Friday, January 9, 2015

First Finish of 2015

    Things usually calm down the week after Christmas and I have lots of time to stitch.  This year was not like that.  I spent most of my time getting the books ready to turn over for my 2 jobs in our EGA chapter and getting things set up to start my new job.  Add to that, my son came back to visit the middle of that week and you can see how stitching time might be hard to come by!
  I did manage to finish up a long lingering UFO though and I can proudly say that Winter Plaid by LHN is now completed!! (Please excuse the wrinkles.  I don't iron until I finish-finish!)

Winter Plaid by LHN
34 ct Legacy Plantation Linen
w/mostly called for threads
It was such a fun stitch and once the 'plaid' was in, the rest went very quickly!
   I also need to show the picture of my birthday gift from Tommye.  The pic I took before wouldn't download for some reason so here is that one too.

Hillside Samplings

Gorgeous! Georgeous!  I love that border!!!  And anything with a red house is always appealing to me.  She always picks the prettiest samplers to stitch for me!!
    I like to make a New Year's Day start and this year I chose Hannah Pepper.  I had planned for her to be my new start for quite a long time and I started getting the supplies together for her in the summer. I waited patiently for the 1st of January and even though I had more than one SAL starting that day, she was my pick.   I only worked on her for one session since I wanted to be Winter Plaid finished so it doesn't look like much right now, just a brown vine,  but here she is.

Hannah Pepper
40 ct Lakeside Linen Pecan Butter
w/ silks listed

I don't usually go all the way around to the other side like that when I start but I had some concern about the direction of the linen (the measurements are close but not the same) and I wanted to make sure it would really fit.  It is a large sampler and this linen just didn't look big enough!!
   After my Winter Plaid finish, I got out one of my other SAL pieces.   I started this one during our spring beach trip this year and it is one of my Bucket List pieces.  When a Brenda Keyes SAL came up on Facebook for this year, I couldn't resist jumping in with this!

Red House Sampler by The Sampler Co.
40 ct. Flax w/listed DMC
  
  I was asked what the SALs were that I had joined this year.  Almost all of them are within Facebook groups.  See how that darned computer continues to get me in trouble!!!
Here is the list if you are interested:

1)  Mary Hurst by Scarlet Letter
        This is in the Scarlet Letter group on Facebook.  I wasn't going to do this one but then I won the         chart, what was I supposed to do??
2)  Elizabeth Sheppard by Scarlet Letter
        Also in the Scarlet Letter group.  One of the 'small' sampler selections for this year.  In the stash         so why not??
3)  The Red House Sampler by The Sampler Co.
        In the Brenda Keyes group on Facebook where you could pick any Sampler Co. piece you                   wanted.  Quite a few people are doing The Bird Sampler, which I have, but this one was already         started.
4)  Strawberry Fields Forever by Blackbird Designs
        Loved it, bought it as soon as it came out.  An SAL seemed like a good reason to start it!!
5)  Serenity Harbor by By the Bay
         Also loved this as soon as I saw it.  A block a month seemed manageable.
6)  Hannah Pepper from the Fine Lines Magazine
         Had this one planned as my New Year's start.  Conveniently, someone started a Facebook SAL            for this one too!
7)  Snooty Parrots by Barbara Ana
        Carry over from last year.  Got bogged down in other things so I haven't worked on this since             April.  Luckily, I wasn't the only one who did finish so the group continues!
8)  Dorothy Walpole by Scarlet Letter
        Same as #7.
9)  Ann Bowers by The Exemplarery
        Technically, a SAL through The Attic.  I don't know if anyone else is still working this one but I         am so close to being finished that is must be done!! Plus, I got Ann Almy, the companion piece           to her, for Christmas this year and she wants her turn!
10)  Pink Sparrow by WTN&T
        I started this one pretty shortly after it came out, love the springy colors!  There is a Facebook            SAL for WTN&T this year too so I jumped on this one as well. I would love to finish this up!
11)  Patti Dovecoat a freebie chart by Barrick Samplers
        I don't remember which Facebook group I saw this one in but it is small and has to be finished             by March 15th.  Since I was already in so many other SALs, I figured why not.
12)  The Sampler Life SAL
         I almost forgot this one.  Joined last night and although I have no idea what it will look like, there are quite a few designers contributing to this one and it looked too interesting to pass up!

    I know, I've totally lost my mind!! Keeping in mind that this is not the only stitching I have planned for this year, the SALs alone would be daunting.  But I also have birthdays to stitch for and other stitching planned.  Like, my son is getting married in April and I would like to make them a wedding sampler.  We'll just have to see how far I get with this list and the other stuff.  I probably won't get it all done (LOL!!!) but it should be a lot of fun trying!!
    So, that's all I have to report for now.  I need to get my newsletter (my new EGA job) out today so I will be able to sit and stitch all day tomorrow with no other obligations!!  It will be the first time I've had a day totally to myself in months and I'm really looking forward to it!!!

Thanks so much for stopping by,  Laura


22 comments:

  1. The Plaid House is just so cute. What a fantastic birthday gift Tommye made for you! So lucky! Good luck with your many goals this year.

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  2. I love your Plaid House finish and the birthday gift from your friend is gorgeous!! You have lots of good stitching goals for this year, and I am looking forward to all of your progress updates!

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  3. I'm with you on the EGA stuff Laura - I am in AGAIN for VP/Programs and I also took a regional position for the next 3 YEARS - I must be crazy but someone has to serve or EGA will cease to exist. I love your SAL list - I missed the BK group on FB - I love her stuff and have so many - don't think I have the Red House but I have others I could do - I have so many things in common with your list like the Snooty carry over from 2014 (sigh). LOVE LOVE your Plaid house finish - I'm not sure I ever saw that before. I'm trying to do the ornament a month thing with Vonna on the LHN CCN FB group. Take care and enjoy your weekend - Mel

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  4. All your stitching looks great. How nice to have a friend who stitches samplers for you! Wow, you're going to be busy with all the SALs. I'm looking forward to tons of posts from you!

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  5. The plaid house is so pretty! Plus I love the Brenda Keyes sampler you have chosen. Lots of great projects. It will be fun watching them grow!

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  6. Wow, that's a whole lot of SALs for you. Good luck with them.
    You have a great finish here - and a great new start. Hannah Pepper will be a lot of fun to stitch. And the Brenda Keyes piece will be just the same. I love her designs and want to start one myself this year. I just have to make up my mind about which one to choose.

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  7. It's always so much fun to see a finish of something that's been sitting in my own stash for waaaaay too long. I know the lovely Hillside Sampler is in there somewhere. You've making me want to find it! Good luck with all those stitch-a-longs.

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  8. Oh my you do have your work cut out for you on those SALs, but I sure do looking forward to see progress on them. I follow a few of the SAL groups on FB. I have not joined any but I do like seeing everyones progress.
    Red House Sampler is opne I would LOVE to stitch one of these days, something about a red house gets me.
    Wishing you a fantastic day!!

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  9. I have admired the LHN Winter Plaid each time I see it! congrats on such a nice finish! All of your pieces in progress are looking great too! You have great ambitions! You are going to be very very busy in 2015!

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  10. As always, your stitching is beautiful. What a wonderful gift from Tommye. I have Hannah Pepper in my stash. What threads are you using - as charted?

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  11. Lovely finish, Laura!! And beautiful gift from Tommye! Your border is a great start for Hannah. I only have a small corner done but like your idea of doing the border all the way around.. not sure I could resist jumping into the middle though! lol I hadn't heard of the Sampler Life SAL, is that a fb one? Have a great weekend!

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  12. What a wonderful list of projects--and about half of them are in my stash--that's too much temptation! I think we need 48 hour days so we can stitch everything we want to stitch. I'm looking forward to your progress reports.

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  13. Congratulations on your finish! I really like the Plaid House in that piece. The stitched gift you received from your friend is gorgeous. Good luck with your SALs! I look forward to seeing your progress pictures. Enjoy your weekend!

    Robin in Virginia

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  14. Congratulations on your beautiful finish! Love your Plaid House and incredible list of projects for 2015. Hillside sampler is amazing - gorgeous gift from Tommye! I have Hannah in my stash too!
    Gorgeous stitching Laura! love Annette

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  15. we share a few SALs you and I, I joined the Snooty Parrots too but (shame shame shame) haven't even started it yet; I lost all the supplies somewhere around the house and cannot find them to save my life.
    then there's another SAL I joined on FB last year and shamefully again, haven't started yet; but I won't mention it to you because it seems like you haven't heard of it and I wouldn't want to be the cause of another bullet in this already long (and pretty fantastic) list. ;)
    congratulations on the finishes, they are A-DO-RA-BLE! and the new starts look very interesting, I won't research what Hannah looks like so that I can be surprised.
    they made a SAL for Strawberry Fields Forever?! good thing I have it put aside but not yet shipped, or I would jump into it straight away. gosh, the online needlework community was supposed to help us get things done, not to enable us ad infinitum! :D
    happy xxx,
    chiara

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  16. What an impressive list of SAL projects you have lined up for 2015! Sounds like you will have a fun year with lots of stitching. I hope you'll enjoy Hannah Pepper as much as I did when I stitched her last year.

    The plaid house is really cute, and the sampler Tommye stitched for you is so pretty.

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  17. Wow! Your finishes are gorgeous -- love that Hillside Sampling piece so much. I even have it in my stash. lol! Great SAL groups! I like your taste in samplers very much!

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  18. Laura, your samplers are beautiful. I have Hannah Pepper in my stash too!! I am working on a large sampler now or else I would start with you. Maybe in the summer. In the mean time I will enjoy your progress. Take care...

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  19. Awesome work! Congrats on your finish!

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  20. Lovely stitching. The plaid house is a beautiful design.

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  21. I have stitched `Hillside Sampling` in 2004. Loved stitching this as a memory piece of my trip to USA. I so enjoy stitching samplers. Happy Stitching.

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  22. I have stitched `Hillside Sampling` in 2004. Loved stitching this as a memory piece of my trip to USA. I so enjoy stitching samplers. Happy Stitching.

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