IH&S Weekend July Report

    I always have grand delusions of the amount of stitching I will get done while my husband is away.  I forget that with him gone, I have to do not only my chores but his as well.  And since he has taken over the kitchen duties, when he is gone I have to cook for myself.  That is a huge time drain!!  Add to that, I didn't have much in the house since we were planning to be away so I had to make a grocery run as well.  Subtract pretty much a whole day of stitching there!!
   Just my normal stitching time on Friday but Saturday was a double header so I got in maximum baseball stitching on that day.  Sunday is my regular cleaning day and since DH was coming home that day, I really couldn't skip it.  So, once again, just regular stitching time on Sunday.  So basically, IH&SW winds up being just my normal stitching weekend!  Oh well, I had fun and I actually got to stitch, which I wouldn't have been able to do had I gone to the wedding.  I wasn't even going to take my stitching  bag on that trip!
  Even though I didn't get in any EXTRA stitching time, I did manage to get some things accomplished.  I got 2 entire, as in all the way across the sampler, stripes in on One Nation!!

Only 4 more stripes to go and this baby will be finished!!  I am hoping for the beginning of September and if I can stay on track, I should be able to do it!
     Then, I got back to work on the Blackbird SAL.  Since it was over the half way mark I thought I would push through and finish it.  And since I had already taken such liberties with it that it was no longer a reproduction, I went more and more off the track the closer it got to the end.  Now it can only be called an adaptation.  But one I really like!!

It got to be a lot of fun once I went my own way and I especially like the nod to the bargello (that I love) at the end!  Definitely not on the original but totally mine!!
     So that was the IH&SW for me.  I am now going to work on the Ranje's for a couple of day I think.  I still have quite a few bands to stitch to catch up with the group and those bands go so fast and are so much fun to stitch!!
   I am off to Winston-Salem to meet my girls for a weekend of fun and sampler exhibit viewing.  I am planning to tack on a quick trip to Atlanta too if all works out well so I will be off the air waves for a bit.  I should have some good stitching to show when I get back!

Thank you all so much for the fabulous comments you have left for me lately.  I apologize for not sending out replies this last round but I just couldn't manage it with other things going on right now.  Just know I appreciate them so much!!

Hope you're all enjoying your stitching as much as I am,  Laura

Well, that's a week of my life I'll never get back!

   I spent the last week running around like a crazy lunatic trying to get all the things done that needed to be done before we left for the big wedding in Ohio.  At the last minute, the cat sitter fell through and left us with no one  to tend the fur babies.  Since it is my husband's family and you know who they would rather see, I volunteered to stay and he had to make the long drive alone.
   I know that it was all due to unforeseen circumstances and I shouldn't feel badly about any of it.  But I must say I do feel a little guilty that I get to stay home and stitch all weekend, in the comfort of my own home, while he has to attend all the  family stuff associated with a wedding all by himself.  Oh well, such is life!!
   Since I was spending so much time doing other things, my stitching time was greatly curtailed.  People who know me will be shocked by this but there were several evenings since my last post that I didn't stitch at all!!  Oh the horrors!!!  I did manage to get some time in on a few things though.
    Sunday we had Sandra Sullivan come to teach at our sampler guild.  If you remember from my last post, there was some pre-stitching that had to be done since it was a finishing class.  This is the stitched piece.

And this is what it looked like after the finishing magic was worked on it. So Cute!!

The little spools are supposed to be wrapped with floss in the same colors as the stitching.  Needless to say, I haven't done that yet and 10 years from now you will probably still find them unwrapped!!

At this point, I must confess that this had nothing to do with me.  As you are all well aware, I am finishing challenged and left to my own devices it would probably look like a one-handed monkey did it!!  My good friend Tricia took pity on me, working mine and hers at the same time, and I am now graced with this lovely pincushion!! First class I've ever left with a finished product.  Thanks so much Tricia!
    Also during this past week, I managed to get the large alphabet finished on the Blackbird SAL.

I am going to try to finish this one up during my 'retreat' this weekend.  It is such a small piece and should not still be hanging out in my  'In' basket!!
    I spend most of my stitching time working on One Nation.  I got the stripe in per my rotation assignment and then just kept going.  I thought about working it until its finished but on second thought, I think I will just try to stay on top of it so it will be finished on schedule.

Even on 40 ct this is a HUGE sampler!  I can't wait to get it finished and framed.  I think it will be impressive looking hanging with 272 Words although it might require a wall reshuffle!!
   So that's all that's going on for now.  It is IH&SW this weekend ( how fortuitous is that??) and I have some lost stitching time to make up for. I took care of the rest of my errands today so I should be able to spend the rest of the weekend blissfully stitching in my little corner and catching up some viewing on my DVR! Heaven!! I should have lots to show next week!

Hope you are all enjoying your stitching as much as I am,  Laura

Stitching Over the 4th

   Hope you all had a wonderful 4th!  Ours had some excitement for a while since all eyes were on Arthur and where he might be going. But we only had some thunderstorms and heavy rain overnight and frankly, it didn't even wake me up.  If The Hubs hadn't told me it had stormed, I probably wouldn't have known!!
    Son #1 was home for the weekend and although we didn't see too much of him while he was here, I think he had a good, relaxing time.  I don't know how me manages to live in a semi for 6 weeks at a time.  I would be stir crazy and seriously, the bathroom or lack there of, would be a real issue for me!!  He went back out yesterday and he says he isn't going to stay out for so long this next time but he said that last time so I guess we'll just have to wait and see.
   I did manage to get some good stitching time in while hurricane watching, etc.  I put in my weekly stripe on One Nation.

Technically, I haven't done the one for this week yet so I think I will pick this one back up after I finish this post.
   Most of my time was spent with Summer at Hollyberry Farm.  I have really enjoyed working this piece but that house is huge!!  I changed some more of the colors (Surprise! Surprise!) but I did  manage to get the upper floor in and more of the border down the left side. Love that Lancaster red!!

  I have been admiring the Randje per Week group on Facebook for quite a while now.  It started in January and is half way done now so if I was going to join in I really needed to get a move on!!  I ordered the banding a couple of weeks ago and it had come in so I started working borders after I finished the work above.

I'm working it on 32 ct banding with Needlepoint silk and I got all of this done in a couple of evenings.  I wasn't sure about the coverage in the beginning so the first few bands are done in Smyrna cross.  I may work some of the later rows in different stitches too, just to keep things interesting.  Another color comes in a little further down the design as well. This is the first ten rows and I think this week row 52 was released.  So, if I can put 5 or more rows in each week, I should be caught up in no time!!
  Once I had my fill of stitching borders, I got out the piece I needed to pre-stitch for a class my sampler guild is having.  We had someone sign up late so I gave my kit to her and just pulled supplies out of my stash. So, mine will not look like everyone else's.  Add to that, I changed some of the colors... and moved some of the colors around to other places, more of some, less of others.

Please excuse the shadow. I think it's my hand!!

The linen in the kit was cream, which I did not have a scrap of in 32 ct so this is either natural or flax, I'm not sure which.  It is for a Sandra Sullivan finishing class and although smalls are not usually my thing, probably since finishing is my nemesis, I signed up anyway to help out the guild.  And if it turns out terrible, I am going to see the Finishing Fairie at the end of the month and she will fix it for me!!!!
  To wrap up this report, I pulled the Blackbird SAL piece back out.  I had been thinking about it for a while so I knew I wasn't totally done with it. Plus, I am really trying not to make any more UFOs and it is a sweet piece, someone will be happy to get it as a gift down the road. So I tried the darker color for the large (supposed to be eyelet but I'm doing Smyrna) alphabet and I think I like it. I know I like it better than before!!

  So, there you have it.  I have managed to stave off the summer stitching slump so far.  I feel like I am really making some progress on my current rotation.  I have a gazillion more to finish and probably 10 times as many to start but I figure if I don't get hit by a bus tomorrow, I'll at least have a chance of making a dent in my ginormous stash!!  I have seen a lot of people selling off their stash lately, I don't think I am ready for that yet.  I'm still adding to mine (OMG!!) and get excited when new charts come out. Just ordered 2 new ones from With Thy Needle and Thread this morning!!!

Hope you're enjoying your stitching as much as I am,  Laura