Author Archives: alisonshirley

About alisonshirley

My true love is cross stitch, but I also dabble in a few other needlearts and love to quilt and craft in general.

Retreat, Retreat!!

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No, don’t run away!  It’s craft retreat!

I just got back from spending 4 glorious days lounging around, gossiping, watching movies, eating, and, oh yeah, a bit of crafting thrown in there for good measure.

Unfortunately, I believe there was more eating done than actual crafting.  I had great plans to finish quite a few projects, but the reality turned out differently.

I did finish the binding of a lap quilt that has been languishing around for at least two years, and I did manage to put together a Tooth Fairy pillow just in time for my son to lose his 4th tooth.  (Better late than never.)  And I also got a little cross stitching done.

I forgot to take any pictures of the retreat location, but this week I will post the progress made on my projects.

July YOTA

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It’s time for this month’s YOTA post.

I have continued to work on The Legend of the Dogwood Tree project.  I didn’t get very much done, but some progress was made.

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I got some stitches in two of the leaves of the bottom flower.  I know it pretty much looks the same as last month, but I promise there are some new stitches in there!

I was hoping to get more accomplished this month as my progress on this piece has been dismal.  Although I am not fond of the fabric or stitching with three threads, I am beginning to like the project a bit more.  Maybe I can be motivated to work a little harder on this one.

Happy 4th of July!

Snowman Joey update

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I’ve been stitching, but not posting lately.  Here is my progress on my snowman Joey.

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He now has a cheek and half a carrot nose!

I hope to get a lot done on this project this weekend at retreat.  (Maybe a finish!)  I am taking with me several cross stitch projects, two quilts, a fabric tree thing I have been trying to finish for 2 years, and a sewing project.

But more on those later . . . .

Butterfly – Mourning Cloak

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I have started a new Butterfly pattern from this series.  It is called Mourning Cloak.

Here is my progress so far.

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I know it looks like I threw up on my fabric, but it is the beginnings of a butterfly, I promsie.

This butterfly, like the others, is being stitched on 28-count white Monaco using the charted DMC colors.

Originally, my goal for this year was to finish two or three of the patterns.  Since this will be my third butterfly, I hope this is a goal that I will actually meet this year!  Yippee!

Here are my other completed butterflies:

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I am thinking about black square frames for them.  Maybe 8×8.  Once I finish 4 of them, I may go ahead and purchase the frames for all 8.  I am anxious to get some of them framed and hung on the wall.

Winter Fun Snowmen Ornament – Joey

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Meet Joey.

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I know he’s not much to look at right now, but soon he will be the newest addition to my ornament collection.  He is the sibling of Rallie of the Winter Fun Snowmen series published in the December 2006 issue of Just Cross Stitch Magazine.

He is being stitched on 14-count perforated plastic using DMC colors.

He’s just a forehead at the moment, but he is coming together quickly.  I hope to get all 5 of the snowmen done before Christmas to hang on my tree.