"Pumpkins" Needlework Case, Biscornu and Fob

Oh, it has been so long since I posted last. It's really hard to go back to every day routine, it just takes some time to get used to things which we normally do not notice. And one more important thing happened during this long time of silence - I became a multi-kid-ttens mom. I will tell you about them next time and will take some pictures of my kid-ttens, could not take a single good picture of them because they are wild!
If I did not post, that does not mean that I did not work. I've prepared something to show to you today.
I continued working on "Pumpkins" designs and created the needlework case, scissor fob. I also made some changes in the biscornu pattern and made the back side for it.
Here is "Pumpkins" collection I have been working on.
It looks like a pumpkin patch, doesn't it? I do not know how about you but I love pumpkins! No, not to eat! I love to look at them. No matter how big or small they are - they always make me smile - so cheerful they are! Oh, well, back to "Pumpkins" collection.
This is how "Pumpkins" Biscornu look now:It has two sides and I made a few pins to embellish the biscornu.
Then goes "Pumpkins" Scissor Fob:
Last but not least - "Pumpkins"Needlework Case, its front:
and its back:
It took me a long time to finish it because I could not find the right fabric, ribbon, buttons. After lots of thinking I made the best with what I had. This is the inside of the case:
"Pumpkins" Set includes everything a stitcher needs to work on a project:
If you are interested in buying any of my designs, please contact me. My e-mail is in my Profile.
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If you remember in my previous post I promised a prize for a stitcher who first sends me pictures of the finished "Pumpkins" biscornu. A few days ago Mylene sent me pictures of her work. She made a wonderful job on it, didn't she?
I sent "Pumpkins" beaded fob to Mylene and I also made these pins for her biscornu. Thank you for your pretty work, Mylene!* ** * * *
I made some new beaded scissor fobs, from left to right:
Black Cat, Black Sheep and Frog scissor fobs.
You can also place an order for fobs with me. My e-mail is in my Profile.
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Last time I promised to show you some picture from my trip.
In my town people like to go for walks. The next day when I arrived home my son and his girl friend took me to the Central Park. Here are some pictures from the park. Water always attracts people, it is so tranquil to walk and to look at the water waves and listen to their soft sound.


I also like pretty clouds, especially at sunset...
In the Central Park there is our local History Museum. I took very many pictures of needlework exhibits, so many that I had to change the batteries in my camera.
Most of the works exhibited there are cross stitch, some works have some specialty stitches or crochet lace. But there were some needlework pieces made in the technique unknown for me. They might be kind of hand weaving.
For today I chose a picture of a cross stitch work, I guess it is about 200 years old. What is interesting about these old pieces is that the crosses are rather big and they were not crossed in the same direction.
If this kind of pictures are of any interest for you, let me know please and I will show you some more pictures next time.
Traditionally I finish the post with a flower picture, I took it during the walk in the Central Park.
I want to thank everyone who leaves comments and sends e-mails to me, thank you for your time and kind words. This kind of feedback is so important for me.
Hugs and Happy stitching to you!

Home Sweet Home

Home sweet home... Well, it's almost two weeks since I came back home and have been fighting jet lag since then. I think most of you will agree with me that when you go back home, the trips do not seem so long and boring especially if you meet pleasant people. Talks helped to make long flights shorter but they did not put too much stitches into Mary Wigham sampler. Next time I will show you my progress on the sampler, now I have so many other things to blog about.
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During my stay with the family I could find some time for meeting with my friends, cross stitching, designing and even for blogging a little. If you remember in my first post from Russia, I posted some pictures of my home town and asked you if you could say what part of Russia I am from. I got only one answer to my question. But what an answer it was!
It turned out that H. ( she does not have a blog yet) lives in my home town! And, of course we met ( not once) and exchanged e-mails and telephone calls. We used to live so close to each other for such a long time, we have so much in common but our lives were going parallel to each other. Thanks to my blog we met, at last!
The new designs "Sunflowers" were inspired by H. 's personality.There are already three items in this collection but I can't show them all in one picture because two first items I gave as tokens of our friendship to my new friend. The collection started with this pinkeep:
then followed the Zigouigoui:
and the scissor fob:All three "smalls" can be used as seasonal ornaments, place them somewhere at your computer table, in the kitchen or in your car - they will sure bring a smile on your face.

The camera does not do justice to the pieces - the weather has been so rainy here. The colors are more true to life in the scissor fob pictures. I will replace the pictures when I get better light conditions.

The design for this ornament was inspired by Quaker patterns. At first I wanted to make it blue to match the "Snowflake" ornaments which I had made before but being so far from my stitching room I could not find the right shade of Blue and stitched the ornament in Red. To my mind it looks very festive in this color:
All the "smalls" that I designed and stitched in Russia stayed there. I gave them to my friends; and my mother loved this ornament - now it is in her room.
If you are interested in buying any of my designs, please contact me.
My e-mail address is in my Profile.
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Lately I've made some beaded Scissor Fobs and matching Count Needles. The fob collection which you see in the picture is called Autumn Colors. It includes (from left to right):
"Autumn Leaves" - first two fobs; "Autumn Colors" - next three fobs; "Pumpkin" -the sixth fob; "Halloween" - last two fobs.
You can place an order the fobs and count needles with me. Send an e-mail to me please.
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Now to the fun part :-)....
My little frog Froggy is willingly helping me with some more designs.
I'd like to thank my customers and followers of my blog for staying with me.
This is also a good chance for the followers to come out of hiding and say "Hi" :-) . This "Halloween" design is a gift for you. The offer will last till October 24.

The first stitcher who will finish the design as charted and send me pictures of the completely finished project (an ornament, flatfold, pillow, etc.), will get a beaded scissor fob as a reward from me.
In order to get "Halloween" design e-mail me, my address is in my Profile.

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"Pumpkins" Biscornu is a complimentary design with purchasing any of my designs in October. The first stitcher, who will finish the design as charted and send me pictures of the complete biscornu, will get a beaded scissor fob as a reward from me.
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I also want to show a gift which I recieved from hohla , Olga . Back in April she had a Blogaoniversary give away and I was one of the lucky winners. Look at what I got.
Olga designed and made this very pretty scissor pocket. She is very talented!
The fabric which you see in the picture is hand dyed by her too. I am going to stitch something very special on it.
In the pictures you can see the extras which hohla also sent for me.
Olga, thank you very much for your generous gift, I love them all!

I'd also want to thank Violette for passing me an award. It's a great honor to receive it from this amazing stitcher and such a great artist. I love Violette 's
water-colors very much.
Oh, I know, this is a long post. here are some wild flowers for you to enjoy.
I will show you pictures from my trip in my next post.
Stay tuned!Happy stitching to everyone!

Back Home!!!

Today I am taking a trip back home. Time flies and two months have passed like one day.
This time was filled with with so many wonderful and unforgotable meetings with my family, friends and colleagues.
I am bringing lots of pictures, new designs and, of course, a lot of pleasant impressions. I will show you pictures and designs later, when I come back home.
Today just a few pictures, I hope you enjoy them.
My Marry grew a little more. You can see that she had been studying Russian crafts and here she is posing with her new friends.My TUSAL jar got some more stuff and looks pretty, doesn't it?I'd like to thank all my readers and followers who still keep coming to my blog. I miss "real blogging" very much and I know I have a lot to catch up with and I am looking forward to visiting your blogs again.
Happy stitching to everyone!
My next post will already be from home :-) .

My First Post From Russia

My dear friends and readers of my blog,
I want to thank you for the good wishes you sent to me and my mother. We both appreciate this. I promise to answer all e-mails I got from you in a couple of days.

Well, my trip was rather long, about 40 long hours, with three connection flights. One hour delay due to technical reasons was such "a sweet addition" to all the worries I had. The only entertainment I had during the trip was Mary Wigham's Sampler. Mary behaved very well, no frogs visited us! You can see the progress on the sampler a little below.
My mother is doing much better now, actually she already felt better when she learned that I was coming. :-) We had appointments with some doctors and changed her medications - all these brought some good results. I also want to thank my friends who gave me geat advice on taking care of elderly people.
It took me some time to get my laptop hooked up here. I have to share the Internet with my son that is why I can visit only 2-3 blogs a day.
On the stitching front:I made a birthday gift for one of my friends and colleagues. She visited my blog and among the designs she loved was "Hearts" Sewing Set. I bought a box for her and embellished its top with "Hearts" design which includes some specialty stitches and beads. ( If you do not like specialty stitches and beads, there is always an option to put simple crosses instead).
This design can also be made into an ornament.
If you are interested in buying my designs, please contact me. My e-mail is in my Profile.
* * * * *And here is my progress on M. Wigham's Sampler:I enjoy stitching it very much. And while I am here, so far from home and my stitching room this kind of stitching is just what I can do best. Cross stitch is not so popular in Russia. And though there are many cross stitch stores here they mostly sell charts of pictures and cross stitch kits with Aida.
Two years ago I bought a kit here and when my husband had to leave for home and I had to stay here for some more time to finish our paper work, I stitched this still life twice: the first picture went to my father - I never thought my father would like a cross stitch picture but he did! I stitched one more picture and my friend asked for it. It took me 15 days to stitch them both and every time I intended to present it to my husband but it never happened. Maybe one day I will stitch it again :-)) .I am very late with my TUSAL report - I am so sorry. Here is my new container for this important SAL:I also want to show some pictures which I took during walks in my native town:
This is one of the needlework exhibits in our History museum. I took some more pictures of cross stitch, crochet and needlework exhibits. But maybe it's better to show them in my next post.

The museum also has a rich collection of butterflies, crystals, animals and fish, etc.
Traditionally I finish the post with a flower picture. I took a picture of these wild flowers during a walk in the forest last Friday.

I wonder if you can guess which part of Russia I am from.
Happy stitching to everyone!

"Strawberries" Biscornu and more...

I promised to make "Strawberries " Biscornu design a little while ago and I also intended to try different styles in my "Strawberries" Collection.
Today I am ready to show two designs, they again look like a little set:"Strawberries" Biscornu:And "Strawberries" Scissor Fob. I thought it is a good idea to make the fob in the form of a strawberry:Some more items in this style will follow later.
If you are interested in buying any of my designs, please contact me.
My e-mail is in my Profile.
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One more finish, this is "Flowers Of Olde" by "With My Needle". I stitched it last summer and remember I enjoyed working on it very much. The design has some specialty stitches and over one stitching. Now I finished it into a pinkeep - I needed a birthday gift for someone :-).

Now on a different note...
My mother is not feeling well and is missing me badly so this coming Monday I am flying to Russia. I do not know yet how long I am going to stay there, it can be two months or more...
I am taking a laptop with me, though I do not like laptops, but it will help me to stay connected with all of you and I can continue working with my customers and visiting your Blogs.
Thank you for stopping by. Your comments are always appreciated.
Stay well and happy stitching to everyone.
Some pictures of the flowers for you and I am back to packing.

Strawberries, Queens Of Berries Huck Towel

I made "Strawberries" design for Huck towels produced by Charles Craft. The idea to stitches strawberries on this kind of towels belongs to Yoyo, she loves to stitch towels for herself and as Christmas presents for her loved ones.
I quite agree with her and Carla that a stitched towel or a jar cover or something else useful can be a great gift.I've already made some more designs for towels with another topic ( guess what?) because I really like how my kitchen and dining room look now with just a few stitchy things from my "Strawberries" Kitchen Set.
Back to the towel, here is a picture of it hanging on the stove:
I finished the towel with some checkered fabric and lace to make it look part of the Kitchen Set (2 towels, a bread cover, a jar cover):
If you are interested in buying any of my designs, please contact me.

My e-mail is in my Profile.

I stitched some more on MW sampler, I enjoy working on this sampler so much!
I try not to think about the mistakes in the pattern, I more think how the young girl managed to make up this big sampler without a computer or any cross stitch software - it's just amazing!
I joined one more SAL, this new SAL does not have any dead lines - it is stress free. The head girl is very hospitable and the SAL group is so pleasant. Well, I am speaking of TUSAL . Once a little glass box appeared on my stitching table and I thought that then I had to join that fun SAL and put my first floss snippets into the box. Here is what I created during the past month:
After the heat which we had this summer there are not many blooming flowers in the garden. I will show you only one flower picture, I love its color.
Today I saw a very big turtle in the garden, it was hot and the turtle was breathing so heavily. I gave her some cucumber and water and she drank some water! I've never seen them drinking before. I went home to take a camera and when I came back - there was no turtle anywhere! And we always think that turtles are very slow - mine was not!
And still I have some more pictures from the garden, look who visited us tonight:She was not alone, there was a baby raccoon with her! Look how shy it is!
Thank you for stopping by! Your comments are always appreciated!
Happy stitching to everyone!

"Strawberries, Queens Of Berries" Breadcover and More

Today I'd like to show you some more "Strawberries, Queens Of Berries" designs.
I promissed to show some new finishes for me. They are not new for you, many of you like to stitch these things and some of you are stitching them now.
I made a"Strawberries, Queens Of Berries" Kitchen Set which includes a jar cover, towel and breadcover.
For a long time I've wanted to make a jam jar cover. I remember my grandmother's jars looked so lovely with the white caps on them. My jar cover is a little more complicated than my grandmother's but I used almost the same kind of cord to wrap around the jar neck. :-)


Last year I bought several grab bags and in one of them there was a Charles Craft towel. I can't say that I was happy to see the towel in the grab bag and was thinking how to get rid of it.
The towel a year later:

Well, I love it now!

You can go to Yoyo blog and see her towel with my design. For stitching the tendrils she used Whipped Backstitch which made the tendrils look so real!

And one more piece in "Strawberries" Kitchen Set - a Breadcover. I made designs for two opposite corners:

It took a little longer to stitch and finish the towel and the breadcover because they must have a neat back and must able to withstand multiple washing.
The back is not perfect but very close to it. If you want to see a perfect back, you must go to blogs of Brazilian girls, they are so good at stitching towels!

Now I am working on "Strawberries" design for Charles Craft Huck Towels - the idea of which belongs to Yoyo. "Strawberries" Biscornu will go next.

If you are interested in buying any of my designs, please contact me.

My e-mail is in my Profile.

I stitched a little more on Mary Wigham's sampler. It is my car project and the sampler goes with me wherever we go. Everything I need for stitching is in this basket. In the picture you can also see my palette for the sampler.

I wanted very much to keep White in my Palette, I like White on White but it did not show up on my fabric. I frogged the white motif and restitched it in Antique Mauve, now I am quite happy with the substitution.Some pictures of Lilies, they are blooming in my garden now.
I want to thank everyone who left comments on the previous post.

Special, huge thank you to my friends for their support and understanding. Hugs,

Olenka's Stitches

"Strawberries, Queens Of Berries" Collection

I love all kinds of berries but strawberries have always been my favorites, they are like queens of berries for me. Today I will show you my new collection which is called "Strawberries, Queens Of Berries".I finished my "Strawberries" into a pinkeep and a framed picture:
After taking pictures the pinkeep was put into an envelope and now it is on its way to a new home. The framed picture is in my stitching room.
I plan to continue working on this collection and try to make "Strawberries" designs in different styles and I will make a biscornu and also try some new (for me) finishes. Some of the designs are already done, I only have to stitch them.
If you are interested in buying my designs, please, contact me.
My e-mail is in my Profile.
Now have a look at what I made for my husband for Father's Day. Not long ago my dear friend Mylene sent me Cross Stitcher # 212. When I was first browsing it I knew that one design was a must for me.

It is "Lighthouse" by Joan Elliott.
I enlarged it a little and added a boat and some-gulls. Now the picture sits on my husband's desk and reminds him that it is high time for us to go to the sea.

Now on so many blogs we can see WIPs of Mary Wigham Sampler, you can find more detail here - Needleprint. I have wanted to stitch a Quaker sampler for a long time and seing how pretty Mary's sampler is, I could not resist the temptation and started working on it last Sunday.

As you can see I am very much behind the main group, besides I do not have much free time. I decided to steadily stitch on the sampler when I find some time and at my own pace. I am stitching the sampler 1 x 1 on 26 count of unknown fabric ( got it in a grab bag) , the sampler is going to be less than 12" x 12". I reduced the number of floss colors and on my WIP it is seen that I started some motives just to see how well the colors go together. After I took the picture I frogged the stitching in white.
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I 've got an award! Claudia from casa cuori colori (if you have not visited her blog yet, you must do it, Claudia and her friends are so creative!) is passing "From Russia with Love" award to me:
Thank you very much Claudia, it's a great honor to get this award from you. I am passing this link of friendship in no particular order to:
Hohla Bliss Dany Yoyo Lia. My heartest congratulations ladies!
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I also want to thank you Mylene for this sweet card which we received just on the day of our wedding anniversary. It was such a pleasant surprise, Mylene, thank you!
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Well, on a quite different note...
To celebrate our anniversary I was going to make a giveaway, another gift design. But when I was working on, I found out that my design which I dedicated to my Mother's 80-th birthday, a gift design for a limited time, was abused. Now I am too too much upset to think about giveaways... I will, probably, never want to make another "free" design.
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Some pictures from the garden:

This is our Master Gardener, Friendic (Подружка - ru).

Thank you for visiting my blog, your comments and e-mails are always treasured and appreciated!

Happy stitching!

My Wedding Sampler

I was not going to stitch a wedding sampler but after we made some renovations in our bedroom we thought that we needed a picture for above the chest of drawers. And the picture must be neither too big nor too small, it can be square or sideways rectangular and ... . So I looked through all my stash and found Bucilla wedding sampler, I do not even remember how it made its way into my stash! But it was not a bad find! I substitued some colors of floss and beads, charted new words for its center. After the personification I like the sampler, my husband likes it too. Now he is glueing the frame for the sampler: we could not find the frame we liked and we decided we would make one ourselves.

I have some more finishes to show today.

So many bloggers stitched "Petites Lettres Rouges" sampler which Alma Allen, Blackbird Designs, offered free on her site. I especially liked the idea of dedicating the work to loved ones. I dedicated the sampler to my mother, made it into a sewing organizer and there I will be keeping some of the tools that my mother gave me. I stitched the sampler one over one and it is rather small but I turned it into a big piece - an organizer with many folds, pockets and other hiding places for notions, floss and charts. I hope it is convenient for trips, it can fit all necessary things for a few small project. I stitched a couple of hearts, it's clear what they symbolize and I stitched a bird - not very much sure what birds mean in samplers, probably, happiness or something else good, right? Anyway, my mother likes birds. And here is the organizer:

One more finish is "Rose", freeby by Niky from Niky's creations. This sweet design is also stitched one over one and I made it into a much smaller organizer ( for shorter trips ;-)) ).
Here I put my initials in the upper coner in front and stitched the funny bird on the back.
Here is the organizer inside and also beaded fobs made for the scissors for both organizers: I finished one more ornament for "Stitching for a Cure" project. It's Breast Cancer Awareness free design by Romy in Austria, Traditions with a Future.
Lia from Brazil and Mylene from the Netherlands stitched my design "A Russian Motif, Spring" and send me pictures of their lovely works. Lia made her ever first pinkeep and Mylene stitched 3 !!!biscornus:

Thank you dear friends for your wonderful work, I am pleased and honored to see my designs stitched by you. Huge hugs to both of you.
And at last some pictures from our garden (for those who are still here):

Does it look like a duck?
Thank you for stopping by, your comments are always treasured and appreciated. :-)

Have a great Sunday and happy stitching!

"Wisteria" designs and more...

The last two weeks were rather hectic here , besides our Internet did not work properly - now I am behind in reading the blogs. I want to thank those who left wonderful comments on my last post, I will visit your blogs in the next couple of days.

On the stitching front - there was not much time for stitching but I have something to show to you today.

First, I worked on "Wisteria" designs more and made two "Wisteria" Scissor Fobs:

I am pleased with how the fobs turned out and it seems the biscornu looks much happier now.

I participate in Christmas Challenge and decided to make my own design for this month. Here is "Christmas Lantern" Ornament :

If you are interested in buying my designs, please send an e-mail to me. My address is in my Profile

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I have not shown my progress on EMS "Rose Sampler" for a long time. I did not forget about it and keep on stitching on it from time to time.

I have not shown pictures of my dolls for a long time either. I played with two more dolls lately. Unfortunately, I do not know their designers and the names of the dolls are given by me. This one is Annabell, she got a new hair-do and new flowers for the hat and dress.

This is Monique, I also worked on her hair-do a little, still too much hair to my taste, lol

Annabell and Monique are sending "Hello" to their Italian friends from this blog http://passionevera.blogspot.com/2009/02/amici-per-sempre.html .

I was asked not to post new pitures of bugs and to show more flowers. Fine with me as I do not like bugs so much either. I prepared some pictures for you, they can be called "Tears Of Spring" or "A Garden In Red And White" :-)) .

Happy Mother's Day!!!!

Thank you for stopping by. Happy stitching to everyone!