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...