Maynia fizzle, retail therapy, couple finishes, etc.

Hello everyone! Hope you're all doing well on this the start of the Memorial Day weekend, and if you're not in the U.S., that you are having a great day! 

I wanted to post before the end of May so here we go!

First, I received my exchange pynkeep today and it's wonderful!

This is Betsy's House by Plum Street Samplers. Filled with lizard sand, it'll go with all my other exchange pieces. I don't think Karen knows I have a blog but thanks Karen! 

Here is what (who?) I sent to Karen for the exchange..

This is Whittaker by Stacy Nash but I renamed him Maurice! I stitched him in colors that are Karen's favorites. I had to look at tie tying videos to do his tie! I don't know anyone that wears ties! I also sewed on a black felt heart on his back where scissors can be tucked into. 

So Maynia kind of went well. I had to stop to stitch up Maurice and was getting a tad bit stressed. I really modified the pattern and also stitched him on 32ct when the called for fabric is 36ct. I thought he was going to be huge! I had to squish his bod! He turned out to be a good size. Whew!

I got back to Maynia stitching but didn't get to the last 2 or 3 would-be starts. I tried the Blackbird designs freebie on black linen but just couldn't do it. I couldn't see plus the floss I used was really fuzzy. That was the 18th. My Maynia fizzled out right then and there! Couldn't go any further, haha! At least I lasted that long! 

Here is what progress I did get though..

Here's a better look at Christmas Bird. Two days of stitching there. 

Next up...

The picture is horrible but the fabric is WDW Grasshopper, a perfectly Grinchy green. I can get this one done. That is 1 evening of stitching. I want 6 ornaments for my daughter. I found out the words are from the first and older Grinch, part of what the narrarator says to describe the Grinch. Freebie by Daffycat/Sharon. Next up..

The BBD freebie Souvenir de France. On evenweave using a Ships Manor silk. I have left off the words

that are at the bottom and just turned the corner. I can finish this today after I'm done here. 

I had another new start but I've misplaced it.

I also had 2 Maynia finishes! First is Fall Owl that is found in a JCS Halloween preview issue. Super small, didn't take long. In the magazine, the date is on either side of his head but I left it off on mine..

And my favorite, All Hallow's Eve by Dulaney Woods Treasures..

I had frog troubles with the bottom legs of the H. I don't know if it was a designing mistake or what but I like symmetry so I had to get the legs to line up. I love it and the silk ribbon with it will be ruched for trim.

Psyche! My retail therapy consists of just 1 chart and 2 overdye flosses shown with fabric and other floss I already had..

One night sitting here bored, sore (bad knees and an old injury at 16 coming back to haunt me), scrolling through 123stitch, bought A Merry Hart with two skeins that I needed. I don't know if you do what I do with small sections on a pattern like a small leaf, I won't buy a floss for it but use instead the DMC equivalent. The called for fabric is 36ct Ale but instead I'll use the 36ct platinum and coffee dye it. So I think I'll be starting this one soon.

I counted all my WIPs recently and I have 22. Woohoo! A year ago I had over 30, so I'm doing well. I'm beginning to hear whispers coming from my WIP pile though. I want to finish some of the Maynia starts from here on out. Wish me luck!

So that's it! Thanks for stopping in. I don't plan on giving up on my blog anytime soon. Just putting that out there. I'm having fun! 

Take care!

Buon Giorno! Maynia!

Had to look up how to say Hello in Italian! Yes, I received my winnings from Simona Bussiglieri of Mani di Donna! The amazing thing is it took only 1 week from Italy to my doorstep. So here are the charts I received...

These two I didn't pick but it could be that the two I did pick she may not have had. Anyway, they're both brand new designs, out from Market. Beautiful sampler there on the left and quite large and the patriotic sampler on the right. I really do like them! The next two are what I picked...

I have long admired the Red Bank School sampler on the left and the Christmas drumkeep at right. I am happy this has been concluded. I was going to just forget that I ever won this contest! It's all good.

So today marks my 4th Maynia day since I'm starting something new every 2 days. Tonight I'll come home and grab a new project. On the 1st which was last Tuesday, I started Tribal Rooster..

I really love how this is turning out with that floss. I bought it a couple years ago just for this rooster. That is about 10 hours of stitching. This floss I'm using has huge areas of color so I've been 'manipulating' how and where I'm stitching so I can get all the different colors onto a space. I can't wait to get back to this.

Second day, last Thursday, I stitched on my exchange piece. I can't show it just in case but I am 3/4 of the way done and it's going to turn out great! I'm hoping the final finishing goes easy on me though!

My 3rd start on Saturday was All Hallow's Eve..

I just have the H, the steam from the cauldron, and the broom to stitch. I stayed up way past my bedtime stitching on this. It's a fun stitch. The dark floss is Valdani and it felt good. People on FB have saId the Valdani breaks on them but no problem here.

So that's it! I am off to work in another hour and I have a few more things to get done before I go.

Take care and have a great day and week!