Taking Care of Business

   I am woefully behind in some of my reporting so I thought I better get to it!  I didn't get to spend as much time stitching this past weekend as I would have liked but my son and his fiance were home for the Easter weekend.  Seeing the family always takes precedence over all else so the stitching just had to take a back seat!
   This was the first time my son had been home since his birthday so we had to celebrate!!   I can't believe my baby is 27 now!  In honor of the big day, I made a 'birthday pie', a beautiful one I saw on Facebook believe it or not, called Strawberries and Cream Pie. It had an Oreo crust, cream cheese/cool whip filling, was topped with strawberry slices and drizzled with chocolate.  It was just as wonderful to eat as it was to look at and I have had several requests for another asap!  We'll be at the beach in May so maybe I'll whip another one up then.
  On the stitching front, I did manage to squeeze some in between activities.  I spent all of my IH&SW time working on Harriette Coe.  I think she is coming along nicely!

Harriette Coe by WTN&T
40 ct Lakeside linen w/ listed threads

   I have been feeling remiss in my SAL stitching, it's nearly the end of the month and I haven't touched any of them, so I spent some time yesterday working on the Quaker Medallion Sampler.  Since I'm stitching it  on 40 ct. it nearly fits entirely within my 11 x 11 Q-Snap!!

This is a close-up of the section I worked on yesterday.  I switched the colors over to Sampler Threads and the blue I used in the unfinished motif is an original one from a zillion years ago called Peacock.  I'm sure the new ones don't look like this and I just love this color!!

   The last bit of business I need to take care of is my Stitch From Stash report.  I wish I could say I have been good and didn't spend anything this month like so many others but alas, I cannot.  I had the opportunity to buy not just one but two pieces that have been on my long term search list during this month and I couldn't let that opportunity pass.  Just one of these charts put me over the limit.  So, in all good conscience, I have to withdraw from the contest.
   It was fun while it lasted and I was happy for the challenge but I guess for me, it was just not meant to be.  I am continuing to work on the things in my stash, especially the things I have already started but also continue to add judiciously to my stash.  I will continue to cheer you all on from the sidelines and will look forward to seeing who is able to spent the least in the end.  Good luck to you all!!

Catching Up

  I've been trying to get a post done for about a week now.  Every day it seems like something came up that prevented me from getting it done.  Today I saw a break in the activities and I am making a mad stab at getting this  posted.  Let's just say that my life has been interfering with my stitching time!!
  After I got the bargello section finished on Dorothy Walpole, I moved on to the piece I have been working on for my future DIL's birthday.  I've been carrying it around as my stitch group piece for a while now and it was time to get it finished, so I did!!

Lizzie Kate's
Cat Lesson's for People
40 ct. Lakeside Linen w/ listed threads

   As a replacement in the rotation, I started Harriet Coe.  I have had this one kitted up since the last week of December and I really wanted to start it.  I am working it on 40 ct. linen so it is much smaller than it is supposed to be but it is just so cute I can't stand it!!

Harriet Co by WTN&T
40 ct. Lakeside linen w/ mostly listed threads

 I did change the red from Pomegranate (all the skeins I could find were pink) to Ruby Slippers which is a limited edition from the last market. I really like this red and I'm glad I bought a bunch of skeins of it!
    Then, I decided to start something off my bucket list.  I have pulled this one out more than once just over the past year and each time put it back thinking the time wasn't right.  So, I made it the right time and just got it started.  I love this piece and although  it will definitely be a long term project, at least now it is underway.

  This is my progress so far. Not much yet but it will go into the rotation too and will see some work time on a regular basis, whatever that is!

The Red House Sampler by the Sampler Co.
40 ct. Flax w/ DMC

  Then, as if that wasn't enough, I decided to finish this piece for my Mom.  She is in a nursing home now and has little in her room in the way of decoration.  I thought I would finish it with an edge so she could use it on a table as a scarf.  As you can see, I've started it twice.  The first time, I used a linen that was too heavy and the pulled work didn't open up the way it was supposed to.  I switched it to a more open weave linen and I like the effect much better!

This is an EGA correspondence course our guild did last year and since I had the issue with the linen, I didn't get it finished in time for the review and it has languished ever since.
  So, that is what has been going on here.  I haven't worked on my SALs this month at all, except for Dorothy, so I am behind with those now.  And since I have added 2 more pieces to the rotation, something is going to have to give.  I think I will have to work on a couple of things until they are completed to get the rotation back to a manageable size and then play catch up with the SALs.  Sounds like a good plan to me!!
  It is IH&SW and I haven't been able to put fabric, thread and needle together yet so I think I will go do that now.  Happy Easter and happy stitching to you all!!

The End of the Bargello

   It's been nearly 2 weeks since my last post.  I didn't mean for it to be so long but I was trying to finish the bargello band on Dorothy before I posted.  Every day I would think, 'Surely I will finish today and be able to make that post.' but each day I still wasn't finished.  This afternoon I finally got that section finished and I am now ready for the big reveal.

If you remember from my last post, I still had most of the over one verse to finish as well.  I've done quite a bit of bargello before and I don't remember it taking as long as this did!  Given all the stitches in this band though, I guess it wasn't that bad!  I am very pleased with how it came out and so happy that Dorothy is officially at the half way point!! 

     Up next in the rotation is the piece I am stitching for my future DIL for her birthday.  I have been carrying this to stitch group and have made pretty good progress but if I am to have it stitched and framed by the middle of May, it needs to see some serious  stitching time!!  It is pretty far along though so it shouldn't take too long to finish. I think this is adorable!!

Lizzie Kate
Cat Lessons for People
40 ct. Lakeside Linen w/ threads listed

   Next up is the Needleworker's Sampler newly framed.  I apologize for the angle but my framer put glass on it by mistake and I was having a hard time getting a picture without glare.  I put one of my favorite moldings on it since it seemed to cry out for it.  This one is currently residing at my LNS.

    Last but not least, I present photographic evidence that spring has arrived here in the burg.  This is the entrance to my neighborhood and how it looked a few days ago.  Magical!!

   We are now having those much lauded April Showers so I hope the promise of May flowers is just around the corner!!

IH&SW Report for March

  I didn't get to spend as much time stitching this past weekend as I would have liked.  It was my turn to host our weekly stitch group on Monday so I really had to do some prep for that.  Cleaning was right at the top of the list as well as baking so Sunday was pretty much a wash.  So to make up for that, I included Monday's stitching progress in my report  too.  Don't know if that is legit or not but I wouldn't have had much to show otherwise!!
  All of my hermitting  time was spent with Dorothy.  The big plans I had to finish the current sections and move on to another project never materialized.  I did however, manage to finish up the candle flame band I was working in Rice Stitch.  Yeah me!!

I did change to color of the deepest gold in this band.  It was supposed to be the same color as the dividing band directly below and I just found it to be too dark for the colors around it.  Lightened it one shade and I like it much better!!  Now do I change the dividing band to the new color as well or do I leave it alone??

  So that 's where I am now.  I think I am going to continue with this, getting in the over one verse (Lord help me!) and the bargello band that comes next before I put this one away.  Hopefully, I can get that much done by the end of the week because Ann Bowers is starting to jump up and down for attention and I would like to see her finished soon!!  Ambitious I know but having goals is a good thing!!

Hampered by Stitcher's ADD

  I have been experiencing a huge  bout of SADD lately.  I think I have worked on at least 6 projects since the last time I posted and not gotten much done on any of them.  I don't think the 5 pieces in the rotation is working for me, or maybe it's the actual pieces I am rotating.  Or, maybe it has nothing to do with the stitching at all and it's really the weather.  Spring one day, winter the next makes things confusing for one and all!
  I did manage to get this month's assignment for the Snooty Parrots finished.  But for all the wonderful things I'm seeing posted on Facebook by the others in this group, I can't say the same is true for me.  It was a real struggle to get this part in and I am not looking forward to the next section either.  I am hoping that changes by the time it comes back up in the rotation. This is a large piece and it would be a shame to hate it all the way through!   Anyway,  here is this month's assignment.

  I put it on my large scroll frame and that seemed to make the stitching better but the motifs on multiple pages, front and back, are still hard to work with.  I was trying not to make copies of the pages since that defeats the purpose of the two sided printing but I may have to bite the bullet on that one!
  I worked on both of the Long Dog samplers in my rotation but the mystery sampler is going to need some color adjustment and I discovered this pretty early on so no pics of that one right now.  I also worked on Pot 4 Dickie but it is on 45 ct linen and the progress is so slow it doesn't look much different so no pics of that either.  The Lizzie Kate I am stitching for my soon to be DIL saw some stitching time as well but it was during stitch group; need I say more??!!
  The piece that has received the most attention is Dorothy Walpole.  I have worked on her pretty consistently in the evenings and although not as far along as I would like, enough progress has been made to show.

   Marsha charted the candle flame section in Algerian Eye stitch, one that is not my favorite for various reasons not to be listed here.  I read somewhere that  on the original sampler, this section was actually stitched in Rice Stitch, so I decided to do the same on mine. I really love the way this looks but it is very time consuming and taking much longer to finish than I had allotted.  I plan to keep plugging away until I finish both the candle flame and the over one verse above it.  Since it is IH&SW this weekend, and the Hubs is going fishing all day tomorrow,  I hope to wrap this up and maybe even get some work in on something else too!!
   Last, but certainly not least, I picked up some framing today!  I finally got the piece that Tommye gave me for my birthday framed.

   It is similar in size to one I stitched several years ago and I decided to put it in the same frame so I could hang them together.  Love the way this turned out!!  Now I just have to decide where to put them and as Tommye can attest, I am terrible at that!!
  So that's it for now.  It is a beautiful day here in the burg.  Trees and flowers are starting to bloom and it is a warm, sunny day. But I heard the weather man say this morning that winter returns on Monday so I guess we better enjoy it while we can.  Who's up for some stitching outside??!!

I'm Rotating as fast as I can!!

  The beginning of the month is always busy, with board meetings and  guild meetings, etc. so I don't get as much stitching done as I do later in the month.  I have been working on the pieces in my current rotation this past week and although progress has been made, I can't say  any 'assignments' have been completed this time.
  After I finished this months part of Quaker Medallion Sampler, I picked Snooty Parrots back up and worked on that a bit. I got a little cranky about the way the chart is done and put it away before the assignment was done. (Let me just say this, I appreciate when someone is trying to save paper.  But when a motif is cut in half and the continuation is on the back of the same page and there is no way to line up the parts to make sure you are counting correctly, that makes me cranky.  I know, I could make a copy of one page to line up with the other but doesn't that defeat the purpose of the 2 sided chart??!!  Just saying..)  So, this is where it stands now.

Snooty Parrots by Barbara Ana
40 ct. Lakeside Meadow Rue
with listed threads

  I still have an enormous floral arrangement to stitch before I finish for this month.  I plan to go back to this next but right now I am working feverishly on this!!

Dorothy Walpole by Scarlet Letter
40 ct. Lakeside Pecan Butter
with DMC threads

 Poor Miss Dorothy has been lying about for more than 2 years now.  I started her shortly after she was released and got just the vine in around the  left corner before she was put away.  I got her back out for Nicola's Scarlet Letter Year and got as far as the red symbol in the middle before she was relegated to the back of the closet again.  She was on the list to finish last year and I couldn't make it happen.   (Flamestitch Sampler is in this same boat but we won't go there just now!)  She is back on the list for this year and since she is in my current rotation, I actually have hopes of seeing her finished this year!!
  I have been working on the satin stitch alphabet this week.  I wasn't too sure about it when I first started, the single strand of DMC seems sparse in some places but I work under magnification and things look different when they are 3 times bigger!!  To the naked eye, it doesn't look too bad!

  I would like to get the over one verse, which is the next section, stitched before I put her down again.
     I still have 2 other pieces in my rotation to work on this month and I need to get to them soon.  I'm starting to think rotating 5 pieces is nuts!  I am much more comfortable with 3 but I guess sometimes we need to get out of our comfort zones!  Then again, I may get caught up with Dorothy and just work on her until I can't stand it any more!! We'll just have to see what happens.

Good Weather for Stitching

   It had been cold and snowy here of late so several of my regularly scheduled activities have been cancelled.  I have wisely used that time to stitch, rather than all of the other things I could have been doing, like cleaning or laundry or onerous things like that!
  I finished my Olympics Stitching piece last Thursday.  I didn't get it done within the allotted time frame but almost!  Here is the completed With Thy Needle and Thread's Needleworker's Sampler.  Not pressed yet but I promise it will be by the time it is framed.  I did leave the little one stitch berries off the vines without the flowers.  I thought there were too many and found them distracting.  When I tried to decrease the number, it just looked funny so I left them off entirely.

40 ct. French Vanilla Swirl w/ mostly listed threads
I really like the way the borders vary!

   Then, since it wasn't the end of the month yet, I pulled out a long lost UFO to work on.  This is Elizabeth Hancock by Little House.  She had languished for way too long! I started her in a SAL that Vonna was hosting I think back in 2010  but only had the vine in the corner started when I put her away.  This is where she is after a few days work.

45 ct. Exemplar by Lakeside Linen
w/ mostly listed threads

  I've also worked on my SAL rotation and managed to get this month's Quaker Medallion assignment finished already!

(None of the linen colors are showing up well on my photos today!  Not sure why, it is an overcast day and I did take them in front of a window.  You would think that would work well!!)
    So, I am continuing to work on E. Hancock and the Snooty Parrots SAL. And  I still need to work Dorothy Walpole and a Long Dog (both SALs) into my current rotation! I am pleased with how all of this rotating is working right now but I am concerned about how well the addition of more samplers into the mix  is going to work.  I may need to stitch something to completion before I become overwhelmed and lose my mind!! We shall see.