Unintended Hiatus

It's been a few weeks since I posted last. My hiatus was unintended. A couple of Fridays ago I caught some type of stomach virus necessitating an urgent care visit. It was most likely food poisoning and it's taken me some time to recover and to gather up energy for anything other than work.

I have not stitched in over 2 weeks. I just picked up my knitting needles Wednesday (where I immediately messed up my project so bad that I had to rip and rip and rip). I did some sewing last weekend which was my first foray back into my hobbies. When I don't feel well I read - and there hasn't been much of that either. I'm glad to get back to my various needles.

I did pick up my framed HallowEden. My camera settings must have been moved as these pictures are a bit grainy. The linen color is off here as it's a light green in real life. I really enjoyed stitching on this linen.

Not where this will stay but another picture.

A close up of the frame. I've found I enjoy selecting frames, it's fun!

I have been reading blogs posts, just not commenting quite so often. I'll get better at that this week. This weekend I've purposely spent at home - not that I've accomplished much but these days Saturdays seem to be spent on the go and away from my husband. It's been nice to have two whole days with him without any list of things to get accomplished. I hope you all had a great weekend and I hope to have something else to show you soon! Happy Stitches!

A Need and a Special Treat

As many of you know, my husband converted our spare bedroom to a sewing space for me at the end of 2009. It's a small room, after all we have a small house. The room has been more than sufficient for my needs. The one thing I've really wished I've had is a design wall. I've been having some trouble with a fabric choice for my current Jo's Little Women project. So I hammered in a nail, hung a hanger on it and attached a bit of batting creating a makeshift design wall so I could play around. Wow! I can't believe what I've been missing! I sent a quick email to Karen Dianne over at Living Life at LeehHaven about what fabric she uses for her design wall (she has 3 of them). Flannel is now on it's way and a 6x6" design wall will hopefully be part of my sewing space soon!

I decided to cut out 4 fabrics to audition for the center solid blocks. Having this up on the wall all week has helped! I didn't anticipate it, but I'll probably change the setting triangle fabric too. One day it would be nice to feel confident about fabric choices.

I finished the first bonus block of the Anniversaries of the Heart series yesterday at a stitching gathering. This was a quick block - even for me. I stitched most of the border twice. Ugh! Counting is not an over rated skill!

Our sampler guild, The Azalea Sampler Guild, had a special visitor at our last monthly meeting. This link will take you to our visitor's post about the visit. I'll post a couple of my photos later on in the month. Needless to say, it was a very special treat!

Wishing you all a good week and Happy Stitches!

Quick Post...

I finished the second block in the Blackbird Designs Anniversaries of the Heart series recently. I must say that the satin stitch and I are not friends. I stitched that part twice and am not completely pleased. Chain stitch was a first for me. I'm really enjoying this project. I have a feeling that I'll love each block more than the last one. As with the first block, I'm saving the personalization until I have time to sit down and really plan out the entire set of personalizations. I do have some ideas!

Valentine Rose by Blackbird Designs

36 Count Lakeside Linen Vintage Light Examplar

Called for threads - no substitutions