Leaves and Acorns

It's been slightly cooler these days, which is lovely. And although they keep predicting rain, I haven't experienced any. But, my mind is most definitely in an autumn mode. I'm making plans to go to the State Fair. I'm thinking ahead to long sleeve shirts and pumpkin bread. So, I suppose it's fitting that I've been stitching leaves on Isabella. I was perfectly content sticking to the leaves in the border until Marie commented on my last post that she had to go ahead and put some red in too. Then, you know, I had to put some red in too. So, she's got some red and I'm loving loving loving stitching on her. (And look at the pretty floss tags Sylvia made!)

And since I haven't shown you And They Sinned in a little while, I thought I'd share. I've been stitching acorns (and a big squirrel!).

I am getting close to having page 1 finished. Not much longer now! And I have to thank Siobhan for her inspiration. I noticed her angel's wings were outlined in gold, so then, you know, I had to outline my angel's wings in gold. Love it!!! Next up I'll get to work on Adam and Eve on the right hand side. (I'll go back and finish the angel's face when I do A&E's.) I love how this is looking, even if it's slow going.

Hope you enjoy your week, and your stitching!!

I am grateful for learning something new.

Workshop Weekend

Saturday was my Hare Pyns class. I burned the midnight oil and attempted to complete the stitching I needed to have done for the class. But, it didn't happen. I still had a little bit to go on the background stitching. And let me tell you, the background stitching is so worth it - it really looks great. But it takes for-ever! So, background stitching finally completed, but I was so tired from having stayed up late and then getting up early to stitch that I decided trying to work on finishing my piece was not the brightest idea. So, I listened and watched and took notes. I just couldn't trust myself to cut fabric and sew things together correctly.

But, at least the big portion of the stitching is complete now.

I'll have to get started on the smalls for the piece, because some of them are needed to do the finishing of the sewing roll. But, hopefully those won't take too long to complete. I have a needle book, pinkeep, scissor sheath, fob and pincushion to complete. But, for now, I'm not going to think about it. And I just hope that I can get the finishing done on my own, since I wasn't able to do it in class. (Not the best photo, by far, of the piece but I wanted you to see how it looked with all the parts of the sewing roll stitched.)

But, anyway, onto other things. I know it's been "all Hare Pyns, all the time" around here lately. Sylvia's gift for my birthday arrived and I just had to show you. She made me a project wallet. Isn't it gorgeous? I just love the black and white fabric - it's so Vogue. I'm so excited to put it to good use!!!

And the lining fabric is just as fabulous!! Look how fun!

And one of the other things she sent was this fabulous Reflects de Soie book. It has several reproduction samplers in it that are so pretty! There's even an A&E! And the book is very well done, with really clear charts and photos. Very very nice.

So thank you, Sylvia, for everything - I'm in love with all of it!!

And also for my birthday, Sylvia and I started Isabella Johnstone. I've only worked on her a couple of nights, but so far I'm enjoying her. We're stitching her on 40ct Vintage Lentil with Belle Soies. Now that I've got the big push of Hare Pyns behind me, I'm excited to work on Isabella some more.

I did also manage to get back to ATS yesterday too for my regular Sunday SAL day. I'm making a bit of progress on it and someday I'll finally get page 1 finished! I'll be sure to post a photo soon.

Mr. Hare says: "I'm so glad she's done stitching on this thing...she was wearing me out!"

I am grateful for some uninterrupted stitching time yesterday.

You Can't Handle the Tooth

I have had no less than three, count them, three emails from concerned stitchers asking how I'm coming along with my bargello. Well, let me just tell you...the bargello is a thing of the past! I took a little sabbatical last weekend and it is amazing what one can accomplish when there is nothing to do but stitch. I've now moved on to the inside panel (the FINAL panel).

It may just be possible that I can get this sucker done in time for the workshop on the 17th. I do have to admit that it is looking pretty though. Even if it is a pain in the ass.

And I wanted to share with you a little something I bought for myself during my stitching weekend - a handmade velvet strawberry. Isn't it the prettiest thing? It's sharing the spotlight with a tomato and stickpin that I received as a gift.

And Valerie surprised me with some amazing things off my wishlist. I can't wait to dig into that little charm pack of Blackbird fabric! Thank you so much, Valerie!!! Something else to stitch for my A&E wall - I can't wait!

And in case you're wondering what I was smoking when I came up with the title for this blog post. Well...wonder no more.

Exactly.

I am grateful for a weekend of laughs, tears, and Beyoncé.