Carol Harper's most read articles

These items always scared me a little but I needed an "under $10" Secret Santa gift (don't you just HATE those) for the quilt guild Christmas brunch on the 14th and decided I'd try to make a biscornu pincushion as my "gift". After all, if it didn't work, it was only a days' time and two 6.5" squares of fabric form my stash (OK I did buy some thread to match and three sets of buttons to finish it off.). Besides, if it did work out, then I'd be willing to risk embroidered pieces on one. It prob…

This month's topic for discussion is: "Talk to us about your longest-running WIP or UFO." I had to go back into my files to find the longest running WIP... it is a round robin I participate in on Cross Stitch Crazy, a long gone forum on the now defunct iVillage. I started in January 2007. I stitched it on full yard of Silkweaver's 28-ct Jobelin, in the "Carol's Meadow" color. It is a 12" x 12" square stitched with a knot garden in "blackwork" from Stitchin'spirations ("Brandon", designer Sall…

Meet "Celtic Owl", who has, somehow, managed to acquire some leprechaun gold! Happy St. Patrick's Day! So here are my three beaded birds so far this year:

I got cracking this week and started kitting out the blocks for May's Crazy Quilt Journal and Bead Journal projects. All kitted up and ready to start on Thursday (Note to self --- I'm behind again already!)! A Take a Stitch Tuesday pair of stitches arrived in my inbox Tuesday ad while I am "always" kitted up for that assignment, I haven't started yet - haven't even printed it out yet! (still further behind!) And the second installment in the round Roll Your Own mandalas arrived last week.…

Summer is here --- skipped spring altogether, again! We've had temps in the mid to high 80s for several days and then, just when you think you've gotten used to it, we get frost warnings for three nights in a row. This weather will be the death of me! A whole week on "Reloaded" and it really doesn't look it but... The six color is completed (I kept finding places where I forgot to finish a piece or where I had missed color five! AAARGH!) and seventh color (a very pale blue, almost the…

The question for the month is: "Who is your favourite person to stitch for, or do you prefer to keep your stitching yourself?" I rarely stitch for others, exceptions being close family (husband, a few in-laws, etc.) and the occasional friend and neighbor. I tend to keep my stitching for myself, mainly because I usually have no clue as to what is appreciated by others (style, colors, decor, even if they appreciate hand work at all) and I KNOW my own taste. Not that I have purposes in mind for…

I can't believe it but I actually stitched this week and I'm making some progress on "Revenge"! I am on color three of twelve: I also have a completion to report: my Crazy Quilt /Bead Journal Project block for November. LOts of leaves, falling and otherwise, seem to be what is characterizing this warmer-than-usual, but windy, November. Also, it seems to be darker this month, mainly due to longer nights, but also to overcast skies. So my block is darker than the rest of the quilt blocks ha…

It's that time again, and I still haven't a thing to report on the stitchery front. My wrist is better but the hand cramps if I try to hold on to my Snaps for any length of time. Still I will preservere! This month's discussion topic is: "What are your oldest and your newest WIPs?" Well the answer to that all depends on what you call a WIP! I'm going to arbitrarily define WIPs as what I was working on when I had to stop stitching and here are the photos: ​Oldest: Plan Tree Elegance, my…

The WIPocalypse question of the month is: "In honor of “Leap Year,” tell the story of a time you had to make some sort of a “leap” in stitching – taking the chance on a new style of stitching, attending a meetup or class, etc." I have taken several "leaps" in my stitching... To begin: A room-mate taught me to knit while I was senior in college (56 years ago! AAACK!!). I evolved into booties and then two disastrous sweaters. Although I loved cables, I learned my lesson from sweaters a…

Got the July block finished on Monday - yet another monochromatic red block!

Stitch #82 is the Spanish Feather Stitch and here are two attempts --- which didn't quite work: I might attack this one again later this week..

Sort of! There are still three online classes/stitchalongs I haven't started yet but I do have the Bead Journal Project all caught up! The missing beads arrived yesterday and while their "matte" patina is a little more matte than the ones I started with, I don't think they stand out to much as different! Presenting the "Halloween Butterfly": This butterfly's November and December relatives are all kitted up and ready to go so I should be able to keep on track for the rest of the year! W…

Presenting "Love Birds", in honor of Valentine's Day and the heart-shaped box of chocolates my husband gave me (only the second ever in nearly 50 years of marriage! LOL)...

As I mentioned in last weeks' late report, part of why I didn't get much stitching done last week was being out of town at a scrapbook show. While I don't scrapbook, my friend does and we three "Girls' Night "Out" buddies traveled up to Novi, MI to attend "Megameet". Spent a lot of food (Novi is a pricey place), bought a few papercrafting supplies (very little there as scrapbookers are more into paper and stickers and the like than stamps and ink and such), and totally messed with my bad ankle (…

My June Bead Journal piece: I reused the love bird motif form February, reworked the color and added a pair of gold vermeil number charms. I call it "Anniversary" - my husband's and my 50th, which we celebrate (if we remember!) later on this month. Other than this ornament, I haven't stitched on anything else since completing the TAST assignment. I hope to get started on my Crazy Quilt Journal block for June today...

This month's topic for WIPocalypse is "Introduce yourself, your projects, and any goals you have for the year!" I'm Carol, AKA ThatYank in NW Ohio, which identifies me and where I am. I'm a retired teacher (community college level) and into many forms of stitchery: Cross stitch, blackwork and needlepoint primarily although I used to do a lot of crewel (MANY full moons ago!) and have dabble in quilting and knitting. My projects at this time are two BAPs: Elizabeth Almond's "Save the Stitc…

Since last week, there was a Cross Stitch Crazy "Stitchathon" and the International Hermit and Stitch Weekend, so I did get in some stitching. At this point in time, I am on page five (of six) of "Revenge"... and the outline is nearly 3/4 complete! I can actually see the light at the end of the tunnel, and I sure hope it isn't the train coming in the other direction!

This month's topic is "Are there any fibers or materials used in stitching that you’re nervous to try?" I'd have to say "not really". I think I've tried most of the fibers out there and while I don't LIKE to use some of them (metallics, rayons, even linens), I can use any of them if pressed. I have to admit my favorite is silk, but I can't really afford silk in quantity so I tend to stick with my old stand-by DMC six-stranded cotton. Last month, My goals were (not necessarily in the order lis…

I took the birth sampler in last week to be framed and it was ready on Saturday: Husband mailed it off to our niece on Monday and it should be there by now… I am having to force myself to work on this wedding sampler/belated gift. It is all in red on white and it is all backstitch. Each letter has to be started individually so as to not have loose ends showing through, which is using an awful lot of floss. What is more, it is just plain tedious counting. Still, I have finished a third…

The coming two weeks are likely to be good times to stitch: more snow (somewhere around 6 inches) forecast for tonight and yet another storm hovering on the horizon for Sunday. We already had the showiest January on record for this neck of the woods, to say nothing of being at 10th place in snowiest winter season on record. I don't remember it ever being this cold, this snowy this "wintery" before in my life. Good stitching weather! I am trying to fit in annual medical appointments around all th…