A Flower and a Finish

I sowed some nasturtium seeds in the flower box on the deck and I finally have a bloom! It's small but it's a bloom and I'll take it. I love nasturtiums; they're so colorful and cheerful. I remember seeing them all over Ireland.

I decided to call this ornament finished. I had ordered the Mill Hill treasures for it -- a bunny and a crescent moon -- but the more I looked at it and thought about it, the more I decided that I like it just the way it is.

Sunday Stitching

Sunday afternoon is usually my time to work on And They Sinned, but I had been prepping fabric for some other projects and I developed a touch of startitis. I actually started TWO new things, but they are both small, so it's ok :-)

The first picture is a design for a biscornu. It's a freebie from kissycross.twoday.net and I'm stitching it on 32 count Country French Latte linen, with DMC floss. I love the colors in the piece. It was the second piece I started, but the photos loaded backward and I didn't feel like fooling with them to get them in the right order.

The other one's a little harder to see. It's the Red Bird ornament by Crossed Wing Collection, from the 2007 Just Cross Stitch ornament issue. I'm using the called-for 28 count linen with DMC floss and I've about come to the conclusion that the red linen is almost as much of a pain to stitch on as black! It'll be cute when it's finished, I think.

A Little Weekend Stitching

I visited my parents and sister over the weekend and got some stitching done at my sister's Saturday evening. This is the Elizabeth's Designs ornament from the 1999 Just Cross Stitch ornament issue (yes, I have them all; doesn't everybody?), stitched on 32 count lambswool linen with DMC and Threadworx floss. The chart called for Needle Necessities for the leaves but of course it's no longer available and I didn't have the right color in my stash, so I ordered the Threadworx from an ONS. I stitched all the leaves on the tree Saturday evening -- after taking out several that I'd already done because I had mis-counted and they were off. The stitch is a leaf stitch and when I first put it in I started at the top and worked my way down. After I discovered that I was off, I laid it aside for a couple of weeks before I took a deep breath and decided to put it right. This time I started at the bottom and worked up and it went much more smoothly. I've been working on this on-and-off (mostly off!) since October. I know, how pathetic is that! I think the worst is over, so I shouldn't have any trouble finishing it.