Yellowstone, Update and a New SAL!

A few highlights at Yellowstone:

Yellowstone Restored 1930's Touring Bus



Yellowstone Emerald Spring

Yellowstone Lower Falls





Yellowstone Old Faithful Geyser

Of course there is much, much more to see in Yellowstone National Park, but at the end of August many of the bubbling mud pots had dried up for the summer.  I am struggling with photos today in blogger so that is it for today in Yellowstone.

Istitch Mystery Sampler

Carol Ridyard

40 ct HDF linen-jackalope

Mystery HDF overdyed silk

Here is the 3rd installment on the Istitch mystery sampler. 

Petite Sampling Etui

Collaboration Design

Called for 36 ct Lakeside Linen Pearled Barley

Vikki Clayton's HDF Silk Conversion threads

And last, but definitely not least, I have joined a SAL with Nataly and Carol and Gabi. This sampler was originally part of my Crazy January Challenge list for 2011. But when I  had to get to just 15 items, I said goodbye to this one (but only temporarily, of course :)

Back From Yellowstone+ An Update

Yellowstone National Park was fantastic!  Temps in the low 70's, absolutely no traffic to speak of (yes, we waited until school had started for many areas), and the friends we went with were great company!  No pictures yet, but I will share a very few soon.

 I did get a little more of BOAF Le Printemps stitched. Now that the face is in, I like looking at her while I stitch. A large amount of frogging took place when I realized that I had placed the bird in the wrong spot!

My iStitch Mystery Sampler is coming along nicely.  I am still keeping my fingers crossed that I will have enough of the HDF overdyed silk I'm using.

Blackbird Designs

Hedgerow Birds

20 ct. WDW Straw

Called for CC and GAST threads

#14 of the Crazy January Challenges is finished!  Woo Hoo!  This was my stitching project while in Yellowstone.  Easy to see in bad lighting (hotels).   Only 2 more CJC projects to be finished! If you are wondering if I made a mistake, this project is to be finished as a project bag with a liner and a buttoned top.

New Starts and an Oldie But A Goodie

Blackbird Designs

Autumn Song

30 ct R & R Iced Cappucino

Called for WDW threads

I have been dying to start this one!  And actually put it on my list "To Start in 2011"-we'll see if I get it finished :)

Tree of Life Samplings

Penny America

36 ct Lakeside Linen Maple Sugar

Called for DMC and WDW threads

Who can resist this one? It is darling!   I see a lot of bloggers working on this one (or finished it already,yes, I mean you, Faye!)

Birds of a Feather

Le Printemps

36 ct Edinburgh linen

WDW threads

This is the oldie but goodie.  I pulled it out and got some work done.  Much more to go, but I love the "outlining" of the design, lots of empty space, and the overdyed threads are perfection on this.

I have also started a new project for my new grandbaby that is on the way.  Can't share photos because my daughter checks in here occasionally.

I'm off on vacation this weekend.  One of my 2 1/2 remaining Crazy January Challenges is already in my sewing bag (it is already packed, of course). So I hope to have another finish to post when I return.

I'm Excited to Announce...

Hello, friends and followers!

I would like to welcome you to a Wantobe Quilters Campaign over at www.sewwequilt.com/

They are having quilting supplies to giveaway 5 x a week for the next 11 weeks!

The campaign began Aug 1st and runs till Oct 29th.

Supplies that will have you quilting before you know it…From sewing machines to irons, to die cutters,

to mats, to rotary cutters, sewing baskets, scissors, batting, needles,

rolled sewing machine bags, patterns, books, magazines…everything you could imagine to assist you in being a NEW Quilter.

A Wantobe Quilter is someone who has no quilting tools, has never quilted (like me!).

You can enter on M-W-F to win... leave a comment and the name of my blog...

over at Sew We Quilt. ( Check their Saturday posts for recaps of the week,

the giveaways are FABULOUS)

www.sewwequilt.com/2011/08/saturdays-are-our-sponsor-daysrecap-of.html

www.sewwequilt.com/2011/08/wantobe-quilter-sponsor-day-recap-of.html

Even if you are already part of the quilting community you can win

quilting stuff too…Tuesdays and Thursdays are days for you.

( that is Quilters) you have supplies but you can win and better ones..

All you have to do is give me your name and phone number

and email sew I can submit this to the organizer, because if you win

anything I can win something too.

All you have to do is be my follower (and many of you already are!)  and a follower

over at www.sewwequilt.com/ That is all! There are over 53 Sponsors involved.

I am pretty excited to be part of this, sew should you.

I love becoming a QUILTER!

P.S. You will not be eligible to win anything if you do not register with me (or with any blogger where you see this message)

New Followers, A Finish, and 2 Mystery Updates

Welcome to all my new followers!  I can't believe that there are over 250 people interested in this little blog :)

Please feel free to leave comments--it really makes my day to read them!

Renaissance Designs

Five Christmas Trees Shimmering

18ct mono canvas

DMC floss, Vineyard Silks, Elegance, Krenik, etc.

 Crazy January Challenge #13 is finished!  This is #5 in a series of 13 Christmas ornaments. And my only needlepoint piece in this challenge.  I did  make a few changes to this-I substituted several Vineyard Silks for DMC thread-no laying the thread and the sheen is beautiful. I used buttons from my stash for the small front tree instead of sequins. And I basketweaved the background (as a place to rest your eyes) and used white beads instead of french knots.

My finisher reminded me that the cut-off date for Christmas finishing is coming up, so I pulled out this little one and finished it up.  #6 is ready to go on the stretcher bars. :) Only 3 more finishes to complete CJC (and one is over 1/2 done)!

Istitch Mystery

40 ct Hand-Dyed Fibers Jackalope fabric

Mystery Hand-Dyed Fiber silk thread

This mystery is going to be so cute!  And I am even stitching it on the dreaded 40 ct fabric (with my lighted magnifier, of course). But I wanted to tell you about this mystery thread.  I participated in a Christmas exchange last year on the JAT board.  This thread came as part of that exchange.  It was in a baggie of "odds and ends" from Vikki Clayton's HDF.  Maybe they were ends to a production batch?? 

 Anyhow I have no idea what the name of this silk thread is and I am praying that I have enough to finish this design!!  There is 25ft of 6 ply thread. Click on the picture to see the gorgeous cranberry, lavender, pink and blue overdye.

L'Atelier Perdu Mystery-Part 1

28 ct Jubilee evenweave-color Platinum

DMC threads

I can't believe this first part is finished!  Much sweat was expended to get this far!  I did make a slight change to the pattern.  There is a solid line of medium brown border outside of the dark brown border, but inside of the medium brown border.  I like the border as-is and decided to leave off that last solid border.  What do you think?  Part 2 is already here and the final installment is on it's way!

Have a great stitchy weekend!

New Frame and New Stash

I got a load of stash recently.   Two magazines-one has LHN He Is Risen and the other has BBD Land of the Free.  Two I am anxious to start are Tree of Life Samplings Penny America and another With Thy Needle and Thread design- Mary's Best Handework. Yes, I signed up for the new BBD Loose Feathers, too. :)

My dh finished framing  Heartstring Samplery's Permit Me Not to Stray.  The frame came from a yard sale for $2!  I am having an optical illusion because it looks crooked in the frame-but I have remeasured it again and again and it is correct. Go figure.

Another finish coming soon! 

New Finish & Basket #4

Blackbird Designs

Tulip House Stitching Companion

30 ct. R & R Iced Cappucino

Called for GAST threads

Here's another project where I have finish-finished half of it!!  The pincushion for inside the box is done--no rick rack, just buttons.  Now I need to find some time to finish this box and finish needlebook for LHN Traveling Stitcher.

Here is Bountiful Basket #4.  This week's wonderful haul is 1 cantaloupe, 1 bunch of kale, one large bunch of green leaf lettuce, 3 mangoes, one English cucumber, one lb of strawberries, one head of cauliflower, six red peppers, 5 lb bag of russet potatoes, 4 lage peaches, 1 small peach, and 1 lb of fresh green beans.  Yes, $15 plus $1.50 for handling.

RAK Received, 3 Finish-Finishes & Bountiful Basket #3

Lorrie S from Iowa has received my RAK.  I mailed it on Saturday morning from WA  and she received on Monday!  Wow!  Unusually fast USPS service!

With Thy Needle & Thread

Give Thanks

28 ct linen

Called for WDW threads

Crazy January Challenge #12 of 16 is finished! I am very proud of getting this one done! It was the over one stitching that I struggled with but eventually made work.  Basting interfacing under the linen really helped to stabilize it and I never lost a stitch! 

 I bought the frame from Brenda's website when I bought the pattern.  She painted over the black with sage green (?) I believe.  What do you think of just leaving it the original black? 

Another  Make and Take pincushion finished! There is only one project that I don't have finished and it is larger with embroidery on it.  So it will take some time and honestly, I want to put my time elsewhere right now.

Hawkins House

Apple Tree Sampler

Another finish-finish for the sampler wall!  I erroneously counted this one as #12 of my Crazy January Challenge completions.  It was actually #11.

Feel free to click on the photos for a better view.

 This week's Bountiful Basket--one honeydew melon, large greenleaf lettuce, broccoli, large bunch of spinach, 3 mangos, 3 lb sack of sweet onions, 3 peaches, 4 nectarines, one large shallot, 1 lb mushrooms, one eggplant, and 8 bananas.  Woo hoo!

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!