More dragony goodness...

and another progress picture. This means that I have been working slowly and steadily on Guardian. I haven't been working on him every day, but have made it a point to do at least touch him every few days. Here he is as of Sunday night (as usual, click on the picture for a bigger version):



Why, yes! The whole right side is finished. Thank you for asking! The needle organizer has done wonders with how fast I am getting this done. I may not stitch as quickly as...well...everyone else...but the organizer has stepped it up. I was spending soooo much time threading one needle that I wasn't stitching much.

Instead of carrying over and continuing on the sky or the dragon, I decided to try out some of the knotwork border. Those of you who has worked on a TW know that Teresa doesn't do anything simple. This border is no different, though it does give the piece something extra and will be gorgeous when finished. I just think I may have to go back between picture and border to prevent my throwing Guardian across the room. I don't want him to end up in the "I don't love you anymore pile."

Lots of non-stitching related things have been going on here. Friday was my baby's 7th birthday. We got her hair done, a mani/pedi, went to Build-a-Bear Workshop, had Krabby Patties for dinner, saw "Ramona and Beezus" and she got a new "big girl" bike. What a long day but she said it was the best birthday ever! My teenager spent a half hour at WM picking out her sister's new bike: looking, test driving, comparing. She was determined to get sister the best bike ever, and she did a great job!

Also, an old old friend of mine was heading back to Colorado from Iraq and he stopped by NC for a few days. It was so much fun and it was a blast reminiscing about what our lives were like 20 years ago. My teenager was in awe that this man was almost her father.

Only a month left until it's back to school? I hope everyone gets to squeeze a bit more fun out of their summer!

Two finishes...

in a year? Must be a record!

I've been working on this guy off and on for many years. It's Classic Santa by DVG for Kreinik. Stitched with silk mori and blending filament on 40 ct silk gauze. He's a little larger than a quarter. Click for a bigger, blurrier version.



I finally get to take a piece off of my long WIP/UFO list! Definitely a happy dance for me!

And now to see what else I have that's close to being finished!

A castle and a tail...

is now finished on TW's Guardian. I can't believe it took me 14 years to get that far! On top of that, I can't believe that it took me so long to figure out to use a needle organizer! I used one on TW's Wedding Sampler for my sister, and I use one for my other larger projects. But for some reason I thought that the floss organizer that came with the kit was good enough.

Not. Even. Close.

But here he is after a week of work. You can see how he looked previously in my webshots album. Click on the pic for a bigger version.



Looking good!

My mom bought Aislin a little cross stitch kit of a butterfly. She has been dying to learn how to cross stitch, but since she's only 6 I wasn't sure if she was old enough. Trying to teach Alyssa was a nightmare! But she did great and LOVES it! I will definitely post a finished picture.

Caught in the middle of moving...

makes it very difficult to find anything to cross stitch. Combine that with not having had time because of school, I feel like I'm out of practice. But last night I was determined to stitch on something.

I was trying to find the threads and leaflet to continue on Desiderata Sampler (see sidebar), because it's still sitting in the scroll frames and on the rolled-up floor stand. DS is there, in my face, and calling to me. But I can't for the life of me find the supplies. Digging through my stitching basket didn't help.

But guess who I find in the basket? My oldest friend, Guardian (see sidebar)! I have been working on him for YEARS! About 14 years I think. And there he was, in the basket, still in his stitching hoop (don't judge me!). I thought, "Naw, he will never be finished. There's too much confetti stitching. I've been working on that tail for years." And then he made a kind of mewling sound. And...guilt.

I brought my little (well, big) dragon to the end of the couch. Glee and Sytycd were on the night's agenda, so I figured a little dragon tail would go well with two of my favorite shows. I was bound and determined to finish the corner and tail THIS time.

No...it's not finished yet. But it is oh-so-close! Just a few more stitches here and there and some backstitching, and the corner that I have been working off and on for the last 10 years will be finished! I can't believe it! Then it's time for a picture.

I have never lost love for my dragon. I always go back to him with as much love and dedication as when I first started him. And now he's even more special to me because my cat, Shadow (died in 2006 at age 16) left hairs amongst the threads.

It was her one of her favorite napping places :)

Summer is finally here...

which means I've been spending more time outside. It's so green here that who can resist sitting outside with a glass of iced tea watching the kids swim and listening to the gorgeous cardinals in the trees around our yard?

School takes up so much of my time lately (only two more semesters left!) that I don't have much time to do the many crafts I have going all the time. Stitching is my favorite though, and I get a little melancholy when I don't have time to do that. It's been a favorite hobby since I was 13, and I have so many things to finish. Since I have no summer classes I am going to relish being able to do some stitching every night.

I have a lot of small things that I need to get done. Needlerolls, ornaments, scissor fobs. Things that will take little time but I see something new I love and start that. Talk about startitis! But plan on seeing more small finishes in the weeks to come...

...I hope!

Oh goodness! You mean...

I actually finished something? Really?

So I haven't finished anything in over a year, and I have a lot of little things just sitting around. I was determined to finish something before going back to school next week, and this only took a few hours. The picture is awful though, sorry!

Cross Stitcher in Residence by Lizzie Kate. Stitched on Flax Cashel with GAST.



Yay! A small victory!

It's time...

to start listing things on ebay.

I have so much crafting stuff, mostly cross stitch, that I know I will never get to. I have hoarded so much fabric and floss that it's just overwhelming. Plus, I'm moving, so I'm trying to get rid of stuff that is just here.

If anyone is interested in checking out my auctions, my ebay username is xphiler2000.

I only have a few things at the moment, but I will be listing a ton of things over the next few weeks.