Debbi's Needlework

I thought I'd share a couple of counted cross stitch projects I completed last summer.

The first one I made for my father-in-law. It is intended to remind him of the all the good times we had at the beach for many years. My husband's whole family would descend on a large house on the Outer Banks every summer for a week -- sometimes as many as 23 of us in one house!



The second one I made for my brother-in-law who loves lighthouses, particularly the ones in the Outer Banks.



Of course, it's really hard to see the detail in the photos, even with some editing! I hope you enjoy!

Oooh, those are lovely! Well done!

Thank you, Amber! :-)

Beautiful! My mother did a lot of cross stitch, she would have loved those.

Thanks, avaland! Cross stitch is my therapy, much needed, I might add!

They look wonderful! I especially like the lighthouses.

Thanks, Meredith!

Beautiful work! As someone who loves both the ocean and lighthouses, I think those are splendid pieces.

Thanks tiffin!

I'm working on a couple of needlepoint projects at the moment. Will post pix when I'm finished.

Here are some needlepoints I just finished. I hate doing the finishing, but, fortunately, my sister makes the most wonderful pillows out of needlepoints and fine silks. She usually uses vintage needlepoints, but occasionally, she uses a more modern one. If you are interested in her work, here are her two websites: http://www.cestchouettehome.com/ and http://www.wollworks.com/.

Magnolia


Hummingbird

Lovely work!

Thank you, Meredith!

Beautiful!

What fine work you do!

Thanks a bunch, scaifea and tiffin!

Very lovely!

Thank you avaland!

Here's a needlework I gave away as part of a Facebook group "pay-it-forward":

Oh, that's lovely!

Very lovely! That's a lot of pay-it-forward karma you've accrued there. I can imagine how long that piece took to make.

Debbie, these aging eyes won't let me see that. How I wish I could but it's just too small for me.

Yes, can we have a larger picture. I'd love to see the details!

Let me try this again! It's not easy to get a link to a photo on iPad!



Well, that didn't work! I'll have to drag out the laptop!



Success!

Thanks for enlarging it, it's lovely!

Oh my, that looks like a very high count linen...and therefore teeny tiny stitches. That frame sets off the circular pattern beautifully! Did this take you forever? And thank you so much for enlarging your lovely work.

Thanks for the compliments, gals!

I don't remember for sure, but most likely it was 36 or 40 count linen. Those are my favorites! Sometimes, I even stitch over one...I love the tiny stitches! I'm not sure how long it took, either, because I stitched it last year, and I just never had anyone to give it to. But, I would say I didn't spend more than a month on it.

Wonderful to see it up close!

I love making the tiny stitches as well, mostly. I did a large cross-stitch piece on this napkin but with SUCH a tight weave that it was really hard to count correctly. I really thought I was going to go blind during that one.

Here are a couple of patterns I finished in the last month or so. These will be made into pillows for a friend. I will post the finished items...if I ever get them done!





They weren't lying on the bed for more than five minutes when...

>28 dkhiggin: Cat trap! You meant to do that, right? lol The pieces are beautiful. I wish I had more patience for needlework.

Ha, cats have the perfect radar for the places you least want them to sit! Right now my cat has decided she needs to lie on top of me in bed, which would be fine if I didn't have serious chronic pain and if she weren't a hefty 17 lbs.

>30 mabith:

I know what you mean! I had surgery on my knee just after Christmas, and Gin seems intent on laying on my sore leg! Fortunately, she only weighs 10.5 lbs, but I need to shift position a lot and she gets sooooo offended!

Maybe they're trying to heal us with purring (which can have some role in bone healing for cats, apparently)! Todd is an exceptionally well-behaved cat, so I'll give her that much credit most of the time.

>28 dkhiggin:: my two most favourite insects! I envy your friend those beautiful cushions. Beautifully done.

>33 tiffin:

Thanks, tiffin. She's a wonderful gardener and we used to be running buddies. She's much better than me, but neither of us can really run any more—bad knees for me and hip trouble for her! We are almost the exact same age, too. She is six weeks older, a fact I never let her forget! Ha!

They really are very beautiful pieces, and a rather handsome cat as well.

>35 judylou:

Thank you, judylou! There were tons of fractional stitches. I had to start the wings on the dragonfly four times before I finally got them right! You can't tell in the photos, but the wings on both pictures have Kreinik blending filament, so they sparkle.

I got so distracted by the cat I forgot to say that the cross-stitch pieces are lovely!

>37 mabith:

Hehehe! Thanks mabith!

>29 lesmel:

And I got distracted talking about the cat and forgot to thank lesmel!

>28 dkhiggin: lol! 5 minutes - that's pretty good! Love the cat, and especially love the garden insects. Lucky friend!

>40 sjmccreary:

Thank you! I hope the pillows turn out...

My favorite is the dragonfly. The wings really look transparent! And, I know that cat's twin. She's sitting behind me on a cushioned chair as I type.

>42 Lace-Structures: I think I favor the bee!

Well, I can see I haven't been here in awhile!

Here is a pillow cover I stitched last spring. I donated the finished pillow to the Ronald McDonald House table at the 2015 Cross Stitch Retreat in Hershey, PA last October.



Here is the name tag I stitched for the retreat. It is stitched over one on 36 ct linen and measures 2.5" x 3".



And here are two beaded cross stitch ornaments I stitched while laid up after double knee replacement surgery. I have very little interest in anything right now, but I am forcing myself!

Beautiful stitching.

Lovely work! Though now I'm just excited by the idea of a cross-stitch retreat. What went on there?

>46 mabith:

Oh, you should come to the next one, Meredith! We had so much fun! We stitched and talked and ate and talked and stitched! We had some classes and a charity table and raffles. We had guest designers, too: Ursula Michaels, Jean Farish and Joan Elliott. There was a room dedicated to shops with tables loaded with goodies.

There were a couple of side trips to Hershey Park and Chocolate World, as well.

I didn't know anyone before I went, except through our Facebook group, but I still had a blast.

It will be in October again this year in Harrisburg, PA.

That sounds absolutely wonderful! I'll have to see if there's anything around Harrisburg that my mom's been wanting to do (I'm disabled and can't really travel alone). I joined a group for Etsy sellers in my state, so I'm hoping to find some other needleworkers in my city that way.

Some people stayed a little longer to visit Gettysburg. I'm not sure if that is the sort of thing in which she is interested...

She is definitely not one for military history or Hershey. Any type of boating is her sweet spot. That and touring Habitat for Humanity ReStores. We're intending to visit my brother and SIL in Ithaca at some point this year, so possibly it could be a long halfway stop... Thanks for posting about it! It really sounds like a lot of fun (just looked it up and found the Facebook page).

Oh, good! I should have given you a link! Doh!

Just for good measure, this is the general cross stitch club page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/crossstitchclub/

And this is the page for the next retreat: https://www.facebook.com/groups/519013828267418/?ref=browser

Very friendly bunch!

Oh, Debbie, I'm heading off for my first knee replacement surgery next week. I'm bringing a small quilt to bind in the hospital and I have another lined up for home (never mind the pile of books). I've cleared a handicap friendly route through my sewing studio and will replace the office chair with one with no wheels ...think I can make it work? I can use the pedal with my left leg, I'm hoping. I'll go nuts if I can't get into the sewing room for weeks.

>53 avaland:
I took those two beaded ornaments to the hospital with me, but there was no way I could have worked on them! Between needing to pee about every two hours from all the fluids (which involved me pressing the call button, explaining what I wanted, waiting for 20-30 minutes, being unhooked from the leg compression machines, toddling to the bathroom, toddling back again, and being hooked up to the machines once again), and the nurses taking my vital signs, and the twice daily therapy sessions, and napping, there just wasn't time.

But, I honestly had no interest in anything for weeks afterward, not even reading. I had to force myself to do the ornaments just so I wouldn't feel like a total slug! Hehehe!

Any way, don't feel bad if you are not interested in your projects. From what others have told me, it is pretty normal. You'll get it back when you're ready!

I was the same after my surgery. It was only after a week that I picked up my sewing. Then did it all wrong and left it until I could bother to undo it! I couldn't read. In between all those hospital interruptions all I could manage were some half hearted games of Candy Crush!!

>1 dkhiggin: I love lighthouses too, and I have a weakness for purchasing lighthouse cross-stitch patterns.

>10 dkhiggin: I've been thinking about purchasing a needlepoint canvas. It's been a long time since I've done it, but it was not difficult to do.

>28 dkhiggin: Does your cat help you thread your needle? One of my three is always on hand, it seems.

>44 dkhiggin: I did a cross-stitch pillow on one of those once, but I can't ever find that type of fabric now.

>56 thornton37814:
Lighthouses seem to be a favorite in our family. I think it's because of all the years we spent a week on the Outer Banks. I miss those times...

Those needlepoints I've shown were stitched from cross stitch patterns. I'm so used to counting, it just seems like the way to do it to me! I have worked on painted canvases, too, and I really prefer counting instead.

My cat has been a total pest lately! She seems to want to be between me and whatever I'm working on! And she also seems to think the shortest path from wherever she is to wherever she wants to be is right across my sore knees!!! Beast!

I haven't seen a pillow cover like that in ages either. I can't even remember where or when I got it...

>57 dkhiggin: I was looking through my "stash" as I was cleaning/sorting my craft room today. I found lots of lighthouse patterns. I even found one project that I thought I'd finished that still has the top of the lighthouse to complete. Hopefully I can finish that one in the midst of some of my others. I've got a bookmark that was in progress I'm working on now. I'm debating on whether or not I want to do the outlining. I'd rather move to a new project than outline, but it does make the colors "pop" a bit more. I guess I'll decide when I finish the words that go below the design.

>58 thornton37814:
I've noticed that so many people seem to dislike the back stitching, but not me! I love how it seems to complete the design.

I'm another one who doesn't like backstitching. I choose many of my projects on that basis.

I'm one of the group who used to like backstitching, back when I was still cross-stitching.

Chiming in to say that I LOVE back-stitching! I agree that it's fun to see how it gradually "completes" the design.

>54 dkhiggin: I know exactly what you mean. Your description is spot on! I got in trouble a few times from 1. Lifting my fanny up to try to move myself up in the bed (how did I know there was some kind of pressure alarm on the bed) and 2. Not waiting for the aide to return before toddling back to the bed.

>63 avaland:
When they finally took me off IV fluids, I started just going by myself. It was frowned upon! But, honestly, I would wait until I was about to burst before pressing the button, hoping someone would actually just come in to check on me, and then I'd have to wait and wait...and wait before someone would finally show up!

How are you doing now? I have made a lot of progress in the last two weeks! I'm walking about a half mile every day, concentrating on moving my hips and knees as much like a normal person as possible, and I can almost see my kneecaps again!

I'm finding that I'm having more pain that is less muscular and more weight-bearing. I'm more conscious that they drive (or glued) something into my tibia, if you know what I mean. Did you have pain like this? Once I'm up on it and have walked 4 or 5 very painful steps it's not bad and I don't even need a cane. I'm bending it to 105 degrees and it's straight in the other direction. I'm only just coming up on 3 weeks and started outpatient PT yesterday (and drove for the first time, also)

I was given the go-ahead to drive at six weeks, but my husband didn't think I was ready, so he wouldn't swap cars with me. I drive a little Miata, very low to the ground! One day last week, I went out to the garage and got in it. There was no one else around, so I'd have been in trouble, but I did manage to get out again. It hurt, but I did it. So now, at long last, I am driving again.

I find that shopping and standing in lines are really the worst now. I can walk quite well, but standing?!? Not so much! And yesterday, I had to stand in line to be checked in to vote, then stand in line again to turn in my ballot. Then I went to the post office for another long stand. Then to the fabric store for a short stand. When I came out of the fabric store, it was pouring down rain, but I can't run...or even walk fast!...so I got soaked. I had planned on grabbing a bite to eat, but I was so exhausted, I just went home. I still tire way easier than before the surgery, but I suppose that will get better as time goes on.

I'm impressed you are driving already! I have trouble with my hamstrings and ITBs being tight, so I'm always working on that. I never had hamstring trouble when I was a runner, so that is new for me. After yesterday, my knees are not wanting to bend as easily, so two steps forward, one back, as they say! I have described my knees as feeling like they have a giant, wide rubberband wrapped around them, squeezing and squeezing. Some days the rubberband is looser than others. Today, they are back to being tight!

I have described my knees as feeling like they have a giant, wide rubberband wrapped around them, sneezing and squeezing.

Exactly! I still have this feeling after walking or being on my feet too long. I was told that the muscles constrict to help protect the knee, resulting in that solid squeezing feeling.

I drive a SAAB. I haven't been able to drive it since my operation. It is way too low. I have to drive my husband's car instead.

I took a bath the other night...not so smart! It really hurt getting up out of the tub, so I set myself back about a week. Back to showers!

On the positive side, I'm starting to see my kneecaps again! Just a little swelling left, but both knees are still producing a lot of heat.

Ain't this fun?!?

>66 dkhiggin:, 68 How many weeks/months are you out from surgery now? How brave of you to attempt a bath (braver still with regards to the Miata).

>67 judylou: Judy, didn't you have a bit more done than just a knee replacement? You are a brave lady.

It will be four weeks on Weds. I know that tightness and the continued tiredness you are talking about. I was sewing today and had to sit down and take a break every hour or so. Keep me posted so I know what to look forward to!

(who would have thunk there'd be an informal knee replacement support group on a book-related social media site!)

>69 avaland: ... And on a thread devoted to needle arts as well! LTers are the best.

We have more than books and needlework in common!

I dream of hopping into the bath. But I know I would need to call the fire brigade to get me out again. sigh Not sure if I will ever get back into my tub.

Lois, my surgeon likes to refer to my op as a knee replacement on steroids. I had the entire knee, part of the lower bone and half the upper thigh bone removed (as well as most of the muscle above the knee). I set off all the alarms at the airport!!!!

>71 judylou: Cripes, Judy, you are doing great considering the extent of your replacement! I'm not sure how you function without the upper muscles. I hope it eradicated all of the cancer forever.

Tomorrow, it will be 10 weeks since my surgery. But don't judge your progress by mine! When my Dad had his left knee replaced almost five years ago, he and I drove over 400 miles to the Black Hills six weeks after his surgery, and he was fine! No way I could have sat with my knees bent for that long. No way.

So, you might be more like my Dad!

>73 dkhiggin: That's incredible. I can't even fathom that.

I think I'd trade some of my progress for being able to sleep at night. Well, enough about our knees! I was just looking again at your beaded ornaments....they are so lovely.

>74 avaland:
Thank you!

Well, it has been eons since I posted! I can’t imagine why...

Here is a tabletop I completed in 1997:

Ugh! I have more trouble finding a site that is open for sharing photos! I’ll try again...

Well, that didn’t work either!

>76 dkhiggin: I used to be able to use my Facebook photos here, but they all end up being broken links now too. I simply add them into my photo gallery here most of the time now.

>76 dkhiggin: The URL of what you tried to share is "https://smile.amazon.com/photos/share/xcFuyU1tWNVnEAtfLms2g5hMRG3wUPS0GWaCZMc1804" which is not an image. Images have to end with .jpg .png or the like.