Monday 2 December 2013

A Finishing Frenzy!

As I promised on my last post, I have pictures of my weekend finishing frenzy. I know many of you were looking forward to seeing the finishes of my recently completed ornaments but I had a drawer full waiting for me from last year! Saturday I set my mind to getting them done. My friend Pam came over to keep me company which meant that I only completed two ornaments while we chatted. However I managed to finish off the remainder during the late afternoon and evening. Here are the results.







 One of the above two smalls may end up adorning the tree. I just haven't made up my mind yet. I have hangers picked out for both just in case. I'm still not that great with stuffing the pillows. I either underfill or overfill. I can't seem to stitch them closed without that gathered look either but I've come much further in my finishing than when I first started. 







I'm so pleased with how these turned out. A portion of these will hang on the tree and the remainder are smalls which will fill my dough bowl display for the holiday. I have several more which I'd like to stitch for both tree and bowl but they will have to wait until the next year. I'm committed to finishing up my Torah stitch at this point. 




I've stitched the border going down the one side. It will be extended slightly to meet the edge of the border across the bottom of the design.I think I bit off more than I can chew with this bottom border. Not that it's difficult, it's just time consuming and I'm anxious to be finished with this so I can move on to other projects.




My finished Christmas stitch for this year is Plum Street Samplers Mary's Sampler II. This was the SAL which Paulette released weekly on Sundays for the previous nine weeks. My friend Thea has offered to finish this into another of her lovely wall hangings for me. If time is on our hands it will be hanging on my wall for Christmas.





Until that time, I have another previously stitched Christmas piece which will adorn my wall for the first time. Blackbird Designs 'Tis The Season came back from the framer this fall and I've been so anxious to hang it! It has a special spot which I've kept for it over the deacon's bench in our entry. That way everyone will see it upon entering our home. The place of honour if you will!





The framer did such a lovely job with this. It may not be apparent in the picture but the inner edging of the gold frame has been brushed with a small amount of red which really highlights the cardinal and brings out the inner mat.




As for the mat, I couldn't decide which colour would be best for this so I left it up to John to decide. John is the one who stretches all of my work and formerly worked at our local cross stitch shop prior to its closing. He asked what colour the wall was where I was planning to hang it. I told him sage green and the mat was his choice. He said they tried several colours but this one seemed to work the best and they always came back to it. I think he did a fabulous job!


That about sums up all of my recent stitching. I have pretty well finished up all of my gift buying for Christmas. I wanted to get out there early before all the crowds and snow arrived. I can't do much walking on my hip at all now and tire easily from it after a day of shopping. I'm meeting with the surgeon this week for him to examine me and then I should know exactly how much longer I have to wait.
I managed to finish up that shopping none too soon. Last Tuesday we got our first dump of the season and it was a pretty good one too! I'll leave you with a few pics from it.  Have a super week!






What the heck! It's frozen! You expect me to eat this?

21 comments:

  1. Wow, lost of beautiful finishing there Lynn!

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  2. Well done on all your finishes! I love your last picture of the woodpecker, LOL

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  3. Awesome finishing
    A beautiful collection

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  4. Oh Lynn, it is just gorgeous all of your smalls and ornaments! But the stealer of the show is "Tis the Season!" WOW! Gorgeous work ;)

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  5. Look at that snow - I couldn't even imagine what that would be like, lol!! All your ornaments are gorgeous and well done on finishing Mary's Sampler :) 'Tis the Season looks fantastic too!

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  6. Stunning collection of beautifully stitched ornaments, they are beautiful.

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  7. So glad 'Tis the Season will be hanging this year! It is spectacular.
    Your last photo and caption crack me up!

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  8. Wow, you've been busy girl! I love all your finishes and the framed piece is just looking fabulous.

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  9. I'm always so in awe of fearless finishers!! They all look terrific.

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  10. WOW, your machine was smokin' Lynn, can I send some of mine other for you to finish too? Lovely finishes on all of them ~ a lovely collection.
    'Tis the Season is gorgeous, I love that design and your framer John chose exactly the right colour mount, it all blends together perfectly.
    We are threatened again with the white stuff later this week, I'm hoping it will hold off until the 25th as I have very little done ready for Christmas :(
    Have a good week Lynn xxx

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  11. Lynn, your finishing is gorgeous!
    So nice to have your shopping done so you can enjoy the season. I hope that the Dr. visit goes well :)

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  12. Hello. Your plum street samplers Mary's sampler is lovely. However you have missed off a crown which is just above the shepherd. I nearly missed this too when stitching mine. Best wishes Denise x

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  13. Love each and every ornament finish, Lyyn! And Mary's Sampler is gorgeous--I really must stitch that one next year :)

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  14. LOVE everyone of your finishes. Tis the Season is Gorgeous - love the mating and frame for her. And Mary's Sampler is beautiful. First one I've seen all finished. I have to stitch the border on mine. Lovely snow photos - WOW!
    love Annette

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  15. Lovely finishes, and stunning frame on the Blackbird piece - congratulations!

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  16. Lovely Christmas finishes, they look lovely displayed in your basket. A great Marys Sampler finish, the framing of red really lifts it. I just love 'Tis The Season. It is just stunning.

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  17. Beautiful finishes and stitches! Loved seeing your snow pics!

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  18. Tis The Season is a lovely design, it looks stunning in its frame :) What a fab collection of ornaments! I've only got two stitched ornaments on our little tree at the moment, but I'm sure I'll have many more in years to come :)
    Best wishes.

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  19. Oh Lynn, your finishing frenzy led you to wonderful results. All these finished pillows for the bowl and the ornaments for the tree - everything looks fantastic.
    The cardinal picture is such a beauty, your framer really did a great job with choosing the mat and the frame with you.
    We've also had our first load of snow two weeks ago. Much too early for my taste but what can you expect when you live in a mountaineous region, lol.

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  20. What a great basket of finished ornies, a lovely display.

    The framed piece is perfect too, I rely on my framer to choose the colours for me as well, she has a great eye for colour.

    As for the snow - brrrrrrr

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  21. So many lovely finishes - you've been busy!

    Hugs,
    Tatyana

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