Friday, January 23, 2015

This Week's Stitching Finish

Designer:  Little House Needleworks
Design:  Silent Night
Fabric:  40 ct natural linen
Floss:  DMC

I stitched with DMC floss per the designer except I substituted her choice of 746 Off White, which I felt had too much of a yellow cast to it, & used 712 instead.  I can't take credit for this.  Carol (Stitching Dreams) made this substitution a couple years ago when she stitched this design.  I must admit that whenever I am going to stitch something, I go to Carol's blog to see if she has stitched it, what substitutions (if any) she has made, & how she's finished it.  She is so amazingly creative & talented.  If I believed in reincarnation, I would want to come back & be Carol   : )

If you are familiar with this design, you might notice that I left a part of it out.  There are supposed to be some little white stitches along the outside of the design.  You can see them here on the model photo.
My stitches would not show up.  They just disappeared into the background.  I am guessing this is because I was making them on 40 ct using 1 strand over 2.  John says my finish looks fine without them.  Do you agree?

I don't know what I'm going to stitch next.  I have a bunch of charts I copied from the 2014 JCSCO magazine & my plan today is to pull threads & fabrics for them.  I never liked making kits of designs because I have always stitched what calls to me at the moment I'm looking for something to stitch.  However, when I had my first heart surgery back in 2013, I kitted a bunch of things to work on during my recovery because I knew I wasn't going to be able to walk up & down stairs for a while.  I'm not sure but I think I kitted about 20 designs.  They were all things I knew I wanted to stitch sometime, & with so many to choose from it wasn't difficult to find something that called to me when I needed a new project. Somewhat surprisingly, I had 2 or 3 designs kitted that I kept pushing to the back of the line. Eventually I realized I didn't like them as much as I thought I had so I un-kitted them   : )

Since I'll be digging through my fabrics today I hope to also get them organized & cataloged.  I did this maybe 2 years ago, but little by little I've been letting things slide to where I've got fabrics tossed hither & thither which is not very efficient. I don't even remember the last time I cataloged anything, so this may be more of a weekend project.
  
Another thing I have to do is go through my stash again ... making sure it is properly organized & cataloged ... & weed out charts & kits I no longer want to stitch.  I de-stashed three times last year ... three times ... & here I am planning to do it again. I have taken a bunch of photos & have done a lot of scanning of last year's de-stashed items & will be listing them on eBay in the hopefully not too distant future.

When I returned to the wonderful world of cross stitching back in 2011, I wasn't quite sure what I was doing & I ended up buying practically any & every chart & kit that caught my eye ... thus the need for de-stashing.  I don't buy like that anymore, but I recently did purchase a new ornament design & it is calling to me to start it ... NOW!  Lol!     
Designer:  The Little Stitcher
Design:  Little Red Bird

I hope that Laura doesn't mind me using her photo.  Isn't it a beautiful design?  You know me ... I love birds   : ) 

The aforementioned Carol did a post not long ago, & when I saw something outside my back door on Wednesday it made me think of her post & I took a few photos.  Can you see what I saw in this first photo?  
Probably not ... lol!  You can see it in this next photo though ... that little speck of red in the center   : )
I didn't notice until I downloaded these photos this morning that there 3 other things there that I hadn't seen when I took the photos.  Can you see them?  Here's a closer view.
Not only a cardinal, but 3 white-crowned sparrows!  Isn't it funny how the brain works?  I was so focused on getting a photo of the cardinal that I totally missed seeing the sparrows! This kind of ties in with an episode of Perception which John & I watched last night.  I think Perception is one of the most wonderful shows ever ... & this particular episode was about "inattentional blindness" which is what happened to me ... & maybe to you ... seeing the cardinal but missing the sparrows.  All the Perception shows are so interesting.  I would sign up for college if I could attend Daniel's classes   : )

I don't have any big plans for the weekend ... just the organizing, reorganizing, & stitching I mentioned earlier.  I am also going to be trying to get used to my new glasses which I picked up from the optician this morning.  I have such a difficult time with glasses.  My nose is rather bridge-less as well as super-sensitive, so I spend an enormous amount of time trying to find a pair of glasses that (A) will stay on my nose, & (B) won't hurt.  I'm beginning to think a butterfly landing on my nose would be painful for me.  I purchased a pair of what are supposedly the lightest weight glasses available but right now I feel like I've got an anvil on my nose.  I'm also questioning the new prescription.  My eye doctor insists that I need bifocals.  I would gladly wear them, but the no-line ones always make everything distorted no matter how long I try to get used to them, & the lined ones are no better.  I feel that I see things in the distance perfectly fine.  I saw that cardinal in that pine tree while standing at the back door. When I watched Perception last night, I knew when I was seeing Daniel & I knew when I was seeing Lewicki.  When I'm driving down the road, I can see pedestrians & oncoming traffic & I can tell the difference between the two.  I can read billboards & see stop signs, & I know when a light is green or red.  When I pass by some livestock, I know if I'm looking at cows or horses or sheep. But my eye doctor insists I need bifocals & he gets rather miffed when I tell him I only want a prescription for computer glasses.  He just writes the bifocal prescription & I think the optician just kind of guesses at a computer prescription.  I'll give them a few days & hopefully things will work themselves out.  

Sorry to have rambled ... lol!  I wish you all a very restful weekend!  You'll need one after reading all this   : )      

27 comments:

gracie said...

Beautiful stitching and beautiful birds....

butterfly said...

Love your stitching Shirlee.
You are so lucky to have such beautiful birds in your garden .

Tricia T said...

So pretty, Shirlee! Your stash destash sounds fun. I bet you'll find some things you don't even remember. : ) Have a wonderful week!

Robin in Virginia said...

Congratulations on your Silent Night finish, Shirlee! I would have left off those stitches in the border as well.

Loved the pictures of the cardinal and the sparrows. I didn't see the sparrows at first either.

Good luck with your organizing and reorganizing. Enjoy your weekend!

Robin in Virginia

PS Maybe they need to expand or broaden the 'below the line' field on your glasses.

CalamityJr said...

I agree with John; your finish looks finished as is. That's some really tiny stitching you're doing! I haven't seen Perceptions but will be looking for it now. Sounds quite interesting. Good luck with the new glasses. Getting used to them is hard enough without having a doctor who won't liste to your needs.

Julie said...

A great stitchy finish, the new chart is lovely too.
You photographed the cardinal and his friends so beautifully.
Hope you get sorted with the glasses.
Xxx

Kaisievic said...

Sweet finish, Shirlee and I like it just fine, John is right (and he and I always agree). Have fun with your destashing! I am always trying to tidy up my sewing stuff - usually to little or no avail! lol!

Jo who can't think of a clever nickname said...

I adore that tiny finish, so perfect, it doesn't need those extra stitches at all.
I can't get over the cardinals, how red they are! Up until three years ago I didn't even know they were a real bird, we just don't have anything like that here.
I've not seen that show but watched something similar. The presenter was chatting away to camera and you didn't notice what was going in behind him even when a giant rabbit crossed the screen!
Good luck with the destash. If you find anymore Wordplay designs send them my way LOL.

Vickie said...

The Silent Night finish looks good.
Oy with the glasses again. How bothersome!

Linda said...

Congrats on the pretty finish Shirlee.

Linda

Samplings from Spring Creek said...

Adjusting to new glasses is challenging--I speak from years of experience.

I enjoy stash organization even if it means destashing.

The red cardinal design is awesome

Maggee said...

Yay! Love Silent Night--it is perfect! As is! I need to -re-organize too... you are inspiring MANY of us! It is so cool that you saw those sparrows also... amazing! I know you will really enjoy stitching the cardinal piece! Hugs!

Ann at Beadlework. said...

I enjoyed your "rambling" and I hope you get your glasses sorted - it's such an annoying thing when you can't get exactly what you need. I know, I've had the same issues Shirlee and it took me ages to resolve them. I think your finish looks perfect without the extra stitches.

marly said...

40 count. I'm impressed.

Jan Gartlan said...

Such a pretty stitch. Wow those Cardinals are so gorgeous

Annette-California said...

Congrats on your pretty finish! Your piece looks great, even without the white dots in the border. WOW what a lovely post. I have been organizing too. Not my stitching stash but my scrapbook stash. I am into my 4th day now and I still need maybe another week. So happy when its all done. Then I can get back to stitching. love Annette

P.J. said...

Very nice finish. I love your next project; what a nice Cardinal pattern. I've had cardinals at the feeder for the first time in many years up here. Love their bold, bright color against the winter background. Very cheery.

Marilyn said...

Silent Night turned out so pretty.
The Cardinal piece will be so pretty.
Laura has some cute designs.
Nice bird pics!
Have fun organizing!
Marilyn

KimM said...

Oh, Shirlee, I love your stitching and approve of leaving the white stitches out -HA! Your reflection on "perception" was so insightful. I love your thoughts and how you articulate them.
Take care - happy stitching.
Hugs
xxx

Sarah in Stitches said...

Beautiful stitching! Congrats on the finish :D I don't think it matters that you left out the white dots. It didn't look like anything was missing until you pointed it out! Good luck with the organizing and de-stashing!

Chris said...

Sweet finish. I love the cardinal chart too. I am looking forward to seeing your stitched version.
I hope that you find a pair of specs that works for you.
Enjoy your snow day!

Melody said...

What a nice finish. I love the cardinal design!! Good luck on the glasses.

Sally said...

Love your finish Shirlee. I think it looks fine without those other stitches.

I used to buy every chart I came across that I liked too and it's only in recent years that I've realised how silly it is.In the past I've ended up selling quite a few that I didn't like anymore. Lesson learned and this Stitch from Stash thing has been good for me as it's made me really think about designs I see.

Love your new chart! It is so bright and cheery.

Hope you get used to your new specs. I got varifocals just before Christmas and managed to get used to them.I was so scared of trying them that I made myself feel sick with worry!

Pam in IL said...

I'm in a similar situation with glasses, but my inability to wear glasses is caused from a very serious car accident I was in years ago.

Your next project speaks to me too, but I don't have that design. I think your Silent Night looks great! I always check Carol's blog as well.

Good luck with organizing and de-stashing.

Mii Stitch said...

What a sweet tiny finish!! I love it, it looks so lovely!

Carol said...

Oh, Shirlee, you're making me blush!! I'm so glad you find inspiration on my blog now and then :) Love your little finish and John's right--no need for the little x's!

I love cardinals and always think of my dad each time I see one :)

Hope your organizing goes well--something I've been putting off for too long.

7" of the white stuff here yesterday--you would love it :)

Jackie's Stitches said...

I think Silent Night is beautiful just as it is! I think sometimes designs can be too busy. It's a gorgeous piece!

We have organized just about every other space in our house but I seem to be avoiding the sewing room where I also keep my stitching stash. I've not been stitching long and have a very small stash by most standards. It's amazing how much I've passed on that I didn't stitch.