Cancer Matters - Completed

I have completed Hinzeit's Cancer Matters pattern. I have not added the charms to it yet, as I want to do that right before pin stretching and framing. Since it is tucked safely away in a paper towel cardboard roller, I figured the charms could wait. The charms go just above the fold in the ribbon, and look like small silver ribbons.

But here is how it looks. I want to use the same frame as I did for Always Kiss Me Goodnight, but I have an idea to make this into three smaller framed pieces connected by chains for wall hanging. Both projects use Cushel Monet 28 count, so I know the frame will look as great with this project as for the other one.

Always Kiss Me Goodnight - Framed Project

This is a project I completed last year, but I finally got it framed. It is completed on Cushel Monet 28 count. The frame is by Rick at The Crafty Framer over in Largo, FL. After looking over frame ideas (I am a matte black kind of frame person), we decided to give this combination a shot, and I am glad we did. The silver lining on the white frame makes the fabric pop. Rick tells me that he showed the framed project to another customer who had purchased the same fabric and was looking for a frame to match it. According to Rick, the customer will be bringing back her completed project to be framed the same way as this one.

Weekend Update

I am almost positive I did not stitch anything from Thursday night until this morning. That doesn't mean I wasn't crafty, however. I spent part of a drippy, dreary Saturday at The Crafty Framer in Largo, talking with Peggy and Lexy about getting some things framed. The rest of the day I spent pin stretching items with Lexy.

I have a number of finished projects that are sort of languishing in paper towel rolls, waiting for frames. Obviously the Pelican and Elemental Cosmos are among those. I discovered a 12X12 black frame I picked up a while back as a clearance special at Michael's, so I needed a foam board to use to complete it. Into that went Elemental Cosmos. Still not sure where I will hang it, but it is ready.

I also got quotes for the Pelican, a project called A Room With a View that is a lighthouse cross stitch, and a piece I did called Always Kiss Me Goodnight (pictured below, pin stretched) that I purchased at the 2013 Market Day sale at Crafty Framer. I completed the project just a month or so after the sale, and there it sat, all rolled up, waiting to be remembered.

We also talked about the FAST event that is next Saturday, and called and recruited a fellow stitcher and veteran of FASTs past, to come and join us. Lexy will not be able to make this FAST (boo) but she will be there in spirit.

Pin stretching a 28 ct piece of fabric, as I learned, can be tricky. It does not take a lot to throw the design off center, or pull it out of true. My first attempt was not very successful, so I went home and removed all of the pins. Last night I gave it a second attempt, paying a LOT more attention to detail and trying very hard to keep a straight row of pins. It isn't perfect, but it does look better than it did.

Also, I managed to acquire more Kreinik #4 Very Fine Braid 001 and Kreinik Blending Filament 032. I bought all that Peggy had, just in case. So now I can get back to the mask (I hated knowing I needed colors even though I could do other portions of the project).