Throwback Thursday - 2006 Part 2

The wayback machine is taking me to March 2006 this week. I was a busy little beaver with some crochet hats and cross-stitch finishes. Let's take a look:


More Winter Hats

My hats were such a hit, that I just had to make more.

Actually, a gal that knew me from church ran into me in the grocery store. Both my daughter and I were wearing our new hats. Like me, this woman has thinning hair and needs a hat in the winter just to stay warm.

She asked me if I made the hats.

I told her I did.

She asked me if I sold my hats.

I told her I did not, but that I'd be happy to make one for her. I asked her what color she would like, and what alternate color she'd like if I didn't have yarn in her first color choice.

She said she'd like a soft pink hat. And if I didn't have any pink yarn, could I make her a white or lilac hat. That worked for me!

When I got home, I found that I had all three colors of yarn ... so I made her one of each.

I stopped by her home with a gift bag to give her a hat. She was pleased to get a pink one.

I told her, "Keep looking."

She pulled out the white hat.

I told her, "Keep looking."

She pulled out the lilac hat. She was absolutely pleased as punch. We had to go peek in a mirror so that she could model all three hats.

It's awfully fun to have an opportunity to surprise someone like that. And I made a new friend in the process.

(That's Jodie modeling all the hats).


Joy Assisi Ornament

This is the second time I stitched this ornament, but this time I kept it for myself instead of giving it away. I also stitched it on red aida instead of perforated paper so that it would match the Love and Peace ornaments that I made earlier.

I did use a different fiber than the other two ornaments, though. I'd received some Eva Rosenstand 6 strand cotton in a grab bag, so gave it a try on this ornament. I found it to be much softer in texture than DMC stranded cotton. It also frayed a bit faster, so I needed to use shorter strands to keep the floss crisp.

It's nice having some extra Peace, Joy, and Love for the Christmas tree each year.

Cheri Blum

This project took a long time for me to stitch. I started it in January 2005, but didn't finish it until April, 2006. It wasn't that it was difficult to stitch. It was just so different for me.

I saw this kit advertised in The Stitchery catalog. I fell in love with the rose, the background, the colors. They would look just right in the new look I had envisioned for our dining room. Dale bought the kit for me as a gift — complete with the mat and frame.

When I looked at the catalog, I hadn't realized that this was an embellished cross-stitch kit. That means that the image of the rose and the background was already printed on the aida fabric. As a stitcher, all you do is use one strand of floss to do some cross-stitch and half-cross stitch on top of the printing.

I started it, but was just out-of-sorts every time I worked on it. The embellishment barely seemed to show. I just didn't "get it." Why add floss to a piece if it barely makes a difference? So I put this piece aside for months at a time. I would pick it up now and then. I even made a goal to complete it by Dec. 31, 2005. But nothing could get me motivated to work on it.

Finally, early in 2006, my husband and I had a long talk about redecorating the living room / dining room area of our home. After years of planning, it was really going to happen. That seemed to be enough motivation for me to complete this piece.

Now that the piece is finished and framed, I find I like it more and more. The rose is growing on me! The embellishments add just a touch of color and depth and shine to the printed aida. It's really quite pretty! Still, I don't think I want to stitch another embellished cross-stitch piece.

Here's a recent detail image. In it, you can better see how the stitching embellishes the printed fabric.

Click for larger image

Cheri Blum has a place of honor in the dining room. My mother-in-law even made a companion piece for it in the form of an oil painting.