Stockings and This is the Day!!!

Woohoo, finally some finishes and a long overdue post! I had good intentions of posting more often this year but then time gets away from me. I also have the angst of "if I stitch for another night or two, I will have a picture with more progress", LOL. I definitely don't want to bore anyone :-). I would promise to post every week or two, but who wants to make a liar out of themselves. So I will leave it at "I really do want to post more often" and we will see how it goes.

I do actually have a few finishes to show off. I finally sat myself down and finished the filling in on This is the Day so it is ready to be framed :-). For those of you who have asked, TitD is in the January/February 2009 issue of Just Cross Stitch and the designer is Hands to Work. I should also say I used Jan's conversion with a tiny bit of tweaking to suit myself. If you want to see the piece in the colors it was charted for, which BTW are gorgeous too, have a look at Siobhan's blog.

This picture is actually truer to the colors I used and the linen, R&R 40 count American Chestnut, GAST Pumpkin Pie ~ GAST Cidermill Brown, except for the sun, I used CC Finley Gold and Schneckey. GAST Roasted Marshmallow ~ Bamboo , GAST Picnic Basket ~ Crescent Colours Cocoa Bean, GAST Tomato ~ Crescent Colours Wild Berry, GAST Old Brick ~ WDW Red Pear CC Just Rust ~ Crescent Colours Red Currant, CC Colonial Copper ~ Weeks Whiskey, CC Camouflage ~ WDW Kudzu, CC Black Coffee ~ CC Blackbird, Weeks Conch ~ WDW Fawn.

I also finished the 2010 Shepherd's Bush scissor fob. I ended up finishing it by whipstitching the backstitched edges. Chloe and Sophie are tiny little four legged thieves who love skeins of thread, scissor fobs and coasters. I think the ribbon edging while gorgeous, would not stand up to the wear and tear of the occasional trip to the backyard :-).

I've also been having lots of fun with the Blackbird Designs Stockings. They are such quick stitches and the colors are gorgeous. I've made a couple of substitutions in the linen colors, I was trying to use what I had on hand :-). I am stitching all of them on 30 count linen and I've ordered several cuts of Blackbird Design fabric for backing. Of course, there's no way I am doing the finishing myself. They will be winging their way to Deb shortly :-).

Deer in the Meadow Stocking, December

Be Mine Stocking, February

Happy Birthday Stocking, with my Dad's initials and birthday, January

Winter Carnations, January

On the home front, my happy news is I've quit my part time job at the church. It was time, things have changed a lot for us over the last couple years, my parents moved out here, my DH retired from the military and took a position as a contractor, and we are on the verge of being empty nesters :-). I'd like more time for my parents and I want to do some projects around the house. I've been wanting to make this change for a while so I am very excited. So I have a huge list of things I want to do around the house and lots of stitching projects.

I've committed myself to finishing a few pieces over the next month or so before I start anything new. Paradise Lost has been loudly calling my name, I've been working on BBD Willow House for my parents and I want to finish my Blackbird project from the Dyeing to Stitch Retreat before the Shepherd's Bush Retreat in September. I thought it would be good to have at least one project done before I go to another retreat, LOL.

It's a gorgeous needlecase and pin cushion and I am going to try and figure out a cute motif from the design for a scissor fob. Maybe the vase with the flowers over one? There's also a place for initials and I am going to use my mom's for this piece.

I hope this post finds everyone happy, with lots of stitching time :-). Thanks so much for taking the time to read and comment on my blog!

Happy New Year!!!

I can't believe it's 2010! I am sure at the beginning of every year, I post the same thing but I love fresh starts :-). I think my stitching slump is over, my new problem is I am skipping about too much, LOL. There are just too many things calling my name and some of them are huge projects, And They Sinned, Scarlet Letter's And All was for an Appil, Village of Hawk Run Hollow, Mary Wigham and of course I am still working on Paradise Lost. I started them all, I know I am crazy.

Here's my progress on Paradise Lost, I love this project. The colors are wonderful and it's such a joy to stitch.

On the small project front, I am trying to finish TitD. I was madly stitching to have it done for the new year, I had already dated it '09 and I didn't want to frog the over one on 40 count date. As you can see I gave up the quest and unpicked and restitched it with '10 instead. My DH didn't understand why it mattered what the piece was dated, LOL. Does he know me at all? I mean he's lived with me over half his life I would hope he's figured out I am a tiny bit OCD and a perfectionist. Don't worry, he knows, he just likes to tease me ;-). I am hoping to have it finished this weekend but we'll see.

I also pulled out an old UFO, A Stitcher's Prayer by Carriage House Sampling. I am ridiculously close to finishing this one too. I'd love to have two or three projects to send off to Jill Rensel for framing.

On the short list for smaller projects: Bunches of the BBD Stockings, ornaments, Sarah Tobias, Sarah Salter, Sarah Seifer, lot of Sarahs aren't there, Stories to Live by: Eve and I'd like to get back to Miss Lila's house. Keeping in mind there's a market coming, Autumn in the Hollow, two new loose feathers, a few more stockings, a whole new series of Loose Feathers... There is just not enough time in the day :-).

My goals for the new year is to be a bit healthier, lose some weight, exercise more, I'd like to be more deliberate about how I spend my time. I actually have a lot of free time, I just need to spend a bit less time on the computer and a bit more time with needle in hand :-). I think I'd have to lot to show next December if I did that. And finally, no promises about stash diets or spending but I would like to cut back some, I have stash to last me a lifetime so new pieces will have to be the ones I can't wait to start, not pieces that will go in my stash for someday.

I will leave you with a picture of my sweeties, Chloe and Sophie. They are my constant companions, when I am gone according to my DD and DH they wait and watch at the front window for me to get home :-). My DH says they only know he's around when he has a treat for them, LOL. It's not quite that bad but he is third on their list after me and their grandma, my mom.

Hugs and happy new year to all! I hope everyone's year is filled with health, happiness and lots of stitching time!!!!

Paradise Found

I am way overdue updating my blog. I have promised Siobhan every day for the last week today I will post a picture of Paradise Lost. Then the day gets away from me and it doesn't happen.

I am happy to say, I found my stitching mojo and it is paradise! Seriously, Plum Street Sampler's Paradise Lost is such a pleasure to stitch. I love the colors, the theme, all the animals and Adam's man boobs ;-). I am working a page of the chart at a time, I was hoping to be on page 3 by now but I haven't had as much stitching time as I would like. I am stitching it with the NPI and Gloriana silks on 40 count light examplar.

The Dyeing to Stitch retreat was wonderful. Karin and I had so much fun. We took the Blackbird Designs and Jeanette Douglas classes, they were great. We were allowed to purchase the kits for the other track and of course I got the Shepherd's Bush kit. I knew I would love it.

My friend Tanya paints gorgeous needlework sets. Since I am obsessed with Adam and Eve, of course I wanted her to paint mine with an A&E theme. Aren't they sweet? I love the snakes too :-).


I always wonder at my friends with kids that have left home that keep their rooms for them. Seriously, I love my DS more than life but his car wasn't out of the driveway before my DD and I started rearranging. We moved her into her older brother's old room, he had the bigger room and the bigger closet. Meggie's old room has become my stitching room. I love having my own room. My DH has his man cave in the basement, please don't feel sorry for him because he's underground :-). It's garden level, completely finished and is very high tech, surround sound, huge TV, big man desk, leather furniture and all the latest game systems and no throw pillows or flowers so he's good. Anyways, I thought you might enjoy seeing my stitching room, it's small but very comfy thanks to my parents who gave me the bookshelves and the couch :-). My mom also gave me the jewelry box were I keep all my embellishments, buttons, beads, and thread. Those necklace holders are wonderful for hanging the threads. Now I just need to do lots of stitching so I have more pieces hanging on the walls. Even though it's still a work in progress, I am very happy with it and it's so nice having a place for all my stitching stuff and books.

I hope this little post finds you all well and happy and getting lots of stitching done! Thanks for taking the time to read and comment on my blog. Hugs to all!

Just a Few More Ornaments

Deb posted pictures of a few more ornaments I stitched! I am sure I've mentioned it before but my friend Karin and I decided to do an ornament swap this year. We each chose 12 ornaments and stitched them twice. It's just easier to stitch the same thing twice, less kitting and and things go faster the second time. Believe me, after stitching it four times I could do the border on the BOAF ornaments without looking at the chart, LOL. And yes we both took the easy way out and sent all our ornaments to Deb :-).

Little By Little Angel JCS Magazine

Blackbird Design Christmas Strawberry JCS Magazine

La-D-Da Snowbird JCS Magazine

Thanks so much for taking the time to read and leave comments on my blog! Hope you all had a great weekend with lots of stitching time :-).

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!