Opposites Attract

Anita sent these pictures of her Cirque des Cercles and Cirque des Carreaux.

The Cercles were stitched over one on black Lugana using Dinky Dyes #98 Silver.  Then in a fit of inspiration, the Carreaux were stitched over one on Wedgewood Lugana using some original Needle Necessities #1721 Elaine's Black Tie Affair. She calls them "Opposites Attract".  

Her next 'trick' will be to get them framed so that neither one outshines the other -same frame, different mats, same frame, no mats??  The possibilities are headache-inducing but she is thankful to have an amazing needlework framer.

What an elegant pair. Lovely job, Anita.  So glad you shared.

Seaing Stars

Peg sent me this fabulous sea story that (thank goodness) ends most happily. In fact, you could say Peg and her Sea Stars lived happily Rensely after.

Peg had completed Sea Stars quite some time ago with HDF, all in different blues. She ironed it in preparation for taking it to the framer and put it in a Ziploc bag until she could make the trip.

When she was ready to go to the framer she pulled out the piece and to her absolute horror it was simply covered with mold and mildew. The fabric was imbedded with the awful stuff.

She washed and rinsed and washed and rinsed some more and finally got all of the mold out. To her dismay, some of the fibers ran. Her attempts to make it look better only made them run more and she gave up. She thought her once beautiful Sea Stars was destined to languished in the "finished" basket, never to be brought out because she couldn't bear to look at it.

Fast forward to Jubilee last fall. she was going and she wanted to take some pieces to hang in Vikki's booth. She took along Sea Stars just to show her. When she showed Vikki she grabbed it right away, and said she would take it home and see what she could do.

When Peg got the piece back from Vikki she had hand painted the painted the fabric and Peg was astonished to see that you not tell at all the fibers had run. Her Sea Stars was once again beautiful.

So beautiful, in fact, that she sent it to Jill Rensel for framing.

From these photos you can see what both Vikki and Jill Rensel did. (The original was on stark white fabric.) Is the frame not spectacular? Aren't the little engraved mat details outstanding?

 Wow, what a story.  I just love a happy ending

BTW, I have heard other stories of Vikki Clayton's rescue service being quite successful. If you've had a bad luck, I'd highly recommend a consultation with DV.

What's Black & White and Lucky All Over?

Cristin sent in this photo of her unique finish of Pot Luck. This is a Hand Dyed Fibers color aptly named Penguin.  She stitched with 1 strand of silk over 1 thread of Lugana.  What a bold and fun combination.  I live vicariously through the floss choices of others ;o)

Cristin has been busy, as she also had finished Twisted Heart recently.  She personalized it with initials and a date to make a special treat.

Now, what's red all over? Or maybe I should say who is red all over...That would be an embarrassed me.  When Cristin asked if I had received her Twisted Heart photo, I found it along with another finish of hers that I had somehow let slip to the murky depths of the inbox.  So, please also join me in a little happy dance for her Smell of Sulfur stitched up with mostly Vikki's HDF on 35 count linen also from HDF.

Now, I'm off to see what else is in my inbox!

Notice a Trend?

Tara sent me pictures of her finishes so far this year and asked if I could detect a trend. For the record, she does point out that she did not START all of these in 2011.

Hmmmm....

She finished Mother Maya:

And Croakworth:

A little Twisted Heart:

A micro-version of the Ink Circles ornament from the 2010 Just Cross Stitch ornament issue:

And a special mandala that was offered exclusively through her old hometown shop Thread & Eye. I gave a chart with color family information and the participants selected their own colors to use. The pattern is available through them via mail order, if you won't be passing through London, ON in the near future. 



So, hats off to Tara and her 5-part Happy Dance.  I'm officially awarding her the title of "Super Fan."  I'm fortunate to be able to stitch with Tara when I make it over to Portland, and I can say she is as pleasant as she is prolific.  Thanks for sharing your photos, Tara, and thanks for being a friend.

Christmas Ornaments

We here in the designer world have our schedules completely turned around - for your benefit, of course.  If I started thinking about Christmas when the Thanksgiving turkey leftovers are all packed up, then the season would be lost.

Today I'm doing the finishing work on a new Christmas ornament for Just Cross Stitch magazine. None too early - it's due next week.  After all, they need time to do all of the photography and layout for the mag. Then of course the printing and getting distributed to shops in time for you to get your copy and STILL have enough time to whip out one or two before the holiday.  If you're able to stitch on gifts year round, it helps ease some of that crunch for you too.

On a related note, Jenna shared a picture of the Celtic Ice Christmas ornament that I put out as a kit a few years back.  Didn't it come out cute?  I loved doing a project on that funky windowpane fabric (although I was a bit peeved that the squares were not perfect squares.)

The Celtic Ice kits did sell out, but I have a number of the 2009 ornament kits still available - "Reindeer Games:The Huddle."

Spring has sprung (at least here in the northern hemisphere), the fruit trees and daffodils have started blooming, and it's time for me to get cracking on an Ink Circles kit for Christmas 2011! 

Thanks for sharing your finish, Jenna! So, let's keep Christmas in our hearts all year 'round...unless, of course, we are Jewish, Islamic, Hindu, or any one of the tremendous number of people who don't go in for that Christmas thing.

As I wrote that last paragraph, I realize how lopsidedly the cross stitch industry celebrates holidays. On that note, I am canning thoughts of a "Christmas" ornament this year and will make an official Solstice ornament.

Two Cancer Awareness Finishes

Margo in the Netherlands shared this photo of a pillow she has made, using the pink ribbon color for breast cancer.  Jocelyn stitched her version with orange ribbons after her sister in law was diagnosed with leukemia last fall.  The poem that Jocelyn included is a very fitting tribute and a reminder for us all.  Beautiful jobs by both of them and I thank them both for sharing these emotional pieces.

What Cancer Cannot Do:

Cancer is so limited...
It cannot cripple love.
It cannot shatter hope.
It cannot corrode faith.
It cannot eat away peace.
It cannot destroy confidence.
It cannot kill friendship.
It cannot shut out memories.
It cannot silence courage.
It cannot reduce eternal life.
It cannot quench the spirit.

Author Unknown

Nashville 2011 - pictures

Here are a few photos that my Mum took of the Ink Circles booth in Nashville. For those not familiar with the setup, it's held in a big hotel (Embassy Suites.)  Each suite opens up to this central atrium.  The shops are set up in the front room and you sleep and store things in the bedroom in back.  They let us hang banners over the balcony rails so you can see where everyone is.