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

A Stitching Update

   I can't believe it is the middle of September and that it has been nearly a month since my last stitching post.  I am failing miserably at getting back on a schedule but I am having that problem with a lot of things in my life lately.  I seem to have been possessed by the ghost of Scarlet O'Hara and my theme has become 'Tomorrow is another day.'  Just hope that really is true!!
   Although I have been pushing quite a few things off to another day, stitching has not been one of those things.  I have been stitching like a mad fool and here is the proof.
   I added another row to the Calico Alphabet.

I'm still behind the schedule but not so much so that I am worried about getting it finished on time. We are going to the beach soon and this may be one I take along.  But it is on a large lap frame so I will have to see how much room I have available for such non-essential things.
   I have also been working on Liberty Inn.   Not as far along as I had hoped but I am playing with the second red color and having difficulty finding one I like.  It calls for GA Woodrose and I'm not overly fond of it to start with and all the dye lots I can find are orange.  I chose Weeks Red Rocks and I am going to live with it for a while before I make a final decision on the 'other' red.

36ct. Lakeside V. Maple Sugar w/ lots of color changes

   I have made Old Glory my stitch group piece and since I had two groups meet this week, it saw more love than usual.  Once I get the large flag in, I will be at the bottom of the piece so I am working on it as diligently as I can even though it is boring me to tears.(Good for group though because it doesn't require you pay it a lot of attention and there is no ripping out at the end of the meeting!)   There are a lot more fun and interesting things to stitch on this sampler once we move over to the right.

40 ct. Flax w/ mostly called for colors

    Facebook has once again been a huge enabler to me and after seeing all the fall stitching that has been going on, I couldn't resist just a small piece. (But we will not talk about the Fall SAL that I signed up for but haven't started yet!)  This is Autumn on Marigold Lane by Pineberry Lane.

36 ct. Lakeside linen w/ mostly called for threads

I have had it kitted for so long I don't remember what the linen is now!  But it was a fun, quick stitch and gave me that little taste of fall stitching I was yearning for.
  I still have several small pieces I am trying to get done for my dough bowl and a couple of Christmas ornaments I need for guild exchanges as well.  The Finishing Faerie  is going to the beach with us  and I am using her arrival as a deadline to get some of these stitched.  If I can get them to her while she is here, I should have them back by the time I need them for exchanges.  So, I started In Full  Glory by Blackbird Designs a couple of night ago.

40 ct. Flax w/ mostly called for colors

I hope to have this one wrapped up in another day or two.  With the house just about in, the rest of it should work up pretty quickly.

   So as you can see, Stitcher's ADD still reigns supreme here in the burg.  I have so many things I want to stitch that keeping to just a few is really hard.  Don't be surprised if I have a totally new set of stitches to show you in the next go round!!

Until next time, keep your needles flying!  

Laura

I've Been Trying and Trying to Make a Post

   I've been trying to make a post for about 2 weeks now and every time I sit down at the computer to write it, something happens and I have to leave it.  So I am now, at this late hour, sitting down, again, to make a post.  Hopefully I will be able to get through it before some other issue arises.
   After my last post,  it was IH&SWeekend round one.  I did stitch that weekend and even managed a finish!!  Let the happy dancing commence! The Inn at Fox River Mill now awaits a trip to the framer.
Love this one and it is so cute if I do say so myself.

  I have really had an itch to finish Ann Bowers so I got her out and managed to finish 2 of the bands I has started before putting her away last time.

There are now just 2 bands left to complete and she will be finished.  One is over one verse, on 45 ct, an issue I have complained about before and will not repeat here.  The other is that darned strawberry band that I have had so much trouble figuring out what stitch to use.  I think I have it worked out now and should be able to get it done soon.

(As you can see, the issue of the fat and thin threads persists even on the 45 ct. linen!  And you can see where I have tried different stitches in that strawberry band and the effect it has had on the linen.)
  So feeling proud for all the progress I had made, I, of course, had to start something new!  I had recently received the linen for Plum Street's Liberty Inn and since that made the kit complete, I jumped right in.

Not a lot of progress yet but it is fun and not very big so I have hope of this one moving along quickly.
  As before, most of my stitching time has been taken up with Serenity Harbor.  I'm not sure why but this part seemed to take forever!  It is completed through part 6 now, so another Happy Dance is in order!

I was going to wait until the end and then go back and do all the back-stitching but the sheep looked like funny rocks in that field without their legs so I had to put it in!!  I am hoping the long stitches of the fence railing will hold up to rolling on the scroll frame but if not I guess I can fix them in the end.
   This makes half way for me but part 9 is about to come out so I will be 3 sections behind again.  I have decided to go back to my rotation and not try to catch up or even stay close.  Working every single stitch just takes too much time on a piece this size and I am making myself crazy!  I have other things on deadlines that are now also behind so I need to get my rotation back on track before all is lost and I flip out from the stress.  Stitching is supposed to relieve stress not create it!
   The Inn had been my 'stitch group' piece and since it is now finished, I was able to move something else into that spot.  Old Glory will now make at least a weekly appearance so it started getting some love this week.

Once this large flag is done, it will get a lot more interesting and I am really looking forward to that!
  So that about wraps it up for this time.  My summer is about to end. I don't think I'm ready for that yet.  EGA starts back up next week with a board meeting bright and early on the lst which means the newsletter will need to be out by the end of the week. The old lazy summer schedule giving way to the busier days of fall.  Reminiscent of childhood....

Til next time,  Laura

Technology Failed Me Once Again

  I have been trying to write this post all afternoon.  I started a Windows update this morning that took all afternoon to download.  Apparently, it was stuck in a loop or something and wasn't doing what it was supposed to be doing and I didn't know enough about it to recognize it at the time.  The story of my life!!  LOL!!   So now I am trying to make this post and I'm kind of cranky about it so I apologize in advance for any snarkiness!
   I have been stitching although it seems like even though I have avoided my "group obligations" I still don't have enough time to stitch. (I think I might need a maid!)  I am making progress on a few things and since it is WIP Wednesday I guess I will show you ALL the things I have been working on.
   First up is Serenity Harbor.  I enjoy working on this so much!!! But it is solid stitching now, which does not go very quickly, and I am still WAY behind on it no matter how much time I spend on it. It is my baseball piece so I work on it nearly every night but that still isn't enough to get it caught up!  Oh well, it is for me so I guess it doesn't really have to finish on time.  But I was hoping to at least stay close!!  (The color on this is a little off.  Took the pic on the kitchen island and I'm not sure what happened, those lights are usually so good.)

Part 6  ends at the bottom of the tree trunk
 

Then, comes the Little House Summer SAL piece.  I have this one almost finished and since we are having a double IH&SWeekend this month, I hope to be able to wrap this one up over the weekend.
This is where it is now...

This part is what I have added since my last post.  I just love this one and I think I will have to keep it for myself!

I have been trying to work on something else during my weekly stitch group meetings, just to keep things interesting.  Also, I am kind of a messy stitcher and trying to transport one of the above projects to someone else's house can sometimes be tricky!!  Threads get lost, etc.   So last week, the Rosewood Manor piece got a little work done on it.  Not a lot got accomplished but it is group stitching and you know how that can be!!

This weeks group stitch project was the long suffering Dorothy Walpole.  She is so neglected and I do have her on the list to finish this year.  Once again, didn't get a lot done and I really need to make some progress if she is to make her completion date!!

  Well, that's about all for now.  I need to get back to it if I am ever going to finish another piece.  Seems like the finishes have been few and far between this year and that is really starting to bug me!!  The list continues to grow though,  I have just signed up for another Facebook SAL for the Fall.  Maybe that explains it!

Take care and enjoy your stitching,  Laura

There's Been A Lot Of Stitching Going On Around Here

   This was not originally the start of this post but I couldn't bear having the next picture be the one that shows up as the thumbnail for this post.  So I am showing a bit of recent stash enhancement instead.  Not sure when I will get a chance to start these but I couldn't pass them up!  So many cute patriotic pieces have come out recently!!

Now on with my post...

   I had every intention of getting back on my regular posting schedule, about every 7 to 10 days, and was even thinking about what to post next when all hell broke loose here.  My older son is a commercial truck driver. We were expecting him home on the 2nd of July so it was no surprise when we got a call from him that afternoon. I just thought he was calling ahead to let us know where he was and when we could expect him.
  When his father came in to talk to me, I am usually the designated pick up driver, he could barely speak he was so upset.  It eventually came out that our son has been involved in a major accident on the WV turnpike that was serious enough to total his truck.  This is what is looked like after the crash.

That blue one was his.  Luckily, all parties involved walked away with minor scraps and bruises.  We got him home and we are all continuing to recover from the stress and other adventures that arise from an accident like this.  He's working on getting back on the road.  I'm working on trying not to lose my mind.  Hence, lots of stitching.
   As many of us do, I use stitching as stress relief.  Needless to say, there has been a LOT of stitching going on around here.  But that does not necessarily mean I have been able to concentrate so I have been stitching on a lot of different things in an effort to remain calm.  So here is the current line-up.
    First, after finishing that last patriotic piece, I felt like doing another.  So I started Old Glory by Rosewood Manor.

40 ct. Flax w/ mostly listed colors

 I have had this kitted for quite a while and thought I might do it for my husband for Christmas this year but we will have to see about that.  I will need to spend some serious time on it starting pretty soon for that to happen and with the Stitching ADD I am currently experiencing that might be a tough one.
   This little pretty found its way into the rotation, for about 5 minutes, so I only got a few stitches in before I got distracted.

Strawberry Fields Forever by Blackbird

It is so small and cute you would think I would have it finished by now but not so.  Hopefully soon.
   Then I required another new start.  I have had this one kitted since it came out and I really wanted to stitch it this summer.  I was using it as my carrot to get a few things done but I gave in to temptation and just started it.

Summer at Cherry Hill by WTN&T

I LOVE this one and want to stitch the companion piece this summer too!  Not sure if I will be able to make that happen or not but I would sure like to try!!
  I also added some more letters to the alphabet sampler I am stitching for my friend for Christmas.

Calico Alphabet by
Summer House Stitche Workes

I really love the way this is working up.  Still behind though.  This is on schedule for the June stitching but not for July.  I guess I'm not technically behind though since  this is still July!
  In an effort to assure I didn't have a single minute to think about my son's situation, I joined another SAL on Facebook.  The Little House page is doing a summer themed SAL so I dug out one I have been wanting to stitch for a long time and got it put together.  We were supposed to start on the 5th of July but I didn't get it going until this past Sunday so I am a week behind the start date.  I don't think it will matter in the long run since I doubt it will be finished by the end date anyway.  The way things are going, I may have 10 more starts by then!!!

The Inn at Fox River Mill by LHN

I am really enjoying this one!  It would be farther along but I ripped put the red and changed the color.  Then I got distracted by a movie I was watching and had to rip the red all out again!! Hopefully it is on track now and will keep my attention for a while!!
    So that is what has been going on around here.  I am really going to make an effort to post in a more timely fashion from here on out.  I also hope this summer calms down and I am actually able to finish some of the UFOs I have haunting me!!!


Talk to you again soon,  Laura

1.