EmnEllie Cross Stitch Blog

Happy Monday! I'm going to try something new on this blog. Instead of showing updates on my wip's and my rotation, I think I'll share more progress on the charts I'm designing for my shop. More progress pictures, and behind the scenes looks at my designing, and of course keep an eye out for free charts. Tell me what you think!       Red, Red Rose Bell Pull           My leftover Aida I've seen so many beautiful bell pull charts lately, so I thought I'd try my hand at designing one. I looked in my stash, and found that I had a funny sized piece of 18 count white aida. Aida is such a sturdy fabric. Waste is awful, never throw away your scraps of fabric, no matter how oddly shaped they are. You never know when you'll need them!   Next step; design! I chose a poem by Robert Burns, because I love the poem, and the floss color really complimented the motifs I would be using.    Robert Burns, Poet         Designing band...

Animal Crackers, and Old Glory   The other day at the grocery store, I picked up a big 'ole package of animal crackers; they're absolutely delicious! No frosting or sprinkles or anything, nice and crunchy. Most of the animals are easily recognizable, like the lion, the giraffe, and the dachshund. But others are still a mystery. One appears to be a strange mixture of a dinosaur and some other creature... Progress on Contemporary Flag   So here's what it looked like the last time you saw it:   And here's what it looks like now: Nice! Perfect lighting outside for the picture too. Working from stripe to stripe is very enjoyable. Maybe the next time I pick this one up, I'll focus more on the blue part, then do a bit of that white stripe, then more blue, then white stripe etc. Next in the Rotation is...   Drum roll, drum roll, drum roll...   Great Wave off Kanagawa!   Been a while since I stitched on this one. I'm off to go and tackle a TON of that cream color...

It's so hot, I'm melting, I'm torn. It's absolutely beautiful outside; but it's also really, ridiculously hot. At the same time that I want to stand in the sunshine, I want to stand in front of an A/C. Progress on Linen & Threads Mystery Sampler Decided to give this one more time, but not sure if I've made an equal amount of progress. What do you think? Here's what it looked like the last time you saw it: And here's what it looks like now: I'm so enjoying this chart! Next in the Rotation is...  Drum roll, drum roll, drum roll... Still Life with Tangerines! This one is so pretty, looks like a watercolor! Happy Stitching! Marisol

Long Time No See! Sorry it's been awhile since my last post! Haven't been stitching on my wip's lately. Hoping to get more stitching time in this week! Progress Update on Wild Card Decided to stitch on Leilani. It felt so right stitching this tropical lady in May. The color of the floss and the fabric got me into a summer mood. Here's what she looked like the last time you saw her: Leilani before And here's what she looks like now: Leilani after Skin! Decided not to stitch her skin 1 over 1, looks good so far, we'll see how it turns out. And her skirt; gorgeous! Really like the way that the flowers are turning out. Can't wait to get to the beading. Next in the Rotation is... Drum roll, drum roll, drum roll... Leilani! Wow! She really wants to be stitched, doesn't she! I'll be back again next week to share my progress. Until then, Happy Stitching! Marisol

Progress Update on J is for Jack O' Lantern Hello again! Been a busy beaver over here. Weather is absolutely beautiful, and I've been getting a goodly amount of stitching time in. So here is what J is for Jack O' Lantern looked like the last time you saw it: And here's what it looks like now: A stem! That green is beautiful. I like the roundness of this pumpkin too. Initially I did have my doubts about the brown shades of this pumpkin, but I've gotta say it's grown on me. And that leaf! Next in the rotation is... Drum roll, drum roll, drum roll... Wild Card! Leilani here I come!!!! Might pick up some other wip's too! Happy Stitching! Marisol

Dropping in to Say Hello! How are you? Enjoying your time at home? I don't leave my house very often anyway, so my routine has not been disrupted very much, I'm a bit of a homebody. Progress Update on Contemporary Flag Last week I promised a page finish. Alas, I have no page finish to report! But I've decided to be at least a bit true to my word, and have decided to keep stitching on this one for another week in the hopes of getting that page finish. So I'll see you next week! Happy Stitching! Marisol

Bad Case of Start-itis  I really want to make a new start! Now, I like the projects that I'm working on, but I also want to choose new floss, pick out some fabric, choose a chart (not necessarily in that order). Thinking about starting a chart from the amazing store Stitchrovia on Etsy To name just a few, I like: I Read Past My Bedtime, Shoot for the Moon, Tolkien Not all who wander, Life is a Beautiful Ride... hmm. Maybe I should stop now, or else I'll name all the charts in the shop! Progress on Trick or Treat Moon   Tumbling out of my Fall themed two weeks of cross stitch, I am pleased to share my progress on this wip, and pleased with the progress that I made. Here's what it looked like the last time you saw it: before And here's what it looks like now: after Behold the jack o lantern! Also completed some of the border on the left hand side. But that jack o lantern is the cherry on top of my week. Next in the Rotation is... Dru...

Storms and Cross Stitch March already! This year is flying by. The weather has been sort of Spring like lately, so that's nice. Lemon tree in the garden is starting to bloom, and the blossoms smell so sweet and lovely. Progress on Turkey Bay There's supposed to be a big storm tonight, it's already dark outside. Sorry if the pictures don't have the best lighting!  I didn't work on this one as much as I would have liked, but I'm still pleased with what I was able to accomplish.  Here's what it looked like the last time you saw it: before And here's what it looks like now: after! NOTE; The only thing that I accomplished this week was stitching the pilgrim. All of the other progress was made over November, when I decided to be in a Thanksgiving-ish mood, so I pulled this one out. I just wasn't pleased with the way the pilgrim looked. The coverage wasn't as good as it could have been. So I frogged t...

Winter Rolling in Again The temperature is supposed to be 20 degrees soon! I don't know how many more cold fronts I can face. Glad I didn't plant anything in the garden yet. Lent is coming up, Ash Wednesday is tomorrow already, and I'm having pancakes today. I don't think that I'll have a special project for Lent, but just continue my rotation. Speaking of rotations, let's look at my progress over the past two weeks, shall we? Progress on Trick or Treat Moon Decided to work on this one for two weeks instead of one. I've been using purple and white a lot lately, but am pleased to report that I've moved onto using green floss! Here's what it looked like the last time you saw it: before Look at that floss! So Halloween-ish. Here's what it looks like now: after! Can you see the outline of the bat?! Love love love the candy corn letters! I don't like candycorn ( Reese's Peanut Butter cup's are the King of Ha...

Missing a Project I recently discovered a wip was missing from my cross stitch lineup. I use glass tokens and a tupperware to choose my next wip. Shake the container, and whatever I draw is the chosen wip of the week. But lately I've been thinking,"When am I going to stitch on Trick or Treat Moon?" I hadn't made a lottery token for him yet! Don't worry, I fixed it! Then, when I went to my pdf reader app on my tablet, I couldn't find the chart for it. It was gone. You may remember that a while back, I cleaned up the files on that app and deleted files I didn't need any more. I had accidentally deleted the Chart for Contemporary Flag... and I guess that I also deleted the chart for my Moon as well. Oops. Shall we move on to my progress last week? Progress on Linen & Threads Mystery Sampler Made a nice amount of progress this week. It's always fun to see the color of the floss change without having to switch out the floss. Here's...

Rain, Cross Stitch, and Coffee That pretty much sums up my week! Also, has anyone else noticed that French Vanilla coffee creamer makes your coffee taste like a giant marshmallow? Progress on Wild Card  Initially, I thought that I would stitch on more than one project. However, Contemporary Flag caught my eye, so I ended up stitching solely on that project for the whole week. This project is really calling to me right now! Here's what it looked like the last time you saw it: Oh say can you see! And here's what it looks like now: We advance Ok, so nothing dramatic to report on progress, but a modest amount completed. Put this one on my 11x17 Q-Snaps so I could see the bigger picture. Next in the Rotation is... Drum roll, drum roll, drum roll... Linen & Threads Mystery Sampler!  You know what's weird? I was just talking about this one last night. Freaky! I have that lovely repeating band to stitch on next. Happy Stitching! Marisol...

Podcasts, TV, and Stitching One of the things that I've been doing a lot of lately is listening to podcasts. I don't have to look up from my cross when I listen to a podcast, like I do when I watch TV.  There are tons of different genres available. History, true crime, science etc.  I use the app,"Stitcher." Nothing to do with cross stitch, but wow! what a fitting name! I think Gary and Vonna were talking about podcasts recently. However, I still watch TV when I cross stitch. Generally, when I'm stitching on a design for my shop, I listen to podcasts. When I am stitching on my rotation, I watch TV. I recently saw,"Why Didn't They Ask Evans?" the 1980's version with Francesca Annis. What a production! Top notch acting, great plot; enjoyed every second of it. Ok, I'll stop boring you now, and move on to the stitching update.  Progress on Still Life with Tangerines  Quote from the more optimistic version of myself: So for thi...

New Year, New Resolutions   This month is just speeding by. January 20th already! Not going to babble about all of my New Year's resolutions, just one. I'm going to try waking up early in the morning. Really, really early. For instance, this morning I woke up at 4:40 A.M. We'll see how long this lasts, but doing pretty good so far. Progress on Contemporary Flag In my last post, I felt that I hadn't made as much progress on this patriotic cross stitch as I would have liked. But this week is very different. In my opinion, I feel like substantial progress has been made (even though I accidentally erased my chart from my pdf reader app. Oops) and now I feel like I can share my progress with you. This is what it looked like the last time you saw it: the before And here's my progress: after! It's really starting to emerge! This is such a quick stitch. My strategy is to break up the red and white with some of the blue. The red and white stripes...

Happy New Year!  It's 2020! I had a great Christmas Vacation. Pajamas, chocolate, Trivial Pursuit, Midnight Mass, and lots and lots of relaxing. Also, I decided to relearn how to play Backgammon. Tons of fun, very fast paced. Wild Card Progress   On my last update, I drew my Wild Card. I have not drawn another project since December 16th, because I figured that since I was going to be on vacation, I would stitch whatever called to me. The first project that I worked on was the Linen & Threads Mystery Sampler. The last time you saw it, it looked like this: Before  And now it looks like this: After Page finish! And I finished the first band of the sampler! That minstrel looks really great, the designer did such a good job. Looking forward to tackling the next band. The DMC 115 floss really makes it look like it's glowing. New Start & Also a Finish   Yep, that's right, a new start. I was feeling very festive, and during the twelve...

Hello Again! Unfortunately, Texas weather has decided to turn warm again(sob sob sob). But the good news is that I still feel in the Advent spirit! Lots more people in my neighborhood have put up their Christmas lights. I've been marching my way through Christmas specials of my favorite murder mysteries, and as of yesterday, started chowing down on fruitcake. I've listened to Fiber Talk once or twice before, but this week I listened to the Midweek Chat. It was great! Vonna and Gary are so funny, and it's nice to listen to people discussing Cross Stitch while I cross stitch. Now, I do watch Flosstube, but lately I've been listening to a TON of podcasts. I use an app called Stitcher (link is here ) that my mother recommended. It's nice to listen to podcasts while I stitch, because then I don't have to keep looking up at the TV screen. Want to listen to Fiber Talk? The website is here Leilani Progress Motivated by the beautiful Leilani and the lovely Car...

A Brief Word Didn't post the Monday update yesterday. Sorry! I got caught up stitching, and watching the Christmas special of one of favorite murder mysteries. Oops! Since there will probably be other times when I neglect to post on Monday, I'm going to re-name it,"Weekly Cross Stitch Update." Moving on to... Fantasy Triptych Progress I decided to focus on the ground this week. Made a slight mistake, but was able to work around it without the frog paying a visit (thank goodness!) Here's what it looked like at the beginning of the week: Fantasy Triptych- before I'm working on the ground in front of the castle. It's the middle panel, and I love the watercolor look of the grass and the dirt. I believe that a little to the left there is a lake. And here's where I got to: Fantasy Triptych- after Huzzah! All of you Wentzler stitchers out there understand! Very pleased with my progress, glad I didn't have to end up frogging, and I ...

This Week's Progress on Paris Market How was everyone's Thanksgiving? I had a nice one. Plenty of Turkey, cranberry sauce, nice quiet time with family. I even got some stitching time in this week! It was kinda chilly, kinda warm weather, but I still drank lots of coffee(I always drink a lot of coffee). When I stitch on Paris Market, I think,"Going to my favorite cafe!" Here's what it looked like at the starting line: Paris Market- before And here's what it looks like at the finish line. I think I must have pulled this sometime in October as well, because this picture does not have any blue, and when I opened up my project bag on Sunday, there was a lot of progress on the dark blue portion. Anyways: Paris Market- after I really love the colors in this kit! The two shades of blue are very pretty. Next in the Rotation is... Drum roll, drum roll, drum roll... Fantasy Triptych! See? That's the good thing about a rotation. One week you...

This Week's Progress on J is for Jack O Lantern  I drew this one with so much confidence. "Ok!" I thought,"This week I'm going to make a ton of progress. I'll even start using green floss!" And then I hardly stitched on it at all. Ahhhhh! I don't know what's wrong with me! Here's what it looked like before (I think I picked this one up once or twice in October as well):   Before And here's my progress: After Not as much done on this one as I had hoped for, but every stitch counts. It's starting to look very pumpkin-ish. Next in the Rotation is... Drum roll, drum roll, drum roll... Paris Market! Hurray! It's been awhile since I've been to Paris. The colors in this kit are amazing. There are quite a few blended colors in here as well. We'll see how much I get done; I'll try to go to Paris as often as I can this week! Happy Stitching! Marisol

Last week's Stitching Progress Last Sunday I drew Great Wave off Kanagawa. I feel like I could have made more progress, but it was a busy week, so at least I got this much stitching time in. Here's what it looked like at the beginning of the week: And here's what it looks like now: That's a lot of cream! The next few pages are pretty non-confetti heavy. If I dedicate more stitching time to this one the next time I draw it, I'm pretty sure I can get a page finish. Next in the Rotation is...   Drum roll, drum roll, drum roll... J is for Jack O Lantern! How seasonal. I will definitely make more time for J is for Jack O Lantern this week. Hopefully I can make it to some green floss! Looking forward to seeing you next week. Happy Stitching! Marisol

BOO!     The older cross stitch magazines are just super full of really great patterns. The October 1996 edition of Cross Stitch & Needlework in particular hits it outta' the park. Great issue, tons of great patterns     Recently, I finished one of the patterns from this issue, Harvest Witch by Lorri Birmingham. Then, right there on the opposite page, I see this beautiful moon: Gorgeous!     Who could resist that?!?!?! It is called Trick or Treat Moon, by Jeff Julseth. I love everything about it. The letters are ridiculously beautiful, the candy raining down from the sky screams,"eat me" the border is a really cute checkerboard. And then the fabric really made me want to stitch it. I have never stitched on black before, so I was excited to try it out. Decided to stitch it on 18 count. So here it is so far: Isn't the floss pretty?     Hooray for orange! I love love love orange floss. And I think it real...