In the center of Mystery IX is...

Happy Birthday Mom!
...a sundial :-) I love that! OK, it does kind of look a little like the face of a Timex watch to me... the black lettering really stands out... but that is all just fine with me! It's a tiny area, so I can see why Martina made it easy to see. It took over two hours, though, to stitch the one over one of the sundial's backgroud. Therefore, I didn't get around to starting the final border yet. I hope to get to that tomorrow.

OK, I need to remember to renew my subscription to The Gift of Stitching very soon now, as I am excited that they will be having a new mystery sampler start next month - this time by Long Dog Samplers!!! Just can't miss that one, can you?? I also just have to stitch some of the Quaker ornaments and the Rosewood Manor Christmas ornament in this new issue. This magazine simply does not disappoint!

I decided to join Kath's Pay It Forward group... is there anyone out there who has not signed up for one yet, but would still like to do one? If so... here it goes... So for the first five people who comment on my blog there will be something - not necessasarily stitchy - made for you, by me. It will not before Christmas though. And the condition that if you sign onto my blog, please pay it forward on your blog.

Q. How do you secure your thread when you begin a new one? Specifically,
do you or have you ever used a waste knot?

A. I secure my thread in any of a number of ways.... my preferred way is if I am using two strands of a solid colored floss or silk, I will use the loop method (fold one longer length in half and pull my needle through the loop in the back of the fabric to secure it). However, if I am using a variegated fiber or a blended needle, I generally leave a tail in the back and then stitch over it for several stitches. To secure threads when I am backstitching I will either secure the end under some established stitches, or, if there are none in the area I will come up one thread over from where the stitch starts (this only works on linen or evenweave... but I don't stitch on aida, so this is not an issue for me) - I come down in the next hole and leave a tiny tail... then I restart where the stitch should start and go back down into the hole I used before...the stitch stays solidly in place... now, that is totally clear as mud, right? Basically I stitch a half stitch of backstitching and then stitch over it with its full length.. any clearer? But it works... And yes, I do sometimes use a waste knot - specifically for some specialty stitches, like herringbone (the one I find trickiest to secure).

Oh, and I really wanted to thank Karen for the lovely fantasy charts she sent to me - they have arrived safely. I correctly guessed the name and designer of her recent start, and she sent me these as a little reward. She is so sweet!

Stitched on today: Finished a gift, and Mystery IX