Sunday is for Stitching

These weeks of illness and not being comfortable enough to sit up long enough to do any hand embroidery for awhile I was finally able to sit up and stitch. I think I posted I pulled out an old pattern I had prepped on fabric to stitch.  The pattern was offered free from Crabapple Hill Studios.
Here is the progress I have made.

I used DMC Etoile floss in Blanc, it gives just the right amount of sparkle to the snowman I also used it on the hat pompom.
A few weeks ago I posted the new Spellcaster's Garden fabric line from Crabapple Hill Studios. I was hoping hand embroidery patterns would follow and just as I hoped they are now available, so far I have two, the witches which go so well with the fabric line as do the other patterns which I plan to pick up in the next few days.  I hope to have one of them traced and ready to stitch today or tomorrow.

This is one of the fabrics and the entire collection plus the panel which I posted about recently.

Then from Pearl Louise Designs I purchased these cute little witches to stitch as well. 

I am linking my post to Kathy's Quilts today here is the link to check out what other talented bloggers are slow stitching https://kathysquilts.blogspot.com/2020/08/slow-sunday-stitching.html

A November Walk in the Park and some Slow Sunday Stitching

Well the clocks have all be turned back an hour, even on my car, morning came with clouds and the promise of rain today so I plan to spend most of the day stitching my newest projects.

Yesterday was a beautiful Fall day with cool crisp air and plenty of sunshine, my walk through Jervy Gantt park revealed a little bit of Autumn for us here in Florida.

Some of our leaves do change color though not enough stay on the trees when they do, the Sycamore tree's leaves turn brown and fall from the trees fast, some are just beginning to brown before falling.

These leaves are scattered on my lawn from late October through most of November, mostly from the house across the street, and the tree in my backyard.  I just leave them there to be absorbed back into the earth though I do rake them every now and again pushing them under the shrubs for mulch.

More leaves on the walking path for me just seeing these few leaves lets me know Fall is here among all the green.  I have lived in Florida since 1994, the constant green made me home sick for years until I finally started to notice the subtle changes, it was about 8 years in when I finally did notice the small changes like the green was less vibrant on the trees, and some trees turned yellow or orange but the leaves didn't fall from the trees.

My first 2 home in Florida were apartments the first with a wooded area with large oak trees behind our buildings like the one in the photo above.  It wasn't until I moved into my current house that I really saw the change to Autumn.  Still not a big change but enough to know the season has changed.

The crows and squirrels were quite active along my walk with these few characters chasing each other from post to post.
I walked around the pond and I swear the fish were following me all around the pond.

It is such a peaceful place to walk I often lose all track of time just watching the ripples on the water

some days I will take a few minutes and sit on one of the benches and take in all the sounds around me, basking in the quiet calm solitude of the place.  I usually sit on the stone bench near the pond

Yesterday however there was a strong odor coming off the pond so I didn't linger too long just long enough to snap the photos.

The last photo I took yesterday was of the pine cone above and then this little squirrel on the side of the tree.
On the stitching front I am working on a new project and made good progress earlier in the week. Spirit Bear is being stitched on brushed cotton twill, I wanted to try a heavier fabric and have a yard on hand, so far I like stitching on the fabric and have no issues. So far I'm using DMC floss I plan to add some beads here and there, at some point I'm going to try  some of the new sparkle floss (Etoile) but not sure yet. It measures about 8x10 inches with a lot of small details which should take me some time to stitch. When my fingers get sore I can pick up my crochet.

On my other new project I did use a bit of the Etoile floss on the dancing woman piece as well as some DMC Coloris and Light Effects.

I'm going to link up to Kathy's Quilts today for some Slow Sunday Stitching click the link and have a look to see what other talented bloggers are slow stitching today  https://kathysquilts.blogspot.com/2018/11/slow-sunday-stitching.html
And on Monday at Super Mom NO Cape https://www.supermomnocape.com/

Slow Sunday Stitching, Inspirations 100th issue and a look at DMC's new Etoile floss

This week I've been busy stitching up the little banner kit my friend asked me to do for her.  I put in the last stitch last night so today I will press it then add  and stitch the fold for the wooden dowel.

The new set of DMC Etoile floss arrived on Thursday and I am over the moon with these new sparkle flosses. They come in a silver tin much the same as the gold tin from the last 35 color collection.  

The new Etoile set comes in 35 colors with a little sparkle to it, this photo shows the skein close up and the fiber content.

They are six strand floss and you can buy the set of 35 or individual skeins.  They coordinate with the DMC 6 strand color numbers the only difference is the letter 'C' before the number.

Late last week the new copy of Inspirations magazine arrived I didn't have time to open it until yesterday afternoon when I leafed among the pages, there are some lovely projects and patterns.

One of the projects that caught my eye is for this embroidered book and bag by Jenny Mcwhinney designs.

 I was over the moon to find all of the patterns for the entire book are in this issue.  Here are just a few pages of this cute book.

I don't know if I would make the book I was thinking more along the lines of making each page and framing them.  They are just so cute.

 I had to take a stitching break to rest my sore finger so I made some progress on the granny afghan throw I'm making for my brother in law.

Holding onto a sewing needle for hours at a time can be irritating to say the least. One of the next projects to embroider are these cute angels from Bird Brain Designs.

Using this snowflake fabric I also purchased from Bird Brain Designs

I am linking my post to Kathy's Quilts https://kathysquilts.blogspot.com/2018/10/welcome-to-weekly-hand-stitching-party.html