A New Look and Rambling

Okay I admit it, I am blog horse, as opposed to being a clothes horse, LOL. I love changing the look of my blog. It's like putting on a new outfit. I get that same feeling of excitement I got as girl when I got to wear my new school clothes. My mom, my sister and I always went school shopping for school clothes weeks ahead of time. We were not allowed to wear any of our new clothes until the first day of school. I would spend hours thinking about which outfit I most wanted to wear. It's that feeling, I can't describe it but it takes me back, LOL. I've developed an obsession with Adam and Eve charts so I really wanted a blog background with a tree. I love my new look!

Speaking of Adam and Eve, have you all seen Paulette's Paradise Lost and Garden of Eerie. I've already put Paradise Lost in my WIP pics in my sidebar. I can't wait to start this piece. I've got several A&E charts kitted and ready to go. I have visions of a wall :-).

Bear with me, I feel the need to ramble, I have a confession to make. I am in a bit of a stitching slump, truth be told it is really a big slump. I think about stitching all the time but I don't actually stitch very much. It's not about not having the time to stitch, I actually have lots of free time. I just don't always use my time as well as I could. The biggest issue for me is there are so, so many pieces I want to finish it's almost overwhelming. Deciding what I want to work is sometimes impossible so I end up not doing anything. How sad is that? I am very type A, results oriented, and making a bit of progress on a lot of different things just doesn't always do it for me. All this brings me back to Paradise Lost. It's the design that is going to break the cycle. I LOVE this piece, there's something about it that just screams "stitch me"! I haven't thought about much else since I saw the picture. I think the stars have aligned to get me out of my slump :-). I have the project that is calling my name and the Dyeing to Stitch Retreat next week. It's always so inspiring to be around other stitchers and designers. So there it is, my rambling confession.

Just a side note, if you've never had a class with Barb and Alma from Blackbird Designs and you get the opportunity to take one, do it! They are awesome, they have so, so many great ideas you can't help but want to pick up your needle.

Now I feel the need to prove I am not a non-stitcher, LOL. Deb has posted pictures of all my ornaments she's finished for me. I have shamelessly snitched her pictures and posted them on my blog as proof that I do indeed still on occasion stitch ;-).

Goode Huswife Angel of Tulips

BOAF White Christmas

La-D-Da Yule Flower

Theron Traditions Berry Bird

I hope you all have a great week, with lots of stitching time, no slumps and special moments. Thanks for taking the time to visit my blog!

I'm Back!!!!

I've been gone way longer than I intended. It's funny how life gets in the way. I alway end up a lot busier than I plan on being. The highlight of the summer was getting all my framed pieces back from Jill Rensel. She is just an amazing artist :-). Sophie and Chloe were all about helping me take pictures to share with everyone, LOL. They wanted to be in every picture, if you look closely you will see a stray paw here and there.

This is Simply Live by Lisa at Primitive Needle. I just love her designs and feel lucky to count her as one of my friends :-).

I also got Lisa's Earth Sampler framed! Isn't the the snake on the mat fun. Siobhan has me hooked on the whole Adam and Eve, serpent theme. I've been madly collect A&E charts.

Finally I got Shepherd's Bush Love Letter's Framed. What a great piece and the mats are wonderful.

I won a contest too! Jan at Belfonte Notes is designing now under the name Tree of Life Samplings. She had a give away of her first design, Rare Treasures, and I won! I was so excited. Isn't it just the prettiest piece?

I have no pictures to share right now but I've done a fair bit of stitching this summer. I stitched several Christmas ornaments and they are all with Deb for finishing. I am still working on Hands to Work This is the Day, the Sheperd's Bush Sail Away Stitchalong, and my friend Karin and I are working on Shepherd's Bush Finch Song on Fridays. I've also finished a couple extra blocks for the Welcome to our Neighborhood round robin. I stitched for Jane and Georgie and they are both going to do an extra block for me :-). I set Mary Wigham aside, my Sampler Guild is doing a stitchalong this year so I decided to wait for our first meeting to start.

I've got several pieces kitted and waiting in the wings, Sarah Siefer, Stories to Live by: Eve, Primitive Needle's Hornbook Sampler and Carriage House Samplings Adam and Eve, do you detect a theme, LOL. I also need to finish just a few more Christmas ornaments. Of course Market could change the list, I'll have to wait and see.

I hope everyone is well and getting lots of stitching time! I am looking forward to the Dyeing to Stitch Retreat next month. I will get to spend time with Karin which is always nice and take some fun classes :-). Until next time!

Life Gets in the Way...

7 July: Just a tiny note, I've updated my sale list, added some items and reduced some prices!

I can't believe I haven't updated my blog in almost 3 months. I decided I need to spruce it up a bit so I've changed my template and the picture in the header. It's so much fun to be able to just switch things around. There are so many great sites with free templates.

Life has been crazy busy for us of late. We've had lots of company, I did all my spring cleaning and on top of everything else I had to have two emergency root canals and crowns. Thankfully things seem to be settling down. We are enjoying a relatively cool summer, the high today was 69 degrees. We've decided we need to escape to the heat for a couple weeks so in August we are going to take the puppies and head off to Kentucky lake.

When our friends were visiting from Germany, we decided to take a little road trip to Utah. I got to visit the Shepherd's Bush shop and I dropped off several pieces at Jill Rensel's studio. I can't wait to get them back. I also got to drag everyone to Roosters for dinner. It's my favorite place to eat when I go to the retreats.

My friend Karin and I are going to the Dying to Stitch retreat in October. We try to do a stitching trip every year. I lived in Hampton for several years and my FIL and his wife live in Chesapeake so I know the area very well. I am excited to be able to show Karin around and take her to all my favorite places. We are both taking the Jeanette Douglas/Blackbird Designs track and I've already sent my order in for the Shepherd's Bush kit.

I've spent the last week or two going through all my stash. I have come to the realization I would need to live at least 3 lifetimes to finish everything I have accumulated over the years. I've created a sale blog so that I can de-stash a bit. I think after this I may be down to two lifetimes, LOL.

I am also participating in the Mary Wigham stitchalong. I tend to like more muted subtle colors so I did my own conversion. I had started Mary on a pretty piece of 32 count R&R but it just seemed so bulky to me stitching with two threads that I decided to start over. I had a gorgeous piece of 40 count Lakeside Examplar that was perfect. I ended up tweaking my colors a bit, my original conversion is posted on the Legacy board and Nicole and Mel both have it posted on their blogs.

I've also worked a bit more on This is the Day. I am hoping to finish it in the next week or two. It's such a pretty piece too.

I got several pieces back from Deb. She is the most amazing finisher, everything is absolutely perfect. I've sent several more ornaments to her, La D Da Yule Flower, BBD Strawberry Ornament, Little by Little The View From Above, and Theron Traditions Berry Bird.

I hope this post finds you all happy, healthy and stitching to your heart's content! Thanks so much for taking the time to read and comment on my blog. I so appreciate it.

Stitching Stuff

It's been a while since I posted, life has been a bit busy lately. I've made a fair bit of progress on This is the Day. It's such a fun piece, I am loving stitching it. I am really pleased with the color changes.
My friend Karin and I do a stitchalong on Fridays. Our current piece is Miss Lila's House. I am using The Attic's Belle Soie conversion. So far I am really happy with how it's turning out.

I decided to try to put together a conversion on my own. I really wanted to stitch Plum Street Samplers Eve Stories to Live By in overdyes. I hope the colors I've chose will work well. I hope I get to start it this week.

My rotation has officially gone out the window and I am following the "whichever piece is calling the loudest" theory of priority. I am just going "enjoy the journey" and stitch on whatever I please :-). I don't want my stitching to be stressful which is what happens when I start making a bunch of rules for myself. Don't get me wrong, I have so much admiration for those of you who have a rotation and follow it faithly and still get tons of enjoyment from your needlework. It's just not my style and I am going to be okay with that!

Hope everyone is well! Thanks so much for taking the time to read and comment on my blog.

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.