More Sampler Stocking

I worked on "Sampler Stocking" some yesterday. I'm almost to the straight part of the stocking! Woo Hoo! :)

40 ct. Meadow Rue, NPI silks (1 over 2).

I don't really have much to say today. I'm still not feeling too well. I think I do have an inner-ear infection. My mom gets them all the time and I believe I have inherited this from her. Lucky me! Hopefully I'll be back to normal soon!

Houses of Hawk Run Hollow - Block 4

Saturday night I worked on Ellen Birdseye a little bit. I think we've come to some sort of truce. :)

Sunday I didn't stitch at all because I woke up with a major case of vertigo. I'm still a little dizzy and spacey, but nothing like I was on Sunday. Yesterday I worked on HoHRH. I don't think I'm going to make my goal of finishing the fourth house by the end of the month. Oh well, I'm not going to worry about it. I'll finish it when I can.

I made a few changes to this block. I used black and green on the steps instead of lt. green and green and I filled in the windows with black instead of the green. I just wanted to give it a little more contrast. I got the idea for the windows from Tanya. Check out her beautiful stitching album here.

Well, nothing else going on here. Write soon! :)

Ornament Finish!

Karen emailed me to let me know she received the ornament I stitched for her for our ornament exchange. I stitched Little House Needleworks "Pear Tree" from the 2006 JCS Ornament Issue.

The linen is 40 ct. Vintage River Willow and the threads are Crescent Colours (I used Desert Mesquite instead of Joshua Tree) and DMC. I used Ruth's Finishing Method - my favorite way to finish ornaments! The felt is WDW Houndstouth Pecan.

I have been working on HoHRH - trying to get house four finished up by the end of April. Hopefully I can do it. I really want to stay on schedule with this one! This block is not my favorite though. The colors aren't my favorite. I'll post a pic tomorrow.

Ruthie and Stocking Progress

I have a little bit more progress to share on the two wips I've been working on most lately. I finished all the triangles on the left side of Ruth Bacheler and started on the alphabet on top.

Today I have been working on my "Sampler Stocking." I'm still loving the linen! :)

You'll have to excuse the wrinkles. I was just too lazy to iron today! And my friend Deb says it's not good to iron your silks a lot, so I'm trying not to iron too much. Although the perfectionist in me is cringing a little! :)

I also got a few things in the mail - I know, I know, I've gone a little crazy lately, but I'm slowing down now. I definitely have enough to keep me busy, for a long, long time! I placed an order with Kathy Barrick-Dieter through her Etsy Shop. She has several out of print patterns available for sale. I couldn't resist getting a few. And now I see she's added a couple more, but I will resist!!

This is the folder she sent them in. Isn't it beautiful?? And here are the patterns...

Well, that's all for now! I'm going to try to get back to my stitching before it's time to make dinner again. I think I'm going to make Sausage and Potatoes today. An old Italian recipe passed down through the generations. Write later!

Plum Street Samplers!

I received Paulette's newest patterns from Amy at Down Sunshine Lane today. They are so sweet! I already had the fabric for them and most of the threads. Here's "Rubie Owl's Sampler" first. I just love the threads for this one! They are so pretty!

And this one is "Bird in the Bower." It's such a sweet design. I missing a few of the threads. I'll have to get them soon because I really love this one! :)

Lastly I got a few threads in the mail for Blackbird Designs "Birds of a Feather." I love Wakana's (scroll down) progress on this one and asked her if she minded if I copied her. She didn't mind thankfully! :)

I worked on Ruthie a little bit more today. I'm almost finished with the triangles on the left side.

Well, nothing else going on! Just getting ready to make dinner again - tonight is spaghetti! Write later! :)

Another Start (and I like the linen this time)

Thank you all for you kind and funny comments on my post the other day. It's so nice to know I'm not alone! :) I worked on Ellen for a little bit more and then put her away. I had enough of the drama! I got out Ruthie, who is so much nicer to me (although I did have some drama with her in the beginning too) and worked on her a little bit...

And yesterday while working on Ruth Bacheler my linen came for my CHS "Sampler Stocking." I ordered the recommended 40 ct. Meadow Rue for it and I love it! I was so happy when I opened the package and saw the color - it's so pretty. :)

Well, not much else going on here - just getting ready to make dinner! write later! :)

Cross Stitch for Sale!

I've added some more things to my trade blog!

Welcome to the Loony Bin!

I worked on "Ellen Birdseye" last night. I was not happy with the linen though. I didn't think it was dark enough. So I decided to over-dye it was a little tan Rit Dye. I dried it and started stitching some more. I still wasn't happy with it, so I dyed it again with some tea and coffee and threw it in the oven for ten minutes. And then I decided it's not the color, it's the linen. It's too thin. It's like stitching on tissue. I don't know why some 36 ct. linens are like that. I ended up crumpling it up and throwing it in the trash. Yes, I did! I got out a piece of 32 ct. Days Gone By linen from my "Glad Tidings" Shepherd's Bush kit and decided to start over. I did the border and the little bird in the corner and finally went to sleep around 1 am. I woke up this morning and I did not like it on the Days Gone By. At all. So I dug in the trash and amazingly my original Ellen was just fine. I rinsed it out and dried it and started stitching on it some more. I think I need to check myself into a mental hospital. How can I obsess over my stitching so much? Why can't I just pick a linen and be happy with it? Why do I do this? Anyway, here's my progress....

I was very close to setting the whole thing aside and starting something else, but I didn't. I'm determined to finish it now! I think I actually like it now! :) Write later - after I get out of the hospital!

This is the Day - Finished??

I worked on "This is the Day" all day yesterday. I was going to leave the top alphabet not filled in and then I decided to fill it in. Well after about five or six rows I decided I didn't like it. I spent the night ripping it out. I'm fairly happy with how it turned out. I hope it doesn't look too unfinished. I just thought white was a little too bright. I thought about coffee-dyeing it, but then I thought the other threads might run. And then I thought about using a different color, but then I would have to rip out the bottom too, so for now it's finished. Maybe I'll change my mind later, but I doubt it! :)

Hands to Work (Tracy Riffle) "This is the Day"
Just Cross Stitch Jan/Feb 2009
Fabric: 40 ct. Coffee and Tea-Dyed using Vonna's Method
Threads: Cresent Colours, GAST and WDW
Started: 3/20/09 - Finished: 4/17/09

After I finished TiTD - I decided to start something new. I decided to start The Goode Huswife's "Ellen Birdseye" using Melissa's conversion. I found a pretty piece of 36 ct. Vintage Navy Bean in my stash. I'm stitching it one over two.

I think I'm really going to love stitching this one! Well, it's such a beautiful day today, I think I'm going to take the kids to the beach or a park. Write soon! :)

Back to This is the Day

I decided to get out "This is the Day" yesterday. I worked on the over one portion all night. What a pain! Over one on 40 ct. is not too fun, but I'm happy with how it turned out. I ended up putting Nicole N instead of my initials.

I started on the bottom portion today. I used Red Currant for the vase and Wild Berries and WDW Red Pear (thanks for the idea Katrina) for the flowers. I also used Wild Berries for the words and Red Pear for the heart.

Thank you to everyone for your very kind comments on Ida Mae. A couple people commented that she reminded them of their grandma or aunt. She reminded me of my grandma. Her name was Edna Mae. I think that's one of the main reasons I had to stitch her! :)



P.S. This is the Day can be found in the Jan/Feb 2009 Just Cross Stitch

Ida Mae Crow Finished!

I got her finished up today! It was such a fun stitch! I want to get her framed right away. I just love it! :)

The Goode Huswife "Ida Mae Crow" (c)2009 (not oop!)
Fabric: 35 ct. Straw WDW Linen
Threads: Needlepoint Inc. Silks (2 over 2)

The last picture is the frame I'm thinking of ordering from American Frame. I love how you can go on their site and upload a picture to see how it looks with the different moldings. I also like how inexpensive it is. I'm thinking of ordering a few. I'd love to get started on my sampler wall! Now, I guess I should be good and get back to one of my many wips. Write soon! :)

Ida Mae Crow

I was itching to start something new yesterday, so I decided to start The Good Huswife's "Ida Mae Crow." I'm using the recommend linen and threads - 35 ct. WDW Straw and NPI silks (2 over 2).

I also decided to kit a few other things up. The first is Plantation Sampler. I loved Tanya's finish and I am copying her conversion of NPI silks and DMC. The fabric is 40 ct. Vintage Maritime White. She used 45 ct. I'm not that brave! I thought she did such a beautiful job with it.

The second is Ellen Birdseye. I'm such a copycat because I'm also copying the colors Melissa used for her recent finish. The linen I think I'm going to use is 36 ct. Vintage Navy Bean.

And last is Carriage House Samplings "Sampler Stocking." I'm joining a SAL with Annemarie and Barbara starting on the 16th. I pulled the threads and I think I'm going to be using 40 ct. Pearled Barley.

I just had to get my ds from school because he has an earache. He doesn't have a fever, so I think it's just from him being congested with a cold he's had. I put some earache drops in and gave him some Tylenol and now he's sound asleep. The poor thing. Anyway, I'm sure he'll be fine. Thank you all for your very kind comments the other day! It's so good to be back! Write soon! :)

edited to add: Ida Mae Crow is a new chart released recently by The Goode Huswife (she's designing again!).

I'm Home!

I got home last night about 9 pm. It was nice to see family and friends, but I'm so glad to be home! I'm ready to get back to my routine. I did get a tiny bit of stitching done. I started "Lo" right before I left.

I'm using DMC (2 over 2) on 32 ct. Vintage Lentil. So far it's a fun stitch.

My first stop was my old LNS Silk Road Needle Arts. I went straight for the Lakeside Linen drawer and found a beautiful cut of 32 ct. Vintage Sand Dune. I also got Shepherd's Bush's "Mermaid Sampler" and a SANQ magazine that I didn't have.

I got to meet up with Deb on Thursday and we went to the Golden Needle and then to lunch at the Olive Garden. It was so Yummy! I had Baked Ziti and we both got the Tiramisu. Here's some stash I got at Golden Needle.

La-D-Da "La-D-Da Alphabet" and "Old Glory Angel" and a great $1 find - Mary Garry's Sewing Cabin "Ice-Skating Party."


Lakeside Linen 40 ct. Vintage Light Examplar, Picture This Plus 36 ct. Earthen, and Lakeside Linen 40 ct. Vintage Sand Dune.

After lunch with Deb, I stopped at Needlepoint Ivy on my way home. I got some Blackbird Design charts that I didn't have, some linen and another $1 find - Just Nan's "Morning Song."

On the way back up to South Carolina I stopped at the Olde Green Cupboard in Jacksonville. It's such a cute shop. It's mostly a quilting shop, but they do carry some cross stitch. They also have antiques and other house stuff. It's just a neat shop to browse around in. Anyway, I found a few things there also...

I was excited to find these OOP Sheepish Design charts there "Alpha Bird" and Alpha Menagerie."

I went just a tad crazy with the stash buying, but hey, I was on vacation! :) I think I've met my stash buying quota for a while now! Now I need to get to stitching! Write soon!