Stitch Maynia Day 3

So, we have here another project that I started last year but have not completed.

I'm starting to sense a pattern here ................ and I don't like it.

I have at least worked on this one between then and now, so that's a plus.

 

I have made some adjustments on the words to suit myself, which also meant I had to tweak the colors on the heart a little. But, it's all good now. I'm not thrilled with the fact that the 'd' doesn't show up so great, but it doesn't bother me enough to pull anything out and re-do it.

I made noticeable progress on it, so that makes me happy. I could have worked on it more when we got home last night, but I just wasn't feeling it. I really just wanted to go to sleep. lol

This is one of the pieces that is on my Year of WIPs list, which means my goal is to get it completed before the end of the year. That means that once Maynia has passed, this one will be coming out again......and it's got a LOT of white on white to be done. *sigh*

Stitch Maynia Day 2

I was pretty pleased with the amount of stitching I got done on day 1.

Day 2...........not so much.

This was also a piece started last year. It is actually a birth announcement. However, I'm just going to leave the 'birth announcement' part off because I love the bunny and that fat, white bird.

But, as you can see, I didn't get a whole lot done last year, I only managed a little spot on the bunny's chin.

 

 This go round I managed to at least get the nose stitched. Half of it I got to stitch twice, since I used the wrong shade of brown the first time. Hooray....... 

I did decide that since she's got kind of a big pumpkin head that I need to outline it and then carry this with me in the car where all I'd be doing is filling it in. Then maybe I can get a lot accomplished on my ride back and forth to work (especially since we get to leave the office these days while the sun is still out.) Of course, I haven't DONE any of that yet, just decided to. Ha!

Stitch Maynia Day 1

So Stitch Maynia started yesterday. If you don't know what it is, there is a Facebook group by the same name. On the first of May starts Stitch Maynia. There really are no rules. Everyone just focuses on their stitching in a way that suits them.

I will be participating for 18 days to coincide with the year. If I have not finished a project that was started on the same date from previous Maynia's I will work on it. If I have finished the previous one, I will start a new project.

So, for day 1, I worked on a little witch that I had started in 2017.

Here is a picture of the finished pattern. I'm not doing mine on a sweater........just some off white aida.

 

This is where I'm starting for this round of Maynia.

I actually had more time than usual to stitch yesterday, so I made some pretty decent progress.

All that green hair is exactly how I feel about my hair on humid days. Can anyone else relate?

Making pretty good progress (for me, anyway) makes me want to keep going on her. But there are so many other projects in front of her. Guess I'd better keep going on them.

OK, see you tomorrow for the next update.

It's a new year....

Okay, it's mid February. We are well into a new year, but still........

Each year, instead of resolutions, I like to choose a focus word. This year I've chosen 'DO'.

I spend so much time with ideas running around in my head and buying things to make those ideas a reality, and then they sit there.

Waiting.

Getting buried under the supplies of other new ideas.

And nothing.

I hope to change that this year.

So here I am............doing.........posting again.

I have been cleaning out my dungeon and have managed to DO a few things because I've come across the supplies again.

Huh!

Imagine that!

But it does cut into my cleaning time.

I made these earrings out of Bratz doll shoes:

I have no idea why this popped into my head as a must-do thing, but it did. So I finally got around to DOing it.

Honestly, it feels good.

It also feels good to be cleaning up my craft room. There is stuff in there that I question why I ever hung onto it. Am I the only one that does that?

I also finally hung a shelf in there. I've been contemplating it for ages and I finally just did it.

It thrills me.

Is this why people are known to say adulting is stupid?

Because a shelf being hung on the wall rocks my world?

I suspect it is.

I did have a huge accomplishment at the end of last year.

I finished my oldest cross stitch piece. It's a Norman Rockwell and it was 25 - 30 years in the process.

No lie!

Some of the detail:

Now that leaves the oldest unfinished piece in my collection somewhere around 24 years old. I guess I'd better get to it too.

Oh, and if you're so inclined, check out my videos on YouTube..... you can find my channel at Taryn Verleye

I can see a finish in my future

Y'all.......

This is my oldest yet-to-be-finished project. (As far as I can remember.)

I started this project (I almost typed problem.....Ha!) somewhere between 25 and 30 years ago.

YES! It has really been that long.

And the worst part is, I had about 3/4 of the stitching done when I stopped working on it. Why do we do that?

It shames me that I put it away so long that I had completely forgotten ever working on it. BUT, I have been working on it almost every day, and I have every hope that it will be completed before the end of the year. Especially since I'm so close I can almost taste it.

Wish me luck!

The Bluebonnets are in Bloom

I think this will be our last cold spell of the year. Spring is definitely in the air. I took one of my daughters to spend spring break with her grandparents and the bluebonnets are starting to bloom, and they are gorgeous, as always.

Some time ago, I made some of my own. I just never posted them here. 

 

I used a stamp from a scrap booking store as my pattern. The flowers are simply french knots that are left loose around the needle instead of pulled snugly to it. The leaves are just a satin stitch.

I used a variegated floss and fussy stitched (you know, like fussy cutting) based on how I wanted the color to flow. I used two different colors for more variegation.

I also dyed my own fabric. I laid my hoop on a piece of white cotton. Then, I took a blue Sharpie and drew a mark along the top of my hoop on my fabric. I took it to the sink and poured alcohol on it, which makes the Sharpie run. When it was like I wanted it, I ran it under water to stop the process. I'm really pleased with how it turned out and hope to do some more experimenting with it.

A Few Finishes

These are some of the cross stitch pieces that I finished last year.

As you can see, the Merry Christmas is the only piece that has been fully finished. I guess that needs to go on the list of things to be better about, too.

I'm still here

I can't believe how long it's been since I've posted. Life just seems to have it's own plans regardless of mine sometimes. 

In my absence I've somehow managed to become the 'crazy cat lady.' We already had two cats that are house cats. We live out in the country and wanted a cat for outside. A stray that hangs around my Mom's house had kittens so we decided to take two of them. In the meantime a cat and her kittens started showing up at the office. I decided to try to catch her and the kittens in order to get everyone fixed. Well, we caught her and one of her kittens.

It turns out that the Mama cat was pregnant again and repaid my kindness by having three more kittens!! We've now got 9 cats and one of those outside cats is also pregnant. I don't even know when she went into heat. I've managed to have two of the cats fixed, but how did I even get into this?

Anyway, in my world if crafting, I've fallen in love with cross stitch all over again. I've even started a channel on YouTube for my flosstube videos. You can check it out if your interested. My channel is Taryn Verleye.

One of the projects I've been working on is a set of free patterns from Brooke's Books. It's her Animal Advent Calendar.

How cute is that? There's a set of 25 animals and they're adorable. And, they're free! 

I've also made a few needle minders to go with what I'm doing. 

They're listed in my etsy shop if you think you would like one. 

I'll be back sooner with more updates.

American Spirit

Red is my favorite color and I love Americana type things, so I couldn't resist this cute kit.

It came together so quickly and easily. The stitching was quick and simple and so was the rest of the pillow making. I may have to make another......just because.

Making it work

My dear husband ordered some pillows after watching an infomercial that are ridiculously long. I've had these red pillow cases for awhile and wanted to insert a strip with stitching in them, but was putting off having to measure how much to cut them down for the piece to fit while making it look right. But, with these new pillows, I actually needed that piece in there to make them fit. Win, win!

I started with the red pillow cases and some tan fabric.

 

I cut the hem off the pillow cases, cut out a strip of the tan fabric, and then put it all back together.

I stitched on each pillow case.

I really like the way they turned out and the way they look on the bed. Although, if I was doing them again, I would have actually traced some fancier letters on there instead of just winging it.

It makes me happy!!

Easter Pillow

I recently finished this cute little Easter pillow.

I got the kit from Sharon at Daisy Cottage Quilting. I don't know if she still has kits or the pattern available, but I know she has (maybe had by now) a finished one in her Etsy shop. She always has some of the cutest stuff. Go check it out.....and then drop by my shop and browse a little too.

Another one done

I finished another of the Annie squares I have been working on.

Yes, it is part of a block of the month that I was doing. Yes, it's been forever ago since I started it. Seriously, though, how can I not manage to complete one block in a month?! That's just crazy.

Anyway, I was looking through stuff and realized that I only need to complete one more! I've already started it, so I may actually be able to finish this before the end of the year. (Don't want to stress myself with some strict deadline. Ha!)

Finally a finish

Do you ever feel like it's been forever since you finished something? Even if it hasn't? I certainly do.

I made myself a commitment that I wouldn't buy anything more until I finished some of the tons of things I have around here already. So, I've been busy working on just that.

I recently finished this cute runner.

(Couldn't get it all in one picture.)

To hold my binding down while I stitched it, I used these cute little tiny clothes pins.

It wasn't what I bought them for. But, hey, necessity is the mother of invention.

Stitching while away

My husband and I were recently gone for many days getting a big chunk of continuing education out of the way. Because of this we were in Las Vegas for 10 days. Let me tell you, that's a long time to be there. It's so overwhelming to the senses, and after so many hours during the day learning changes in accounting and tax reporting (it's not really as sexy as it sounds) we have the need to get out at night. So, as you can imagine, we're exhausted by the time we get home.

Anyway, while we're there, a couple of the days I don't have any classes so I took some stitching with me to work on.

It's one of those packages of pillow cases that already has the pattern printed on it. I decided to do it in all red to go with my bedding. I'm actually making these just for me.

I got the cases on Listia.com. If you've never been there you should check it out. It's great for getting things and for getting rid of things you may no longer need.

I did mange to finish one of the cases and I'm about a third of the way done on the other. It feels a little like an accomplishment, but won't really until I can see them on my bed.

Here's the one completed.

I think I'm going to like them.

A Halloween Finish

I did this stitchery some time ago and then never did anything with it.

I recently came across it and actually had some Halloween fabric to use with it.

So, Hooray!! I got something completed. lol

I used the backing fabric to wrap around and make the binding on the front. I'm not sure if I'll leave it like it is or if I'll add some buttons in the corners or something like that to jazz it up.

If you'd like to stitch one for yourself, you can find the free pattern at Feeling Stitchy. I used crayons to color in my stitching and then ironed (with a cloth covering the colored portions) to set the color.

It's a great way to add even more depth to your stitching.

Baa baa little sheep

I've got more crochet stuff, but I didn't want you to think this had turned into a crochet blog. lol

I've had this fabric with hills and houses on it for some time now. I don't remember where it came from or why I bought it and I haven't known what I was going to do with it.

I saw a picture a few weeks ago with some sheep made from french knots and knew that's what I wanted to put on this fabric.

I think I'm going to make another, bigger one, and put a lot more sheep on it.

I thought it turned out cute and I still have a lot more of this fabric. And it's really quick too!

Easter Chicks

I stitched up these adorable chicks in no time flat.

 Here are close-ups.

The kids are gone to their granparents' house for spring break so I had some uninterrupted time to work on these.

I got the pattern from Shiny Happy Word. It was a perk for being a member of her mailing list. I think that the little chicks are taken from her Chickens pattern on her website. She's got some really cute patterns on her site. Be sure and check it out.....and maybe get some Easter chicks made for yourself. :0) Maybe if you sign up for her newsletter too, you can get goodies like this in the future.

Another Annie Done

Last week was really hectic and this week isn't looking much better. Last week Dax spent much of the week in bed with the flu. He's was super sick even though we all got flu shots months ago. I told the kids not to even get close enough for him to breath on them. lol  It made it super crazy at the office since Dax is a CPA and we own a tax practice. It's the absolute worst time of the year for him to be sick.

Wyatt's knee is recovering well from the surgery. He's got a whole list of exercises to be done daily.

This week there is tennis practice every day, cheer practice every day (with try-outs on Friday), band practice, and a band competition. And that's just in addition to the regularly scheduled chaos. Gaahhh!!


And, I just feel awful that March is National Craft Month and I'm not pulling my weight here. lol


I did lock myself away on Saturday for a little while and play with some fabric. It was wonderful.....but then the kids found me. lol

I finished my Annie block #10. I had done the stitching a week or so ago but just made it to the sewing machine over the weekend.

I only have two more blocks to go and then I get to put them all together. I can't wait! It's going to be sooo cute.

Family Tree

....well sort of a family tree.


I made this awhile back for my brother and sister-in-law. They celebrated their 25th anniversary in October. I wanted to give them something personal, but didn't want it to have the '25th Anniversary' on it because I knew they would get plenty of that.

So here's what I came up with.

I stitched their daughters' names on the leaves.

 I left it in the hoop to hang as is, but I put fabric on the back to cover my stitching.

I hope they like it. (I forgot to take it with us when we went to their party. They were also at our house to celebrate Christmas and I forgot to give it to them then too. Think I need to put it in the mail? lol)


I'm hoping to get a family tree made for myself too. Although, I have something different in mind for mine.

Annie Block #8

I did manage to get another one of my Annie BOM's finished.

I'm still one behind but I'm trying desperately to catch up on all the BOM's I'm doing. With the kids having so much going on it's just hard to find time to do this stuff when I'm not exhausted. LOL I understand that I only have 3 more patterns to receive and while I find that a little intimidating at this point, I'm excited to put together a finished product.