More Framing, Pt 2

Finishing up what I started yesterday, here are (most) of the rest of my current framing adventures...

First up is Glendon Place's Mixed Berry Cheesecake.  I still flove it to death, and although the picture makes it look greenish, the frame is actually silver with plummy accents:

Next is my beloved Dracula.  It's hanging in the bedroom (I had a perfect spot for it).  It has the same 'double frame' style that Tapestry does, with the black frame with red scrollwork acting as a mat to the regular black frame around it.

And finally, Regal Peacocks by Teresa Wentzler.  I started this in 2000 and finished in 2001.   I really liked the same inner frame we used with Tapestry for this one;  people who have seen it in person really like the piece overall, which also makes me feel good about it.

I remember, once upon a time, that a friend came to visit my place with her son.  She was someone I met on the TWBB, and because I had nothing on the walls remotely resembling stitching, the son remarked "I thought she was a stitcher?" or something along those lines to her.   I'm happy to say that if anyone came to visit my place now, they would definitely know that a stitcher lives there, and that makes me happy.

Desert Sunrise, Sunrise II, and Sunset (a kind of TBT)

I didn't get a chance to show off my finished Desert Sunrise, because I finished it and handed it off for framing at Nick's.  I did get her back, and the sister pieces!

I bought the three Desert pieces from Fireside Originals at Ginger's Needlework in Austin when I lived there in the late 90s.   I finished the first one in 2001 on the recommended Feather Blue(?) 18 ct aida.  Years later I decided I wanted to do them on evenweave because I don't like the look of aida when it shows in the piece.   The problem is that I couldn't find a perfect match with the Feather Blue aida, and because I don't have an LNS, I ended up having a lot of different 36ct blueish greys - I stick to the 36ct because I really wanted all three pieces to be the same size. 

Nick is (of course) a genius and came up with this stunning framing combo.  I didn't even realize that mat cores came in some of these colors.  All of the black mats have different colored cores, and he matched as well as he could, and I think they came out great.  The rough country wood look to the frame is just perfect.  Even the OtherHalf really liked them.

I can't wait to figure out a place to hang all three of these beauties.   Arizona is one of the places I'd be happy to move back to.

This is Desert Sunrise, by Fireside Originals; Finished in 2001

Desert Sunrise II; Finished 2017

And my very favorite, finished this year; and part of the Year of WIPs :)
Desert Sunset; Finished 2018

So those are my three beauties.  I think I know where I'm going to hang them, but I'm still cogitating on whether I think it's a prominent enough spot, because I'm super proud of these.

TBT - Texas!

In "honor" of the upcoming Fourth holiday, I thought I would show off some older patriotic designs.   Because I lived in Texas for so long (long enough that everyone, including myself, considers me a Texan), we'll call these Texas pieces "patriotic."

Hey, if you've ever been in Texas, you'll understand.

These are by Lorraine Koester of Redbird Designs.  I really did like her stuff, and she even had a DMC(?) freebie for a while.  I'm not sure (I don't think?) she's still designing, but I hope I'm wrong.

The first is "Texas"   I did it on a light blue murano.   It actually hung in my favorite stitching shop in Houston (Stitchcraft) for a while.    I did it for that longhorn. I finished it on 5.25.2001

The second is "Texas Monthly Minis"  I went ahead and stitched it as a whole piece instead of individual ornaments (which is how I kept seeing it displayed).  I really like this monthly series and I think it's a lot of fun, and a nice take on the different seasons/holidays.   I think my favorite block is the Thanksgiving Turkey with its cowboy hat, though February was my favorite to stitch.  I would stitch one little block per month and officially finished it on January 7, 2007.   I think this was about the time variegated fibres really started taking off, and I think they worked well in this piece.

So there's another Throwback Thursday.   I'm looking forward to this long weekend (no more holiday work! YAY!)

Throwback Thursday - The Sorcerer and Sorceress

I know it's a day late, but yesterday was a snow day, which means uber hard work, because not a lot of employees made it in, so we worked our tails off (I sweat through my clothes - ew!)

But I'm here with my TBT!

Two pieces, because they complement each other; they are oldies, but goodies!.

The first one is The Sorcerer, a small kit by Dimensions that I stitch in 1999.   I framed it using a sticky board (I didn't know how bad they were at the time, but hey, it's not like this is an heirloom piece, so I don't mind!) and a frame from Michaels.   Oddly, it's a non-glare glass, so it is slightly mottled, but it's nice for taking a a face-on picture.

This piece has hung in every place I've lived since 1999.  The apartments, the duplex, the houses, the townhomes.  Every single one.

I used all kit materials, and I had fun with the french knots.   I remember sitting on the floor pillow that my grandma made for me, in my little efficiency apartment in Houston.   I was working my first "adult/real world" job with MD Anderson and spend a lot of time either on my computer with the TWBB, on mIRC, or just sitting on the floor (or in the papasan) stitching.    It was a special (if poor ;) ) time.

A couple of years later, I saw the Sorceress kit at Michaels, too, and decided to finish it as a companion piece for the Sorcerer.    It has always hung above/below/besides the Sorcerer, though I was bummed that I couldn't find the same frame.   I don't feel the need to reframe them to match, though.

Unfortunately, it's nice and shiny glass, so harder to get a direct picture of.   I used all kit materials again, and she was finished 3/6/2001, after I started keeping a diary for my cross stitch pieces.   By this time, I was still at MD Anderson, but in a nicer apartment with an actual hand-me-down couch! I actually used my floss storage system for end tables.

As a total aside,  I was crazy jealous of the framing (SoCal) Debbie did of the finished pieces last year that she was giving to a friend.

So that's this week's TBT.  
Here's a shot of what I was driving through to get to work yesterday - it's a lot better now (except for the ice), but a lot of trees are still snapping and coming down.  I hope my friends get power back today.  I'm in North Carolina - I'm not supposed to be dealing with this! (if the state of the foliage is any indication, we shouldn't have to deal with this very often!)  I'm looking forward to tomorrow - no matter what the state of the roads or weather, I don't have to go anywhere if I don't want to!

Framing Part 3 - Tywyn Sampler

I cannot, for the life of me, remember when I bought Tywyn Sampler.   I do know I was living in Austin, so sometime between 1996 and 1999, most likely.   I picked it up from Gingers, which at the time was a fantastic cross stitch shop, but has sadly closed.   They were on the bus route from UT, so I could visit without any problems.     I actually bought the chart with the threadpack, so it came with all of the fibres and silver dragon charm in it.

It was my first major silk piece, and it was also my very first cut work.  

I stitched it in 2001 and this piece was an utter joy to stitch from beginning to end.  I love the variegated silks and all of the fun specialty stitches, and the alphabet was fun, too (I used the Welsh instead of the English - though both were charted so you could choose).

I'm also thrilled that I could include my name in the piece as part of a band, rather than having to find some unobtrusive corner to stick my initials in.

Please excuse the overload, this is one of my favorite pieces of all time, and the frame job on it is even better than I thought it would be (not that I wasn't there when everything was picked out, but seeing it all together is just jaw droppingly gorgeous in my opinion)

The whole piece, on the wall... that paint shifts from that tan to a grey in the light and I love the piece on it.