I can get it done before the end of the year and let it get framed. It'll be the largest Chatelaine piece I've finished yet, and the second one I ever started. The first one I started is the Medieval Town Mandala. It's only taken me two and a half years to get this done.

Framed Joyeux Noel

I made the heart as a gift for one of my husband's colleagues. He finished framing it day before yesterday, and I thought you'd like to see what it looks like. I think it came out pretty well.

YACQF

Yet another crazy quilting finish! This is Donna's block with everything I did on it. as you can see, I added two more motifs and another seam.

I used Sheep's Silk from Thread Gatherer for the center of this flower and Treenway silk ribbon for the petals. I think it came out pretty well.

The initial is in Needle Necessities floss. I had the color lying on my desk and I thought it'd go well. That corner needed something. I hope Donna likes what I did. This also makes finish 24 of my 25 project challenge. One more to go.

Just Some Brown

All I did this week was some more brown. At least it's getting worked on again.

Ice Crystal Temari

This is the third of the four temari I made for gifts. It was probably the most complex of them, although almost all the stitching was in one thread. I like the way it came out. Of course, it counted as a project finish, too. I have only two more to go to finish my challenge!

Another Favorite Thing

Well, I've started work on another round robin block. This is my next-to-last one for the circle, though I just found out my block is still only on the second person - four months and it's only been worked on by one person. Can you tell I'm disappointed? I doubt I'll ever get it back. Aaaanyway, this is Donna's block. Her favorite thing is just extreme embellishment. The block's supposedly been through three people already and looks kind of bare to me.

This is what I've added so far - a cascade of swirls and a half wheel buttonhole seam. Today I'll be adding an echinacea in wool and silk. I'll probably add at least one more seam before I send it on.

Beginning to Round the Corners

I finished off the Algerian eyes in the fleurs de lis and started the Jessicas. There are several at the bottom of each corner piece. Once I'm done with them, Part 2 will be officially stitched and Part 3 only has its specialty stitches.

One Corner Complete

Yay, you can see the four leaf corner now! I'm getting caught up on when I fell behind, and I corrected the right side error completely now.

Six Stars on Top

I finally finished the top row here. Those six stars were hard to do and took a lot of time for each because they got so thick it was hard to see the threads underneath the stitching. Anyway, the rest should go more quickly now (I hope!). There's really not that much more to do.

Rolling Along

A second gift temari here; the pattern on this one's called dogwood and I'd not done it before either. They're not that hard to do once you start, but I can tell I still need to cultivate patience in marking the balls to get them more even. This one also counts as a project finish.

Weaving a Diamond

This week's progress is really visible because it's a big woven diamond in the middle of the piece. The directions were a little weird, but I managed to follow thme and make it. It looks all glitzy in person.

Candy Cane Temari

The colors on this temari remind me of a candy cane. It was the first time I did this design, and I think it came out all right. The visible marking thread is actually glittery - white Hi-lights. I don't usually like this color combination, but my husband preferred red to the other color I offered him as an option. Oh, and it counts toward my project challenge!

Another Outline

Another building outline started this week. It's interesting to work through this and see it take shape with all the overdyed flosses. Each building is unique because of it.

Return of the Lady

As I finished an ornament, I added Lady of the Flag back into the rotation this week. Didn't get to do too much, but did get her back in and make some progress. After being away from it so long, I was startled to realize I'm about two-thirds of the way done with it.

In the Pink

So I finished with the Rhodes and Algerian eye stitches around the corners this week and started the Algerian eyes in pink in the fleurs de lis. I'll be doing pink for a while. I have all the flowers to fill in on the garden panels.

January Project Book Sleeve

The project I'm teaching Cyberpointers in January is this piece of needlepoint. As a space and money-saving finish, I made it into a book sleeve. I think it looks kind of neat, don't you?

Received in Exchange

At the chapter meeting Monday, I got this cute little ornament in exchange for my temari ball. It's from Angela, and Joan got my temari. I've now been asked to teach temari making....

Ornament Complete

I'm really happy this came out so well! It looks wonderful in this thread (Bush Christmas from Dinky Dyes). It even counts as a project finish for my challenge! See, I told you I'd get it one before Christmas! If you want to do it, it's at Solo Brode.

Easy as ABC

I'd wondered what those odd swirls were - turns out they were the beginning of the alphabet. you can also see how the corner's shaping up on the top right. I even made progress on correcting my mistake. Hopefully I'll get caught up in another week or so.

Four Stars

I'm up to four stars of the six at the top. They're a pain to do because of how they're made, but I've got the majority done. Made a little progress on the stars at the bottom, too. I think the problem I'm having with all the progress bit is that there are pieces like this, Poirot, and the ornament that are just taking so long - because I work on them in rotation instead of alone.

Over Halfway There

Here Solo de Noel is halfway done. As I write, I'm putting the finishing stitches on it. Yay! Another ornament before Christmas! It'll be my very last and I'm pushing over to my normal rotation again now. I really like the colors I chose; the fabric and the thread give a kind of old look to it.

Adding Tiny Sparkles

This week, I added sparkling crosses inside the van Dyke stitches. I like how it's turning out, though I feel I'm going sooo slowly. I've been feeling that about a lot of my projects lately. Maybe I'll finish one this week. I hope so. Another one done would make me feel better.

Then and Now

Remember that cute little puppy I brought home from Kosovo in June? I decided it was time for an update. The inset picture is from June, while she was still in Kosovo. Each of the tiles she's sitting on is about ten inches square. The larger picture is her a few weeks ago, picking sticks. She's still adorable and sweet and loving, but growing! Right now, she's close to a hundred pounds and comes up to mid-thigh when standing. Isn't she still cute, though? She's still got a lot of growing to do, as she's only seven months old. I love her!

Starting to Skirt

I'm still working on this. It looks like I won't finish it before the end of the year without some luck, though. I started the bottom skirt of the girl in the middle. Evidently it's really stripy and purple. Once I have the skirt done, all that's left is beading, at least.

Another Round Thing

My project of the weekend was making this temari for the ornament exchange Pocono Mountain EGA has at its annual holiday dinner - tonight. Talk about last minute. I had the gray ball itself hanging around the house for a couple of months, so all I had to do was mark it and then stitch. I used variegated Anchor perle, and I think it came out pretty spiffy. It also counts as part of my project challenge, since it's all from stash.

It's a Ball!

This week I finished my second temari from my seminar class. Each of the six sides has a different kiku star on it. I think it came out really well for a novice. It's also a finish for my project challenge AND a seminar finish. Lucky me!

Another Crazy Round Robin

I had another seamy side block for that round robin. This one's Bonnie's. I think her block is beautiful and coming out wonderfully. My stitches for the month were feather stitch and Fargo rose.
I made this motif on the lightest piece of fabric using a kind of random laddering feather stitch and Fargo roses. I can tell I need more practice on them, but each one's unique and kind of fits with the idea I was going for - late autumn as the last leaves are falling. The ends without roses on them have little beads in gold or burgundy.

You can also see the outline B I did - in outline stitch, of course - in this picture, along with the vine of feather stitch with beaded flowers along the long seam. There's really not a lot of space for the last two stitchers on here. It's why I didn't add more.

Getting Cornered

This set is going to show me what the corners look like! Yay, one's partway done. I'm also progressing on correcting my mistake. Only two and a half more squares to go. The last part comes out on the first of January; I hope to be caught up by then.

Snowflakes Galore

I really like how this is turning out, even if I've had to do more frogging than I'd like to. The colors are coming out even better than I'd hoped. And yes, I -will- get it done before Christmas.

Round Robin Framed

I told y'all my husband had the frame almost done when I finished this. He did the stretching and lacing during the week he was off work and hung it up last night. Doesn't it look good? It's hanging in the room I do most of my stitching in, too, as inspiration.

Grassing

I added grass to the mix this week. It was fun to be able to expand to either side for a bit. There are about five buildings on this side. I'll be adding in more of the flanking ones this coming week. By the way, Martina has this chart on her website now for sale if you want to try it.

Surprise!

Yes, it's done, and I never blogged about it! Why? Because it's a teaching project for the ANG's Cyberpointers. I'm the education vice president and have been working on this for over six months. It's going to be the January program. Join Cyberpointers! Get this design! It's an original by myself and my daughter. She drew the shapes and I did all the stitch choices. Oh, and she piced the silver Japanese gold for the lines. I'll have this finished into a book sleeve later this week, and will teach you how to do it too in the instructions.