They're Back from San Francisco!

What a surprise it was to find a package from Marlene's Custom Finishing in San Francisco on my doorstep this afternoon! Frank N. Stein and Stirha Cal-dron have returned from their trip to be finished at Marlene's. I am so pleased with them! Thank you Marlene, Amy, and Kelly for your wonderful finishing, stitch guides, and canvas design!!!

Let me re-introduce you to Stirha Cal-dron. She's looking more lovely than ever.

   

As you can see, Stirha is finished in a medium moss green silk with a black and gold accent ribbon and beautiful cording in purple and moss green. The bottom is finished with orange ball feet. My white countertop has washed out the green silk but it is almost a perfect match to the green in the spider border.

Frank is looking particularly handsome these days. He is finished in a deep, fern green silk with a gold and green accent ribbon. The green silk matches the greens in his jacket. The cording is done in deep orange and moss green. Frank stands on green feet.

  

They make a handsome pair and hopefully can soon be joined by Bride Z. Illa and Zomm B. Grum'e. It will be such fun to decorate with them for Halloween. If it weren't 92 degrees outside, I could really get into the decorating mood!

Hope you have enjoyed seeing these two finished pieces. Thanks to all of you who stitch along with me for your kind comments and encouragement. I had finished these two before I began the blog but I have enjoyed stitching the other characters and the Haunted House right along with you. We still have lots of fun ahead of us!

My real work is finished for the day so I think I'll go finish Dr. Acula's pumpkin now. See you soon -

Carpentry Skills Come in Handy

I didn't accomplish much on Dr. Acula this Labor Day weekend as I would have liked but the work that was completed required my best carpentry skills. I decided to begin this canvas by stitching the Dr.'s coffin. Amy's choice of stitches and color combinations of the Weeks Dye Works threads gave the box a definite woodgrain look. We were given the choice of stitching the knobs for the handles first and then the wood paneling or vice versa. Each way has its own pros and cons. I chose to stitch the knobs first so that I had the correct number of available spaces to stitch the Jessicas (the circular stitches around the brown center). It wasn't difficult to put in the straight stitches by running them under the Jessicas where necessary.

Tonight I think I'll stitch the little cat's coffin and then move up to the pumpkin before working on the top of the coffin.

I was happily distracted from stitching this weekend because Andrew and Anna were here for a visit. Anna arrived a few hours ahead of Andrew and we headed out to the Village Deli, a friendly neighborhood restaurant where we shared what has become a new favorite for us - fried dill pickle slices  with ranch dressing - mmmm good! Saturday we had a quiet day with a little shopping in the late morning, a great lunch at California Dreaming (hadn't been there in forever), followed by a walk through Hobby Lobby for some Halloween and Christmas inspiration - and there's lots to be had there!

Sunday we headed up to Greer, SC so that Andrew could turn in a press car (a 1 series) on loan to  him from BMW.  We discovered that the Garmin had no idea how to get us to the BMW factory despite the fact that we had correctly entered the address. There are many nice neighborhoods (and a few dodgy ones) in Greer as we quickly discovered. We eventually found BMW and turned in the car. After that we drove on up to Asheville, NC for a late lunch at The Grove Park Inn. What a beautiful view from the Sunset Grill at the Grove Park - the restaurant on the open porch across the back of the Inn overlooking Asheville and the Blue Ridge Mountains. It was a perfect day - not a cloud in the bright blue sky and a pleasant 80 degrees. You couldn't ask for more! We wandered down to the award-winning Grove Park Gallery down the hillside from the Inn. There was an interesting sculpture exhibit out in front of the Gallery. I loved the elephant ear sculpture - just didn't care for the $1500 price tag!

I don't think I've ever walked out of the Gallery without a purchase but I managed to this time despite being sorely tempted by the incredible glass artistry on display.

Hope you all had a restful and fun Labor day holiday. Back to reality tomorrow!

The Doctor is in the House

Look who arrived just in time for dinner tonight - Dr. Acula! And how appropriate that he arrived right at dusk! It made his emergence from the coffin box much more comfortable than if he had arrived in broad daylight.

The thread kit gives us hints of the fun to come with this character. I'm looking forward to reading through the stitch guide tonight, deciding where to start, and sorting out all of the threads I will use from previous kits. I laughed out loud when I read the special notice from the Halloweenies Construction Union and Monsters Incorporated that was enclosed with Dr. Acula. Basically, those of us in the union are asking for shorter stitching days and more time off around certain holidays. So it looks like we will be taking the month of November off and returning to construction on the Haunted House in December. Also, there will be a 5th phase to the Haunted House which will extend our home study into March. I fully support the Union's efforts on our part (and I'm not particularly fond of unions!). Now, if they can just work out a way to get some health insurance for me...

A shout out to Linda at Stitching Sisters, I saw your Stirha and Frank finished pieces in Amy's September newsletter and they look incredible! Great stitching! I know you will be excited to get them home. I can hardly wait for my two characters to come back from their time on the west coast.

The Doctor is calling to me and says he needs to stretch his legs after his journey from Tennessee and I need to gather my garlic and crucifixes before I go to bed tonight - just in case.

Good night, all!

Hugs & Kisses

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend! Here in Georgia we had a hint of the change of season that's ahead. We had some comfortable temperatures - upper 80's and lower 90's - still not exactly cool but when the humidity isn't so high, the lower 90's are comfortable compared to just a few weeks ago. I enjoyed my morning tea out on the patio on Sunday and did the same this morning. It was a welcome change!

I made more progress on XOXO this weekend than I anticipated. It works up very quickly. The walnettos are completed as are the hearts. Tonight I'll be working on another trame stitch in the second red area.

I have laid one direction of diagonal stitches and will lay the opposite direction in just a little bit and then begin to fill in with the other design elements. This is a great size for a small project. Just about the time I was getting tired of stitching those walnettos, I was finished. The next section of hearts took no time at all.

I promised you a look at the mystery vine that is growing behind my stitching chair. It's hanging in there although this afternoon the topmost leaves are starting to wilt. Whatever source of moisture there has been for this vine must be drying up. It has been about two weeks since I first noticed it growing back there.

The newlyweds are coming for a visit this weekend. Anna is coming up a little ahead of Andrew so we will have some nice "girl time" before he gets here. Andrew has to deliver a car back to BMW in Spartanburg, SC on Saturday so we will follow him up there and then we'll all run up to Asheville for a brief afternoon visit. I haven't been to Asheville in a couple of years and it's just one of my favorite places to go.

Looking forward to meeting Dr. Acula this week. I think he's still riding around in the big brown truck.

Keep stitching!

Stirha and Frank Say Hello from San Francisco!

No, they aren't home yet but I received a phone call this afternoon from Marlene in San Francisco. Stirha and Frank wanted to say hello and to let me know that they would be home in a couple of weeks. They have been visiting with Marlene as they wait to be "finished". Marlene has a wonderful plan for them that involves beautiful silks and cording. We both felt that going the understated route for finishing suits these two as they both have lots of embellishments already and we don't want to take away from that. Stirha and Frank are in agreement. I'm excited that the wait is almost over and can't wait to share pictures of the handsome couple when they return from San Francisco.

The Walnettos continue on XOXO this weekend. The Walnettos sounds like a family of trapeze artists in the circus, don't they?

I'm thinking of signing up for the ANG Cyberworkshop by Orna Willis. It's called Square Dance and you can see it here on the ANG website. I haven't done any counted thread needlework in a long time and this looks like fun. Anybody else thinking about signing up for this one?

I'll leave you with a picture of my Little Girl and some needlepoint pillows on my bed.

Construction Grinds to a Halt

I put aside the Haunted House last night as Phases 2 and 3 slowly ground to a halt. I confess that I had my doubts as to whether I would finish this project when I picked it back up at the beginning of August. But, here we are at the end of August, and I am pleasantly surprised with the progress I made during the month. There is still a lot of work to be done but I can now see this as a finished project towards the end of this year or the beginning of next year. I have put the House aside in preparation for the arrival of Dr. Acula in September and W. Herr Wolff in October. Work on the Haunted House will begin again in November.

I rooted around in the stash last night in search of something small and fun to stitch while I wait for Dr. Acula. This is what I found.

This is the XOXO canvas (or Hugs & Kisses) from & more (& more is the name of the design company).  The stitch guide is by Julia Key H. Snyder.  I bought the canvas, threads, and stitch guide from Amy's back in January not realizing that Halloween was about to completely take over my stitching time. You can see a finished example of this on Amy's website. This pillow was beautifully stitched by Jill.  There are two red panels that are worked in trame stitches and two white panels that are worked in a darning pattern and a blackwork pattern. The XOXO in the middle is worked with gold beads.

Last night I laid the horizontal and vertical stitches on the left red panel and today I began adding the Walnettos over the intersections.  Do you know what a Walnetto is? Me either, but I added some to the canvas.

This will be a fun distraction for the next couple of days. It seems my stitching has a holiday theme this year. In January, I finished another canvas by & more. I loved working the Merry Christmas canvas.

Take a minute and look at the two finished examples of this canvas on Amy's website. I think my Needlepoint Study Hall friend, Peggy, stitched one of those Merry Christmas canvases. If you follow the link, you will also see the Boo canvas. I foresee stitching that one, too. Although, it will have to wait until the Halloweenies are over and done with.

Mystery vine update: The mystery vine growing behind my stitching chair is alive and well. I forgot to take a picture for you, but if it's still around by the weekend, I'll post a picture. It's looking healthy and has grown some.

Enjoy the upcoming weekend everyone. I'll see you soon -

Construction Update

I feel like I accomplished a lot on the Haunted House this week. I finished up the ironwork on the rooftop and was pleased with the effect. I think I am getting more accomplished on this project now that I have both Kit 2 and Kit 3 to work with or maybe I just had too much going on in May to devote time to the House.

The work around the front door was started and finished while I watched The Gladiator last night. At least I watched one good movie this weekend. I made the mistake of ordering Valentine's Day and The Bounty Hunter on Pay per View. Both are extremely forgettable but did serve to pass the time while I stitched. As a result, the brick foundation on the left is completed and this afternoon I added the dirt and the iron fence posts.

While I wait for Dr. Acula to arrive, I may finish the brick foundation and fence posts on the right side of the house.

I'm enjoying the little glimpses of the Dr. Acula canvas that Peggy has been posting on Needlepoint Study Hall. I think he's going to be a fun challenge. I won't be sorry to go back to working on a smaller canvas. The Haunted House has done a number on my neck so I'm off to the chiropractor in the morning to get everything back in alignment.

Hope your stitching goes well this week!