Two little Happy Dances

I've been very very lazy in that I've been sat up in bed all day stitching my little heart out, while clearing my taped TV programmes ... thanks to House, Desperate Housewives, Lost, The Amazing Race and NCIS, I have managed to complete not one, but two ornaments over the last 24 hours - yippee! I put the final stitches into Star of Wonder before I went to sleep last night, from the 2002 JCS ornie issue - this is a design by Ellen Chester, of With My Needle, and I really love it ... a bit challenging to stitch, with the over-one sections, but a fun stitch :)

The second ornament is Herald Angels from the 2003 JCS ornie issue - designed by Pamela Byrd Smith of The Prairie Schooler, Inc. This was part of the Christmas Ornament challenge on the Friends Gather BB, as there is a chosen designer each month, and we choose any design we want to stitch by that designer - and I chose the Herald Angels. I have to admit, I was very worried about it while I was stitching it, as it was so so dark - but as soon as the metallics were added it really lifted it, and I like it again. Perhaps in hindsight I might have used a navy blue instead of the black, though, to lighten it a bit more. Anyway, off they go to my finishing pile for later in the year ...



My next challenge is to stitch my Marine Elegance piece - followed by my charity pieces, then back to my rotation again ... as well as the Bunnies in my Garden SAL that's starting with the StitchingSmalls Yahoo group next month ... so much stitching, so little time LOL.


Today's SBQ is:

"Do you stitch "over-one"? If so, describe your experiences. If not, have you considered it?"

Hmmm, I have a love/hate relationship with over-one stitching. I really don't enjoy the stitching part, but I love to see the finished product. That being said, I really want to stitch Graham Ross' Macaw and Rainbow Lorikeets over-one, as well as a green tree frog I've already stitched over-two. The best tip I learned from a class with Jodi Merusi - and that was to stitch it like a tent stitch, except you come back across the row with the top stitch (which I also use a tent stitch for) ... it saves the floss threads slipping under the fabric threads, and gives you more space to slip your needle under when anchoring ends on the back. You can't do this with overdyed threads, though, as each stitch has to be done individually, darnit!