Needle Felting: Hedgehog - Completed

Well, I decided to start a new type of craft on Saturday.  Needle felting.  I'd seen these kits at work for a while and thought they'd be fun.  But Saturday I was working in the sewing department and lamented over the fact that I didn't have a pin cushion.  Okay, lamented is a bit over-dramatic.  There was a hedgehog pin cushion, it was cute... but this guy is cuter.

So I decided to make him and use him as a pin cushion.  I had never needle felted before, so I had no idea how this would turn out.  But as a novice needle felter be prepared to stab yourself.  Alot.  Blood may be drawn.  I stab pieces of fabric practically everyday, so this was normal, just less organized.

I believe the kit said it should take 4-6 hours.  I started it at work during my 15 minute break, then worked on it during lunch, then continued on during my second 15 minute break.  The instructions were pretty good and by the time I got home I had a decent egg shaped body.

Next some brown and a few legs, there are two on the other side, I promise.  The legs were kind of a pain, but after doing some research after finishing this I think I found a better way.

Some ears and a nose.  Again, the ears were a pain, but more research always helps.

Below I turned off the OTT light since the color was way too bright in the pictures.  So below is closer to the correct coloring in two different angles.

The eyes and lines on its back are six stranded floss.

Project Stats:
Pattern: Hedgehog Needle Felting Character
Pattern by: Dimensions
Started Stitching: May 21, 2016
Finished Stitching: May 21, 2016
Wool: Kit Wool
Thread: Kit Thread
Percentage: 100% complete

I think he turned out really well.  So, of course, I want to do more.  I bought two books for more information and have done image searches on google.  It's amazing what some people can do with needle felting.  I bought another kit from work that's a bunny.  This was not what was next on my list, I really should get back to my list.

Seashell Treasures: First Post - Completed

I finished this faster than I originally thought.  I just kept pushing myself telling myself if I just get it done I won't have to do it anymore.  Yeah, that's a stupid statement but it got me through it.

I made this for my mother for her birthday... in January, oops.  I actually had everything except the back-stitching done before her birthday.  So it has taken four months to do the back stitching, which I did almost all of it Tuesday.

I started this originally to have it completed as a Christmas present, but work was too busy, I just didn't have enough hours in the day to complete everything I wanted to do.

Anyway, my parents' master bathroom is shell themed, not beach themed.  When I saw this pattern in the store it seemed perfect.

Interesting side note:  I seem to make quite a few things for my parents' bathrooms.  For those confused I made Anthera and Colombina for a bathroom too, even though they currently are not in the intended bathroom.

Wow, I'm chatty today... moving on:  Here I have a couple of colors, mostly neutrals.

Then I got tired of neutrals and did the pinks.

And everything else (except back-stitching):

And finally the back-stitching that I was procrastinating on.

I altered the back stitching on the starfish.  It was supposed to have three stranded back-stitching on it, that just seemed too busy and bulky.  I already liked the starfish without all the white back-stitching, so I figured taking it down to one strand might not be a bad idea.  Actually... I guess they're called sea stars now according to my 5-year-old nephew... That's not happening, they'll more than likely always be star fish to me.

Funny thing is another blog I follow, Cross Stitch Angel, also stitched this.  She finished this early last month.  She decided to completely omit the back-stitching on the starfish.

Project Stats:
Pattern: Seashell Treasures
Pattern by: Dimensions
Started Stitching: December 10, 2015
Finished Stitching: May 19, 2016
Fabric: 18ct. Ivory Aida
Floss: Kit Floss various over 1
Percentage: 100% complete
Stitches: 5,826 out of 5,826 complete

I know what my list says I'm supposed to work on next, I'm not sure if I'll actually do what I've planned or make a slight deviation.

Completed Project Add: Cross Stitch - A Pair of Wolves

I've once again failed to post this on Saturday.  Better late than never?

This one is just a small 7" x 5" (13cm x 18cm) Dimensions kit:

Pattern: A Pair of Wolves
Pattern by: Dimensions
Started Stitching: May 20, 2007
Finished Stitching: September 8, 2007
Fabric: 16ct. Dove Gray Aida
Floss: Kit Floss 2 over 1

It isn't anything too special, but I like it.  I lost interest in it for a while so something that should have taken a week or so to stitch ended up taking over 4 months.  If I remember correctly I stitched the wolves up pretty quickly, but when I was supposed to go onto the background I let it sit around.

You've seen in adition to fantasy projects a love for animals.  While I mostly focus on lions, other animals tend to sneak their way into my stash.

Dolphin Trio: Third Post - Framed

Here is the final framed piece: Dolphin Trio.

I went with a blue top mat and a dark burgundy bottom mat in hopes of bringing out some of the color in the reef, it looks black in the picture, but believe me, it's burgundy   I had a frame picked out.  It was white like this one, but it had a cool ripple pattern around it.  Unfortunately it was a discontinued molding that they had never taken off the wall.  I was bummed, it would have looked even better in that frame.  At least I think it would have.

My mother is actually going to keep it and put it in her "blue" bedroom where she has a painting of dolphins I did when I was in high school.  I don't mind, I don't have much wall space.  My family keeps telling me I'm going to need to move to a bigger place just to get more walls to hang all my pictures.  I may need to use Jo's suggestion of rotating pictures.

I know I had started this blog as a way to get me working on stuff, but the problem is it's actually working!  I've had more finishes in the past year and two months than I had in the previous 5 years.  I could focus more on my flowers and crocheting, but then I'll round out of shelf and counter space.  So many fun things to do, so little room to display.

I'm sure you're more interested in what I've been working on instead of seeing old completes again.  But never fear I will have an update soon.  It may be surprising to see what I've actually been working on.  it surprised me.  Plus I need to start working on a new baby blanket for nephew #2, that yarn will arrive next week, and that should take a little bit of my time, but I have until mid November to finish that, but I would like to finish it by the end of summer.  It's the only project with a hard deadline, until I start working on Christmas gifts.  I really should start working on those soon.

A Mother's Pride: Fourth Post - Framed

Just a short post today.  Here's the first project that I got framed recently, A Mother's Pride:

I had mentioned I got three projects framed, but I was mistaken, I had 5 projects framed, and I just took my last four in.

I haven't gotten much done lately due to family issues, so I'll be posting all the pieces I got framed for now.  Hopefully I will have an update on Logan by the end of the week.

Dolphin Trio: Second Post - Complete

I told you to expect to hear from me soon!

So to add more color to my dolphins I added the greens...

Yeah, still not very colorful...

There we go!  Now that has some color.

And finally with the back-stitching and French knots:

And fuzzy.  I'll get a better pic when I frame it.

Project Stats:

Pattern: Dolphin Trio

Pattern by: Dimensions

Started Stitching: January 24, 2013

Finiahed Stitching: February 4, 2013
Fabric: 14ct. Blue Aida

Floss: Kit Floss various over 1

I am also happy to announce that I can now do French knots without looking at the directions!  It only took over 20 years, but who's counting?

I still don't know the status of my hard drive, I should call them.  I found two more charts on a very old drive that I had, but neither of them are the 5 I'm working on.  I'm going to work on either Samurai or Little Snap Dragon now.  Probably Samurai, it's simple and I am so in love with him.

Dolphin Trio: First Post

I've gotten quite a bit done on Dolphin Trio.  I expected that, it's an easy chart.  I did have a little bit of a break.  My sister was sick so I went to help her take care of my nephew.  For some reason 2-year-olds seem to think they deserve more time from me than my cross stitches.  He's adorable so I can't resist him.

Moving on... Here's the first picture I took, I think this was yesterday afternoon:

This is where it is right now:

There were quite a few half cross stitches as well and backwards half stitches as well.  All of the colors in the dolphins are complete, all I have left is the background.  It's kind of lacking in color, so I can't wait to get those stitches in.

Project Stats:

Pattern: Dolphin Trio

Pattern by: Dimensions

Started Stitching: January 24, 2013

Fabric: 14ct. Blue Aida

Floss: Kit Floss; various over 1
Percentage: 61.13% complete
Stitches: 3141 out of 5,138 complete

I think I'll have this done by tomorrow.  But part of my day will be filled watching the Super Bowl.  American Football for anyone who isn't familiar.  My team is in the Super Bowl for the first time since 1994!

Expect to hear from me again soon.

A Mother's Pride: Third Post - Complete

I love looking at cross stitches before the the back stitching goes in.  At first it just looks like a blob of colors running into each other...

Sometimes you can make out certain parts of the project, but once you get that back stitching in...

BAM!  It finally looks like something, and you have a completed project on your hands!

It took over two years and losing, then finding, the chart, but finally, it's all finished.  Yay!

Project Stats:

Pattern: A Mother's Pride

Pattern by: Dimensions

Started Stitching: June 15, 2010
Finished Stitching: December 5, 2012

Fabric: 18ct. Ivory Aida

Floss: Kit Floss various over 1

A Mother's Pride: Second Post

One color, two symbols, down and one/two to go (oh yeah... and back stitching):

I'm torn right now.  I really want to finish this up, but I'm a little tired of beige and brown at the moment.  I'm tempted to take a day or two off to work on No Late Knight Snacking... but this is SO close!  The more I think about it the more I think I will.  I will only do two greens on it before coming back to this.  A Mother's Pride will get finished!

Project Stats:

Pattern: A Mother's Pride

Pattern by: Dimensions

Started Stitching: June 15, 2010

Fabric: 18ct. Ivory Aida

Percentage: 80.81% complete

Stitches: 9,162 out of 11,338 complete

A Mother's Pride: First Post

This is one of my Dimensions Gold Collection kits.  I lost the chart a while back so I couldn't stitch it.  I finally decided to buy a new kit to get the chart, and I found the chart a few days after I got the new kit.  Oh well, now I have two and I can lose one again.

Here's where it was sitting at while the pattern was lost:

I had decided to focus on the background because I found it the most annoying.  I don't know why but it took me a while to convince myself to work on it.  There was just something about the background that made me not want to stitch it.

Finally, I've overcome whatever obstacles my brain was creating and have taken a pretty decent stab at the background, so this is what it looks like now:

I now have technically two colors left, but four symbols.  Half are regular cross stitches and the other half are half cross stitches.  I was hoping to get it done by the end of the week, but I'm not sure if I'll actually be able to, I still have over 40% of the project to stitch.  But that doesn't mean I won't still try.

Project Stats:

Pattern: A Mother's Pride

Pattern by: Dimensions

Started Stitching: June 15, 2010

Fabric: 18ct. Ivory Aida

Percentage: 59.74% complete

Stitches: 6773 out of 11,338 complete

Completed Project Add: Cross Stitch - African Lions

If you were looking for updates on actual projects, sorry to disappoint, but I'm building up my finished items page.

I started this project after my freshman year of college.  I obviously didn't work on it very consistently, but I do love the way it turned out.  I don't have an exact end date on it, the only reason I knew the year I finished it was from my "signature" on it.

Pattern: African Lions

Pattern by: Dimensions

Started Stitching: June 1998

Finished Stitching: 2002

Fabric: 18ct. Ivory Aida

I think this was the first kit I ever got that was 18 count.  This is a Dimensions Golden Collection Chart.  The detail is just amazing.  I really like how they incorporate half stitches with the full stitches to create a sense of depth.  I probably have a dozen or so other Golden Collection charts, some are large, and quite a few are 5x7.  I'm am currently working on one of the 5x7s.

I am wishing that I had used the thicker version of this frame, but I framed this before I knew anything about framing.

Anyway, enjoy!

Completed Project Add: Cross Stitch - Alluring Sorceress

I'm in a crafting slump, so I'll update with an already complete project.  I will post the item on the blog then add it to the completed projects pages.

This is Alluring Sorceress.  I started her back in 2007 and finished her in 2008.  The chart was created by Dimensions Crafts as a "Charts and Charms" pack. They supplied the chart, and charms, you bought your own floss and fabric. This chart has been discontinued. There is another piece that matches this same style called Midnight Enchanter. It's next on my non HAED to do list, of ones that I haven't started already.  So you'll be able to see that one from start to finish.

This one was really quick until I got to the back stitching and cording.  My first time cording, it was a bit of a pain.  But it turned out beautiful so I guess I should stop complaining.

I also messed up and used the wrong color in a couple of places.  I had done too much to go back and change it without losing my mind.  After looking it over with my mother, with e-mailed photos, and my DMC sample card this is how it ended up looking.  Can you see where I messed up?  It's like Where's Waldo without knowing what you're looking for.

This was the first piece I hung in my current place, and was the only piece for quite a while.  I have this really cool burgundy wall that I knew she'd look great on, you can kind of see it at the edge of the photo, but I cropped most of it off.

Project Stats:

Pattern: Alluring Sorceress (Discontinued)

Pattern by: Dimensions

Started Stitching: September 8, 2007

Finished Stitching: April 7, 2008

Fabric: 14ct. Black Aida