Catching up with finishes galore!

I can't believe it's been two months since we've had a visit!  We've got a lot of catching up to do.  I'll start with the cross stitch things first because I know that's the reason most of you visit.  I'll most likely do a separate post of the knitting finishes so the stitcher's don't have to be bored with my knitting natter.  So here we go!  I'll start with the oldest and work up to the most recent.

Design: Happy Hearts freebie

Designer: Little House Needleworks

Fabric:  32 ct. WDW Cocoa

Floss:  DMC as charted

Started:  2/12/17

Finished:  2/23/17

Completed:  3/31/17

You may have seen other versions of this finish floating around blogs and Flosstube.  I was fortunate enough to take a couple finishing classes with the Twisted Stitcher, Her Very Self back in the spring at a retreat in Indiana.  This was our class project.  I really love how it turned out and I am definitely going to do this finish again.  Vonna showed us how to make her lovely bows and the two color twisted cording is the bee's knees.   A fun nugget she shared with us was that she likes to make ornaments "palm sized" so they show up better on the tree.  I'd never thought about that but it does make sense.

Design:  The Flagmaker freebie

Designer:  Notforgotten Farm

Fabric: 32 ct. Vintage Cedar Plank

Floss:  DMC as charted

Started:  1/14/17

Finished:  2/11/17

Completed:  4/1/17

This was my second finishing class with Vonna that weekend.  You can't tell from the picture but it is a flat fold.  I'm sure you've seen this one on Flosstube too. The construction on this was super cool.  Ms.Vonna is a genius...but then again, you all know that by now!  I am now an official graduate of Vonna's Finishing School.  I even have a needle minder to prove it gifted to me by The Master!  LOL!  Vonna knows I'm just messing with her.  She and I spent a lot of time together that weekend and we had a ton of fun.  I'm looking forward to doing it again too.

Design:  Watermelon

Designer:  Charted by me, designer unknown

Fabric:  10 ct. Cream Tula

Floss:  DMC

Started:  6/6/16

Finished:  6/25/17

Completed:  TBD

If you've read my blog for any length of time you know this finish is a long time coming.  I had originally started this one 5/1/11 using Monk's cloth.  Yes, that was a really stupid idea and thus a redo was necessary.  You see, the Monk's cloth began shredding on me midway though.  I put it away for a long while and then it called to me again so I restarted it on the Tula.  Much. Better. Choice!

I charted this from a picture I took of a pillow a friend of mine had in her sun room.  She said it was a gift and didn't know if it was commercially made or not.  If anyone knows who the original designer is for this, please give me a shout. I plan to eventually make it into a pillow like the original.  Now if only I had a sun room!

Design:  Chocolate Box

Designer:  Little House Needleworks

Fabric:  32 ct. Touch of Pink

Floss:  As charted

Started:  1/1/17

Finished:  6/25/17

Completed:  TBD

Last but not least, my Chocolate Box!  As you can see this was my New Year's Day start this year.  I'm so in love with this one.  That pink fabric is just so me.  I love it so much.  I decided to veer off the beaten path with this one and added a little bling.  I couldn't resist adding white beads to the border and pink beads where the designer called for French knots.  I think it really adds some nice sparkle.  I plan to finish this as a cube.  I still need to find some "just right" fabric for the finish.

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Even though I've been missing, I have been stitching (and knitting too).  I started "But First Tea" by Zindagi Designs on 4/16/17.  I'll show that one next time.  I'm making good progress on it.  I'm also tempted to start a couple other ones too.  Hmm...

So folks if you've made it this far, I'm so glad you are still here.  I'll pop back in when I have time or something to share.  I hope everyone has a great July 4th holiday.  I plan to enjoy my holiday away from the rat race, relax and stitch/knit all the things!  Hope you do too.

More next time,

The Inspired Stitcher

A Finish on Cloud 9

Okay folks, I couldn't wait any longer to share this post with you.  I've had a finish and it wasn't just any ordinary finish either!  I'll tell you why in a minute.  First, lets look at the finish and see if you can guess who I made it for!  There was a huge hint in the TUSAL post's picture the other and in today's picture.

Design:  "S" from "Peter Rabbit ABC's"

Designer:  Green Apple Co.

Fabric:  40ct. antique white (1 over 2)

Floss: DMC as charted

Started:  8/26/13

Finished:  8/31/13

Completed:  9/4/13

Here's the side view.  I chose to do an flat fold easel and used 30s repro fabric.  Have you guessed who the recipient was yet?  If you guessed Susan Branch, you are right!!!  Yes, THE Susan Branch!  Seriously!  I'm not even kidding you.

Here's the story, some of you know I'm a huge Susan Branch fan.  I have been since her very first book way back in the 80's.  I absolutely love her writing style and her watercolor illustrations.  They remind me of my grandfather's work  I've been reading her blog from day one and have gotten her "Willard" newsletter for years.
 
From reading her books and blog, I know she is a huge Beatrix Potter fan and loves anything Peter Rabbit.  I've had the book this design came from for a couple years now.  I thought of Susan when I found it.  When I learned her current book tour would be coming close to me and I would actually get to meet her in person, I had to stitch this up for her as a thank you for all the hours spent reading and re-reading her lovely books!  Yes, I'm a total fan or as she calls us "girlfriends."

She and her husband Joe went on a dream trip to England for two months.  They sailed on the Queen Mary 2 to get there.  The whole time she kept a diary and wrote blog posts about it.  When she got home she turned them into a book called "A Fine Romance: Falling in love with the English Countryside."  I've been following the book's progress on her blog.

So on Thursday afternoon, I jumped into the car and off I went to meet one of my inspirations!  I was so excited and nervous at the same time.  Would it be inappropriate to bring my gift?  I hoped not! 

I met up with two of the sweetest ladies who are also Susan's "girlfriends."  We met each other on the sidewalk and instantly became buddies for the evening (waves to Connie and Linda).  Connie took this picture of me by the sign with my book.  We were waiting for Susan and her husband, Joe to arrive!

Here they are!  In the "Fine Romance" van.  It's not hard to spot them driving this van.  LOL!

Here they are together.  Aren't they just the sweetest couple?!  Susan's reading the sign above the door.

Here she is signing books for the ladies in front of me.  I'm so close to meeting her I can hardly stand it!

Here it is, my turn!  I gave her the gift and as you can see from the look on her face, she loved it! 

 

She told me it is going in her "Peter Rabbit" room when she gets home.  I had that in mind when I picked the blue 30s repro fabric.  One of the first things she noticed was my tiny initials and that blue fabric.  She said she loved it!  I couldn't have been happier!  Did you know she designs fabric too?  Such talent!

See the splotches of paint to the left, that's the bookmark she gave us.  She cut her doodle pages into bookmarks to share with us.  I have an actual bit of her painting now in bookmark form.  The very best part of it all was what she wrote in my book and knowing that yes, the gift was appropriate and well received.  Now that sent me to Cloud 9!

 

I never in a million years would I have thought I would get to meet her much less stitch for her.  I couldn't quit smiling from ear to ear!  It was like I was in a dream except there were about 70 of us living the same dream all together in the same place.  She kept squeezing my hand and smiling from ear to ear just like I was.  What a special moment we shared!

Seriously folks, she is just as sweet and nice in person as she is in print.  I never expected anything less.  It was like she knew all of us forever.  This day is going down in my memory as one of the most awesome of awesome days.

When I finally left the bookstore, the sun was just setting.  It filled the sky with the most yummiest of sherbet colors and I floated home on a cloud!  Dreams do come true!

Until next time,

The Inspired Stitcher