Erica's Stitches

I have a box under the bed where I keep all sorts of kits. They were given to me or purchased at a bargain price.  I took them home wanting to work on them right away.  But, for whatever reason, I didn't get to them.  And they accumulated.  The box isn't that big but its getting full. The more I pay for something the more likely it is to get finished right away.  Being inexpensive, they were a lower priority. My new goal is to work some of these projects over the next year.  The "Oregano" from last month was one of these projects and I'm working on another one. It's hard to pick which one to work on next. Something about the kit had to appeal to me since I brought it home.  I'm sure as I sort through them I'll find some "what was I thinking" type projects.   After all, styles and tastes change.  If I find something I'm not sure of, I'll challenge myself to redesign the contents into something I do like. Let's see what ...

Happy Spring - That's a sentiment that keeps me going from January until about now. I bought this piece at a fundraising sale and it comes up every year to brighten my office. I don't know who the designer or the stitcher was.  I imagine it must have been a kit but I've never seen it anywhere.  Does anybody know. Now, it is officially spring.  Besides being after March 20, the first pasqueflower decided to open up this morning. It may still get cold and snow.  But, it will be a spring snow and the rest of the spring flowers will be along soon.

That's a really small victory.  2 1/2 x 3 1/2 inches to be exact. It's a small kit I got years ago.  It's by Needlemagic, Inc.  A quick Internet search shows that there were many of these each with different herbs (all for sale).  I picked this kit because of the hummingbird.  Isn't he cute? This was a portable travel project that I started about a month ago.  I'm pleased to say I finished it relatively quickly, cleaned up the messes I made while stitching it and stored off the excess threads. What I like best is my finishing. I fused a piece of coordinating fabric to the back and folded over the fabric and stitched it down, mitering the corners (one with ease and three with great difficulty).  I added a string for hanging and I'm done. For some reason I've started gravitating to simple, easy projects.  I don't feel like doing anything more ambitious right now. However, I can imagine the same hummingbird on linen with a field of ...

A beautifully warm and mild March day brought me outside to inspect the garden. Instead of spring pastels I was greeted by purple and orange more suited to fall. However, it is bright and colorful and a sign of summer so I'll take it.

It's been a long journey but I finally finished the Naversom Doily.  The instructions and pattern came from Phyllis Maurer At Ethic Fiber Art. I started over a year ago stitching a smaller sample.  Then it took about 3 months to prepare the fabric for the bigger one.  At that time, I took a class that used my stretcher bars.  So, I waited until last month for the other project to get done.  Once I was able to start it took a month to finish. I really like the finished product but I don't like the prep work.  I think I'm going to try to come up with a way to avoid the prep work. In the mean time, I've now completed my 2011 needlework goals and am starting to think about what I'd like to accomplish in 2012. No more big new projects.  I want to finish up some of the kits and patterns I've collected.  And get back to designing new patterns.  And finish those quilt projects that I haven't touched since the holidays.