Throwback Thursday - 1999 (Part 2 of 3)

1999 continued to be a tough year for me. Nearly all the projects I stitched were tiny, simple pieces. Most had something to do with my daughters.


Apples for the Teacher

This little bookmark was stitched for Jodie's kindergarten teacher as a gift during Teacher Appreciation Week:
McIntosh Apple, Rome Apple, York Apple, Pineapple.

Trumpet Beaded Christmas Ornament

This little ornament is a beaded trumpet stitched on perforated paper. I stitched with while watching a Memorial Weekend Law and Order Marathon. It came from a Mill Hill kit.

Ladybugs

The ladybug stitchery was a joint effort between me and my daughter Julie, who was 12 years old at the time. Julie thought she wanted to learn to cross-stitch, so I gave her a book of simple designs, and she picked these kissing ladybugs. I sat with her to teach her the basics. After stitching a few rows, Julie decided that cross-stitch wasn't her bag. I don't think she's stitched since then. She caught the sewing and painting bug instead.

So I finished the ladybugs and added both our names on the finished piece. Julie stitched the top of the bug and all the black dots of the ladybug on the left. I completed the piece and framed it in an embroidery hoop trimmed with ribbon.

Princess

I mentioned earlier that Jeanne learned to do cross-stitch, but also decided it wasn't a craft she wanted to continue. But she did enjoy charting some designs. In 1999, Jeanne was 14 years old. I showed her my cross-stitch pattern-making computer program, and she went to town. In May 1999, Jeanne gave me four original cross-stitch patterns as a Mother's Day gift. This princess is the first that I stitched. I like that she even added jewels to the crown.

Jodie's Stocking Christmas Ornament

I was determined to finish the family Christmas ornaments on time in 1999, so stitched this ornament in June! This miniature Christmas stocking measures about 3-1/2" x 4-3/4". It's the first of three from a kit by Titan Needlework. The front of the stocking is stitched on 14 count aida, the back is a white cotton batiste.

Most of the stocking is stitched with cotton floss, but there was also some gold metallic that was really nice to stitch with. Metallics can be so fiddly.

Jodie requested that her name be stitched in red and outlined in gold, so I personalized it to her taste.

Clock Tower, City Hall, Philadelphia, PA

It's nearly 5 o'clock. What's for dinner?

Iris

The deep purple color in my neighbor's yard caught my eye. Gorgeous.

In Memoriam

A spot of pink amid the red, white, and blue

Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts

I've been busy editing more of the photos I took in Philadelphia.

I am particularly enamored with the fine arts academy.

And I only got to see the lobby.

I wonder what it would be like to actually take classes there. Sigh. Perhaps in my next life.

Melody's First Birthday

Melody's grandparents, aunts and parents gathered for our granddaughter's first birthday. She was really into the banana cake with peanut butter icing!

Photo by Grandpa Dale.

Sooie!

Heeere pig pig pig pig pig!

At the farmer's market in Philadelphia

Throwback Thursday - 1999 (Part 1 of 3)

1999 was a big year. In February, both my oldest brother and my dad died. I was in deep grief and didn't stitch at all for three months. Later, in April, the mass killing at Columbine High School happened. Those were some very tough months.


Idaho Christmas

When I finally picked a needle up again in April, I decided to stitch something small, quick-to-stitch, and for which I had all the supplies. At an EGA meeting at the end of 1998, we were given a kitted chart for a Christmas ornament. I pulled that out of my stash and was able to complete the stitching in one sitting. That was a very satisfying re-entry.

Doris

Our EGA chapter did a year-long project to teach some of us needlepoint techniques. Working on a canvas instead of ground cloth was all new to me, as were the stitches. I totally enjoyed learning the stitches, but I don't much care for working on canvas.

This piece is divided into 13 octagons, each with a different stitch pattern. I used one shade of cotton floss and one shade of rayon fiber in each octagon. The center octagon is stitched with silk and a silver stranded metallic.

I believe I still have this finished piece in my stash. I never did get around to framing it or getting it ready for display.

Thoughts of You Nametag

When I look at this piece, my breath gets caught in my throat a little. I worked on it while sitting vigil at my dad's bedside in the hospital. So though I started it in February, I didn't finish it until May. This is a nametag I made for my EGA secret sister.

The chart was a freebie on the Victoria Sampler website. This was a trial project for me to see if I had any interest in making samplers. Ummm ... I guess not because I've stitched precious few of them. I did learn the Queen Stitch (the hearts), and the four-sided stitch. This sampler also has herringbone and Smyrna cross. This is stitched on linen and I used a variegated floss for the hearts so that they go from dark to light pink. I also stitched with a new-to-me fiber, some gold metallic Balgar cord by Kreinik.

Giraffe Shotput

This shotput is a small 6-inch square pillow filled with 2-1/2 pounds of buckshot. It's quite heavy for its size. It's used the way a paperweight is. But instead of holding papers down on a tabletop, a shotput is propped on top of your stitching hoop or frame to hold a corner of the stitching down on a table's edge while the greater part of the frame can hang over the edge of the table. This allows you to stitch with one hand above your work and the other hand below, making stitching quicker. A shotput is great for traveling because it's more compact than floor or lap stands.

The giraffe chart I used is a from the March 1998 edition of The Stitchery Magazine. I picked it because giraffes were my mom's favorite animal to watch when we went to the zoo. My mom had died about a year-and-a-half before I stitched this, and I did it in her memory. It turned out to be the first of many, many giraffe designs I've stitched over the years.

I love her long eyelashes.

Columbine Healing Quilt Square

The Columbine Healing Quilt came into being as a response to the terrible shootings at Columbine High School in Littleton, CO. The leader of this project hoped to gather 1,000 quilt blocks and make them into a gigantic quilt to present to the students of Columbine High School.

I picked this design because I wanted to stitch a symbol of peace. Thus, the lion and the lamb. I loved this particular piece because the lion is holding the lamb, and standing with an angel. The three are singing their lungs out. I relish that image since I am a vocalist.

The chart is called Christmas Pillow by Mary Engelbreit. It's stitch on an evenweave ground cloth with cotton floss. The strings of the harp are stitched with a gold metallic. If you look at a portion of the Columbine Healing Quilt in this link, you can see my square in the bottom row, third 9-patch block, center square.

Gosh. Can you imagine how many quilt squares I'd have stitched by now if we made quilts for every school shooting we've had since Columbine? It hurts my heart to think of it. I wonder, now, if quilts are being made ... or have school shootings happened so often that they no longer jolt us into action the way Columbine did.

Columns

One of the things I loved most about walking around Philadelphia was the varied and gorgeous architectural details.

Winging It

This image from PostSecret struck a chord this morning.

I am SO winging it!

Apples and Onions

At the Farmer's Market in Philadelphia

Bins and bins and bins of scrumptious fresh food!

Heart of Vine

An architectural detail in Philadelphia, PA

Textured Leather

I saw a unique handbag in a shop window. The texture caught my eye.

Bald Eagle Aviary

When I was in Philadelphia last year, the eagles were nesting in a shop window near the Liberty Bell.

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(I tried a number of editing skills on this photo. I try things to learn more. My goal is progress, not perfection. Today, I rock!)

Throwback Thursday - 1998 (Part 4 of 4)

As I look back on these projects I completed 20 years ago, I barely even remember making some of them -- especially those that I gave away as gifts. Others I still have and use at least once a year. Still others, I'd like to make again and keep for myself.

Forward we go through the Fall and Winter of 1998.


Blackwork Scissors Fob

This was a teaching piece for me. This is another example of blackwork stitched on some white aida. I made two different motifs and adhered them to a set of covered buttons. Then the two buttons are glued together and wrapped with cording and finished off with a tassel made from the same fibers that were used in the design.

Fobs are attached to scissors to help keep them from getting lost in the chair cushions!

Halloween Fingertip Towel

I stitched this Halloween-themed towel for a secret sister. I used a towel that already has a piece of aida woven into the edge. I took bits of three different charts to make this design:

• The moon, bats and lettering are from Shepherd's Bush
• The jack-o-lantern is by Sam Hawkins
• The border was inspired by Donna Kooler

Don't Bug Me!

This is a freebie chart from Lizzie*Kate. I made it into a little door hanger for Halloween. The hanging cording is made from all the colors of floss I used in the chart. This is one of the pieces I kept and display it every October.

Hardanger Motif

Another needlework technique I toyed with is Hardanger, a Scandinavian counted thread technique stitched on linen (or an evenweave). It's traditionally done with a cotton thread the matches the ground cloth. Hardanger emphasizes box shapes with areas of cutwork. This star shape is also a traditional design.

This was the first Hardanger design I ever attempted, so I stuck to a satin stitch pattern that required no cutting. I embellished the snowflake/star with some gold thread. I finished it as a little puff pillow ornament for a friend.

Mitten Ornaments

As the last project of 1998, I made about 25 of these little mitten ornaments. I gave most away, but kept these five for my family.

The mitten itself is made of felt. The hearts are appliqued onto the front using a buttonhole stitch. Buttonhole stitch also holds the front to the back of the mitten. Then I invaded my lace stash and used a variety of laces along the top as a cuff. I made little bows of plaid fabric cut with pinking shears for a zig-zag edge. Then I raided my button stash to embellish the bow. Finally,  piece of ribbon was attached inside the top cuff, used to hang the ornaments on the tree.

This is one of my favorite handcrafted ornaments. I liked the idea so much that I used it again a few years later, with a candy cane motif instead of the heart. We hang these little mittens on our Christmas tree each year.

Next week: 1999

Rabbit Rehab

Way back when I was about 5 years old, I was given this little stuffed bunny. My oldest brother, Paul, was away from home at St. Catherine's Military School while he was in junior high. I'm not sure why it was recommended that he go there, but it was a boarding school in a nearby town.

My little child brain remembers going there on one special occasion to watch him and his classmates march and parade in the school yard. Afterward, I believe there was some kind of craft bazaar run by the nuns. Or maybe the two events weren't connected. But that Christmas, he gave one of these little nun-made bunnies to each of his four sisters, each bunny a different color.

It's hard to see now, but my bunny is white with pink ears, paws, and tail. Or ... was. She lives in my box of Easter decorations now, but for years and years she sat on a shelf with my other special childhood toys in a place of honor ... but gathering dust.

When I took her out in March, she was looking really pathetic. She is about 55 years old, so I'll cut her some slack. Just look at those eyes! Who can resist them?! I decided to see if I could spruce her up. I had to take her head off and scoop out her stuffing before I washed her. She was stuffed with paper pulp. I cleared it out of her body and head, but it had to stay in her paws and tail. I washed her gently, and boy! Was she dirty!

She's made of wool yarn. After I washed her, some of the crochet detail was lost as the water and mild soap changed the texture. Not all the dirt came out, but she does look a lot brighter. I re-stuffed her with polyester fiberfill, mended her holes, reinforced her ears, and sewed her head back on. I couldn't find yarn to match, so I had to make do with some light pink.

When she was reassembled, I have her a bright red ribbon to match her button eyes and felt tongue. My guess is that she'll last another 55 years, even if I don't. And she'll look good doing it!

Dogwood at the Doctor's Office

I needed to stop by the doctor's office for a blood test this morning. The dogwood tree out front was in glorious bloom.

I'm pretty glad I had to be there so I could witness this.

I Am Light

All colors in one

Click for larger image

While I was writing in my journal this morning, the sun reflected off my cell phone screen and burst into a prism.

Flowers of the Forest Floor (part 2)

A month ago, the forest floor was covered in purple. Now, it's yellow

and yellow

and yellow

and yellow. The arrowleaf balsamroot are in bloom.

A Quick Stitch

Today I finished up a quick little chart from a kit called In the Garden.

It only took me 14 years.

The story is that the kit was a "Mommy and Me" pattern. Mommy had the "big" chart. The small chart was a coordinating design for the child. The idea was to teach the child how to cross-stitch.

My daughter Jodie, who was 11 years old in July 2004, wanted to learn to do cross-stitch. This is the chart I used to teach her. I don't think either of us finished way back when. But I found this chart in my stash, nearly done. I finished it up today and will use it to create a cover for my next gratitude journal.

Compatible

The periwinkle and ivy grow in harmony in the shade on the north side of the house.

Throwback Thursday - 1998 (Part 3 of 4)

My walk through 1998 continues from mid-year.


Just Like You

This is the companion piece to My Heart Belongs to Daddy which I completed in 1997. I still have these two pieces hanging in the hall by our office door.

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Santa Bear

I used this Christmas ornament as a teaching piece. My oldest daughter, Jeanne, wanted to learn how to stitch. So she and I each began this ornament. We stitched our ornaments side-by-side, and she did finish hers. But she didn't catch the cross-stitch bug the way I did. She did, however, design a few cross-stitch pieces, some of which I stitched and will point out later.

Best Friends

On the insistence of my 5-year-old Jodie, I bought and stitched this kit. As a little girl, she thought of herself as piglet and her daddy as Pooh. Dale and Jodie surely did interact the way piglet and pooh do in this piece. I recently passed this piece on to my granddaughter, Melody.

September Birthday Faerie

In 1998, fairies were all the rage in the stitching world. When I found the Birthday Faeries book by Barbara Baatz at a local store, I understood what the fuss was all about. They really are quite pretty. The wings have blending filament in them to make them shimmer. The overskirt has beads to add dimension. I stitched this faerie for my daughter Julie's 12th birthday, and managed to keep it a surprise.

Earth's Book Mark

I stitched this bookmark for an online friend of mine who was an in-person to my brother Paul. She was a great support to him as he went through cancer treatments, and a great support to me by keeping me informed about how he was doing.

This bookmark is designed by Betsy C. Stinner of Earth Threads

Drive the Cats Crazy

This freebie chart by Ruth Sparrow of Twisted Threads is an adaptation of the cartoons by Emerson Quillin. I used some Alpaca wool to stitch the mouse to make its fur nice and fuzzy. I used some rayon thread for the bra to make it shiny and silky -- just like any female mouse would want! Then I used some cotton floss and a #9 crochet hook to make the mouse some nice warm slipper and appliqued them onto the end of her hairy little legs! I sure wish I had better macro photos of this one. It's the details that make this piece pop.