Thursday, January 27, 2011

Snow-At Last!

We finally got a decent snowfall yesterday...thankfully, I was sceduled for a day off today, as was Greg, and Hunter's school was closed, so we have had a wonderful time today! We got up, shoveled the driveway, took the perfunctory pictures, and then went out for brunch at IHOP. Taking it easy this afternoon with some stitching. Just wanted to share my snow pictures...the 2 close-ups of Greg and Hunter were what I got when I asked them to pose for me!












Hope you enjoy your day as much as we've enjoyed ours!

Friday, January 21, 2011

Finishes!

I had a day off from work today, they were actually calling for snow last night...I had myself all geared up for a snow day, went to the store and got fixins for a big pot of vegetable soup AND a big pot of chili... had the day all planned, lots of warm soup, lots of stitching, some good old movies, you know. But, no snow. Not a flake. Anyway, all is not lost, I did the soup and chili, and the stitching, and the movie watching, all without snow.

I thought I would share some pictures of some winter stitching and my snowman tree.

This is a Lizzie Kate oldie. I think it's called Winter Button-Up. I stitched all 4 seasons, and hand painted one frame, left the back open. I laced and mounted each finished piece, and pop them in and out of the frame each season.
This is a very old Shepherd's Bush.

This is a Bent Creek, Swirly Snow, or something like that. The frame was handpainted by the very talented framer at my now defunct LNS. Gosh, I miss that place~ mail order is great, but there's nothing like getting to play with the merchandise!


And, this is my snowman tree. I have a small, skinny "Alpine" tree in my foyer, which stays up from early September through April. In September, I decorate it for football season, with ornaments and school colors of my alma mater, Virginia Tech. It stays that way until after the bowl game, early January, at which time it becomes my snowman tree. Then, Valentine's Day, Saint Patrick's Day, and Easter. Here are several shots of the tree:






















Last, but not least, I have finished 2 projects this week, and may possibly finish a third tonight. I'm so pleased to have my stitching Mojo back! This one above is one of the Stacy Nash Country Sampler Girls' Club kits called Mitten Pinkeep.






And, this one is a free chart from Homespun Elegance called "Boo Tyme". I know these are very small projects, but instant gratification is really good medicine for a stitching slump such as I have been in.
Happy Weekend, and stay warm!








Sunday, January 16, 2011

2010 Finishes

While I'm in a posting mood, I thought I may as well go ahead and share pictures of my few 2010 finishes.

These are the bottom 3 panels of With My Needle's "Maidens of the Sea".
These are 2 of the top 3 panels of Maidens. The first panel is blank. The panels fold a certain way to make a needle book. So, I'm not completely finished with this.


The 2 panels to the Maidens scissor fob.


Maidens of the Sea in one piece.



This is one of the Stacy Nash Girls Club kits, #4 from 2010, it is to be made into a pinkeep drum.




Another Stacy Nash Girls Club kit, this was #3 from 2009.






1991 Prairie Schooler Santa. This one took FOREVER! I guess all the color changes. But, it is my favorite so far, and it is GORGEOUS!
Not a productive year, but, I am out of my slump, and am very pleased with the things I did manage to finish. Oh, and I did knit one sock of the first pair I've ever knitted, sock # 2 is about halfway done. I will get a picture of the sock on here later.
Thanks for taking the time to read all of my posts!





Last, But Not Least

My progress to date on Carriage House Samplings Alphabet sampler.
My most recent block on the alphabet sampler, started last week.

A design by my dear friend Tracy, of Hands to Work, called "This is the Day". I started this last year, had only done a little of the house. I finished the house last week, as part of my Challenge.

My progress so far on Carriage House Sampling's "Village of Hawk Run Hollow". I started this in 2007...really hope I can finish it this year..I still have 4 other Hawk Run Hollow designs to stitch!



And this is block 5 of VOHRH, which was the new block I started for the Challenge.
And that is how I spent the first 15 days of the new year.




Challenge Photos , Part 3

Free chart "Boo Thyme", by Homespun Elegance, this chart, the fabric, thread and charm, were all brought to me by my sweet friend Lisa, who was fortunate enough to attend the Shepherd's Bush retreat in Utah this past fall. If I'd had another hour to stitch the other day, I'd have finished this one!
"Winter Fab Fob" by Lizzie Kate. Adorable chart, which comes with fabric, tiny little scissors, and beads and a special charm, but no thread! Kind of disappointing, to pay $20 for the kit, not have any of the threads called for, then have to turn around and spend almost another $20 for the threads. For the small amount of each thread used, they could have put them in...just saying...


My sweet friend Tanya, aka the "Sampler Girl", designed this ornament chart, "Bedford Falls Ornament".. I could have finished this one at one sitting as well, but needed threads.


Close up of work on "Coasting Day 1911".




Sampler Girl's "Coasting Day 1911". Another really fun one to work on, I didn't want to put this one away.
One more post, and you'll have seen all of my Challenge progress.



More Challenge Photos

" Friends Nantucket Basket" by Historic Needlework Guild.
" Elizabeth" by Carriage House Samplings


A closer shot of Elizabeth. I started this a couple of years ago-Siobhan and I were stitching together-of course, I'm quite certain her girls are all finished, framed and hanging in her house! And, I had so much fun working on this last week, I have no idea why I ever put it down!


"Cape Cod's Girls" by The Primitive Needle...got a good bit of the border done. I always tend to start with the border if a design has one...I think this goes back to my coloring book days, and my desire to color within the lines, lol! This picture does not do justice to the really cool looking fabric.



This is one of the Stacy Nash Girls Club kits from a shop in Wisconsin called "The Country Sampler". There are 4 kits a year, this was the 4th kit from 2009.
Well, I'm only allowed to upload 5 pictures at a time, and I have 20 pictures of my Challenge pieces, so I'm halfway there!



Pictures! We Have Pictures! Part One

After a very amateur photo session this afternoon, followed by a good bit of time spent updating my very much neglected Photobucket album, I am ready to innundate my fellow stitchers with tons of photos that only a fellow stitcher would appreciate. These are pictures of my Crazy January 2011 Stitching Challenge projects.





This is the start to Blackbird Designs' "Snow Garden", the first chart in the Anniversaries of the Heart series. I am stitching the entire series on a large piece of 40 count "Exemplar" linen.


Another shot of "Snow Garden".



This is 1992 Prairie Schooler Santa, I have already stitched years 1984-1991, and yes, I am a bit behind!



This is the 2011 Blackbird Designs journal, I am using it to record my daily stitching. The pictures in it are gorgeous.





This is the only project in my Challenge list that hasn't been started yet, but I plan to at least put a few stitches tonight, and will then just be a day behind. It is a Sue Hillis Design, I saw the model at my former LNS, Scarlet Thread, and thought my daughters would both love to have one for their walls, so I have the supplies for two of them.

I have 15 more photos from my Challenge, but need to go fix dinner, so will post more later!

Friday, January 14, 2011

Meeting my Challenge...One Thread at a Time!

No pictures to share yet, but I just wanted to share my Crazy 2011 Stitching Challenge progress, as the 15 day time frame draws near. I am so happy to have heard about the challenge, having the goal of starting or working on 15 different projects during the first 15 days of 2011 has gotten me back in stitching mode full-blast. I have pulled out some much-neglected projects, and devoted time to them, which has been just like putting in the first stitch. I have started a couple of new projects by designers whose charts I have collected, but never stitched. Several of the projects are so much fun to work on, that I really hate putting them away. An added bonus, I have the 2011 Blackbird Designs journal that I got for my birthday last year, have saved it all these months. Every day, I have written in it what I have worked on. What a treasure that will be to look back on!
I have rediscovered a little stitching habit I used to use back when I first started cross-stitching, and that is to cut a length of floss roughly the length from fingertips to elbow. I sit and work until that legth of thread is used up, for me, usually 30-minutes to an hour, depending on the project. It's amazing how much progress I can make in that time...even if I can only squeeze in "1 thread" a day, it's progress! And, it's more than doing nothing!
I'll get some pictures in here this weekend, when I have a little more time.

Sunday, January 2, 2011

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to you, if you happen to read this! I am a day behind with my New Year's rituals, having spent January 1 in the throes of menopause HELL! That is kind of a "lost" day as far as I'm concerned, and today is the start of my new year. I finally got around to composing my Crazy January 2011 Stitching Challenge list, and it's posted to the left. I need to get someone to teach me how to draw lines through the items as I complete them...crossing them off my list, in other words.
I hope we all have a year full of stitching finishes!