Big Smile

A couple weeks ago, Sadie, of Stitching Up A Storm fame, had a contest for the cutest little pink pin cushion you ever did see.   I lusted after it and actually won the lil darlin' thing (insert a squeal of delight here -- can you believe it?!?)



Wellllll, it came in the mail today and without further ado .......

I present the cutest little pink pin cushion I ever did see (and currently in my greedy little clutches):

It came in this little see-through golden bag covered with glittery stars (oh, how I love glittery things) just tempting me to open it.

Which, of course, I did.

 
Isn't it just the pretty little thing?  I love it!

You have no idea how this little cushion brightened my day.  Thank you so much, Sadie.

IHSW for February

Unfortunately, I knew I wouldn't have much time to stitch this past weekend but I did get a little in on Heart Note Alley. I worked on the row of chained diamonds, finishing it on Saturday between work, grocery shopping and naps.

Sunday kinda went to the dogs .... we spent the day at a USDAA agility trial.  Only my "old man" Stormy and Willow were entered and both ran great.  Out of 4 runs, we got 3 qualifiers.  The non qualifying run had only one error,  Stormy popped out of the weave poles, otherwise it was good.  He held his stay at the start, paid attention to me and hit all his contacts -- what more can I ask?   After all, he's 12.5 years old, still healthy, happy (though he can get a little grumpy at times) and able to play agility.  Willow finished her first USDAA title in Jumpers -- I'm very proud -- and only needs 1 more qualifying run in Standard (you go beagle!).

Remember to enjoy your day --- take a nap and play in the leaves.

Four down ... 2 to go

All my stitching time (the small amount that it is) was devoted to Adriana since my last post. 

I need to finish part 5 before March 1st to get the 6th and final part of this lovely pattern .... and it looks like I'm going to make it. Hooray!!  Even though I have almost no stitching time the next 2 weeks (grrrrump!  crankiness setting in already), I'm confident it can be stitched in time. 

Wish me luck .....

WIPocalypse - A Quick February Update

I missed the full moon but I have a couple pics for my February update.  The first one is White Christmas. 

There isn't much to show because I ran out of the Kreinik thread last week.  I bought  more over the weekend so I'll be able to continue on with it now.

My second piece is the SAL Adriana.  I stitched lots on it and will continue to do so since it has a time limit and I want to get it done. 

I bought some cheap finger nail polish over the weekend for painting charms.  As soon as I figure out how to hold the little buggers while painting them, I'll give it a go.  I'm thinking double sided tape.

Take care everyone.

Close but no cigar

I worked diligently on Adriana all last weekend but didn't get part 3 finished.  And unfortunately, I haven't been able to get any more stitching time since Sunday.  The dogs and I are back to agility training -- good for the dogs, bad for stitching.  Plus we are incredibly busy at work now  -- good for work, bad for stitching.  I'm hoping I can finish part three Friday evening (my only night off from doing dog stuff) -- though I can hear the couch calling  'NAP TIME' already.

Thank you for the suggestions for painting charms.  I read about using nail polish before and will give it a try.  I'm not too sure about spray paint.  I tend to make a royal mess with it.  Spray paints and glues, I'm not so good with -- you gotta know your limitations and those are definitely some of mine.

Happy Groundhog Day!

grumblegrumblegrumble -- 6 more weeks of winter --- I say we stew the lil rodent

Kickin' that frog!

Well, I decided to kick that *&#$% frog and just go on with my Heart Note Alley.  I have in my stash (at least I think I have, though I haven't found it yet) a gold frog charm that needs to be attached to this row.  I'm thinking this is the best place for my nasty, ol' froggie ... so close to all those yummy little butterflies and unable to snatch a single one.  < evil snicker >   Revenge is indeed sweet!

Soooo, does anyone know how to paint metal charms? I'm not sure gold will fit in, I was thinking maybe a pale frog would look more pathetic, er, better here.

I also spent some time on White Christmas.  I have almost four of the diamonds ringed with shiny blue eyelets (there are scads of eyelets on this piece, when will they be done?!?). 

Unfortunately, I will run out of the thread very soon.  No fear -- I already called my LNS and she has 3 spools in stock and set aside for me.   And since she's having her annual Super Bowl Sale next week, I will pick up my thread and buy other stitchy stuff :)

This weekend the weather is supposed to be kinda sucky.  I plan on staying in, doing laundry and finishing the next part of Adriana.  Pretty exciting stuff!

Have a good one ......

A fruitful IHSW

I got lots of stitching done -- yay!

First and foremost, I finished part 2 of the Adriana SAL -- I love this design.  And since I'm so far behind with it, it will be getting the majority of my stitching attention until I get caught up.

I also got some eyelets stitched on the hardanger piece, White Christmas.  The kloster blocks on the top of the tree are now finished and I started the blue eyelets in the middle area.  I may use only the blue thread for the internal eyelets.  When I put silver thread next to the piece, I don't like it -- the silver looks 'dirty'.  Maybe I don't have the right kind.  I also have some very pretty shiny white thread.  I may try this, or not .... I really like the blue.  I found some nice dark blue beads in my stash that look perfect and may use either white or clear beads (or both) and/or get some light blue beads .... right now it's still a project in flux.

Pre-IHSW, I worked on the Old European Sampler -- I've been stitching the repetitive stuff, when I'm tired and need something repetitive to stitch.

Last week, I also worked on Heart Note Alley. 

This piece is so pretty but I almost tossed it out the window.  The sweet row with the butterflies (above the irises) has been giving me fits.  I have had counting problems with the stems right from the first flower.  And so  I decided, since I was doing it now and cursing and swearing at it now, I may as well finish the whole painful thing now and be done with it!  Grrrrr!

Well, as I struggled to get it finished and approached the end, I noticed it wasn't going to finish all nice and symmetrical .... sigh ..... crap.

So, should I tear the stems out and do it again (boohoo) or just let it go?  Will I like it asymmetrical?  I couldn't say, until I thought of the wonderful world of Photoshop.  So I photoshoped a rough approximation of the finished row.  What do you think?  See how the last flower is cut off  .... can I live with that???

I am undecided .... but I really don't want to redo that row again.  Of course, now that I know what I did wrong (I did eventually figure it out), it shouldn't be so bad.  Right?? 

For now, I'm just living with the Photoshoped version.

WIPocalypse beginning

Sigh, things haven't been going exactly as planned this year.  I haven't gotten any stitching in for about a week now and I'm starting to get cranky. 

The 'plan' was to work on my hardanger tree first.  I did get a 'before' picture

 and a 'what is should look like when finished' picture

but that's it.  I didn't even get the roller bars on the frame.

I did spend a little time over the new year weekend working on my Odds & Ends -- it isn't finished yet but there isn't much more to go.  So I think this will be my first WIPocalypse piece now.

One good thing (though it didn't happen in 2012) -- I finished my 2011 Santa -- hooray! 

I'm trying to decide if I like the yellow in the border.  It's a little bright compared with the other colors.  Except the beard -- which positively glows and draws the eye right to Santa's face.  The important thing is he's finished.

I hope your 2012 is beginning better than mine.

My IHSW Report

My hermit plan was to stitch on my 2011 Santa and finish that last Christmas gift.  One out of two ain't so bad . . . .

I finished the ornie, never touched the Santa.

Considering that I didn't have a single stitch in the ornament until Friday evening, I think my hermitting went okay.  And here it is, a Christmas tree freebie from Aliolka:

Isn't this the cutest little tree?  It's so whimisical and fun.  It reminds me of something out of Dr. Seuss's 'The Grinch' (my favorite Christmas program).  I love the way it turned out.  It's a good thing it's going to a really good friend.  Otherwise, I might be inclined to keep it.

And I am done with my gift stitching!  WooHoo!! 

Note to self:  Don't wait until mid-November to begin Christmas gifts .... duh! obviously! never again!

*wink*

Merry Christmas!

Stitching has gone to the dogs

I haven't been doing much stitching since my last post.  The dogs have been taking up most of my time recently.  Spider has a new puppy foundation class once a week -- so that makes 3 nights a week of doggie classes.  And this past Sunday, I entered Stormy and River in a Teacup Agility Trial.  River needed 2 more Games 3 legs to finish his title and Stormy only needed 1 leg to finish his Teacup Agility Championship, aka, TACh.  River was successful and completed both of his games legs -- yay!  Stormy, however, was not.  Sigh.  Maybe next time .....

I took some time away from the dogs and Christmas stitching to complete the next part of the Heart Note Alley SAL ... plus I filled in the circles in the 3rd band from the bottom, making it more visible:

I also spent some stitchy time on the Advent Calendar SAL -- finishing 3 more parts:

And here's my whole Advent Calender sampler to date (the upper right ornie is still under construction):

It's coming along nicely --- I'm only 4.5 parts behind.

Last Saturday, my EGA chapter held our Christmas party.  I participated in the ornament exchange by stitching (what else!?) another tree -- don't you just love the little 'tree skirt'?    I think that's so funny.  What can I say, I'm a little odd.

Unfortunately (duh!) I forgot to take a picture of the ornie I received.  I will do that asap and post a pic -- it's really cute!

That's about it, except to say this weekend is a hermit kind of weekend.  The dogs, the laundry, my stitching and I will be spending some quiet, quality time together.  I'm planning on getting my 2012 Santa mostly finished and one final gift finished.  Wish me luck!

5 down . . . . 3 more to go

I worked diligently Friday through Sunday morning to finish 5 Christmas ornaments.  One of which I forgot to take a picture of before sending it off in the mail Saturday morning.  Bummer!  The other 4 are here for your enjoyment.  And all I have to say is, thank goodness for those little pre-finished pillows.  Yes, I cheated and used them to finish my ornies.

The Christmas Trees are freebies from Alexandria and the gifts are my own design, I needed a break from trees.

Thank you, dear followers, for the kind comments on the tree from my previous post.  The interior decoration is a type of embroidery called Wessex stitchery.  I bought a book (I love books) about it a couple years ago called Wessex Stitchery by Gay Eaton just out of curiosity.  It is such a fun thing (at least the way I do it) because you just kind of make things up as you go along -- no cumbersome pattern to hold while I'm stitching.  I don't do many of the more complicated designs (at least not yet) because I have so much fun with the simpler stuff.

The Embroiders' Guild has a beautiful example of this type of stitching.  Nordic Needle has a nice tutorial of a few stitches in case you just want to try it.   Notes from under the Mountain also has a lovely example of it.

I use it to make borders:

Or to add a decorative line:

And now I'm filling in objects.  It's a fun, easy technique -- I highly recommend giving it a try.

Another month gone by

It's hard to believe today is December 1.   It'll be Christmas in no time now . . . sigh . . .  and I'm not prepared at all.

Anyway, here's a brief update of my Sticklounge Advent Calendar SAL -- 3 more completed:

And here's a lousy picture of the whole thing so far:

I had such a good time decorating the little tree that I decided to stitch another one last night.  Only this time I'm stitching on 28 ct over 2 threads instead of over just one on my sampler.  Isn't it cute?  I may have to do a couple more . . . and add some beads and shiny threads.

Happy December!

Woops! I forgot about this yesterday ......

I received 2 beautiful squares from my Fair and Square partner this last round.  This is a pattern from Barrick Designs called Five Birds Sampler (aptly named, don't you think?)

The main thread is a Needle Necessities lovely (currently called Cherry Cola at Threadworx).  I love it!  When I showed this to my dad, he looked at it intently for a few minutes.  He was checking to make sure all the letters of the alphabet were there -- he thinks it's funny that some samplers exclude a letter or two.

I sent my partner these 2 squares from Blackbird Designs called The Pink House:

I adjusted the pattern a little to make it fit within the parameters of the Fair and Square regs and used DMC floss on tea stained 32 ct linen.  Tea stained fabric is fast becoming my favorite -- I love the old look it gives a project.  Now if I was just brave enough to tea stain something after it was stitched ..... maybe someday.

Later!

Not much stitching ...

Well, I didn't get much stitching done over the holiday.  I planned to get more time in but unfortunately, it didn't happen.  I got 3 more of the ornaments done on the Sticklounge Advent Calendar SAL:

And now here's the whole thing so far:

I was hoping to get some more done on my 2011 Santa but no such luck.

On Sunday, the dogs and I went up to Edinboro for an AKC agility trial.  Stormy and Willow were entered while the other dogs just came for the ride.  Stormy ran okay, even though we didn't qualify.   He got all his contacts, held his stay at the start, and finished all the weave poles -- no problem.  I think his problem was me.  I wasn't feeling that great so he ran a little tentatively and we ended up with some refusals (mistakes that aren't allowed in his class - Excellent).  By the afternoon, when Willow ran, I was feeling better.  She did well in her runs also and actually qualified in both.  She finished her first AKC title -- Novice Agility -- and got her first Jumper With Weaves novice leg.  This is not her first title, just her first AKC title.  She (and Stormy, too) has titled in both TDAA and CPE agility.  For those of you that aren't dog agility people (probably most of you *grin*) , these are different organizations that also hold agility trials.  Anyway, all that matters is that we had a good time and the dogs did well.

Happy Monday!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Just a brief note to wish everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends.

Eat lots of turkey but remember to save room for my favorite, the pumpkin pie.  Mmmmmm!

And don't forget that all important nap after dinner.

Have a good one!

My first International Hermit & Stitch Weekend

Last weekend was a stitchy-kind of weekend so I decided to join other stitchy hermits.  And here's what I worked on:

First I finished the Noel block on the bottom and the Holly block on the top of my Sticklounge Christmas Sampler.

Then I finished part 10 of the Heart Note Alley SAL.

The third project is my Santa for 2011.  I finished the chair legs, the calendar on the wall and his sack.

And the last project (Old European Sampler) involved lots of reverse stitching because I was off 1 row (ggrrrr!) on the hexagonal row.  After ripping it out I got some of it done ... again.

And there you have it, my first IHSW.