Hello all my faithful readers! It is the start of summer here in SW Ontario, Canada! It has been hot and sometimes humid. We aren't getting the rain we had in the spring, and we could sure use a little now! I keep watering my tomatoes and herbs and flowers, so they are all doing fine!
I have been busy, obsessed really, with finishing my Castles In The Air! I have finally finished it, beading and all! I ran out of gold beads the other day, so I had to grab some at my LNS during a dash to the big city! Here it is in all its GLORY!!!
There really is a castle!! LOL!
I am so excited to finally share it with you all! It seemed a little bittersweet as I was stitching the last part. In a way I'm sad that its done, but on the other hand, I think its time to move on! Now it goes to my Mom and she can frame it up! I will post a picture when she has it framed and on her wall!
Before I got the last part of CITA, I was working on The Stitch Specialists Tree of Stitches! I showed you the fabric and threads in my last post. Here is what I have completed thus far!
Part 1-Cross Stitch
Part 2-Smyrna Stitch
Part 3-French Knots
Part 4-Eyelets
Part 5-Rice Stitch
Part 6-Cushion Stitch
I am working on Part 7, Jerusalem Stitch now! I hope to slowly catch up on this one. I have just been using overdyed floss that I have in my stash in greens and pinks. I am loving this one!
I have a small ornament that I have been stitching while my DD is rowing, and when I ran out of beads for CITA. I hope to be finished that in a couple of days, then I would like to concentrate on TW Designworks Spring Carousel Horse! I hope to finish it this summer!
I have joined a new SAL group, actually an off shoot of The Stitch Specialist's group, called the TSSChatelaineSAL yahoo group! Everyone will be working on Chatelaine's of some sort starting August 1! I have chosen to work on three of the smaller ones, a freebie called "A Tiny Rose Mandala Garden", and two from the Gift of Stitching magazine, "Lavender Garden" and "Romantic Rose Garden Mandala". I am waiting for some silk threads to come in from my LNS and then have to find the beads, as they don't call for Mill Hill! I have been searching in vain for a bead conversion for Delica beads or even a good supplier, but have had no luck! Maybe someone out there in blog world could help!
I have a couple of my animal and bird pictures to share! First off is this cute bunny that has been hanging around in the evenings! I managed to snap this one thru my window! Isn't he cute?!
This beauty is a Baltimore Oriole! He loves the nectar from my hummingbird feeder! Come to think of it, I haven't seen any hummingbirds for a while! Hmmmm.
This shy one is a White-Breasted Nuthatch! I have been trying to snap a photo of this one for almost a year!! Every time I tried, I couldn't get the camera turned on fast enough! The reason he is upside down is because I had Hubby attach a suet feeder on the bottom of my cedar feeder. I saw similar feeder in a magazine and they didn't give a price, and I really like the idea! Hubby said we had an extra feeder kicking around, so he just attached it! And we saved some money!
I hope everyone is enjoying summer, or winter in the Southern Hemisphere! And that you enjoyed my update! I will post soon with more stitching to show and can't wait to see what everyone else is working on! Chat soon!
35 comments:
What a beautifull finish!!
And lobvely tree!!
The finish is very pretty. You should be very proud of it. What a nice addition when framed and hanging on the wall.
Love the animals and birds.
Congratulations Melissa!! Gorgeous finish. Thanks also for the bird pictures. Gerald and I are avid birders, and it's cool to see the different birds that you have in your area.
A BIG congratulations! Your CITA is absolutely gorgeous. And your tree is growing very nicely.
WoW what lovely Work
Joyce
Your Castle in the Air is beautiful! Great finish. :o) Your tree is coming along nicely too. Thank you for sharing the photos of the wildlife in your yard. :o)
I'm so happy for your beautiful finish! This has been a long time coming and represents many hours of loving work for your mom. You know how I love this piece, and yours is well representing Yvonne's beautiful designing! She told me she would be doing another SAL in 2012, so don't be too sad.
Your Tree of Stitcher is lovely, and you did a great job of choosing colors. I love it! And you won't be long catching up.
You lucky girl, getting such a nice variety of unusual birds. The best I get are robins, ugly old starlings, crows, with a rare occasional cardinal; however, I don't have great feeders like yours. No nectar to attract hummingbirds either (or Baltimore Orioles who may be chasing away the hummingbirds, lol)! I hope to get a pic of my squirrel without a tail!
Great update, Melissa! I really need to update myself. It's really behind.
Your castles in the air is spectacular!!
I have the beads here for Romantic Rose Garden. There really isn't a good match for most of these but I can compare them for you to pictures of the Mill Hill if you want?
You could order the bead pack from European Cross Stitch - http://europeanxs.com/cgi-bin/chat_detail.pl?CDGoS- that gives you all the beads and crystals you need. That way you don't need to order masses of beads just for a few.
Nicole
Oh, well done that woman, I am so proud of you! It looks gorgeous, Melissa! Have to say I don't miss the humidity of the midwest so hope you can stay cool...love the bird pictures, we had a talk at a group I belong to about birds last night and learnt a lot! Congratulations again, your mum will love it!
Beautiful finish Melissa - well done on getting it done! Hope you don't get too hot this summer - I had a summer in Ontario several years ago and my it was HOT! Hugs, Ally in Scotland xx
Big it is, alright, and very beautiful, that tiny castle and all!
WOW!!! Your CITA is gorgeous, congratulations on finishing it :)
Castle in the Air is just gorgeous! Wow! Congrats on the finish. I imagine it will be super fabulous once it's framed.
happy dance on the CITA finish :) and can't wait to see your chatelaine starts either :)
Castle in the Air is gorgeous! Wonderful job! Your birds are lovely.
Melissa,
Castles in the Air is breathtaking!
Congratulations on a lovely finish, you should feel very proud of it! Darling bird pics too! And your tree is certainly coming along! Enjoyed reading your update!
Congrats on your CITA, I'm only up to part 8 so have a long way to go. You've inspired me to get on with it.
Belinda
Your finish is stunning!! Really, really gorgeous!! I have loved this piece since you first started posting pics of it. Congratulations!
Love the bird pics. We have never seen a Baltimore Oriole at our feeder and I keep hoping to attract one yet.
Really nice work, the work sprung the glorry by itself. Have a nice summer you too, Loredana from Peroj, Croatia.
Love Castles in the air! It is beautiful!
Amazing finish, Melissa. Your tree is looking good too.
Take Care & Happy Stitchin'
Hugs, Sandy
WOW! Your Castles in the Air is just wonderful. Just looking makes me want to stitch (which is good as my bug is awl at the moment). Look forward to seeing your next projects especially the Chatelaine's.
Happy Stitching
Mary Joan
http://maryjoanstitching.blogspot.com/
Congratulations on finishing CITA- it looks wonderful! The colours you have used are so pretty.
I also like the colours in your TOS.
Hi Melissa,
Your CITA is just stunning, well done! I'm so far behind but yours is really inspiring me to keep going!
Your Tree of Stitches is growing fast already, too, and is going to be beautiful.
You get completely different birds at your feeders to the ones I get in the UK. I get nuthatches but they have blue backs and have a black 'bandit' style mask - they always feed upside down but I don't know why!
Its absolutely beautiful! Terry N
hi.. fabulous and amazing work.. and your nature photos are great.
I want to share a blog award with you.. so jump on over to my blog and grab it..(posting now).
hugs Bev
Your piece is beautiful. You do fabulous stitching. I haven't stitched in years but am planning to get back into it.
Congrats on your CITA finish. I too have just complted it and am really happy.
Love the tree.
Your stitching is beautiful!
I'm also in SW Ontario, and I've also just finished a large project. I blog at http://mansememories.wordpress.com/
I came to your blog from the Yahoo group for TGOSM.
Can you tell me the name of the project you just finished?
I live in Chesley.
Pardon my ignorance, but I don't know what a SAL is. Can you enlighten me?
Thanks for visiting my blog too.
Karen
http://mansememories.wordpress.com/
Hi Melissa your Castles in the Air is stunning and I am sure your Mum will be thrilled to get it framed.
Your TOS is also looking pretty and I know you will soon have it finished.
And as for the birds they are so pretty quite different to what I see in the UK, but the robin will always be my favourite along with the blue tits, but then we do not have the colourful ones you get. The photo is great to.
Hazel C (UK)
Melissa, I've been looking at some of the Stitch Specialists members and linked to yours today. Your Castles in the Sky is beautiful! I like it so much that I went to the site and downloaded it for myself. I have several things going and will be doing The Great Escape next month, but CITA will be stitched! Thanks, Theresa aka OctoberLace
My goodness, you have been busy!! Your CITA is just amazing! I have all the pieces but haven't gotten the materials yet, you've done such a lovely job it's now calling me from my "want to do" pile! Your TOS is going to be beautiful too, I love the colors you are using! I love the picture of your animals but the most favorite is your Baltimore Oriole. I would love to see one in my yard, I'll have to get a hummingbird feeder! Thanks for sharing! *Hugs*
Its all so beautiful!!! Gorgeous work. :))
Great stitching.
I love your ornaments.
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