2 Finishes, A Frame and Good News!

Jardin Prive

Carre d'Abeilles

32ct evenweave

Called for DMC threads

 

Finish #1 Absolutely love the pink/green colors on this mattress pincushion. It's now tucked away in my growing to-be-finished pile :)

Blackbird Designs Autumn booklet

Pumpkin Blossom Pincushion

32 ct LL Sand Dune

Called for CC and GAST threads

 

Finish #2 This one was started at the June retreat I went to.  I love this whole Pumpkin Blossom line of smalls.

 

I picked up a large rectangular frame at last weeks EGA meeting for $5.  It was amongst many donations to the guild from the family of one of our members that passed away.  And in went my Blackbird Designs 2008 mystery sampler!   I am ok with it not being a perfect fit(obviously :)

 

 

 

Now, the good news. 

 

Remember the Crabapple Hill class I went to in July?  Well, Meg Hawkey holds retreats at her home in central, southern WA state 4 times each year.  And I was so very lucky to fill the final spot at her fall retreat in 2 weeks!  Woo Hoo!  I am so excited!  Click HERE to see some photos of past retreats.

 

Then, I have my trip to AZ in Nov for 3 Merry Cox classes with Attic Needlework.  Can't wait to finally see their store!

 

Then, there is another stitching retreat with EGA in November when I get back from AZ. 

 

Then, I need to mail my Advent exchange that I am doing with Lorrie from Iowa. I am getting very close to being ready, Lorrie!

 

Then, in December I will be sworn in as treasurer for my local EGA guild for 2013-2014.  Did I forget to mention that I still work too?  lol

 

The rest of this year is going to go by so fast. 

Stitchy Update

Sarah Salter is framed. I love the simpleness of the frame and the little nicks and scratches on it.  Just like an old frame that an antique sampler might be framed in.  No, not from a thrift store this time.... a garage sale :)  There were actually 2 matching frames and Amber's birth announcement went into the other frame.

 

I spent last Saturday and Sunday at a 2 day stitch-in with my sampler guild. It was held in the meeting room at a local police department.  We didn't see any dangerous criminals, but the price was right (free) and the family-owned pizza shop across the street turned out delicious product!

 

Here is what I worked on-

Crabapple Hill's project from my July class.  I made a lot of progress.  Taught myself how to do the cast-on stitch and put the centers in the pansys and the petals on 3 of the forget-me-nots.  Next is a couple of large daisies up next to the "Sweet" sign marked by the 2 X's. Then the borders and some beads.

 

Sisters freebie from Bronwyn at Red Brolly

This went really quick! I can tell I need some practice at tracing patterns.  There are several lines that I couldn't cover up with thread :(  Maybe a pillow or a flat-fold finish.

Carre d'Abeilles

Jardin Prive

32 ct evenweave

Called for DMC threads

 

This was one of the projects I started at the retreat in June.  I still have the bottom and the last 2 sides to finish, but the hardest part is done.

My work so far on the third class with Merry Cox in AZ in November-Sweet Little Blossoms.  This is the outline for the prework only.  Funny, I finished all the stitching pieces on the first project. The second project I was getting a little burned-out and only stitched the required class pre-work.  Now I am feeling a lot burned-out and struggling to get this one done.

 

I am not too enthused with the buttonhole wheel flowers on this project (and there are a lot of them!).  Am thinking I might substitute spider web roses (not sure if that is the right name, email if you know the right name) or maybe more of those cast-on forget me nots from the Crabapple Hill project?  Any ideas?

 

I signed up for a beginning quilt class. It meets 4 of the Tuesdays in Oct. I loved the idea of not having it drag on thru the winter. 

 

Some wonderful teachers are heading to the Pacific NW next year.  Amy Mitten, Debbie Stiehler, Diane Clements, Sherri Patrick, Terry Dryden and more!  More reason to say goodbye to the Crazy January Challenge next year :)

Two Labor Day Finishes!

Sarah Salter

Sheepish Designs

32 ct Lambswool linen

Called for DMC/Soie d'Alger threads

Bucilla Sophie Birth Record kit

Aida and threads in kit

 

Our family Round Robin on Amber's birth announcement is finished!  It is just as sweet as Amber is :)

Two Executive Decisions

Many of my followers will remember last year when I confessed that my 2011 Crazy January Challenge had to be "amended."  At the beginning I had been unable to pick just 15 items for the challenge and ended up with 16 items.  As 2011 progressed my executive decision was to finally edit out the "extra" project.  (It was Brightneedle's Pretty in Pink)

 

Now as part of my 2012 Crazy January Challenge I  counted all 3 Sheepish Designs Alpha Series as 1 project.  When I pulled it out last night I thought "What was I thinking?!" So another executive decision had to be made. 

 

Now I am counting each pattern as a separate piece of the 2012 Crazy January Challenge :)  You saw that coming, I'll bet.  There are 11 finished projects for this year's challenge so far.  These will be numbers 12-14.  The last project needing to be completed is Brightneedle's Pretty in Pink :)  It deserves to be finished this year, I think.

 

So, what got eliminated?  LHN's He is Risen and L'Atelier Perdu's My Christmas Stocking 2012.  I still love them both and kept them in my staging box. 

 

As you can see below there is a lot of work to do and I already had to spend time frogging part of my beginning!

 

 

\

Sheepish Designs

Alpha Bird, Alpha Menagerie & Alpha Sheep

32 ct LL Sand Dune

Called for DMC threads

 

I can't leave without an update on little Amber.  She is 7 months old now and just a delight! Strangers stop me at the store to tell me how cute she is :)  Can you see her two little bottom teeth?

Have a great Labor Day weekend!  I hope you get lots of stitching done!

Anniversary Dinner, A Finish & Stiching Updates

It was our 33rd anniversary this weekend and we had a gift certificate given to us for Ruth's Chris Steakhouse.  That place is so nice! (And expensive too).  Here is what my chopped salad looked like. Delicious!  I forgot to take a photo of my steak and lobster tail-it got gobbled down so quickly. :)They had sprinkled little Happy Anniversary decorations on the tabletop.

 

DD#1 finished another flatfold for me.  She does beautiful work.

Here is the fabric on the back. Love it!  Thanks, DD#1!

Crazy January Challenge Finish #11

Sewing Chest Designs

Porcelain Pincushion Doll

25 ct linen

Called for DMC threads

It looks a little wonky because it is stretched a little unevenly.  I did move the thread colors around a little to make it a little brighter.  I also changed the eyelet stitch on one of the borders to smyrna stitch.  Now on to my "to-be finished" pile.

I am starting to feel the pressure of the pre-work for the Merry Cox classes coming up in November!  So here is the needlecase for So Dear to thy Heart.

Here is the outlining for the pocket, 2 thimble holders, and needle page holder.

Sheepish Designs Sarah Salter is coming along.  She is so fun to work on. The 32ct lambswool over 2  seems so large after working on the Merry Cox pieces. :)

 

Did anybody see the Goode Huswife Sarah Seifer on ebay? It went for $128.50!  Does anyone have one I can borrow?

 

Don't forget to take a peek at my For Sale page. Lots of good stuff is still left!

Family Vacation & Updated For Sale Page!

We rented a house near Stevens Pass (Cascade Mtn range) for a long family weekend.  And spent the days fishing, chasing some trains, hot tubbing, playing board games, hiking and much more. Oh, don't forget stitching :)

 

This is DH and our grandson at the beginning of the Cascade Train Tunnel.  78 miles long, built in 1928 and still going strong!
Edit:  The tunnel is 7.8 miles long, not 78 miles :)

My nametag for the Northwest Sampler Guild is now finished.  :)

 

Please check our my For Sale page.  I just added about 30 new items--some are hard to find! I'd rather sell them to blog readers than on ebay, if possible. 

Stitching Day & Olympic Stitching Finale

DD#1 hosted a stitching day at her house on Saturday.

Here we are (I took the photo)-

Even my grandson got in on the stitching-(he didn't want to pose for the picture) The dinosaur kit was very cute.  But the plastic needle in the package was flimsy.  Luckily, DD#1 had a different one.

Here is what I worked on -

Quaker Hornbook

With My Needle

32 ct Lakeside Linen Maple Sugar

Needle Necessities 135 Overdye

  My EGA guild ordered this last year and it had languished at this point in my WIP pile until now!

Woo Hoo!  Another over 1 finish! You can click on the photo for a better look.  Isn't the hornbook just gorgeous? It is finished so smooth and silky-really beautiful.  I love the thread so much that I'll use it in another project.

Sheepish Designs

Sarah Salter

32 ct lambswool linen

Called for DMC/Soie d'Alger threads

During the closing ceremony I was actually able to start another sampler. I have loved this one for so long and it was sitting in my staging box.  Yes, I have a staging box for kitted up projects that I want to start asap.  I look at them like a baseball player who is "on deck" :)

Have a great week everyone!  Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to comment.

Olympic Stitching Part 4

Crazy January Challenge finish #9

Heart in Hand Designs

Grateful Hearts

32 ct Lakeside Linen Navy Bean

Called for DMC threads

This one worked up really fast.

This is the frame I already had for it. Yes, it came from a thrift store. :)

Crazy January finish #10

L'Atelier Perdu

Smell the Flowers

28 ct lugana evenweave-Ivory

Called for DMC threads

After finishing all this over 1 stitching I needed the break of Grateful Hearts easy stitching. Won't this be an adorable threadkeep etui?  Now it goes in my finishing pile.  Uh-oh, it's growing again :)

Only 5 more finishes for the 2012 CJC!!

Olympic Stitching Part 3

I spent most of the weekend out of town with DH.  And most of that time I was in the car.  So I needed some stitching that I could see without my magnifier.  We were firmly in front of the TV when the Olympics prime time show started. Here is what I worked on--

Kissing Pillows

For those of you who are unfamiliar with kissing pillows, they are a project of EGA for deploying soldiers.  These little designs will be sewn and stuffed into pillows and distributed to soldiers at Joint Base Lewis/McChord.  My EGA chapter has already given out 20,000+.  They are a big hit with soldiers and their kids!

DD#1 stitched 2 of these.  And my 84 yr old MIL stitched the "I Love You" portion on the other 8 (after I taught her how to cross stitch-that is another whole story).  You CAN teach old dogs new tricks!!

Crowning the Tree

Blackbird Designs

Misc mystery linen piece

Called for CC and GAST threads

Love this design! I did substitute one thread-CC Calico Kitty was too orange for my taste, so I used Victorian Motto Sampler red F3

Pincushion Doll

Sewing Chest Designs

25 ct linen

DMC threads

I got quite a bit accomplished on this one over the weekend.  Now it will get tucked away until I am needing another project that I can see without a magnifier.  Hopefully one more good workday will see this one finished.

Welcome to all my new followers!  I love to read your comments. 

Have a great week!

P>S> Yesterday we finally had a day this summer over 90 degrees.  Today is back to normal-overcast AM-clear PM-temps in 70's. :)

Olympic Stitching Part 2

 L'Atelier Perdu

2012 Mystery Sampler

Part 1

36 ct Light sand linen

Called for WDW, GAST and DMC threads

It is almost done.  There is a little bit of border on the right to finish. And there is ecru background on the largest and the smallest of the 3 motifs.  Haven't decided if I will do it yet.  Waiting to see what more of the sampler looks like. :)

Wasn't too sure about these colors when I pulled them.  They looked a little.... well, dull.  But, so far I'm liking it.  I'm trusting Natalie, the designer.  Her taste is usually impeccable.