Wilco - The Whole Love

This is the perfect example of an idea coming together.  I've played with the idea of stitching an album cover, but hadn't been able to decide on what album to start with and what the final project would be.  Then I came across this  tote bag and my friend Rebecca's birthday approached.  The issue with stitching an album cover is that the design needs to be interesting without having too many intricate details.  So basic blocks of color is the way to go.  Rebecca's a big Wilco fan and it just happens that the album cover from their most recentl album fit the bill design-wise. 

So here is the completed project.  The finished stitched area measures about 9"x9" and is hand-sewn counted cross-stitch in a 14-count embroidery area. 

Yellow Submarine

I bought this pattern seven years ago,  when I moved into my husband's apartment. At the time he was travelling, I also picked up the last season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and figured I'd settle in for a quiet hermit-like weekend. It turned into a lesson how to read patterns.  I liked the picture, that was my sole motivation for the purchase.  But as I looked through the amount of floss needed and the pages upon pages of pattern, I realized that I might be in over my head.  Nevertheless, I'm not one to back down from a challenge, so I started the project.  A few months in, I grew tired of it and set it aside.  It was picked up periodically over the years.  Originally I thought it would make a nice gift for someone having a child.  I didn't know anyone who was even pregnant at the time, so the concept was somewhat abstract. 

Seven years later, I'm the pregnant one and finishing this project feels like a major accomplishment.  Mearing 17"x11.5" - 320x220 stitches - it wil make a nice addition to our nursery.

Wonder Wheel Embroidery Painting

The more time I spend at Coney Island, the more I fall under it's spell.  It's not just the hypnotic lights as they spin around, during the day the commotion at the boardwalk balances the serenity of the waves as they hit the beach.  It is vast with seemingly miles of seaside coast and cavernous with the alleys and cubbies in Astroland.  It offers everything, sun, surf, people-watching, baseball, food, drink, rides, games.  It is truly a place of amusement.

As it seems to be under constant threat of destruction, I decided to capture my favorite landmarks - first on film and then in needlepoint.  This is the first stitched image.  It is a counted cross-stitch hand sewn from one of my photos.  Measuring 5"x7" it comes framed and be found in my Etsy store.

Storybook Characters: Piglet

The final piece of an on-going project.

Storybook Characters: Paddington Bear

Part 4 of a larger project