New Start and Bad Influences :-)

I got started on Ruth Bacheler this weekend. I am stitching it with good, old DMC on 36 count Lakeside Navy Bean :-). I think this is going to be such a fun project, I love the Irish stitches and the colors are so bright and pretty.

I've also kitted up This is the Day by Hands to Work. I blame my inability to stick to my rotation on several people ;-). First Siobhan, she posted a picture of her finish and I put it on my someday soon list. Then Jan posted pictures of her piece and I fell in love with her color changes. I really like the funky colors Tracy used in the original design but Jan's colors will fit in my home perfectly. I sort of nagged Jan into sharing her conversion :-). I hate to admit it but I made a few tiny changes to suit myself. I was still resisting but getting weaker. I kept reminding myself that I have a rotation I am suppose to be following. Then Nicole decided to start right away and posted pictures. Resistance is futile, yes my DH is a Star Trek fan and has dragged me along to movie after movie, LOL. So now it's all ready to stitch and sitting on my counter calling my name.

The blame for the second piece I couldn't resist kitting falls squarely on Siobhan, she's such a bad influence ;-). I love her Sarah Salter piece. It's one of the designs that has been floating around in my head for a while. I look at Siobhan's finish at least once or twic a week, LOL. It's a little difficult to find the chart so when I saw one on Ebay I thought I'd better go ahead and get it. It has been sitting on my coffee table for two weeks. Since I had everything out and I can't stop thinking about it, I thought I might as well kit it. I want to stitch it in silks but I didn't have all the colors I needed so I decided to fudge a bit. I am really happy with my conversion. Now I am trying to figure out how I am going to work it into my rotation too.

So there's my poor, sad tale, LOL. Who knows what tomorrow will bring. My mom and I are going shopping and I plan on stopping by my not so LNS so I may have something else I can't wait to stitch.

I got a creative blogger award from Melissa, who BTW has been a bad influence too. She just finished a BBD piece from the Fine Collection book and now I can't stop thinking it either. I am suppose to name 8 blogs but I would have a hard time choosing. I am amazed at all the wonderful blogs in the stitching community. Everyday I find a "new to me" blog that inspires and reminds me again of how much I love needlework. Thank you Melissa for the award!

Finally I need to thank Andrea. She had a giveaway on her blog and I won! She sent me the CHS Noah's stocking chart. I was so excited, love Noah's Ark stuff, CHS and I didn't have the chart :-).

I hope you all have a great week! Thanks so much for stopping by my little corner of the internet and taking the time to read and comment on my blog.

A Couple of Finishes and a New Project

Happy St. Patrick's Day! I've been busy doing a lot of stitching and thinking about trying a new rotation. There are so many pieces I want to stitch and I desperately want to finish at least a few this year :-). If that is going to happen I need to be at least a little organized, LOL. I know myself well enough to know I can’t change projects everyday but I want to have several pieces going so here’s what I’ve come up with:

Sunday – Ruth Bacheler A stitchalong I am doing with Margaret, Paulette, Karin, Dona, Laurie and Nicole. We've been trying to convince some other ladies to join us so we may end up an even larger group :-).

Monday through Thursday alternating projects each week (so I work on everything at least once a month)
1. Village of Hawk Run Hollow
2. Mary Peacock
3. And All Was for an Appil
4. Primitive Needle ABC Hornbook

Friday – Stitchalong with Karin
1. Shepherd Bush Love Letters (finished)
2. Primitive Needle Earth Sampler (finished)
3. Goode Huswife Miss Lila’s House
4. Blackbird Designs Blessings and Kind Wishes

Saturday – Ornaments and My Choice (this is where I could stitch on a piece that was calling my name, start a small project like the Sunday School lessons ;-), or work on a UFO, I have several)

I am also going to copy Siobhan's rule, I have to stitch on the rotation project for an hour and then I can switch to another project.

I have a couple of finishes to share. First is Primitive Needle's Earth Sampler. It was so much fun to stitch.

Next up is Shepherd's Bush Love Letters. The directions were a tiny bit difficult to follow but I really like this piece. It's going to be so pretty when it's framed. I am planning on sending it to Jill Rensel, I love the mats she designed for it.

I had gotten a fair bit of the top border done on Ruth Bacheler and decided I wanted to change the colors a bit. I am still unsure about the dark grassy green color. I love Anne's piece. She used the silks and I am using DMC. I looked at several conversion charts, most of the colors are the same, there are a few shade changes and one or two big changes. Other than the green, I am still thinking about the 501 or 502, this is what I decided on:

I haven't stitched on Mary Peacock. It's still in my rotation and I will work on it again in a week or two and post some new pictures then.

I hope this finds everyone well and getting to stitch lots! Thanks for taking the time to read and comment on my blog.

A Finish and Some Progress

I have a finish! This little piece, Simply Live, was such a fun stitch. I used a combination of Weeks Dye Works and Crescent Colour threads and Picture this Plus linen in Heritage.

I've also made some progress on my Mary Peacock! The colors are so, so pretty. I love it. I would be a bit farther along but a frog has come to visit this piece. In particular the pink motif on the top gave me fits, I know I unpicked sections at least 3 times.

I am still thinking about what kind of rotation works best for me. I love my Friday stitchalong with my friend Karin. In fact, we already have the next couple pieces picked out. Next up is Shepherd's Bush Love Letters and after that Primitive Needle's Earth Sampler. I so admire stitchers who can juggle several large projects and make progress on all of them. I don't think that's me. I like to chose one or two projects and work on them pretty much exclusively. I definitely can't juggle more than one super large piece. So for now, I am going to do my Friday stitchalong, Mary Peacock, and my ornaments. When I need a break from Mary Peacock I am going to stitch on my UFOs. I am planning on participating in an Adam and Eve stitchalong that starts next month and then that will be my second project.

I'll leave you all with a couple pictures of Sophie and Chloe, they are so funny. They love to look out the window in the living room. Their other favorite spot is right next to me or on my lap, even when I am on the laptop, LOL. That's Chloe in the second picture. Hope everyone is having a great week and lots of stitching time!

Stitching Update

Woohoo, it's only been two weeks since I last posted. Not quite the once a week I was hoping for but better than I was doing :-). I've been stitching everyday, I haven't got quite as much done as I wanted to but I am making progress.

My Friday project is Simply Live by the Primitive Needle. Lisa's designs are wonderful. My friend Karin and I are stitching this together. She is using a conversion Jean at the Attic did for her in Belle Soie. I am doing mine in a combination of WDW and Crescent Colours. If you'd like to see it in the silks pop over to Karin's blog, she has a picture of her progress posted too. It's a really fun piece to stitch, I am hoping to finish it next Friday.

I haven't made a lot of progress on Mary Peacock. I am hoping to remedy that this week. I love the colors in the Shepherd's Bush conversion so far. I can't wait to add some green and more shades of blue and pink.

I've been re-thinking my rotation. I love my projects but I am not sure I like changing pieces all the time. Add to that Siobhan has been encouraging me to join in some stitchalongs on CHS yahoo group and I really want to play :-). I guess my rotation is a work in progress. I need to ponder things for a few days and maybe go through my stash again.

Hope everyone has a happy Valentine's day. It's a bit gloomy here today, we have freezing fog. It's sort of weird, not icy but not snowy either. My DH and I are going to hang out and watch movies which means I should get a fair bit of stitching time today. I so appreciate you all for taking the time to read and comment on my blog!

It's a New Year

I can't believe it's been so long again since I posted. I hope I can manage to update my blog at least once a week for the rest of the year. January was a bit of a crazy month again, I had all the yearend processing to do at work, we went to Hawaii for a week and my MIL came for a visit. I am ready to get back to some sort of normal. I like to having a routine.

One of my goals for this year is to stitch everyday even it's just sitting down and stitching for 20-30 minutes. So far I haven't missed a day. I am honestly a little impressed with myself considering my DH and I spent a week in Hawaii this month :-). I actually finished a scissor fob and started another while we were there.

I love making lists so as usual I sat down and made a list for this year. My friend Karin always laughs when she sees my rotation list, I tend to think I can get more done that is realistic, LOL. I like to think big, we will have to see how I do this year :-).

Stitching Rotation Projects for 2009:

Handwork Frances Eden 1809 (large project)
Midsummer Night Designs Peaceful Paradise (large project)
Needleprint Mary Peacock (large project)
Scarlet Letter Ann Grimshaw 1818 (large project)
Blackbird Designs Willow House (UFO project)
Merry Cox Diminutive Sewing Set (UFO project)
Round Robins (I have several home that need a bit of stitching to be ready for framing) (UFO project)
Bent Creek Summer and Autumn Snappers (small project)
Blackbird Designs Blessings and Kind Wishes (small project)
Blackbird Designs Where my Heart Blooms (small project)
Good Huswife Ms. Lila’s House (small project)
Little by Little Mecklenburg 1775 (small project)
Little by Little Reward of Plenty (small project)
Primitive Needle Earth Sampler (small project)
Primitive Needle Simply Live (small project)
Shepherd's Bush Love Letters (small project)
Carriage House Samplings Village of Hawks Run Hollow (weekend project)
Two Christmas Ornament each month (weekend project)

Rotation:

Monday: UFO projects
Tuesday thru Thursday: Large Projects
Friday: Small Projects
First Weekend of the Month: Christmas Ornaments
Second thru Fourth Weekend of the Month: Village of Hawk Run Hollow

Christmas Ornaments:

1998 JCS BOAF Twas the Night Before Christmas
1999 JCS Nostalgic Needle Tudor Rose Ornament
2006 JCS La D Da Christmas Cardinal (finished January)
2006 JCS BBD Quaker Medallion Strawberry
2005 JCS Brightneedle Home for Christmas
2004 JCS La D Da Snow Bird
2001 JCS Little by Little The View Above
2003 JCS CEC Christmas Acorn
2002 JCS Bent Creek Roly Poly Snowman
2000 JCS Theron Traditions The Berry Bird
Plum Street Sampler Emmanuel Freebie
Midsummer Night Designs Jingle, Sparkle, Joy

My BAP project is Needleprint's Mary Peacock. I am using the conversion that Shepherd's Bush did. So far I love it.

I finished several scissor fobs this month. The 2007 fob was a re-stitch, my rotten puppies went through a stage where they liked to steal my fobs and scissors and take them out in the yard. It's a good thing I love them, LOL.

I also stitched Blackbird Designs Buttons for a Cure. I sent this piece and my Christmas ornaments to Deb for finishing. I will post a picture when they come home.

Finally, I did my Christmas ornament(s) for the month. Karin and I are stitching two sets of twelve ornaments this year and exchanging the second set at Christmas. It's so much easier to stitch something twice than to kit and stitch another piece. This way we end up with 24 new ornaments each :-). I did La D Da's Cardinal this month.

I hope everyone is having a happy New Year and getting lots of stitching time :-). Thanks for taking the time to read and comment on my blog.

I've only had time to do a bit of stitching. We've been busy getting my parents moved into their new home and reorganizing our house. We were using one of the bedrooms as storage space for my parents stuff, it's now going to be my stitching and reading room :-). My mom gave me a gorgeous couch and several bookcases for the room. I just need to figure out how I am going to arrange everything.

I did manage to get my CEC ornaments sent off to Deb for finishing. They are absolutely perfect, she did an amazing job. After Christmas I am going to go through my finished stuff to see what else I can send to her :-).

I am fighting a cold which has slowed me down a bit but other than that things are great. Sophie and Chloe are lots of fun, I can't believe they will be a year old on Monday. Sophie has finally conquered the back of the couch. It's one of their favorite places to hang out, I think because they can see so much from there, LOL.

I hope this finds you all well and ready for Christmas. I have one more shopping trip and I think I will be done. In all honesty I do most of my Christmas shopping via the internet. The crowds make me crazy and I like being able to look for coupons online before I buy. I just need to wrap presents and get the tree up. Thanks for taking the time to read and comment on my blog!

Has it been that long?

In my defense, life has been a tiny bit past crazy. My parents have been living with us for several months, it's been fun but makes things a bit more hectic than usual :-).

I have finished a fair bit of stitching, I made a birthday gift for my friend Karin.

I also made Karin an exchange gift. We wanted to do something to honor our friend Sue who died unexpectedly in August. She was very dear to me, we'd been 'cyber' friends for several years.

I've been on a round robin "mission", LOL. My goal was to fulfill my commitments to my two round robins by the end of the year. I am happy to say I actually finished a month early. Below are pictures of all the round robin stitching I've done since August.

As much as I love them, I've decided the deadlines, my huge stash and my personality are not suited to for round robins. I tend to feel that I need to finish any commitment stitching before I can work on my own projects and because sometimes I just don't 'want' to stitch on a round robin I end up doing nothing. It's ridiculous I know, but there it is. It's time to be a bit selfish and start stitching my stash :-).

I was lucky enough to go to the Attic Sampler Symposium with Karin. We had so much fun and were completely inspired by all of the classes, models, linens, and silks. The classes were wonderful and now I have so many ideas of things I want to do. Here are pictures of the class projects from Shepherd's Bush and Blackbird Designs.

My goal for December is to stitch on whatever I please ;-). I bought several of the conversions they've done at the Attic for different projects so I may stitch one of those. I also want to work on all the Loose Feathers for this year and maybe finish some ornaments.

I hope this post finds you all well and happy. I am looking forward to Christmas, my parents should be happily settled in their new home, their furniture is being delivered today, and my sister and niece will be here for the holidays. My DH and I are going to Hawaii the beginning of January, I am very excited about that :-). Thank you for taking the time to read and/or comment on my blog. I've been doing lots of reading not so much commenting but I hope to do better when things settle down a bit.

Long Time, no Post and Very Little Stitching...

...so I am setting some Goals for August, more on that later!

In my defense, life has been a bit nuts. We decided to refinish our basement which required lots of sorting and cleaning out. My house is a construction zone right now, LOL. My parents sold their house and are moving here. Luckily the basement will be refinished since they are going to be living with us for the time being. Funnily enough those two decisions weren't related, just a happy coincidence :-). I've also resigned my position at church. They are restructuring things which would require me to work at least two more days a week and I don't want to do that. I've agreed to stay until 1 October so they have plenty of time to fill my position. In truth the timing is perfect. I want more time to do things with my parents. They love to go out to lunch, movies, day trips that kind of thing so I expect we will be a lot busier in a good way.

I did managed to get a teeny, teeny bit of stitching done. I finished Susan's neighborhood round robin.

I also worked on DT's Toccata Four a bit. I hope to get a fair bit done on it this month, it's such a fun piece.

I decided if I am going to get back on track and stitch more I need to set some goals for August.

1. Finish Georgie's round robin.
2. Work on ATS, I’d like to at least get the top portion done and the clouds outlined
3. Finish BBD’s Where My Heart Blooms
4. Finish a Christmas Ornament
5. Finish 4 sections on DT Toccata Four
6. Work on BBD Willow House
7. Do one block on VoHRH
8. Blog on Fridays (I really admire everyone who manages to blog several times a week, I'd be happy if I could manage once a week, LOL.)

I think it’s an ambitious list considering how much I haven’t stitched the last few months but maybe having some goals will motivate me ;-).

I have a lot fun things coming up the few months. Heather is visiting Colorado. We are going to spend a day together and go to Fancimats and lunch. My friend Karin and her daughter are coming to visit us this month. My parents will be here late August. The Sampler Guild starts back in September which is always a lot of fun. Finally in November Karin and I are going to the Attic for their Blackbird Weekend. We are anxiously awaiting the final details. I think they will be in the newsletter today :-).

I was given a "Kreativ Blogger" award by Sherry. I so appreciate it, especially considering I haven't blogged in over 6 weeks. I am suppose to nominate 5 blogs for the award and send them all a message. This was so difficult. I read over 200 blogs, all of them are inspiring and creative and I wouldn't want to slight anyone. I think all of the blogs offer something special. I finally decided to chose: Karin, Margie, Michelle, Jacque, and Jackie. I feel like I have personal connections with all them and I love their blogs.

This was a long post, I guess I shouldn't wait 6 weeks between entries, LOL. I appreciate everyone who reads my blog, thank you all. I will leave you with a picture of Sophie and Chloe.

A New Look, Gifts, Round Robins and a WIP

I've got a new look and I love it. I hadn't changed my blog since I started it so it was definitely time. Thanks to Google search I found Lena's blog :-). She has loads of wonderful free blog templates.

I came home to lots of good mail. First, I received a gift from my dear friend Karin. She sent me this gorgeous piece by Liberty Hill. It's a pin cushion and the inside of the top is stitched. There was also a Moda stitching box with pockets and a place to put your needles. It's fabulous. I didn't include a picture but she sent me some yummy Bath and Body Works body wash and lotion and a Yankee Candle too.

I got my new 20" Handiclamp frame from JoAnn's. I've put my Toccata Four WIP on it. Karin and I are doing a stitchalong. Our plan is to do three sections a week so we can finish it by the end of the summer. If you pop over to her blog she's finished the first two sections. I need to get caught up :-). We've also decided to stitch the newest Loose Feather for each other, the sentiment is sweet and very fitting for an exchange.

I've managed to actually get myself ahead on Round Robins. I finished Erin's piece last week. I used bits and pieces from several Bent Creek designs.

I stitched an EEF design on Karin's piece. I don't have a single round robin right now. It feels a bit strange but it is nice to have some time to work on a few other projects :-).

I can tell it's summer, things seem to stay very busy with working in the yard and travel and puppies :-). We are going camping next weekend. That will be an adventure. I am not a camping kind of girl, but my DH is dying to go so I will try to endure, LOL. Thanks so much for taking the time to read and comment on my blog.

Lots of Pics Gifts, Round Robins and Puppies

I have lots of pictures to share :-). First is my PIF from Su, it's gorgeous. It took the long way around to get here, Su mailed it weeks and weeks ago. I love it, it's so pretty and delicate.

I also received a wonderful gift from Annemarie. It's a floss holder. She is just the sweetest person and I am so happy to have something she made for me.

I've been busy working on round robins, my goal is to get caught up so I can work on other things. I have two more to go. I think in the future instead of waiting until close to the mailing dates I am going to kit up the pieces and finish them right away. This piece is Lynn's, she's a part of the Welcome to Our Neighborhood group.

This round robin belongs to Cathy. We are doing the Hello Neighbor Group 3 round robin together. She asked if we would stitch something with things significant to where we live. I did lots of pine trees and my favorite birds, bluebirds.

Also on the round robin front, I did finally get my other neighborhood round robin back from Lauren. A day late and a dollar short but at least it is home. At this point I am not sure what I am going to do with it, I've already started the second one and it's the same as the first so using it for another group isn't an option. I have made up my mind that I have done enough round robins. I've enjoyed every one in spite of the little hiccups here and there but I have a lifetime's worth of stash to stitch. I am going to start being a bit selfish with my stitching.

I've started ATS again, for the third time. I decided to go ahead and put ATS back on the scroll bars. I thought it would be a good idea to damp press it, the dye ran :-(. In my defense I had done it a couple of times before with no problem. I thought it might work if I put a teeny, tiny bit of diluted bleach on a Q-Tip and try to fix it. Not so much, I totally ruined it. So I have officially started over once again. I must really want to do this piece a lot. My other projects are one the BBD loose feathers and the new Toccata Four. My friend Karin and I are going to do a stitchalong on Toccata Four. We are hoping to be finished by the end of the summer.

I will leave you with a couple more pictures of our puppies. They have so much energy, they are lots of fun. Hope you all are well and getting lots of stitching time :-).