Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Stay-Cation equals Stitch-Cation

Hello, fellow stitchers!  I am enjoying a much needed week away from work.  This week was supposed to be our annual trip to the Outer Banks.  But, unexpected car repairs, refrigerator replacement, plumbing repairs, and the never-ending tuition bills for the girls pretty much wiped out our travel funds.   Sooooo, here I am taking a stay-cation.   All is not lost, though!  I have managed to do some things around the house that I've been putting off, and I've gotten a LOT of stitching done!
Allow me to share!  First will be some shots of a UFO I finished Monday.  And, no, it's not the style you normally would associate with me.  This is a design by Corner Stitch and Frame.  We have been going to the Outer Banks for @ 30 years.  Up until around 2005 or 2006, there was an adorable cross stitch shop at the beach.  It was always a highlight of my trip to shop there while on vacation.  The shop closed around 2005-'06.  The shop was also called Corner Stitch and Frame.  The owner has a line of designs by the same name, mostly Outer Banks related.  I bought this chart there and started it on our vacation in 2005.  For whatever reason, it ended up in the UFO pile.  My guess is that it was no longer so much my taste, although I do love the design.  I took it out recently, and looked at it, and realized it had AT MOST, 30 minutes of backstitching left to do.  So, Monday, I got it out and finished it.  My downstairs bathroom is my "Cape Hatteras Lighthouse" room, so once framed, this will hang there.






"Seaside Sampler"
By Corner Stitch and Frame




Next, I will share a photo of my progress on Birds of a Feather Mystery Sampler.  First, I have to say, alphabets give me the heebie-jeebies...I don't know why, they just do.  With this in mind, I knew that starting part 2, it was imperative for me to get that pesky alphabet out of the way first.  So, last night, I sat myself down and made myself finish it.  Here it is-now I can move on to the tree and birds!

"Birds of a Feather Mystery Sampler"
by
With My Needle








 For the past couple of days, I have started and completed not only 2 blocks of my Carriage House Samplings alphabet sampler, but the last 32 flowers of the border...so glad to have that out of the way!  My goal has been 2 blocks per month, which will have it finished by the end of the year.  I have been remiss in sharing recent progress.  Since February, I have stitched E, F, H, L, P, R, X, W, U and Y..  Here are some photos:  I think I'm missing "W is for Willow", I'll add that later.









I finished Blackbird Designs "Pink House Manor" last week, all but the personalization. 


Last, but not least, is my progress on Villages of Hawk Run Hollow.  I am juggling 2 blocks right now.  My goal had been to devote about 6 weeks to each remaining block, in order to have this finished in 2011.  Block 6 was supposed to have been finished in June, but for some reason, I have really struggled with that one.  I was planning to work on Block 2 in July, it was partially done from a while back.  So, I am working on both, hope to have them finished this week.  I also have a picture of Block 8, which I finished in May, but never shared.






As usual, my photography leaves so much to be desired!

Hope you're managing to stay cool! 
Until next time...

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow, Cindy! You have accomplished much on your "stitch-cation". Good for you! Congratulations on your lighthouse finish!

Robin in Virginia

Karen said...

The little lighthouse sampler is adorable! I love the pelican with the fish hanging out of his mouth! Your other samplers are beautiful, too!

Ranae said...

Love, Love the lighthouse finish
You have so many beautiful thigs going on. The border on CHS is simply gorgeous
I have been wanting to start Pink House, your turned out so pretty
Have fun on your stay-cation

Mouse said...

oooo well done on your finish and wips too they are lovely :) and glad you enjoyed your staycation :)love mouse xxxx

Katrina said...

Wow, your needles are flying!!! Everything is so pretty :-).

Deb said...

You have some wonderful pieces going on!! I love each and every one of them.

Gabi said...

Wow, that's a lot of stitching you have going...and all so beautiful. Love all of them.
Congrats on your lighthouse finish.

Linda said...

Your stitching is awesome. I do believe your needle has been flying. I finished Alpabet blocks this year and have pictures on my blog. Again, great stitching. Linda

Quiltsmiles said...

Gorgeous stitching Cindy, WOW! You really put your time to good use, Nice going.

Jane

Valerie said...

WOW, Cindy! You have made amazing progress on your WIP's!! You go girl! Love the lighthouse finish too!

Thanks for the birtday/anniversary wishes...I hope you had as wonderful an anniversary as I did!

You mentioned that you would like some advice on taking better pics...well, first of all I think your pics are just fine! It is so difficult getting good pics of needlework; I never think the linen or thread colors ever look the same in a pic as in real life. However, I did find a great tutorial on how to take good closeups of needlework...here is the link:

http://www.thistle-threads.com/macrophotos/TakingQuickMacroPhotos970.pdf

I have used it with good results but I am still playing around the settings...hope it helps!

Stay cool!
Valeie

Gillie said...

Blimey, Miss C, I am tired just reading the list, well done on all that stitching. Funny, I LOVE alphabets. Sorry about the Outer Banks, only went once but loved it and it will be there next year!

Siobhán said...

Well look at you, Cindy! You go girl!! Everything looks great. Congrats on the finishes. I considered each of those CHS blocks a finish in and of itself!

We are doing a staycation here this year, too. Stinks but it's good for the stitching! LOL

Katrina said...

Wow Cindy!!!! You are working on some wonderful pieces!!! Love them all :-).