One done....new one started!

My Japanese Maiden project is COMPLETE! 

Here's an image of the final product:

She's a little wrinkled, but it will all be pressed and stretched out after she's framed.

Those little tassels on her kimono and on the fan were a P A I N !!    I almost gave up on them, but I'm glad I finally got them done.  You can see my journey of a little over 3 months of work on this project here,  I have more close up pictures of the 4 corners and the back stitching.

I have been able to get a start on my Angel of Hope while my family is in town visiting.  Lounging around with them has allowed me to stitch a little as well.  My progress:

Finished one of the angel's wings. 

Close up of her

This is my first stitch using "gridlines"....and I'm loving it!  It is definitely worth the time I spent getting all those lines in there!



Have you heard the news!?   I have THIRTEEN followers!!    I'm so close to twenty that I'm beaming!

I've started thinking through what I have in my stash to put together for a give-away/contest.....  I'll post the contest and the items next week once my family is done visiting.  WOO!!  Maybe I'll break 25 before 2012 rolls around!! 


Thanks to the followers I have.....you all give such inspiration in your blogs and your work and I really appreciate the time you take to catch up on my posts and enter comments!!   Sending you all some online hugs!!


-lesli

The Home Stretch.......

My Japanese Maiden is almost done!! The back stitching has been brutal for me though. For some reason I don't enjoy the back stitching portion of a project nearly as much as the rest of the work!!
I can say though, that I love the results and how much the back stitching adds depth to my design. It is just so grueling!!

Here's my updates:

Bottom left-hand corner



Bottom right-hand corner




Flowers along side of maiden


I had hoped to be done with this one by now...I'm ITCHING to start my Angel of Hope and my HAED project!!

My parents are coming for a visit this Friday and will be here for 2 weeks!  We're all so excited to see them!!   Not sure how much stitching time I'll get in, so my next update might be delayed.

Next year I need to plan ahead better and allow myself some time to stitch some cute Halloween items.  I see them on everyone's blogs and get so jealous!

Hope to be back here soon......



-lesli

First Snow- Complete!

Finished my first linen project, First Snow by The Drawn Thread!!

Here's a look:

I made it into a cute little pillow to hang from a doorknob or on the wall.  I love it!! 

Linen is definitely still a challenge for me, though I was getting better towards the end.  There 1 or 2 mistakes I left in there, and I did have to frog a few times....but I survived!

Daffy at It's Daffycat opened my eyes to Monaco....I went out and bought some this weekend.  I also got some Hardanger.  They're both teeny tiny, but not as straining as linen.  Thank you for the suggestion, Daffy!!  I'm thinking of trying a small Heaven and Earth Design on one of those and see how it works out!



I also got a little time in on my Japanese Maiden WIP.  Almost done with the gold stitching, then it's all back stitching that will be left.  Here's a few close up pictures of the areas with gold:



 Thought I'd be about done by now, but my side projects took me off my timeline.  Well worth it though!


I'm so anxious to get started on my Angel of Hope stitch, but I promised myself I wouldn't start anything else until the maiden was complete.


My new follower tally is at ..... SEVEN!!   I feel like I win a little mini-lottery everytime I have someone new join!  :)

Thanks so much to everyone who's taken the time to read my posts and stop and leave a comment.  I really appreciate the support!!


Hope everyone has a happy day!

-lesli

Hoops, scroll bars and lapstands, oh my!!

Maybe I'm old fashioned, but I love using the embroidery hoop for my stitching.  I've tried all the different hoop sizes out there and have come to the decision that my favorite size is the 5 inch diameter. 

I've seen pictures on other's blogs where they use the scroll bars or the Q-snap, but I don't know if my wrist can handle holding something so big for so long!  Then the idea of having a lapstand that holds my hoop comes to mind, but part of why I like my little 5 inch hoop is that I often like to turn it to the back and make sure my back stitches are lining up nicely.

I also don't like the idea of spending hundreds of dollars just to find something to hold my material!!
I'd love to hear what others are using or doing with their stitching!

I was able to get a little stitching time in over the past few nights.  Here's my progress:

10/05/2011 - Filling in all the white and gold.  It's difficult to tell, but the birds on her kimono are either white or gold and I left that stitching for the end.  The flowers by her right shoulder are also white and need to be complete.

I didn't get as much done as I hoped, but a little progress is still progress.  I left the white and gold stitching for last because I didn't want the white thread to get dirty and I didn't want the gold thread to get any kinks in it from having the hoop clasped over it.  You can see the history of this work here.

I also wanted to share how much I'm enjoying having my blog!! I'd like to thank Cross Stitch Queen from Between the Stitches and Carolyn from Taking one stitch at a time. I appreciate that they took a moment of their day to post a comment that inspired me to want to blog and stitch more!!  Thank you!!

Carolyn is also having a giveaway - Happy BOO 2 U!  You can enter here. The giveway ends this Friday, October 7th so you have a little bit of time to join! 

Now that I've found such interesting blogs to read, when will I find time to stitch?   :)

Happy stitching (and frogging if you're like me)!!


-lesli