My first IHSW of 2013

Well, I was finally able to participate in an IHSW.  The weather was gorgeous and I had a house guest on Saturday but other than that, I managed to get a few hours of stitching in.  I worked on the SAL Iris and actually had the presence of mind to take a before picture:

 and an after picture:

This piece is almost finished -- woohoo!

I was originally nervous about changing the colors on this project but at this point am happy with the results.  Happy Monday, everyone!

Exchanges from February

It's been so long since I did these exchanges that I forgot all about them in yesterday's entry.  Must be a sign of my advancing age.

The first one is for Fair and Square's Valentine Exchange.  Kathy stitched me these pretty squares:

I love Celtic knots, pink and glitter -- could they be more perfect?

And for her, I picked something that reminded me of an old-fashioned Valentine card by Laura J. Perine:

The second exchange I participated in was for Stitched With Love's Cozy Winter Exchange.  Janet stitched me a sweet starry night and included lots of other wonderful goodies with her package:

I had to laugh when I opened the card she sent.  If you could see me and my pups laying on the couch, we look very much like the man sleeping in his chair covered in furry friends.  I don't have a kitty for on my head but my little papillon Firefly finds that spot to her liking.

For my part of the exchange, I stitched Winter Band Sampler by Elizabeth's Designs for Jessica:

 I also managed to get Adriana framed sometime in February, I think it was:

And hopefully, I'm all caught up now with all things stitchy.

Lotsa little ornies

It appears that life is getting back to normal for me -- thank heavens.  I've been basically off line for that past couple months because of work and some health problems.  I always hoped that I didn't inherit my dad's cardiovascular system but now that I'm getting older, it appears that I did --- ratz!  So now I'm watching my salt intake, exercising and trying to lose some excess weight.  I wish I could figure out a way to stitch and exercise at the same time but so far I haven't come up with any good ideas.

And so there is little to show for the past 2 months stitching-wise.  Mostly I've worked on Christmas and Halloween ornaments:

I Believe in Santa by The Primitive Hare

Frosty flakes by Little House Needleworks

Scaredy Cat by Blue Ribbon Designs

Night Owl by Prairie Schooler

Haunted House by Handblessings

 And last but not least, I worked a little on my Sticklounge SAL:

Iris by Nolda von Hezewijk

It really isn't much to show for 2 months but all lined up like this, it doesn't look so bad after all  ;-)

IHSW for February

Unfortunately, I was busy with work (blechht!) and dog agility so I didn't get much stitching done.  I worked on Scaredy Cat by Blue Ribbon Designs, namely the cat's tail and the bat:

And that's all she wrote for this IHSW.  I hope your stitching weekend was more productive.

The first WIPocalypse

I managed to get lots of stitching done since the last full moon.  Mainly because the dogs and I didn't have many classes in January . . . . .  sad for them, happy for stitching.  The Tulip Sampler got many x's and back stitching added to it.  One large block and 2 smaller ones are now finished:

 

I also spent time on Flower Power, finishing the third band of lattice and the words.  However, I decided to revamp the words a bit by making them a little fancier than the pattern:

I like my letters but don't like the way they ended up on the fabric.  The first line looks great, the second I don't like.  I hated to have the orphan "may" just hanging there by itself so I began the second line of verse on the same physical line.  Hmmmmm, not the best layout.

Soooo, I did a little 'photoshop-ing' and changed it to look like this:

I like this better but . . . . before I go ripping it out, I'm going to let it set for awhile.   I may think of a different and perhaps, better, way of doing it.  I really prefer things centered but didn't feel like charting the whole thing out because what usually happens when I chart things out, I do it wrong and things don't get centered correctly  -- driving me totally nuts.  BTW -- the little zig-zaggy lines aren't complete.  There's more to be added to them.

I finished 2 smaller projects that have been sitting around for some time now.  The first is Get into the Spirit by Brittercup.  This was one of my 2011 Crazy Challenge choices that was never finished . . . until now that is:

And this one is probably 4 or 5 years in the stitching.  It's one of those cute Mill Hill beaded kits on paper called Bountiful Kitties.  I'm tickled pink that it's finally finished.

 These two are finished because I joined a couple SAL's --  the Christmas Ornament SAL  and the Halloween Ornament SAL -- devoted to stitching an ornie a month.

And there you have it, a months worth of WIPocalypse stitching.  I hope February is just as productive for both you and me. 

IHSW for January

I spent a goodly amount of time stitching over the weekend but cannot show a single pic because both the pieces I worked on are surprises.  Sorry.

But I do have a picture of Adriana washed and ironed and ready for the framer:

What's new for 2013

I started a new project for the new year.  It's called Iris by designer Nolda von Hezewijk.  It's one of three patterns based on the work of Albert Smit.  Adriana was also based on the work of this gentleman.

You will notice after checking the link that I decided to change the colors a bit.  The bright blue is too much for my taste and instead of the gold thread, I'm using a DMC thread with blending filament over it (still lots of sparkle).  The fabric is 32 count cream Irish Linen and I'm stitching over 2 threads.  I'm lovin' the warm, caramel look of the browns.  Sooo yummy!

Another new thing is that I signed up for two ornament SALs in 2013.  One is for Halloween and the other is for Christmas.   I decided to try this because I find that I end up stitching lots of nice ornies for Christmas and never keep any for myself.  And so the plan is for me to end up with a few Christmas ornaments.  I have more Halloween ornies but decided to join it also.  Mainly because I really like stitching spooky stuff.

My Halloween ornament in January is a  Mill Hill kit called Bountiful Kitties.  I've had this one going for at least 3 years and would really like to finish it.  It's totally adorable -- which is why I bought it in the first place.  And for my Christmas ornament, I'm determined to finish one started back in January 2011 for the 2011 Crazy Challenge:

The kitty is actually finished (this is not a current pic) and all that needs added are the words and either french knots or beads to the tree.  How sad is that?

The final new news for the year is that last weekend, the dogs and I were in Edinboro for an AKC agility trial.  Meadow, my young female beagle, finished her 2 Novice titles.  These are her first AKC titles -- I'm very proud of her.  She's such a good beag!  And Willow, my oldest female beagle, got her second Open leg in standard and had a super JWW run.  She already has this title so the run was just for fun.  She's a super beag!

And here they are . . . .  my pups:

And if you made it this far  --  a happy Tuesday to you!