whacked

I've been wanting and wanting to stitch and show some solid progress on my Whimsey and Wit Advent Alphabet work (sorry friends it's supposed to be a scroll, not an afghan, though with the grids on the fabric it could look like one), but all I can show is Kris Kringle's hand and the staff done.

I wish I could do an afghan, but I'm not that ambitious yet..  :)

This is what the entire scroll would look like:

(Picture to come -- it's coming out horizontal!)


Christmas ornaments are a bit better, the Christmas tree's all done (somehow I thought the pattern said gold filament thread but it didn't, after all -- and I was so excited to use it!).  The trains are a bit funny, I finished the outline stitches on the wheels.. but only finished one wheel on each!

The pattern book below (again picture to come, it's horizontal AGAIN), I highly recommend it for beginning stitchers like me.  You feel a glow of accomplishment much faster! Sorry, I'll have to fix that sometime.. too tired right now.

Oh, and just yesterday finished this (as a break from doing Christmas-y things).  I started Sunday afternoon and stitched intermittently, thinking of all sister stitchers diligently sewing away on a Hermit and Stitch Day (or was it a just sit and stitch day?)  The pattern is from the Cross Stitch and Needlework magazine and the design by Cherrywood Designs.  Isn't it cute?

I used DMC instead of the WDW, Gentle Art Samplers and Crescent Colors recommended, and tried out variegated floss on the yellow flower.  I followed some advice I read somewhere to finish the x's individually so the color variations would show.  I think it came out nice.  Don't look too closely 'cause I missed some stitching on one of the flowers!

Before all this we had a typhoon (see the wind blowing at those coconut trees and how overcast it is.. we lost electricity practically the whole day):

and work was not spared, the disaster we were preparing for and privately half expected would happen, happened, and on the same day.  We've been in damage control since then, because as someone once said "the best laid plans of mice and men .. often go awry".  Odd working hours - 1am to 1130am, 4am to 1pm, 11am to 8pm, I've done them all...

Dear God, please throw a bit of luck our way.  Thank you.

And speaking of thanks and birthdays this week, it's my youngest brother's birthday, so Happy Birthday bun, we love you!
And my dad's birthday, we miss you very much and love you.
And the ex's (exe's?).

God bless us all this week... thank you for reading, hope you drop a line!

Pics!

It took me longer than I thought to get to actually post these pics, so I am further along with Kris Kringle than I was at the previous post (although Baby Jesus still does not have french knot - or bead!-  eyes:

I apologize for the delay in posting - planned to post last night -  but we've had some domestic ruckus involving getting my mom and my aunt off to their retreat in the mountains.. the best laid plans. sigh.  I will really have to take an interest in the automotive arts.. bigger sigh...

Anyway, in other news, I started making my ornaments and since they are super easy they stitch up in next to no time!  The little trains just need outline stitch and the other one needs its wheels, too!

A Christmas tree has been started (lower left - I could not sleep last night so I began but realized I really had to try to sleep as it was 4am!) and an angel is next on the list.  Then, whatever catches my fancy in terms of ornaments!  Though really I should just stick to my list so that I feel a greater sense of accomplishment.

That's all, folks.. I'm really looking forward to stitching and posting my progress - I can better appreciate how it's going!

Many, many thanks :)

Yay! Someone actually read my blog, someone whose blog I follow, too!  Well, I subscribed to her blog, and now I publicly follow it (I didn't know there was a difference til today!)

Thank you Jenny for explaining what TUSAL and ORT mean!  I had a general idea but I didn't know if I was correct or not.  I'd been reading so many stitching blogs and there are so many acronyms to catch up on if you're new..

I haven't had much stitching done, as we went off to a place called Tagaytay to visit with a cousin-in- law who I hadn't seen for years -- she and her husband (who is my cousin) migrated-- in her parent's new vacation home, and I had my first zipline ride..  what a thrill!   I had a great view of the crater lake and the valley full of plants and trees below me.  Thank goodness my cousin-in-law was there or I'd never have had the nerve to ride it!  She said she wasn't going to, and I had no plans to, either.. but when I saw my nieces aged 9-13 doing it with no fear, I said to my cousin, "I'll go if you go".. and she did, so I did, too!

By the way that pic is of my cousin and our niece (I took this picture).

Anyway, suffice to say no stitching was done over the weekend but I'll post what I have so far (the Tuscan greeting kit) and the project I want to do.

Here's the Tuscan greeting:  So far it hasn't been so interesting to do because the thread colors are so subtle that they meld into the fabric.. you can barely see the stitches.  Anyway, I'm keeping at it because a.) my family said they doubted I'd do it and b.) in the hope that I get to the other colors soon (gotta get cracking!) and it becomes so engrossing that I'll finish it next week   :)  I mean in 2 weeks.   Or at least within the month.   I'm kind of slow when it's not so interesting.

Down below is the DMC the-original-is-a-painting by M. Baldemor, and part of the proceeds from pattern or kit purchase goes to Unicef.  Aren't the colors striking?  It's a Philippine harvest scene.  The farmer's families make colorful rice ornaments that they hang from their houses when they celebrate the feast of San Isidro Labrador (in English, St. Isidore the Farmer/Laborer), who is the patron saint of farmers.  It would have been nicer if DMC could have kept the cover simpler, showing more of the painting than the lavender swirls.  A side note:  as far as I know the festival wasn't as well known as it is now in the Philippines, until the ad agency (PAC) of the makers of San Miguel Beer (a Philippine beer known the world over for its Cerveza Negra) promoted it along with the beer, back in the late 70s.

First pic up top is the Christmas Angels kit by Dimensions.  I'm debating whether to show the pattern covers of the Mary Engelbreit "Believe" and the oops, Peaches (not Nectarines) in a Bowl, that I mentioned in the first post.  The patterns got wet years ago and the pages are kind of discolored now.  I bought the Mary Engelbreit pattern in San Diego, I think.  The Peaches and Plums pattern I may have bought locally (I think a store in Mile Long arcade, when there were more stitching shops back in the 90s).

Anyway, my next post will feature progress on the Tuscan Welcome and the Peaches pattern.  I also hope to start on the ornaments (whether the ones above or from the Engelbreit kit).  I'm in awe of the skill level of the stitchers whose blogs I follow...  I mean, WOW.

Here's to a happy, productive week ahead!