Drawn Thread Day 5

Today's Drawn Thread finish is Waltz of the Flowers.

The flowers are done in many different stitches.

 I think it is called something else now.  I took this as a class at Celebrations.  I love the box.

I like how the inside lid is finished.

Here is the progress on "Windswept".  Her dress is much longer now.

Two more threads in the inside border of Along the River James.

The streets were clear as I drove to exercise class.  It is wonderful not to be stuck at home.

Now to stitch!
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Drawn Thread Day 4

Today's feature is a piece that matches yesterday's casket.

It is a class that I took at Celebrations.

I haven't seen this anywhere else (like in needlework shops) so I don't know if it is available to buy.

 I remember that it was hard because I hadn't done much over one stitching.  But I was very happy with how it turned out.  I like the finishing instructions for this.

I finished the top half of "Windswept".  Boy, it sure takes forever to put in all those stray stitches.  So now I can go on to the lower half.

I put in two threads worth of border on Along the River James.  A little everyday and it will be done before I know it.
My winter coat was too warm today!  I love it!
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Drawn Thread Day 3

The featured Drawn Thread finish for today is the one that I am most proud of.  It is Cici's casket (?).  I'm not sure of the exact name.

 When I was at Celebrations one year Olde Colonial had one of the boxes available and I splurged as I always wanted to make one.  It was a trick to find a box and packing materials (clothes from my suitcase) to get it home.  I got the Drawn Thread chart and ordered the fabric from Drawn Thread to make sure I was doing it exactly right.  So I was a bit irritated when it didn't fit like I wanted it to.  See how the design is so close to side edges?

 I had to alter the design just a bit to make it fit.  So I put my first finished side on the back so it doesn't show much.

 Notice the more equal spacing all the way around the design.

 It was a lot of work and I am very proud of myself for sticking with it and getting it done.  I'd like to show it to Cynthia but I don't want to take it on the airplane again.

Here is my progress on Windswept yesterday.  This is just the top half of the design or page one.  There is a whole other page to go.

I finished one half of the border on the inside of Along the River James.

It was good to be away from it for a few days.  Now I'm working on the bottom half.  Of course there are some secret pockets yet to do but they won't be so bad.  They just have the border across the top of them.
It is supposed to warm up tomorrow.  Yeah!!!
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Drawn Thread Day 2

Today I'm featuring "Sanctuary".  It is displayed on my dining room table.  Mainly because I don't know where else to put it.

It was a challenging stitch also.  I like how it is finished with hemstitching.

I especially like to display things that were a lot of work.  I got the silk threads for this one from Elegant Stitch because silk threads were not available around here at that time.

Here is yesterday's progress on "Windswept":

When I take a break from my bookmark I'm going to work on some other things today.

To get to my front door you have to go through this tunnel:

We went out to eat last night and now I need to be good today since I was bad last night.  I love a warm brownie with ice cream.
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Cathy's Idea

Over on the With Needle and Thread blog, Cathy said she is going to post some of her Drawn Thread finishes in anticipation of Spring Fling where Cynthia Zittel is the designer this year.  That got me to thinking.  I could post some of my Drawn Thread finishes.  I won't be able to take them all with me to the retreat so I could post them here.  Then I thought, I wonder if I have enough to post one a day until Spring Fling starts April 4th?  I don't know if I do but I'm going to try.  First up is Open Heart.  It is first up for two reasons.  Right now it is hanging so it can be seen from my front door.  Secondly, it is my anniversary today.  42 years - or as my DH likes to say, seems like a hundred.  Of course, I'm much too young to have been married that long.  There must be some sort of mistake.

This was a challenging stitch but I'm pleased with how it turned out.

I have been neglecting everything and enjoying stitching my bookmark.  Can you tell what it is yet?

 I know what it is so I can't see anything else.
It is from the painting "Windswept" by John William Waterhouse.
One thing I love about cross stitch is seeing it develop as you add stitches.  It is almost like magic that things start to appear.  I can't wait to work on it some more.
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A Spring Garden

I worked hard to finish up A Spring Garden yesterday.

I wanted to finish it because I wanted very much to start something else.  It is another bookmark.  I got the pattern as a PDF download at Pinoy Stitch.  First I wanted to see if I needed one or two strands of floss on the 32 count linen.  So I tested using just one strand and decided that I wanted to use two.  32 count is not what is recommended, 18 is.  I have some 36 count that I could work on over two strands but I wanted something that would be easy to work on so I went back to my old standard Sandstone.  I got a hunk of it when I was at Stitchville last.  I'll have to get some more when I go there in April for Spring Fling. (33 days!)
I wanted to check and see if a certain part turned out.  Then I would know if it was worth the time and effort to finish it.  It is a solid stitch, meaning that all the linen threads are stitched.  So it will be a lot of work.  I wasn't sure it was going to be okay when I first started.  Strange colors that looked startling next to other colors.  Not soft and blended.  But now I am far enough along to feel that it is worth  finishing.  In fact, I can't wait to get back to it.
So far:

Can you tell what it is?
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River is Done

I put the rest of the fish in the river and then just couldn't stop myself from filling in the water bits.  So the dividing band between the upper and lower pockets on the inside of Along the River James is done.  I really like how it turned out.  Now to keep plugging away on the border.

I worked on A Spring Garden.  It is coming along nicely and I think I can finish it today (if I'm not too distracted by other stuff I want to work on).

I got the special scissors I ordered in the mail.  They are really used for making lures for fly fishing.  But these were recommended for cutting perforated paper.

 The tip is so tiny. wow.

I think these will work our great.  They also are serrated.  I wonder if you could cut metal threads with them.

We are expecting another four inches of snow tonight.  It just will not stop.  At least it is warmer than it was yesterday.
I'm happy that it is March as I have two stitchy things happening in March.  Yeah!  The Spring Casket Keepsakes starts on the 21st and I have a class on the 23rd.  Lucky me.
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