I’m getting very close to yet another finish. This time it’s on Snow Garden from Blackbird Designs. Being sick for nearly a week has clearly been very beneficial to my stitching progress.

Here is the progress I’ve made between my most recent update (July 1) and today (July 6):

I can’t believe I’ve made so much progress! I’m doubly amazed when I take into account that I’ve finished two other small pieces during that same time frame. This is absolutely not my usual stitching speed. Go me!

I am a bit perplexed over one aspect of this design. My colors definitely look much different than the model photo, even though I am usually the recommended fabric and fibers. I’ve gone back and double & triple-checked to ensure I used the proper colors in the proper places, and I did. The only elements that really look the same to me are the peacock and the tree on the right side of the design. Some portions of the border are almost completely lost into the linen in my piece.

This is one of my greatest annoyances about model photos. The finished product just doesn’t always look the same. Even though I still love the design, the colors of mine just don’t pop nearly as much as in the model which is what attracted me to the design in the first place. Oh well, what’s a stitcher to do?

Until next time …

In honor of yesterday being Independence Day here in the United States, I decided to do a bit of patriotic stitching. I stitched this little piece from start to finish yesterday.

The design is called “Liberty Ewe” and is a freebie that was available a couple of years ago from Sharon Crescent of Crescent Colours. The original design calls for her cotton floss, but I substituted and used some of her Belle Soie silks from my stash. It’s stitched on a piece of unknown 36-count R&R linen. It’s from an R&R grab bag I purchased at Needle in a Haystack during my San Francisco trip in December.. I looked at a few pictures on the Norden site and think it might be Mockingbird? Anyway, I thought it turned out pretty cute.

Until next time …

I want to pose a question to those of you who blog and are also active on social media sites. Do you find you blog less often now? I have definitely noticed that about myself. I know that many of my regular readers (based on those who frequently comment) are also friends with me on Facebook and follow me on Twitter. I tend to post photos and quick updates of what’s going on in my life in those places. Accordingly, I don’t feel as much “pressure” (for the lack of a better word) to update my blog as often. I’m just wondering if others have found the same to be true. Please leave me a comment with your thoughts.

In stitching news, amazingly enough, I actually have been doing a little bit. I stitched a summer pinkeep for Kim as part of a seasonal exchange. After that was away in the mail, I’ve been working a bit on “Snow Garden” from Blackbird Designs as well as another secret project. Here are some pictures of the exchange:

The pinkeep design was taking from the “Friends for All Seasons” chart by Lizzie Kate. I also included the “Small Sampler 1” chart from Ewe & Eye & Friends, a couple of skeins of Dragon Floss from Polstitches, a couple of skeins of Soy Luster floss (one solid & one shadow) from The Pure Palette, and a pack of strawberry blank notecards.

Here are some close-up shots of the pinkeep by itself:

My Dovos were for demo purposes only and weren’t part of the exchange. Sorry Kim!

This was my first attempt at doing a scissor pocket on the back. I thought it turned out ok, but I definitely learned some things that I will do differently next time. For example, I didn’t leave a bit of slack in the pocket when I assembled it. As I was sewing, the pocket kept getting tighter and tighter to the point that it pulls slightly downward. If I had given it a little leeway at the beginning, I think it would have come out much nicer in the end.

Here are my before & after progress pics on Snow Garden:

Previous Progress

Current Progress

I know it’s not much progress, but at least it is noticeable. I try very hard not to compare myself to the speedy needles of some of my other stitching friends whose speed is simply astounding! I just seem to be in a bit of a stitching slump this year, and I’m not sure why. Normally by the mid-point of the year, I would have at least 10-15 finishes, but this year I only have three. The sad part is that I know my time available for stitching is about to get drastically reduced, too.

That leads me directly into my last bit of news. I’ve officially gone back to college to finish my degree. I dropped out of college at the start of my senior year back when I was 21 years old. I said I was just going to take a couple of quarters off, but somehow that mushroomed into taking 25 years off. One of my biggest regrets in life has always been not finishing my degree, so now I’m going to remedy that. In fact, my plan is to finish my Bachelors as quickly as possible and then go immediately into a Masters program.

I have chosen an online competency-based program through Western Governor’s University. It’s basically an independent study program where each student goes at their own pace. They will also allow students with extensive real world experience to test out of some classes. I decided this particular model sounded perfect for me, so let’s hope that it is! I guess I’ll find out soon enough given that I start classes today.

One of the best parts is that since the university if fully accredited, they qualify for tuition reimbursement through my employer. w00t! By the time I get my reimbursement checks each year, I should hopefully only spend around $1000-$1200 out of pocket annually. That means no student loans!

I suppose that’s the last of my news & updates for now. I will try my best to update as often as possible, but please understand that I’m likely just uber busy between work and school should I disappear for extended periods of time. If you want to keep track of me more frequently, I would recommend Facebook.

Until next time …

Meh … I haven’t felt like blogging lately mostly because I haven’t felt like stitching either. I think I’ve only stitched three times this month, so I’m definitely in a stitching slump. However, I’m apparently not in a stash acquisition slump. Here are my latest purchases:

Most of these items were purchased Saturday when I headed over to my LNS for our 5th Saturday open stitch class. Yes, this is in addition to our regularly scheduled monthly Saturday stitch, so we got to stitch twice this month! So, for those of you who are quick studies, you may have quickly deduced that this was two of my three times stitching this month.

On the left is the latest in the anniversary series called “A Wish for You” from Blackbird Designs. Given it’s 1) designed by BBD, 2) has a house, and 3) has a bunny, how could I not get it?

I also picked up the Lila “Needle Tweets” needle case from Just Nan. As an added bonus, the owner of my LNS had them kitted which was really nice. One of the other woman at our all-day Saturday Stitch had hers finished and it was absolutely adorable! I also picked up the matching stitch marker “tail” to complete my little birdie.

At the bottom of the photo are a couple of accessories purchases. The blue rectangle is actually a magnet mounted to a metal bracket. It’s for use as a needle park with the mini stretcher bars used for canvas work. The magnet is actually strong enough that it will hold a pair of scissors as well. The other accessory is a button pack from Just Another Button Company. It’s the set needed for the Miracles Happen chart I picked up during my trip to San Francisco back in December.

The last item didn’t come from my LNS. It’s the next installment in the Little House Needleworks ornament of the month series that I get on automatic from Drema at Needlecraft Corner. The design is called “Red House in Winter” and it so cute! I just love Diane’s houses.

I also learned about another canvas class coming up at my LNS beginning in August & September (two Saturday classes with a month between) that I would love to take. I’m just not sure if I can swing it though which I will explain in the next paragraph. The piece is called “Summertime” and is from my dear friend and local designer, Margaret Bendig. The photo simply does not do this piece justice. It is absolutely GORGEOUS in person. It’s worked entirely in silks and is just so delicately beautiful. If you’re in the southern California area and are interested in the class, just contact Diana at the shop for more information. I wish I had a larger photo so you could see it a bit better, but this is all I have:

Now, as to the reason why I don’t think I can swing two Saturdays for the class, I’m going back to school. When I was younger, I dropped out of college at the start of my senior year to get married. I intended to go back and finish my degree after taking a little time off, but I just never did . I’ve been putting off going back for years, but finally decided it’s time to just suck it up and get it done. I’ve already been accepted into the program. All I’m waiting for now is for the school to receive my transcripts and to get the approval from my employee for the tuition reimbursement program. If everything goes well, I’m hoping to start classes on July 1. If I can’t get everything finished in time for that date, then it will get pushed back to August 1 instead. Either way, I’ll likely need those two Saturdays when the “Summertime” class is taking place to study, write papers, etc. Time for stitching may definitely become a real luxury for me now which makes it all the more sad that I’ve been in a slump of late.

I guess that’s it for now. Until next time …

I’ve always made the joke that I won’t die as long as I have unfinished/unstitched projects in my stash. Well, I’m clearly planning to give Methuselah a run for his money. I’ve not had a lot of time for stitching lately due to my work schedule and training for my upcoming half marathon, but that hasn’t seemed to stop me from acquiring more stash.

First of all, I do want to thank all of you for your input about my fabric choice for Garden of Eerie in my previous post. Between my own preference, your votes, and votes of the women at the monthly Saturday Stitch group at my LNS, I’ve opted to go with the Lentil.

Lakeside Linen: Lentil:

I have decided to use the Sand Dune on another project — Autumn at Hawk Run Hollow from Carriage House Samplings. Yes, I bought it!

Autumn at Hawk Run Hollow

As soon as I saw those Halloween squares, I just knew I wanted to stitch it. I love the entire design, but it was really the Halloween squares that spoke to me the most. So, I have decided to adapt the design a bit and make a smaller piece using four of the Halloween squares that didn’t include any of the verse. Here is my own mock-up of what my planned piece will look like when finished … some day.

My version of Autumn at Hawk Run Hollow

By the way, for those who may not have heard yet, if there are any Carriage House Samplings charts you have on your wish list, you might want to go on and purchase them. Kathy has decided to hang up her designing hat. You can read all the details on her blog in this post. The quick overview though is that she will continue to sell and ship to shops until July 1, 2010. After that, any remaining inventory she has left will be listed at her Etsy shop and will be sold there until December 31, 2010. Her charts will no longer be available as of January 1, 2011.

I had the day off yesterday, so I took the opportunity to drop by my LNS to pick up a new Prairie Schooler chart she ordered for me. While I was there, a few other things managed to find their way into my basket.

In addition to the Prairie Schooler The Tortoise & The Hare chart, I also picked up the SYHO design from Belinda at Blue Ribbon Designs called Established With Love. It’s such a sweet little design, and I’m a sucker for houses. Since I’m also an avid reader, I picked up The Book Store from Nikki over at Country Cottage Needleworks. Although, I do most of my reading on my Kindle these days, so it’s pretty rare for me to make it to a book store any longer. When I do though, I try to find an independent bookseller instead of one of the major chain stores.

You may also notice there was a floss toss in my new stash photo. I can’t share what the project is yet since it’s for a gift, but let me just say, I am IN LOVE with the color palette! I thought the design I selected was so pretty when I chose it, but once I pulled the fibers, I loved it all the more! I absolutely can’t wait to see how this design comes together. Here’s a closer view of just the toss:

The photo is a little dark because I took it around 9pm last night. I decided I couldn’t wait until it was daylight because I wanted to start stitching.

Ok, this post is starting to get really long, but I still have more to share. Perhaps this means I should get back to posting more often. Anyway, I’m sure most everyone is already familiar with these other items, and I don’t really have anything to say about them other than the fact that I purchased them. That being the case, I’m just going to share the photos and call it good.

Honeysuckle Manor book from Blackbird Designs

Needle and Thread (with bed) from Little House Needleworks

Winter Sheep – ornament #5 in LHN Ornament of the Month series

Ok, so I do have something else to say, imagine that?! This last piece is actually an OOP design that I purchased from Nicole. I had the pleasure of taking a class from Liz & Ann from Brightneedle Designs a few years back and fell in love with their designs. Subsequently, they have retired all of their old designs and are now only doing teaching pieces. This is one of their retired designs that had been looking to find for quite a while. When I saw Nicole was offering it fully kitted on her trade/purchase blog, I swooped it up. I’m so excited to finally have it in my stash.

The Sampler Sampler by Brightneedle Designs

Ok, now I’m done. Until next time …

As I mentioned in a post last month, I recently purchased the Garden of Eerie chart from Plum Street Samplers. I *love* this chart so much.

The design is charted for NPI with a conversion to DMC also provided. Of course, I couldn’t go the easy route and use either of those. Instead, I converted the colors over to Vikki Clayton’s silks. I really love how the colors look together.

Here’s where the request comes in … my dilemma is what fabric to use. I have the recommended fabric (Lakeside Linen Sand Dune), but I also have a couple of others that I really like as well. I’ll post pictures of the three options I’m considering. Click on each for a larger view, if desired. After you’ve looked them all over, please take a moment to leave a comment and give me your opinion. Thanks!

Lakeside Linen Sand Dune:

Lakeside Linen: Lentil:

Lakeside Linen: Peddler’s Moon:

Finally, I just have to share a new release from Diane Williams at Little House Needleworks called Robin Hood. Those who have been reading my blog for a while know I’m a major LHN fan, and this one does not disappoint. I have a feeling it will be finding its way into my stash soon.

Oh, and for those who may have noticed, yes, Diane is already aware of the couple of errors in the chart. She addresses the issues of the extra R in sheriff and that Marian isn’t spelled correctly on her website and explains how to correct them.

Speaking of stash, I did pick up a few other new items over the past week or so. A couple of new things plus something I picked up from Nicole’s trade blog. I’ll share pictures of those things in another post on another day.

Until next time …

Check out this awesome giveaway Terrie over at Sprinkles is having!

It’s the chart & floss pack for Jenny Bean’s Humble Servant Sampler from Shakespeare’s Peddler. Wow, what a generous giveaway!! Head over to her blog for all the details on how to enter. The drawing will be held on March 31.

Until next time …

I was a very happy stitcher yesterday when I opened my mailbox and found a pretty pink package from Joan. We are both participating in a Friends Stitching Through the Seasons exchange group and she has my name for the year. Since Spring was our first exchange, we have all been very eagerly awaiting our first mailing date to see who had our name.

Here is what I received:

Joan definitely spoiled me with a beautiful tuffet (Hearts & Roses by Dinky Dyes Designs) and lots of stitching goodies. Joan’s stitching on the tuffet is perfection! She did such a beautiful job on all of those Rhodes hearts! It doesn’t really show up in the photo, but in addition to each of the four hearts on the top & bottom of the tuffet, there are also five alternating Rhodes hearts on each side, too! Since this was a Spring exchange, she stitched it using DMC Variations 4060, 4180, and 4190 because she felt they looked like “spring” colors and I couldn’t agree more.

As for the stitching goodies, she sent some really fun flower shaped buttons, a hank of Crescent Color’s Belle Soie silk in their new color Boysenbeauty (I *LOVE* Belle Soie silks!), a beautiful Blackbird Designs chart from my wish list, and a pack of size 28 needles. As if all that weren’t enough, she also sent me a gorgeous project bag that she made herself!

Thank you so much for all the wonderful goodies, Joan! Oh, and to answer your question in the card, yes, the tuffet will fit beautifully in my collection of smalls.

I dropped off my outgoing exchange package at the Post Office before going to work. I sent it via Priority Mail, so it should arrive at its new home in a couple of days, hopefully. Once it has been received by my exchange partner, I’ll post pics of what I sent.

In closing, as an Irish lass, it would be remiss of me not to wish you all a very Happy St. Patrick’s Day. Go out and enjoy the one day of the year that you all get to pretend to be one of us.

Until next time … Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig oraibh!

**tap tap tap** Is this thing still on?

Sorry for the long delay since my last update. During the five weeks that have passed, I’ve been out of town for a week, worked like a mad woman for a couple of weeks, and have been training for my upcoming half marathon. I can’t believe I’m already in week 6 of my training!! With everything that’s been going on, I just didn’t have the “oomph” to update my blogs, too.

I have definitely been on a bit of a stitching slump since the start of the year, but I’m gradually getting back into the swing of things. Of course, part of that is due to some new stash acquisition. Some of it I purchased myself thanks to the birthday discount from Drema at Needlecraft Corner, and some I received as birthday gifts from stitchy friends.

Given that I haven’t really updated my blog this year, this will be quite a list. As always, you can click any of the images to see a larger version. Here goes:

Left: Garden of Eerie by Plum Street Samplers
Right: A Quaker Halloween Sampler by Cherished Stitches

Snow Garden by Blackbird Designs
Fabric: 30-count Creme Brulee by R&R Reproductions
Fibers: GAST & WDW

I have one last picture that I’ve been meaning to share for a while, but since I haven’t updated my blog, it never happened. A while back I was the fortunate winner of a beautiful fob in a drawing on Anne’s blog. She sent me this beauty. Thank you so much, Anne!!

Well, that’s it for now. I’ll try not to go so long until the next updated. ;)

Oh, before I go though, I should give an update about the winner of my donation incentive drawing. The winner was Darla who graciously told me to take the $50 and apply it toward my fundraising in lieu of giving her a gift card. Thanks so much, Darla!!

I also want to thank all of you who have made donations. I really appreciate it so much! With your help, I’ve already raised nearly $1500!! If you haven’t donated yet and would like to, please visit my fundraising page.

Until next time …