Paradise Lost is Finished!!

Paradise Lost

Plum Street Samplers

36ct Edinburgh linen

HDF (Vikki Clayton) silk conversion

Part of Becky's 2012 BAP Challenge

I put the last stitch in this on Wed. just before I left for my stitching retreat.  There was no time to post before I had to go. Click on the pic for a closeup.

More about this special weekend tomorrow!

I see this blog is over 300 followers.  Welcome to all my new followers! There will be a giveaway to celebrate later this week.

Stitching at my House

It was a busy Memorial Day weekend at my house.  We had two family birthdays on Saturday night here.  I fixed one of our family favorites-German rouladen.  Strawberry shortcake instead of birthday cake was a big hit.  On Sunday I worked, but still managed to get some stitching done. 

Here is my progress on Paradise Lost. This is the right side as you last saw it. (You can click on the pics) 

 

Paradise Lost

Plum Street Samplers

36ct linen

Hand Dyed Fibers silk thread conversion

Part of Becky's 2012 BAP Challenge

I moved the fabric over on the stretcher bars so I could stitch on the left side and here is my progress on that side. Notice I did fill in the blue on the banner and the clouds are done too. That is mindless stitching for sure. :)

                                                              Shakespeares Peddler 

Gentle Stitches

32 ct white evenweave

Called for Crescent Color threads

Now for a Memorial Day finish! Here is the 2nd installment on the recently released LHN/Shakespeares Peddler pattern. This was a fast and easy stitch. I did make a few changes-the biggest one is making the numbers pink instead of tan-love Crescent Colors Clay Pot!

                                                                Blackbird Designs

Prairie House Sewing Case

from A Stitcher's Journey booklet

30 ct R & R Olde Towne Blend

Called for GAST threads

2012 Crazy January Challenge Finish #7

I made some changes on this one, too.  The biggest one is the Old Purple Paint along the left margin instead of more of the tan Harvest Basket (see it along the top).  This design just seemed to need a little more punch of color.

I also used two very different dye lots of GAST Avocado.  The deeper green along the bottom was one dye lot.  The rest of the green is a lighter dye lot.  

As you probably noticed, I haven't put an initial in it yet. There is a good reason.  This will be a gift and the giftee watches this blog.  He, he, he :)

I couldn't finish this post without an update of little Amber.  She is 4 months old now and her nickname is Honeybaby because she is so, so sweet!

P>S> Don't forget to check out my For Sale list.  There are still some great patterns for sale.  I will be taking some of the ones that don't sell to a stitching retreat next week.  More on that later!

For Sale Page Updated!

Please check out my For Sale page!

I just added a ton of really great items for sale.

You can click on this link or click at the top of this page.

What A Weekend!

It was a wonderful weekend in Spokane with Betsy Morgan! She had just returned from teaching in Australia. (All pics are clickable.)

Here is where we had dinner on Friday evening before classes started. It is a floating restaurant called The Cedars on the Spokane River.  I had wild salmon cooked on a cedar plank-delicious!

Here is Betsy teaching us to make cord and tassels.  Not one of my specialties, so it was good to see.

Here we are working hard but having fun, too. Some of these ladies are really expert and beautiful stitchers.

This was one of our projects for the weekend-the Helix Etui.

This was the other project for the weekend-Shaker Spool Box.

Check out this project-it is Betsy's new casket design.  She will be teaching it in Vancouver in October.  Love, love it!

Here are my kits and the pincushion that I finished this weekend.  The colorway is lovely.

For those of you wondering if I was able to get Betsy's Toy Chest etui, the answer is yes!  One of the ladies had decided she would never finish hers and I was able to purchase it.  Here is the kit and the additional hobby horse and jack in the box toys.  The only thing I could not get was the paint box. So please let me know if you have one for sale or trade :)

And I visited the LNS called Haberdashery and what a lovely store it was. The thread selection was impressive, there was space for classes, and there was a small fabric section to support surface embroidery.  I was thrilled to find the large cardboard bobbins that I have not been able to find anywhere for ages.  Click on the pic- and don't miss the trim in the right bottom corner with mini ric rac and buttons hanging from it-really cute!

Brenda, the owner, told me the store is for sale.  She is retiring.  I hope it is still there the next time I go to Spokane.

Betsy autographed my Inspirations magazine :)

Have a great week!

Timeless Tomato-Back From the Finisher!

Timeless Tomato

Debbie Stiehler

Finished by Kathy Klinko

(Photos from my new Samsung Galaxy Note cell phone-What an improvement!)

Love, love, love how this turned out!!  If you click on the picture and look at the top of the tomato close to the stem, you can just see my initials that I managed to sneak into the piece. I am taking this for show and tell to my class this weekend. :)

Betsy Morgan Etui

Inspirations Magazine

32 ct natural linen

Gloriana silk threads

My threads have finally arrived and I am anxious to get started on this one. It is NOT in my list for 2012. Oh well, what's new? Aren't the colors of threads rich?  I'm going to take this with me and ask Betsy to autograph it!

Last but not least, a little stash enhancement has been going on.  My pincushion phase is still not over. The newest Prim Sisters piece is adorable and calling my name.    Paradise Lost is moving along nicely--another update to come soon.

I will have much more to share next week when I get back from Spokane.   My trusty phone is now also my trusty camera.  One charger is all I need to remember now.

Have a great weekend!

Happy Mother's Day!

Many wishes for a Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers who read my blog!

This is the last family photo taken in 1999.

That is me in the lower right corner.  I am the youngest of 3 daughters.

Here is my mom with my grandson last month.  She turned 80 last year.

Have a very happy Mother's Day, Mom.

Paradise Lost Update

This is where I left off stitching -

This is where I am today-

Plum Street Samplers

Paradise Lost

36 ct Edinburgh linen

Hand-Dyed Fibers (Vikki Clayton) Silk conversion

Part of Becky's 2012 BAP Challenge

I've made some good progress over the last week.  It's almost time to move the fabric on my stretcher bars over to get to the far left side of the design.  I am waffling about filling in the blue around the words at the top.  What do you think?  Would it look better left alone with just the blue outline or should I fill it in?

I've been busy in my garden too.  It is finally warm enough to put out the tomatoes started indoors.  The birds ate my cucumber starts, so I planted the seeds directly outside and hope for the best.

I'm organizing and getting ready for my Betsy Morgan class in Spokane coming up in less than 2 weeks.  I might have the opportunity to buy Betsy's Toy Chest Etui kit.   Evidently someone who took her class has decided she won't finish it.  Keep your fingers crossed!

A Start, A Start & Finish, and A Finish

A Start-

Bucilla kit-Sophie

14 ct Aida cloth

Cotton floss (not DMC)

When my little granddaughter was born in January, DD#3's friend volunteered to make the birth sampler/announcement.  This is it. Unfortunately the friend was unable to complete it and DD#3 took it to finish. 

I am pitching in and stitching the bottom left block and the border. Hopefully DD#1 and DD#2 can do one block each and we will have a Round Robin!

Boy, I am so spoiled by the beautiful linens, silk and overdyed threads that I normally stitch with. This is hard for me to stitch on in more ways than one :)

A Start & A Finish-

Little House Needleworks

A Stitcher's Heart

30 ct R & R Old Towne Blende

Called for CC threads

This was a quick and very fun stitch! I actually found a small piece in my scrap basket to use! Hope to get to the second half of this project soon (Gentle Stitches by Shakespeares Peddler)

A Finish-

CJC Finish #6-The Goode Huswif

June Morning

24 ct black Congress cloth

DMC threads

Love how this turned out!  There is some wonkiness to the fabric now that it is finished. I think it needs to be blocked.  I used the tent/continental/basketweave stitch and didn't have to cross any X's :) Lots of color changes. This design is so eyecatching --it would lend itself to a large format like 25 ct over 2 threads.  I used my lighted magnifier and didn't have any problems with stitching on the black.

Since I am ahead on the CJC, I am hoping to devote the rest of this month to Holiday Patches and Paradise Lost. I'll keep you posted!

Welcome to my new followers!  I see that the count is creeping closer to 300!  I'll have a giveaway when we reach it.

June Morning and Inspirations magazine

The Goode Huswif

June Morning

24 ct black Congress cloth

DMC threads

Here is the latest on this CJC project.  Love the bright colors on the black.

Are you familiar with Inspirations magazine from Australia?  This is issue #65 and I finally got my hot little hands on it.  It is a little on the expensive side but this issue has a Betsy Morgan etui with some smalls in it. It is right there on the cover.  The 32 ct Belfast natural linen is on the right in the pic and I am waiting on the Gloriana threads to get here.

I also have kitted about a dozen more projects--wishful thinking right now :)

I am struggling with the new blogger dashboard.  It won't let me upload anymore photos, so I'll just tell you that I finished the alphabet sampler that finishes up BBD Peacock Pinkeep.

 I'll go to picasa and delete a bunch of old photos on my blog.  Hopefully that will take care of this :(

A Finish and A Half

Prairie Schooler Country Wise

28ct mystery linen

Called for DMC threads

I did revise the border and made it more simple.

Blackbird Designs Peacock Pinkeep

28 ct mystery linen

Gloriana overdyed silk threads (from misc package so I don't know the names of the colors)

This is my half finish.  There is still a long alphabet sampler that will go around the outside of the round box to stitch.  But I am pleased at the results so far.