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!

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.

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!

A Lazy Monday Morning

I have just been plain lazy today, and have enjoyed every minute of it! Not something I have the luxury of doing very often. Such a pleasant time for contemplating, planning, reading blogs and checking up on needlework friends. We spent a fairly quiet Christmas...thankfully, all 3 kids were home for a couple of days. As in recent years, since we've been staying at home for Christmas, rather than going to Roanoke to spend the day with our families, we've opted to enjoy a spread of "finger" foods, rather than a Christmas meal. I am pretty sure I spend more time cooking the "finger" foods than I would cooking a large meal. And, we still have SO many leftovers...if only they would keep for a week until time for bowl game watching! Here was my menu:

Ham biscuits

Crockpot meatballs

Pineapple Cheese Ball w/ crackers

Bleu Cheese/Pecan cheese ball w/ crackers

Hot Virginia Dip w/ crackers

Vegetable tray

Assorted cheese cubes

Crab Ball w/ crackers

Chex mix

Assorted cookies

Eggnog

Oh, and then there was the Christmas morning breakfast:

Breakfast Casserole (hash browns, eggs, cheddar cheese, and Bacon)

Biscuits

Sausage Gravy

No surprise here, Weight Watchers starts back next Tuesday-after the Orange Bowl on Monday night, tee-hee!

Lastly, for this post, I have to mention how excited I am to have found a new online discussion board for sampler lovers.. I visited this morning, saw lots of familiar cross stitch friends there. Especially excited to have read about the Crazy January Challenge 2011...start a new project every day for the first 15 days of the month, with good intentions of finishing those projects in 2011. Just the incentive I need to get my stitching groove back! I need to spend some time tomorrow going through my stash and deciding which 15 projects to start. I will post my list when I have made my mind up. All for now, must go to work.