SAL Progress

For a slow stitcher like me, the SALs I am participating in are just perfect - each one has just the right amount of stitching so I can keep up. I'm determined not to fall behind in either of them. Here's my latest progress.

First up is September's owl from Oakhaven Designs. It's been such fun to see what kind of owl Tonia will come up with each month. My son's friends have seen me stitching on this, and now every time they come over they ask to see the latest owl. This little white-winged guy is supposed to have French knots for his eyes, but I just can't seem to do them on Aida, so he gets the sleepy-eyed look.


And the Mystery SAL from iStitch keeps getting prettier and prettier. This is what it looks like through Part 5, which I finished this morning. The next part won't be released until October 8th - I'm going to be in withdrawal!

The Frame Game

I had a couple of my more recent finishes framed at Joann Fabrics. Finding the right frame for a piece is no easy task! I really wasn't sure what would be best for Dandy Dreams, and struggled to find something that fit. I had a very opinionated framer helping me who felt that it should be matted because it was fairly small, but I resisted, though I did let her convince me to use glass for both pieces - something I continue to be ambivalent about. I'm curious - what do people think about the glass issue? To use glass, or not to use glass, that is the question. In any case, I ended up with a frame that I don't really love, but the color is exactly the color of the lettering and the rough texture seems to go with the design. So I'm going to live with it.

Dandy Dreams
Silver Creek Samplers
28 count Chime linen and DMC

With The North Wind I again chose not to mat it. This frame has a little bit of blue running along the inside beveled edge that you can't really see in the picture. I like this one a lot.

The North Wind
Little House Needleworks
Meadow Mist Belfast/Crescent Colours and DMC

Now my only problem is finding places to hang these pictures. I don't have a lot of unused real estate for wall space. There's one perfect wall but it contains my husband's poster of a cyclist climbing the Going to the Sun Highway, and I would fear for my marriage if I ever suggested taking it down.

I also stitched up a small LHN design called Snow White, though I used Mer Bleu Belle Soie instead of the Icing it called for. Blue is such an icy color - it just seemed to fit the piece.

Finally, I've been enjoying the iStitch Mystery SAL, and here it is up to Part 3. As I told Carol. I was really relieved the latest section was tiny - last week I scratched my cornea, which put a big crimp in my stitching life. After three different medicines I seem to be on the mend, and I'm looking forward to Part 4!

I just gor the September Owl chart from Oakhaven Designs, so I'm off to get that going. Hopefully my eye will cooperate!