Monday, October 14, 2013

Finally, a little sunshine!!

  It was rainy and overcast here in the burg for a solid week and I thought I would lose my mind before I was the sun again!!  Finally, this afternoon the sun has broken through the clouds and we have another glorious day!  I used to think I would like to live in the Pacific NW with the rain forest and the mountains nearby but I think I would probably have SAD and have to spend all my time under one of those lights since they have so many days of rain!
  I finished my other October birthday gift about a week ago but it has been too dark to take a picture.  I finally go one today.  This is the finish of Alpine Garden.




I didn't worry about her seeing it since she picked it out for her birthday this year.  This completes the set; she will have all 4 of these gardens now.
   I also managed to get some time in on this little cutie even though I've been prepping for company and haven't had as much time to stitch as I would have liked.


My visitor is the recipient of the Alpine Garden and we are going to celebrate and stitch for over a week!  I should have the little sampler above and several other things finished by the time she is ready for home!!

Thursday, October 10, 2013

Cute Giveaway

  I just saw the cutest giveaway over on Julie's blog.  She will be drawing for this darling ort box on Sunday so don't miss it!!  I really like it!  Hope I win!!!


Friday, October 4, 2013

Still Chugging Along



  I have been working diligently on my October birthday stitching since the last post and I thought I would be finished by now.  I am usually working right up to the deadline but I got a pretty good jump on it this year and had grand hopes of an early finish. Alas, it was not to be.
  The friendship/birthday sampler I was working on turned out to be harder than I thought.  Hats off to all of the designers out there who manage to put bands and colors together in a pleasing fashion for all of us to go crazy over. IT IS HARD!!! Even so, I did manage to make a go of it and I like the way it came out.  This is the part that I added, starting with the wandering vine. There are supposed to be beads but I think I will leave that to her, if she wants them.


   I added a band of Ukrainian whitework and then a pretty darning pattern, both of which I took from Shepard's Bush pieces. (That is the theme she wanted for her friendship sampler.)

   This is what the whole thing looks like now.  I will have to get it in the mail soon in order to have it there in time for the big day.  I think she is going to be shocked to see it!! And hopefully happy.  I have had it for so long now that I hope she still like this style!



   After I finished the one above, I started back to work on my other October birthday sampler.  I had the first band finished about 5 years ago and put it away and stitched something else for her.  After getting back into it, I now remember why!  It is a beautiful piece but the confetti stitching is driving me crazy!!  But since I have already stitched 2 of the 4 of these gardens for her and this is the last one, I have persevered!
   I am working it on a scroll frame so I have left off some of the specialty stitches, ie: mostly the flowers, so nothing gets crushed.  I would hate to have to do them over again!!!

The Drawn Thread
the Alpine Garden/kit

Then, just as a bit of relief, I have also been working on this lovely. So cute and so little!

The Scarlett House
A Sampler Grew
40 ct. Lakeside Maritime White
suggested Needlepoint Silks

    So, that's about all for now.  I have kitted up about 5 fall pieces, most of which are pretty small, that I hope to be able to get started early next week.  We have another beach trip coming up soon so I am pondering beach stitching as well.  I'll have to refer to my list and see what still needs to be completed by the end of the year too.  It should make for a fun mix of stitching for the next few months!!