Low Tide

I'm back, with just a little progress to share. As you can see above, I've finished the rocks in Block 1 of Shores and I've moved on to the ocean. It's slow going, but it's relatively mindless filling in, which seems to be what I'm wanting right now. I did attempt to work on the Mermaids for the Sunday SAL, but for the life of me I cannot find my chart and thread. I was "organizing" recently and must have put it in a "safe place" so that I would be sure to be able to find it at a moment's notice. I'll give it another look during the week and hopefully I'll be able to get back on track with those girls. I'm all excited to start page 2. But, anyway...back to Shores. I don't think I'll be finishing with Block 1 this month. So, I'll just keep plugging away at it, and maybe by the end of April I'll have blocks 1 and 2 done.

I've also made a tiny bit of progress on Adam & Eve (also Carriage House Samplings). Instead of moving on to the swirl the squirrel is standing on and then back to the tree trunk like I'd thought I was going to do...I decided to start on Adam. He just has a bit of hair at the moment, but should soon have a face as well. I'd like to see some more progress on this before my guild meeting next week. I love this piece, and it is so different stitching on this one than on Shores, even though they're the same designer. Such fun!

I haven't even touched my Catherine Theron pieces either since the workshop...maybe I can pick one of them back up this weekend. That would be nice, huh? Not too much else going on here. I bought five more skeins of NPI from Drema during her sale. These were the five I'll need (that I didn't already have) for Block 2 of Shores. I figure I'll just buy them as I need them, in order to space out the cost. Plus, when I can get them on sale for $2.70 as opposed to almost $4, that's a deal! I've also ordered a couple of charts from The Attic, but haven't seen hide nor hair of them yet. I think one of them was on backorder, so hopefully those will come soon. Not that I need anything else to work on right now. When I get closer to finishing A&E, I'll be ordering fabric for And They Sinned. I ordered all the thread for that at New Year's, if you remember...so that will be my next big start I think.

Oh, and thank you all for your interest in the magazines. Two have been sent out, and I'm still waiting on Sherry and Chiloe to respond to my emails with your addresses. So, if you're reading this...please get me that info so I can send you your magazines. Hope everyone is doing well. Enjoy your stitching!

I am grateful for being welcomed back.

There's Nothing Like Procrastination

On Saturday, I had the afternoon to myself and I was trying to choose something to work on. For whatever reason, one piece in particular just jumped out at me...my Just Nan RR. This RR was the first RR I took part in and I ended up with a gorgeous piece. It's just been hanging in my craft closet since it came home (in 2007). I bought a frame for it months and months ago, but there was one minor issue. The piece wouldn't fit in the frame, it was super close though. What I needed to do was move the names and locations of everyone in a bit, so that it would fit in the frame. I have put off doing this for so long, but on Saturday I finally decided to get out my RR and just do it. I decided to center the names and locations under each block. When I had originally gridded out the piece, I'd given everyone a lot of room and asked them to sign at the bottom of their area...so on some of the smaller blocks it looked a little funny when the gridding came out. I spent the afternoon taking out and restitching all the names and locations, then I laced up my piece and got it framed. I am so happy to have it finally framed and hanging somewhere I can appreciate it. Doesn't it look lovely? And all it took was an afternoon. Why did I put this off for so long?! Anyway, it's done now. And here's what it looked like before I moved the names.

Not too much else going on here...no stitching last night. I've made a tad more progress on my rocks since my last photo, but nothing exciting. I hope to get some stitching done tonight though when I get home. Oh, and I thought I'd share with you the darning sampler that my guild is going to be stitching. I'm interested to learn more about darning samplers as well as to have the opportunity to stitch one. The one that's been chosen is in an old issue of SANQ. Here's what it looks like...

I've ordered the fabric and silks for it, and I'm looking forward to stitching it along with some other guild members. I was hoping to have another finish to share at our next guild meeting (I was hoping for A&E), since I've had a finish to share every month this year so far. But, I don't think it's gonna happen. A&E is much slower going now than when I started. Maybe I can make some more progress on it this week too. And I did receive a question about the designer on that one - it's Carriage House Samplings.

Thanks also to everyone for offering to take the magazines. I've contacted four people about them and just need a couple more addresses to send them out. Thanks!!! I'm sure as I do some more cleaning and organizing I will find more stuff! And just in case you're interested, I've started another 101 Things in 1001 Days, having finished my previous 1001 Days. My first post regarding it can be found here.

I am grateful for rainy mornings.

Restitching & A Giveaway

There's been a bit of unstitching and restitching going on over here. I was working along smoothly on my Shores, and finished up the lighthouse. I moved on to the rocks and was thinking "wow, this is really starting to come together". Isn't that the moment at which you soon discover it SO isn't? Well, I got to the rock at the bottom - and hit rock bottom, so to speak. My black outline was one stitch too far down. Crap! I counted and recounted and sure enough, I'd stitched it 1 stitch too low. I started to just go ahead and rip it out and fix it right then. But something told me that if I'd made a mistake there, I had most likely made a mistake on the right side of the outline too. I had a sneaky suspicion that instead of including the previous side's stitch in my 92 stitches, that I had stitched 92 stitches from that side - thus making it 93. So...I decided to stitch across to the other side and sure enough, I was off there as well. So, out came both the bottom and right lines and they were both restitched. Now I can get back to what I was doing. But, above is what it looks like now, and below is what is looked like last time - plus two brand new sides. If I recall correctly, I seem to remember I did this same exact thing stitching the outline for Midi Mystery II. Will I ever learn??

And, a little tiny bit of progress has been made on Adam & Eve. I now have a squirrel and a few more apples and leaves. There's a swirl the squirrel is standing on that will get stitched in next, and then I think I'll work on the tree trunk. Here's what it looks like now...

And last time...

So that's all on the stitching front for me. I do have a giveaway though, that I've been meaning to do for some time. I have four magazines that somehow I ended up with duplicates of. So, if you're interested in one or more of these, please leave a comment and let me know which one(s) you'd like. First come, first serve. I'll cover the postage cost regardless of where you are. Just please take these off my hands!!

JCS June 2005 issue on the left. This has a small CHS design in it called Emma's Samplers that I am definitely going to stitch at some point. There's also a Brittercup Designs chart in here called Love Grows that is really cute. And a Cross-Stitch & Needlework May 2008 issue on the right. This one has a Jane Greenoff design in it called Monet's Giverny Gardens, there's an interview with Jenny Hart of Sublime Stitching and two embroidery designs by her, and a cute Thistle & Clover biscornu design by Jennifer Mitchell.

Interweave Knits Summer 2007 on the left. Includes the cute Josephine Top and Origami Cardi that everyone was knitting. SANQ Summer 2006. Includes part 1 of the Old Aviary Sampler and The 1831 E.F. Sampler (on the cover) that I just love.

Anyway, please leave a comment and email address if you're interested in any of these.

And finally, I was nominated for an award by Rachel at Willing Hands. Thank you so much, Rachel! I'm so sorry I am just now getting around to mentioning this. For this award you are supposed to list 5 favorite things and tag 5 others.

Favorite things:

1. Mexican food

2. Fashion magazines

3. OPI nail polish

4. Lakeside linen

5. British comedy - I've recently been reminded how much I miss watching these shows!

And now for five people to tag... Missy, Glenna, Anna, Annemarie and Mary Kathryn. I could name soooo many more!

Othello thinks my blog is fabulous too...

I am grateful for a Saturday at home.

My First Workshop

I have had a fabulous two days. My guild hosted Catherine Theron for two classes this weekend and they (and she) were wonderful. I cannot tell you what a joy it is to belong to a guild with such wonderful people. I told someone this afternoon that this guild has really expanded my horizons in so many ways in the few short months I've been a member. One of those ways was attending a workshop for the very first time. Yesterday Catherine taught her Williamsburg Remembered Sewing Case and today taughter her Quaker Sewing Case. I had so much fun and learned quite a bit in both classes. I learned two new stitches yesterday, the trellis stitch and the spiral trellis stitch, both of which are so cool when they're finished! Above you can see the very exciting stitching that I accomplished in both days. The pieces on the left and right are from today's Quaker class. The piece in the middle is from yesterday. Aren't you amazed by my skills?! That is 158 (count them) stitches in stem stitch in silk. Woohoo!! (ignore my basting line.) But really, I learned a ton...even if I don't have the stitching to show for it. Catherine is a lovely woman, and I so enjoyed meeting her, learning from her and also visiting with her. I would jump at the opportunity to take another class with her. So, it was a wonderful weekend of stitching, but mostly being with other stitchers. This is a weekend I won't soon forget. And hopefully, I'll get those pieces done and have something to show for it! Really, my only concern is the finishing. The stitching I think will be not easy, but do-able. These are pretty detailed pieces for being so small! Anyway, for those of you who asked me questions about Catherine's workshops, pieces, etc. I will get back to you individually with the answers.

So, what else. Ah, yes. Mail. The mail came yesterday with a package from The Scarlett House. I purchased one of Tanya's beautiful ruler and needlecase sets that are handpainted by her. This one, was so different from her other pieces and I just fell in love with it. There is something just so homey and "samplerish" about the saltglaze crocks and bittersweet. Thank you, Tanya, they are even more lovely in person!!

And also last week in the mail, I received the first three BBD stockings charts. These are going to be such fun to stitch up, once I get to them. Lol! I have heard rumor that the BBD gals had a tree full of all 36 of the stockings at Market, and I would so love to see a photo of that! What a site that must have been. Anyway, I'd like to see them all hanging together someday in MY house. I think these would be good take-a-long projects though too, huh? Easy to slip into your bag and have whenever you need a little something to take the edge off.

And, I have been promising Siobhan to share a photo of a kit I have for a Tree of Life Tombstone rug. I've been wanting to learn rug hooking for awhile now, and I have two kits sitting at the back depths of my craft closet. This is one of them. But, wouldn't it look fabulous hanging with on my A&E wall (you know that imaginary wall I'm working on). I may have to just tape the charts to the wall, rather than actual stitching, but whatever. Wouldn't this look fabulous there?

So, that's all the news that's fit to print today. I am hungry and waiting for my hubby to get home so we can have dinner. I've got another full week this week, but I hope to have some time this evening to sit down with some stitching and relax.

Hope you all have a great week - and I also have an award I need to mention, so I will do that next time. Don't let me forget!

I am grateful for learning new things.

Brown Swirls and a Black Line

Hi, all! I keep meaning to get out here and post some progress photos, but it just hasn't happened. Thanks for all the compliments on the Mermaids. I intended to spend the majority of Sunday stitching, particularly on the Mermaids, but it didn't happen. I was at the emergency vet with Romeo for a good part of that day. He's fine, but it wasn't something I wanted to wait to have looked at. So, no stitching on Sunday. But, I do have some progress to report on my two CHS pieces. As you can see above, Adam & Eve is moving right along. I am stitching over one on 28ct black linen with the recommended NPIs. Love it. I apologize for the quality of my photo because I took it at about 10pm last night. I figured if I was ever going to get photos, I had to just suck it up and take them whenever I had the chance. So, not the best, but you get the idea. I love the apples. They're fun. I thought I'd work on this side of the tree and then work on filling in the tree trunk. I just wanted to have some reference points before I start down the trunk in order to help with my counting. Here's what it looked like last time.

And, you may also recall that this month I started on Shores of Hawk Run Hollow as well. I'm working on block one, usine the recommended NPIs on the recommended 36ct Vintage Autumn Gold fabric. I love the fabric, it is soooo gorgeous. Anyway, I'm using one strand over two and I wasn't sure how I was going to like it, since I am really finicky about my thread coverage. But, it seems ok so far. I finally finished that black outline of the block, I thought that would never end! And the block is actually way bigger than I imagined it was going to be. But the blocks are 92 x 92 stitches, so that's pretty big, even on 36ct I guess. I'm moving along on the lighthouse and enjoying it. I was glad to get to the red finally after all that black and white!

It's a fun stitch so far though. And I'm glad to have finally started this piece. (Please excuse the wonkiness, I need to reposition on my q-snaps and just haven't gotten around to it.)

And since I've had A&E samplers on the brain lately, I thought I'd show you what's in the new issue of Cross-stitch & Needlework Magazine (US).

I actually like the original piece a lot better than the reproduction (which you can see a corner of). They stitched it on a really light fabric, and muted down the colors. I like the darker more vintage linen the original is on, as well as the brighter colors. Not a bad sampler though!

That's about all from me here this week. I'm stitching on both the above pieces when I can and hoping to get back to Mermaids on Sunday. Oh, but I have my Catherine Theron workshop both days this weekend, which I am really looking forward to. I can't wait to attend my first workshop! It is gonna be wonderful!

Have a great rest of the week!

I am grateful for a little rain. (ok a lot of rain)