Karen's Colourful Creations

Blogging Break

2011-11-12T20:05:00.000-04:00

Just a quick post to let you know that I will be taking a blogging break for the next little while. Hopefully not too long, but depending on circumstances it may be a month or more. I will try to keep reading your blogs, but I can't promise that I'll be able to stay on top of that either at this time. I do wish you all the best and hope that you will be patient with me until things calm down in my world.

Karen

Totally inappropriate Santa update on Halloween

2011-10-31T19:03:00.001-03:00

Happy Halloween!!! I hope you get lots of ghosts and goblins at your door begging for treats. :o)

I have no Halloween or fall like projects on the go... all I have is Santa.... so, here's a pic of what I've done over the last couple of days.

I wonder if anyone ever dresses up as Santa for Halloween?? lol

I'm thoroughly enjoying this project. I love that I can stitch for an hour and see a ton of progress. Going back to the small counts of fabric I'm used to will be a challenge lol. Anyways, this was just a quick update post to prove that I have been stitching.

I wish everyone the best this Halloween!

Karen

Santa Update

2011-10-29T10:03:00.000-03:00

It's been a couple of weeks since my last post, and that's the longest I've had between post in some time. I've held off on posting because well, I just didn't have anything stitchy to share. Last night, I finally managed to sit down with needle and yarn and this is the progress that was made.

Santa is finally starting to look like a Santa. If I can just sit and stitch I know he won't take long at all to complete, but I just can't seem to get into a good stitching groove. Oh well, every strand stitched means progress even if it is only one strand per sitting.

It looks to be a beautiful sunny day here in New Brunswick, albeit on the cold side (it is 0 Celsius right now brrrrrrrrrrrrr). I hope your weekend is an enjoyable one with many stitching pleasures!

Karen

Something Different

2011-10-15T09:22:00.004-03:00

This is something a little different for me since I rarely use aida. Actually, I can't even remember the last time I used aida. It is a Santa kit by Janlyn and has been sitting in my stash for a few years now like a lot of my things, but it takes up quite a bit of space since it is kitted with yarn. So, I thought its time to get this out of the way (literally) and the easiest way to do that is to actually stitch it. It shouldn't take too long, after all it is stitched on a huge aida count with yarn.

The kit is a complete kit including little bells for trim, felt for backing, and a ton of yarn to stitch with. I'm not even minding the aida. It is soft to the touch, not stiff like some of the stuff I used years ago. I usually find it looks really blocky for lack of a better word, but that isn't even bothering me with this. Perhaps I've been a fabric snob for too long and need to give aida another chance. I do believe it has its place in the stitching world.

I'm sorry to say that I have been extremely busy recently and I just haven't had the time to post comments regularly although I do read your blogs regularly. Hopefully, things will start to slow down soon and I'll have a little more spare time.

Also, I wanted to thank all of you for your very kind comments on my finish of Shades of Autumn. There are a couple of mistakes in it that I noticed after I was finished, but they won't be coming out. It just makes it a little more unique to me. At least that's how I'm going to look at it. hehe

And finally, I hope all of my Canadian friends had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend last week with family and friends and lots of good food. As a Canadian, I believe we truly do have a lot to be thankful for in our every day lives. :)

Finished it!

2011-10-07T17:02:00.000-03:00

I'm very pleased to share a finish with all of you!

Shades of Autumn

Nancy's Needle

Recommended threads

18 ct canvas

As per usual, I under-estimated how much time it would take me to finish this off today. Each of the four remaining squares took about 45 mins-1 hour.... crazyness, I know! lol Anyways, I'm pleased to say that after about 5 or 6 hours (maybe more) of stitching today (and yes, that's a lot of stitching for me in one day!) It's done!

I'm not sure if I'm going to get this framed or if I'll make it into a little pillow. I think I'm leaning towards having it framed.

Thanks for stopping by my blog and thanks for your lovely comments! :)

2011-10-07T09:03:00.001-03:00

Shades of Autumn is coming to an end. I have 4 more squares around the outside and the final border left. This piece is definitely taking much longer than I anticipated. With the coverage of the thread and the fact that you don't stitch every hole, I figured this would be a really quick stitch. But the fact is, each outside square is taking me about 30 minutes to complete. I think this is mainly because of the many colour changes. I'm not one to drag my thread accross the back, so I start and stop my thread for almost every bar. With the way the pattern is laid out it's not simple to see where the colours will be in the next square. So, I find it easier to just stop my thread after each bar.

With any luck, this will be finished before I head back to work tomorrow. If my estimate of 30 minutes per square is correct there should only be a couple of more hours of "intensive" colour changing work. The outside border shouldn't take too long since it's all one colour.

Oh yea, I received a notice in the mail yesterday that there is a package waiting for me at the post office. It should be my JCS Halloween book and the Christmas issue! Can't wait to pick them up! :)

From My Grandmother's Closet

2011-09-25T20:43:00.002-03:00

I always new that one of my Grandmother's was very talented with a needle and thread, but I didn't know that my other Grandmother also had a hidden talent. Last night, my mom told me that her mother enjoyed embroidery a lot, but never had the time or money to work on it. I was always told that she didn't like sewing at all, so, I figured that included every form of needlework. What a surprise! Hidden away in her closet was a stamped linen tablecloth that my mom passed on to me.

This is just one corner of the tablecloth and you can see the price tag is still attached. My mom thinks she probably bought it in the discount basement at Eatons. She paid a whole $1.39 for it. It is 36"x36" and the linen is really heavy. Nothing at all like today's linen. There wasn't a pattern, so, I'll have to try my hand at figuring out a colour scheme for this. It could be fun or frustrating lol!

Something else she found hidden away was something I think I actually worked on as a kid. It looks kind of familiar anyways, and since the Xs in that little finished patch don't all go the right way, I'm assuming I did it lol.

It is a small table runner. Can you believe all of the threads and the pattern were still with it in the terribly tattered paper bag! I haven't worked on stamped cross stitch in a very long time, but it might be fun for a change.

Next up is today's stitching progress on my canvas piece.

It has been terribly hot and humid the last couple of days, and I haven't felt like stitching very much. I did manage to pick up my needle for an hour or two today and this is what became of it. The center part definitely stitches up much more quickly than the outside border. With any luck, I'll have this finished within the next couple of weeks.

In other news, I've signed up for a Victoria Sampler SAL at the Stitchers' Village for the month of October. I haven't picked out a pattern just yet, and I guess I should get on it since October is only a week away!

And finally, I don't discuss my work in very much detail on here, but I thought I'd share a little something with you. I'm taking on a new "acting" role and start training tomorrow. If all goes well and the position gets approved by upper management, the position will become permanent at a later date. The transition from union to management is not the easiest of feats in my place of work and there's a lot of red-tape to get through before that ever happens, but I'll be crossing my fingers and toes that this becomes long term! Overall, I'm looking forward to the change. If it doesn't become permanent, I'll enjoy the change for as long as it lasts. And the bonus (at least in my opinion) is that I get to continue working a condensed work week with a mixture of days and overnights. I may be crazy, but I love this schedule. Hmmm, maybe this schedule is making me crazy haha! ;o)

That's all for now folks! Have a great week!

Karen

Stitching at the speed of a turtle....

2011-09-21T15:52:00.000-03:00

Where art though oh stitchy mojo!?!? You are not lost completely, but other desires have taken your place these last few days. Why can I not sit for hours like I once did? My fingers have been working, but the progress is very slow these last few days. I guess I should be glad I haven't lost my desire to stitch completely, just mostly....

The little bit of stitching I have completed on my days off has resulted in the following progress:

This is the top half of the pattern. A lot of you probably think that I've made plenty of progress, but you have to remember how quickly the main portion stitched up and that I've had 3 days to stitch to my hearts content and this is all I have to show for it! I am sooo ashamed!

The boxes around the center portion were a bit boring and I think that's why my stitching progress has slowed to the pace of a turtle. They're great for when I'm tired, but not so much when I'm alert. Maybe I need to have something else on the go? That's a pretty big decision for a one-at-a-time stitcher! But I feel the urge to stitch soemthing with specialty stitches.... hmmmm.....:)

In my last post I mentioned that my order from Picture This Plus, from about 3 months ago, finally arrived! They had such a huge response to their sale that they sent out an email shortly after and stated that they hoped they would have all of their sale orders fulfilled by the beginning of September. It's great to see a little company like this be in such great demand! And here's a couple of pics of what I got:

From left to right: All are 32ct fat quarters of linen. First, is Chalice which is more orangey/peachy than the picture shows. I think it will work for some Halloween pieces. Next, is Relic, which is a gorgeous neutral light brown, and then Heritage which is also a lovely neutral. The fibers are needed for another Counted Canvas piece that I have in my stash. I also ordered the piece of canvas for it, but I didn't bother putting it in the picture cause it's pretty plain.

And I also ordered Spting Quaker and all of the goodies needed to stitch it! I can't wait to get my fingers on those Valdani threads!

That's all I got for now. Happy Wednesday!

Karen

STASH = Stitching Treasures Acquired and Still Hidden

2011-09-18T12:35:00.001-03:00

While at work last night my mind wondered to something pretty serious for me..... my STASH. Sometimes, I feel that I might have little too much set aside for my future stitching adventures.  Have I reached SABLE(Stash Accumulation Beyond Life Expectancy)??. But when I see something I gotta have, it quickly goes into a cart from an online site, credit card info entered and ta da, a few weeks later it arrives at my door.... my next S.E.X. (Stash Enhancing Experience).

Like most people I have UFOs (Unfinished Objects) and WIPs (Works in Progress) and even a few WISP (Works in SLOW Progress), all waiting for that forever elusive HD (Happy Dance). Maybe my UFOs have had too many FROGs (rip-it, rip-it) and have been shamefully been set aside for years?

Overall, it never fails, for some reason, somehow, I manage to see something that I just got to have even though there are so many things in my STASH (Stitching Treasures Aqcuired and Still Hidden) sitting there. My charts, fabrics, and threads are just waiting for their time to shine on my Q-Snaps or Scroll Frames,  but someone out there has enabled me and so they remain in their bins and boxes hidden from view. I do believe I am fairly easily enabled and I suspect that others reading my blog might have been enabled a time or two themselves. I mean, really, all it takes is seeing a picture of a project that you really like than off to the LNS/ONS (Local/Online Needlework Store) we go.

Some of us have been on the wagon and have done very well at it. I know I make the same vow every year, to stitch from my existing stash.  Maybe if there was some sort of real punishment for S.E.X. than I would refrain from adding to my ever-growing STASH.   Some have even tried to STRIP (Stash Reduction Implementation Plan)! Shocking, I know.   And then there are others that try being PRUDE ( Person Resisting Unnecessarily Diminishing Existing stash) and so look to the enabler to help them figure out what to add to their STASH so they can have their next S.E.X. experience.

These are the odd things that go through my mind in the wee hours of the morning while at work on an overnight shift. After feeling the guilty pleasures of another S.E.X. experience this week when my order from Picture This Plus arrived, I started to think about SABLE. Which lead me to think about all of the other lovely stitchy acronyms we have and ones that should exist and don't. What do you think of all of our lovely stitching acronyms? Can you believe that STASH doesn't seem to have an acronym? At least I couldn't find one.  After some careful thought of my own STASH I came up with Stitching Treasures Acquired and Still Hidden. My STASH is hidden away in baskets and bins, under my bed and in my closet. So, I guess it works quite well for me lol. What are your thoughts? What does STASH mean to you? My mind sure does wonder at work sometimes hehe. :)

Oh, and I apologize for all of my crazy talk above. This is what happens when I write posts without sleep! I promise that my next post will be much more sensible and won't have a single acronym in site and will hopefully include some pics of my newly acquired STASH.

Happy Sunday!

Karen

A lil' finish and my first counted canvas

2011-09-12T20:44:00.000-03:00

Lots of stitches have been made over the last couple of days. First up is the finish of one of the four snowfakes in my old JCS magazine.

Snowflake Ornament

Alice Okon for Whicelt Imports

JCS December 1995

28 ct scrap of linen

Threadworx 1083

Mill Hill Beads

The orginal version in the magazine was on a teal green fabric with gold thread, which didn't really appeal to me. But these types of designs are kinda unversal and easy to substitute with whatever you would like, so, after a very quick search, I chose Threadworx 1083. I also added a few beads to give it a bit of sparkle. Overall, I'm quite pleased with the end result and plan on doing the three other snowflakes with different overdyed threads eventually.

Next, is something a little different for me. Counted canvas work. It caught my eye at my LNS about a year ago, which is when I bought everything for it. They have the finished piece hanging on the wall, and I just loved it and had to have it. Since then, it has been sitting in my stash waiting for the right time to be stitched. It is by From Nancy's Needle and is called Shades of Autumn.

Shades of Autumn

by Nancy's Needle

Recommended Threads

These pieces really seem to stitch up quite quickly. I started it yesterday morning and have about a quarter of it completed, give or take.... I've worked on needlepoint painted canvas' in the past, but never ventured into counted canvas. It's really quite enjoyable. I look forward to doing more of these in the future. The ladies in the store warned me when I picked it out that I'd be hooked on needlepoint after one project, and I think they were right haha.

I'm off again tomorrow and am looking forward to some more quality time with my needle. I'm not sure if I'll keep working on the canvas piece or work on another snowflake. I already have my second snowflake started using a red overdyed Threadworx floss. Which ever grabs my attention in the AM shall be what gets worked. :)

Variegated Snowflakes

2011-09-05T18:55:00.000-03:00

Sometimes, something can be said for simplicity. I've been so busy lately that my stitches have been few, and when I made some on "Summer" by Victoria Sampler I realized I was using the wrong thread..... There were only a few stitches, so, it wasn't too hard to frog, but when I finished frogging, I decided to turn my attention to something with no thread changes and simple Xs. Something easier to do when I'm tired out, but still wanting to relax with my stitching.

I still had my magazine sitting out that had the Victorian Stockings in it (JCS Dec 1995). After quickly thumbing through, I found 4 snowflake ornaments. Their version was done on blue linen with gold cotton thread. Kinda dated to say the least. Knowing that I had some variegated Needle Necessities threads not too far away and some fabric scraps already cut, it was an easy decision to go with the Snowflakes. The thread I chose consists of light pink, burgandy, and green. I'm thinking of adding a few beads at the end to give it some sparkle. Anyways, here's a pic of my very meager start.

And that's all I've got to show for now. I've got another long week at work this week with more extra shifts, so, I expect the stitches will be few.

I hope everyone had an enjoyable long weekend filled with lots of stitching and fun.

Karen

A few new things

2011-08-31T21:36:00.000-03:00

Kathy at Kathy's Sit and Stitch let me know about a sale at Knowledge and Needles, which is owned by Ann. Ann was very sweet and helpful as I emailed her my order. She even mailed my order out that same day! It arrived today and here is a pic of what I got...

From left to right is Keys to the Kingdom by Rosewood Manor, Lighthouse kit by Michael Powell, and Bug Collector with thread pack by Jeannette Douglas. Ann also included three very cute little Prairie Schooler designs with my order!

I wanted a Michael Powell kit for ages, but have had a really hard time finding them. I was thrilled when I saw that Ann had a few of the kits available! And they were all 40% off!! Keys to the Kingdom has been on my wishlist since it first came out. As for Jeannette Douglas, well, I've always been a big fan of her work and just had to get something when I saw her designs were 40% off too!

There is no stitching progress to share today. It was my day off, but I think I slept through most of it. Something I don't begrudge myself is sleep time. If I think I can sleep, I take advantage of it no matter what time it is because I'm usually short on sleep due to the overnight shifts and the extra early start times for my day shifts (6:30am, which means I gotta get up at 5am). I did manage to get "Summer" by Victoria Sampler set up in my Q-Snaps and the threads are all organized, so, now I just need some stitching time. Hopefully soon.....

Well, I'm going to go watch some TV and relax, maybe even cross a few Xs.

Happy Stitching!

Karen

Halloween Ghost

2011-08-30T21:27:00.000-03:00

I'm too tired to even think of what to write, which probably means I shouldn't be writing a blog post right now, but here goes nothing! I just really wanted to share my first ever stitched Halloween ornament.

Halloween Ghost

San-Man Originals

JCS Sept/Oct 2010

32 ct Wondering Ivory Jobelan

DMC

Unfortunately, the swirling green in the fabric doesn't really show up that well in the picture. It looks really Halloweenish though. I will probably stitch some other Halloween ornaments on this fabric.

Aside from this little ornie, there has not been any other stitching. Work seems to be taking a priority right now. Lots of overtime and stuff.... But the extra money is always handy.

Anyways, instead of rambling on, I think I'll end my post quickly. I need to go to bed and catch up on some much needed sleep.

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

Not much to share

2011-08-24T00:14:00.000-03:00

Since my last post, there has been very little stitching time. It took me forever to figure out what to work on next, and since I finally decided, I've only put in a few stitches. It's definitely not picture worthy. I suppose I could share my plan of action. My larger project for now will be the final two seasons (Summer and Autumn) of Four Seasons by Victoria Sampler. And since I'm still in the mood for smalls, I've picked out a little Halloween ornament from last year's Halloween Ornament issue of Just Cross Stitch.

I don't expect to have any great amount of progress of either of these projects over the next few weeks, since I'm working quite a bit of overtime plus traded shifts with someone which means not a normal working schedule for me. Once my schedule is messed up a bit like this, I find my normal routine is lost and my stitching mood is gone, which is what happened last week. Hopefully I manage to get something done though!

There really isn't much else to share right now, so, I will bid you all adieu. A la prochaine!

Karen

Vcitorian Tea Rose Stockings 3 and 4

2011-08-17T17:10:00.000-03:00

So, this is my "sleep day" as I worked overnight last night and I have barely slept at all, so, I apologize in advance if I ramble or make little sense. I was just excited to post pictures of the final two stockings in this little series. The thrid stocking was finished last week as I had hoped plus I managed to finish the fourth and final stocking this week. There really isn't a whole lot of stitching to them so, they stitched up really quickly.

Heart Stocking

Alice Okon for Wichelt Imports

JCS December, 1995

28 ct scrap of linen

DMC

Heart Charm substituted with Snowflake Charm

Holly Stocking

Alice Okon for Wichelt Imports

JCS December, 1995

28 ct scrap of linen

DMC

I have a huge list of things I want to stitch next, and I am having such a hard time deciding that it's absolutley ridiculous! I want to stitch everything all at once LOL. I'm feeling the urge to stitch something big, but I also want to stitch some ornaments too. I want to stitch Halloween and Christmas designs, but I also have some summery things kitted up as well. And then there are the Christmas gifts to make. Do I want to do specialty stithes or plain cross stitches? Oh my.... there is just soooo much I want to stitch! Do any of you have this issue?

Sometimes, I know exactly what to do next, and other times, it seems like it is such a huge decision. Maybe if I get some more sleep the decision won't be so difficult to make lol. But since sleep doesn't seem to be an option (too over-tired to sleep at the moment) I think I'll go play with my stash and see what I can come up with. : )

Til' next time,

Karen

Victorian Tea Rose Stocking 2

2011-08-11T17:06:00.000-03:00

These are really quick to stitch. The second one was finished off this afternoon.

Candle Stocking

Alice Okon for Wichelt Imports

Just Cross Stitch

December, 1995

DMC

28 ct scrap of linen

For this one, I used a darker mocha coloured fabric, I`m not sure of the exact colour cause it was just a scrap from my stash, just like the first one. I made a couple of design changes to this one and I think I may add another change after looking at this pic. I don`t think there are enough yellow stripes for the heal.

The first change I made, was the beads over the candles. The pattern calls for a specialty bead that I didn`t own. I made due with some gold Mill Hill beads. The second change was the charm. Again, I didn`t have it... so, I embellished with a couple of Mill Hill Snow Flakes from stash again. The third change was to add another row of yellow border along the top of the stripes. These charms were a little small to fill the entire area and the added row seems to fill it in nicely. The final design change I made was to add to the white section below the candles. There was a big gaping space that really needed to be filled, so I added two more rows of white.

I would love to have a third finish this week! Crossing my fingers that I`ll get enough time to finish the third stocking.

Karen

Flipping through magazines

2011-08-10T11:11:00.000-03:00

When I was flipping through some of the magazines I found at the Thrift Store, I found a set of little Victorian Stockings that struck my interest. There are four in the set, and I finished stitching the first one this morning.

Christmas Tree Stocking

Alice Okron for Wichelt Imports

28ct Fabric Scrap

DMC

Just Cross Stitch

December, 1995

After the stitching was finished, I still think this needs something. I will probably search my stash for a charm or maybe even add a few beads. We'll see.....

Thank you all for your kind comments about my finishing spree. Your comments are always much appreciated!

Karen

Catching Up from My Finishitis

2011-08-04T16:13:00.000-03:00

Fiiiinallly, Husqvarna and I had a date! It was messy, fun, and intense! What a time we had! For those that don't know, Husqvarna is my dear sweet sewing machine. She hasn't seen the light of day since the beginning stages of my Finishitis just before last Christmas.

In my state of productivity, I managed to finish quite a few ornaments off and my finished pile has dimished quite a bit, although, it isn't depleted.

I'll let the pictures do the talking....

The Dragon Dreams and Flurries ornaments were stitched by my sister. She can't sew at all and I offered to ornamentify them for her. I wanted to add ruched ribbon to both of her's, but I couldn't get it to turn out right. I might try again later, because I think I know what I was doing wrong now.

I added a little pocket to hold a package of needles, and the pages in the middle for some extra places to store needles. The pocket and the back slip of felt were attached with the Blanket Stitch. I'm really happy how the whole Accessory Set turned out.

I also received a wonderful package in the mail that I have to share with all of you. If you remember, I won a giveaway from Pat, The Southpaw Stitcher and the prize arrived.

She sent all of these wonderful goodies! Thanks for the wonderful giveaway Pat!

With my finishing spree came a HUGE mess that I need to get cleaned up before I head back to work tomorrow. I might even try to squeeze in another little finish before Husqvarna has to go back to her sleeping quarters in the closet. Ohhhh how I dream of a sewing room!

Karen

Cute froggies

2011-08-02T13:01:00.001-03:00

Not the Reverse Stitching kind of frogs but cute cross stitched frogs... I finished Edge of the Pond this morning and I have to say that the little frogs in the picture are my favourite aspect of this design. The birds add a lot to it too. It is very elegant in all of it's simplicity.

Edge of the Pond

Diane Graebner

32 ct cream linen

DMC

In my last post I mentioned how I felt this was dragging on, so, yesterday and this morning many hours were spent in my stitchy chair with lots of determination to finish it off. There really wasn't all that much left, it was just a matter of putting in the time to get it done.

My plans for my next project were to pull out a UFO needlepoint canvas and finish it off, but I don't think that's what I'm going to do. I'm feeling the urge to work on some smalls for Christmas and Halloween. Decisions, decisions........

But the decision probably won't be made today. We're going to see Cowboys and Aliens today. I'm not sure what to expect from this, but I do like Harrison Ford. We went to Captain America last week and I enjoyed it.

That's all I got to say for now. 'Til next time! Have a great week!

Karen

A RAK

2011-07-30T13:12:00.000-03:00

I got a wonderful surprise in the mail yesterday! This beautiful beaded scissor fob and fabulous little What Not bag were sent to me from the fabulous Kathy at Kathy's Sit and Stitch. She made both of these.

Now there's a little story behind this. I sent her a chart just before the postal strike and of course it got caught up in the mail. A couple of days after the strike ended it came back to me "Return to Sender." So, I checked the address with Kathy and sure enough, I missed a number on her street address, so, I corrected my mistake and sent it off to her again. Thankfully it made it there that time.

So, this little package from Kathy didn't actually arrive in my mailbox..... it arrived in someone else's mail a block away who kindly took the time to hand deliver it me instead of sticking it back in the mail. I was thrilled! When I looked at the address, I noticed that one letter in the postal code was off.... so, I do believe any mailing correspondance with me is doomed!

My next pic is of some stuff I picked up at my LNS this week.

We went to Sandy Beach in Shediac and on the way back stopped at my LNS and this is what I came out with. I seem to have a blue theme going here lol. The first design is Skating Buddies by Gitta. This little eskimo series is so adorable. I had a hard time leaving with JUST one. Secondly, I picked up Winter Arbor by The Drawn Thread. This is a kit with all the threads and beads, so, I just need to pick out some fabric. And finally, the little hardanger ornament, Christmas in Blue and White III by A Stitch In Time Designs and I bought the light blue pearl cotton to go with it.

And finally, an actual update on my progress on The Edge of the Pond by Diane Graebner.

I sure am taking my time with this one! I thought this would be done by now, but I still have a few more reeds to go. I'm getting anxious to move on to something else.

Recently, Lee posted about a sale at Picture this Plus last week and I ordered some gorgeous fabrics along with everything for Spring Quaker. This may actually be the first and only Quaker pattern in my stash, once it arrives that is. I do love looking at Quaker stitching, but never ventured out to do one myself before. I'm looking forward to the arrival of this one!

Well, that's certainly enough for a single post.

Thank you for all of your comments. They are always a bright spot in my day! Enjoy your weekend!

Karen

I'm a Winner!

2011-07-24T17:53:00.002-03:00

I can't believe I won a giveaway from Pat, The Southpaw Stitcher! Pat's blog turned 6 months old and she is celebrating her Half Blogoversary! Congratulations Pat! Her email letting me know of the win really brightened my day!

Not much stitchy to share as I just finished my work week this morning and have had no time for stitching. So, in lieu of a stitchy picture and to add a little bit of colour to my post, I thought I'd share a picture of the view from the road beside my parents house. Isn't it a beautiful sunset?

I'm off for the next 4 days and am trying to decide what to do or where to go. I vow to get outside for every sunny glorious minute this week. Summer is such a short season here, I have to take advantage of the great weather while it lasts. Can you believe we're almost in August already!?!

That's all I've got to say for now, so, I guess I'll get some stitching time in this evening. I wish all of you a great week!

Karen

Belleisle Bay

2011-07-20T11:40:00.000-03:00

The weather this week has been absolutely beautiful. So, yesterday we decided to go for a drive to Belleisle which is about an hour away and we get to go on two ferry rides. The first ferry is a really short one, only about 5 minutes accross the Kennebecasis River. It's actually Canada's first cable ferry. The second one is a little bit longer, about 15 minutes, accross the Belleisle Bay. The Belleisle Ferry is the longest cable ferry in the world. There are a lot of summer homes and farms in Belleisle. Here are a few pics...

On the way home we stopped at a little place that is well-known for home-made ice cream. It's a bit expensive ($5 for a single scoop) but sooooo worth it! It is the best ice cream I have ever eaten!

As far as stitching goes, there hasn't been much of it. I've been too busy enjoying the outdoors.

As you can see, there are a few more green Xs, but not too many.

I was going through my stash the other day and came accross a needlepoint project that I started about 10 years ago and never finished. I don't have too many UFOs in my stash and after finding this I'm determined it will be finished. No, pic of it right now, but I've got it lined up as my next big project.

I hope the sun finds you wherever you may be!

Karen

Lots and lots of green stitches

2011-07-12T18:42:00.000-03:00

As far as stitching is concerned there hasn't been a whole lot of it going on. But when I have stitched there have been lots and lots of green Xs.

The apron looks like it's finished, but I still have all of the white to stitch. I don't want it to get it dirty and will be stitching it at the end.

I've pulled this pattern out from my stash numerous times over the last few years and even kitted it up a couple of times with the intentions of stitching it, but always set it aside for something else, so, it's nice to finally get to it.

As far as my wisdom tooth extraction is concerned, the major pain is over, but I seem to have a side effect that I'm not enjoying. My jaw is constantly clenched and I can't seem to ease it. It's actually waking me up in the middle of the night because it's throbbing. I browsed the Internet to see if this is common, and it looks like it probably is, but there doesn't seem to be any clear solution. From what I understand my jaw and teeth are trying to re-align and I think since I still have my other three wisdom teeth it's not going smoothly. If this clenching doesn't stop, I'll be going back to get them out sooner than later (I'm so not looking forward to that). I'm being told that it takes a long time for it to really heal, so, I'm probably still just going through part of the healing stages (I hope).

There's still a little time left in the evening and I think I will try to cross a few more Xs before bedtime.

Take care!

Karen

My latest start

2011-07-06T18:58:00.000-03:00

In keeping with my 2011 goal of stitching with my existing stash, I have picked out another design that I have owned for ages. It is Edge of the Pond by Diane Graebner.

This is what I've done so far:

This will be an easy pattern to stitch. There aren't very many colour changes and it seems to go quite quickly, which is what I need right now.

Shortly after my last post, I made an emergency appointment with my dentist and ended up having a wisdom tooth pulled. Needless to say, I'm not feeling my best and haven't been doing much of anything other than sleeping. When I am awake, this design fits the bill for simplicity and is exactly what I need to get my mind off my throbbing mouth. That said, I think I'm going to go back and lay down some more.

I wish you all a better week than mine!

Karen

A Complete Set

2011-07-04T16:46:00.000-03:00

Earlier this afternoon, I finished the stitching of the Needlework Accessories set by Country Garden Stitchery. I only had the pin pillow left with is the rectangle piece in the pic below.

Needlework Accessories

Country Garden Stitchery

28 ct natural linen

GAST & DMC

This was a fun quick stitch with bright summery colours. The linen I used was a cheap linen that I picked up at Michaels. As I was stitching I kept thinking that it reminded me of a burlap sack except a bit softer. After I got used to the texture of the linen it wasn't too bad to work with, however I would be cautious in using it for a larger design. For this set of smalls, the colour and texture seemed to go good together.

This is something else to be added to my finishing pile. I really need to get my sewing machine out and start tackling it. I'm sure I could make a pretty good dent in the pile with a couple of days work. If I had time, I would probably start on it now cause I seem to be in the right mood to do it. Alas, I go back to work tomorrow which means I won't have any time for stitchy stuff over the next few days and it will have to wait for now.

Beautiful Sunny Days

2011-07-03T16:30:00.000-03:00

The weather has been absolutely beautiful the last few days. We attended the local events onCanada Day. It was a great time for the local kids. There was a huge bouncey castle, all sorts of outside games, pony rides, cotton candy and popcorn. Randy Jones, who is from the area and was just signed on with the Winnepeg Jets (he was playing for Tampa Bay) signed autographs all day. I'm not sure if that was planned or if he just showed up because it wasn't advertised anywhere that he was coming. After we were all tuckered out from the days events, we ended the day with a family BBQ.

As far as stitching is concerned, there has only been the odd stitch here and there. I finished off the needlecase and scissor fob, and now only have the pin pillow left from this little set by Country Garden Stitchery.

I'm a little worried about finishing the needlecase. There isn't much fabric leftover on the left edge to attach the lining. It will be a very small seam allowance in any case.

I am really enjoying stitching this set. The colours are quite cheerful and I love the look of the light blue around the edge and it looks great on this natural linen. Once the pin pillow is finished, I will have my very first matching set of needle accessories.

Canada Day Greetings

2011-07-01T07:54:00.002-03:00

Happy Canada Day!

Country Garden Stitchery

2011-06-24T09:42:00.000-03:00

In keeping with my 2011 goals, I have been digging through some of my oldest patterns and kitting them up with the intent of stitching them.

This is one of those patterns. I remember picking it out many years ago because I loved the bright cheerful colours. The finished piece is a scissor fob, the unfinished piece will be a needle book, and there is a pin cushion to go with it too. The Designer is Country Garden Stitchery and the pattern is appropriately called "Needlework Accessories." So far it has been a quick an easy stitch with only a few mistakes. I didn't bother frogging one in the scissor fob and I'm sure you'll be able to pick it out quite easily. I was stitching the final border when I saw it and it would have caused a lot of thread issues on the back if I tried to pull it out.

So, some of you might have noticed my blog title change. I don't go on about my mistakes a whole lot on my blog because I make them way too frequently and it would be a very boring blog to hear about ALL of them. But someone here hears about them all the time as I get frustrated. Yesterday, I guess I walked away from the computer still signed in to Blogger and someone thought it would be funny to change my blog title to "Karen's Colourful Corrections." They've been telling me for ages that this is the more appropriate title haha.

I was called in for some over time yesterday and decided to go in for a short 4 hour shift. We're going away in a couple of weeks and the extra money will come in handy. But I have to say I'm still in vacation mode and I'm not sure how productive I was. I'm not supposed to go back until Sunday.

I'll leave you with a link to the beautiful new eco-friendly complex that was finished recently. It is located only a few minutes from where I live. It is complete with an indoor walking track, indoor skating rink, and a gorgeous outdoor swimming pool with two slides and four lifegaurds (at least that's how many lifegaurds that were there when I was there the other day). There are several conference rooms inside as well. The playground isn't finished just yet, but it looks like it will be quite large as well. You can see some pics of it by going to http://www.kennebecasis.com/p/qplex.html . This used to be a small recreation center where I spent MANY hours at when I was a kid. They kept the old soccer fields, outdoor walking track which is around one of the soccer fields, and the baseball field as well.

My son and I walked 4km on the indoor track the other day. It's nice and cool inside because it's around the skating rink. The rink and the walking track are free for everyone to use and the pool is only $3 per person. They even built a dog park accross the street from it. The grand opening will be on Canada Day.

Oh Canada

2011-06-22T18:41:00.001-03:00

Canada

Hinzeit

28 ct white linen

DMC

This is the third time today I've tried to make this post, for whatever reason, Blogger wouldn't let me upload pictures.

Anyhow, late last night/early this morning I finished this off. It was a quick and easy stitch. I've never stitched anything for Canada Day before and when I saw this at my last visit to my LNS, I just had to get it. If you take a close look at the charms, the second bottom one is a beer bottle, which made me laugh. Atlantic Canada is definitely proud of its beer. Even though I don't drink myself (absolute hate hang-overs, not to mention the wasted calories....), I still find it quite funny to see this charm as a symbol of Canada.

Simply Elegant

2011-06-20T09:57:00.000-03:00

Lorri Birmingham's Simply Elegant scissor case was finished off last night. The bottom three rows and beads were all that were left and there was no way I was going to bed until it was done.

Simply Elegant
by
Lorri Birmingham
Threads and linen from kit

This was a complete kit including linen, threads, and beads that I purchased on clearance some time ago ( I think I paid $1 for the entire kit!!). I remember finishing the scissor fob that went with this case as soon as I got it, but for whatever reason, I never did the scissor case. If you click on the link above, the fob is laying on the fabric I used to back it with and I still have it in my stash of fabrics, so I will probably use it to line this little case as well.

If you're wondering why some of the stitches are upside down (like the Rhodes Butterflies), it's because of the way this will be folded to make the case.

This is something else to add to my growing "To be finish-finished pile." I still have a few days off and I "should" get my sewing machine out to work on this pile, but I doubt I will. I am extremely motivated to stitch lately and I don't want to put my needle down to do anything else.

In other news, we went to Moncton again the other day for something to do. This time, I didn't go to my LNS, but did come home with several old cross stitch magazines that I picked up at a thrift shop. Sixteen magazines came home with me and I've been having fun just browsing through them. One, dated 1995, has a complete article on what the Internet is and how to use it for stitching. It is complete with a list of "equipment" that will be needed, an Internet Glossary, Internet Etiquette, and Internet Shortspeak. I had a real laugh over this. It's amazing to see how much we have advanced technologically in 15 years.

There are several designs that I liked and hope to do at some point. For some reason, magazine designs that are added to my "To Do" list always get pushed to the bottom of the list. Hopefully some day I will find the time to stitch all that I want to stitch.

It's a gorgeous sunny day here today, and I think I'm going to go outside for a bit and enjoy it. I hope the sun is shining around all of you this Monday!

Karen

Reading instructions thoroughly before stitching

2011-06-16T11:26:00.000-03:00

How many times as a kid were you told to make sure you read and understand the instructions? How many times have you told kids to do this? In the stitching realm, not reading the instructions thoroughly can lead to frogging... and more frogging..... and, as a result, I've been a busy frogger.

This is a Lorri Birningham scissor case that matches a scissor fob that I stitched years ago that you can see by clicking here.

So, going back to my title about reading instructions. I tend to skim the instructions. This particular pattern had a large version spread over two pages, and a smaller version on one page. The large version didn't clearly state that the bottom row was the "overlap" row going on to the next page, but had I read and looked at the smaller full page pattern, I would have clearly seen that there are no duplicate rows like you can see I stitched. So, now I will be reverse stitching the bottom two rows. I've noticed that this has been happening to me a lot lately and if I just took the extra few minutes to read go over the instructions thoroughly it would be avoided.

Anyways, enough of that.... Aside from stitching, I had a wonderful day away yesterday. I decided to go to Moncton to visit my sister and my nephew. And since I was in Moncton, I visited my LNS. My little nephew was such a good boy while we were there. He is 9 years old and he looked at the patterns with us, browsed through the accessories, looked at all the flosses. We had lots of fun.

This is what I came home with:

This is the Bell Pull hardware for Heirloom Christmas that I picked up. It's a bit wide, but these matched the best and I think I can make it work.

The instructional Victoria Sampler Bell Pull leaflet along with the threadpack. Since I've never made a Bell Pull before, I plan on making this up first and then trying the finish on Heirloom Christmas.

Lynn at Kearnel's Korner was talking about Canada themed cross stitch patterns since Canada Day is going to be soon, which made me look to see what I have on hand. There were only two freebie patterns in my stash. So, when I saw this Hinzeit, I just had to get it.

Dragon Dreams Dust Bunnies has been on my wishlist for awhile. I think they are absolutely adorable! I've looked at it and put it back numerous times, but this time around it finally came home with me, along with the Fuzzy Stuff needed to stitch it.

And finally, the little yellow envelope holds seven little silver stars for a JBW design that was stitched around last Christmas.

Before I left for home, my sister was showing some of the stuff she had in her stash.

These were two unfinished ornaments that she had sitting there for years just waiting to be finished off. Since she doesn't sew, I offered to bring them home and finish them for her, but warned her that I couldn't guarantee when they would get done. I haven't sat down to do any finish-finishing since before Christmas! Maybe these little ornaments will get my butt in gear.

I hope everyone is experiencing the beautiful weather that we have here today. It's the first sunny day in quite awhile and I'm going to go out to enjoy it!

Have a great day!

Karen

Racking up the finishes

2011-06-12T17:58:00.000-03:00

Another one bites the dust.... I finished Old Stone Church early this afternoon.

Old Stone Church

Elizabeth's Designs

28ct Lambswool Linen

Recommended WDW and DMC threads

This pic might show the colours better.

So, for the first time ever, I actually kept a notebook diary of my stitching time and progress with what I stitched and number of hours at each sitting, mainly because I knew my aunt would ask me how long it took.... So, in total I spent 30.5 hours on this. I'm not exactly a speedy stitcher, so, I'm guessing that is a lot more time than other people would take considering it's only 6"x6.5" and nothing is filled in other than the lovely textured Rice Stitch trees.

Something else I noticed was that my average sitting is about 3 hours. I know I tend to get restless so, this must be when I decide its time to do something different. Anyone else ever make note of stuff like this or am I just way too analytical lol?

Rice Stitched Trees

2011-06-08T12:18:00.000-03:00

I've been working away at Old Stone Church and the end is near. The sun is out today, but the colours still seem to be off in this pic.

Anyways, the sheep, gravstones, the little tree and the grass at the bottom have all been added. The bigger trees that are being worked now are all done in Rice Stitch, which is quite time consuming. I've spent hours on those three trees. Once I finish the trees (or if I get bored of Rice Stitching) I still have the backstitching to do. There's not a whole lot though, so it won't take too long. And there are still some grass and little flowers to be added around the sheep and gravestones. When the gravestones were being stitched, I was thinking about changing the colour because it really fades into the fabric, but I think (hope) that when the backstitching is added they will look better.

This week is a short work-week for me. I will only be working 2 days and part of one of my night shifts. I'll be starting vacation VERY early Monday morning (3:30am haha) and will be off for 2 weeks. I have no plans other than relaxing and enjoying the weather, and maybe a trip to my LNS. But even with no plans... I can't wait to just sit and relax.

Update

2011-06-01T14:58:00.000-03:00

I've managed to get a bit of stitching time in over the last couple of days.

But I can't seem to get a good picture of this.... like the last pic in my last post, this one has turned out really grey. Anyways, as you can see, I've gotten a bit done. The stained glass window was pretty fun to stitch. Still plenty of stitching to go.

Old Stone Church

2011-05-29T20:04:00.000-03:00

A few weeks ago, my aunt came to visit from Ontario. While she was here, she made a list of a few charts that she would like me to stitch for her. She used to be an avid stitcher as well, but sadly can no longer do it due to her health. While she was here she enjoyed looking through my stash and my finished pieces. Anyways, one of the charts she picked out is Elizabeth's Needlework Designs Old Stone Church. There are a lot of specialty stitches in this, so, I'm sure to enjoy it!

And this is what I have done so far.

This picture is horrible. It's an overcast day, and the colours aren't showing up very well. I'm using 28ct Lambswool linen, which is more creamy in real life than this.

When I first took the picture and started this post, I realized the window was on the reverse side of what I had done. Being a bit slow, it took me a few minutes to realize I took a pic of the back side haha. So, since I already have it uploaded, here is my back side so far. I don't think I've shared a pic of the back of my work before.

That's all for now folks! Time to make some time to stitch!

The creation of the butterfly

2011-05-23T18:24:00.000-03:00

Butterfly Lace is finished.

Butterfly Lace
by
Victoria Sampler
32 ct Antique White Linen
Thread pack

Yesterday, I finished the lattice and the silk daisies. Today, was the creation of the butterfly. It wasn't really that difficult to make, but it was very time consuming. I started working on it when I got up this morning around 8am and continued working on it pretty much all day today and finally finished that little butterfly at around 4pm. Stitching the ribbon together around the florist wire took forever. If anyone has any suggestions on what this should be made into, I'd love to hear them. I'm really not sure how to finish-finish it.

I have no idea what's going to be next on my agenda. It's been awhile since I've had nothing on the go like this. Some time should be spent on finish-finishing. My pile is getting pretty big and there's only a couple of things that will be framed eventually.

After searching online the other night, I learned a bit about the Emroiderer's Association of Canada and am thinking about joining so that I can do their individual courses. Have anyone of you completed these courses? Or are you a member?

Time to go search through stash for my next project. Hopefully I can make a decision! lol

This and that...

2011-05-19T10:41:00.000-03:00

After my last post I managed to stitch a bit more that night on Butterfly Lace and thought I would share a pic.

I completed the hardanger flower in the corner, and I must say it was a bit tricky. The metellic thread is now around the diamond eyelets in the other three corners and I have started the lattice work, which is just a fancy backstitch that makes it appear more white because of the way the thread is weaved in the back. It kinda pops out at you. The leaves were added as well by using a simple daisy stitch. Next, I have to finish the lattice work, add the ribbon daisies and stem stitch the stems and then I'll be making that butterfly. There's really not that much left at all, although I expect the butterfly will take awhile.

Next up, is a pic of some stash I received from the clearance section of Stitching Bits and Bobs.

Two of these patterns were ones I've wanted for awhile, but couldn't justify the prices. I saw Hinzeit Charmed Merry Christmas at my LNS and loved it, but couldn't afford to pay $20 for it. and Heirloom Embroideries Embroiderer's Sampler is one that I liked since I first saw it, but couldn't justify the $30 price tag that came with it. The others were more impromptu. I love Walled Garden Etui by Wendy KC Designs. I've always wanted to try to make one of these and this one fit the bill... I liked the design and the price was right. I ordered all of this around Easter which was when I realized that I have never really stitched too much for that season. I thought the blackwork Egg Sampler Stitchin'spiration was cute, bright, and colourful, so it jumped into the cart. And the last two I just thought were cute, Hearts by San-man Originals and Flakey Friends "Be Mine" by Carolyn Manning Designs.

Life has been so busy for me lately. I have had no time to stitch, very little time to read all of your blogs, and I haven't been able to comment very often due to fatigue. Last night, after work, I sat down with my laptop and tried to read a few of your blogs, but I didn't get too far. I can barely get my thoughts together well enough to write a comment and I'm really hoping this post makes sense and isn't just a rambling mess of words.

As I mentioned before, I've been working a lot of overtime and all of my overtime shifts have been 12.5 hour shifts. Most of these shifts have been very busy days and well, 12.5 hrs of going straight out is exhausting. I'm used to working long shifts like this because I work a condensed work week similar to a nursing schedule of 1 or 2 days followed by 2 overnights, 3 or 4 days on followed by 4 or 5 days off, but they're normally a bit slower. Anyways, I start my night shifts tonight, once I finish this rotation I'll be off for 6 days because I'm taking my next 2 day shifts off and I can't wait!

Quick update

2011-05-15T15:44:00.000-03:00

This is just a quick post to share my latest WIP, Butterfly Lace Sampler by Victoria Sampler.

As you can see, I was too lazy to even remove it from the stand for the pic. I really enjoyed the hemstitching and the silk threads used for the cross stitched flowers is so nice to work with. I love how the silk thread fills in the linen. The upper left corner will be filled with a hardanger flower once I get to it. And there is some metallic thread to go around the diamond eyelets still. After that will be the lattice work to fill the middle and then the ribbon daisies. It's really coming along quite quickly.

Below is a pic of some new scissors I ordered. I've always wanted a pair of Gingher designer scissors and when I saw "Ella" I knew they were the ones for me. I didn't realize just how dull my every day Gingher scissors were until I used these ones. I'll have to see about getting them sharpened.

The pin cushion is something I made awhile ago with some spring fabric that I've had in my stash for a long time. The little lady bug button suited the fabric perfectly.

I'm off to cross some more Xs and take it easy for the rest of today. I've had a long week with tons of overtime and the upcoming week promises to be more of the same.

I hope all of you had an enjoyable weekend!

Karen

Eastern Seaboard Sampler is finally finished

2011-05-08T11:40:00.003-03:00

Just short of a year after it all began, it is finally done! I went back in my blog to see when I started it and my first post was on June 28, 2010.

A close up of the last few rows that I just completed.

I'm really glad this is finished. It seemed to drag on forever. I made mistakes on just about every row. Some I just left, others I had to frog. For me, this was a tricky design and close attention to the instructions was a must. But I have to say the end result is an absolutely stunning piece of work that is worth all of the time that was spent on the stitching. It will definitely be framed as soon as I save up enough to send it to the framers.

Now that it's done, I can move on to something else with a clean conscience. I'm one of those one-at-a-time stitchers and working on something else while this was sitting there half finished is enough to drive me bonkers!
For anyone interested in what each row symbolizes, I added captions on my finishing site and you can see them by clicking here.

Eastern Seaboard update

2011-05-05T19:39:00.000-03:00

A few more rows...

I had to do the row of boats over again, because when I was on the last boat I realized I had a spacing error. I think I've made some sort of counting error on almost every row.

The row after the boats is done using the Norwich stitch and represents the iceburgs in Newfoundland. The boats beside Signal Hill are the Bluenose which is on the Canadian dime. I really like the next row of whale tails sticking out of the water. And now I'm on a row of little lighthouses. Each miniature lighthouse is a copy of a real lighthouse in Atlantic Canada. I never really went into the details of each row on this sampler before, but each and every row represents something specific in Atlantic Canada and Jeanette Douglas describes them all in the pattern.

I was really hoping this would be done by now. My next Cyberclass started today and I'm torn between working on that (which I obviously should) or finishing this. I find the rows take a lot longer than I expect on Eastern Seaboard because there are a lot of partial stitches, blended needles, and backstitching in some of the rows.

I'm off for the next few days, but will have a lot of overtime in the next couple of weeks (36 hours), so, I'm going to take advantage of all of the time I have and get as much done as I can. I will probably start Butterfly Lace (my Cyberclass course), but I doubt I'll finish it during the 3 week class because of the overtime.

So much to stitch and so little time!

Karen

What an historic week!

2011-05-02T21:21:00.001-03:00

A royal wedding, followed by the death of Bin Laden and the most unpredictable election that Canada has ever seen! I don't remember there ever being so much happening in the world as there has been in the last few days.

The royal wedding was beautiful and I hope Catherine and William find happiness together for many years to come. And then, last night, I was awoken at midnight and told that Bin Laden is dead! What a feat for our American friends!

And now, today, is election day in Canada. Not only is this the most unpredictable election in Canada, it is likely to be the largest voter turn-out that we have ever seen. The early polls had a 34% increase in voter turn-out.. a record for Canada. To top that off, there is a huge surge in support for the New Democrat Party which is why no one is able to really guess what will happen. They are saying the increased support for the NDP is because the younger people are taking an interest in the election and a change in view in Quebec. It's great that our young people are learning about elections and their right to vote and actually participating in the elections. Due to the uncertainty, tonight's telecast for the election may be the most watched in Canadian history. We're switching the channel back and forth between the hockey play-offs and the election.

What an amazing week all over the world!

Drumroll please!

2011-04-30T09:59:00.000-03:00

The winner of the $40 gift certificate is Lynn from Kearnel's Korner. I used random.org to generate a random number and the winning number was 5 and Lynn left me the 5th comment. So, congratulations Lynn! I hope you will enjoy your gift certificate and I will email you shortly.

I'm definitely a novice blog give-awayer. I've tried for the last half hour to post a pic of the generator for "proof," but I can't get it to work. There is no "save target" option when I right click on it, and I tried to print screen, but then I have to put it in a word document and Blogger doesn't recognize the file.... *sigh* I give up. If anyone wants the proof, I can email it to you directly as an attachment. I think next time I'll do it the old fashioned way..... pieces of paper in a hat. At least then I can take a picture!

New Stash

2011-04-29T16:25:00.000-03:00

A few things arrived from some orders I made recently....

The first one is Beatrix Potter Spring by Green Apple from 123 Stitch. I've been in search of some Beatrix Potter designs for my daughter, she is a HUGE fan. Originally, the plan was just to make a picture and frame it, but I was really inspired by Margaret's recent book finish for her god-daughter and am thinking about doing a few of these up and making them into a Beatrix Potter picture book for my daughter for Christmas.

Next, is some much needed linen. These are all fat quarters and two are in Antique White, but one is 28 count and the other is 32 count. The the darker one is Antique Ivory in 28 count cashel linen.

There was recently another weekend sale at Victoria Sampler where she was selling some of their original design at 50% off. The site said that Yvonne's designs will be retired soon, so, I ordered a couple of her designs and some of Thea's origninals as well. Above you can see Thea's "White Christmas," Yvonne's "A Mother's Heart Sampler," and Yvonne's "Welcome Sampler."

These two are also part of Victoria Sampler's 50% off sale. I ordered "Crystal Waters Sampler" and "Fresh Air Sampler" from the Four Element series.

And finally, these are all fo the accessory packs to go with the charts. They were 50% off too.

I didn't take a pic of Eastern Seaboard Sampler with my latest progress. I have worked on it a little bit, but not enough to warrant a photo. I have been busy getting my daughter ready to go to Alberta. She flew out this morning at 6am from Moncton, and arrived safely at 2pm this afternoon. To make her flight we had to leave here at 3am, so, I'm a bit sleepy this afternoon.

I'm off to get some stuff done, like fondly my new stuff haha and just relax and if I get enough energy, I might even stitch. I hope everyone has a good weekend!

Karen

Happy Easter

2011-04-24T10:23:00.000-03:00

Happy Easter!!

A Butterfly

2011-04-22T10:26:00.001-03:00

Yesterday was a happy mail day for me. My order from Victoria Sampler arrived with my chart and threadpack for the Cyberclass I will be taking in May. I picked Butterfly Lace and I do think this will be a challenge!

The gauze ribbon you see in the upper right and that little bit of gold wire is used to actually make the butterfly. The stitching will be hard enough, but that little butterfly will be a huge challenge for me I think.

I have been working on the Jeanette Douglas Eastern Seaboard Sampler over the last couple of days and I am very pleased to say that I finished the over one stitching quite successfully. It wasn't nearly as hard as I thought it might be and I have to say thanks to those of you that enouraged me to give it a try.

The little row of boats is Row #22 which means there are 11.5 rows to go. There are 33 rows in all. I'm looking forward to the row after the little backstitched boats. It uses a stitch I have never used before, the Norwich stitch. The final look I think will be similar to a woven box. I'm not sure how else to describe it.

I woke up this morning with a bit of a sore throat and I'm sure hoping I don't end up with the full-blown flu/cold that is going around. I'm back to work tomorrow and sitting there sick is the last thing I want to do.

Many of you already signed up for my give-away, but if you missed it, please leave a comment on that post and you can get there by clicking here.

"Gammying"

2011-04-20T10:33:00.000-03:00

I'm 36 years old and am constantly teased about my "gammying" (grammying without the "r"). Here, "gammying" is a verb that symbolizes anything stitching related. I could be posting to my stitching blog, reading other people's blogs, actually stitching.... it's all referred to as "gammying." It's just a joke and I don't really get mad about it, but today, it started me to thinking if any of the rest of you ever get stereotyped like this by family members? Does it bother you? I can't say I really like it, but I know it's in jest and I won't get really upset or mad over it. Although, I do find it a bit annoying....

What are your thoughts? I always try to think of a come-back, but I haven't been able to think of a good one yet.... Any suggestions??

PS: Don't forget to comment in my last blog post for my blog give-away!

My First Blog Giveaway

2011-04-19T00:48:00.001-03:00

Five years and 300 posts later, I'm still here! I can think of no better way to celebrate than to have my first ever Blog Giveaway!

There were a couple of years where my posts were sparse to non-existent, and during those years there was very little stitching. But last year, I came back, and I have been stitching and posting regularly ever since! I truly appreciate all of your support. Your comments are all read and cherished.

This giveaway is open to EVERYONE and the ONLY thing you need to do is leave a comment on this post and please leave your email address as well, so that I can track down the winner to send you your prize. You do not have to be a follower to enter the draw. You may be a first time visitor or a returning visitor. Everyone is welcome. If the winner does not reply within one week (seven days) of the draw, I will draw another name. The draw will take place on April 30th.

Now for the big question... what's up for grabs you ask? How about a $40 (U.S. currency) gift certificate from Stitching Bits and Bobs? If there is another online needle works store that you would like the gift certificate to be from, I would gladly look into that as well. I thought about putting a package together, but in the end thought that everyone's tastes differ and to really make this work for everyone, a gift certificate is the best solution.

Over one stitching

2011-04-17T17:57:00.000-03:00

Not a whole lot of progress to share on Eastern Seaboard Sampler. I haven't had a whole lot of stitching time over the last few days. So, this is just a quick post to show what I have done.

I decided to attempt the row of tarten which is all over-one stitching. It has not been as hard as I anticipated... so far. But I don't totally enjoy it either. I'll be happy when this row is finished. I figured I'd go for it because I really like the look of it and I feel like I'm up to the challenge now.

I have made some purchases this week. Victoria Sampler had a 50% off sale on some of their original designs, so, I ordered a few things that I have liked for a long time. Also, Stitching Bits and Bobs has a huge clearance sale ongoing, with lots of stuff going for 50% off, so, I picked a few things up there too. I think my original goal for the year did allow me to pick things up that were drastically reduced and I think both of these purchases fall into that bracket. I knew I wouldn't be able to go the WHOLE year without buying something. So, I think these purchases fall inline with my goals. I am keeping all of my receipts this year so I can see just how much I've spent.

Aside from this, my aunt is visitng from Ontario this week. Over the years, I've sent her a few things that I have made for Christmas and what-not, and well, she's now given me a list of things she would like me to make her. It's nice to know that my work is appreciated. :o)

I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend and gets lots done!

Dancing a jig

2011-04-13T10:21:00.001-03:00

Heirloom Christmas is all done. On to the pics!

Heirloom Christmas
by
Victoria Sampler
28 ct Flax linen
Threadpack

I finished this last night, but thought I'd wait until daytime to take a decent picture, but it turned out to be a gloomy overcast day.

Now to go back to Eastern Seaboard and work on it for awhile in the hopes of finishing it soon.

Just a quick note

2011-04-11T12:08:00.000-03:00

I'm itching to get back to stitching. Another four hours or so and I think Heirloom Christmas Sampler will be finished. Sadly, I'm on my "sleep day" after my last overnight shift, which means ideally I should be sleeping right now. Trying to stitch right now with eyes half shut would end in frustration and result in lots of mistakes I'm sure. The problem is that I keep thinking about finishing it off and I can't sleep. Talk about obsessed! LOL

Well, here goes going back to bed for a few more hours of some much needed rest. Hopefully my next post will include some gorgeous finished pictures!

Karen

24"

2011-04-09T15:36:00.000-03:00

That's how long this thing is.

And a close-up of the hardanger section finished. I just went with it this time. It may not be perfect, but it's my best effort.

I still have the ribbon and beads to add, which is why I didn't bother taking it off the scroll frame for the pics. Another day or so and it should be finished!

Another 50% off cyberclass sale

2011-04-09T10:15:00.000-03:00

Victoria Sampler is having another cyberclass sale. All cyberlcasses are 50% off and all of the leaflets and threadpacks for those cyberclasses are on sale as well.

Of course that means I signed up for another one! I picked Butterfly Lace this time. It has a bit of stumpwork, which I have never done before. I'm looking forward to the smaller design and something summery. I've said it before, I would probably stitch Christmas things all year round if I didn't force myself to stop.

I also made a small order with 123 Stitch. This is the first time I've ordered from them. It seems to be a popular place to buy stuff though, so, I'm sure it will turn out fine. I ordered the Beatrix Potter Design for my daughter as well as some much needed linen.

And The Gift of Stitching online magazine has a sale on subscriptions, so, I signed up for that as well. I let my subscription go a couple of years ago, mainly because I never stitched anything from it. Since I've seen a number of people stitching designs from it recently, I decided to give it a try again at the sale price.

My goals for 2011 are to stitch from my stash with a few minor purchases here and there for two main reasons. One, I calculated how many years that it would take me to stitch through all of my charts, and it was something ridiculous like 10 years. Secondly, I made a strict budget and want to stick to it. Aside from the Heirloom Christmas Cyberclass, these are my only stitchy purchases for the year and I'm glad I'm sticking to my goal.

I might try to work on the Dove's Eye stitch again today before work tonight. I'm on my transition day, which means I'm going from day shift to overnight shift. Believe it or not, I find the overnight shifts much easier than the day shifts. Mainly because our day shift starts at 6:30am, which means I have to get up at 5am! Something I have yet to get used to. Anyways, I'm rambling..... wish me luck with the Dove's Eye! I'm hoping I'll be more successful this time and I have the state of mind now that even if the threads don't lie the right way, it's just going to have to do.

Enjoy your weekend!

Karen

The Dove's Eye

2011-04-07T18:54:00.000-03:00

Stuck! That's how I feel right now. After about 3 hours of effort today I'm still at the very same spot at which I began.

Considering I was able to do three hearts full of the Dove's Eye stitch, you must be wondering why I'm so stuck. I'm working on a row of Dove's Eye stitches above the Partial Greek Crosses. +Well, I'm stuck because I'm trying to make all of the stitches go in the same direction. I'm not sure if i did the ones in the hearts wrong or what. I was told that as long as you follow the same direction, clock-wise or counter-clock-wise, the thread will lay the same way. So, I've tried that...... and it was still going wrong...... The only way I can get them to go in the same direction is to start in the same bottom bar of the square, which I can't do for this row because the bottom bar is already wrapped and the last one that will be open is either on the side or on the top of the square. If anyone has any tips, I'd love to hear them!

After my needle went flying from my fingers and mysteriously disappeared for the second time, I figured someone was trying to tell me to leave it alone for now and go back to it later. It doesn't help that I've had a headache all day and I think I'm getting more "allergic" to things that never bothered me before, like the season changing.

I might decide to redo the first heart too, since I was in my learning stage of the stitch for this heart, I noticed some of the threads are lying wrong there too.

I'm back to work tomrrow, so there won't be much stitching for the next few days, which means no blog updates until next week as well.

Brave or Crazy Stupid???

2011-04-04T22:48:00.000-03:00

I had a practice piece of linen all set up to go, got up and did some things, and when I sat back down, thought to myself, why not just go for it! Scissors in hand, I started cutting..... Like my title suggests, I think I'm crazy stupid!

A few hours later, and a slightly cramped hand from all that intense cutting... this is what it looks like:

It's funny that my Cyberclass instructions say to remember to breathe. I thought it was an odd thing to say, I mean this is just stitching, right? Our stress relief. Why would I have to remember to breathe? Well, you would be surprised at how many times I caught myself holding my breath. When I FINALLY finished, my face was red and I was starting to break out in a sweat LOL. Who knew stitching could be so intense!

So, if you look closely, you can see one mistake/accident. If you look at the top of the very first heart, you can see that some of the threads are pulled out that shouldn't be. When I was cutting that square, my scissors pulled on the thread and out popped 2 threads. I'm pretty sure I can fix it easy enough by reweaving a linen thread. At least I'm hoping it will be easy!

I think I will actually finish this off this week! You know what's crazy about that!?! If I finish this by Thursday, I will actually have completed this whole giant sampler (it's a giant sampler to me anyways) within the 6 weeks of my Cyberclass! I'm sure the hardanger stitches are going to be a bit time consuming, and there is still a WHOLE LOT of beading, but I think I can do it! At least I'm going to try.... :o)

Happy Monday Everyone!

Karen

So close, but yet sooo far

2011-04-03T17:53:00.000-03:00

I've made it to the very bottom section, the hardanger. I'm going to do all of the satin stitches and the algerian eyelets and then practice, practice, practice the cutting before actually doing it on the sampler. It would be such a shame to ruin this now. Anyone that has followed my blog for some time probably knows that I don't do very much hardanger. I knew all along that this would be the "hard" section and really this was the main reason I signed up for the cyberclass. Any extra tips can only help!

Once the hardanger is finished, I have the ribbon to add and all of the beads. I added a few ribbon colonial knots beside Merry Christmas already. This picture really doesn't do it justice. The red just pops against the fabric and has really livened up the bottom section.

I have enjoyed stitching this all the way through and will be sad when it is finally finished. I'm sure another Victoria Sampler Heirloom Sampler will be on my to do list in the future. I'm leaning towards the Heirloom Stitching Sampler or the Heirloom Family Sampler.

I've been feeling the urge to go stash shopping lately. I still haven't bought the Beatrix Potter Design for my daughter, but I think I have finally found "the one." When I finally order this I will order a couple of other things with it. I'm trying to plan my purchases so I don't just impulse buy. The list of things I "want" right now is huge, so, I need to pick and choose.

Thanks for stopping by, and thanks for all of your kind comments! I love to see them. : )

I hope everyone enjoys the rest of their weekend. I finished my last overnight shift this morning and am off for the next four days (5days if you include today). I'm looking forward to some relaxation and some stitching!

A big stitchy update

2011-03-30T16:23:00.001-03:00

I stitched ALLday yesterday and some today and looked what I accomplished!

Before

After

The beaded row of hemstitching, which is about where I left off the last time, can be seen in the "after" picture at the very top of the scroll frame. So, yesterday I stitched most of what you see. For me, this is a lot of progress for one day of stitching.

There are only a few rows left now, of course, one of those rows is all of the hardanger. Also, I have all of the beads and ribbon to add at the end. So, there's still lots to do.

I might get a little more stitching done tonight, but there won't be much over the next few days since I'm back to work tomorrow.

All work and no play

2011-03-26T16:41:00.000-03:00

I haven't stitched a bit since last week. I've been really tired after work and just haven't had the energy to do anything. My treadmill is becoming a bit of a clothes rack as well lately. A situation I plan on rectifying today! Walking for even a few minutes each day makes me feel so much better.

Next week will include more overtime as well. Even though the extra pay is a big help, it is so very tiring. I rarely turn it down because you never know when it will be offered again and I love extra money! lol

Hopefully I'll get a chance to stitch a bit later today after my walk, or even tomorrow. I'm sorry there's no stitchy things to share right now.

I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend!

Karen

Thank you

2011-03-21T18:44:00.000-03:00

I just wanted to say thanks for the comments in my last post. I appreciate the links Lynn and Aurelia provided for the Beatrix Potter designs. And Aurelia, I loved that Peter Rabbit bookmark too. So much so that I've already made it for my daughter haha! A few years ago I found the kit at WalMart, if you can believe that. My daughter has it hanging on her wall now. \

Stitching Update:

Unfortunately, my hopes for getting another 6 rows of the sampler done have been thwarted. Aside from my planned errand day on Saturday, I was called into work for overtime today and found out that my plans for not working tomorrow have fallen through....so, instead of having my planned 5 days off, I've only had 3 days off with not very much stitching. Really those 3 days are like 2 days, because my first day off is my sleep day to recover from the overnight shifts. All in all, there's no point in posting a picture right now and it will probably be next week before I get any more time to stitch.

What's that saying? The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry...... (Robert Burns I believe) It's so true!

Happy Monday!
Karen

A few more rows

2011-03-19T10:31:00.000-03:00

Heirloom Christmas Sampler
Victoria Sampler

It's hard to believe I'm almost caught up with the Cyberclass and that I'm at the half-way point on this sampler. I managed to complete a few more rows on the days I was working. I barely ever stitch on work days because after a 12.5 hour shift I'm quite tired and my eyes can't take anymore strain.

Week 3 of the Cyberclass ended last Thursday and I almost made it. After this lacey row, there is a word row and then I'll be on Week 4. I'm off for four days now and my goal is to finish Weeks 3 and 4. Or at least come close to finishing Week 4.

Aside from all of that boring Cyberclass stuff... I'm still really enjoying stitching this. Also, I've been looking at some new patterns to purchase. This year, one of my goals was stitching from stash, but I gave myself a little leeway and said that I could make some purchases, just nothing outlandish. So, I'm really thinking through what I want and at the top of my list is a Beatrix Potter pattern that I can make for my daughter. She may be almost 19, but she still loves Peter Rabbit and all of the characters. I keep looking on ebay since this isn't a main stream popular pattern design right now, but I'm having a hard time making a decision. There really aren't too many patterns to pick from and the ones out there don't seem to be catching my eye. If anyone has any suggestions, I'd love to hear them.

Doing well

2011-03-13T20:21:00.000-03:00

Heirloom Christmas Sampler
Victoria Sampler

Which means that I've made plenty of progress and surprassed my goal of reaching the rows in Week 2 of the Cyberclass. The row I'm on now is the first row of Week 3, which means I'm actually on schedule. I can't guarantee I'll finish this week's rows by the end of week 3, but I'll get as much done as I can. It's hard to believe that once I finish Week 3's rows I'll be at the half-way point with this sampler.

I went back and fixed up the lower branch on the tree and added the gold garland which is stem stitched. The first Drawn Thread row was a basic hemstitch. There are 4 rows of hemstitching and I think they get a little more difficult as you go. I adore the row of chickadees. I'm having a great time stitching this piece. It's one of those pieces that I just want to keep on stitching. I love the assortment of stitches.

I still have one more day off before I go back to work, but I'll have some errands to do, so, I'm not sure how much more I'll get done this week.

Still on week 1

2011-03-10T19:51:00.000-04:00

Heirloom Christmas
Victoria Sampler

Wow, I just realized how far off the colours are. I'll try to take my next picture during the day. Anyways, this gives you an idea of how much I've done. The tree has one mistake. I need to rip out one branch towards the bottom on the left. It won't take long, but I'm putting it off because that tree was a whole lot of backstitching and I don't feel like backstitching anymore right now.

Thanks for your comments on my Eastern Seaboard Sampler. I still haven't made a final decision on that row and I probably won't until I pick it up to work on again. I'm really enjoying Heirloom Christmas right now, so, I'm not sure when that will be.

I'm off for the next 4 days and hope to get lots of stitching done. Catching up on my Cyberclass is really high on my list of priorities, but I know that's not likely since I printed off the notes for week 3 today and haven't completed week 1 yet. I'll be happy if I get well into Week 2.

That's all for now folks! Happy Stitching!

A little further behind each day

2011-03-04T15:53:00.001-04:00

And what am I getting behind on? My Victoria Sampler Cyberclass of course! Week one has finished and week two instructions are out there already. Well, I'm still at the beginning stages of week one. Oh well, I'll get there ... eventually.... So, my progress this far can be seen below:

Heirloom Christmas
Victoria Sampler

I find that I can only do a little bit of the backstitching at a time before I need to take a break from it. The tree is maybe one-third complete? Maybe.....

My travel project for now is a Margaret Sherry design from Ellie May and Friends. It's called Bee my Friend. It's another cutesy pattern that I picked up a couple of years ago.

Bee My Friend
Margaret Sherry

The first kitty square is almost done. There are two other kitty squares to go, one below this one and one above it. I will probably make it into a bookmark for my daughter if it isn't too big.

Next, is Eastern Seaboard. I haven't actually stitched on this lately, but thought I would share a picture of it in all it's glory since I took it off my roller bars to make room for Heirloom Christmas.

Eastern Seaboard Sampler
Jeanette Douglas

So, I have a bit of a dilemma with this piece. The reason I set it aside was because I came to a row that is tent stitched over one. The row is a tartan pattern, so, any mistakes will be very visible and it is all dark threads. Now, what I'm thinking is frogging out the little bit of the row that I have done and skipping it altogether. I don't enjoy over-one stitching, and since mistakes will be so noticeable, and I'm guaranteed to make some mistakes (that's just inevitable) frogging over-one is even more difficult. Have any of you ever skipped a row on a sampler just because you didn't enjoy the stitch? I feel like I'm cheating if I do this, but I know I'll keep putting it aside if I try to force myself to do it.

It's been quite some time since I've had three projects on the go at once, but it seems to be working for me. I know I won't finish Heirloom Christmas within the six week class time, but I'm going to put a good effort in getting as much as I can done. As for Eastern Seaboard, it seems like I've been working on that piece forever! If I choose to skip this row, I'm sure the rest of it will go quite quickly. It is probably about two-thirds complete. And the kitties are my "easy" stitch for now when the others get to be too much and I need a little bit of a break.

Thanks to all of you for stopping by and for your lovely comments! I appreciate them greatly. I hope you all get some beautiful weather and are able to enjoy the weekend.

Background changes

2011-03-03T16:09:00.000-04:00

Since it's March now and in my mind that means SPRING I changed my blog to reflect what I want to see outside. I know it's far from spring when I look outside and see the several feet of snow and snow banks taller than me, but I can dream, right? lol

Another little finish

2011-02-24T13:23:00.000-04:00

This is the first Lizzie Kate design that I have ever worked on. It was so quick and simple, it may not be the last! I really love Lizzie Kate's Christmas Rules which I've seen a few people working on. My boyfriend's daughter picked this one out at the LNS and I said I'd make it for her.

Be Kind to Animals
Lizzie Kate
28 ct Lambswool Linen
A lot of thread changes

Hopefully I'll be able to find a little frame for this and give it to her for her birthday. Like my caption says, I made a lot of thread changes. I didn't care for the green lettering, so, I changed it to blue and I didn't have the suggested red, so found another in my stash that would do and used a bit of DMC here and there for the same reasons. If anyone is interested in the exact colour changes I'd be happy to pass them on, I just don't have them in front of me right now to add them to this post.

Also, I was able to get a bit better picture of my JBW's Christmas Tree Sampler III almost finish:

JBW ornament

2011-02-22T18:08:00.000-04:00

A quick post to share a little "almost" finish. This little JBW ornament has been my travel project. I finished the border off this afternoon. The reason it's an "almost" finish is because I'm missing the six silver stars that hang from the branches and the one that goes on the top of the tree. I also need to get the beads for the eyes for the birds. I apologize for the horrible pic. It is kinda dark in here right now I took it under my Ott Light. It really doesn't show the true colour of the fabric or threads.

Sampler Tree III
JBW Designs
32 ct hand dyed linen (not sure of name)

Cyberclass Sale

2011-02-20T19:57:00.000-04:00

Just a quick note to pass along some news of a sale. Victoria Sampler is having a 50% off Cyberclass Sale plus if you're in need of the charts or accessory packs for the Cyberclass, they are marked down as well! Needless to say, I signed up for the Heirloom Christmas Cyberclass. Something I was planning on doing before Christmas, but just didn't have the time. I'm not sure that I'll have the time to keep up with the class now either, but at least I'll get the extra instructions. Below is a pic of Heirloom Christmas, I think my accessory pack is in shades of red instead of pink though.

One cute little bunny

2011-02-17T11:40:00.000-04:00

Happy Easter by The Sweetheart Tree is done. I didn't think it would take too long to do if I would just sit down and stitch! lol So here it is:

Happy Easter
by
The Sweetheart Tree
Ray of Light 28 ct linen
Recommended DMC/bead kit

I'm not sure if I'll go back to Eastern Seaboard and tackle the over one tent stitching or not right now. That is definitely going to be a challenge for me. I might find something small to work on again while I work up the nerve lol.

I hope you're all enjoying your week!

Karen

Happy Valentine's Day!

2011-02-14T14:48:00.000-04:00

I hope everyone is enjoying this special day with their loved ones! I received a beautiful bouquet of roses! It's so nice to know that you are appreciated.

Also, I've started stitching again after two weeks of blahness. My treadmill has become a daily part of my life again as well, which is probably why I'm feeling better. It didn't get used too much while I was dwelling in self pity. I never did take the time to look for another project, I just started stitching on the Easter Bunny again. If I sit down and really work hard at it, I think it will be done in no time. No pics to share at the moment, but I will be sure to take some soon!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Karen

Valentines Day Theme

2011-02-09T10:21:00.000-04:00

In the spirit of Valentines Day, I changed the background of my blog.

I did manage to stitch a wee bit on the Easter Bunny last night, but nothing worth showing. Lee suggested trying something pink, and I think I will try that. I'm going to search my stash in a few minutes to see what I can find. I'm not sure that I have much in pink, but I'll take a look. I think something bright would help me get my mojo back anyways, so, that's my goal for now.

Winter Blues

2011-02-07T19:48:00.000-04:00

I think I have the winter blues. WARM sunny days can't come soon enough! I dream of green grass, spring-time tulips popping through the ground, and I think right now, I could even handle a few mosquitos (not too many though lol).

On the stitching front... I have absolutely nothing to share. Not one single X has been crossed since my last post. Along with the winter blues, I've lost my stitching mojo. I think I need to do something REALLY small and finish it off really quick and myabe that will get me going again. I thought this easter bunny thing would do it, but it's not working.

Since I don't have anything to really share today I will share a little prayer with you..... I pray for a week without snow or freezing rain, and temperatures with a plus sign (double digit plus temperatures would even be a super bonus!) and days when I no longer have to scrape frost/snow/ice off my car. And, maybe... just maybe... I'll get my desire to make an X sometime this week too!

Karen

Progress Pics

2011-01-30T11:20:00.001-04:00

To prove I did work on Eastern Seaboard a little bit, here's a pic.

You can see how far I got with my over one tent stitching haha. I need to figure out a process for this. I need to park my threads somehow and maybe do a block of ten at a time or something like that. Any tips would be welcome!

Next up is my newest start. Happy Easter by The Sweetheart Tree.

With all the snow we've been getting, some spring time stitching was calling my name. Wishful thinking I know... but hey, I need some winter relief! At the rate I'm stitching, it will probably be Easter by the time I finish it anyways! I'm not really a big Easter stitcher, but I've had this little kit in my stash for some time. Since it was a complete kit it was easy to grab and start. I didn't really feel like pulling out everything to kit something up at the time.

Oh, I forgot to mention. We ended up going to Moncton last week so, of course I found a reason to stop at the cross stitch store. I needed three packages of beads for Eastern Seaboard. I think this is only the second time that I have ever been able to walk in and walk out with exactly what I needed and nothing more! I'm so proud of myself! I'm trying to keep to my resolution of not purchasing anything new and stitching through my stash.

I have a bit of a headache today, so, I think I'll go lay down for a bit. To all my stitching friends, I wish you a a restful and productive stitching Sunday!

Karen

Better days!

2011-01-29T23:01:00.000-04:00

I'm sorry to say that this week hasn't been going to well. My daughter had a mishap and the car is hurt pretty badly. Thank God she's ok. There are some other things too that I'm just not comfortable sharing openly. I haven't been feeling very well too top it off. I tried to catch up with you on your blogs, but I'm not doing very well at that either.

I think I did manage to complete a couple more rows on the Eastern Seaboard Sampler last week, but I don't have a pic to share. I'll try to get one and post it soon. The next row is a really challenging row for me. The row is a tartan and is tent stitched over one. I started the first line and quickly set it aside and pulled out an Easter piece to work on instead. I only put a handful of stitches into it, but I'll share a pic soon.

I'm on my four days off now and looking forward to some relaxation and stitching time and maybe some blog reading with a nice cup of tea.

Tired...

2011-01-23T14:27:00.000-04:00

That pretty much sums me up right now. I've worked tons of overtime these past couple of weeks and now I'm just plain tired out. Any amount of spare time I had was spent on the treadmill, which, means no stitching progress to share at all. This means that I haven't been able to keep up with your blogs this week either. I tried to read through some yeseterday, but I didn't get too far.

Today, I plan on relaxing. Hopefully, I will get a few stitches in and I might need to take a nap this afternoon. I go back to work on Wednesday, but the next couple of days I have off will be busy. I have a lot of errands to run. The battery went in the car, and that HAS to be replaced ASAP. So, tomorrow will be spent tracking down a battery and installing it. Oh boy..... It's supposed to be super cold tomorrow too, so, it will be loads of fun for my BF to install.

Well, for now, I'm going to go relax. Possibly even get my stitching out and maybe watch a movie.

I hope everyone has had an enjoyable weekend!

A little bit of progress

2011-01-19T11:47:00.000-04:00

I worked on Jeanette Douglas' Eastern Seaboard since my last post. I'm about half way through it now. There's not as much progress as I would have liked since I ended up working an overtime shift this week.

I feel like I've been working on this piece forever. As much as I love the design, I find there are a lot of neutral colours which get a bit boring to work with. The Puffins and Blue Herons were full of partial stitches, which I find challenging as well. It takes my full concentration to make sure I don't make a mistake.

I better go get some sleep before I work tonight. I hope everyone is having a good week!

Karen

First finish in 2011

2011-01-13T21:11:00.001-04:00

Yes, that means I finished it! Finally....

To Trim A Tree
Dragon Dreams
28 ct Millenium Blue linen

I got off work at 7am this morning, slept until noon or so and when I got up I stitched and stitched and stitched until it was done. My favourite part was adding the beads. Unfortunately, the pictures doesn't show them off very well.

And this little bear is absolutely adorable! Who couldn't help but love this little guy! Kudos goes to the designer, Jennifer, from Dragon Dreams! Her designs are so easy to follow. As an added bonus (to me anyways) it used mainly DMC thread and just a bit of Kreinik braid. As much as I like specialty threads, charts that use simple DMC are always more favourable to me due to availability and price.

I'm off for 4 days now and I will probably go back to working on the Atlantic Seaboard Sampler by Jeanette Douglas. I might start something else a bit more simple as well. Something that I can just sit down and work on without a lot of thought after a 12 hour shift at work. I don't always stitch after work, but if I'm in the mood, it has to be something without specialty stitches and just plain and simple. I'm not sure what it will be yet. I'm going to have some fun searching through my stash for ideas.

Am I stitching??

2011-01-11T22:54:00.001-04:00

Nope, not so much. Well, I pick up "To Trim a Tree" quite a bit and put in a few stitches, but it's still not done. I finished putting in the leaf border today, BUT I still have to add the berries around the border, the snowflakes, the backstitching, and I almost forgot about the beaded garland. Not really a lot left, but it seems to be taking me forever! There's no point in even sharing a picture because my progress has just been too pitiful.

I was going to do the finishing challenge, but have decided to not bother with any challenges in January. I'm just not into forcing myself to get things done right now, as I'm sure you can tell since "To Trim a Tree" isn't done yet.

I have seen so many beautiful new starts and WIPs being picked up again thanks to the crazy challenges. Kudos to all of you for being so diligent with your challenges!

So, how many charts do you have?

2011-01-06T18:12:00.000-04:00

Reducing my stash is a big part of my 2011 goals, so, today I did a count to see just how many charts I have in my posession. The final count was plain scarey! I have 182 charts in my stash! This doesn't include any books, magazines, or freebies that I have printed off.

Assuming I can finish 20 of "these" charts off each year and that I don't acquire any new charts (yea, right!!) it will only take me 9.1 years to stitch through my stash!

Anyone else out there brave enough to count their charts? lol

Some changes and some progress

2011-01-03T09:50:00.000-04:00

I changed my blog around last night to something more monochromatic and wintery. I like it, but it's definitely not very colourful, so, I'm not sure how long I'll keep it.

To Trim A Tree has gotten a lot of attention these past couple of days so, I have a good amount of progress to share. I find I don't want to put this one down because I enjoy working with all the bright colours so much.

There is just a little bit of snow left at the bottom, the border, and the backstitching. Oh, I almost forgot, the snowflakes still have to be done as well. I'm on my last week of vacation and hope to have this finished and something else started before I go back to work.

To Trim A Tree started

2010-12-31T09:05:00.000-04:00

So, I've been working pretty hard stitchy-wise over the last few days. So much so that I actually have a stitchy picture to share with some progress!

Above is what it looks like now, and below is what it will look like when it is done.

To Trim A Tree
Dragon Dreams

Aside from stitching, can you believe it is New Year's Eve already!? We generally don't do too much on New Year's Eve. It is more of a family night for us where we watch movies and just relax.

I know I haven't been the best blogger over the last couple of years, but I have jumped back in with a vengence this year and thank you all for your kind comments and support. I wish you all a Happy New Year and hope that all of your dreams come true in 2011!

Happy New Year!

Goals for 2011

2010-12-29T08:00:00.004-04:00

I sat down and made a list of everything I wanted to accomplish this coming year.  So, here it goes with my stitchy goals for 2011:

1) Stitch from Stash! I don't know if any of you remember a challenge from a few years back where people were stitching up to 50 projects from their stash before making new purchases? I plan on re-inventing this challenge in 2011. Nothing so crazy as 50 projects, but what about 5 or 10 projects? I think my goal will be 10 projects, big or small, before any new purchases are made.

2) Keeping in line with stitching from stash, my stitching purchases will be kept to a minimum. New purchases will be mainly for fabric and fibers for charts that I already own. Chart purchases will only be made if they are drastically reduced in price. I am not going to say "no" to any purchases this year, because I know that is un-realistic, but I am going to limit myself and possibly even make a budget this year for what I am allowed to spend on my hobbies.

3) Keeping track of my stitchy spending.  This is again keeping in line with my goals mentioned above. I will keep all receipts and record what I bought and what I spent. I feel I over-spent in 2010 and I need to curtail that from happening again in 2011. I am far from rich and need to watch how I spend my money, especially where hobbies are concerned.

4) Buy from my Local Needlework Shop, Because You Count, whenever possible. I want to support my LNS as much as I can. There may be times I need to buy online because they don't carry the item or something like that, but the majority of my purchases will be made through them. Since my LNS is 1.5 hrs away, this may help with my spending habits as well.

5) Stitch something for each season again. I really do have a tendancy to go for winter/Christmas themed projects. This is really only 4 projects, so, it should be attainable!

6)  *edited* Finish of my finishing pile this year. Try to do a finish-finish each month. Originally, the plan was to finish my pile off in January, but I have decided to change that.
7) Make time to stitch each week! I find I get so busy with life sometimes that I don't have any time left to stitch. So, in 2011, I will try to stitch on something every week even if it is only for 30 minutes or so.

The majority of my goals have to do with spending and spending habits. I really hope I can meet these goals in 2011! What are your goals for 2011?

2010 in Review

2010-12-28T19:00:00.010-04:00

My goals in 2010 were pretty simple:

1. No more stash! I am going to continue with my goal of not adding to my stash.

- FAIL - I definitely didn't meet this goal as I spent quite a bit of money on stitchy stuff in 2010.

2. I am going to try to complete one project for each season. Since this is only 4 projects it should be totally manageable. Last year, it seemed like I was only working on Christmas projects....

- SUCCESS! I stitched something for every season! NOT just Christmas.

3. More comments on your blogs. I am also going to update the list of blogs I follow since several of them are now dead links.

- I was successful with this "sometimes." At times I was just too busy/tired to post comments, but I did read everyone's blogs faithfully.

4. Try more sewing projects. I don't have any projects in mind, but I'm sure I will come up with a thing or two.

- SUCCESSFULLY completed! Remember the bag and the cape I made?

So, just to see what else I accomplished in 2010, I went back through my posts and made a list of all my cross stitch projects:

Winter Banner - Victoria Sampler
Star of Wonder - With My Needle
Mine! - Brittercup Designs
Windows of Faith, Hope, and Peace - Primrose Needleworks
French Country Star - JBW Designs
Let it Snow - JBW Designs
Mini Block Books - Hinzeit
Just A Little Peace and Quiet Please - Dragon Dreams
Beyond Cross Stitch #4-2 - Victoria Sampler
Easter Bunny Freebie - The Stitcherhood
Spring Banner - Victoria Sampler
First Snow - The Drawn Thread
Reindeer on Parade - JBW Designs
Beyond Cross Stitch #4-1 - Victoria Sampler
Autumn Bouquet - Blackbird Designs
Is It Spring Yet? - Designs by Lisa
Cedar Hill - Country Meadow
Holiday House - JBW Designs

Eighteen finishes in all. The majority of these are small projects, but since I didn't stitch for about 5 months last year, I'm quite pleased with this list. You can see most of these and more by clicking on Some Finishes here or in my side bar. I try to post pictures of all of my finished pieces there.

Overall, 2010 brought back my interest in stitching and blogging. Both of which have brought me great joy and a sense of accomplishment. Both lessen the burden of the regular stresses in my life, such as, work/life balance and money. On top of that, I met the majority of my goals and will continue setting stitching goals for myself, as well as, some more personal goals.

I know goal-setting isn't for everyone, but it's really nice to go back and see what I accomplished. How did everyone else do with there goals in 2010? Are any of you setting goals for 2011?

Stay tuned for my 2011 goals!

Slight alteration to the challenge

2010-12-28T08:47:00.000-04:00

I posted awhile ago about joining the "Not-So-Crazy January Challenge" made up by Jenna, but I think I'm going to have to alter my plan slightly. I was originally thinking about stitching a bunch of smalls to make my finishing pile add up to 15 pieces. All of this stitching was going to take place over my Christmas vacation. I'm now in my second week of vacation and there is no stitching to show. So, what I'm saying is that I have been so busy with other things that stitching has taken a back seat for now. Now that Christmas is over, I'm hoping to get some stitching time in, but it's not practical for me to think I can get that many smalls completed. So, now my version of the "Not-So-Crazy" challenge is going to be to finish-finish whatever I have on hand in January. I still have a week and a half of vacation, and hope to get some stitching time in, but reality has set in and I think I was a little too ambitious.

Hopefully my next post will share the rest of my goals for 2011. Can you believe another year has passed by already!!! Time sure does fly!

2010-12-26T11:10:00.000-04:00

I hope everyone had a great Christmas day!

Finally....

2010-12-20T13:50:00.001-04:00

I finished Winter Banner a couple of days ago. YAY!

Four Seasons

Winter Banner

Victoria Sampler

Recommended silk threads from thread pack

28 ct pearl grey linen

I finished this off the other day when I was transitioning between my day and overnight shifts. I am so glad it's finally done, but if I were to do it again, I would change the colour of the border. It's a tad too pink for me although it is starting to grow on me.

Here's a few Christmas pics of my tree and stuff:

One of my favourite pieces that I've stitched is Shephard's Bush, The Stockings Were Hung. I made it into a flat fold. Behind it you can see my newly finished Winter Banner.

This one is a LHN piece from last year's JCS magazine I think. I made it into a cute little pillow. The little lamb was a gift from my son.

My little snowflake tree - it stands a whole 4' high. Behind it you can see a little bit of the snowmen that I made a few years ago on plastic canvas. This is another of my favourites.

My stitchy tree and you can see one of my Christmas presents behind it... a ceramic space heater. The wooden Santa was purchased at a local craft fair.

And the other end table.... I have a Santa in the basket that I never backed or put a hanger on. It is made from plastic canvas as well. It was supposed to be a set of four coasters, but I only ever made the one.

And that's pretty much it for decorations.

I'm on vacation for the next three weeks and hope to get a lot of stitching done.

In case I don't post again before Christmas, I want to wish everyone a very

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Best Wishes,

Karen

So close, but yet so far....

2010-12-16T21:05:00.000-04:00

I have an "almost" finish to report. Yes, that means I'm still not done Winter Banner, but I am sooooo close. All that's left is to attach a few little beads and to carefully cut it out and it will be done! So, why isn't it done yet? I was called in for some more Overtime. I should have a nice paycheque coming to me though! I might even have Christmas paid for by working all of this overtime over past couple of weeks. What a great feeling that is!

Hopefully my next post will show you a finish, but the way this week is going, I can't make any promises.

Enjoy your weekend!

Karen

The Not so Crazy Challenge

2010-12-15T10:16:00.000-04:00

Everybody's talking about the Crazy January challenge. I've seen it on all kinds of blogs, and since I'm such a one-at-a-time stitcher, it's just not for me.

Jenna at a A Tale of a Shooting Star has come up with an alternate challenge, the Not-So-Crazy January Challenge of 2011. This challenge goes like this:

``The Not-So-Crazy January Challenge of 2011 is to take 15 finishes from your waiting-to-be-finished pile and finish-finish them. They can be framed, made into ornaments, sewn into bellpulls, hand-stitched into biscornus, whatever strikes your fancy. My goal is to clear out that finishing pile in which some pieces have been languishing for years. If you choose to frame any pieces, you can either complete the framing yourself by the end of January or take them into a framer by the end of January, your choice and either one counts.``

This idea is more up my ally and I am taking part with a small change. I don`t actually have 15 things waiting to be finished, so, my goal is to do a little more than the finish-finish 15 things. I`m going to attempt to stitch and finish 15 things. I will finish off whatever I have in my finishing pile, but the remainder will have to be stitched first. This may take me a bit longer than the month of January, but I will do my best to complete this goal as quickly as possible. I see a lot of ornaments in my near future haha. I will try to post some pictures of what I am going to do.

Jenna would love to know of others taking up this challenge, so hop over to her blog and leave her a comment.

I know I was supposed to have a finish to share with everyone by now, but I was called into work for some overtime and I just can`t say no to OT, especially this time of year! So, I went to work instead. I`ll try to finish off Winter banner ASAP!

Enjoy your day!

Karen

time and money...

2010-12-13T21:33:00.000-04:00

Between wrapping and shopping.... I'm running short on time and money these days! My days off are all about getting ready for Christmas. I`m slowly progressing on my Winter banner and hope to have it finished tomorrow and then I will finally have a picture to share.

I was shopping earlier today and I was really surprised to see how few people were out and about doing their Christmas shopping. Normally, by now parking lots would be full! I`m sure the weather plays a big part in getting people into the spirit and with the bizarre weather this year it`s sure to put a damper on everyone`s mood. We`ve had some snow, but it`s all gone now and it`s downpouring out! I think the temperature was in the low teens today... temperatures pretty much unheard of for this time of year. The fourteen day forecast doesn`t show this area going below the freezing mark either. So, probably no snow for Christmas this year. That being said, the economy here has never been great for long and I`m sure its taking a hit this year as well.

Since I have a few spare minutes I think I`ll go stitch for a little bit before bed.

Happy Stitching!

Karen

16 Days til Christmas!

2010-12-09T08:39:00.000-04:00

It's so close! Just a bit more than two weeks away and Christmas wiill be here. I have been so busy getting stuff ready. What a crazy time of year it is. The tree is up and decorated and the shopping is done. I still have some (quite a bit) of wrapping to do, but it's getting there.

Stitching time is at a minimum. I don't even have a picture to share with some progress, because there just hasn't been that much progress made.

I will be going on vacation soon. Three weeks of glorious vacation and I can't wait! I hope to get some stitching time in then!

I guess I don't have much else to share. I will try to get a picture of my little tree and post a picture fo that later.

I hope everyone is having a good week!

Karen

Christmas stitching

2010-11-26T19:12:00.000-04:00

I think Winter/Christmas is my favourite theme for stitching. I would stitch on Christmas stuff all year round if it was practical. That's why last year I made stitching something for every season one of my goals for the year, which I was successful at attaining. Now, it's getting close to Christmas again, we've had a couple little snow days, and I'm right back into my winter/Christmas themed stitching groove again. You've seen my little flurry of ornaments. Now I'm working on Victoria Samplers Winter from the Four Seasons. There's not too much done yet, but it will be finished soon enough.

I'm really looking forward to the weekend. It promises to be a busy one with lots of fun stuff planned. I plan on decorating the tree, going to a craft fair, and the local Christmas parade is this weekend too. Well, if I want a little stitching time, I better get going.

Enjoy your weekend!

Karen

Finishing Spree

2010-11-20T17:41:00.000-04:00

Have I been busy or what! I've been on a bit of a finishing spree this weekend. Seven ornaments are finished-finsihed and there are three or four left to go. I thought I'd share what I've done so far.

The above picture includes two finishes from Victoria Sampler's Learning Series and the house is from JBW Designs.

The Christmas Sock is from Cathy Jean at Victoria Sampler and the Snow Man is from JBW Designs. I wish I had a picture showing the backing fabric for the snowman. I just love it. It is row after row of blue presents wrapped with silver ribbon with sparkles.

These are both more recent finsihes. The star JBW Designs from this years JCS Ornament issue and the little sheep is from an older JCS ornament issue. I forget who the designer is. I totally forgot I had the perfect fabric for this in my stash. The star fabric was a fat quarter I've been saving for a long time.

And above shows my whole little Charlie Brown Chrstmas Tree. As you can probably tell, the finishing style I prefer is the little pillow. I wanted to try the finishing technique where the stitched piece is put on a board and then backed with a couple of pieces of felt, but the felt I have on hand didn't coordinate with the stitched pieces. Also, I would have liked to use a different cording than green, like red, but I only had green on hand and I didn't want to drive into town just for cording. Next time I go to the fabric store I'll be sure to pick up some other colours though!

The kitchen table is still piled high with my "stuff." I'm not sure if I'll continue with my finishing spree or call it a day and just stitch. This has put a nice dent into my unfinished-finished pile. I have a great sense of accomplishment this weekend and it's not even over yet!

Karen

Self Indulgence

2010-11-16T12:10:00.000-04:00

Here's what came home with me from my LNS the other day.

The pattern is Merry Christmas by brightneedle. I think this is an older pattern. Its from 2003 according to the copyright. I thumbed through all of their Christmas designs and this is the only one that really called out to me. Just to be sure I could start this when I feel like it I bought a piece of fabric (Ice Blue 32 ct Lugana) and the required threads. This fabric is pretty close to the picture, but I'm not sure if it will be what I go with in the end. After looking at the pattern more closely, there's quite a bit of white on it and I'm not sure how well white will show up on this.

These two pieces of fabric are for a couple of other patterns. I'm not sure about the blue.... It's Millenium Blue 32 ct linen, but it might be a bit too bright for what I want it for.

And finally, the threads! This brand, Threadworx, is new for me. I loved the colours and had a hard time picking just a few. I can't wait to use them!

Time and lack of it

2010-11-14T16:31:00.001-04:00

It was one busy week! Three trips to and from Moncton in as many days. Hopefully this won't be repeated anytime soon! Moncton is about an hour and a half drive each way. The first trip was a quick trip to and from Moncton just to drop off my son. The next trip landed me at Costco with a very light wallet afterwards. The third trip was to pick my son up and to do some Christmas shopping... oh and a little side-trip to the LNS for some self indulgence.

I found some buttons at the LNS to finish off a piece that was sitting around waiting for its finishing touches. Some fabric had to come home with me along with some gorgeous Threadworx fibers, and another Christmas chart with all the fixings to make it.

So, I am now incredibly broke.... BUT.... my Christmas shopping is officially done aside from the stuff to be made and some stocking stuffers.

Needless to say, with all this back and forth travelling, there was no time for stitching. I'm back to work for the next few days and hope to get some stitching time in at some point, but it won't be much if at all. I'm always a little drained after my 12 hr shifts.

My next post will be sure to include some pictures of my new "stuff."

Enjoy this gorgeous Sunday!

Karen

Star of Wonder

2010-11-12T11:16:00.000-04:00

Last year I kitted up a bunch of little projects and this is the very last one. Having them ready to go was great and I may do it again this year.

Star of Wonder

With My Needle

JCS Anniversary Book

32 ct linen (not sure of colour)

Recommended WDW/GAST/DMC

Mostly stitched over one.

This one was left to the end because it is mostly stitched over one. The lambs are so tiny! The larger ones are probably smaller than a nickel. The lettering is all over one as well. I like how there is a front and back to this one. I can't wait to "finish-finish" it.

Speaking of finish-finishing... I think I've gone crazy with ornaments this last little while. I have a pretty good size collection of unfinished smalls now. This week has been full of errands and to be honest, I'm quite surprised I had enough time to stitch this up. Hopefully next week will be less busy and bring me a bit more time for finishing.

One of the reasons I've been stitching so many ornament pieces is because last year I gave away most of my ornaments. I think I have two finished ornaments left! So, if I don't want a bare tree this year, I figured I better get busy with some smalls.

Later today I have to go to get the windshield wipers on my car looked at. They just kinda stop randomly now and I'm pretty sure they're not supposed to do that lol. With all the horrible weather we've had lately, they really need to be checked because it is a bit of a safety hazard. So, unlike most people who would just take it to a local shop, I'm driving to a dealership 45 mins away in Sussex. It's where I bought my car and I just prefer their service over the local dealers. And since Sussex is the half-way point to Moncton (where my LNS is located) if it isn't too late when they finish with my car, I may just keep on going.

I hope everyone enjoys their weekend!

Karen

Mine!

2010-11-10T13:07:00.000-04:00

I finished another little ornament from the JCS Christmas Preview Issue for this year.

Mine!

Brittercup Designs

JCS Ornament Preview Issue 2010

32 ct Limited Run linen by Silkweaver

Lots of Thread Substitutions:

CC Steamed Broccoli = WDW Collards
CC Eve's Leaves = WDW Scuppernong
CC Black Coffee = DMC 310
WDW Squash = DMC 725
WDW Watermelon Punch = DMC 57 Varigated Thread
WDW Turkish Red = DMC 115 Varigated Thread

These little kitty designs are so cute! I can't believe this is the first one I have ever stitched. It makes me want to go back and stitch the whole series!

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

Another mini finish and novelty stuff

2010-11-05T11:22:00.000-03:00

Hi everyone! First I'd like to say thank you for stopping by! I truly appreciate your comments. And KarenV, I sent you an email directly about my settings. If anyone else has any issues with adding me to their reader, please let me know.

Now on to my stitching! I've finished another wee ornament from this year's issue of JCS Ornament Issue. This one is by a designer that I'm not very familiar with, Primrose Needleworks.

Windows of Faith, Hope, and Peace

Primrose Needleworks

JCS 2010 Ornament Issue

32 ct linen - Limited Run from Silkweaver

GAST/DMC - recommended colours

This really was the first ornament to jump out at me in this year's magazine as a "must" stitch. It was so quick and easy too.

Next, is a picture of a metal tree that I bought on ebay. For years, I have wanted something like this for hanging my ornaments. Previuosly, the only things I found were ridiculously priced. So, recently, I thought I'd just look to see what was there and this is what I found.

It's perfect for me! It's non-seasonal, about 2 ft high, and nice neutral brown. I'm not sure if you can tell, from my pics, but I have A LOT of brown furniture lol! So, this fits in perfectly! haha It's meant to be a jewelry tree, but I'll use it for my stitching.

Now I need to get busy and finsih-finish some ornaments, so that I have something to hang on my tree.

Well, that's all I have for now, so, I'll wish you all well this weekend and say bye for now!

Karen

Star

2010-11-03T10:54:00.000-03:00

This was my travel project which was done in a jiffy! Smalls are so nice for that instant gratification!

French Country Star

32 ct white linen

GAST Buckeye Scarlet

Since this was my travelling piece, I did it over 2 threads, not the recommended one. Also, I didn't have the recommended WDW Garnet thread, so, I used Buckeye Scarlet from GAST. I will be doing a second one of these on a deep red fabric using white thread.

I'm on my days off now and I'm not sure whether I want to sew or stitch lol. I need to work on the messenger bag for my daughter, but I really want to stitch. I have a bunch of pieces to finish - finish too.

Decisions, decisions....

A Finish - Finish

2010-10-28T14:56:00.000-03:00

It's been a busy few days off. I made an apron and a halloween trick-treat-bag yesterday (no pics of either). Today I got up and decided to tackle some finish-finishing. I started with this drawn thread freebie. I was going to make it into a pin-keep ornament, but then thought a little bit of the fabric around the front would be nice. So, I made it into a mini wall hanging.

This was my first attempt at making mitered corners and it took a few tries. To make it a bit brighter, I added the white top-stitching. For some reason my sewing machine went a little wonky with the top-stitching on the upper right side. The stitches got super small.... Anyone know why this would happen???

I'll have to go look through my things and figure out what's next! It's been a great crafty couple of days.

10 weeks til Christmas!?!?

2010-10-26T13:40:00.000-03:00

First of all, thank you to all of your kind comments and well wishes to get better. I am feeling much better, but it does seem to be hanging in there just a little bit.

Now, is it true that there are only 10 weeks until Christmas?? I read it somewhere and could hardly believe it! I didn't get a calendar out to count, but expect it to be close to that since we are nearing the end of October. WOW.... the end of October already!!!

There was no time for any fall stitching themes chez Karen this autumn and since it seems Christmas is just around the corner... there will be none of it in the near future. Time is just running short and having the cold/flu last week has put me behind schedule. And yes, I do have a schedule....

My plans were/are:

sew messenger bag by the end of LAST week (hasn't been started yet)
finish pj pants this week (haven't picked those up yet and probably won't)
another pair of pj pants (shouldn't take too long, and plan on doing these in November)
Heirloom Christmas Sampler by Victoria Sampler (cyberclass class starts this week I think and I decided NOT to do it)
Take Autumn Bouquet in to be framed (was planning on taking it in 2 weeks ago, still hasn't happened)
Finish and frame Dragon Dreams, Just a Little Peace and Quiet and finish and frame Hinzeit Books (Both are DONE)
Finish-finish some ornaments (haven't started)
Make at least 4 or 5 more ornaments for Christmas (finished another today)

So, that is the general gist of some of what I wanted to accomplish and a very good understanding of what I have NOT accomplished.

So, my travelling project for work was JBW Designs, Let it Snow and I finished it off this morning minus the buttons. What is it with me and buttons lately.... again, I have mis-placed them and will have to go on a hunt. The pictures are a bit off in colour, especially the fabric. It is more of a creamy yellow. The buttons I need to add are the pompoms for the hats.

JBW Designs

Let it Snow

DMC and GAST threads

28 ct Ray of Light

I'm off to do a bit more stitching......

Karen

Catch of the Day

2010-10-19T11:35:00.000-03:00

I worked on Eastern Seaboard for a bit last night. I'm almost finished Row 15, Catch of the Day. I just need to add a few confetti stitches and add some eyeballs to the fishies so they can see. This row has reminded me how much I hate quarter stitches! There were a ton of them....

Next up, is a picture of a framed finish.

I framed this myself using a pre-made frame from Michaels. It's really a rather simple metal frame, but I didn't want anything too fancy that would take away from the design.

I framed Books last week too, but I don't have it here to take a picture. I will get one soon and post it as well.

Aside from that, I have done nothing at all besides watching tv and sleeping. Another cold decided to come my way and I'm feeling pretty rotten. I wanted to work on another Christmas gift this week, but just don't have the energy to get out my sewing machine. And with all the cold meds in my system, playing with the sewing machine probably wouldn't be a such a great idea right now.

I think it's time for me to take another nap.

Happy Tuesday Everyone!

Karen

One down.....

2010-10-11T12:55:00.001-03:00

Hinzeit

Mini Block Books

28 ct cream Jobelyn

DMC

I just finished this this afternoon. I hope to frame it and give it to my daughter for Christmas.

This afternoon we're going to have a big turkey dinner with my parents... YUM!

Happy Thanksgiving!