2023 - Status of the Cross-Stitch Stash and first finishes for the year

 After working through to make sure that I have everything listed in my quilting/cross-stitch spreadsheet for this year here has given me the following stats for what I've got on hand:

• 187 assorted kits
• 35 are beaded ornaments
  
• 152 cross-stitch or embroidery kits
• 129 assorted UFO's
• 28 are beaded ornaments
• 101 are cross-stitch or embroidery pieces, finished sizes range from about 3" square to 11" by 14" or larger

I've already started working on finishing up some of the cross-stitch UFO's that have been stitched for years (at least 10+ years ago!). So far this year I've finished up a 18 beaded ornaments that I had stitched at least 10 years ago and never finished.  Most are for Christmas, but some are spring themed.   Still have 7or 8 more to finish up.

Numbers above will change slightly as the three kits I've ordered arrive.   These will be worked up as gifts for Christmas gifts this year. Aiming to make more progress on getting things into finished pieces this year amidst everything else on my plate.

Gratitudes:

1. For finally having the time to make progress on the cheerleader quilt and for it going well.

2. For the rain over the weekend and today that made pulling weeds this afternoon easier.   Still have more to go tho.

2022 -- Cross-Stitch Wrap-Up

Lots of cross-stitch pieces were done this year, especially compared to the last few years.  This little 3" square hedgehog was finished early in the year.   Still thinking about how I'll use it.

This piece finishes out to about 5" by 7".   Will use it to make a mini wall-hanging for friends who have a pet-sitting business in Texas.

This little 3" square piece was finished mid-year.   Still thinking about how I'll use it.  Might make a little ornament out of it....or?   Anyone have ideas on what I could make from it.

This little 3" square piece was finished mid-year.   Still thinking about how I'll use it.

Old world Santa Ornament done on perforated paper.   Finished off and mounted on green wool felt.

This little 3" square piece was finished mid-year.   Still thinking about how I'll use it.

Saw this kit in a store and couldn't resist it because of the snail.   I'll finish it off as a 

This was a little kit that stitched out at 3" square.   I finished it as a little ornament and gave to a friend for Christmas in 2022.

Finished the stitching off on this piece.   I'm planning on finishing off and giving it to a friend for a birthday gift in 2023.

These little ornaments have cross-stitch and beading.   All were kits by Mill House Beads.   They were stitched many years ago, probably 10+ to the best of my memory.    I trimmed the perforated paper they were stitched on and then glued them to wool felt to finish them off.

I finished these 11 Christmas ornaments in December.   These were all stitched years ago, one of them was dated 1999!   About time I got them finished.   I machine button-holed stitched them to a wool felt backing to finish them off.

Gratitudes:

1. 

 

UFO's From My Mom's Stash - Part 3

 The remainder of the cross-stitch UFO's I brought home from my April trip included these larger pieces.   There were several smaller ones that will end up being used in a quilted postcard at some point.   I forgot to take pics of them tho before putting them away in the appropriate totes.

this one was embroidered from a stamped piece.   It'll end up in a quilted postcard piece at some point.

Not sure what I'll do with most of these, but then again that is true of all the cross-stitch UFO's that I've created over the years.

Cross and verse

The Tennessee piece on the left will be finished at some point into something for my dad because that is where he was born and grew up.   

I'm thinking the piece on the right might end up being finished into a small wall-hanging for a friend.

love this one....

2 Oriental jars

I come by my tendency to create UFO's naturally - the cat on the left is dated on the collar tag.   My mom finished it in 1989....lol.

not sure why this shows darker on the bottom half of the pic, it really is a white back ground.

Gratitudes:

1. To have these pieces of my mom's handiwork

2. For the many blessings that are in my life in spite of all that has happened over the last 18 months

UFO's From My Mom's Stash - Part 2

 The other UFO's that I found during my April trip were these 4 finished cross-stitch pieces that my mom had stitched onto corduroy squares.  

I'm assuming that she'd intended to make a quilt out of them and a number of other finished pieces because there were a bunch of cord squares cut that I did not bring home.

At this point, my thought is to use these 4 squares / cross-stitch pieces as the center of the memory quilt that I have plans to make for my dad.   I'll be using sweatshirts that I had made for my mom over the years for it, with an occasional t-shirt.   Many of the shirts I did had either cross-stitch pieces on them or applique work.   And the sweatshirt material would work with the corduroy.

It'll be a while before I can get to that project since I need to finish up some commissioned work first.  So who knows, the plan might change....

Gratitudes:

1. That I'm not having to deal with the 113+ degree temps of AZ.....98 plus high humidity is bad enough...lol

2. For making progress in getting things cleaned up and boxed up here in the house.

UFO's From My Mom's Stash - Part 1, and a completion

 Working to clear out all of the totes and boxes that my mom had stashed and piled when I was last out in Arizona meant I found all sorts of things.   Included in all of what I went through were a bunch of completed needlework projects.  

Among the things found during the April trip were 4 needlepoint pieces.   

First up was this needlepoint version of a US 13-cent stamp.  The stamp was printed and sold in 1976, so the kit would have come out several years later.   My mom had finished the canvas.  I blocked it as best as I could and then sewed it into this pillow.

It has been sent to my dad because she had been making it for him.  

This one is an oriental print, have no idea what I'll do with it........or whether I'll even keep it.

The final two are done with long-stitch, not something seen too often anymore.  Again I have no idea what I'll do with these two.

Gratitudes:

1. For the job interview that is scheduled for Monday the 13th.

2. For the encouragement of finding several job postings that I "fit". 

Found Treasures

 

I've been helping my parents start decluttering their house this past week.   Much has gone into the trash and recycling bins, and there's much more to go thru.   But some of what my mom was getting rid of was the cross-stitch stuff that she had gotten over the years, well at least what she had found at this point.   And of course I said I'd take them, altho I won't be keeping all of it.

First piece was this Christmas stocking that was complete except for the back stitch around the bottom most figure and lamb.  That has now been completed.

This kit as in the pile, stitching was started.  Not sure if I'll keep it or send it to a friend that does cross-stitch.

This bell-pull is completely stitched and just needs to be finished off.

And found this sampler celebrating my maternal grandparents wedding anniversary.    I'm not sure who made this.  I do plan to finish it into a little wall-hanging.

And these two "new" kits were found.  The one on the left is a card kit, and the one on the right is a depiction of Jerusalem.   As of right now both of these will be going into my stash of kits.

Gratitudes:
1. For making progress in getting thru things at the house

2. For the beautiful weather here in the Phoenix weather while I've been out here.

ScrapHappy Day - January 2020

Something a little different today with my ScrapHappy post.  I've finished up two different Cross-Stitch UFO's so far in January.

This was a piece that I made to fit the piece of aida cloth I wanted to use up.  Scraps of floss leftover from assorted finished kits were used to make the top and bottom borders.  The brown was the remaining portion of a skein for DMC 3271 if I recall right.  I don't remember when I made it (maybe 15 yrs ago), but it's been long enough that it  picked up a couple of small spots on the aida - big OOPS there.   One was covered by the finishing fabric, the other has a button sewn on over it.

I used a modified facing technique to finish this and the border fabric covers the back side of the top/bottom border stitching.

This is made to display the collectible enamel pins that can be gotten at various places and shows.

This started out as a rectangular piece of solid cross-stitch.  I just did a free-form design wit many small bits of embroidery floss left over from completed kits.  I debated about making it a pincushion or needle book, and ended up with a needlebook.  Scraps of fabric were used for the pieced lining, and scraps of felt for the pages.


Gratitudes:

1. Safe traffic today as I was driving into work this morning.

2. Getting to have dinner with a friend this evening.

Oct 10 Update

A mixed bag this week - some sewing and some sorting & cleaning happened this week.

First up was finishing this UFO.  Center part is cross-stitched and then sewn onto a fabric 'quilt'.


















Scraps were used for the backing and binding.

 Teddy bear #7 has been completed.   I'm thinking of using the collar on the bear.  Have been told tho that if I do, then he needs a bowtie to complete the look.   Hmmm, gotta think about that.

 My last creation for the week was this wool ornament.  Still need to add a ribbon hanger, but I think it turned out well.

Also started this week was updating the UFO pages of my quilt tracking spreadsheet, something I try to do once a year for the sheets in it that I don't use frequently.   And that let to me going through some totes to figure out if what was on my spreadsheet was still in my stash or now....and if I was missing things that I need to list on it.   The two pages I've been concentrating on are the Quilt UFO's and the Cross-stitch UFO's.   

In going through one of the totes I found some interesting things - An embroidered eagle block, and a blank embroidered quilt label.  The latter was given to me at some point but I haven't a clue who now.

Then I found two personlized, embroidered quilt labels, that had been made to go with specific sets of swap blocks.    Ummmm, guess who isn't sure of which sets those might be...oops...guess I need to look at the UFO blocks and see if I can figure that out.  It I can't then I need to figure out what to do with these labels....lol

 One of the totes I went thru was the one with various panels and other things in it.   While going thru it I weeded out ones that I figured I was never going to use.   These have been flung to someone who will use them to make Sunshine quilts with.  Two of the panels have coordinates with them.

 And these blocks were pulled out to make quilt for Sunshine.

More was pulled out, but I'll write about that in another post.


Gratitudes:

1. For the warm temps of the weekend in the face of the frigid temps that are coming tomorrow.

2. For my knees and joints feeling better now that the storm is closer to here.

UFO Weekend Progress

This weekend was UFO weekend for a group that I'm in where all that want to or can participate work on moving UFO projects along towards completion.

This time I worked on one of the campfire quilts that I'm finishing up from some UFO tops that have been in my stash for what seems like forever.

Quilting is now complete (just did stitch-in-the-ditch) and it is ready for binding.

First thing completed this weekend was this teddy bear made from a men's size M shirt.  This was made as a sample for 12 memory bears commission coming sometime this fall.












And once the bear was finished I took the front plackets from the shirt and made this pincushion.   It is 4" square and the back is a piece of the plaid shirt. 



Gratitudes:

1. Summer may still be here, but the eczema that I've been fighting has cleared up.

2. The flat tire that I found this morning (yes a flat new tire!) was found at home and didn't happen on the interstate.

4th Of July Holiday Weekend Progress

Lots of projects were worked on and progress was made.

The remaining UFO bibs were completed.

This bib has a UFO block appliqued to the front of it.

Denim and cotton purse finally finished after it sitting around for about 3 yrs.

Inside of Purse.......Lining had to be hand-stitched to the seam allowances for the sides........won't be making this purse again.

Rows 5 & 6 were finished for my 2019 Row by Row quilt.  Bottom row I bought as a kit because I didn't want to have to cut all those teensy pieces.

Top has 3-D grapes made with yo-yos.

Made this commissioned taggie for my niece for her 8-month old daughter.  Most of the ribbons were from stash (only 3 were not), and the minky backing was bought for this.  (Now have minky for 3 more of these.)

Finished all 4 Christmas stockings that will be listed for sale.

There were several other projects that I worked on that I did not get pics of ---

Put the border onto the snail quilt so it is almost ready to mail out for quilting.  Need to applique the last remaining block onto the wide backing and everything will be ready to send off.  Did not get a pic of the quilt with the border on.

Got the commissioned stockings assembled and waiting on the cuff.   Need to practice doing the name before doing them on the "real thing".

Finished up an adoption shower gift.  Just need to find a nice looking hanger for it.





Gratitudes:

1. Heat wasn't too bad over the holiday weekend and it was dry!

2. Found a possible cousin thru a mutual friend on FB