Welcome to 2017

First Things First:  Happy 10th Birthday to my sweet little Jasmine all curled up after destroying the bed!  She was not too happy that I uncovered her to take her photo......

I am doing Stitch From Stash 2017A.  It is stitching only from what I have on hand and sticking to a budget for the first six months of the year.  I have so many things I want to complete this year and I know I have more projects that I will live long enough to finish!



New Start 

Ye Old Coffee House, Little House Needleworks

Am doing this with the called for DMC on 28 count Clay jobelan and I love the fabric.  Unfortunately, however, the frog has been visiting me on this project so it is really dragging.  I am going to change out the heart at the top to a coffee cup.....I am not a huge "heart" fan.  I also am thinking about changing the date to the date we moved into our house in Blanco, Texas since that is where I plan to hang it......




Beautiful Sea Sampler SAL, Ships's Manor

I am determined to catch up on the Beautiful Sea Sampler SAL.   I am into part four so I am just about halfway caught up!    I am doing it on 28 Count Mystic Lugana with the Ship's Manor threads.  They are really great colors and I am enjoying it.  I cannot wait to be caught up.

Linen & Threads 2017 Mystery Band Sampler

This is a free pattern from Linen and Threads and it looks like it is going to be a year long project.  I have a piece of 32 count belfast in Platinum that I am going to use.  My dilemma is the threads.  It takes about 30 skeins and I am stitching from stash this year.  I went through and pulled all the DMC colors that I had over 10 skeins and they are mostly greens, golds and a little brown. I think it would be pretty, but I am so bad at deciding colors I am kind of nervous to start it.  I really do not want to fall behind (comes out monthly) so I gotta just go for it!  If I use the greens I may put the Evergreen Sampler on hold since it is alot of green.

WIPS

Here is where I am starting this year.  No photos as I have not made any progress on any of them.   With the new starts that give me about 8 WIPs which I think is plenty for a month or so!

Dancing Deer, Cherished Stitches

Evergreen Sampler, Good Housekeeping Christmas Book

Alice Merryfield, Pineberry Lane

But Happy They, Homespun Elegance

Books Reading Books, HAED

Knot Garden, Chatelaine



Thank you for visiting.  I hope your new year has had a great beginning.

Change of Plans

As is usually the case, October comes to Texas and I cannot bear to leave.  So, I will stay on the bend until some time in November.   We had such a great time with our visitors.  I forget how I enjoy having them.

The fall is so terrific.  The deer are out and all the critters are getting ready for winter.  This is a year for pecans so the squirrels are staying busy.

I have made a little stiching progress this month.

Hatching Christmas, Good Housekeeping

Just have to work on the border.  I am considering changing it to a more Christmas themed border.....perhaps holly leaves.  Turned out pretty cute for my chicken raising DIL.

Home is Where You Hang Your Needlework, Homespun Elegance

Once I got the lettering done I just winged it on the motifs around the outside.  I think it is finished.  This is a project that I may stitch again and follow the chart a little more closely.

Books Reading Books, HAED

I just started Page 15 so I am almost halfway done.  I will not bore you with another photo.


Woodland Wonder, Glendon Place

I am thinking that perhaps this fabric is a little too sparkly (if that is possible).  Interestingly, this fabric is a little more difficult to stitch on that I would have thought.  However, I still love it and will keep going.  The pattern calls for combining 2 strands of white and one strang of the Kreinik metallic but I don't know.  Seems like it will be bulky.  I decided not to put the metallic on the snowflakes around the border (since the fabric is so sparkly) and am still pondering the snowflakes inside the border.  I may wait until more of the reindeer and trees are done to make a finaly decision.

Bee Keeper, Plum Street Samplers

I am enjoying this project in spite of myself!  Alternating the large blocks of color with the other details and border.  It is going well.

Comet, Nora Corbett

This project is kind of interesting.  I like it, but not as much as I thought I would (and I ordered 2 other reindeer.......I cannot imagine that I will do all of them)   It may be one of those projects that I like better once I get it done.  Who knows.

A FINISH!!

O Canada, Jeanette Douglas

Although this project has proven to be far more tedious than I would have thought, I really enjoy doing it and it has given me a new appreciation for samplers in general.  There are so many errors in it I cannot even remember most of them....but it will be off to it's recipient in a couple of days.  I have not "signed" it and am not sure that I will.  So I am hanging onto it until next week.

Mid March

It has been a busy and interesting few weeks.  Rocking along on all these WIPS.  But no finishes this month so far.  Trying to do some serious organization before I have to pack up and head East in about a month.

I am sure it is my imagination, but there have been a plethora of little annoying things happening in the past few days.  Makes me stressed and ill tempered.  Nothing major,  just those minor things that get on my nerves and distract me from what I want to accomplish.


17th Century Irish Garden, Liz Taylor Deihl

 I have determined that the Madeira Threads that are with the Irish Garden will have to be put on bobbins as I pull out one strand.  I am not sure I like the Madeira threads as much as I like DMC.  They seem alot "thinner" and prone to tangling and shredding.  So far this project is coming along nicely.  The chart is different in several ways but it is not bad once I get the hang of it.  The instructions are not as clear as I like but it is testing my brain power!  Lots of fractional stitches and back stitching so far but not enough to make it a pain to stitch.  I think the cats are really cute.  There is a story about them that I will put with the finished project.

Books Reading Books, HAED

Still working on the same page.  Try as I might I simply cannot figure out the parking method.  I am going to try once again on the next page.  I would like to at least do the page in some kind of systematic order rather than scattering all over the place.  It makes the tiny holds of the 18 count Aida harder to count than it needs to be.  I really want to figure out a better system as I have many pages to go to complete this project.

Lavender Fields, John Clayton

I find this a little boring as I thought I might.  I am just about 2/3 of the way done and would like  to finish it this month.

Gardens of London, Chatelaine

I finally got the top part of the buildings done.  Now moving on to the left side......more buildings.  Here again, perhaps being able to park my threads would be helpful.   I put it on a different size Qsnap and have not decided if I will try a large scroll frame again until I get to Texas.

Grace Needlepoint Project, Dimensions

Had to do some riding in the car last week so I got a little more accomplished on this project.

I also ordered a new kind of frame.  I am trying to find an easier way to work on the large Chatelaine designs I have kitted and ready to go.  While I like the Q Snaps I dislike moving them around and I do not like the way the excess fabric as to be wadded up.  In particular, because I know I will not be able to launder the chatelaine design projects I am concerned about constantly messing with the stitched areas.  I look at it and it looks like some of the stitches are worn.  Probably my imagination.

Here are the "fabric stretchers".  I have not yet put them to use.  I have been trying to avoid starting a new project!  I put the marks on the bars for lining up the fabric.  They are from Just a Thought.  I have two of their stands and am anxious to use these bars.

Pumpkin Swirl, Glendon Place

And last but not least, I frogged the incorrect stitches from Pumpkin Swirl and put it back on the scroll bars.  It was one block off so the center did not line up correctly.    I have been beading as I go so  I think I will just finish up the stitching before I add any more beads.  I hope I can get this done this year.  While I like this project and have a couple of other Glendon Place dessert series kitted I am not sure I will be starting another one any time soon.  It is not that they are hard, but they are a little tedious with all the beading.  Time will tell I suppose.

I seem to have a few projects that I have put aside (at least six).  I call them my TWIDME (this WIP is driving me crazy).  Pumpkin swirl is only the latest.  They are haunting me lately so I think I will try to get back to them one at a time.

That is it for now.  We have a busy few weeks coming up; guests and birthdays and packing for our trip.  Hopefully I will be able to put in a little stitching time.

Thanks for visiting and for putting up with my ranting!