Sheena's Sweet Stitches - Welcome to my zoo!

Holiday Fun

24 December, 2018 By: Catlady2 Comments

Aloha All,

Thanks to all my blog followers and those who stop by periodically. I hope everyone enjoys the holiday celebrating in any way you choose.

The year has literally flown in and we are about to embark on a beautiful New Year, 2019. I wish health and happiness to all. Take a few minutes this holiday season for yourself and put in a few stitches if you can.

Stitches:

Today I am posting s few stitch diagrams that you may have since some were posted in the last 2-4 years. Sorry I don’t have samples for these stitches but will try to stitch a few before the New Year and show the samples in my next post.

First I have a Tree Darning pattern. Work the pattern either horizontally as numbered or vertically, just be consistent in your stitching. A pale green Petite Silk Lame, SP154, would look lovely.

Tree Darning Pattern

Next up is a Bargello pattern which would work for trees, shrubs, background.

Bargello Tree

This next pattern was given to me by Kimberly Smith of a Kimberly Design. It is a lovely String Art tree which she designed. Thanks for allowing me to post your design Kimberly! It is fairly small and could be placed anywhere on your canvas. You could also create your own Christmas card by stitching 2 or 3 trees in different colors and using a pre-made card to frame it.

Stitched sample with tree trunk wrapped and sequin star placed.

Kimberly’s String Art Tree

Friends Stitching:

I am very fortunate to have wonderful friends who allow me to show off their stitching.

The following ornaments were stitched by my friend Cheryl Roler Timko. Enjoy her lovely stitching.

Santa by Maggie. Stitch Guide by Amy Bunger with modifications by Cheryl.

Santa with Polar Bears pulling Sleigh, by Under the Rainbow.

Associated Talents Star, Nashville Needleworks in house custom painted name ornaments.

The Associated Talents ornament is fabulous in person, all the white is beaded. Beads don’t tend to show up well in photographs. Nashville Needleworks custom painted Cheryl’s Daughter’s, Son-in-Law, and Grandchildren’s names on the purple and blue ornaments.

Well folks I hope you all have a wonderful holiday and all the best for the New Year 2019! Not sure if I will get all my traditionally house cleaning done but I do have Scottish shortbread in the house for good luck.

This past weekend my brother Mark came to visit from Burlington, Ontario. This was a wonderful Christmas present spending a weekend with him, you can’t get any better present than that. Thanks for coming Mark!😍

Mark and Mary Elaine at Masthead Brewery.

Calendar:

Here is a calendar for everyone for 2019.

2019 Calendar ©123rf.com

Kitty Tales:

Tango continues to take every opportunity to steal food! Last night the laundry room was accidentally left open and the girls treats were on the washing machine, well of course that was just too much temptation, so approximately 30 treats were eaten by dear Tango.

Blackie was in a fight with the nasty orang tabby and I believe he won. But I had to wash his wounded head, luckily it was a minor injury and it has healed. I checked him all over last night. He is Beardie’s protector.

Blackie, Beardie’s protector.

Beardie posing for me!

Christmas Palm Tree

I have never forgotten my time in HI, and my Christmas Palm Tree is up all year round. It comes downstairs at Christmas and is in my office the rest of the year.

That’s it for today folks, Merry Christmas (Mele Kalikimaka) and a Happy New Year if I don’t talk to you before! Make a little time to stitch.

Sheena😻

Cheers to a fun Month!

6 December, 2018 By: Catlady

Aloha All,

How did December roll in so quickly? I want to wish those who celebrate Hanukkah a wonderful week. The rest of us are getting ready for Christmas and the Big Man’s arrival🌲🎅

Today I have the privilege of showing my friend Cheryl Roler Timko’s lovely assortment of ornaments. Cheryl stitches multiple ornaments every year to give to family members. I am impressed she stitches so many since I will be lucky to get two pieces finished this year, and that is my goal!

Stitch:

Before the photo show, I want to give you todays stitch, Corduroy Variation. I picked this stitch because it gives a striped effect. This works nicely with Dracula’s trousers.

You know I haven’t been stitching or writing Stitch Guides for quite a long time. I run stitch ideas past friends via email or text message. My friend Jane, aka Chilly Hollow Needlepoint Adventure has been the recipient of several emails regarding Dracula😀. I was just referring to Dracula as Dracula. Finally I sent a photo of Dracula’s vest with small round pearls, to be used for buttons. Voila, inspiration lead to “Dapper Dan” being born. Without further ado here is Corduroy Variations.

I stitched the sample with three plies of Gloriana Overdyed silk. This sample was stitched on the side of the canvas because the vest is black. We all know seeing actual stitch definition with black on black is difficult. I wanted you to see the stitch with the striped effect.

Stitched sample of Corduroy Variations.

The top row is stitched exactly as charted above. The stitch on the left side of the first row, is the left side of the vest. I was going to use the stitch on the right for the right side of the vest. Note this second stitch on the top row looks upside down. I stitched a third sample below but started the stitch with the Elongated Tent stitch instead of the tent stitch. Now the stitch appears as a ‘V” like the first stitch on the top row (“V is for Vampire…”). Why does this change make the stitch appear like and upside down “V”. You are still stitching in the same direction just changing the stitch order, Elongated Tent then tent stitch. I have not had a stitch change appearance like this before. If anyone can shed light on this question I would love to hear from you. Email: [email protected].

Stitch Sample with Accoutrement magnet.

I am showing my wonderful Dracula magnet to give you an idea of the stitch size. It is a small stitch but perfect for Dapper Dan’s Vest. I will also add a vertical row of cross stitches over one thread in the middle, round pearl beads will be used for buttons.

Dapper Dan (Dracula by. Shelly Tribbey)

Stitched Finished Canvases:

Let the fun begin! Woo Hoo, I am so fortunate to have wonderful friends that allow me to share their work! Thanks Cheryl Roler Timko for this picture show. You are an amazing stitcher! This year to date Cheryl has stitched 20 ornaments and a total of 24 canvases. This is a little less than her 34 canvases last year! Boy, I would love to be able to stitch 5 pieces in one year, I don’t think I can say that I have ever stitched more than a handful of canvases in one year.

If you click on the photo it should enlarge.

Pained Pony “Silver Bells” & “Owls”.

Snowman by The Collection, and Snowman with ornament by Rebecca Woods, A Collection of Design Snowmen

Associated Talents Tree & unknown designer.

Augusta by Kirk & Bradley, I Believe by Painted Pony, & Chief Wahoo by Raymond Crawford.

Stocking Cuff by Strictly Christmas, this is for Cheryl’s youngest granddaughter, psst, she is 4 now!

Two White Angels by Griffen Designs

Front and Back of Angel by Griffen Designs

School Bus by Studio Midwest.

Stop Sign side of School Bus by Studio Midwest.

Miami University, Ohio.

That ends our photo stitching tour, courtesy of Cheryl😸

Kitty Tales:

Well Tango continues to be the food prowler. Turn your back for one minute and he will be in the sink grabbing anything available🙀

Last weekend the sink was left unattended for maybe 5 minutes. It was long enough for Tango to jump in grab a pineapple pancake and pull it down to his basement lair. While in the basement he ate half the pancake leaving the other half to be found! At least if he ate the whole thing we wouldn’t know, but no, he leaves the evidence. Last night he got a little piece of onion, thankfully he left it in his lair and didn’t eat it!

Tango on the heating vent!

Blackie is now coming when I call his name, so that is progress. I also pet him at every meal. The girls are all angels, the boys are definitely trouble makers, well Noe has her moments especially when she wants to be fed and starts crying at the bedroom door!

Blackie has filled out over the last year!

Can I get more relaxed!

Beardie thinking, “I can look like Blackie to get some more food!”

I love my new cat tree, this is the best feather!

Well folks that’s it for today. If you would like your finished canvases to be shown feel free to send me a photo.

Me, I am going to continue working on Dapper Dan and my Heidi ornament. Hopefully both will be completed this year!

Sheena 😻

Have a Merry Christmas!

Snowman hot chocolate.
©123rf.com

Let the Craziness Begin

3 November, 2018 By: Catlady

Aloha All,

Halloween is now over for the year, let the Christmas Craziness begin. The Christmas movies are playing on the Hallmark Chanel, stores are marketing pre Black Friday sales, and I would love a few more weeks of Halloween. I vote we keep Halloween until mid November then start the Christmas craziness. It seems the stores are decorating earlier and earlier every year. Mind you this could also be an indicator that I am getting older 🙀😁

Stitch:

Today’s stitch inspiration came from Amy’s October/November newsletter. I have always loved Slide Stitches and the Slide Variation was perfect for my Vampire cape. Shelly released some fun small coffin Halloween designs this year. I read Shelly’s guide then stitched Dracula, using her guide as a launching pad.

I had fun deciding which threads and Slide Variation I wanted to stitch for the look that I had in my head.

I took photos of two stitches that I auditioned and the threads I thought would look good.

Initial Sample:

Slide Variation samples. Bottom stitch looks like a fence.

These first two samples were stitched using two strands of Petite Silk Lame for the long stitches and 2 plies of Soie d’Alger for the short stitch.

Sample stitched on the painted canvas.

On blank canvas the stitch that lined up horizontally looked great. I was surprised at how different the stitch looked on painted canvas. Instead of looking like Dracula’s cape lining, the top stitch looked like the inside of a coffin. Not the look I wanted! The moral of the story is that the painted canvas does change the look of a stitch.👻

I stitched a few rows, wasn’t thrilled with the look so trialed the second Slide Variation. This was perfect, just a little short so I increased the vertical stitches to go over 5 threads. I became the frog and ripped out the stitches and started again!🐸 I do believe ripping builds character!😸. Mind you, I don’t need extra character all the time! LOL…

Slide Variation 1×5 & 1×3.

The chart shows how to stitch the right and left side of the cape. I also included a shorter Slide Variation in case you want to alternate rows, or change to over 3 threads closer to the bottom of the cape.

Stitched sample of the right side of Dracula’s Cape.

As you can see, I really do love my magnets🧛‍♂️

The long vertical stitches were stitched with two strands of red Floche. The short slide stitches are stitched using one strand of a darker red Floche with one strand of Accentuate.

Now that half of Dracula’s cape is complete I will bead a little more on my Heidi ornament. I will go ahead and alternate canvases until they are both complete. Next year my goal is to have a Needlepoint Cemetery to go with my Department 56 Halloween Train set and graveyard👻☠️

So I have answered my own blog question and I will be stitching mostly Halloween for the upcoming year!😁

Clubs:

First up is my magnet of the month from the Magnet Maven Club.

Octobers Monthly Magnet.

What a fun geometric design, happy colors!

The Monster Mayhem club ended but I did join the Halloween Mystery from Ruth Schmuff of Bedecked & Beadazzled. I am just a sucker for Halloween!

Mysteries:

Ghost Collage is on 13 ct canvas and is fairly small, this should be a quick stitch. I won’t start this until I have my current ornaments finished and a little more stitching completed on Frida.

Ghost Collage by Ruth Schmuff.

Along with a fabulous glow in the dark magnet you get this lovely thread bag to hold your project fibers. This mystery just started and the last class is this Sunday. Seems way too short for me. I would love the mystery to span 3 classes.

Unfortunately with Christmas right around the corner, Ruth’s new Christmas Nutcracker Mystery will be starting December 2nd, 2018. What a great choice for the Christmas mystery since the new Nutcracker movie is being released this month!

Kitty Tales:

With the cooler wet weather, the kitty crew has been frisky. Beardie is running around outside and the inside crew are also chasing each other.

Last night I knew something was going on outside. I had just fed Blackie, when all of a sudden, Tango and Noe were staring intently out the sliding glass door. They weren’t attacking the window like they do when Blackie shows up for dinner. No, they were just mesmerized! I had to see what was going on and there on the stoop starting to eat kibble was a Skunk! I gently shooed it off the step since I didn’t want to get sprayed and I didn’t want Beardie and Blackie sprayed! It did scamper off, but I now have to be more cautious at dusk and bring in the kibble as soon as Blackie has eaten. Blackie isn’t on the same time schedule as the regular kitty crew who demand dinner at 3pm. No, Blackie shows up around 7pm for dinner. He is always waiting in the morning.

Beardie looking pretty!

Tango loves all the heat vents and can generally be found lying over one when the heat is on.

Princess Noe on her comfy throne.

Can I get into a more comfortable position?

Blackie asking for more food in the morning.

My final photo of the day is our Burning bush in the backyard, so beautiful at this time of year😸

Burning Bush.

That’s all for today folks! Do what you love and stitch a little. Will show Dracula and Heidi ornament updates next!

Sheena

A Halloween Extravaganza!

22 October, 2018 By: Catlady

Aloha All,

This year is whizzing by! I have my Halloween decorations out and the front door is decorated. Todays special treat is a fabulous Halloween needlepoint display, stitched by my good friend Tess! Woo Hoo! What inspiration! One day I would love to have all the Poison Bottles by Kirk & Bradley stitched as well. Tess only has eight more bottles to stitch and her set is complete!🎃. So this is a Halloween Extravaganza!! I hope you enjoy the show!👻☠️

Stitch:

Before we start the photo show I want to give you todays stitch which is a Laid Batwing Variation.

Laid Batwing Variation.

This is a fairly large elegant stitch.

Stitched Laid Batwing Variation. Rotate the chart to create the stitch below.

Chart Rotated ¼ turn.

The stitch goes over 15 threads horizontally and up 8 threads vertically. I stitched the sample using one strand of Neon Rays+ Glow in the Dark for the laid stitch. Then I stitched the Batwing Variation with one strand of grey/blue Glisten. There are 7 threads between the rows.

I must confess I do like Glisten. Initially I thought it was a heavy thread but it stitches beautifully and I like the shine to it. I prefer this to the regular Silk Lamé for 18 count.

Third row smaller stitched sample of Laid Batwing Variation.

I used the same threads for the last stitch in the sample, but changed the size making it slightly smaller and added a row of Glow in the Dark Beads. The magnet should give you an idea of how large the stitches are. The smaller stitch would work well on a medium or small canvas. The beads are strung then tacked down every second bead. The beads are 11/0. One day they will hopefully make these Glow in the Dark beads in a smaller size!

Halloween Needlepoint Display:

I want to give a round of applause to my friend Tess! She is a very talented stitcher who actually finishes multiple projects each year. Wish I had her energy! She also creates her own stitch guides.

Thanks Tess!

Now for the show!🎃👻☠️

Tess’s Halloween Display!

Pumpkin display.

Ruth Chow stitched pumpkin and Wollman Needlepoint pumpkins.

Tess has a wonderful collection of Heirloom Wollman Needlepoint canvases. These Heirloom Needlpoint pumpkins go on sale on a Thursday from September 1 through November 3rd. You have to be quick since they sell out usually the day they are posted! The sale starts at 3pm central time, good luck trying to obtain one! I do have one of these lovely pumpkins thanks to my wonderful friend.

Next up are close up photos of Tess’s Poison Bottles!

Evil Spirit

Rat Tails stitched by Tess🎃

Pickled Bandages stitched by Tess🎃

Boiled Bugs stitched by Tess😸

Frogs Breath stitched by Tess.

Finally a Shelly Witch and Skull cupcake.👻🎃. I do love the Skull cupcake and had a skull and bones magnet as my magnet of the year!

Shelly Witch stitched by Tess

Shelly Skull Cupcake stitched by Tess☠️💀

Last but not least a lovely Owl!👻🎃. I believe this is a JP owl.

Halloween Owl Stitched by Tess🦉

If you have any Halloween canvases you would like me to display send me a comment and I will display it before Halloween!

Well folks that’s all for today, I hope you enjoyed the Stitch and Halloween Extravaganza!

Until next time, stitch a little when you can and have a Happy Halloween!🎃

Sheena

PS. A kitty photo!

My beautiful Stimpy

Them Bones

9 October, 2018 By: Catlady

Aloha All,

I hope you are enjoying some beautiful Autumn weather wherever you are😁 Here in Northeast Ohio we are having summery weather with temperatures in the mid 80’sF. Regardless of the weather Halloween is nearly here. I brought my Halloween Tree downstairs and look at it all day.

Halloween Tree

Stitch:

Todays stitch would look fabulous as a background for a Day of the Dead canvas. Stitch Bones randomly for a fun look. Play with the stitch by changing the size and spacing. Paws Darning pattern is re-posted since I thought it would be fun mixed in with Dog Bones.

I diagramed bones when my friend Jane asked if I had a Dog Bone stitch. Jane of Chilly Hollow Needlepoint Adventure was helping one of her readers find a stitch. I did have a Dog bone chart but had never stitch it. When I did stitch it, I really didn’t think it was that great, it wasn’t bad just not what I had imagined. So this new chart took a few trials. My friend Maria helped with the size. First it was too small, then too big and finally I got just the size I was looking for😸

Here is todays stitch, Dog Bones & Paws Darning. Thanks ladies for your help with this fun stitch😻

Dog Bones.

Stitched Bones Sample

The sample above was stitched using one strand of Rainbow Gallery Petite Sparkle Rays. The ladybug magnet is 1 ½ inches in length, the stitch is a medium-sized background stitch.

Column of Bones.

Turn the chart and you have a column of Bones which would make an interesting border.☠

Paws Darning pattern.

Paw Prints Darning Pattern

To see the stitched samples of the different Paws darning patterns go to my original post.😸🐶

Project:

I promised to show my work as I move steadily toward a finish.

Heidi Ornament

I am slowly beading each letter. The beaded look is lovely. My background is complete and is stitched using one strand of Petite Silk Lamé.

I have also stitched a few more basketweave rows of Frida but since it doesn’t look that different I will show progress on this next time.

Now what do you think I should do, stitch Halloween all year or stitch in season like I tend to do? I have been thinking it would be really fun to only stitch Halloween for the next year👻🎃

Kitty Tales:

Well folks I was asked to show a few more kitty pictures, so today I am featuring the whole gang of kitty characters that I look after.

Blackie has been coming regularly every evening for dinner, he is sometimes in the backyard waiting for breakfast but not always. I think if he catches a mouse or chipmunk, he skips breakfast, but fills up on 2 cans of food and kibble.

Blackie filling out.

He is filling out nicely.

Beardie very rarely leaves the property these days. She did pop in a few nights ago to visit with her girls. Oh, and I found a lot of feathers yesterday afternoon, but nothing else! Beardie wasn’t hungry at dinner time….Hmm…😋

Beardie posing as requested😸

You would never know it but Tango has been getting regular exercise. Noe chases him when he comes up from the basement every morning, jumping from chair to floor and all over the living room, before breakfast.

Tango actually looked at the camera!

Noe is my most vocal girl, she talks to me every morning, wish I could understand her, I think she is telling tales or demanding breakfast.

Noe loves Blackie.

Noe sits and watches Blackie every night.

Stimpy loves to lounge in her tree in the sun.

Both girls sometimes sit on top of the couch right behind me.

Peace!

Neither Stimpy or Noe like me stitching in the evening, I am supposed to be petting them! Occasionally they allow me to stitch.😸

Well folks that’s it for today. Take some time out and stitch a little when you can.

I hope you enjoy todays stitches and my kitty tales😸. Let me know if I should go ahead and stitch Halloween all year from now….

Sheena😻

PS. I actually drove the short distance to get myself a Starbucks, how is that for progress! It is only 3 miles round trip, so it wasn’t too challenging!