Cross Stitch – nicole.groudasfamily.com

Stitching and Quilting

Now that my office/craft room is finished and more importantly, now that the playroom is finished so the toys are out of my craft room area – I have space to unpack my stitching and a huge beautiful craft table to quilt on!

New couch and new sewing table ryan built!

I wasted no time in picking up some projects and the timing was great that my stitching group came out from MA for a 2 day stitching weekend and that got me motivated to start a few new pieces and start stitching again.

This is just an update on the stitching but the first project I did was to finish piecing my nephew’s baby quilt (just as his first birthday rolls around – hah) – and it’s now mostly quilted too. I did the basic straight quilting in the seams and just have the free hand/free motion quilting to do to make it more decorative.

While my stitching friends were here I focused on this Spider Banner that I had going already (possibly started it last year?). It was so nice to stitch for large blocks of time and I made lots of progress on it. It didn’t feel like it was the right season for it however so after the weekend ended I decided to start a new piece that would have me more motivated and I’ll pick old spider up again maybe in the fall.

Ok so the new piece may also be a bit on the Halloween side my friends all love these pixie witches (there are a bunch of them) and decided we would each stitch our favorite at the same time. I have 2 patterns but decided on this green one first (the other one is more of a jack-o-lantern/orange theme – too fall like).

I’ve been working on this witchy piece just a bit over one week and she’s going so fast!

There are a lot of beads in this piece which will be those blank swirls in the skirt – I can’t wait, it’s such a fun piece to stitch!

I also started another piece yesterday that I designed myself using elements of a pattern I liked. It’s a piece for my brother and sister-in-law that celebrates their house and marriage. I’m hoping I can get this done around their anniversary? Because I designed this one it’s hard to see what the finished piece will look like but I included a part of the design in this picture.

Just a bit of stitching on this one so far

I’m excited to get some craft time when I’m not working or playing with the kids. My new space is perfect for it!

My Stitching Treasures

While no house progress is being made (busy summer) – I have been stitching in the evenings and I pulled out another old unfinished piece. This is My Stitching Treasures by Jeanette Douglas. I got this as a gift for my bridal shower (hosted at a stitch shop) from all of my friends – the pattern, fabric, silk threads and notions. I haven’t worked on it in years but pulled it out and I’m making good progress on it again. It’s meant to go as the top to a box (where you store your stitching treasures) 🙂

Another party this coming weekend so still no house progress to be made. Things should settle down after this weekend though for sure!

Fairy Dust Finished

Over the 4th of July weekend I started a new piece : Fairy Dust by Nimuë. It was a quick stitch although the backstitching was pretty challenging. I finished it up this week once the fuzzy thread arrived.

I’ve been spending some time designing a new piece that will be a gift. I plan to start that piece and another large piece now that I have no large pieces going.

Autumn in my Garden – Finished

I have some small house updates but i’ll put those off until tomorrow because last night I finished up Autumn in My Garden!!! pattern by Mirabilia. She’s on 40 count thread, stitched 1 thread over 2.

Autumn Progress – one page to go

Of the 4 pages I’m down to the last one! Just her head and 2 leaves left to stitch (plus the simple border). Here’s an updated picture!

I’m excited – I really enjoy picking up this piece in the evenings and find it hard to put down!

Autumn in My Garden progress

I’ve made a bit of progress on Autumn in my Garden – the bottom half of the piece is completed and rolled – working on the jacket of the maiden now. Lots of leaves to stitch.

Here’s a look at the bottom before I rolled it…

Royalty ABC

I will do the house blog update tomorrow – but the big news is that we moved into the master bedroom this weekend! It’s done!

Last week however I finished up a piece that I had started back in 2010 – it is a class piece from Celebrations that Jeanette Douglas taught. I made 1 minor modification to remove the row that had crosses and that meant moving around a couple of rows to keep the balance equal. It was a fun piece and I’m looking forward to framing it.

Mostly stitched from 2010-2012 the finished up (just below the heart really) after Celebrations this year.

Stitching – Autumn in my Garden

I’ve hit a milestone (finishing the pumpkins) with a large piece i’m stitching lately called Autumn in my Garden by Mirabilia. I’m stitching this on 40ct fabric so it’s 1 strand of thread (dmc) over 2 threads and includes some beads. This piece will have companion pieces for each season but I started with this one a few years ago because it’s my favorite.

There are various leaves to stitch next and then it will be rolled up so I can start the top 1/2 which is less dense and should go quicker. The leaves have a lot of colors so those will take a while.

In house news : We finished the floor poly coats Friday and Saturday of our ‘vacation’. It’s now cured enough that we can safely put paper down and start the painting process this weekend! In a few weeks we’ll be able to put a rug down and move in!

Some progress (house and stitching)

We have a couple of things working against us on the house progress front right now, some planned some not planned. First we have busy Saturdays entirely for 4 weekends in a row. Second Ryan got sick, his work got busy then Bella got sick this past weekend and his work is still busy. Travel and illness and work.

2 weekends ago Ryan managed even though he was sick to get a start on the built-ins in the master – just got the base platforms in. The built-ins will be just open bookshelves. We originally were going to do cabinets however the room is a bit tight when you count 2 night stands and a king size bed, the cabinet doors wouldn’t open so we’re going with just open shelves (same amount of storage space).

They have to be pretty high off the ground so the trim will look correct going across the front (baseboard). I’m excited for the extra storage for sure.

In stitching news I’ve had a lot of time in the evenings to stitch (sure I could be painting or something but it’s more fun to stitch) 🙂 I pulled this piece out that I started years ago – it’s called Autumn in my Garden by Mirabilia (there’s one for each season) and I’m stitching it on 40ct fabric over 2 to make it a bit smaller (these pieces are quite large). I finished up the lady’s skirt and started the pumpkins. It’s beaded a little bit and I think it will be a very pretty piece when done.

I was only going to show stitching when it was a finished piece but if I’m working on such a large piece I like to track the progress a bit more. I have another small piece in progress that I’m doing as my travel piece that I’ll show when that’s done. Continuing to work through my old previously started pieces. Soon I’ll have to start something new though at this rate!

Tales of Wonder and Appleseed Needlecase

This past weekend I went down to DC with my group of stitching friends from Boston! We met up initially at In Stitches in VA and what a great store it is! We shopped, took a break for lunch and a needleshow nearby and then shopped more. On Saturday we spent the afternoon stitching!

On Sunday when I was home I finished up a little piece I had finished stitching a few weeks ago – finished it into a needlecase as it called for. It’s called Appleseed by Jeannette Douglas Designs :

It was a small piece from Celebrations of Needlework years ago that I had 1/2 finished – so I finished it up as I’m working through a pile of unfinished pieces.

This next piece is one that I started last week and finished up Saturday in DC. It’s called Tales of Wonder by Dragon Dreams and it is just a cute small piece I’ve had in my pile of things to stitch forever. I’m not yet sure if I’ll frame it or make it a small banner.

I’m not yet sure what my next project will be!