Two Make & Takes and a Finish-Finish

Little House Needleworks

Traveling Stitcher

The good news is that I finally finish-finished it-see the 2010 date.  The bad news is that this was supposed to be a project bag with a FRONT zipper.  Uh-huh, I was worried about putting the zipper in and that went great, BUT I got the front and the back mixed up and the stitched insert would have been curving around the bottom!!  That's what I get for trying something new and not doing a "practice" version first. (Notice that I am not showing the back-yes, I had to put an extension on the back-grr....)

What about the matching needlebook that is also stitched and ready for finishing you ask? 

As Scarlett said "Tomorrow is another day"

Remember the LQS that is holding monthly make and take classes?  Here is my latest finish for July.  shhh...... I will not tell you that this was my third attempt at getting it right. 

Another Make and Take for ...April??  The goal is to have the project completed during the 3 hr class.  I actually missed this class and finished it at home. 

One more Make and Take is nearly finished and I will share it soon. And I got enough fusible interfacing today to do several FRONT zippered project bags, so I will give it another try.

Have a great weekend!

Stitching Progress Updates

This was the last photo I showed you of With Thy Needle & Thread Give Thanks. It is one of my Crazy January Challenges.  A beautiful start on 28 ct linen. But I started off completely wrong and stitched the first pumpkin over 2 threads :(  So, out came the frogs and I re-started it. (Nobody told me that I needed to read the front cover :)

 See below-

This is the design I pulled out when I got frustrated with the L'Atelier Perdu mystery (32 ct linen stitched over 1).  As you can see I actually got quite a bit stitched. After trying 4 different counts/types of linen for the mystery project, I ended up with 28 ct evenweave-see results below!!

I also changed from my preferred size 26 needle to a size 28 needle-that helped tremendously.  The evenweave seems to be more stable and I didn't need to baste some interfacing under it to prevent losing stitches.  Thank heaven for my 3X lighted magnifier though.  This would be impossible for me with just my bifocals.  Altogether a very acceptable solution to my thorny problem! 

Thanks so much for all your hints/suggestions/ideas!

Two New Framings

DH did a great job with these two frames.  Grandson's Christmas present is ready! This frame came from the thrift store for $2.

Mary Glover looks great too.  This frame was recycled from a project by my mother-in-law from 1982. :) It's twin is already on my sampler wall.  Can you find it?

Now I have more samplers to add!  Maybe I should consider a second wall? 

 Have a great week!

Dixie Sampler Has A New Blog

Somehow Terri at Dixie Samplar lost her blog! 

So she started a new one and wants her followers to be able to find her, so click HERE!

RAK, Finish-Finish, and Today's Basket

This RAK was mailed today!  It could be on it's way to you!   I'll update when I hear from the recipient that it has arrived. :)  It is an old Prairie Schooler freebie.

The Easter ornie is finally ready to hang.  Please excuse the crappy photos, but I know you will get the idea.  My DH has been helping me and we are actually making progress at some finish-finishing this weekend.  More photos to come!

 

Bountiful Baskets #2.  One pineapple, 1 eggplant, 2 heads broccoli, 1 bunch of kale, 2 mangoes, 7 mini lettuce bunches, 5 bananas, 1 English cucumber, 8 oranges, 5 Fuji apples, and 7 peaches.

Yep, all for $15 plus the $1.50 handling charge.  Check here to see if you have Bountiful Baskets in your area.

Two Finish-Finishes

 This is a box from an old R & R Reproductions kit.  The picture in the middle is the design that was supposed to go in this box.  I wasn't in love with it so the whole thing was sitting in a drawer.

 Voila!  I finally had a light bulb go off over my head and thought "I'll bet Temptation might fit in this."  And it did!  Doesn't it look great?  And Eve's bad hair day is not so bad... he, he

Here is another angle.

(The old kit will make its way into my next giveaway :)

And here is my recent LHN Liberty and Justice finish.  I used another box sitting in the drawer and painted it to go with this design. And I had the trim waiting in my stash.

Here is another angle on this one.

On to more stitching!

P>S> For all you folks suffering in this heat, stay safe.  (It is a gorgeous and sunny 75 degrees here today :)

WTNT Mystery Sampler Completed!

With Thy Needle and Thread

Birds of a Feather Mystery Sampler

35 ct WDW Confederate Grey

Called for WDW threads

Woo Hoo!  I love this sampler!  The only change I made was to stitch my initials in Kentucky Bluegrass.  Beautiful design, Brenda!

Kitty Pillow Kit on Ebay!

I have received several emails asking me where to find this kit.  This was my blog header photo for many months.  It is an old Sunset needlepoint kit from that is long gone but I would see it occasionally on ebay for $25 and up.  Now it is on there for $4.99.
If you are interested, check it out HERE.

New Finish and Bountiful Baskets

 Little House Needleworks

Liberty and Justice

28 ct linen scrap

Called for DMC threads

This little beauty of a pattern was obtained from Teresa in a trade.  Thanks, Teresa!  I have a finish-finish planned for this item and am working on it now. 

I have been stitching mostly on  Part 3 of Mystery Sampler by WTNT. I saw Myra's change to cardinals in her sampler and just love it!  Unfortunately there are no cardinals anywhere around me (stellar jays are about the only real color I see regularly).  

Helpful suggestions needed!

I joined L'Atelier Perdu Mystery Club and got Part 1.  It is a darling mystery piece, but it requires stitching over 1 on 32 ct linen.  :(  I was struggling so bad that I pulled out one of my Crazy January Challenges that is stitching over 1 on 28 ct linen to see if that was any easier. It is easier but not much. 

Now Part 2 of the mystery has arrived and I am still pleased with the design but feeling unsure if I will be able to do it.  My question to you is---Natalie, the designer, has suggested using 40 ct fabric and stitching it over 2 threads as an alternate to the 32 ct over 1.  Do you think this is the way to go?   I normally avoid 40 ct fabric because it is a struggle to see. 

This is something new to me and I wanted to share with my friends/followers. I signed up for a weekly basket of produce called Bountiful Baskets.  Today was my first pick-up day and look what I got!  A huge head of lettuce, one eggplant, one cauliflower, two bunches of broccoli, one english cucumber, one pound of strawberries, 9 bananas (green, not overly ripe throw-aways), six Fuji apples, 4  large peaches (whoops, I forgot to put them in the picture) and 10 nectarines. 

For $15 plus $1.50 handling charge.  There is also a first-time basket charge of $3.  I thought it was a great deal!  Here at my local farmer's market peaches are $1.99 lb. I bought 5 last week and it cost me nearly $6.

Bountiful Baskets is not everywhere across the USA.  And the pickup locations are limited.  Click here to see if this is available in your area.

Two Announcements

A new Grandbaby is on the way!  In early February.

Here is a baby picture of my first grandchild-he turned out awfully cute (see blog header photo).

We don't know yet if #2 will be a girl or boy and don't care-either one is fine with us.

Secondly, I have listed in my wishlist Vol 21 for Sampler and Antique Needlework Quarterly magazine.  (See tab above.) And it has been so long that I can't remember what is in the magazine that I wanted to stitch!   Can someone help me out and let me know what I saw that captured my attention?