Endings and Beginnings

Every year, in the week between Christmas and New Year's Day, I spend several hours composing a personal year in review for myself. I learned of a format through Marie Forleo that I like. These are the three sets of questions I ask myself:

What did I do create, or experience this year that I’m really, really proud of? What big or little things did I make happen this year? What did I create? What did I experience? What did I do that I’m really proud of?

What mistakes did I make that taught me something? What lessons did I learn that I can leverage? What are some of the things that didn’t go so well? How can I do better next time? How can I use this to grow into a better and wiser person?

What am I willing to let go of? What are the projects, goals and things that have been hanging around my To Do list for years that I never get around to? What can I get out of or release myself from? What can I just drop? What do I have hanging around that is no longer aligned with who I am now, what I hope to achieve in the future, or where I want to go? What resentments, angers, and hurts am I holding onto? What kind of guilt, shame, or embarrassment am I not willing to forgive? What stories am I telling myself that are no longer serving me?

I look forward to this exercise every year. I like to read what I've written in years past, and see my own growth. I like creating new ambitions.

One of my bigger take-aways this year is that ... duh ... I really am an artist.

I completed 64 projects last year. That works out to a completed project every six days! And if you count each individual project in the multi-item projects like Valentines, ornaments, Christmas cards, etc., I made a total of nearly 140 items which works out to about two completed projects per week!!!

Another happy realization is that this year I completed at least a dozen UFOs, WISPs, and PILLs. What are those?

UnFinished Objects (things that were started years ago and not completed)

Works In Slow Progress (things that were started and I pick at a little bit over months)

Projects In Long Lines (ideas that have been floating around, many with the components gathered and waiting in project bags, but hadn't been started yet).

That realization made me positively giddy. It feels so good to bring some of these creative concepts into being.

Another stand-out thing that happened this year is that I found my "tribe." I went on a retreat last Spring and met many other like-minded women. I've stayed in touch with the group and have gotten to know a few choice people through Facebook.

Likewise, I completed The Artist's Way course and found kindred spirits in Facebook groups dedicated to that framework, too.

I'm also proud of myself that I've only missed a dozen blog posts this year. I've been very consistent about posting something every day. It's my version of a daily scrapbook, and in looking back over the year, I have lots of memories to savor.

As for lessons learned the hard way, I see that I'm getting better and better about setting personal boundaries. Go me!

--

A second part of my exercise is to pick goals.

Of my 18 Goals in 2018, I completed all of them. The two long-term multi-year goals will continue on into next year.

Here are my 19 Goals in 2019:

Stitchery
1. to 6.

Do the finishing work on six of the needlework pieces that are stitched but not ready for display. I have at least a dozen to choose from.


One Shot Projects

 7. Learn to use my pom pom makers

 8. Go on a Celebrate Your Life retreat
 9. Create a watermark for my photos
10. Finish setting up the photo studio in my basement
11. Watch the DVD about Lake Missoula
12. Learn my Enneagram

Medium Length Projects
13. Reach a designated goal weight by my February doctor’s appointment
14. Paint and add privacy fencing on our dog kennel/storage space
15. Purge and organize storage shelves in exercise room
16. Use up my tea stash

Long Term Projects

17. Blog at least 25 weeks of #throwbackthursday posts of my 1997 - 2007 projects
18. Blog at least 10 of my Ladies of the Evening beaded handbag collection (mend as needed)

Long Term Courses
19. Finish at least one of six courses/classes on my list. I'm leaning toward a course on basic design principles.

I do have 32 alternate goals that I can swap out for any of these 19 if circumstances dictate.

--

The final part of my exercise is to pick a Word of the Year.

For 2019, my word is whittle

Dale and I are starting the downsizing journey. After living in our home for 25+ years, there will be a lot of downsizing to do. We started this year. We're hoping to step up our game in 2019. But I'm determined to keep from making it a chore. I'm certain there is a way to bring whimsy to the process, to be creative in how we go about releasing objects, to make it fun. To whittle down our possessions.

We also want to continue to whittle down our weight. Whittle down our A1c score. Whittle down our anxieties.

I like the word whittle. It makes the processes bite-sized. Do things a little at a time.

Whittle a little.

--

Now my lists are made. My intentions are clear.

Time to get this New Year's Eve party started! We're having quite a shebang:

A 3D movie here at home
Popcorn
Little smokies
Chex mix
A jigsaw puzzle
And blowing bubbles at midnight

HAPPY NEW YEAR, FRIENDS!

Throwback Thursday - 2003 (Part 1)

If it's Thursday, it time to look back on projects from long ago. This is what I made in January and February of 2003.


Arctic Rose

This is the last in the series of ornament designs I picked up while in Alaska. This is stitched on a scrap of Fiddler's Cloth and finished as a "pillow" ornament, using a picot edge satin ribbon for the hanger. Having these ornaments to hang on our Christmas tree each year is a great way to remember the 10th wedding anniversary Dale and I celebrated in Alaska.

Giraffe

Here's a giraffe to add to my stitched collection. I love his sweet expression and the way his little round body sits on his short little legs. This is part of by X-Calibre Designs "Little Ones" collection, which is geared toward beginner stitchers. The inexpensive kits came with with fabric, needle, threads and a large print chart.

I framed this sweet guy in a 5" embroidery hoop that I'd painted gold. I added the black bow at the top because most of my giraffe stitcheries are either stitched on black fabric, or have a black mat. I wanted to carry over a touch of black in the finishing work on this piece, too, to fit into the collection.

Cosmo-Kitty

Cosmo-Kitty was designed by my oldest daughter, Jeanne. At the time, she liked to design cross-stitch more than she liked to stitch. She called me her model stitcher. This was the third of her designs I stitched.

Thank You Note

My brother Mark surprised me by sending me a nice cross-stitch book called The Art of William Morris in Cross Stitch by Barbara Hammet. It arrived on a day when I needed a pick-me-up, and I so appreciated his thoughfulness.

The designs in the book are simplified and stylized from the original embroideries. The book has very nice photos of Morris' original works, and then color charts of Hammet's interpretations. Among the many birds, florals and fruits is a lovely capital letter alphabet called the Kelmscott Alphabet. I stitched the letter "C" for my brother (the initial of his last name).

The entire design is stitched using DMC #8 perle coton, in navy blue #823. 

Welcome to the World Magnet

I stitched this kit for our new neighbors who had a baby boy. I added this magnet to a gift basket I put together for their baby.

I had great fun shopping for the little guy. The basket included a hooded towel with matching washcloth, four receiving blankets, three pair of socks, some shampoo and bathing goodies, and a rubber duck that lets you know if the bath water is too hot or not. What fun! 

Throwback Thursday - 2002 (Part 3)

From October through December of 2002, I did quite a bit of knitting, crafting, and finishing work along with a bit of counted cross-stitch.


Square Doily

This beautifully crocheted square doily was part of my inheritance from my mother. It is large -- about 19" square -- and made from cotton crochet thread. Thread crochet is a technique I've tried, but have not been very successful with. I have trouble feeling the correct tension. So I can really appreciate the work it took to create such a gorgeous piece.

I'm not certain who stitched this doily, but I believe it was created by either my maternal grandmother, Bertha, or by my maternal great grandmother. My best guess is that my grandmother stitched it, because I know that while her health was failing, she turned to thread crochet as a means of keeping herself occupied. My mom had stored this doily in her linen closet for years. She rarely displayed it.

In October 2002, I found a way to display it.

I stitched the doily onto some red velvet. The velvet came from curtains that belonged to my parents. And even these curtains have an interesting history.

In the 1980s, my mom wanted to open a day care center in Moscow, Idaho. She and Dad searched quite a while for a suitable building. They finally decided to buy the Old Grange building on Main Street. At the time, it was a huge, stinky, crusty, dark, smelly bar! But in it, they saw the bones of a strong building. With the help of a team of talented architects and builders, they transformed the bar into a daycare center, gymnastics studio, apartment, workshop and series of offices.

The heavy red velvet curtains from the original Grange stage were in the building when they bought it. They hung floor-to-ceiling before a full-sized stage. Being the thrify people my parents were, Mom rescued the curtains and washed them. She used them for costumes for the kids — including a robe for one of the three kings in the Christmas pageant. I somehow inherited pieces of those curtains, and used them for years as curtains in my bedroom. Now they've gone through another transformation as the background for this doily.

I now have a three-generation piece hanging in my living room: 

• crocheted by a grandparent 
• curtains from a piece of my parents' history 
• framed by me

Here's a detail of one of the medallions:

Today, I hung this piece over our mantle as a Christmas decoration. I think of it as a giant snowflake.

I have another beautiful doily, round, and nearly as large. I purchased a frame for it at the same time as framing this piece. Maybe that's one of the pieces I'll do the finishing work on next year as part of my 19 in 2019 goals.


Pumpkin Line

Pumpkin Line is my own design!

Actually, it's an adaptation of a couple pumpkin and fall charts I saw online. I liked portions of two different charts, and wanted to try my hand at charting a design myself.

My design is pretty flat ... no shading to give it dimension. But it's whimsical and quirky. I display it each Halloween.

I framed it fairly simply in a gold frame. I used wide orange ribbon as a mat. Neat idea.

Old St. Nick

I enjoy these Daydreams kits by Dimensions. The charts are clear. The details are nice. The price is right. (Most are around $10.00 US). The kit comes complete with pattern, floss, needle, designer mat, glass and stand. The finished piece is 4" x 8" [10 x 20cm].

I stitched this kit up for my friends who run a non-profit group. Their organization held a fundraiser just before Christmas. Part of the excitement of the night included a raffle. This little Old St. Nick was one of the raffle prizes.

This one was so cute that I kept the pattern, and made a photocopy of the background so that I might stitch it again for myself. 16 years later ... hmmm. Maybe it won't get done.

Winter Scarves

In 2002 I decided to conquer the Knitting Monster. My grandma first taught me to knit when I was eight years old. I was working on a hanger cover, but just didn't get very far. I do still have the knitting needles Grandma gave me, though! (I like how the top one is bent. Makes me smile, thinking of my grandma).

I tried knitting again in 1987. That time I had a left-handed teacher, and I got further. I actually made a red pullover sweater. But then someone took a photo of me wearing that sweater. I looked like a tomato. I never wore the sweater again. I didn't knit again, either.

This time, I decided to start with a very simple project. I decided to make a straight knit (no purl, no other design) scarf. But instead of using the normal 4-ply yarn that I'd always used before, I decided to try some specialty yarns. Oh! what a difference! 

I ended up knitting seven winter scarves. One for each of my kids, one for my husband, one for a Secret Santa buddy from my quilt group, and two for myself.

TWO you ask? I couldn't help it! I made one for myself out of one kind of yarn. Then I made four out of chenille yarn. They are absolutely yummy! The colors are rich and jewel-like and the texture is lush. So I had to have one of them for myself, too.

The chenille scarves — black with colored dots, steel grey, purple, midnight blue, red — are made from Lion Brand Yarn, "Thick & Quick" Chenille yarn. Each scarf takes about 1-1/2 skeins. This yarn does not ravel, so the fringe could be cut without fraying.

The pink and yellow scarf is made from one skein of Red Heart Baby Clouds yarn. It's color #9322, Creamsickle. This is a pretty yarn with a kinky texture. It does not ravel, either, so the fringe could be cut without fraying.

The blue scarf (the one on the right in the lower photo) is made from Lion Brand Homespun yarn. This was a bit of a challenge to work with. It also has a kinky texture, but the kinks tend to move up and down a base strand in the yarn as you work with it. So I just needed to massage the yarn as I worked with it to keep the kinks even as I stitched. This yarn ravels a lot, so I could not just cut it into fringe. Instead, I used this yarn to make bouillon fringe which I sewed onto the ends of the scarf.

I'm extremely pleased with all my scarves. And my family liked theirs so much, they wanted to wear them before Christmas.

I'm just glad I'm finally conquering the Knitting Monster -- at least a little -- and no longer allow this form of needlework get the better of me! 

2002 Christmas Ornaments

In 2002 I created a batch of ornaments that I gave out to whomever stopped by my home during the holidays. For example, I l gave one to our mail carrier, the UPS delivery lady, the Fed Ex gal. I also gave an ornament to each of the nice helpers at the post office when I mailed my stack of Christmas cards.

That year, I also gave an ornament to each member of my Quilt Group along with their Christmas cards. I made one for each member of my family. And then I had a few extra for our favorite waitresses and any friends that happened to stop by our home.

I enjoyed finding a simple ornament to create that I could make en masse in an assembly line manner. That year I made about 35 of these little puffy tree ornaments using two different Christmas fabrics.

My next Throwback Thursday post will begin with projects I made in 2003.

18 in 2018: November Update

I barely made any progress in November. I'm sort of pooping out. Working on these goals consistently is harder than anticipated. Plus, November had three weeks of activities that were out of my norm where simple daily living was a bit of a test.

Goal #3 - Blogging about my projects from 1994 - 2008

I finished reviewing projects from 2001 and looked at my projects from January through June of 2002.


Goal #15 - Basic Pattern Drafting

I made the fixes on my first skirt pattern and drafted a second skirt pattern, this time an A-line. I picked out the fabric to make a mock up, but didn't get any further than that.


Goal #16 - Color Theory

I started my color theory course and did the first two lessons. I've decided this might not be the best course for me. It feels dated in its presentation. Plus, it's a course on color theory presented in black and white text with no color images. I can't always figure out exactly what the instructor wants as I do the exercises.

I found that, for this course, I most enjoy working with acrylic paint. I did some nice work while learning more about tint, tone, and shade. A also quite enjoyed working with needle and thread (no surprise there!)

This month I'll decide if I want to finish this "Notebook Class," or move on to one of several online color theory course options. I also have a nice book (pictured above) called Color Studies that I'll look through in December.

So it looks like I finished 15 of my 18 goals, and made progress on the other three. I can continue to work on these goals in December, and then easily roll the activities over into 2019.


I've already started my 19 in 2019 goal list. Most of the goals are designed to take less time to complete, and the goals will be simpler.

In reviewing my work this year, I learned that I can complete a project on an average of every 10 days. I also noted that I do enjoy the feeling of completing projects I started years ago, but that I get more energy from jumping into new projects.

Throwback Thursday - 2002 (Part 2)

I made these projects from June through September 2002


Alaskan Whale Christmas Ornament

This is the fourth in a series of ornaments I picked up while Dale and I were celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary in Alaska.

I used 14ct tan aida. I finished it using a flat ornament method and made the (strange-looking) cording from some variegated 4-ply yarn.

Russian Church Christmas Ornament

This is the fifth in the series of Christmas ornaments from Calico Cache. It depicts the Russian Cathedral in Sitka, Alaska. I really wanted to explore this church, but since we were in Sitka for such a short time, I didn't get the chance. I did see the outside of the church while on a bus tour. I stitched this ornament on a scrap of 25ct white Lugana and finished it like a little pillow with a satin ribbon hanger.

Totem Pole Christmas Ornament

This is the sixth and last in the Calico Cache designs from Alaska. The bottom of this totem pole is a beaver, the center is a whale, and the top is an eagle. This is also stitched on 25ct white Lugana, finished as a little pillow, and has a picot edged satin ribbon hanger. Lugana is one of my favorite fabrics to use for cross-stitch.

Hydrangea Blossom Daydream

I whipped this Dimensions Daydream kit up in a day for my ailing next door neighbor. My teenage daughter Julie was invited to her 72nd birthday party. I wanted to give Peggy a special gift with flowers because she filled her yard with flowers that I got to enjoy. Peggy's illness made it almost impossible for her to go outside anymore.

These Daydream kits are simple and pretty. The color blending is very nice. The charts are quite detailed. The little dragonfly charm was part of the kit, along with the green corrugated cardboard. The kits in this collection retailed for about $10. The finished size is a 5" square.

Twill

Gosh, I enjoy this set of fairy designs by Ronda Jean! There were three or four in the series, but Twill is the only one I've stitched so far. I've kept it for myself. The designer describes her piece this way:

Have you ever wondered where all those lost needles go? Well ... let me introduce you to "Twill" -- the guardian fairy of lost needles. Making his home in or very near your favorite cross-stitch place, Twill gathers needles of every size for his collection. If you're quick, you might see his twinkle of light as he goes about his rounds.

Twill is stitched on 25ct blue Lugana. The chart called for a lot of specialty fibers that I didn't have, so I made a lot of substitutions. The blue button is from my grandmother's button collection. The spool at Twill's feet is wrapped with a silk ribbon that ends in his hand, threaded through a real needle. Another real needle rests below the spool of thread. I made the tiny tassel for the tip of his cap to put some of my tassel education to use.

I framed Twill in a simple gold frame with a maroon mat, adding a touch of fiberfill between the stitching and foam core to give the finished piece a soft appearance.

I think of Twill more as an elf than as a fairy and display him every Christmas.

A Mouse?

I found this kit in a half price bin at my local needlework shop. The goofy expression on the cat's face drew me in. My oldest daughter really liked it, so I stitched it for her as a way of congratulating her for getting through a tough school year.

Stitching on perforated plastic was a nice change from fabric, even through it goes a bit more slowly because I needed to alter my usual stitching style. By stitching on plastic, there is no way to poke the needle through a wrong hole, like can happen when stitching on an evenweave. There are no quarter stitches, so stitching in all whole cross-stitch takes much less mental effort.

I enjoy the finishing on this piece. The paw print, the fish, the sign, and the cat are all separate pieces which are assembled on a twisted piece of wire.

I'll finish showing my 2002 projects in my next #throwbackthursday post.

Throwback Thursday - 2002 (Part 1)

If it's Thursday, it must be time to look back at old projects. I began the first half of 2002 by putting down my tapestry needle and picking up a crochet hook.


Crochet Hat

I made myself a nice warm black winter hat with a rolled brim. It's quite warm because it's completely stitched in single crochet.

I found the pattern in Reader's Digest Complete Guide to Needlework, page 371.

Bethlehem

I love the jewel colors in this piece by K. Elaine Kramer Designs as well as the quotation:

Years ago a baby cried,
His voice can still be heard.

This piece has a small stitch count, 93 x 64, but is stitching intensive because the entire sky is solid stitches. Much of the sky used a blended needle: two shades of blue floss in the needle at the same time. That gives the horizon the illusion of it being dusk. There's also quite a bit of backstitching. This piece looks wonky in the photo and will need to be blocked to straighten it out.

The Damask aida I used has a lovely hand. It's very soft and has a pretty sheen. But it is a very loose 18 count fabric with a loose weave, so my needle would often slip and split the ground fabric, creating a hole where there wasn't supposed to be one.

The star is stitched with a silver metallic fiber. The light from the stable had a bit of blending filament in it so that it glimmers.

This is one of those stitcheries that is still languishing in my box of stitched-but-not-finished items. I hope it will finally be ready for display in 2019.


Happy Easter

Oh, gosh. Another stitched-but-not-finished piece! My plan for this is to make it into a banner with a prairie point edging. I have all the fabrics and a decorative hanger ready to go. Earlier this week I learned how to make the prairie points. So everything is ready for me to display this by Easter 2019.

This cute piece is designed by Sue Hillis. The border and words for this piece were stitched with a variegated fiber called Bravo! (A118). The sweet metal Easter egg charm seen between the bunnies came with the chart.


Moose Christmas Ornament

For our 10th wedding anniversary, my husband and I took a cruise to Alaska. While there, I found a series of Alaska-themed Christmas ornament design.. This is the first in the series, designed by Calico Cache.

Ski Moose Christmas Ornament

Here's the second ornament in the series by Calico Cache. The Santa hat and "candy cane" skis were a hit with my daughters. I used a calico fabric for the back of the stuffed ornament, and a ribbon for the hanger. The cording around the edge was made of a 4-ply green yarn.

Horned Puffin Christmas Ornament

Here's the third ornament from our Alaska trip in the series by Calico Cache. This bird has attitude!

I finished the ornament simply using cardboard, a fabric back, and silver trim around the edge.

Next #throwbackthursday I'll show more ornaments from the Alaska trip that I stitched, beginning in June 2002.

Throwback Thursday - 2001 (Part 14)

Ah! The last of my 2001 projects is here. This is a project made up of four pieces that all fit together. This project was part of an Embroiderer's Guild workshop that taught us to do finishing work on needlework.


Needlework Primmer Pocket

All Pieces

This is known as a Needle Necessary. It's an inverted pocket that hangs on a twisted cord around your neck.

Main (Inverted) Pocket Front

Inside the main pocket is a smaller upright pocket that carries a pair of scissors and holds a pincushion and needlework.

Main (Inverted) Pocket Back

All the pieces are stitched on the outside and most are lined on the inside.

Lining

This is the inner pocket. It has a design stitched on the front,

Inner Pocket Front

and a pocket made of ultrasuede on the back that holds a pair of preemie scissors.

Inner Pocket Back

The needlebook's front is a series of specialty stitches with their names.

The needlebook's back has a typical sampler quotation.

The pincushion is square with stitching on the front

Pincushion Front

and back. The pins poke in from the sides.

Pincushion Back

The stitches we used are the four-sided stitch, the whip stitch, a buttonhole stitch, backstitch, an eyelet stitch, the Nun's stitch, cross stitch, queen stitch, Smyrna cross, and Algerian eye. This was the first time I'd tried several of the stitches, which was fun and engaging.

I don't find this primmer pocket at all useful. I think of it as a sampler of stitches and finishing techniques.

18 in 2018: October Update

October showed the least amount of progress on my goals of the entire year. I was having fun making Halloween crafts and I went on a trip to Oregon. I didn't think about my goals very much. But I did do a couple things.

Goal #3 - Blogging about my projects from 1994 - 2008

I made blogs posts for three of the four weeks (due to my trip). I'm still reviewing projects from 2001.


Goal #15 - Basic Pattern Drafting

I drafted the skirt pattern and sewed a mock-up from scrap fabric. The skirt fit! It's not something I'll ever wear, but it set me in a good direction. For this skirt, I need to make the patterns shorter, change the shape of the hem, figure out a couple waist finishing solutions, etc. I'm very encouraged.


Goal #16 - Color Theory

I watched several videos on color theory and learned about Adobe's wonderful color site. I also did an overview of my correspondence course. I've decided to give the course concerted effort while my husband is away on a business trip in November.


That's about it ... and will be for the rest of the year because Goals 3 and 16 will go on into next year.

In November I hope to create some Christmas cards and do some more stitching and sewing. Oh, and Christmas crafts. I love to make Christmas crafts! (Don't tell anyone, but I've already made my first one this year!)

One thing this 18 Goals in 2018 challenge has taught me is that I need my goals to be simpler and take less time so that I have plenty of creative energy to develop new ideas as the year unfolds.

Throwback Thursday - 2001 (Part 12)

Here are a few more projects I completed in October and November 2001


Best Witches

This project was stitched from a free chart found on the Waxing Moon website. It's a cute little witches hat surrounded by stars and magical bursts. The chart calls for a couple fibers from Gentle Art, but I didn't have them in my stash, so did some substituting. Instead of using "Soot" for the hat color, I used a DMC variegated (#53) Steel Gray.

And instead of using "Hyacinth" for the words, I used another DMC variegated (#102) Dark Violet. I also used the Steel Gray for the outlining instead of using a stark black. I'm really pleased with the results! I display this piece each Halloween. 

The framing on this piece is noteworthy because it was a new framing method for me. One of the gals in my EGA showed me how to do this method. It involves using a needlepoint canvas frame, some strips of mat board, batting, quite a lot of fabric, and staples. I do like the finished result, but the method is too convoluted to do often.

Here's a current photo of Best Witches

He Loves Me...Loves Me Not

This was a kit I bought at a close-out price from Annie's Attic, I believe. I just liked the concept of this one, it was cute, and the price was right, so I bought it.

This is one of the Button-Ons by True Colors Crafts. It's a square of aida with the edges finished (hemmed) and button holes in each corner. The idea is that you stitch the design, then can use it to embellish a tote bag, sweatshirt, pillow, framed piece, etc. by buttoning the stitchery onto the background. If you stitch more than one of the Button-Ons, you can change out the stitchery each season (or at your whim).

The kit came complete with the buttons and other embellishments, too. Since this was a fairy/angel, the kit came with a button-like face, ribbon for her hair, and curly hair as embellishments.

I decided to finish my Button-On as a pillow. This is a real casual pattern, so I made the pillow out of my husband's old jeans. It's the first time I've made a sofa pillow, too, and was very pleased with the outcome. The pillow was too big to fit comfortably on my scanner, so only I have this (sloppy, pieced-together) scan of the stitchery. 

I took my pillow to my local EGA's Christmas party, just to show it off. One of the gals, Alice, really seemed to take a shine to it. She says she collects angels. Since I stitched this piece with no recipient in mind, I offered the pillow to her. She gave me the best reaction! Really made me happy to give it to her. 

Count Your Blessings

The next two pieces are related. I stitched the same piece twice, once for my dad's cousin and again for my own family. This is a very simple and fun-to-stitch primitive piece from Sisters and Best Friends.

The pattern calls for a combination of DMC floss and Sampler Threads. But I decided to stitch it with fibers from my stash. On my cousin's, I stitched the pumpkins with DMC variegated floss #51, Burnt Orange. On mine, I stitched the pumpkins with blended colors of DMC floss. I like the way both of them turned out.

This is my cousin's piece.

I framed both of these with the same wooden frame/batting/fabric sashing/stapling method that I used on Best Witches. This time I did "double matting" with the fabric in two shades of green. (The framing was still a frustrating experience!) But I do like the way they turned out. Once again, the pieces didn't fit well on my scanner, so you get to see most, but not all, of the framing.

Here's a current photo of the one I stitched for myself. The pumpkins are stitched with blended shades of orange from the DMC floss line. The variations in pumpkin color in mine are not as noticeable as in the one I stitched for my cousin. I display this piece every Autumn.

Pat's Flower Bookmark

My next small project was a bookmark for another of my Quilt Group ladies. She likes pink and flowers, so I found a nice border chart of flowers for her. I changed the chart's flower colors from purples to pinks.

DMC Colors Used:
602
604
987
989
White