Stitching on Saturday

Well, I'm happy to say that I picked up my needlepoint from the framer's.

 This was so much fun to do. I loved every minute of it---even all the beading.

 I actually love beading, but it's very time consuming. All of the oranges are beaded in three different patterns. There are beads on the acorn caps. I really like when the stitch guides call for different stitches for the same thing---like the pumpkins---each different. And the leaves---three different stitch suggestions leaving it to your own discretion. I liked doing all of the stitches. Sandy might be getting this one. I'm giving her the choice between this one and this one:

Lots of beading here too: the entire tree, snowflakes and the dangling ornaments. They are both about the same size--about 24" tall by 14" wide. Although as we all know, size matters!---it doesn't matter to me when I'm stitching. If I love it, the size does not scare me!

I also picked this up from the framer too. Sandy did this counted cross stitch before Mitchell was born---24 years ago. We just changed out the mats to go better with her new house. It's beautiful and huge!

 You might remember the project I had next in line. Well, I'm working on it now.

The stitch guide had the entire scull beaded. Here it is halfway. I actually finished the whole thing. It took a week just for the beading. I decided that I didn't like it and took all the beads out! That took a whole evening. There's nothing worse than taking out. You keep thinking of all the wasted time. Plus, taking out stitched areas is very tedious. Beads aren't too hard to take out. Still, that many took quite a while.

I restitched the skull using a square stitch which leaves a hole in the middle. I only beaded the eye holes and used black beads rather than the recommended clear. I like the whole thing a lot better. It just looks more realistic to me.

Here's where I am so far. The entire frame is done as well as the black background. The eyeball is not done but everything else is up to the book I'm stitching now. The title is "Black Magic" which isn't showing up so well. I'm going to outline the letters in black and hope that does the trick.

Since we were going to be traveling, I asked the girls if they had anything they needed finishing. They both gave me something, so I'll work on them for awhile. I don't like to take large projects on the road. Small things are easier to deal with.

Well, I guess that brings you up-to-date on my stitching progress. I can't wait to scope out my next project!