March Card of the Month

I am working on the April Card of the Month from Nordic Needle. It's the most difficult card in the series so far. It has some cutting and weaving in the center section that I've never done before. Jill has offered to help me so I'm not as worried as before. The photo above is the card from March. It is my favorite so far. I love the bold, dramatic colors. All of the kits come with threads. This kit barely had enough thread to finish. There is actually a part at the top center that I had to leave out because I would have ran out. I may put a charm or button there but it looks pretty good without anything. We'll have to see if I get inspired.

Hardanger Card of the Month

I haven't stitched anything hardanger for quite awhile. Since the Hardy Girls haven't been meeting since last year I guess I didn't have any motivation. That, and the fact that I have about a millions things on my stitching to do list. (No one knows what I'm talking about, do you?)

Jill called me one day because she had just received her Nordic Needle catalog and found their Hardanger Card of the Month Club. She is the one who first introduced me to hardanger a few years ago. She signed up and I decided to wait to see if I liked hers before I committed myself to another new project. She had January and February at one of our TANA meetings. I fell in love with them. They work up very quickly and are absolutely beautiful. The cards match the floss color and each month there is a different fiber. Each month I will receive a new card and project. It reminds me of the mystery sampler that Del and I did a few years back. I have no idea what each month's pattern will look like until it comes in the mail. I love good surprises.

JANUARY

FEBRUARY

Another ongoing project is our trip around the world that Liz is taking us on for our monthly classes. March and April classes are Brazilian Embroidery. This was so much fun to do. I love the bullion knots. The cast on bullion knots remind me of needle tatting so it's fun as well. I had done bullion knots in the past but always got them knotted or too loose. I think these turned out quite well if I do say so myself.

Most of you will know what I'm talking about when we think of pieces we've worked on and have the memories that go with them. Not just the memories of learning new techniques or the amount of time we spent working on them. Most of us can remember what we were doing in our lives when we were stitching some particular pieces. The memory that I will have with this piece is working on it at the hospital while I sat with Jill while Larry was in the hospital. Becky came over during her lunch hour (or two) and stitched on hers.

Jill is such a very dear friend. I have so many wonderful memories with her but this is a difficult time. I hope that I can be there for her and give her the strength that she will need to keep her life going when his passes.

Bedridden stitching

I had that stomach thing that was going around. I thought it would pass me by. I was the last one in the fam to get it. I tried to make the best of it so I spent nearly two days in bed watching movies (The Mist and The Grudge), playing Sims Castaway and of course, stitching. I finished another LK Boxer...Autumn.

I also finished the hardanger angel for Jill to put on our TANA tree. She hasn't seen it yet so I hope she likes it. I modified the pattern a bit. The dress was supposed to have more stitching with picots and such but I had the heart button that Jill had given me originally and it fit perfectly! It would look better sewn to a background fabric but I've not done that before and can't think up anything exciting. Maybe she'll like it just the way it is or can give me some ideas.