I wish I could say that things are back to normal but I confess I have no idea what that looks like anymore.  Things seems to change at a pretty fast clip here lately and I feel like I am spinning in circles most of the time.  Thank goodness for stitching or I think I might be in the loony bin!
  I spent the first 2 weeks in NOVA babysitting for my granddaughter as planned.  It was a wonderful time and I am so glad I was able to spend those precious days with her.  But the day I was to leave for home for a brief respite, they found a sitter near their home that they all seemed comfortable with and my return wasn't necessary.
  I had mixed feelings about that.  I was not looking forward to the drive back and forth each week for the next few months.  DC traffic is horrific no matter when you try to tackle it!  Leaving town anytime after 3pm is always a nightmare and there's no guarantee the weekend will be any better.  But I was really looking forward to spending that time with the baby.  My attachment certainly grew although I'm not sure she recognizes me when I see her now.  I really miss her and wish we lived closer so I could see her more often.
  But have no fear, things did not go back to normal when I returned. The Hubs and I have been talking about moving for some time now.  We love it here in Williamsburg and I really love my house but we have been discussing the future need to move into something with the master on the main floor.  Both of us suffer from knee issues and climbing up and down the stairs has become a real pain! We both agreed that this would be our last move (stop me if you've heard that before!) so my list of requirements for a new house looked like an episode of Love It or List It!  It was going to have to be just about perfect for me to move and that started with the location.  I didn't have to be in my same neighborhood but I wanted to be on my current side of town.
  I have been monitoring my Zillow feed for several years now and nothing fit the bill.  So, we decided we needed to look at new construction.  Luckily, there is a lot of that around here.  So,  now we are building a new home and trying to get our current house ready to put on the market.  Reserve my room in the loony bin now please!!
  So I have been going through my house by day and watching baseball and stitching at night.  Trying to stay sane although I must confess The Hubs took me away to the beach for a few days to keep the meltdowns to a minimum.  We are ex-military and they always packed and moved us.  I didn't realize until now what a gift that was!!  Having to handle every single thing you own and make a decision about its future is exhausting!!  I will be so happy when this part is over!!
  I have been stitching.  Would have probably killed someone by now if I wasn't!  I was working on Merry Hart last time I posted I believe.  I did manage to finish that and gave it to my good friend Tommye for her birthday this year.  Here is that lovely finish:

I was so unhappy with the difference in the picture and the real thing that I spent a lot of time trying to 'fix' it.  In the end, I just used all the called for threads and fabric and in the end I really liked it.  And so did she!
   I have also finished a Facebook SAL of Heartstring Samplery's Coffee Quaker.  I always love a good Quaker and I enjoyed stitching this so much.

I only changed out 1 color ( shocking, I know) to accommodate the color of the fabric.  I did, however, take a few liberties with color placement.  That red flower looking thing isn't supposed to be red!
  I am currently working on a loose rotation of several things that include a birth sampler for the princess, 3 Things by Moira Blackburn, and a Scarlett House piece that will be a birthday gift later in the year.  Pictures to follow in  my next post.
  I hope to be able to get on a more regular schedule with my poor neglected blog but who can say what will happen next?!  I will do my best, that's all I can promise.

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

How Quickly Things Change

    My life has been turned entirely up side down since my last post.  I feel like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz just about daily now.  Hope this old brain can adjust to all the changes!
   Lets start with the weather.  We had a foot of snow in early January  and our winter has been pretty much gone since then.  It is supposed to be 83 degrees today and I have the air conditioning going!  Daffodils are up and all of the magnolias are in full bloom. The Bradford pear trees that line the entrance to my subdivision are also in full bloom.   All of this is WAY ahead of schedule!
   Then, while we were visiting the little princess last week, I sprained my ankle.  This part is embarrassing but this is what happened.  We had taken her out for a walk in the stroller in her neighborhood.  You get that right?  WALKING!  Just walking along, didn't twist it or step funny or anything like that, just walking.  Suddenly, I heard a loud pop, so loud that the Hubs heard it too, and I was instantly in excruciating pain.  I tried to ignore it and just continue the visit but we wound up having to come home early and I actually went to the doctor!
  Those that know me well know that I have to practically be on Death's door to go to the doctor.  I usually wait and see how things are going to turn out first and usually that is a good tactic for me. But I was pretty concerned about that popping sound so I went.  They x-rayed it and nothing was broken but they really didn't have any explanation for what happened.  Kind of implied it was just something that could happen as you get old...er.  I would have been offended if the guy wasn't older than I am!!  So I have been gimping around my house for the last few days.  Trying to get things done but not irritate it too much either.  We have stairs.  Enough said.
   Before the ankle fiasco, there was the daycare incident.  Both my DIL and I have had some concerns about the little princess going from being home with Mom and having constant one on one attention to being in daycare all day with strangers and maybe lying in a crib all day.  I had mentioned on an earlier visit that I would be willing to come up and help out in that area so it wouldn't be a 5 day a week situation.  Well,  they called me on it.
   After some discussion,  I was going to be babysitting 3 days a week.   I don't have a big life but I do have a life and I figured I could handle 3 days a week for a while.  Probably until she got big enough to sit up and interact with the other kids.  About 3 months I thought and then re-evaluate.  And that left her at the daycare center for just 2 days a week.
   Then my DIL made a dry run to the daycare.  And all hell broke loose. She was obviously not pleased.   She posted something about it on Facebook and the Hubs saw it and remarked that it looked like she was pretty upset.  So I called and thought I had calmed her fears somewhat on the issue.  When we got off the phone, we were still talking about the original plan.  About an hour later, my son called. Since I see how long this is getting,  I will cut to the chase.
  DIL has interviewed for a new job that should allow her the flexibility to work from home some.  In the mean time, I am babysitting 5 days a week for at least the first 2 weeks so the little princess doesn't have to go to daycare at all.  The drive to their house is three hrs. if there are no traffic issues and since they live in the DC area traffic issues are to be expected. The Hubs says if I am babysitting for 5 days a week I might as well stay straight thru since the trip up and back on the weekend is ridiculous. Sure hope she gets that job! Don't know what will happen if she doesn't.
  As far as stitching goes,  my time is going to be woefully curtailed for a while.  I had a very ambitious stitching schedule for this year and as you might have guessed,  that has gone out the window.  I am prepping to go to NOVA for 2 weeks so my time now is minimal as well.  Hoping to work it into my time up there but who knows.
   I have managed to make a little more progress on Merry Hart since last time. Enjoying it so much!

  So that is my sad tale of woe for this time.  I don't know when I will be able to post again but I will try to check in with all of your posts when I can. Until then,  hope you are enjoying your stitching as much as I am,  Laura

Behind Already!

  So, I missed posting last week.  Thought I would  be able to maintain a schedule for longer than that but I guess that's just the way it goes.  Life certainly does seem to get in the way.  And today isn't supposed to be my posting day either but I won't be home tomorrow to do it and I'm not brave enough to try to post from my phone.
  Not posting but always stitching!  I started 2 new pieces after I finished Merry Christmas Ella Vaughn.  The first is a Plum Street that I have been chomping at the bit to get my hands on since I first saw it.  Tons of people posted pics of it from whichever retreat it was first offered at and it was love at first sight.  Too bad the rest of us have to wait so long to be able to get the chart!  So this is my meager start on Merry Hart.

36 ct PTP Ale
 with listed colors

This piece would have been much further along but I was so unsure about the linen and the colors.  Another case of the actual supplies look nothing like the picture on the chart. My pet peeve!!  I polled my stitch group ladies about the linen.  Then went insane with the red since it really looks red in the picture but is more pinkie/blue in real life.  Finally decided to ignore the picture and just see if I liked it for itself and it appears that so far, I do.
   While all the craziness was going on with the above piece, I had to have something to work on that brought me actual peace.  Stitching is my de-stressing device so when the stitching is causing stress that is a real problem!  Anyway, I have several SAL pieces that were supposed to be started in January that I haven't touched yet so I decided to get on one of those.  This is where I got with it before going back to Merry Hart.

40 ct. Lakeside pecan butter
with listed DMC

This is 3 Things by Moira Blackburn.  I have had this in my stash forever and it is nice to finally see it come to life.  It will go into the rotation now and be introduced to a few other SAL friends later.  I anticipate having quite the rotation going very soon!
   I don't think I will be doing any stitching for the next few days.  We are going to see the little princess and since I didn't even get the stitching out of the bag the last few times we visited, I don't think I will even bother to take it.  Who has time to stitch when you're kissing this sweet little face?

See you again soon,  Laura

A Finish For WIP Wednesday

  I have been working diligently on getting this one finished.  I have a bunch of SALs I am supposed to be working on that I haven't even kitted yet because I was trying to get this lovely finished.  I didn't think I was EVER  going to finish stitching the white but I got it done just in time to post today!  It looked like this on Jan. 29th.

40 ct PTP wren and my color choices

And this is what it looks like today.  Yay!!  Happy dancing all over the place here!

 I left off the Christmas greeting so it could be left up into the winter months if so desired.  I decided to make it the exchange gift for my stitch group friend for this year so I am ahead of the game now!

  Off to kit up those next pieces!  See you again soon,  Laura



(Someone asked me last time about selling this chart and I apologize but I can't do that.  It was loaned to me, I don't own it, and it must be returned to its rightful owner.  Good luck in your search!)

Jump Starting This Thing!

  My poor neglected blog!  It seems that I have forsaken it for things that are faster and require less thought.  Like Facebook and Instagram.  So much quicker to put something out there and easier for others to respond to as well.  Goes back to the old instant gratification I guess.
  So here we are on the first of February!  Casting an eye over this long neglected territory and trying to get back into the groove of posting here.  I have been stitching madly even though there has been no evidence of it here.  I will not try to 'catch up' with all that has passed since I last visited but I can show you some of what I have been up to recently.
  Part of the reason I haven't posted in so long is that the fall stitching was long and tedious and showing you the same thing week after week just didn't seem very exciting!  All that I worked on was designated for gifts so none of the pieces were framed either so they seemed incomplete.  But incomplete or not, I will show them to you here.
   This is Agnes Horsbaugh, stitched for my friend Karen for her birthday. Not a great picture but the best one I could get for some reason.  Not ironed yet, of course, and the colors of the linen and threads are washed out but it was a fun stitch and she really liked it.

  Then came Jane Tindall.   I had the entire lettering section finished earlier in the year and since it went so quickly, I foolishly thought the rest would too.  Wrong!!  Stitched on this exclusively in a total panic until it was finished and barely had it done by my friend's birthday.  Literally finished it the night before I had to give it to her!  That grass was the bane of my existence for longer than I care to say.

40 ct Lakeside meadow rue
w/ DMC threads

  Then I moved on to the piece I had to have ready for our weekly stitch group's  Christmas exchange.
I didn't have it finished in time, which really irked me, but there was just nothing I could do.  I had it all stitched except for the initials and I got that finished pretty quickly after the exchange.  But I did have to give it to her and then take it back!

kit although I did change the linen
to a lovely Glenshee I had in my stash

It is Amy Mitten's Around the World Series: Scotland.  A fun, fun stitch and the recipient is quite pleased with it.
  That wrapped up my gift stitching for the year so I decided to work on a few of my own things.  I started an Advent sampler, which I don't have a picture of yet, just to have a new start.  I worked on it for a few days and then moved on to this one.

called for linen and threads

So close to being finished and I really thought I could wrap it up by the end of the year.  But that was not to be.  In the middle of all that frantic stitching and trying to meet deadlines, we had this.

Our first grandchild and the sweetest little girl you ever did see!  All schedules and deadlines flew out the window (the main reason that Scottish sampler wasn't finished on time!).  And All Creatures Great and Small became my first finish of the new year.

  Now I am now working on a Christmas piece that will probably be my Christmas exchange gift in December. Blackbird's Merry Christmas Ella Vaughn.

I am a bit further along with this than this picture shows now.  I took this one a couple of days ago.  I should have it finished by the end of the weekend if all goes well.  (I have something pinched in my neck right now that if causing pain in my shoulder.)  Then, I plan to kit up about 6 new SALs that I have obligated  myself to for this year.  Yes, I can truly say I am losing my mind but what a way to go!!
  So that catches me up, even though I said I wasn't going to do that.  Hope you didn't find it too long and boring.  I am going to try to keep this little patch of cyberspace more up to date in the future.  Maybe a weekly WIP post on Wednesdays could get it going!

Hope to see you again soon,   Laura

I Actually Hermitted!!

  I signed up for IH&S weekend for the first time in a while hoping it would get be back into blogging a bit more.  Not only did I manage to do the hermitting part but I am managing to post about it in a timely fashion as well.  I may be able to get this thing back on track after all!
  As you know from my last post, I am scurrying around trying to get my deadline stitching in a more comfortable place.  I have several pieces to finish before the end of the year and we all know you can't count December.  Anyway,  I managed to get my other October birthday present finished over the weekend!!!!
   This is what it looked like when I picked it up Friday afternoon...

And this is what it looks like now!  Please excuse her wrinkles and folds. So glad to have this one done and dusted.

So, checking Agness off the list and moving on to something else.  Right now I am working on the next section of All Creatures but will have to move on again pretty quickly.  Until next time...

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

Catching Up Part 2

   I have been staying in, hiding from the heat, and stitching for the most part.  We did manage to have a 'cool down' the last couple of days.  If you can call the high 80s and low 90s cool.  Temps back up into the upper 90s by the weekend so I guess I will continue to stay inside and stitch!    I really need to do that too since I am starting to get a little anxious about the big pieces I am working on the deadlines they have for them.
   I have taken the summer off from the majority of my stitching groups to make more time to stitch and to recharge.  It always takes more time than I think to get a piece done and although I have been working like a madman on this rotation, I am still not sure I will have it all finished in time!
   I really needed to make some progress on Jane Tindall.  It is for a November birthday and I'm not sure how much time that bottom is going to take.  So out she came and I worked on her until I had the top section with the verse all in.

It went pretty quickly so that made me feel better about the time factor.  So then, I moved on to the next piece in the rotation.
   I started a new piece for one of my other fall birthdays.  It is a Scottish sampler and although the colors seemed very bright at first, it is growing on me!

Agness Horsburgh 1844 by Samplers Not Forgotten
40 ct Lakeside linen w/ overdyed threads

The eyelet band is the half way point and I am back to working on this again so I hope for a finish by the end of the month.
  At this point, I put this one aside and I really wanted to work on All Creatures again so I put another section on it.  I am down to the verse section so it went pretty quickly.

I would love to have this finished this year but I'm not sure I can manage it with the others that HAVE to be finished.
    Then the Quaker Mystery did another turn through the rotation and I added on another page here.

This is only through page 2 and has a long way to go but I really like the way the colors are coming together.
  I am also working on a Catherine Theron piece that is a pilot class.  I pulled it out to work on it in the middle of all this and realized I had an error, near the beginning of the vine, which all had to come out.  Then, since I had referenced the outside border and the inner border off of the vine, the whole right side of those borders  had to come out as well.  I was having a lot of difficulty with long armed cross on the diagonal, both ascending and descending, and keeping up with the count (obviously) and so I had a lot of ripping and rework to do on that.  Not a lot of fun but I got it all back in and started on the alphabet too.  I am feeling the most pressure about this one since it has to be finished by the end of February.  It is a tremendous amount of work and I can't really concentrate on it until after I have the other 3 done.  Keeping my fingers crossed for a shift in the space-time continuum!!!
  So that's me, caught up again.  As I said before, I am back to work on Agness and want to finish her before I move on to something else.  I hope to have her finished by the end of the month because the
schedule has me starting a new piece the first of September (a Christmas present) and too many things in the rotation gets a little crazy!!

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

Catching Up Part 1

   I had intended to make this post in July.  I even had these pictures taken.  But once again, life conspired to keep me away from the computer and it didn't happen.  In the mean time, I have been stitching away so in order to catch up, I will need to post in 2 parts.  Hope you all can stand it!!
  So,  in the period covering this post, I had 2 small finishes.  I have borrowed several OOP charts from the Facebook group Blackbird Lending Library this year and was able to stitch the 2 pieces below.  They are older patterns and I just pulled from my stash for colors and linen and just made them my own rather than try to match up the old dye lots.

Evergreen by Blackbird Designs
40 ct Lakeside linen
w/ overdyed threads

Wild Garden by Blackbird Designs
40 ct Lakeside linen
w/ overdyed threads

  Then I worked through a rotation of most of my SALs and made some progress on each of these.

All Creatures Great and Small by Barbara Ana

Love, love, love the chickens in this new section!!

Jane Plews  from the Facebook group Sampler Heart

This is so pretty and I really like that strawberry band!

Old Glory by Rosewood Manor

Bet you didn't think you would see this old nugget again!  I did pull it out and work on it a few times but those stripes take forever and it doesn't look like anything for the time involved.

Quaker Mystery Sampler from Facebook

   Last but not least, I made a start on the Quaker Mystery Sampler from Facebook. Stitched on 40 ct. Lakeside linen with the colors from Ann Bowers.  I gave Ann away and I thought it might be nice to stitch something with the threads I had left over from that finish.  There are a lot!!  So when this came up, it seemed like the perfect thing.
  So, that's my catch up for July.  I will post the newer  things in a day or so. Hope you come back for part 2!!


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

Finally Stitching Along

   Even though I  promised myself I wouldn't, I have signed up for a ton of SALs again this year, most of which are on Facebook. (That darned place gets me in so much trouble!!)  I knew there were quite a few I still hadn't started and it was beginning to make me feel pressured about my stitching. Again! So yesterday I got it all organized and made a plan so I could work on them and all of the other things I have obligated myself to stitch this year in a more reasonable manner.  This is my current rotation:

My favorite and the farthest along is All Creatures Great and Small by Barbara Ana.  I've added quite a lot to it since my last post.

I REALLY wanted to go on to the next section, the one with the chickens that I just love, but I need to work within the schedule if I want to get all of these done this year.

Next is one I signed up for in the Facebook Sampler Heart Group, Jane Plews.  It is a mystery so I have no idea what it will look like when it's finished.  I don't usually do that since I have been burned in the mystery category before but it is a Scottish Reproduction.  How bad can it be?!

40 ct. Lakeside Meadow rue
w/ DMC

The next SAL I am finally working on is Marquoir de  Dymphne.  It is a sampler available on a blog I read and is up to part 6 now.  I thought I better get it started if I had any hope of getting it done.  She very graciously does a SAL every year and this is the first one I have actually gotten any traction on.

40 ct. Italian linen in ivory
w/ DMC

This is part one.  It is quite a large sampler so it will probably be in the rotation for a while. It is moving to the right and those next few sections are mostly alphabet which goes pretty quickly.  I hope to have it almost caught up in the next round.  If you are interested, you can find this sampler here:  https://www.tresorsdeboitesacouture.fr/marquoir-de-dymphne-6/.

The next sampler is one one on Facebook, The Quaker Mystery Sampler.  I plan to start it today, after I finish this post, so I have no pics yet.  Next time, for sure. It is pick your own everything, which can sometimes be a challenge for me, so we'll have to keep our fingers crossed on this one.  I have selected a pretty Lakeside linen, Pecan butter I think, and I have decided to use the threads left over from Ann Bowers since I have a ton of them.  I love those colors and it can be a reminder of Ann.

Last, but not least, I pulled out Summer at Cherry Hill by WTN&T.  I love this one and it would be wonderful to have it hanging on my wall before the end of summer.

I couldn't find the before picture but basically I added the lettering and symbols from 'A' down, stitched the skirt of her dress, and put in the trunk of the cherry tree.  I'm not sure I like the stripes in the tree but I am going to live with it for a while and see.

Love her face! So sweet!

  So that's where things stand today.  I am a lot calmer about my deadlines and am really enjoying this new rotation.  I plan to add some new things in as I finish what's already here, either a WIP or a new start.  I have plenty of each!!  And lets not forget those gift pieces that need attention too!!  Then there's that Catherine Theron pilot class I am doing the middle of July and the EGA workshop in November.  I guess I need to figure out how to stitch faster!!!!

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

Holy Cow! It's Been Nearly A Month

   Every time I post I promised myself I am going to get better about the frequency of my posts.  I don't know exactly when or why I turned into such a slacker but there it is, I'm a slacker.  Seems that I don't want to do anything that interferes with my stitching time.  I have to cook and clean and do all those other necessary household chores but I don't like giving up precious stitching time to anything I don't absolutely HAVE to do.  Stitching is so much more fun!
   That being said,  I haven't had as much time to stitch lately as I would like. Before I left for Atlanta we discovered that one of our cats was suffering from kidney disease.  This was quite distressing since our other cat had also been diagnosed with kidney disease the year before.  The vet had no explanation for how they would both have it since they are not related but that was the situation.  One of the things my husband was dealing with while I was gone were his daily fluid treatments.  Kind of explains why he didn't have time for housework!
    After my return from Atlanta,  we evaluated his condition again and found no improvement.  As heartbreaking as it was, it was decided that the only thing to do was put him to sleep.  He was such a sweet little man with a fantastic personality and he is missed so much every day.
  The stress and sadness of this decision put the stitching into overdrive.  I started several projects but didn't make a lot of progress on them.  First is Jane Tindall by Needlework Press.

40 ct. Lakeside Pearled barley
w/ DMC

She's a big girl but the top part of it should go pretty quickly.  It will be a 70th birthday gift for one of my stitch group friends when I get her done.  Hope I can blast it out in time with all the other things I have obligated to this year!
    I also made a feeble start on Louisa B. Snow, a reproduction by Little House.  I have had it kitted for quite some time and thought it was about time to get to work on her.  She will also be a birthday gift for a friend this year.  It will be a tough hand-off since I really love those roses!

40 ct. Lakeside Light Exemplar
w/hand dyed cotton

      I thought I would have that last week of the month to regroup.  Turned out we had to move the EGA board meeting up a week due to the unavailability of some key players which meant the newsletter also had to go out a week early. (If I haven't mentioned it before, I am our chapter's newsletter editor.)  That was just about the whole week gone.  I did manage a bit of stitching during that time and I worked most of  the section with the big steer in amongst all the madness.

All Creatures Great and Small by Barbara Ana
called for linen and threads

   Then, I had the next week to prep for out spring beach trip. The Hubs was working on a project again (of course) so most of the grunt work fell to me.  I was pretty much okay with that since I usually just sit and stitch the whole time we are at the beach.   We invited his cousin and his wife to go with us this time and I didn't get as much time to stitch as usual.  They had never been to the Outer Banks before so we did a lot of touristy things with them.  It turned out to be a lot of fun since we hadn't done a lot of those things in quite a while.
  Of course, we had to tour the lighthouse.  The Hubs and his cousin went all the way to the top.  The wife and I watched from below and got some good pics!

We were sitting on a bench and got this one through the trees.

   

The Hubs taught me how to edit my pics
on my phone to get this great picture.
I was not this close when I took it!

It looked like they had painted it recently so my pic came out really well.  There were a lot of people there for this early in the season too.
   We also made the trip to Ocracoke which is now a long and sometimes arduous journey.  We lived on Hatteras Island in the late 70s/early 80s.  At that time, the trip across on the ferry took about 35 minutes.  With the changes to the topography from storms and shifting sands (that all the dredging they can do doesn't seem to be able to overcome) the trip is now roughly double that time.  You also run the risk of having the ferry run aground and being stuck in the middle of the sound.  This has happened several times recently.  The Coast Guard has come to the rescue and taken passengers to shore but that still leaves your car on the ferry until the tide rises enough to release it.  This didn't happen to us but I guess it would have made a good adventure story if it had!!
    We did get to see the wild ponies while we were there though.  It was on the bucket list of  The Cousin's Wife. She was a little disappointed that they were in a pen but we explained to her that if they were not, she probably wouldn't have been able to see them!

It rained the whole week before we got there.
The pasture isn't usually that wet.

  As for stitching,  I finished up the rest of what is done on All Creatures and then I pulled something out of the bag that hadn't seen the light of day since last summer.  Plum Street's Liberty Inn got some love and I wasn't able to put it down until it was finished.  Love it so much but it is destined to become a shop model as soon as I can get it framed.

36 ct. Lakeside Vintage Maple Sugar
w/most of the colors changed

I made a lot of color changes so I guess this one is truly mine!!  I finished it up last night and I confess that my dickering with the colors made it take longer than it should.  I ripped and changed several of the colors, several times before I got them the way I wanted them.
  Last, but certainly not least, I received this cutie in the mail from a very dear friend for my birthday.

Plum Street's Red Cottage

I know, I know, its not my birthday.  But we stitch for each other's birthdays every year and her life has been so full of crazy of late that we are continuing the celebration now.  Just love it!  A trip to the framer is definitely in order.
   So, that's where things lie for now. Too many projects and too little time.  Of course,  I plan to start 2 new SALs this weekend and have lots of new projects waiting in the wings.  Stay tuned!

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

Stitching Like A Mad Fiend!

     I've been overtaken with craziness since my last post.  Every time it seems that things are going to settle down, some new and outrageous thing happens that needs to be dealt with.  I feel like a whirling dervish half the time and the other half I feel like a zombie.  But since stitching is my calming devise, I've  been stitching like a fiend!
     After finishing Ann Bowers, I went back to the Blackbird Design Garland Fair and put the verse in.

It was my first time using the Tudor Silk.  It was very nice to work with, especially on 40 ct. over one.
    Then I had an itch for a new start (we all know I just have nothing to work on) and since I had signed up for several SALs at the beginning of the year that I hadn't gotten to yet, that is exactly what I did.  In the Facebook Group for Long Dog Samplers I signed up for Dawn Chorus.  It is a very colorful but smallish sampler I think I can finish this year even though it might only get sporadic attention.

38 ct Ivory Italian linen
with mostly called for overdyed threads

I had also joined the Sampler World SAL for Barbara Ana's All Creatures Great and Small and finally made a start on that.  I experienced some difficulty in getting all the supplies together for this one which put me really far behind.  But I figured I probably wouldn't be on schedule with it by now even if I had started it on time so I just went with it!  It is a really fun stitch and I've had a good time with it even though A&E samplers tend to not be my thing.

Called for linen and threads
Probably why it was so difficult to get it all together!

The piggies in this section are just too stinking cute!!

   So I was innocently stitching along and got the call that one of the charts I was waiting to borrow was now available.  Which means I dropped everything else to get to work on it.  This is Moonlit  Garden, another Blackbird Design, and even though I was working on it 'out of season' it was so much fun!!  I just love the checkerboard house!

36 or 40 ct. R&R Chamomile Tea (I'm not sure which)
with mostly called for threads

This is where I was on this one before I packed up and went to Atlanta to visit  the Finishing Fairie.  We had been trying to get together all Spring and couldn't seem to make it work.  It was a last minute dash out of town and the traffic was terrible both going and coming back!  But we had a good time running around and got lots of stitching done.  I put the last stitches in it just days after getting home.

Keeping in mind that I had left my husband alone all week to deal with household things that it turned out he couldn't deal with and I spent most of the next week putting my house back in order!  Nothing less than what I had expected but time consuming none the less.
     After that finish, I felt the need for another!  So I pulled out the last sampler on my short-list of things to finish.  Red House Sampler by The Sampler Co. is now complete!!

I started this 3 years ago on our Spring beach vacation so it was about time!!  I was a little concerned about getting it finished with all the border that was still left to do but I buckled down, worked on it consistently, and it was finished in just a few days.
    Props go out to my LNS owner who spotted a couple of things that weren't right in that upper right corner.  I probably put it down before that particular section was all in and when I picked it up again didn't realize it was half done.  Anyway, I'm sure glad she found it before I had it framed!!
    I also stitched a Habitat sampler during this time but I have no picture since I think it is the ugliest little sampler on the planet.  I do one every now and then  for my EGA chapter since it is our Outreach project but I never enjoy stitching them.  I guess we all have to do penance of some kind!
   So that's where things stand now.  I have a couple of other new starts that are gifts for friends that I'm not sure if I will show here or not.  I guess you can show what you want to if they don't know its for them!  I've done it before.

Until next time, I hope you're enjoying your stitching as much as I am!  Laura

Waving Goodbye to Ann

  Well, it has been a long time coming but I finally put the last stitches into Ann Bowers Sunday afternoon.  It was so wonderful to see the end of that very long stitch, a finish literally years in the making.  But it was also kind of sad too because she has been a long time companion and a challenging piece to work on although a lot of that was of my own making.  (my advice:  Investigate the stitches used in a sampler BEFORE going crazy and changing to a high count linen!!!)

  Without further ado,  I show you my now completed Ann Bowers!

Ann Bowers by The Exemplarery
45 ct Italian linen w/ DMC

I really love this wide center band with the birds!

    My major hang up with finishing this piece was the strawberry band above the bargello.  It is supposed to be done in queen stitch, which I found would not work on 45 ct linen with DMC!  Trying to find a stitch to substitute was a nightmare.  Someone suggested I just leave it off but it is one of the identifying characteristics of this sampler and I just couldn't do it.  In the end, I used my go to stitch when subbing for queens and although I didn't like it in the beginning,  I think it worked in the end.
    So there she is, finally finished!  I am hoping for another finish within a couple of days so keep an eye out!!

Hope you're having as much fun with your stitching as I am,    Laura