Come Fairies, take me out of this dull world, for I would ride with you upon the wind, and dance upon the mountains like a flame!
~W.B. Yeats




Had I the heaven's embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,

The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet.

But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams...

~W.B. Yeats



Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Valerie Pfeiffer Hummingbird






I just love blue fabric that is painted to look like clouds.
I am so glad the days of using white Aida cloth are over! There are simply sooooo many possibilities nowadays!!!!!

This little darling is over one, of course. Because we all know how much easier it is to do over one with only one thread. There is no railroading involved!

And of course, the added bonus, you use less of the pretty fabric. Less thread...a SMALLER, less expensive FRAME for it and if you added a mat, well, a smaller mat, costs less! And not to mention, its easier to find a space on the wall to PUT it. BONUS BONUS BONUS.

And you know me, gotta add sparkle. So lots of blending filament because Hummingbirds are beautiful little things.

I plan to frame this. Its to be a gift for my Auntie. Her birthday is in May. She's to be 92 this time.

OH and a tiny change, I changed the color of the flowers. We don't have any fuchsias here that have blue on them. (Oh and French knots, too. I love French knots now because my friend, Ria showed me how to do them. Thank you Ria!!!!!!!!!!!!!)


Sunday, March 23, 2014

Eleanor of Aquitaine, the first one






Remember her?
I stitched her about 10 or 11 years ago. 
Back then, I was really poor and I framed her the best way I knew how and could afford.

Recently I noticed her mat was just not very pretty (it faded, which means she didn't have any UVA glass, OMG!),  and I wasn't overly fond of the frame I had for her.
I also noticed she was looking a little "wavy" under the glass.

So, I took her apart and to my....uh...hmmmmm... horror...astonishment...amazement...? OK, we will leave it at amazement... To my amazement, I  saw that I had used DUCT TAPE to tape the fabric to the flimsy piece of the cardboard that was in that cheap frame I had acquired. lol

I must apologize for the flash in the picture. I just could not get an accurate color without the flash. (And I have no idea what that line is on the lower left corner...)

You know, framing options have come a long way since I framed her. I don't think they had suede mats available then. I know I could not have afforded one then. Also, if you can see closely, the inner gold mat I have has sparkle to it. I LOVE! that mat.
I also love the mat cut. Once I did something with an arch, so I kind of had that idea in my mind. When I saw this cut, I was excited.
Well, truth be known, I was excited about the whole thing!!!!
And I had to wait THREE WHOLE WEEKS for that sparkly gold mat to come in because it was out of stock. (I know, right, everyone wanted it!)

I shall attach Eleanor's "before" picture below so you can see my poor queen before she got her new look. If you look closely, you can see a tiny bit of her frame.

Enjoy your week! I'm heading for my couch and my stitching, and the fire that is already waiting there for me. (I sure my love my honey, he's so good to me)




Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Another bird--Ann Tarbox by Hillside Samplings





I bet it never occurred to you that I like birds. haha
But it's true, I do.

I was going to tell you which designer this came from but I have spent the morning (well, not the WHOLE morning) trying to figure it out. But nooooooooo. I don't remember. And I can't find it wherever I have looked. (If one of you really wants to know, I   *do*   have a box someplace that has all my previously stitched charts in it and I will look there for you)

Part of the problem is that I stitched it years ago. And the reason I haven't shown it to you before now is because I never finish finished it. And I put it away in my cupboard where I stored lots of other pretties.  I was originally going to frame it and I tried to find a frame that I liked but I just couldn't figure out the right color to go with it. So then I thought I would turn it into a box cover. But then, THAT never happened either because I couldn't figure out which color trims to use.  LOL

Recently, as you know, I've been pulling these things out of their "finished basket" and taking them to my friend at the frame shop. We work super well together. She picks the prettiest colors for mats, things I wouldn't have thought of. And then that makes me think of something else.  This is the mat she found. But the frame she had was too modern. So we fiddled around with frames until I came across this one.

I'm so into frames and the very last little details.

I was so excited to find this frame because the leaf design in the frame matches the leaves on the branches absolutely PERFECTLY!

Friday, March 14, 2014

Medieval Town Framed



I'm so excited to have Medieval Town all framed and on the wall in the living room!
Much better than on a wrapping paper roll, hidden away in the corner (where it was "lost" for a full year, hiding there)

The frame I chose for this one, I just love it to pieces!
So much so that I am going to add another picture below this one so you, too can get the full effect.
I think the frame looks very "Tudor-like" and I love how it looks with the roofs and all the other things going on.

I was so excited the day I came home after choosing what I wanted for which picture.

Just you wait...

I have several others I shall be posting soon!

I'm so excited, I can hardly stand it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!




Thursday, March 13, 2014

Tudor Rose Bookmark





My mom was so awesome. I found the kit to this in her things and since I love the Tudor times, I stitched it right up. Of course I had to add my favorite Rainbow Gallery gold braid to give it extra sparkles...you know how I am with the sparklie things.

I found the greatest thing to back bookmarks with!!
Its strap fabric off the rollie thing in the trim department.

The best things about the strap fabric is:

1. Its the perfect width
2. Its firm but not too firm
3. Its not too thick at all
4. And the edges are finished, so no extra bulk!

I did add a tiny strip of Skirtex (love that product) inside so the bookmark wouldn't be floppy.  I just don't care for floppy bookmarks.

This is the first bookmark I've ever done. And I'm really happy with it.   :)

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Flower Power's fabric (& Deep Blue Sea)

I forgot to mention where that pretty fabric came from. I want you to know that it was dyed specially by Paula at The Crossed Wing.

She actually also designed that chart (and stitched the original one) so she knew exactly where to place the clouds and the "ground colors."

Isn't she just fabulous?!

Oh and one more thing...she is the one that dyed my Deep Blue Sea fabric. She knew exactly what I was going to want. She's amazing...

Monday, March 10, 2014

Framed Flower Power





Finally!
I've framed Flower Power!!

And ...let... me... tell... you.  That was a job!
(Remember, this piece is 36" wide.)

Now don't ask me where its going to go on the wall. I've since filled "that spot" with something else.
I think I might have to start what my friend Ria refers to as, "The Floor Collection."

Monday, March 3, 2014

British small







A little (literally) gift I made for Diane, my dad's gf's bd. She loves British things and I came across this "small cushion" chart that was a pdf on Etsy, designed by Sheena Rogers Designs. She has some really great things in her Etsy shop.
They are planned to be needlepoints, so I chose blue fabric and eliminated a lot of tiny X's!
(And of course I added gold Rainbow Gallery, because I must use gold...) Oh and I made "a mistake" and did the center flower outline in black instead of grey and when I discovered that was a mistake, I was quite happy with it because I feel it really shows the design better that way. Plus I knew I was going to put it in a black fame...