Thank You...Thank You Very Much!

   I really wanted to thank all of you for the lovely comments you've been leaving for me.  I haven't had time lately to respond back to each of you individually but I did want you to know how much I appreciate you taking the time.  It's good to know there are people out there actually reading my blatherings!!!
   The preparations for the wedding seem to be well in hand.  I haven't had much to do with that but just getting myself ready has been exhausting!!  I did a dry run today of the dresses and foundation garments I will need next weekend and although the clothing was good, the shoes were not. So I took care of that this afternoon.
   I haven't worn makeup for about 20 years so I had to go buy products and re-learn how to apply them recently.  Hope I will be able to pull that off on the day!!  I normally wouldn't have given it any thought but then read an article about not looking like a zombie in the wedding pics and since everyone else will be done professionally I figured I needed to tackle it.
   I have been stitching as much as possible to try to keep the stress down so I have something to show at least!  I've been slowly working out the color choices for Hannah Pepper and this is the small start I have made on that so far.  (Please disregard the unfinished bird in the corner.  I am still working out the colors there.)

40 ct. Lakeside Meadow Rue
w/overdyed cotton conversion

I am really pleased with how this is turning out so far!

   Feeling better about getting this worked out, I decided I needed to work on some of my other WIPs and with any luck, get some things finished.  I have WAY too many UFOs right now and I only have 2 finishes for the year so far.  That is just unbelievable!!  Last year I finished 17 pieces, most of them large, and if I have any hope of getting that UFO number down, I need to stitch like the wind!!
(Not that I have any idea how many UFOs I actually have.  Lets just say I have 6 large Vera Bradley bags stuffed with them and leave it at that!!  Maybe I will tackle that problem after the wedding!)
   So, I have been working on Elizabeth Shepard for the last few days and managed to get it this far:

This is about half way.

LOVE the pink accents in this one!

   This weekend is IH&SWeekend.  I signed up this time but haven't decided what to work on yet.  I am woefully behind on Serenity Harbor but I also have a Christmas gift I need to get started if I am going to have it done in time.  Maybe, since I will have this weekend pretty much to myself I can manage to do both!

   See you all next week,  Laura

I Failed at Stitch From Stash....Again

   Yes, I failed again!  I really thought I was up for the challenge this time but it was, once again, not to be.  I went crazy after market at the beginning of March but I thought it would be okay.  Last year, there was a skip month and I thought I would just do that, make March my skip month, and move on from there.
   Turns out there is no skip month this time. And I was so out of bounds with the spending anyway that I would have had to not spend another penny for the rest of the year to make it legit!!!   So,  I am just spectating now and feeling a lot less guilt about my inability to turn a blind eye to all the fabulous stuff I see out there.  Let me just say that Facebook is not my friend!!
   I have just about recovered from my terrible illness with the exception of the cough.  I am tired of it and apparently so is DH because he made mention of how long I have had it, several times!  I am back to my normal routine and then some with the impending nuptials and with the wedding only 2 weeks away, things are heating up fast!!  I need to do a really good spring cleaning with all the out of town guests we will have but I haven't been able to talk myself into that just yet!! LOL!
   I did manage to get the sampler I was stitching for my friend's birthday finished and it was only about 10 days late.  I was disturbed by the fact that it was late but what can you do?? I don't think things would have gone any more quickly had I stitched while ill and under the influence of drugs!
   She received it yesterday so I can show it here now.  This is Isabella Wood by Lindsey Lane Designs.

40 ct Weeks Cocoa with the listed threads

   It was a fun piece with lots of different stitches, some of which I changed and some of which I moved around to suit myself.  I didn't feel too guilty about this since the instructions did say it was an adaptation.

This center section of strawberries is supposed to be all Queen stitches.  I've done Queens on 40 ct before and it is hard!!!  Those little cross-bars don't have enough room to lie straight so they crowd the space and look crooked.  So I only did the top strawberry in Queens and changed the others.
  Finding stitches oriented in the right direction was the first challenge.  But I persevered and managed to work it out and not have to repeat the same stitch on more than one row. The stitches I used, in order, were Queen, Tied Upright cross, Four-sided, Diamond eyelet, and Diagonal Rice. Very fun and I'm glad I did it this way!
   While I was working on the above sampler, I saw a post on Facebook of Hannah Pepper that someone had converted to the muted colors of the original sampler.  I saw that and a light bulb went off in my head!!  I started Hannah January 1st as my New Year's start and had barely started it before I began having color issues with it and set it aside.  Now, I have made a conversion to over-dyed cottons (which is what the sampler I saw was stitched with) and have restarted this sampler.  I haven't had a lot of stitching time lately but will try to get enough done to be able to post a picture soon.  I am loving it so far!!!
   Well, that's about all for now.  The kids are home this weekend to finalize some of the wedding stuff and we will be celebrating DS2 birthday which was yesterday.  Busy, busy times but the stitching is keeping me sane, I think!

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