Finish, new WIP, and some answers

So I did manage to finish Beneath the Waters.  Yay!

Beneath the Waters

Carriage House Samplings

30ct Legacy Custard Creme Linen over one

NPI threads called for

I really love how it came out!  

 

Now all I have to do is attach it to the box I made it for.  lol!

But instead of doing that, I happily gave myself permission to start a new project.  Bad girl!  Oh well!  I started Shakespeare's Peddlers' reproduction of Sarah Woodham.  I needed me some good flowery border to stitch!  I know some of you hate to do borders, but I sorta like stitching them!  And with my projects recently, there's been nary a sign of one.  

Here it is so far.

 

The fabric color doesn't show up well in the picture.  It's 40ct vintage Maple Sugar, and I'm using the Gloriana, Belle Soie and Threadgatherer silks called for.

I have to say, these are not my favorite fibers to use.  I have to use much shorter lengths and even so they tend to fuzz and shred.

I'm also doubting my fabric choice.  I keep worrying that the white isn't showing up as well as it should.  But I'm far enough along that I'll probably keep going.  I think it's looking ok.  I hope!

There have been a number of questions that I really should answer.  For starters, someone asked what the samplers in my new header are.  Here's the list of samplers from left to right.

Historic Countries Mystery Sampler (from the Gift of Stitching Magazine, a series)
Time and Season Sampler (Moira Blackburn)
Plantation Sampler (Canterbury Designs)
This is the Day (Hands to Work from JCS Magazine)
Dutch Beauty (Permin)
Lois Minshall (Threads of Gold)
Rachel Hyde (Threads through Time)
Ann Rogers (The Essamplaire) (also the first piece on the 2009 finishes post)
Hannah Lancaster (Porcupine Collection)
Charlotte Clayton (Northwest Sampler Guild)

Part of Charlotte Clayton, of course, was my old header picture. 

I've also been asked how I stitch since I don't use scroll rods or q snaps or hoops anymore (as I did in my old stitching life).  I stitch in hand with the sewing motion.  I think those who can stitch with a stand and who keep one hand on top and one on the bottom are the ones who are the fastest stitchers.  But I hate being tied down to a stand, scroll rods or whatever.  In hand stitching gives me the freedom I love.  Which is a good thing -- if I used things like scroll rods or stands, I'd be wanting all the cool ones with the pretty woods!  lol!

A while back I gave Sherry a chart she'd been searching for.  Imagine my surprise when an envelope came in the mail with a lovely card containing this.

(Sorry -- the streak of sunlight was supposed to be artsy but now you can't see the top pins very well.)   Such beautiful pins for my collection, on a nice red piece of fabric!  Thank you so much Sherry, for such a wonderful surprise!

In other news, the girl child is more than halfway through her first week of the second semester now.  She went back to college on Sunday -- and immediately emailed saying she needed money.  lol!  Our fault for not realizing that of course with the new semester starting, she would need money for her textbooks.  The boy child is through with his midterm exams and is now finishing up the first week of his second semester at high school.  Tomorrow is that mysterious entity known as Superintendent's Conference Day, so no school and a three day weekend.  The poor teachers have to go in though.  There's another SCD the weekend of his birthday -- that one seems to be a permanent fixture since it's occurred on his birthday weekend for the past few years.  But this one was a surprise from the blue.  Good thing it's on the calendar -- I had to check online several times and ask the boy child if he really had the day off tomorrow or if I'd written it in on the calendar by accident!  

So who's excited about market?  :D  Meeeeeee!   Kathy  of Carriage House Samplings has started showing peeks of her Autumn at Hawk Run Hollow on her blog.   I'm impatiently waiting to see any sneak peeks from Barb and Alma on their Blackbird Designs blog.   (Pretty please, Alma?)   Lisa of Primitive Needle has shown a few sneak peeks on her blog as well.   As has Paulette of Plum Street Samplers.  And Ellen of With My Needle.   Etc etc etc.  Oh I'm going crazy already!   I'd better stop talking before I plotz!

Enjoy the rest of the week and the weekend!  Thanks for stopping by and saying hi!

Stitchy pictures

Another A&E finish.  I really like this one -- it's Know Ye by La D Da.  I used 40ct vintage Pearled Barley and the called for NPI.

Know Ye by La D Da

40ct vintage Pearled Barley with NPI silks

I think it's so sweet.  And I love the colors!  (Sorry for the wrinkles.  I don't believe in ironing.  lol!)

A bunch of us decided to have Quaker Fridays a while back.  I was sorely tempted to start Ann Grimshaw, but I was good and pulled out a WIP/UFO.  Can you guess what I picked to work on on Quaker Fridays?  Yes!  My nemesis, also known as the three times started Mouline Rouge!  Here's where I am as of the last Quaker Friday.

Mouline Rouge by Long Dog Samplers

40ct Antique White with NPI 636

It really is pretty, and I'm finally convinced that I like this red.  (It took pulling it out after a year to convince me.)   But I'm having a hard time sticking to it!  I have a feeling Quaker Fridays are distracting me a lot from sticking to what I'm stitching.

Speaking of distraction, after finishing Know Ye, I so wanted to start one of two projects that have been calling my name -- very loudly.  But I told myself I really need to finish one of the WIPs that I have going before I can even think about starting something new.  Sooooooo, first I tried pulling out And All Was For an Appil.  And was totally unsuccessful.  After all, I'm a very long way from a finish on that one.   So if I wanted a finish that was reasonably close, I decided I needed to pull out Beneath the Waters.  Agh!  Back to over one!  But I got into it.  And here is where I am.

Beneath the Waters by Carriage House Samplings

30ct Legacy Custard Creme over one

NPI silks

I think now that I'm getting animals with color in, I'm enjoying the stitch again.

Isn't the snail cute?   :D  I have to fill in that area inside the snakes with more sea creatures. 

In other news, the father type just called saying that he's stuck in the biggest traffic jam ever on the highway to work.  It's snowing, albeit lightly, and there's an accident somewhere.  Poor father type was bored so he called to see if school was still on.  And it is!  I'm hoping it stays on, but I'm not looking forward to driving in the snow.  This week is exam week for the boy child at the high school.  Which means he only goes in for the exams he takes.  Which means I have to be driving him back and forth to school for his exams.  Which means that the boy child is still asleep, and probably will be asleep till he absolutely has to get up for his 1:15 exam.  Agh!   He's got an exam today and one tomorrow and then he'll be done with his exams!  I sure hope he does/did well!

The girl child is home this week for the break between semesters.  She'll be going back to college on Sunday to start the second semester.  Poor thing was so tired when she got home.  She had to work on an internship application too, but that's done and now she's relaxing as much as possible before the grind starts again.

And of course, the other news is the Australian Open!  You think I forgot?  Nooooo!   It's been very interesting so far.  And now we know who is in the women's final -- Serena Williams and Justine Henin.  I have to agree with Peter Bodo --  I don't think it would be good for women's tennis at this point for Justine to win the title.  What, so Kim Cljisters and Justine Henin can just waltz in after a few years of retirement and grab slam titles for the taking?  (Cljisters won the US Open after coming back from retirement in just a few months of playing.  Henin has just returned to tennis after retirement, again only just a few weeks into playing.)   It wouldn't look very good for those who've been playing all this time while they were gone.  Sorry, just my opinion, and also that of Peter Bodo.

As for the men, Andy Murray is in the final, and tonight/tomorrow, Roger Federer and Jo Wilfried Tsonga will play for the last spot in the final.  I'm rooting for Federer to go to the final, of course.  The final?  Well, I like both Murray and Federer so it'll be interesting to see what happens!  Federer is in his 23rd straight slam semifinal.  Pretty impressive.  Ok, I'll be quiet now.  :D

Thanks for stopping by and saying hi!  Hope it's nice and sunny where you are!

Back in control after bout of startitis -- maybe

 Well, the New Year has brought about a serious case of startitis.  I admit, I'm one of the victims.  And I know I'm not the only one.  There's Karoline, Gio, and -- well I know there were a whole slew of New Year's starts if nothing else!  I think all those New Year's starts just got the ball rolling!  So here's my case of startitis laid out to see.

You all know about the Prairie Schooler ABC SAL.  I'm currently here on it.  Admittedly, this was not part of the startitis.  But I had to show where I was before the startitis started.  :D

I think if there weren't 27 parts to it, it wouldn't be so discouraging.

Then, I wanted to try something else over one (the PS ABC is over one on 30ct), so I started this -- Beneath the Waters by CHS, which I'm also stitching over one on 30ct.

As you can see, I've gotten a bit farther since the last picture.  I do love this one -- need to get back to it!

Then New Year's Day came along and I said -- oh boy!  An excuse for a new start!  Sooooo, I started And All Was For an Appil by the Scarlet Letter with Laurie and some others.  This is what the piece will look like.

And here is where I am.  Rather paltry.

In case you're wondering, it's the cloud in the upper left hand corner.  Oh, and a bit of the sun underneath.  I'm using 40ct R&R Apple Brown Bindy with DMC threads. 

The funny thing about this one is that going back to over two on 40ct was rather jarring.  After all the over one on 30ct, over 2 on 40ct looked absolutely ginormous!!  And I just couldn't settle into it!  Of course part of the problem was that everyone was still home on vacation and break -- hubby and kids both.  And I couldn't just settle into a normal stitch.

So anyway, my mind was wandering around, thinking how much I was missing that over one on 30ct.  And I happened to think of another A&E that I'd started a couple of years ago and put down because the over one on 30ct was driving me crazy.  Hmmm, I thought.  I bet I could handle that one now!   So I went into my WIP (or UFO) drawers and found my Elizabeth Inman by the  Scarlet Letter.   And I seemed to find my cure for startitis.  This is what the piece will look like.

And here is where I am.

Now keep in mind that I already had the first four lines of the top verse done when I put it down back in 2007 or whenever that was.  I only had one more line of verse to do to get to the good part, but at that point in time, I didn't have the patience.  But now I did!

The good parts.  :D

I'm using AVAS and an unidentified piece of 30ct linen.  Ok, if you have to know, I bought the kit.  And that's what I'm using. 

A word of warning.  See the motif in the center there above?  With the blue flowers?  That was supposed to be stitched over two.  I followed the instructions, which didn't mention that that motif was supposed to be over two.  Then I looked closely at the pictures on the website and realized my error.  No way am I frogging that!  Luckily, from that point on, I just looked at the picture for what was to be stitched over two.  Just note that for future reference if you're planning to stitch this one.

So I think that's the end of my startitis for now.  It had better be -- I need to finish something now instead of accumulating WIPs!   There is one exception though.  I'm joining an impromptu SAL for a day of Quaker stitching a week.  But that's it!!  Really!  :D

Of course, we're not counting all the quilting and knitting that's been going on recently.  In my head that is.  I hope to do some actual quilting and knitting at some point too.  lol!

In other news, starting January 4, everyone was back to school and work.  The girl child even had to go back to school for language classes and to study for her finals.  She'll be back for her between semesters break at the end of January.  Anyway, it was really nice to get back to routine -- I don't know if anyone else thought so, but I did!   After all, the father type had been home on vacation since December 14!!  That's a loooooong time!  I dearly love my father type, but having him underfoot for that long -- well let's just say it's nice to be back to the norm!  I enjoy my alone time, even if it's not always stitching time!  Sorry, father type!  Hope you don't mind!

Thanks for stopping by and saying hi.  Sorry it took me so long to post in the New Year!

Christmas fun, framed pics, new stitching, etc

Well, the Christmas tree is down, and the holidays are still going.  But first here is what Christmas Day looked like.

The presents all waiting to be opened.  And here are the boy child and girl child.  Can you tell which one was first up?

If you guessed the girl child was first up, you'd be wrong.  Hard to tell from the pictures though, huh?  We had fun opening our presents.  Then it was the lovely father type to cook our Christmas dinner for us.  Here's the table all decked out with food.

It was a great Christmas day.  But the tree was dropping needles at the slightest breath of air.  So it was goodbye tree by the second day of Christmas.  Now everything is back to normal and ready for the New Year!

I said in my last post that I may end up starting something new.  Well, I did.  Here it is.

It's called Beneath the Waters by Carriage House Samplings, although I think it was done when Kathy Barrick was still calling herself Barrick Designs.  Here is what the finished piece will look like.

And if you're interested in getting a copy of the chart, here's the link.   Kathy Barrick sells a lot of her OOP charts now on her etsy site.   I'm stitching mine on the same fabric as my PS Alphabets, 30ct Legacy Custard Creme over one, with the called for NPI fibers.  I want it to fit on a wonderful box that I recently got.

My friend Kathy (no blog) and I went to our favorite LNS on Tuesday, where I picked up two of my framed pieces.  Here they are, Frederick and Frederika, all framed with frames from Valley House Primitives.

And here is a picture of the frame detail.  I just love these frames!

While at our LNS, Kathy and I enjoyed the CHS trunk show that was there.  I ended up picking up the chart for this

(A Mind Independent and Free by CHS). And I was totally awed by all the CHS stockings hanging up -- what a sight!  And Christmas at Hawk Run Hollow was there as well!  Oh my -- to see this in person!  The colors are just stunning!  If you like the piece from what you've seen online, well, let me tell you, it's even better in person!  I am now sorely tempted to start in on that BAP!  But I also want to join in with Laurie of Corgi Cottage on And All Was For an Appil by Scarlet Letter.    All of which is a problem, since I'm in the midst of stitching the PS Alphabets and also Beneath the Waters!   I think all of this nonstitching time with the family is causing a major case of I-wanna-start-itis!  lol!

Well, the father type is still on vacation till the beginning of the New Year.  The boy child is off school till then, and the girl child as well.  The girl child will be going back to college Sunday to prepare for exams -- her college saves the fun of finals till after Christmas, a real bummer.  But until then, we're all snug at home.  Well, except for the occasional trip to the LNS, the kids disappearing with their friends, -- you get the idea.  But it's a pretty blissful, relaxing holiday.  Not much in the way of stitching, but such is life.

I hope you all have a wonderful, happy, and healthy New Year.  Thanks for stopping by my blog and sharing my stitching life with me.  It hasn't been a year yet that I've been blogging, but it's getting there!  Amazing!  It's been fun blogging with you all this year!  See you in 2010!