Finally, a little sunshine!!

  It was rainy and overcast here in the burg for a solid week and I thought I would lose my mind before I was the sun again!!  Finally, this afternoon the sun has broken through the clouds and we have another glorious day!  I used to think I would like to live in the Pacific NW with the rain forest and the mountains nearby but I think I would probably have SAD and have to spend all my time under one of those lights since they have so many days of rain!
  I finished my other October birthday gift about a week ago but it has been too dark to take a picture.  I finally go one today.  This is the finish of Alpine Garden.

I didn't worry about her seeing it since she picked it out for her birthday this year.  This completes the set; she will have all 4 of these gardens now.
   I also managed to get some time in on this little cutie even though I've been prepping for company and haven't had as much time to stitch as I would have liked.

My visitor is the recipient of the Alpine Garden and we are going to celebrate and stitch for over a week!  I should have the little sampler above and several other things finished by the time she is ready for home!!

Cute Giveaway

  I just saw the cutest giveaway over on Julie's blog.  She will be drawing for this darling ort box on Sunday so don't miss it!!  I really like it!  Hope I win!!!

Still Chugging Along

  I have been working diligently on my October birthday stitching since the last post and I thought I would be finished by now.  I am usually working right up to the deadline but I got a pretty good jump on it this year and had grand hopes of an early finish. Alas, it was not to be.
  The friendship/birthday sampler I was working on turned out to be harder than I thought.  Hats off to all of the designers out there who manage to put bands and colors together in a pleasing fashion for all of us to go crazy over. IT IS HARD!!! Even so, I did manage to make a go of it and I like the way it came out.  This is the part that I added, starting with the wandering vine. There are supposed to be beads but I think I will leave that to her, if she wants them.

   I added a band of Ukrainian whitework and then a pretty darning pattern, both of which I took from Shepard's Bush pieces. (That is the theme she wanted for her friendship sampler.)

   This is what the whole thing looks like now.  I will have to get it in the mail soon in order to have it there in time for the big day.  I think she is going to be shocked to see it!! And hopefully happy.  I have had it for so long now that I hope she still like this style!

   After I finished the one above, I started back to work on my other October birthday sampler.  I had the first band finished about 5 years ago and put it away and stitched something else for her.  After getting back into it, I now remember why!  It is a beautiful piece but the confetti stitching is driving me crazy!!  But since I have already stitched 2 of the 4 of these gardens for her and this is the last one, I have persevered!
   I am working it on a scroll frame so I have left off some of the specialty stitches, ie: mostly the flowers, so nothing gets crushed.  I would hate to have to do them over again!!!

The Drawn Thread
the Alpine Garden/kit

Then, just as a bit of relief, I have also been working on this lovely. So cute and so little!

The Scarlett House
A Sampler Grew
40 ct. Lakeside Maritime White
suggested Needlepoint Silks

    So, that's about all for now.  I have kitted up about 5 fall pieces, most of which are pretty small, that I hope to be able to get started early next week.  We have another beach trip coming up soon so I am pondering beach stitching as well.  I'll have to refer to my list and see what still needs to be completed by the end of the year too.  It should make for a fun mix of stitching for the next few months!!

IHSW SEPT 13 Report

   As predicted, this weekend was a little on the crazy side. And although I didn't get to 'hermit' I did manage to work some stitching in among  all the craziness. First, I finished the large band I was working on AW 1662.

   Then I pulled this one out.  It is a friendship sampler that belongs to one of my stitchie friends and I am working on this for her birthday in October.  There is a long story associated with this piece that I will share with you once I get it finished and sent to her.  Let's just say she will be shocked to see it since I think she believes it has been lost forever!!
   This is where it was when I started the weekend.  My part started with the wandering vine section that I had stitched prior to the weekend.

I added these colored bands over the weekend. (Please ignore my waste knots! I really should have buried those before I took the pictures!!)

And this is what my section looks like now. I plan to add several bands of white work to this before I'm finished. I've acquired a couple of Ukrainian White work books that have some interesting patterns I'd like to try here.

   So, that's all for now.  Hope you all are having a wonderful time with your fall stitching!!!  I have kitted up several things, some new and some not, that are waiting impatiently to be started.

I Can't Put it Down!!

  I am supposed to be working on things that are on a deadline right now but I have been on such a roll with this one I can't put it down!!  AW 1662 at my last post:

This is where we are today!  I've  finished 2 of the large arcaded bands and am almost finished with the third.

This where I left off last night. There isn't much left to do, some filling mainly so I am hoping to wrap this band up tonight! With the completion of this band I will be over the half way mark!  And, almost to that intriguing checkerboard band!!

This is the whole thing so far.  It is so pretty!!

  This is the weekend for  IH&SW for September.  Both of my boys will be home this weekend so I don't know how much stitching I will get done. But I hope to finish the band I am currently working on as well as get back on track with my deadline stitching.  We'll see!!

The Finishing was a Bust!

   I was trying really hard to get that last pin cushion finished for our EGA meeting on Tuesday but I just couldn't make it happen.  I haven't really done much hand sewing since high school, which was a really long time ago, and try as I might, I couldn't get the ends on that darned drum to save my life!!  Lucky for me, I have a friend who LIKES to do finishing! (I know, shocking to me too!)  She is coming with us to the beach in October and says she would be very happy to finish it for me while she is here.  YEAH!!  Needless to say, I slapped that puppy in a bag and put it away as quickly as possible!!!!
  Then, since I was free again to work on whatever I wanted to, I pulled AW 1662 back out.  This is the progress I have made since last post.

AW 1662
38 Ct Italian linen w/ DMC

I am really enjoying working on this and will continue to do so for a couple of days but will have to move back to birthday stitching this weekend (and hope I haven't cut my time too short!).
  At our EGA meeting on Tuesday we were given the pleasure of seeing Barbara Hutson of Queenstown Sampler Designs.  She gave a presentation on the  history of some of  her recent reproductions, a lovely sampler display, as well as a very interesting description of what is entailed in the purchase, conservation, and charting of the samplers she has in her collection. It is always so wonderful to see her.  She's so cheerful and so willing to share her knowledge.  Thanks for coming Barbara!!
  I brought my camera but didn't take any pictures. DUH.  The meetings are always so hectic for me (the treasurer) and it was all over before I thought to take it out of my bag!  But I did manage to scoop up a new sampler chart though!!

FB 1827
photo taken for
Barbara's website

 Small and lovely and as soon as the rest of the threads get here (I just got an email that they are in the mail) I will be starting it!!  I know, I know, supposed to be working on UFO's.  But we need those occasional new starts to keep the creative juices flowing!!!  And this is just a small one after all.

Two Down, One to Go

  I've spent quite a bit of time stitching since my last post.  I have been working on a birthday gift, which I can't show, and I've also managed to make some serious progress on AW 1662.  This is where I last left off:

And this is how it looks now.  I have, once again, taken some liberties with some of the colors but I like this much better.  I'm finding that the old, faded colors of some of the reproductions really doesn't suit me and I am becoming less and less a stickler for keeping to the original interpretation.  Basically, I like mine gussied up!!

  Then, as the title suggests, I have been working on the "finishing" of the pin cushions for the challenge.  Our first EGA meeting after the summer break is on Tuesday so I figured I better get hot with that finishing I was going to attempt.  I have to admit, it it coming out way better than I expected!  (Please excuse my photos. My camera was acting weird and this is the best I could get today!)
  First up is the pin mattress that Holly taught us at our sampler guild meeting a looooong time ago.

  This was my first try and it is a little bit wonky but it is so darned cute!!!  I put the quarter in for a size reference.
  Then this afternoon, I put this one together. (Again, sorry for the picture quality.)

Side One

Side Two

The cute little pins came with the kit!  Now, all I have left is the drum.  Hope to have pictures of that soon!!

PS: Hope you're all enjoying the tennis as much as I have been!  There have been some GREAT matches!!