Gingham Stitcher

Snowman Pincushion

2012-02-08T08:20:00.001-06:00

I just finished up this cute pincushion by Chessie & Me. It's stitched on 25 count victorian red lugana. I now want to make the other snowflake pincushion in the pattern. :-)

Snowman '10

2012-02-03T16:59:00.001-06:00

This is Lizzie Kate's 'Snowman '10' stitched with the called for threads on Weeks Dye Works 'Charlotte's Pink' linen. I did switch the colors for the bird around to where the main color of the bird is dark red (garnet) and the wing is light pink so that it would show up against the pink linen.

ABC for Crow

2011-10-20T22:45:00.001-05:00

By With Thy Needle & Thread, stitched on coffee dyed Belfast with Gentle Art Sampler threads. This is from her Autumn Splendor leaflet. I bought this on my last trip to The Silver Needle-they have a large selection of her charts. :-)

Smitten

2011-10-16T19:14:00.001-05:00

I just finished stitching this cutie. It's 'Smitten' by All Through the Night, stitched with Gentle Art threads on 14 count black Aida.

Paradise Progress

2011-10-06T16:13:00.001-05:00

So here is my new years day start, 'Paradise Lost' as of this afternoon. I am right at about half done with it. I had hopes of finishing this in 2011, but at this rate and considering all the ornaments and such I want to do for Christmas, it will most likely not be finished this year. I really love this piece and enjoy working on it almost everyday. Thanks to Plum Street Samplers for the many, many, many hours of stitching therapy this project is providing me!! :-)

Learn

2011-10-05T17:36:00.001-05:00

Stitched on 28 count opalescent white jazlyn. Fun!

Gathering Basket

2011-09-10T12:33:00.001-05:00

Yesterday I finished this piece. It's 'Gathering Basket' by Blackbird Designs and stitched with Crescent Colours and Gentle Art threads on 40 count linen. I did change the gold (border and basket) from 'Fools Gold' to Gentle Art 'Heirloom Gold'.

Two Finishes

2011-09-10T12:29:00.001-05:00

My blogwriter app only lets me upload one pic per post so the other picture will be in the next post.

Anyway, I'm back at the hospital with my son this week and that means lots of time to stitch. This piece is by Carousel Charts and called '1776'. I stitched it with DMC on 28 count oatmeal evenweave (the one hobby lobby used to sell on a bolt).

Happy Birthday

2011-07-31T17:40:00.001-05:00

To me! These are a few of the beautiful stitched gifts I received for my birthday.

Blessed

2011-07-31T17:38:00.001-05:00

I have the most wonderful friends, and a lot of them are stitchers! Thank you Barb!!

Prairie Schooler Sunny Days

2011-07-23T16:20:00.001-05:00

I just finished two of the little designs from Prairie Schooler's 'Sunny Days' book #171. these are stitched on 32 count lambswool linen with DMC. The only change I made is that I changed the red to 304, not because I don't like #3777, but because I started working on these when I was at the hospital and 304 was what I had in my bag. :-)
I see that Prairie Schooler has just released a new set of leaflets, along with her annual Santa. And they are (IMO) all great!!

2011 Shepherd's Bush Scissor Fob

2011-07-12T07:45:00.001-05:00

Just finished is my pretty Shepherd's Bush scissor fob to go on my Sonia Gingers. This kit has traveled around with me in the stitching bag for several months, here a stitch, there a few stitches. I ran out of ecru floss before completing the front side and ran out of kudzu and Lancaster red before finishing the backside but it's all good as I had some more of those on hand. :-) This has 'passion' charted on the back piece on top of the year, but I decided to stitch another row of flowers instead of passion. So glad to have this finish-finished so I can use it now!

Tis Better

2011-07-10T20:35:00.001-05:00

By La D Da, 32 count platinum linen with Gentle Art Sampler Threads

America

2011-07-09T17:52:00.001-05:00

By Blackbird Designs from their book 'Souvenirs of Summer', stitched over-one on dark red lugana.
Everytime I look at this, I will always think of the show Pawn Stars as DS and I have watched a marathon of it all week on Netflix while I stitched this. :-) Did you know Paul Revere was a very good silversmith?

Happy 4th of July

2011-07-04T12:45:00.001-05:00

I am starting a new project today in honor of Independence Day. This chart is by Blackbird Designs and found in their book 'Souvenirs of Summer'. I will be stitching it over-one on a 28 count dark red (I think it's Victorian red but I could be wrong) with this hand dyed thread I bought forever n a day ago.
We don't have much going on today besides some grilling, swimming, and watching fireworks tonight. Have a great day everybody and THANK YOU to all of our military!!

Summer House

2011-06-15T14:25:00.002-05:00

Blackbird Designs 'Summer House' stitched on 32 count twilight blue linen with Gentle Art, Weeks, & DMC. Just finished this about 5 minutes ago :-)

Red, White, and Bloom

2011-06-12T18:29:00.001-05:00

By Country Cottage Needleworks
Stitched on 32 count chestnut linen with called for threads EXCEPT the green I changed to Gentle Arts 'baby spinach'.

Building a house

2011-06-12T17:43:00.001-05:00

A summer house! :-) This is what I've been stitching since putting the 'Birds of a Feather' sampler up the other day. I'm a little surprised at how much is done. It goes to show how much time I've had to stitch lately. I should clarify that it was already a WIP so what is stitched is much more than 2 or 3 days of stitching.

Bummer

2011-06-10T08:22:00.001-05:00

I've been diligently stitching along on part one of With Thy Needle & Thread's 'Birds of a Feather' mystery sampler in hopes that I would have it finished by the time my chart fir part 2 gets here. Last night I decided to do some counting and checking to be sure things would line up when they meet. :-( I discovered that I've got to rip out all that is circled here. I keep telling myself it could have been worse if I had not checked when I did! Oh but how disappointing it is to rip out several hours of stitching!!!!! My son is in the hospital so I've had big blocks of time to work on this and it's looking like the weekend will find us still hanging out there. So there is still hope of finishing this by next week when chart 2 comes. I might have to put it up and out of sight for a few days while I recover from this frogging disappointment!

New start

2011-05-07T22:08:00.001-05:00

Just couldn't resist starting this one last night. It's 'Red, White, and Bloom' by Country Cottage Needleworks. I did change the green to Gentle Arts Baby Spinach.

Liberty

2011-05-07T21:35:00.002-05:00

I finally finished it! This is 'Liberty' by Little House Needleworks stitched on vintage buttercream 32 count linen with the called-for Crescent Colours floss. This is definitely one of my favorites!!

Summer Jubilee

2011-03-20T17:25:00.001-05:00

Blackbird Designs 'Summer Jubilee'
28 count 18th Century Blackbird linen by R&R
Gentle Arts and Weeks Dye Works floss

OMG, I finished something! This was a work in progress for probably 5 years or more. the pattern can be found in their book 'Souvenirs of Summer'. It is also in Just Cross Stitch August 2003 issue.
Now I just have to decide which BBD to start next: Summer House, Snow Garden, Gathering Basket, Remember Me....

Spring Break

2011-03-18T22:19:00.001-05:00

I might be able to finish something if I could focus on one project for at least a whole day! I've worked on all 4 of these projects this whole week, most days I stitch on more than one. That's what makes it fun I guess! :-)

Bluebird Reward of Merit

2011-03-07T17:35:00.001-06:00

I finished it! This is Blackbird Designs 'Bluebird' reward of merit. It is stitched with Gentle Art Sampler Threads 'dungarees' on mystery 28 ct. linen. Following the finishing instructions, I stuffed it with crushed walnut shells from the pet store. I really like a pincushion filled with it!

Summer Basket thread keep

2011-02-06T22:23:00.001-06:00

This is the thread keep design from Blackbird Designs Loose Feathers #38 chart. I changed my colors to Weeks Dye Works Crimson, Kudzu, Parchment, & Whiskey and stitched it on a mystery hand dyed 30 count linen. I plan to finish this into a little pillow or pin cushion.

Latest Finish

2011-01-28T09:10:00.001-06:00

This is 'Get Rich Quick' by the designer Count Your Blessings. It's stitched with DMC (changed from those called-for) on 28 count lambswool linen. There's another design in this particular leaflet that says 'Im too blessed to be stressed'.

Favorite Framed Sampler

2011-01-20T15:31:00.001-06:00

This is Blackbird Designs 'Sunflower House' stitched on the recommended R&R linen with Gentle Arts Sampler Threads. This is so far my favorite sampler that I've had framed. When Sharon told me she was working on this one, it reminded me I had never taken a picture of it. You might notice this was stitched in 2004. Wow, it does not seem like it's been that long!

2 More from Last Year

2011-01-20T08:29:00.001-06:00

Here is 'Prayer Connection' by Lizzie Kate stitched 2 more times. The top one is stitched on 28 ct. Lambswool linen with DMC 815 as the main color. The bottom piece is stitched in DMC black, hot pink & purple on 28 ct. white opalescent Jazlyn. So far, I have stitched this 5 times.

Harvest Trio

2011-01-15T13:47:00.001-06:00

By Jim Shore for Mill Hill

Time for God

2011-01-11T09:36:00.001-06:00

By Lizzie Kate, stitched with recommended threads and fabric

Liberty

2011-01-09T09:45:00.001-06:00

This is Liberty by Nessy Lynn's. I finished this last spring, and my son went to the frame shop with me and chose the frame. I think it turned out pretty cute and I never would have thought of doing a frame this way!
I am finding pictures of projects that I forgot about and will be sharing more of them soon.
I'm still stitching on Paradise Lost in little bits but there's not enough for a wip picture yet. I started something else last night, just a small project and totally unplanned. It's a little summer basket with quite a few quarter stitches, what was I thinking??? LOL

Quick Ornament

2011-01-07T15:20:00.001-06:00

I used up some Christmas fabric scraps to make up this ornament the other day. For the stitching, I wrote Merry Christmas with a water erasable marker on a scrap of muslin. Some DMC 815, a sharp needle and about an hour of uninterrupted stitching time and it was done! Gotta love quick finishes. I think this it for Christmas stitching for a while now.

Happy New Year

2011-01-01T14:50:00.002-06:00

House on Acorn Hill
Blackbird Designs
Gentle Art Sampler Threads & R&R Goldfinch linen

I finished stitching 'House on Acorn Hill' last night, just in time for one more finish for 2010! It was an enjoyable stitch and I love the colors of this sampler! It's nice to have another one of my fall WIPs finished now because I have several fall projects in progress. Having lots of WIPs didn't use to bother me so much, but it sure does lately. A few is ok. When it becomes dozens, it's overwhelming. Does that keep me from starting new things? Noooooo
After I hit publish post here, I am about to start on the sampler pictured above: Paradise Lost by Plum Street Samplers~on 40 ct. Lakeside light examplar & Needlepoint Inc. silks. Happy 2011!!

Late or Early

2010-12-29T16:07:00.000-06:00

This is Uber Turkey by Bent Creek. I tried to finish it before Thanksgiving, but didn't quite make it. It's late for this year, but early for 2011! ;-)
This is stitched on 32 count lambswool linen, with WDW, Crescent, and DMC. The pattern called for 18 count linen, but it would be pretty big stitched that way. Oh yes, it is UBER Turkey!
This time of the year I usually am thinking about the things I'd like to stitch in the coming year. And I hear there is a challenge to start 15 new things in January and try to finish them in 2011. You all probably know what I'm talking about and I forget the name. I have made a little list and I think my New Years start will probably be Paradise Lost by Plum Street. I've had everything to stitch that since the chart was released and it's time to get cracking on it! I love that sampler! Without having my book right here with me, some of the things I can think of from that list are some Little House, Blackbird, Lizzie Kate, and a million others, sigh....
I have quite a few WIPS and the thought of starting a lot of new things sounds kind of fun, but kind of stressful too. I'll probably not start more than a couple in January, but will have fun reading about others' new starts!

Christmas Ornaments

2010-12-19T18:00:00.002-06:00

Our stitching group has an annual Christmas party and ornament exchange, which was last weekend. Pictured above are the two that I received in the top picture and in the bottom picture is the one I made. It's by Val's Stitchin Stuff and is from (I think) last year's JCS ornament issue. I changed the fabric color, and the wording color so it would show on this fabric. And following the instructions included in the magazine, I finished it into a 'pocket' type finish and then added the wire & bead hanger after the sewing was complete. I always enjoy the exchange and seeing what everybody stitched and how they finished their ornament!

Comet & Blitzen

2010-12-06T13:49:00.002-06:00

Here are 'Blitzen' and 'Comet' by Nora Corbett from her Christmas Eve Couriers series. I finished them as flanged pillows made from decorator fabrics, the backside of each pillow is a burgundy swirl that matches the buttons. These were actually very fun to stitch. All of the beads make them so pretty and sparkly and oh I just love them!

Some Other Finishes From 2010

2010-10-09T09:35:00.003-05:00

This is 'Gobble' by Plum Street Samplers, stitched over one on 25 count Lugana (coffee dyed by moi) with DMC

Flag Day by With Thy Needle & Thread stitched over one on 28 count lambswool jobelan with DMC. I loved stitching this!

Dog Lessons by Lizzie Kate, stitched on 32 count natural light linen with DMC

Love the Truth by Examplars From the Heart, stitched on 36 count Lakeside maple sugar with WDW threads. Instead of charting out my entire name across the bottom like the model, I added 'Trust in God'.

Even though I have 3 or 4 big fall designs in progress (for quite a while), I started another fall sampler last night, it's 'House on Acorn Hill' by Blackbird Designs. Lovin it so far!

Zebra Cuteness!

2010-09-24T09:58:00.002-05:00

Well, the pictures didn't show up in the order I wanted them to, but the first one is a picture of the back of the pillow. This will be in a fundraising auction next month. So of course I have to stitch this again for moi! :-)

Still Stitching!

2010-09-01T18:50:00.003-05:00

Almost done! This is Little House Needleworks 'Psalm 145', stitched on 32 count Lakeside 'Fawn'.

I have so many other projects to share, have taken lots of pictures and now can't find them. That's one of the pitfalls of having a shared camera. But I have my own now! By the way, I'm shopping for a really good photography app for iphone, any suggestions?
After this sampler is finished, I plan to pick up (hopefully!) my Jim Shore Harvest Trio, you know the pumpkin with 3 blackbirds stitched on banding.

Some 2009 Stitching

2010-01-03T12:01:00.012-06:00

'Pair Tree' by Sue Hillis

Carrie's Threads floss

28 ct. lambswool jobelan

'Free to Be Me' by Val's Stitching Stuff
Weeks Dye Works threads
28 ct. mushroom evenweave

'Inspiration' series by Heart in Hand
DMC
32 ct. copper penny linen

'Gertie Gobble' kit by Bent Creek

'Comet' by Nora Corbett-one of the Christmas Eve Couriers

threads, magnifica beads as charted

28 ct. twilight linen

'It's Berry Time' by Blackbird Designs

Crescent Colours 'Bing Cherry' thread

cream belfast linen

'Traveling Stitcher' by Little House Needleworks

DMC

32 ct. lambswool linen

this will become a front pocket of a project tote bag soon. I didn't want to use the overdyed threads included with this chart for something I will be carrying around, so converted to DMC thread.

The reindeer above is the first Mirabilia/Nora Corett I've ever stitched. I really enjoyed stitching it, and especially love all the 'bling'! :-) I'll be stitching another one of these soon I hope.

Happy New Year!

2010-01-01T12:52:00.002-06:00

'Eye on the Sparrow'

Silver Creek Samplers

DMC and 30 ct. Korty's Special Blend

Well, I didn't completely finish this sampler in 2009, but I did finish it this morning-close enough! Not much going on here today, just some carpet cleaning, yeehaw. The sun is shining though! :-) I hope the rest of this snow and ice will melt off the streets in our neighborhood! Two days ago, I came up behind a car on my way home, that was stuck in the middle of the street. One week after our blizzard there is still just tons of snow left on the ground.

As you can see, I have a working camera again. Somehow the other disc was corrupted, which was making me think the camera was acting up. I took pictures of other finishes from the year and will post them here later. Have a great day, and a wonderful year!!

Long Time!

2009-12-29T12:12:00.003-06:00

I have found a new distraction-Animal Crossing. What a waste. of. time! I spend way too many hours on my DS playing Animal Crossing! This week, my son is spending the week with friends out of town and he has the DS and games, so that means I have to figure out what else to do with my spare time!
I wanted to take some pictures of recent stitching. Well, some of it is from several months ago, sigh. Anyway! The camera is acting up. I let my kids use it. Was that a mistake? No, and if it's not acting right soon, I'll just have to get a new camera! I have been wanting a smaller one for years, so I'm not too upset about this dinosaur not working right. :-)
I've made a list of the things I could remember having stitched this year. So far, my total of stitching finishes is at 21. There could be more, but unlike previous years, this year I was not diligent to write down my finishes thru the year. A good number of my 'finishes' were ornaments. I did do a **lot** of sewing this year though, so overall, I do feel it has been pretty productive. As the new year approaches, I've been giving some thought to what I would like to accomplish in 2010. My number one goal for 2010 is to get healthier. The past 2 years have wreaked havoc on my health-spiritually, physically and emotionally! One of the things on my to-do list today is to go check out gyms that are close to my house and join one. That will be a good start I think. Motivation. And then secondly, I endeavor to just LIVE. Like, really live and love life. Get out of the survival mode! That might mean less stitching time, or it might mean a more productive stitching year...who knows?
I hope to be back before like, MARCH with some pictures and posts. Happy New Year!

Gingher Insurance

2009-08-14T14:11:00.003-05:00

Does anybody else have family members who know you always have scissors and go for the stitching bag anytime they need a pair? Despite being told that needlework/sewing scissors become dull and don't work anymore after they are used for paper, etc.? A few years ago, I decided to start keeping cheapo scissors around in all the different places we keep 'gadget' misc. type things so that my guys would always have something BESIDES my Gingher scissors to go grab to cut that wire or paper or whatever it is. It has worked pretty well, aside from the fact that these scissors are constantly disappearing. Where on earth do they go?? Yesterday, I found these scissors on clearance for 25 cents a pair, so decided to stock up-with 16 pairs! Now surely, these will last a while! (?) Beacon and Bumper were helping me with my pictures, as usual.

A whole week's stitching

2009-02-28T10:53:00.003-06:00

This is my stitching for the whole week. It's 'Free To Be Me' from Val's Stitching Stuff. I had four appointments this past week and managed to remember my stitching bag for just one of them, and that's the only stitching time I had all week. It's so busy here lately. I need some solitude, peace & quiet, some sanity!! :)
Fingers crossed for some of that this coming week!! Hope everybody has a lovely weekend. ttfn

Quiet Saturday Morning

2009-02-21T08:08:00.006-06:00

Here's a better picture of the ME freebie, that shows the true colors better. :)

'Hearts and Flowers' notebook kit by Handwork-I've had this one stitched for a couple of years now, it was just waiting for me to blanket stitch it onto the presewn notebook cover.

2008 Prairie Schooler Santa, stitched with Crescent Colours 'Bandana' and GAST 'Pine'

Pine Mountain 'Tie One On' kit called 'The Best Things'-I just need to tie it on to its pillow

Wow, it's such a peaceful, quiet morning here for me. I'm the only one up and I've finished all of my morning chores/routine. Ah, it's so nice!! I've been going through my sewing room the past couple of weeks, trying to get things in order, rearranging, etc. It's amazing how many things I've found!! (that I forgot about) Yesterday, I found a stack of finished cross stitch pieces that were hidden and therefore forgotten for the time being. I took them outside and tried to take pictures as fast as I could, as the wind was kicking up and trying to whisk my stitching away. I did have Beacon (black lab) 'helping' me, ha ha, he always wants to be in the middle of EVERYTHING. So, all of the pictures I uploaded yesterday were things stitched in 2008. Today's pictures include: the notebook that was stitched a long time ago, but only finish-finished 2 nights ago, The PS santa I finished a couple of weeks ago, And the Pine Mountain kit was finished last summer. Those kits are great for times when I'm at the hospital. I think the fabrics they use to make their pillows are usually really pretty too.

Well, I hear a couple of kiddos stirring and heard something about 'what's for breakfast?' so I guess the chaos begins. I'm not sure I'll squeeze any stitching time in today, but I'm sure gonna try! Have a great weekend!

A Few From Last Year

2009-02-20T11:12:00.007-06:00

'Ho Ho Ho' by Amy Brueken Designs 'Toasty'- a Mill Hill kit designed by Debbie Mumm

'Don't Get Your Tinsel in a Tangle' by Lizzie Kate-I added metallic blending filament to the word tinsel and to the packages but you can't see it so well in the picture.

'Cappucino' by Little House Needleworks

'Bethlehem' by Imaginating-stitched with GAST 'deep sea' on Picture This Plus linen 'mercedes' sparkly

'Chilly' by Stitchy Kitty, from the 'Snowman Trio' pattern

'Land That I Love' by Bent Creek

Happy Valentines Day

2009-02-14T18:09:00.005-06:00

Have a Heart freebie from Mary Engelbreit

(you can find it at maryengelbreit.com under the 'free' tab)

Be True to Your Heart Pine Mountain pillow kit

Mercy, it's been a while! I've been stitching. Honestly, I just haven't wanted to blog. Let's just say that I was happy to say goodbye to 2008.

Today I'm showing a couple of recent finishes in honor of Valentines Day. The top project is much prettier in person, but me and my not so fancy photographing skills kept washing it out too much with the flash. lol The pillow kit was finished this morning. Very quick, and I *love* the fabrics used for 'framing' the stitching.

Hope it's a love-filled day for everybody!!

Where did this last week go??

2008-10-19T17:41:00.003-05:00

Hi! I had good intentions of blogging at least once or twice this past week, but time just slipped thru my fingers and here it's Sunday already!
OK, about that giveaway! I used random.org to choose a winner and Courtney, the 'Ho Ho Ho' chart is yours! Please email your snail mail address to me so you can hurry and stitch it before Christmas! ;) Thank you so much to everybody who has stopped by and left a comment. I appreciate them!
Right now, I'm waiting for chicken to grill for dinner so have to run and do that. I hope to take a picture of Ho Ho Ho later tonight to share here.

Giveaway!

2008-10-11T14:55:00.003-05:00

I bought this chart above the other day, and when I got home I realized that I had already purchased this chart + embellishments before! OOPS! It's by Amy Bruecken Designs and is called 'Ho Ho Ho'. So, I decided I would have a giveaway on my blog for it. Please leave a comment here on this post if you're interested in winning this chart (including the embellishment pack). I think I will draw for the winner next weekend because fall break is coming up this next week and with the kids home from school, I'll have to wait till the following week to be able to go to the post office to mail it off to its new owner. I started stitching mine last night and will share a WIP here soon. :)

Vista and me.....are not friends. I wanted to upload all of these pictures last night and after the first two, neither DH or I could figure out how to get the rest of them uploaded. I'm sure Vista is improvement...somehow.....but not being a computer whiz, it just seems more complicated and convoluted than it should be. LOL Ok, so today it worked, yay!!
Above is my 'Pair Tree' WIP, designed by Sue Hillis. Not being one who particularly likes stitching designs with lots of color changes (think Paula Vaughan, though they are so pretty!), I am stitching this one with 4 colors of overdyed thread and white DMC, instead of using different shades of same color as called for on the chart.

'Bless Our Home' by Country Cottage Needleworks stitched on 32 count country french latte linen with crescent colours. As usual, I changed some of the colors: clay pot was changed to wild berries and peanut brittle was changed to brown sugar. I finished this one up a couple months ago.

And here's 'Snapperville' by Bent Creek! Wahoo! It's been a WIP for a long time and I *finally* finished it up this past summer. I am still searching for just the right frame molding for this one, I have a picture in my mind of what I want, let's hope it exists! Snapperville' is stitched on 32 count Birds of a Feather 'sandpiper' linen.

It's a really beautiful fall day here, DS already had his soccer game this am, and the rest of the day is free for stitching! Hope you all find time to enjoy some stitching this weekend.

Been Busy

2008-10-10T18:21:00.004-05:00

Here's something I just finished a couple evenings ago. It's from a Cross Country Stitching magazine (Jeremiah Junction). I changed the colors to suit me,omitted the border, and switched out some Lizzie Kate letters stitched over-one for back stitched 'Give Thanks'. I think it turned out pretty cute and want to make a flat fold type of finish with it. BTW, the words are from Lizzie Kate's 'Fall Crazy'.

"Joy" by Hands to Work
I was able to purchase the newest JCS ornament issue the day it arrived at the LNS as I happened to be there that same day. This was one of my favorites from the issue and I started it right away. Instead of stitching it on 40 count linen, I chose 28 count lambswool linen and will finish it as some type of pillow. I think. I also switched to cotton overdyes, as the dye lots of the called for Belle Soie that I had...uh....didn't look anything like the picture in the magazine! Let's see, I used Gentle Art 'pomegranate' and Crescent Colours 'Eve's Leaves', 'Ye Olde Gold', 'Deep Fennel' and Carrie's Creations 'Cajun Cofee' (borders).

84 Days..

2008-10-01T10:56:00.002-05:00

Until Christmas!

First picture: Christmas Bear from Stoney Creek's new book 'Ornament Addiction', stitched on 14 ct white w/gold aida

Second picture: Mill Hill ornament kits. 'Frosty' was supposed to come with BLUE perf paper, but my kit came with white-yuck, so I stitched it on some blue fabric.

WIP check

2008-04-29T12:11:00.001-05:00

I finished this ornament last week, just need to attach the button to the top of the twig. It's 'Snowflake Mitten' by Stone & Thread, stitched on Lakeside light examplar 32 count with DMC. I picked my own colors to suit me. :) I really need some picture taking help, because they usually look so yucko, this one included. Can you even tell that this mitten is DMC 221??
So, I rounded up all (or at least I *think* it's all) of my WIPS last week. Here's what I found:
*Snapperville-Bent Creek
*Spring Garden-Birds of a Feather
*Pair Tree-Sue Hillis
*Alpha Bird-Sheepish Designs (almost done!)
*Elizabeth-Carriage House Samplings
*Deftly Wrought-Midsummer Night Designs
*Harvest Happiness-Imaginating

Not so terrible. Nevertheless, I've been alternating stitching on Spring Garden (BOAF) and Snapperville(BC) the past several days. I'm about ready to put them both back away, but working as much as I can before caving into a new sampler start. The next thing I need to round up now is all of the things I've got kitted and ready to go. That will be a much longer list for sure. :)

Recent Finishes

2008-04-23T15:43:00.000-05:00

'Home of a Needleworker Too' by Little House Needleworks-stitched with Crescent Colours on 28 count lambswool linen. I changed the green, but can't remember the name....maybe Spinach? Oh, I also changed the blue as I didn't care for the dirty looking blue color for my house, so changed to GAST 'dungarees'. Check dye lots if interested in doing the same thing-some dye lots of 'dungarees' have plenty of the dirty blue in them too.

This is 'Bunny Blossoms' by Full Circle Designs, stitched on 28 count Vintage Autumn Field linen. I used the DMC colors (model was stitched with GAST), because they were prettier and 'popped' more. The chart came with a little piece of WDW wool, which looks exactly like some regular cream colored wool, out of which I cut the cute bunny and blanket stitched him on.

Caffe Latte by Little House Needleworks, stitched on 40 count Lakeside Vintage Examplar linen with Belle Soie silks.

And hot off the ironing board!!!! is 'Where My Heart Blooms' by Blackbird Designs, stitched on 30 count R&R Korty's Special Blend with WDW and Crescent Colours. I changed WDW 'olive' to CC 'Joshua Tree'. And I changed the Shaker White to CC 'Khaki Mocha'.
I was determined to finish this sampler before starting anything new, and I'm so glad to have stuck with it. The house seemed to drag on forever...... Anyway, I have several WIPS (ufos) that I'm feeling guilty about and thinking I should give some attention to. The trouble is that I also have a lot of things I'd like to start. But I'm sure nobody else can relate to that. ;) I'll gather up all the WIPS in one place later on today for a reality check.
It's a really overcast day here today, so that's my excuse for bla pictures this time.

Well, I'm off to decide what to stitch on next.

Home Sweet Home

2008-04-16T22:16:00.000-05:00

Ah, it's so good to be home! My son had back surgery during the first week of March and due to some complications from that surgery, he has spent the past 1.5 months in the hospital. It's wonderful to be able to live at my house again! My days are pretty busy caring for my son, who now has respiratory issues we've never had to deal with before, but THERE IS NO PLACE LIKE HOME. I'm tearing up thinking about how grateful I am to be home again. We had a scare last night with my son's O2 saturation dropping too low, and the thought of having to go back to the hospital just about made me ill. DH talked to the pediatric pulmonologist on call and he got us through the ordeal. THANK GOD! I hope to stay away from that place for a very, very long time now. Being able to be home means that Dear Son is doing well. It's been pretty rough to see him suffer so much lately.

I do have several finishes to take pictures of (I did a lot of stitching in the ICU!), but since it's late and I'm too tired to round them all up, I'm just going to add a picture of an ornament I made last Christmas that I'm pretty sure I didn't show on the blog before.

Stitching Pictures and Ramblings.....

2008-02-12T14:20:00.000-06:00

Above is Blackbird Design's 'Live Each Season', stitched with recommeded threads on 32 count 'laurel' linen. LOVE it! I saw this stitched up at The Silver Needle on the recommended R&R linen, and have to say it's really so much prettier [to me] on the laurel linen! As you can see, this one was finished up last year but I'm just now getting a picture. I can hardly wait to have this one hanging on my walls with my other framed BBD.

And here is my first big finish for 2008, it's 'Love is Patient' by La D Da. This was my New Years Day start~I've had it all kitted up for forever. :) It's stitched with Crescent Colours on 32 count Lakeside Linen 'light examplar' linen. If you plan to stitch this on a count that requires 2 strands to stitch with, I recommend buying 2 skeins each of Manor Red, Rainy Day, and Black Coffee before starting, so you don't have different dye lot issues like I did with the Rainy Day. I already had 2 each of the Manor Red & Black Coffee, but it became clear early on that one skein of Rainy Day wasn't going to be enough, so I had to hunt down a 2nd skein that was at least close to my original skein that I started stitching with, and then mix it in here and there so it didn't stand out. You can't tell, can you? ;)

And then here is my current WIP getting the most attention lately. It's Little House Needleworks 'Cafe Latte', using Belle Soie silks on 40 count Lakeside vintage examplar linen.
I have 2 other 'coffee' thread packs to stitch up after this one too. The one strand and checkered border make for some nice 'mindless' stitching. :)

I had the day off from work today~wahoo! They [days off] are getting fewer and farther between these days so it's a treat. I was loooong overdue for a haircut and had that done this morning. Since leaving my most wonderful hair dresser behind when we moved here almost 4 years ago, I've not found THE hair person yet, so I'm always a bit apprehensive come haircut time, as I never know if it'll be a good one or not. LOL I'm very happy today because I did indeed get a very good haircut. The last person who cut my hair did a good job, but she stood me up for TWO appointments, never showing up at the salon and later calling with the excuse that she had to run errands and forgot. I fired her because I don't have the patience for that!

I forgot to take a picture of it, but I also finished up over the weekend another 'Britty Puppy' ornament from the JCS ornie 2006 issue. I think I've stitched it about 4 times now. I try to always have a small ornament project in my purse because I stitch during most of my breaks at work. I need to go pick another one to kit up now!
DH told me this morning I had enough to stitch, why did I need to buy that new Little House Needleworks kit 'Heart of America'? LOLOL Funny Guy!
I still have a sack full of things from a trip to The Silver Needle superbowl weekend~I can't even remember what I bought now, besides a little Samsarah chart! It'll be 'new' to me again when I get upstairs to go look through it. LOL
Well, I finally, after looking for THREE years have found another cutting ruler to replace my broken and taped up one. I bought it from a quilt shop several years ago and love it and can't really comfortably use any other brand besides this one that I'm used to, but unfortunately it's not an easy brand to find. This quilt shop also sells designer Ginghers too. :) I was so tickled to find that ruler, the lady working looked at me like I was kinda weird when I expressed how happy I was to find it. Like "it's just a ruler lady". LOL While I was there, I also picked up this pattern and plan to make the pillow that says 'do what makes your heart sing'-so cute!

Salt of the Red Earth

2007-11-15T09:31:00.000-06:00

Oklahoma will be celebrating its centennial tomorrow, November 16th. If you have about 8 minutes to watch a video/photo article, Salt of the Red Earth is a wonderful little tribute to some of Oklahoma's Centennarians. One thing in particular that struck me as I watched, is that the generations before us sacrificed a lot, and invested so much for us to have the [truly] priveleged lives that we enjoy today. We certainly have a lot to be Thankful for.

More finishes

2007-10-17T18:13:00.000-05:00

Wahoooo!! I finally finished 'Happy Hearts' by Birds of a Feather, stitched on 36 ct. meadowlark linen with weeks dye works. This took me just a little over 5 years to complete. I finally finished it this last spring, taking advantage of soccer practice to put in lots of that solid stitching along the bottom.

Here's 'Coffee House' by Little House Needleworks. I had this chart in an old issue of Just Cross Stitch, but I know this one can be bought individually now too. I loved the colors on this one, so rich!

Here is a Scarecrow designed by 4 My Boys, from the chart titled 'If I Only Had a Brain'. Those exact words are charted under the scarecrow on the chart, but I left them off. It's stitched with WDW, Crescent Colours, & DMC on 18 count natural light linen.

I know my pictures are not the greatest, and they sure do seem to make the linen look way more wrinkled than they do in real life!

In the stitching basket this weekend is my Blackbird Designs 'Live Each Season' and a Lizzie Kate ornament . Fingers crossed for a finish! Oh wait, it isn't the weekend yet! It's just the start of fall break for the school kids, so it feels like the weekend!
I am off to have a cuppa snickerdoodle (I love that name!) coffee now. Happy Stitching~

Long Time

2007-10-16T11:18:00.000-05:00

I think this one is called 'Peace' but it's been a while since I finished it-it is from a somewhat recent issue of Just Cross stitch and is designed by 'Midsummer Night Designs'. I used the recommended threads on 32 count lambswool linen. I did stitch the 'peace' in the wrong color, but was finished with it before noticing my mistake, I liked it enough to just leave it. Very cute, sweet little design!

'3 Pink Houses' by Ewe & Eye & Friends, on 36 ct Lakeside 'Patina' I made a pretty significant boo-boo on this one on the border, which required either a whole bunch of ripping out, or some creative modifications for the entire center section-I chose to modify and so mine is more rectangular shaped than the model. :-)

A Little Stoney Creek designs stitched for a friend-bad picture! It's on 28 ct. antique white evenweave and has a lot of metallic thread.

Stars & Stripes by Little House Needleworks

Mill Hill pin kit

'Checkered Liberty' by M Designs (kit with hand-dyed gingham linen)

It seems like I'm averaging around 3 or 4 posts a year lately. I always think I will do better and post more often, but other things push it to the back burner.....Anyway, as I was driving home this morning from an appt. I thought of this blog and decided by golly I would update it with some pictures, mostly of stitching that has been finished a while back. These won't be in order of completion, just in the order I find them on a disc and upload them. :-)
This is probably enough pictures for one post, so I'll save the others for future posts.

The Praise Sampler

2007-06-28T22:08:00.000-05:00

I finished this sampler Sunday evening, it's 'The Praise Sampler', designed by Plum Street Samplers. It's stitched on 32 ct. vintage autumn field linen with NPI and Belle Soie silks. I started it before this new set of Belle Soie colors came out, so only could easily convert 4 of the colors. The red is Belle Soie 'Rose of Sharon', but if I had waited, LOL I think the new 'Cranberry' color would have been a bit better......but I love how it turned out anyway! If you haven't tried the Crescent Colours Belle Soie silks, you need to! :) They really are nice to work with, and remind me a lot of the Silk n Colors and Gloriana silks. I'm looking forward to incorporating them into more designs, plus I read on Little House Needleworks website that she will be coming out with a sampler stitched with them. :)

Thanks!

2007-06-25T13:12:00.000-05:00

Thank you Nicole, Cindy, Michelle, Lesley, & TeeJay for your comments about scroll frames vs. Q-snaps!! You've helped me out a bunch, and Nicole your tip about the Michael's coupon reminded me that every other week on Hobby Lobby's website, you can print off 40% coupons. So, I used a 40% coupon at Hobby Lobby to purchase an 8"x12" (I think) scroll frame. I've yet to open the package and try it out, but I think I know what project I will put on it first. Carriage House Samplings 'Gingham Dog and Calico Cat' has been calling to me loudly, and since I have the 40 ct. pearled barley + NPIs called for already, I think I will have to start soon. :) For some reason, I thought maybe the tension was tighter with scroll frames than q-snaps. I don't always need things as tight as a drum anyway, so that's o.k. with me. In fact, a lot of times when I'm working with one strand of floss, I stitch in-hand. What I think I will really like about the scroll frame is that I can roll up excess fabric that's outside the working area, and there also won't be those clamp marks that the q-snap leaves on the linen.
It's taken me longer to get back here to post on the blog than I aniticipated because I kept my friend's 2 girls and their little puppy all last week while she was out of town. WHEW, what a busy and noisy week! I miss them, but I'm also glad to get back to a quieter routine. :)
Thanks again for your comments, I am glad to have some more stitching blogs to add to my bookmarks too! Hopefully this summer I can get back to reading them more regularly as well as posting here. I have a lot of finishes that I still need to take pictures of! Happy stitching!

Scroll frames vs. Q-Snaps

2007-06-11T15:19:00.000-05:00

Which is better? I have a collection of Q-snaps, but am considering trying a scroll frame. Any thoughts?
TIA for any suggestions or comments!! And happy stitching :)

More pictures

2007-03-01T08:36:00.000-06:00

Here is Heart in Hand's 'Favorite Hearts' stitched on 36 ct. summer khaki linen with one strand of weeks dye works and gentle art threads. I have tucked it into a little fabric frame that I made for it~It didn't turn out as cute as what I had pictured in my head! LOL But it will suffice.....for now. I'm considering making another frame out of some corduroy that matches the WDW Lancaster Red.

And here is Prairie Grove Peddler's 'Little Daisies' stitched with Cresent Colours on 14 ct black aida. The pattern calls for 2 Crescent Colours (white and green) and Weeks Dye Works 'schneckley' for the gold........I changed it to the new Crescent Colours 'Ye Olde Gold', which I liked a lot better than the schneckley actually. This was a fun and quick little stitch! While aida isn't my favorite thing to stitch on, I love that I can stitch on black this way. Stitching on black linen is an exercise in frustration for me, so I had pretty much steered clear of it since finishing a Chartmakers sampler on 32 ct. black linen a few years ago. I recently had the bright idea of trying black aida and that has been much more doable for me. :)

OH! I had forgotten about this sampler I finished (almost) back in January. It is 'Pear Tree' by Hands to Work stitched on 40 ct. sandstone linen with NPI silks. The chart has the year '2004' charted on it, so I'm still undecided on how I will personalize/date the sampler. I either will try to chart out a chunky '7' to stitch in place of the '4', or I will maybe stitch my initials on one side and the year on the other side, possibly over one......I don't know!!
In my stitching basket today is Little House Needleworks 'Ye Old Coffee House'~I started this on Sunday and it's going fairly quick. I *love* the colors of this one! I've made a deal with myself. When I finish Coffee House, I get to start CHS 'Elizabeth'!!! I have her all kitted up and ready. I'm stitching my girls on 40 ct. autumn gold (not vintage) lakeside linen. Anyway, Elizabeth is my favorite girl, that hair is too cute.
I just remembered that we'll be going to see my son's neurologist today, and it's normal to wait for a looooong time in his office, so my travel project (Hands to Work 'a little love') will probably get lots of attention today.

Last finish of 2006

2007-03-01T08:23:00.000-06:00

I took this picture a while back, but still needed to rotate and save to post a right-side-up version here. :) This is 'Be Kind and True' by Blackbird Designs, stitched on the called for linen-35 ct. Marva's Breakfast Blend-with Weeks Dye Works and Gentle Art threads (one strand). I squeezed this finish in on December 31st since I had already stitched in the year '2006. Doing this also allowed me to start something new on the 1st a little more guilt free! Anyway, this was a fun sampler to stitch, and I really like the end result a lot.

The sun is shining!

2007-02-22T09:31:00.000-06:00

We have had some really beautiful weather here this week, for which I am very thankful. After the frigid cold January we had, the sunshine is most welcome! I can't resist just sitting outside in it, and have gotten quite a bit of stitching in because of this great weather. :) The dogs have loved it as well. Speaking of pets.......my son's pet frog Bob died 2 days ago. :( He was an African dwarf frog that he received as a birthday gift 2 years ago. Rest in peace Bob, you were a good frog.
My Mom told me a story last night about a snail she had as a pet when she was little. She found him at the lake in Minnesota one summer, and took him home, named him 'Slowpoke' and kept him for about 2 years. The day he died, she cried and cried just heartbroken. Her dad (my Grandpa) asked her what was wrong and when she told him, his response was 'well, if you're going to be this upset over a snail, then I'm never going to get you a dog!'. I laughed, but then I was a little sad about that. She was genuinely sad about her little pet dying, and Grandpa didn't 'get' it, but rather responded with irritation. Lord, help me not to downplay or just get irritated at the feelings of my children!
Today, I have several things on my agenda, mostly stitching related, but first is to finish a load of laundry and the vacuuming. After that, I have a little Heart in Hand piece, 'Favorite Hearts', stitched that I plan to finish into a little hanging frame-hope it turns out as cute as it is in my head! Also, I've been stitching a little piece by Prairie Grove Peddler called 'Little Daisies' on some black aida, that I hope to finish up. This sunny weather is perfect for stitching on dark fabrics! I'm not in the mood to get the camera out now, so pictures will be in some future postings. Hope all you stitchers out there are enjoying lovely weather too, and making headway on your projects!

From My Heart Exchange

2007-01-25T15:23:00.000-06:00

Wow!! Isn't this fabulous?? I signed up for the 'From My heart Exchange' on the US Exchange BB, and this is the wonderful box that Vonna made for me. Her stitching and finishing are just beautiful and I am so honored to receive her creation! As you can see she included a treasure trove of goodies inside the box. How about the GINGHAM notepad??? Love it, but I love all of it though. Oh, and even the inside of the box is so pretty! I know that I had seen this cute design stitched up on another blog or album and really liked it~but now I can't remember who the designer is. So, again, THANK YOU Vonna so very much!
I am almost ready to send my package out, just have to wrap it all up and take it to the post office. I just took a picture of the stitched piece but will wait to show it. ;)

Catch Up!

2007-01-15T20:52:00.000-06:00

It's been 4.5 months since my last post!! To be honest, I lost interest in blogging. I didn't intend to be away that long however. I've also been really busy and it's easy for the blog to be pushed to the back burner when so much is going on.
I have continued to stitch, and sew tons these past few months but not taken many pictures so have lots of catching up to do with the camera as well. I had 55 stitching finishes for 2006. :)
Here are a few finishes & WIPS:

Deftly Wrought by Midsummer Night Designs-28 ct raw cashel & DMC

Pumpkins Doodle by Hobb Nobb Designs

Pear Tree by Hands to Work-40 count sandstone & NPI

Grace by My Big Toe Designs-cream belfast & DMC

The Harvesters by Little House Needleworks-28 ct coffee dyed & DMC + Crescent Colours

In looking back at my list of things I wanted to stitch in 2006, I see that I finished 7-not as good as I would want. LOL But better than I've done in years past. Also 3 from that list are still in progress. I don't know if I'll make a list for 2007. Too many to narrow down. BTW, I've made an effort to make up for the more disciplined among us who are challenging themselves to finish X number of things before purchasing any stash, by adding lots of charts, linen & threads to my stash. :))
I did some finishing work today and sewed my finger. Yes, the needle went THROUGH my finger. **OUCH** I remember watching a lady who was babysitting me when I was little do that very thing, so I think I've always kind of been extra consious of that possibility. At the time, I was using the zipper foot to attach some trim and didn't have the side of the regular foot to stop that 'guiding' finger. It was weird because it didn't bleed for about 4 minutes. Anyway, I hope I never ever ever EVER do that again!!

Redeeming the Time

2006-09-01T15:33:00.000-05:00

As I have spent quite a bit of time in waiting rooms this week, I've gotten quite a bit of stitching done, wahoo! I was just thrilled to finally finish Blackbird Designs 'Quaker Garden'. It is stitched on 32 count Lakeside Linen Pear with Weeks Dye Works and Crescent Colours. Next is a Hands to Work pincushion design 'A little Peace'. It is stitched on some 36 ct. 'snickerdoodle blend'. ;) Actually, it's a piece of Lakeside Pearled Barley that I soaked in some of my leftover snickerdoodle coffee, I love it! Wonder if I could duplicate this same color again?! I plan to stitch all 3 of these pincushions from The Littles leaflet, and have a start on 'A Little Love' already. Next picture is my Blackbird Designs 'Be Kind & True' WIP stitched on 35 ct. R&R Marva's breakfast blend. This fabric has a light side and a dark side. I'm stitching on the light side, and the color of the darker side would probably be better, BUT, I could not reckon with the splotchiness of the darker side. I like some distress or mottling, but not when it makes the linen just look dirty. :) Last, but not least is a Lizzie Kate design 'Think Autumn'. I stitched it on some 36 ct linen that I dyed myself with coffee + vanilla, and used one strand of thread. I really like this one strand stitching! Anyway, the pattern calls for Picture This Plus in 'Relic' and I do like PTP linen a lot, but sometimes it's good to use something from the stash. I am so ready for fall and the cooler weather and lovely colors that come with it, I'm Thinking Autumn!

I am so disappointed lately in the quality of Weeks Dye Works threads. They used to be my favorite. What happened to them? The newer threads are all weird and shiny looking, they seem smashed, not soft or plump, and they shred after a stitch or two. Not good. Also, some of the colors that have been long time favorites, or 'staple' colors like 'Brick' for instance, do not have any variation in the color at all anymore. I might as well use DMC, it's softer and doesn't shred. I have recently been only using WDW if I have an older skein or can find an older skein of what is called for at the shop, after buying & using several skeins of the weird new stuff. I keep checking it out (last night) every time I'm in the LNS to see if any new threads are looking better. Still icky.

Thursday-lots of pictures

2006-08-24T11:06:00.000-05:00

This is my progress on Quaker Garden as of this morning. This started out as a project I worked on when we watched movies. It's getting more attention now than just during movies so I can be done with it. The picture doesn't do the colors justice! I changed the 'shaker white' to Crescent Colours 'Bamboo', because my two skeins of GAST 'shaker white' both look nothing like the chart picture and are very brown looking (one is what I call dirty dish water LOL). Both are labelled 'shaker white' but very different from each other and definitely not white-ish at all.

While I had the camera out I decided to take some pictures of my Autumn Sewing Roll by The Needles Content. I know it's not yet fall, but I've started using it anyway. :) Above is the roll opened and you can see the pocket on one end and a needle book on the other. The pin cushion in the middle actually is not attached to the roll. I made this sewing roll in 2002 and bring it out each Autumn to enjoy using. I just love the colors!

Here it is all closed up.

And here's the outside. It says 'Harvest the fruits of your stitching and treasure your needlework tools'. The threads used were 'Venus' and one Gloriana silk, plus the ribbons are also Gloriana. Venus is a 6 stranded cotton floss.

Here's another punchneedle project I just finished. The pattern for this is from the new issue of 'Country Marketplace', I've included a picture of the magazine front below. The pattern called for overdyes, but I switched to DMC.

Above is the antique sampler mentioned in my last post. This article comes from 'Country Sampler' sept. 2004 issue-picture of front below.

And here is my very first punch needle project. The pattern for this heart was included with my punchneedles and I used DMC 3858, 927, & 3051. It was punched with 6 strands of floss, and the green background used an entire skein!

This is the Friendship sampler I received from my exchange partner, didn't she do a fantastic job? I love it!

Thank you! to everybody who has visited and left comments, I really appreciate them!! I love finding new stitching blogs to read too, just hope to have more time to read them now! Isn't it amazing how enabling fellow bloggers are? You see something stitched up that previously you had seen the chart for, but it didn't do a thing for you....but seeing it stitched, you HAVE to have it!! That's what I loved so much about first finding stitching bulletin boards, was seeing peoples' finishes. And now with blogs, it's even better. ;)

Finally

2006-08-23T12:58:00.000-05:00

Moira Blackburn 'Friendship Sampler' on 36 ct Lakeside maple sugar with WDW & GAST. I changed the colors from those called for on the chart and eliminated the straight line border. This was for an exchange and my partner stitched the same design and then we exchanged samplers. IMO, she did a better job and I'm tickled with the sampler I have now (and need to get framed).

Carriage House Samplings 'Westwinds' on 40 light cappucino w/ NPI silks

Midsummer Night Designs 'Sweet World' stitched on 40 ct. cream with Anchor floss

I'm finally posting an update on my blog that is. We've been busy getting ready for school, which started on Monday. I'm on a schedule now, and back to being up by 5:30 every morning. That's taking some getting used to, after getting into the [bad] habit of staying up late and sleeping late this summer. I think that we're finally getting most of the permission slips and emergency forms etc. all filled out and settling into our routines.
I mentioned in my last post that I knew that I had had some finishes lately but couldn't remember any of them, so hopefully I'll round up pics of all of them today and share. I've now uploaded what I have so far. I still forgot to take a picture of my very first punchneedle project. I also want to take a picture of the Friendship Sampler I received in my exchange. Those will have to wait for a future post. :)
In the works STILL is Blackbird Designs 'Quaker Garden'. I'm not sure why I thought it would go quickly (maybe because so many others whipped it up quickly!) but it is slow for me. I'll get there, as some stitches are made on it daily..... :)
I was reading an older issue of 'Country Sampler' magazine recently-I've been going thru old magazines lately- and found an article that I had missed before, showing pictures of a lady's house & decorating with her collections and antiques. Anyway, she has an old sampler from the 1800's on her wall that she paid a nickel for. :o I'll share issue details and some pictures of that later too. It's worth $1500 today. What a treasure she found! I wonder if my samplers will go for pennies at an estate sale someday? Hope not, but don't care so much. I trust they will somehow eventually end up in the hands of somebody who appreciates them, whether they got them for a song or not. :)

Punchneedle

2006-08-16T00:20:00.000-05:00

I've taken the plunge into punchneedle. I love it. I started this little piece last night, and finished it up this afternoon. This is called 'Sunflower House' and is by Jeremiah Junction. Here's a link to see what theirs looks like-I changed some colors, eliminated the dots in the background and the checkered bottom border. It is punched on khaki weaver's cloth with DMC. This is actually my second punchneedle project, my first was a heart pattern that was included with the punchneedles. I forgot to take a picture of it, and it's upstairs, so will share a picture of that one later on. If you've thought about learning this technique, I encourage you to GO FOR IT! It's not difficult at all, plus it's fast and fun. I basically just followed the instructions that were included with the punchneedles and took off punching. I've now also watched Charlotte Dudney's punchneedle DVD, which is really helpful as well.
I'm still plugging away on BBD 'Quaker Garden' that was started last month. It's just slow going for me. I know I've had some finishes lately, but I'm tired and can't remember a one of them. Also this evening, I started 'Be Kind & True' by Blackbird Designs. It's stitched with one strand of WDW on 35 ct. linen and just a nice sampler to work on. I was surprised by how much progress was made already.

Puttering Around

2006-07-08T13:09:00.000-05:00

My guys all went camping for the weekend, so I've got the house to myself. Aah, silence. :) Of course, I had visions of getting like an entire sampler stitched without interruptions! HA HA HA I *have* stitched, but I've also cleaned here & there-like washing down all of the kitchen cabinets and especially the handles- and hung out outside with these rotten, high maintenance dogs, and watering my flowers. Since the guys took the camera, I'm going to just add a picture here that I took of my Blackbird Designs 'Summer Jubilee' (this link is the only picture of the whole piece I could find, it's one of the projects from the book but I'm stitching mine from an old JCS magazine) work in progress a few months back, before it was relegated to a drawer. I've been working on it here and there for little bits, and I now only have left to stitch the flower on the far right, the numbers and star and right side border before it's finished!
I'm also working on Carriage House 'Westwinds' and a Blue Ribbon Designs ornament for a gift-it's the 'freedom' one. I can hardly wait to have it finished, I changed the linen and thread colors and have my fabric for finishing picked out.
For the remainder of today, my goals are to finish the ornament completely, stitch lots of leaves on Westwinds and clean up the sewing room some. I hope the weekend has some quiet stitching time in store for you too. :)

Free Betsy

2006-07-02T16:31:00.000-05:00

This is a Bent Creek Zipper kit called 'Free Betsy'. It is stitched on 25 count flax linen with 3 strands of floss. Bent Creek has 7 or 8 of these sheep kits . The other one I have is 'Gertie Gobble', she's so cute!

Summer Stitchin'

2006-06-30T12:24:00.000-05:00

Above is a freebie from Glory Bee called 'Summertime'. It is stitched with Crescent Colours on 28 ct. raw linen. I finished into a little pillow/sign with Mary Engelbreit bee fabric on back and a black ric rac hanger-I love ric rac!

And here we have 2 Lizzie Kate designs. On the left is 'Long May She Wave', a pocketbook kit that comes with the wonderful Picture This Plus 'Relic' linen and embellishment. This is my very first flat fold-type finish, with a fabric covered easel on back. I liked how it turned out and how easy & quick it was. I consider myself 'bow impaired' so the bow could be better, but hey, it works for me. And the project on the right is a new LK freebie that I stitched on 25 ct. mushroom lugana and finished into a little pillow.
And lastly, here is another freebie (I usually do not ever stitch freebies, so this is weird) from Little House Needleworks called 'Summer House', stitched on raw belfast with Crescent Colours. Since the House is stitched in the color 'Old Blue Jeans', I thought it was appropriate to incoporate some denim in this project-well, actually I just love denim and am always looking for ways to use it LOL. The pillow back is a red corduroy that matches the red in the design.
I am almost always a sucker for any Americana themed cross stitch chart. I have another one in the works right now while I'm on the red, white and blue kick. I'm pretty happy to have some things finished for display BEFORE the holiday has come and gone this year.

Create & Decorate Again
Back on April 6th, I posted about a great magazine that I had just found and thought was fabulous- Create & Decorate. I just picked up the latest issue yesterday and was not disappointed at all. So far, my favorite project is a cherry apron, not that I'm into cooking or anything. It has cherries and ric-rac and is oh so cute. The cherries are iron-ons, but I'm thinking you could easily applique or stitch some cherries too! Anyway, this magazine is really fun to thumb through and is jam packed with projects.

Home Sweet Home and Winter Snapperland

2006-06-13T13:22:00.000-05:00

First up is my 'Happy Hearts' WIP, that has been a WIP for more than 4 years now. I had worked on it for a week or so back in April, before other things were calling my name louder and it was put aside yet again. Andrea finished hers recently, and has inspired me to pull it out, if nothing else to sit out on top of the sewing machine so I have to look at it every time I am upstairs. Doesn't she have some GREAT finishes lately?
And so I have finished a couple of things in the past week, first my 'Home Sweet Home' sampler by Sunflower Samplings is stitched on 28 ct. ???? (creme brulee I think) and next is my Bent Creek 'Winter Snapperland'. I was going gung ho on that one back in January, just waiting for the next installments to come out, with full intentions of having this stitched during the winter. Oh well, it's been in an almost complete state for quite a while now because it took me a couple months to track down a skein of GAST 'apple cider'. It is stitched on 32 ct. opalescent raw belfast.
My current WIP is a friendship sampler for an exchange. I will spend another day or 2 on that to finish this week's assignment (it's a SAL) and then decide what I start next. It'll be a tough decision because I have some great things kitted up.
Did you see all of the great freebies up at Hoffmans? There are some really cute designs, so check them out. For anybody who has printed off any, did you print the Little House Needleworks and Country Cottage Needleworks charts and not have the graph lines show up? My grid lines (every 10 stitches) and the symbols are fine, but the graph lines are invisible.

The new Village of Hawk Run Hollow is wonderful beyond words. I am so kitting it up.

Some recent stitching

2006-05-29T10:27:00.000-05:00

During my stay at the hospital with my son, I completed 2 cross stitch pieces. Above is a sampler designed by La D Da from the Oct. 2003 issue of Just Cross Stitch and is called 'School Days'. I just loved this and really enjoyed stitching it. I started it in the ER 5-9 and completed it one week later. Since taking the picture, I also added a heart and my son's initials as a sort of record of where we were when it was stitched. I didn't know when I started that the title 'School Days' even applies to my life right now, while I am learning a lot. This experience with my son has been hard on me, but good in many ways. I'm not sure there has been another time in life that I've cried so much. Stitching is truly therapeutic.
I was pleased to also actually stitch one of the bazillion magazine charts that I 'wanna stitch' . :)

Also completed @ the hospital is this cute little santa by Heart in Hand-Wee Santa 2005. He is stitched on dirty linen with GAST and WDW. I need to find the little tin heart charm to hang on the end of his staff.
Currently, I am stitching 'Home Sweet Home' by Sunflower Samplings. It took me a week to get back in the groove of things and find my passion for stitching again, and now I am pleased to be back to stitching and planning future projects. I even kitted up 'Love the Truth' the other night, and I really hope to start that one soon. I would like to finish my current WIP first. :)
We're building a new fence this weekend. Right now my guys are at the home improvement store, so it'll be back to work soon.

Spring House exchange

2006-05-23T14:28:00.000-05:00

What a cute wall hanging Nancy stitched for me for the Spring House Exchange!! She chose a house from Little House Needleworks, one of my favorite designers and her finishing is beautiful! Also included in the package were some skeins of floss and a Prairie Schooler chart. I truly appreciate this gift from Nancy as I know that she stitched for 2 people to compensate for one of the members who was not able to send a pkg. on time. I love my little wall hanging. :)
I enjoyed participating in this exchange, and hope to sign up for another exchange or 2 soon. Stitchers are so creative!

Hello

2006-05-15T11:23:00.000-05:00

It's hard to believe that it's been over a month since I posted anything to my blog! It's been pretty busy for me since my last post, with multiple projects in the works, as well as my son being in the hospital. He had his hip surgery last month, and while hospitalized, docs found that his shunt was malfunctioning, so he got a 'two for one'-2 surgeries, one admission. After a week in the hospital, we came home and had a birthday for brother, and then Easter. I've been busy making flip flops as a fund raiser for lab rescue in the meantime. I make them, and other volunteers have taken them to work and sold them, and taken tons of orders for more. That has kept me busy not only making them, but shopping for supplies. Sometimes it takes driving to several different stores to find the right color and size of flippers. Just when I think I've caught up, I get an order for 10 or 20 more, and requests for another basket full. I'm working on an order right now for 20 pair, and 'as many mediums as I can make'. All righty. My son is now back in the hospital, since last tuesday. Another shunt malfunction. I'm home for a shower and break from the hospital right now. I wish I had more time to just be at home, but as DH is relieving me, I have to hurry back so he can put in some hours at work and be here for the other children after school.
I've been working on a La D Da sampler at the hospital. How people cope at the hospital w/o something like stitching to work on, I will never know.
Hopefully I'll be back home very soon with some stitching pics. :)

Great Magazine

2006-04-06T11:27:00.000-05:00

I am a magazine junkie. I have magazines in almost every nook & cranny of my home. :) Efforts to dwindle down this abundance of magazines have often been in vain, as the next time I pass by the media section of a store, I find more I NEED to buy. Despite this weakness of mine, I have succeeded in reducing quite a bit of my collection in the past year, and I'm already kicking myself over some of the cross stitch ones I let go! Does anybody else ever feel a little disappointed though, when they get the magazine home and have time to thumb through it to find that it's lacking some real substance? I have to share with you a magazine I bought the other day that I am really impressed with, it's called 'Create & Decorate' . If you go to their website, and click on 'see complete table of contents', you can see thumbnails of all of the projects packed into this one issue. Holy Moly!! It's absolutely packed with projects, many are primitive in style, but not too too primitive for me. Since I am interested in other kinds of stitchery besides cross stitch, this was a real treat with several designs for punch needle and stitchery. There are also painting and paper craft projects that look cool, but I'm resisting the paper/scrapbooking bug and can't paint. I'm just now getting a good look at this magazine and am so impressed that I had to share with other crafty, stitchy people. I hope it stays so good!

Spring!

2006-04-05T08:04:00.000-05:00

Well, our spring weather has finally arrived some time after the calendar indicated it is spring. :) I'm always beyond ready for things to warm up, as well as 'green' up.
Above is my Spring House exchange project that I made for Becky and since she has received it, I can show it. This comes from Rose Cottage by Country Cottage Needleworks. I had fun tweaking the colors for and stitching this!
Although it wasn't in the plans, I have picked up my Birds of a Feather 'Happy Hearts' sampler and worked on it for the past few days, and thoroughly enjoyed it I might add. I started this exactly 4 years ago and I manage to work some on it every year. It is stitched on 36 ct. meadowlark linen with one strand of WDW. I think I might be close to halfway, whew! This sampler is a lot more stitching than I thought it would be-but I love it.
Lately, I've been feeling somewhat overwhelmed by all of the wonderful cross stitch projects I have waiting in the wings. I want to start something new and am having a tough time deciding what. Working on WIPS means I don't have to decide just yet. LOL Actually, I have been stitching on a particular motif in Happy Hearts that now only requires being filled in with one color, thus no chart or counting to complete it.......which makes it a perfect waiting room/hospital project. We found out yesterday that my son has to have surgery Friday a.m. to remove some hip hardware. :( It will be a 7-10 day stay for him. An addicted stitcher must have plans for stitching for such an occasion, including back-up projects in case I finish one or get bored with it. I'll have an ornament (DT freebie) , Happy Hearts, an over one project (spring quilts on a line from the last Cross Stitch and Needlwork, formerly Stitchworld), and a notebook kit by Handwork Samplers.
I'm tempted to kit up yet another design or 2 from the stash: Gathering Room by Little House Needleworks and maybe even Home of a Needleworker , since it's been an obvious must-do from the moment I first saw it. See what I mean? I need a few more sets of hands to get all of the things stitched that I like!

neglected blog

2006-03-31T12:05:00.000-06:00

I've thought about updating my blog for the past week or so, does that count?
Anyway, I have continued to stitch pretty often during the month of March. With a lot of dentist and dr. appts, one can accomplish considerable progress on stitching in waiting rooms. Small projects are great for that and I finished a couple last week: Britty Puppy from Brittercup Designs 'Keep it Clean', minus the words, bone, and heart AND a freebie sampler from Blue Ribbon Designs, I picked up this chart at the LNS, but I think you might be able to download it from her website. I didn't stitch the 'for you' over-one part nor add my initials, but might later...
The other sampler is by 4 My Boys titled 'Snow Proud Sampler' and is stitched on 28 ct. dirty cashel (what a crappy name for that color of linen, but then again, I guess fitting).
One other recent finish will have to wait to make an appearance here until I hear from my exchange partner that it has been received. Stay tuned for a spring house.....
April is looking to be an incredibly busy month for me, with birthdays, easter, house full of company 2 weekends in a row, among a zillion other 'things' going on. I sometimes work better under pressure though, so I might just really keep this blog updated even though it'll be hectic!

I bought my first flowers today, a hanging pot of red petunias-my favorite color and one of my favorite flowers. I wish I was more of a 'green thumb' but at this point in life I've decided I should probably wish to be able to pay a full time gardener instead. LOL I did notice my cannas are starting to come up, wahoo! Now, those are some beautiful flowers to grow because they are tall, grow fast and are pretty low maintenace. I need to thin out the bulbs today and plant some in front of the ugly gas meter out back so I don't have to look at it this summer. Oh, this reminds me, I want to find some more asparagus ferns to grow in pots this summer. They are beautiful and I have managed to keep mine alive every year I have them-awesome! I snagged a pic online to upload here of an asparagus fern.
I'm off to dig in the dirt.......Have a wonderful spring weekend!

Some February Stitching

2006-03-01T20:02:00.000-06:00

I didn't know if I would *ever* finish that black background! Whew! It was actually a really good project to have on hand after I came home from the hospital, as I could pick it up and put in a few stitches whenever I was up for a few, without consulting a chart or counting. I detest stitching on black fabric enough that I am willing to stitch an entire background black! OK, only on a really small design like this though. ;) BTW, this is from a 2006 cross stitch calendar designed by Ewe & Eye & Friends and is called 'Winter Warmth'. I had lofty plans to keep current on stitching each design for each month. Ha ha ha Maybe I'll pick up with March now..

I just love Shepherd's Bush kits, and I received a wonderful little surprise from Cathy with this adorable SB heart kit called 'Be True' recently. I didn't waste any time, and ironed the linen (really! I did! even though it doesn't look like it!) and quick stitched this cutie up while watching '24' the other night. There are plenty enough of the silks leftover to stitch this again, perhaps even 2 0r 3 more times and I will be happy to send the chart and leftover threads to the first person to contact me about it! Thanks again so much for the package Cathy!

Every time I think I have this uploading pics to blogger figured out, I find out that it just does what it wants to do. LOL Actually the picture above is what I just finished this evening, and I intended for this to be the last picture...oh well! This is a freebie from Bent Creek called 'Partridge in a Pear Tree'. It was my ornament for February, even though I didn't quite get it finished before 3/1. :)

Above is the linen I mentioned quite a while back (in January I think) from Picture This Plus, called 'Mercedes'. It is a sparkly 28 ct. linen that I will be stitching Bethlehem on with GAST 'Deep Sea' thread. A stitching friend from our stitch group was working on this project last year and I just had to order it too. Stitching friends are so enabling, aren't they? (huh Barb??)

Above is my finished 'Coffee Menu' by Little House Needleworks. I really liked how it turned out. The fabric is 28 ct. Vintage Autumn Fields by Zwiegart. This would be a good linen to just
keep on hand, it is so nice.

And now this is something I whipped up the other day. I told CJ recently that I was looking for something springy to stitch because we had some crummy, cloudy, and COLD weather for what seemed like forever, but it was probably more like a week. LOL I started out by choosing that plaid fabric. I saw it upstairs and decided that I wanted to stitch something I could use this plaid with for finishing. This design came from 'For the Love of Cross Stitch' July 2002 issue, and it is designed by Trail Creek Farm. She used more muted GAST threads on her model, but I switched out the colors for DMC that would coordinate with the plaid. What do you think? I was happy with how it turned out and it is a fun, SPRINGY kinda finish too. I will share a finished finish of this soon, I hope.

Burning up the camera battery yesterday...

2006-03-01T14:40:00.000-06:00

Since the camera was out, we took pictures of 'the brats' as we so affectionately refer to them. :)
This is Bumper, he is the BOSS. It is a rough beagle life.....

And this is my sweet Beacon. He is still feeling puny and is in the hospital right now after a setback. The vet assures me he will be fine after some IV fluids for a day or 2. Doesn't he look a little sad?
OK, I'll post later with several stitching pictures. Right now it's time for school to be out.

Saturday Update

2006-02-25T11:38:00.000-06:00

Hi, thank you for the well wishes for Beacon! He is doing a little better today. I was bawling everytime I looked at him on Thursday, and was kind of a mess when I last posted. He has hookworms and has been treated for that. Now he has to take medicine for nausea and eat a bland diet for a few days. He is still lethargic but eating a little and drinking, so that is a good sign. He is on a monthly heartworm preventative pill (which also prevents hookworms), but the vet said that nothing is 100% effective. I suspect that they weren't totally wiped out when he was rescued last summer, as I remember him taking some medicine then for hookworms (before I adopted him). That's what a life on the streets can do for a dog.
So, yes, I am recovering from my surgery. I have been doing a lot of decluttering this morning in the living room and feel really sore at the moment. I seem to be pushing it a lot this week, but my Mother isn't here to help anymore. She went home on Wednesday. By the way, I had an emergency splenectomy (spleen removed) on January 31st.
I have stitched some and had a couple of finishes recently. We are in the middle of a computer switchover now that isn't going so well, so I won't be posting pictures until that's worked out. With this going on, I am also not connected some days. :( More time to stitch, I suppose.
I've recently noticed some new names posting some comments on my blog, and just want to say "Thanks!" and I look forward to reading your blogs too! Thanks also to everybody who drops a few lines, love you guys!!

Hope you all have a great weekend!!

My Furbaby

2006-02-23T13:30:00.000-06:00

My dog Beacon has been under the weather the past couple of days. He has an appt. with the vet today @ 2:30. I am trying not to worry about him. He has to be o.k. Can you spare some prayers and good thoughts for him today? It makes me so sad to see him lethargic and not eating or drinking. He is my shadow and follows me everywhere, my constant companion and friend.

January Starts

2006-01-30T13:33:00.000-06:00

...and one finish (so far) for the month, it's an ornament from The Trilogy's 'Ornamentology' leaflet. Once again, I left off the border on this one. My silly dogs were running around while I was trying to take pics, and kicking up dead grass that kept flying over onto my cross stitch.

Above is my progress on 'Coffee Menu' by Little House Needleworks. It is stitched with DMC, GAST, and Crescent Colours on 28 ct. Vintage Autumn Fields by Zweigart-love the fabric!

And this is my progress on Bent Creek's 'Snapperville'. I didn't really have any interest in stitching this until I saw it all stitched up together with the free border on their website. I am stitching mine on Birds of a Feather 'Sandpiper' 32 ct. linen.

And now for my Ewe&Eye&Friends start from the 2006 calendar. I call it the 'funky coffee cup' but it's called 'Winter Warmth' on the chart.
It's been a weird month. There was even an entire week that I didn't pick up a needle! I just haven't really been in the mood to blog, and with competition for the computer, I don't have a chance to be online some days until really late (past 10 pm). My son changed schools and is going to school an hour earlier than before, requiring an hour earlier alarm setting for me. There has been some crud going around and we've all been down with that.
I have been able to attend more stitching get-togethers than ever though! It's been great fun to meet more stitchers, stitch, & gab. It's definitely my idea of fun. I went to the movie once this month too, to see 'The End of the Spear'. Great movie! I am so glad I had kleenex handy. I am a big cryer when I watch movies and read. My two friends that I went to the movie with were completely dry-eyed. Hrmphh!
I just picked up my mail and had a *wonderful* new Quaker chart waiting in the mailbox. LOVE IT! I can hardly wait to buy my 40 ct. linen and start stitching this one!
Today, I plan to stitch on 'Coffee Menu' some more. First things first though....laundry calls. I hope there is something good on tv tonight!

Cleaning closets

2006-01-09T23:26:00.000-06:00

It's always fun to see what will be unearthed when cleaning out my closet, what treasure has been covered up and forgotten. I'm still working on the closet, but look what I found already:my gingham purse that I made the summer before last ('04). I love this purse. I dreamed about this purse before I made it, even the particular decorative stitch. LOL
There's not a lot of stitching to report lately, although I kitted up 2 more projects yesterday and today-4 My Boys Snow Proud Sampler and Imaginating Bethlehem, which will be changed from the blech yucko brown to GAST 'deep sea' on a gorgeous Picture This Plus linen. I believe the shop I ordered it from told me it was the color 'mercedes', but I've already trashed the piece of paper with the color name on it, so can't be sure. Will share a pic of it soon! It's sparkly too! :)
Oh yes, about the closet.....I bought some photo boxes recently, with the intent to use them to organize some of the junk, er, stuff in the closets. They fit & stack nicely on the shelves in there, plus can be labelled easily. It looks like I need about 40 more though. ;)

Saturday

2006-01-07T11:28:00.000-06:00

Goodness! This picture accentuates every little wrinkle! It doesn't really look so bad in person, but I also did not iron it yet. So, here's my Bent Creek 'Winter Snapperland' all caught up. You know how some things are just more fun to stitch than others? This one is fun! I think it's really cute too, and looking forward to the next releases. Since I'm using my Q-snaps to stitch this, I'm waiting until the stitching is complete before attaching the embellishments. I have already used one complete skein of WDW 'Whitewash', and using a 2nd skein now. My skeins had some particularly uncooperative kinks in them, that made it hard to make nice laying stitches. When I have that problem with DMC, I just take my cut length to the sink and soak it with water, and then run my fingers down the length of the floss to squeeze out excess water. After that, I just drape it across a chair to air dry, and then it's so much easier to work with. I had never tried that with overdyed threads, afraid of bleeding. What I decided to do with the whitewash, was that I dipped my fingertips in water, and ran them down the length of floss to just barely dampen it and straighten it, and then air dry it. Worked like a charm!
I haven't yet decided what I'll work on next. Maybe it will be the January design from the Ewe&Eye&Friends calendar.
I thought for sure I would have more 'free' time this week when the kids were back in school, but it ended up being a busy week. Next week is looking to be packed with activities as well. I've said it a million times before, but I would love to be able to get by on less sleep! But then I would probably spend all that extra time online. ;-)

Happy New Year!

2006-01-01T14:17:00.000-06:00

It's 2006. Weren't we just celebrating 2000 and a new millennium yesterday?? I know everybody is saying it, but time just flies by faster and faster every year!
I am going to write out my 2006 stitch list here today. Rather than it being a goal list, I think it's more of a list of things I have in my stash that I really like and want-to-stitch. Being the fickle girl that I am, I expect to be sidetracked and distracted by new (new new, or new to the stash) things and that's o.k. It's still good to have a list, because if I don't write it down, I forget that I have it! :) OK, here goes:

*Millennium Sampler-Ewe & Eye & Friends
*Trudy's Flower-Elizabeth's Garden
*Winter Snapperland- Bent Creek (in progress as of 12-29)
*Snapperville-Bent Creek
*Winter Welcome-Country Cottage Needlework
*Deftly Wrought-Midsummer Night Designs
*Quaker Meetinghouse- """"
*Coffee Menu-Little House Needleworks
*Coffee House-LHN from JCS
*My Country-Erica Michaels
*American Quaker-Scarlet Letter
*Love the Truth-Examplars From the Heart
*Snow Proud Sampler-4 My Boys
*She Gathers- """"
*Land That I love- Birds of a Feather
*America- Little House Needleworks
*Soweth Sampler-Birds of a Feather
*Home Sweet Home- Sunflower Samplings
*Westwinds-Carriage House
*Bethlehem-Imaginating
*3 Pink Houses-Ewe & Eye & Friends
*monthly calendar designs- """"
*Summer Jubilee-Blackbird Designs (in progress)
*Britty Puppies and Kitties-Brittercup Designs
*at least one Chessie & Me
*at least one Sheepish Designs
*at least one ornament a month

Now, whether that is a do-able list or not remains to be seen. ;-) I think it's pretty ambitious, yet within the realm of possibility.

I am thinking seriously about putting my first stitches into EEF 'Millennium Sampler' today, just to say I had a New Years Day start. LOL But I'm enjoying working on my Winter Snapperland. I'll come back later today to hopefully plug in some links to the pieces from my list, and perhaps add a picture of my WIP(s).
I want to go stitch right now, while the family isn't demanding my attention. Hope you're all having a great day, and wishing you all a wonderful new year.

Wrapping up another stitching year

2005-12-30T15:21:00.000-06:00

I squeezed in another Christmas finish the other day, although not in time for Christmas '05. It is a Bent Creek Zipper called 'Santa's Reindeer' and is stitched with perle #5 on 18 ct. linen. That is a little different, and seems gigantic after working with 32 ct. LOL I'm still pondering how it will be finished, and one idea that I had was to sew it into the front of a totebag.
And this is a square I stitched for Cole's Quilts stitched on 14 ct. white aida. The picture below is the pattern I used to stitch this square. I kind of cut it in half and stacked the 2 halves on top of each other and then added some bubbles here and there to fill in. BTW, this is from the Just Cross Stitch August 2003 issue.

Below is 'Summer Jubilee' by Blackbird Designs. It's close to halfway finished now, but put away in a drawer for the time being.

My 'finished in 2005' list is up to 44 finishes for the year, and that's probably what I'll end the year with. You can see pictures of my '05 finishes here . I've begun writing some things down that I would like to stitch in 2006 and this weekend, I plan to narrow it down to a do-able list. If nothing from the list gets stitched, that's o.k. too, just as long as I stitch! In looking back at my list from this time last year, I see that I managed to finish 2 things, and cross out 2 things as 'not ever gonna stitch'. It looks like what I did stitch are mostly new things added to the stash during '05. In light of that, I hope all of the new things from market are ugly. Yeah Right!
Thank you Everybody who has left comments for me here~You've all made this blogging so much more fun and interesting with your encouragement and inspiration!!

In Progress

2005-12-27T13:45:00.000-06:00

For some strange reason, I'm not seeing the taskbar where I can click to add a link or picture, HMMMM. I was going to upload a picture of my WIP. 'Summer Jubilee' by Blackbird Designs is about halfway (give or take a little) finished. Christmas day, I started my new Bent Creek zipper kit 'Santa's Reindeer'. It was so beautiful and sunny here on the 25th, AND the wind wasn't blowing much (the wind always blows here, I swear) so I sat outside and stitched for quite a while Christmas. I would have stitched longer, but after eating turkey for lunch, I was feeling sleepy. Our oldest son left to go back home in the late afternoon, and it felt a little sad here after that. Too short of a visit. Well, maybe the next time I try to upload my picture, things will be working again....

Holiday Cheer

2005-12-22T11:20:00.000-06:00

This is 'Withering Tulips' by Barrick Samplers (now Carriage House Samplings), finished 12-9. I used DMC on 40 ct. R&R 'antique cotton'. I was a bit unsure of the colors when I started, as they looked really different from the model picture, but I like how it turned out a lot!!

Above is Bent Creek's zipper kit called 'Holiday Cheer'. I finished stitching this a couple of nights ago. These sheep are growing on me and I have another kit waiting to be stitched, it's 'Free Betsy'. I want the turkey one now too. They are stitched on 25 count linen, using 3 strands of floss. I doubt very seriously that it will be framed or finished into anything in time for this Christmas, but it was fun to stitch her at Christmastime at least.

And this is an ornament from The Trilogy's 'Ornamentology' leaflet, finished last night while watching lots of Veggie Tales videos. The border has been omitted, as there isn't enough linen. OOPS, I stitched it on a scrap of linen banding and just barely have enough room to finish it off now. It is stitched with GAST, plus some Glissen Gloss blending filament in the reds to give it sparkle. The pattern didn't call for blending filament, I just thought it would be fun for an ornament and Tess helped me find a great color!
I have been under the weather for what seems like forever. It's definitely been the better part of Dec. so far that I've either taken care of sick children or been sick myself. Thankfully I'm on the mend now and catching up!
It's that time of year to make lists, lists, lists, one of which is 'what to stitch in the upcoming year'. I make the list every year, and yet rarely ever follow it, as new stuff distracts me. LOL I'm still thinking about the list right now.....
Merry Christmas Everybody!

Ornament Exchange

2005-12-10T10:08:00.000-06:00

Above is the ornament I received in the exchange, from Janet. It is stitched and finished so nicely and the backing is a beautiful soft dark green fabric to match the green border. I think the gold cording sets it al off so well, 'rich' is how I would describe it. :-) The camera flash washed it out, so it's prettier in person. (as usual) Yep, we believe in Santa. Isn't this a cute design?

And this one is the ornament I stitched for the exchange. It's the 2001 Prairie Schooler Santa stitched over-one.
My hat is off to those of you who participate in several exchanges like this. I absolutely love seeing all of the pictures from exchanges and what everybody decides to stitch and how they finish. However, I only sign up for an exchange once a year, or once in 2 years. Too many irons in the fire!

A couple of happy dances

2005-11-28T19:51:00.000-06:00

Well, one of my fall stitched pieces was finished before Thanksgiving. This is 'I am So Thankful' by Trail Creek Farm. I made a little pillow out of 2 leftover quilt squares (from a quilt that I made in 2001) and then I mounted the cross stitch piece to the pillow with the little buttons. The quilt was made from a pattern called 'Tattered Pioneer' and I used Moda fabrics from their line called 'Pheasant Run'. It remains one of my most favorite lines of fabrics and I wish it was still being made! Gorgeous yummy stuff! Maybe I'll remember to take a picture of the quilt to share soon.

This is 'Apple Sampler' by Birds of a Feather, stitched with Silk n Colors. (finished 11-23) Thanks Barb for the fabric, it was the perfect color and size for this sampler!!

And this is 'Stella Jones' by Examplar Dames. (finished 11-28)

We had a nice, quiet Thanksgiving holiday here. My husband made a wonderful turkey dinner, while I helped with the desserts and stuffing. After turkey, we all settled in for a 'Lord of the Rings' marathon, and I put in a lot of stitching hours. :-) That is why I have 2 happy dances so close together!
The plan, until I am sidetracked again, is to stitch some more on my 'Withering Tulips' by Barrick Samplers, at least put in a few hours before starting something new. We'll see if I stick to the plan, as there are several things kitted up and ready to go here. They are calling my name LOUDLY.
I've changed the name of my blog. I didn't put a whole lot of thought into the first name 'Threads', but was just shooting for something that covers both the sewing and stitching fronts. After a lot of mulling around of 'what to name my blog', I've decided to call my blog 'Gingham Stitcher'.

A finish and some WIPS

2005-11-21T12:31:00.000-06:00

The vintage autumn field cashel that I ordered for 'Coffee Menu' by Little House Needleworks arrived in my mailbox the other day. This was my first time ordering from Silkweaver fabrics and I was very pleased with service and turn around. This fabric is very nice!

Thank you Cathy for reminding me about this cute Lizzie Kate pattern, 'Autumn ABC's', that I have had forever! I stitched mine on 32 ct. lambswool. It was fun, and I'm thinking about trying my hand at a flat fold finishing for this. I have 2 fall themed pieces stitched that I would like to finish before Thanksgiving. After that, I will have zero interest in anything 'fall' related, as it will officially be Christmas season!
Thanks for the comments about the ort bags. Bine, I'm not sure what the technical definition of 'ort' is, but to me it's those little snips of thread left from each length of thread used for stitching. Usually they end up stuck to your shirt, pants, couch, etc. :)
Karen, the little bags stay open by themselves, because there is a layer of interfacing in between the outer and lining fabrics. I think it's about a medium weight. Feel free to email if you'd like more details and measurements, etc. Nope, not selling them!
This past Saturday was stitch-in at my local shop. I took my 'Apple Sampler' with me, and also something new to start. It's 'Summer Jubilee' by Blackbird Designs and is from a JCS issue (Aug. 2003). So far, it is looking very pretty, and I plan to have it framed just like the picture in the magazine. It is stitched on 18th century Blackbird by R&R, which is very nice and soooo much easier to stitch on than a true black. The stitch-in was fun, but I didn't get the huge amount of stitching done that I planned. LOL I always think I can accomplish more than what actually gets done.

Ort bags

2005-11-17T13:10:00.000-06:00

I tried to show off the lining fabrics as well as the outer fabrics. As usual, it's tricky to get perfect lighting.

Catching up

2005-11-09T13:52:00.000-06:00

Bine, you asked about the LA leaflets with designs by Diane Williams. Here is a picture of 3 that I have. The bottom one is showing both the front and the back of the leaflet. The back shows the picture of the sampler by LHN that says 'give thanks with a grateful heart'. The top 2 leaflets contain designs exclusively by Diane. Hope that helps!

Cathy, I am still trying to decide which Little House Needleworks design I want to start next. Coffee Menu, Spot of Coffee, Rose Sampler, and Ye Olde Coffee House (from JCS) are all contenders at the moment. :-)
I need to finish off some ornaments soon. Goodness, this month is already flying by! I did finish one ornament last week, but can't show it for a month or so.

Here's my current Work In Progress: 'Apple Sampler' by Birds of a Feather. Chelle, here's the conversion to Silk n Colors:
*Buckeye Scarlet---> In the Reds
*Cherry Bark--->no conversion, using cherry bark
*Ohio Lemon Pie--->Burnished Gold
*Avocado---> Ozark Spring
*Forest Glade---> Dark Forest

I was inspired last week, and finished my 'October Harvest' by Blackbird Designs into a pillow. I lined the cross stitch and attached it to a pillow with fabric covered buttons to match the pillow, added some beads to the corners and Wa-La!

Thank you so much for the nice comments that have been left on my blog!! It's so encouraging, and it's also neat to find another blog I had never read before. ;-)

AWW, how cute!

2005-10-29T13:58:00.000-05:00

I just saw the new Little House Needleworks charts on her website. They are so cute!
Speaking of Little House Needleworks, my latest finish is a LHN 'Daisy Lane Cottage'. I really like her designs. Did you know she has some charts in some Leisure Arts leaflets?

Weekend Retreat

2005-10-29T09:37:00.000-05:00

Above are pictures of what I made for Deborah for her birthday. I was happy with the way they turned out. Sometimes I envision things in my head and then when I endeavor to make them, it doesn't turn out so well. The ME pincushion with beads turned out better than what I envisioned and I hope she likes it. I want one for me now! LOL The other little pillow is from Trail Creek Farm. My pictures don't have the greatest lighting, so it's prettier in person, IMO.

Well, all of my guys loaded up in the car yesterday and headed off to Colorado for the weekend. It's a retreat for me, and I'm going to stitch, stitch, stitch!! After my cuppa java and a trip to the LNS, that is!!
I think what I will be stitching on is Apple Sampler by Birds of a Feather. I've converted all but one color to silk n colors. Or, I might also work on Withering Tulips by Barrick Samplers. Or Stella Jones. As you can see, I have a little trouble making up my mind. Apple Sampler and Withering Tulips are already in progress, and Stella is kitted and ready.
I should also do some finishing-but I'll only do that if I feel like it. I don't get a retreat weekend very often!!!! Hope you have a great weekend!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Raffle Quilt

2005-10-17T13:45:00.000-05:00

Here's the quilt I finished this week. It will be raffled off for Lab Rescue on Saturday at our first LR reunion. I tried to get a better pic, but the wind was blowing a leeetle too much. Anyway, the back is denim and the front is homespun plaids.

Sunday Stitching

2005-10-16T15:09:00.000-05:00

I found one of my most favorite publications this past week: BHG Quilt Sampler. It comes out but once a year and has 'tours' of quilt shops all across N. America. Each featured shop also contributes a pattern for a quilt too. It's so inspiring to look at all of the pictures from each shop with all of their models and displays....Each time I look through it, I see something new that I had not noticed before. It's a real treat!! I've made a point of picking up a copy of this for the past, oh 5 years or so-since I first discovered it.
On the quilting front, I finished a rag time quilt this week made out of denim and homespuns. I forgot to take a picture of it earlier, so will do that later. It will be a raffle quilt for Lab Rescue.

Thanks to all who have visited my stitching blog and thank you for your kind comments too! It's a lazy Sunday afternoon...doing some stitching....some surfin'......some playing in the stash....and trying to decide what *am* I going to start next?? Above are a few calling me: Willow House by Blackbird Designs, Trudy's Flower by Elizabeth's Garden, and Home Sweet Home by Sunflower Samplings. I have the called-for linen for Trudy's Flower, but not the other 2. (but surely could find a sub in the stash!)
I am also stitching a gift project today, so can't share a pic. ;-) Daisy Lane Cottage is in slow progress, getting the most attention in the car for now, and it will travel to the [at least] three doctor appointments I will have this next week. I really really need to have a finishing day, and get some things finished. There are several Christmas ornaments, as well as a few little samplers in the pile just waiting....