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

The Road to Hell...

  Yes, I'm sure you are all familiar with the old saying about the road to hell being paved with good intentions.  That's me, good intentions but getting nowhere fast.  After the wonderful progress I had made in finishing Wips during the first couple of months of the year I thought I would have several more by not but that is not the case.  And I am now prepared to show you why.
  After my finish of The Pink Sparrow Sampler, I pulled out another long suffering Wip, The Red House Sampler and I got very close to a finish before having to move on.

Only my name, date and what remains
of the border left to do.

I had to put The Red House Sampler aside because  a chart that was being loaned to me became available and I needed to get right to it.  I picked the linen and thread from my stash and got down to work.

Blackbird Designs Garland Fair
40 ct. Meadow rue w/ Valdani silk

I still have the over one verse left to do on this one and it remains unfinished since I can't decide what color silk to use.  The Valdani is too thick for over one on 40 ct but I do have several of the Gloriana Tudor silks I can use if I just make up my mind!!
  Then, it was getting close to crunch time with a birthday gift so I got back to work on Mary Betchel.

 I love the colors in this one but for some reason it was just moving along too slowly and I knew I wasn't going to have it finished in time.  I will have to get back to this one soon because I am being over-run by UFOs and the thought of adding another one to the pile makes me want to scream!!
  So, now I'm trying to figure out what to do for the birthday gift.  I have several things in various stages of completion that might fit the bill and I worked on a few of them along the way.  I thought this half finished With My Needle piece might be nice. But as I worked it, it just didn't feel right.  Then I found an error and had to rip out the crown on the right side and I knew it was doomed!

 

Then I did a total new start, keeping in mind that I was moving into the 2 weeks til the event zone. Insane, I know, but what was I to do??

Love, love this piece but red is my color, not hers and I really didn't like the linen.  The silk doesn't give good coverage on it and I really prefer something in a tighter weave.
  So I thought I would just leave it for a while and see what came to me and in the mean time I worked on some other things.  Ann Wallace came out to play for a day and I got her on a lap frame to boot.  I think she might migrate downstairs and become my baseball piece, for a while anyway.  Baseball starts in just a few weeks and is a solid 3 or more hours of stitching just about every night.  I should be able to make some significant progress on her over the summer!

Yesterday, I decided to get Ann Bowers out and try get her wrapped up.  The over one verse on 45 ct is just about making me blind but at least it is the last line!!

So that has been my journey for the past month, wildly meandering and full of good intentions but no new finishes.  I hope to be able to show you at least a couple in my next post and hopefully it won't be another month before that happens!!  However, I can make no promises.  I placed a HUGE market order and who knows what might happen when that gets here!

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


By the way,  I did figure out what to do for my friend for her birthday and I think you are ALL going to be surprised!!

I Believe I'm On a Roll

   Shocking but true, I have another finish!  I am making an effort toward finishing up some wips and I have another finish since my last post.  It was about 1/3 done, which seems to be about where I lose interest on most pieces, so it needed some significant work.  Add to that, the constantly changing colors and it might be an outright miracle that I finished this one at all!!  But I persevered and I put the last stitches into The Pink Sparrow Sampler by WTN&T last week.

40 ct. Lakeside linen with called for threads

Might I just add, I did press this piece.  I don't know what the deal is here and it happens to me all the time.  I pressed it with steam on the linen setting and it looked really crisp.  But as it cools, it looks like it was wadded into a ball!  Any tips would be greatly appreciated.
  So, this one took a week longer than I thought it would because I had some misadventures in computing along the way.  The latest Windows 10 update crashed my computer 3 times and even my techie son couldn't get it back up the third time.  I spent some hard earned but well spent  money with the Geek Squad and they got it back up, eventually.  It still isn't right but is functional so I am limping along until my DC son can get home and get it back up to snuff.  Keep your fingers crossed for me!
  Moving on,  I got my red Santa back from the framer.  Yeah!!!!!  He  is gorgeous if I do say so myself!

One Starry Christmas Eve by WTN&T
40 ct Weeks Aztec red linen
w/ my cotton conversion

It did take longer to get it back than the framer said it would but since we had a snow storm in the middle I figure I should cut her some slack!
   Alas,  these finishes do not keep me from starting new pieces.  I know the idea is to finish wips but what is life without new starts??!!  My January 1st start was Ann Wallace by the Scarlet Letter. Love, love, love this one and look forward to working on her this year.

This is how far I have gotten.  Keep in mind that I don't have a regular schedule for my rotation, just work on things in the rotation when I feel like it.

40 ct. Peeps Lost Sheep by Dames of the Needle
w/ called for DMC

Next up is barely worth a picture at this point and probably won't be finished until next year.

I bought this and kitted it as soon as it became available to us normal folks and I plan to make this my 35th wedding anniversary sampler.  Hence, the long time period I have to work on it.

Last but not least is my most recent start.  I kitted this one as soon as it came out too and I think it needs to be stitched!! I love these colors and I splurged on the silks.

40 ct. Lakeside Meadow rue
w/ called for silks

It's worked in Belle Soie which is not my favorite silk.  It is taking an extraordinary amount of time to stitch since the lengths used have to be cut so short to avoid fraying.  But in the end, I think it will be worth it since the colors are so vivid.  I start adding the red today and look forward to that pop of color!

So that's it for me for now.  I am planning to pull some more wips out of the bag too so I hope to have another finish in the very near future.  I'll  keep you posted!  Laura

It's a Wrap!

  So we got the big snow storm  they were predicting for our area which gave me an excuse to sit in my corner and stitch!  I had hoped to get it finished up over the weekend but the only way that was going to happen was if I skipped house cleaning and I just couldn't do that.  Too many years as a military wife I guess!
  Since the roads were so awful on Monday, we skipped our regularly scheduled stitch group so I made up for time lost to cleaning then.  I admit that watching tennis probably slowed my progress as well. ( I am really looking forward to that Joker/Fed semi final!!)  I put the last stitches in my Quaker piece late last night and I just love it!

Quaker Addict by AMAP
40 ct Lakeside woodsmoke
with mostly listed threads

Such a shame she is no longer designing because she has done some of the cutest things!!
  So now I have to decide what to work on next.  It's not like I don't have anything to do, just need to make a decision.  I'll let you know what it is soon!

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

Missing but Not Lost

  It's hard to believe it is nearly the end of January already.  I know it has been a while since I last posted but it isn't because I have lost interest, I just can't seem to keep track of the time.  My grandmother used to say that time went by faster as you got older  and I, of course, just thought she was giving me the business.  I was young and bored and probably whining at the time.  But it sure is true and my blog postings, or lack there of, are proof of it!
  So, we had a lovely Christmas and I used the week after to get organized and stitch.  I don't take down the decorations until 12th Night so I am pretty much doing as little as possible during that time and getting a lot of stitching done.
   I was still working on Christmas stitching and I managed to get a first finish of the new year during that time.  Behold, One Starry Christmas Eve by With My Needle and Thread in all its glory!

Stitched on 40 ct. Weeks Aztec Red with my own cotton conversion.  Love this one!!  It is currently at the framer and I can't wait to get it back.  It will be on loan to my LNS for a while but I already have a spot picked out for it in my house for next Christmas.
  I have been investigating some of my UFOs recently and I have plans to finish off some of those in the coming year but I am trying not to be too hard on myself  or have anything written in stone about those.  I love them all and will finish them eventually but I tend to put pressure on myself and stitching becomes like work.  Then I beat myself up over the things I haven't accomplished and I don't want to stitch at all!  So, the list is loose and I hope to get a lot more pieces finished this year then I did last.
    My current WIP is about half finished now.  It is a piece I've had in my stash for quite a while and I thought it would be a fun, quick, stitch and it has been.  I've made only minimal color changes and I have enjoyed every stitch.  If we get the big storm we are supposed to get this weekend, I may have it finished by Monday!

40 ct. Lakeside Woodsmoke
(the original not the current permutation!)
with mostly the listed colors

This one is Quaker Addict by a mon ami Pierre, a lovely little company that was driven out of business by internet piracy.   Too bad since she really had some lovely designs.  I was able to buy some of her designs directly from her as PDF files before she closed up shop and I came across them recently while searching for something else on my computer.  I have several others that will reach the top of the pile eventually but for now, I am loving this one.
  I have several other pieces going right now but none that are far enough along for posting.  (Those Facebook groups are so enabling!) I will save those for next time and hope to have more to show by then.  Until then,  hope you are enjoying your stitching as much as I am!  

Laura

A Christmas Eve Post

  It's been a while since my last post but I'm sure you'll all forgive me since I'll bet you've all been running around with your hair on fire too!  We just got back from dinner with my son's in-laws and it was a lovely evening, one I hope they enjoyed as much as I did.  We are having them all here for Christmas dinner tomorrow and I am supposed to be in the kitchen right now doing desserts but I thought I would do a quick drive-by on my poor neglected blog and show you a couple of finishes.
  I have spent the past year working diligently every month on the Calico Alphabet for my stitch group friend. It is a good thing that I started as early as I did and factored in some extra time because I was burying threads on it on Sunday when I had to gift it on Monday.  I was in such a hurry to get it wrapped that I totally forgot to get a picture and had to get one after the exchange so please excuse the wrinkles!

I know, a total mess, but she seemed to really like it.  We drew names for next year at the exchange so I know who I will be stitching for next time already.  I have really got to try to stitch something smaller this time because I have a lot on my plate to work on this year already!!
  Then I got back to work on the one I had borrowed and got it finished too.  Here is the completed Their Song by Blackbird.

I really enjoyed this stitch and even though it isn't a Christmas piece, the colors made me feel like I was working on something Christmas-y.
  So that's all I have for now.  I am working on a couple of other things that I will post about next time, hopefully soon after the new year.  Until then,  I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and I look forward to sharing more stitching in the new year.

Merry Christmas,  Laura

Checking In and Catching Up

   It's been quite a while since my last blog post.  Time has just flown through this summer and fall and it is so hard to believe it is nearly December already.  I am so unprepared for even the idea of  the holidays and Thanksgiving is just around the corner with Christmas close on its heels.  Posting to the blog has become one of those things that never seems to make it to the top of the 'to do' list.   But although I haven't been posting, I have been stitching.
   We made our fall beach trip the second week of October.  The week before and the week after are always sheer craziness with prep and then clean-up but the week there is pure bliss.  I sit in my stitching chair and stitch as much as I want to without any guilt.  I leave all the cooking and shopping to my housemates and just enjoy the view of the sun, sand and surf.  Really, pure bliss.
  Within first day or two I finished Strawberry Fields.  Amazing what a bit of dedicated stitching time will allow you to accomplish!

40 ct Weeks Confederate grey
w/ mostly listed threads

After that finish, I spent my time working on Merry One by Plum Street.  It is a kit but I wasn't crazy about some of the colors so I changed a couple and moved a few others around to come up with this.

Santa's coat in Weeks Baked Apple
berries stitched in original coat color

This finish lead to a start on The Queen's Garden by Scarlett House.  Love this one and although I didn't finish it at the beach, I did manage to wrap it up in that following week.

I changed out the darker gray in the fence and I also left off a few bees.  They are done over one and I was having an issue with the tension in the frame I was using. And I thought it had enough bees already!!
  Feeling the pressure of the need to complete the Christmas exchange gift, I put some work into it after I finished the Queen.  I am closing in on a finish for this one and good thing too since our exchange date is the 14th of December!  Trying to wrap this one up by the end of the month.

Calico Alphabet by Summer House Stitchworkes 

  I ordered this piece totally kitted up from Needlecraft Corner as soon as I saw it  and even though I have a ton of things unfinished, I couldn't resist a start on this one.  Love the big house!

One of the new ones by WTN&T, Grateful, Thankful & Blessed.  Stitched with the called for materials but  I did have an issue with the house color at one point and thought I would have to change it.  I managed to find another dye lot that suited me better and away we ran!!  I almost have the house done and after that, the rest should really fly.
   I was also on the list to borrow one of the OOP Blackbird designs, Their Song.  I started it this past weekend and am making good progress on it so far.

36 ct Lakeside V. Buttercream
w/ listed threads

It's about 1/3 done and I hope to get some serious time in on it this weekend.  So very happy to have the opportunity to stitch this one.  I had searched for the chart for a long time with no luck and it is so nice of Pat G. to make her OOP charts available to others.
   So, that's about it for me.  I have been sick since the beginning of the month with a cold my husband gave me and that he got over in about 3 days.  I am still dealing with the lingering cough and wonder at this point if it will ever go away.  I have been staying in as much as possible to try to avoid giving it to anyone else and although it makes me seem like a hermit, it has given me lots of time to stitch.  Not condoning illness as a way to make more stitching time!!  Just saying.

Wishing you all a wonderful Thanksgiving!   Laura