February Stitch from Stash Report

  I waited until almost the last possible second to make my report in the hopes that the rest of what I ordered would be here.  I, unlike so many others of you participating in this challenge, was thrilled to have the market splurge and used all of it and then some!!
  I have been keeping a list since the challenge began of things I would have normally just bought when I saw them.  It's been interesting doing it this way because I've found that some of the  things I thought I 'had to have' have fallen off the list.  Giving it that time leaves me with a list of  charts I really love and the market splurge allowed me to put quite a few of those in my stash!!
  The first order I placed was with Anita's Little Stitches for the Bohin tiny red scissors and Blackbird's Country Life.

I LOVE these and was so happy to be able to get them!!

My friend Cathy has this with all the fibers and the fabric
and it is gorgeous!!

Both of these had been on the list since the beginning so I ordered them as soon as the splurge became public knowledge!!
  I love the things the designers plan for market and start getting excited when they start showing the sneak peeks on their blogs!! Brenda Gervais has been teasing us with her latest reproductions sampler, Elizabeth Clark,  for a while now so it was on the top of my list!!  I ordered her, Elizabeth Smith by Pineberry Lane, Autumn Quaker by Rosewood Manor, and Praiseworthy's Quaker Sampler Peace from The Strawberry Sampler and that is the order I have not received yet.
    My last order was from Wasatch Needlecraft and it came a couple of days ago.  I ordered Ink Circles Peace Wheel which knowing my penchant for reproduction samplers might seem like an odd choice but it just spoke to me!

Then, true to my reproduction passion, I also ordered Samplers Not Forgotten Springtime in My Garden and Mary Ann Crumley 1829.

  So that's it for my shopping spree.  Those that know me, know I love a sale so everything I bought was at least 20% off.  Here is how the totals shake out:  My budget for January and February were $25.00 each.  Add the Market Splurge of $100.00 and that gave me a grand total of $150.00 to play with.  I spent $32.90 at Little Stitches, $49.20 at The Strawberry Sampler, and $43.20 at Wasatch for a total of $125.30.
That leaves me $24.70 to carry over for the next time!!!
   I am so happy Mel gave us that splurge for market because I know I wouldn't have been able to resist all the wonderful new goodies there were to tempt us!!  But I think I was a lot more thoughtful with my purchases than I have been in the past.  And that's a good thing!!

Olympics Stitching, IH&SW, etc.

   After the completion of AW 1662, a long project not just materially but also in time,  the call went out for  a replacement in the rotation.  I know I had mentioned going back to work on Ann Bowers and although she is still on the list to finish this year, I needed the fun of a new start!
   At the end of last year, when I was making plans for this year's stitching, I kitted about a dozen charts.  With Thy Needle and Thread is one of my favorite designers and Brenda's Needleworker's Sampler was in that stack just calling out my name!  I didn't start it right at the beginning of the Olympics since I was finishing up my SAL stitching but not too shortly after, I think about the 10th.
  Since I am doing this as a combo report, I hope this will make sense in the end!!  This is how far I had gotten by the start of  IH&SW which was this past weekend.  I thought I would be farther along than I was by then but actually watching the events really slows things down!!

40 ct. French Vanilla Swirl with listed colors
(this pic is most true to color)

   After IH&SW, this is where I am now.

And this is what the whole thing looks like now.  So, so cute and I just love the border!!

   It is close to the end, just the verse and the bottom of the border.  I hope to have it finished in the next couple of days.  We are supposed to have a snow day on Wednesday so that should give me the time I need to wrap it all up.
    I was also going to give my Stitch From Stash report but I think I will save that for next time.  Lets just say I was NOT a good girl like so many others!!

Working on the SALs

    Once I finished my last project, it was time to rotate through the SAL list.  I worked the February assignment for the Quaker Medallion Sampler.  I substituted diamond eyelet for the satin stitch in the diamond motifs at the end of the last alphabet.

40 ct Lakeside Meadow Rue
with my conversion to GA Sampler Threads

  Then, this afternoon I finished this months assignment for the Snooty Parrots.  I had just a few of the berries to put in to be able to call this section finished.   I would have finished it sooner but Olympics watching slowed things down!!

40 ct Lakeside Exemplar with threads called for

As you can see in this pic, I changed the berries to a diamond Rhodes stitch.  Not my original idea, someone else in the group did this first, but I love the way it looks and decided to do mine the same way.

   My other current SAL is Dorothy Walpole and I was already ahead of the SAL with that one so I have been waiting for the assignments to catch up to where I am on this sampler.  I think I will need to work Dorothy back into the rotation next month.
  Which brings us to the Olympics stitching.  I thought I might get Ann Bowers back out and see if I can finish her up over the next couple of weeks.  I don't know though.  I have had The Needleworker's Sampler kitted since it came out and after seeing Cathy B's recent finish, it is calling to me loudly!!  We'll have to see who comes out on top!

The Grand Finale

  I put the last stitches into AW 1662 on Sunday night.  Actually, I was doing that last stitching while watching Downton so that slowed me down a bit!!  But I was not going to bed until I had this one wrapped up. And she turned out to be quite the beauty!!

   Once I got her unrolled, I was a little surprised by how long she was!  I know, I cut the linen, but that was a while ago and I hadn't seen her whole length since then.

Love these colors!!

The eye is still drawn to that checkerboard pattern!

That last floral band is such a stunner!

   Such a fun stitch and now to decide what to insert in her place in the rotation!  I have gone back to the SAL rotation for the time being so I have some time yet to figure it out.  I think I have decided to try to finish Ann Bowers during the Olympics.  I thought I might start a new piece but I have SO MANY UFOs that I think I need to keep working them until the pull of a new start gets too strong!