Home of a Needleworker finish

Finally completed my own "Home of a Needleworker" this weekend. The birdie is a plump little chap now, as I frogged and restitched him so that he would fit and balance better, and I added a couple of bumblebees "just because". I'll have to set this aside until I can make a frame for it, but I'm pleased to have finished at last. :-)

Little House Needleworks "Home of a Needleworker"

22-ct. Off-white Aida, DMC floss as charted
Stitch count: 193W x 97H
Start 6/21/09 - finish 07/11/o09

July Stitch-A-Long (SAL)

Joined the July SAL on Facebook just for the heck of it, and in hopes that participating will motivate me to finish my sampler which is almost, but not quite done. I only have a little bit more to do and then I can start on my next project! So, barring any additional CTS problems I hope to get some serious stitching done this weekend.

Taking a little break

Still haven't finished Home of a Needleworker yet. Promised myself to finish this past weekend, but despite my best efforts (or perhaps because of them!) my carpal tunnel problems kicked in a somewhat and I had to give my hands a rest yesterday. As soon as I get back to normal I hope to finish up this little project. It has taken me rather longer than I thought it would to stitch, but I have enjoyed every minute.

Slow but steady progress

I stitch a little bit on "Home of a Needleworker" each night, but what with all those tiny stitches building a house on 22-count is slow going. I am determined to finish it this weekend, though!

I do not have a multitude of WIPs going at once, because I hate having unfinished needlework laying around. I find that too overwhelming. I know other stitchers like working on several things at once, but I prefer the sense of accomplishment that I feel when finishing one project completely and moving on to the next one to starting a dozen things which I may never finish or lose interest in along the way. I may be wasteful in plenty of other areas, but never if I can help it with fabric and thread. Each project is like a puzzle to me, waiting to be solved. And I have always preferred forging ahead to a solution, and not meandering along the way.

Words are completed

Lots more progress this weekend, and I've been thinking that I'd also like to add a few other small touches here and there, such as repeating some hearts or flowers just before and after the little bird. And I always like to stitch in a tiny bee or two somewhere, as that is my "trademark" on personal projects.

WIP report

Have made a little progress on "Home of a Needleworker" these past few nights. Stitching on the 22-count Aida has been more difficult than I had remembered and I am missing the ease of linen already, but I will admit that the finished look is very pleasing. I switched to a smaller needle pretty quickly and that has helped somewhat.

Still a ways to go – I sort of dread the boredom of the house section so I am leaving that for last. (You can see that I started it and then almost immediately moved on to a more fun section.) And I am constantly reminded that my eyes are not what they used to be!

What I spent most of last evening doing

My progress thus far on "Home of a Needleworker". Something about stitching alphabets is very soothing to me. Especially compared to stitching the border which was making me go blind! You can see I have started to use Q-snaps, which are great – thanks for the tip, Diane!

And, my very first crape myrtle blossoms of the year!

Also my changed my blog background to a new look today, courtesy of Izzie Grace Blog Backgrounds (with some small tweaking, of course).

Another WIP

Decided yesterday afternoon to start stitching the original smaller-sized version of the Little House Needleworks chart "Home of a Needleworker". I am working on 22-count Antique White Aida instead of the 16-count Natural Aida called for in the leaflet. 16-count would have worked up as a finished size of 12-1/8" x 6-1/8", and that seemed somehow far too large for the informality of the design. It's a piece meant just for myself that includes personalization, so I thought that 22-count and an 8-3/4" x 4-3/4" finished size (before framing) would be more appropriate. That way I can hang it anywhere in my small house without it seeming too overwhelming.

Lately I have been thinking about creating a "sampler wall" in my dining room. At the moment a quartet of woodcut-style prints hang in the small space I am considering using. An eclectic arrangement of samplers could fill the wall there nicely, and the old art prints would look just as well in the guest bedroom. Of course, this dream is a bit premature, as I am still working on several of the pieces that I want to eventually frame and hang! But it does give me a goal to aim for, and I like goals.

The only hindrance I see is where to get the kind of frames I want. Most of my samplers lean towards the "primitive" look, and I would like to find a source for rustic-looking frames. Cost is a big issue for me these days. I know how to use a miter box so think that I could make my own frames if I could find a place for architectural salvage or somesuch. I just need a good source for distressed moldings.