Sampler September Week 1

I'm doing my own version of Sampler September this year.  I believe it was started a few years ago on IG but thought I'd post about it here too.  I'm defining this for me as a sampler of my WIPs.  I've pulled 20ish WIPs and hope to give each of them a day's worth of stitching.  Most are samplers, but not all and there are several teaching pieces included.  I may not make significant progress, in fact I won't, but I do hope that it will reignite the spark for the project.  

I'm only showing after photos as adding before photos would make this too photo heavy I think.

Up first was When Thou Art Rich by HATS.  I was at a spot - an entire row of queen stitches on a linen that was a similar color to the thread - where I was mentally blocked on this one.  I picked it up and something just clicked! I finished the row of queen stitches (which was only about 25% done) and started the satin stitch row below.  I'll definitely be coming back to this one soon.

Hannah Hammond by Gigi R was up next.  I was definitely not enjoying this last time I put this one away. I can't say that I love her now but we are in a better place.   Not a bad outcome.

This is a teaching piece by Jane Timmers of Fancy Work called Liberty Little Sewing Box.  This is for a class this fall.  There will be smalls and a box from LeHays that will be finished.  Super cute.

Mary Barres came out.  Hard to see but I completed the ghost alphabet and started that bottom motif.  She's a big girl and will therefore be a long term project.

Tocatta 1 by the Drawn Thread has not been touched in YEARS.  Why?  I have no idea!  It's so close to being completed except for the hem stitching which I've never done before.  This was, I believe, the very first SAL project of my stitching guild.

I started block 10 of Autumn at Hawk Run Hollow.  The black box outline was already stitched, I do that before I put it away.  Everything else was stitched on its day of stitching which was a weekend day.  Closing in on the home stretch on this one too.

I'd call week 1 a success!  If I focused, I could realistically finish 3 of these before year end.  Will that happen?  Probably not.  That's ok though!  

I hope you're having a great week and that all your stitches are happy ones!

Happy New Year?

Hello!  I certainly didn't mean to be away so long.  No excuses!  I have been stitching though.  I'll share with you what I stitched on Autumn at Hawk Run Hollow today.  I'm using the called for linen in 40 count and DMC (because there are 60ish colors in this one).  

This is block 5.  Probably my least favorite block though I could not tell you why.   I apologize for the wrinkles.

More recently I've finished block 6.  This one went really fast for me.  I just love the spiders in this piece.  They really seem to add interest and capture my eye.  This block has one spider.  I stitched him very last.

Here is a picture of where Autumn at Hawk Run Hollow is to date.  I've taken to stitching the outline of the next block before I put this project away.  That's what you see happening in block 7.  I haven't started stitching the interior of the block and for now, I'm putting this one away.  I'll be happy I stitched the border already when I take it back out to work on.

I'm working on gathering my supplies for And They Sinned.  While I had almost everything threadwise in stash, I didn't have 3 skeins of Shutter Green, I had two.  So I ordered 3 more because I wanted to dye lot to be the same as this color is used in a very large area (the grass at the bottom).  I didn't expect such a significant difference in the colors.  They don't even look anywhere near the same color!  Better safe than sorry.  If anyone runs out of an older dye lot of Shutter Green, let me know!

I hoping to get back to posting on somewhat of a monthly schedule.  I enjoy the interactions and sometimes I just need to say more than Instagram allows.  Thank you for sticking with me during my silent periods.   You inspire me so much and I love visiting your blogs too if you have them!

Happy Spring!  May all your stitches be happy ones!

Some Progress

This spring and early summer I've been focusing on my WIP Challenge list projects for 2018.   My EGA guild has a challenge each year and since we have something coming up at the beginning of July that will take a few months, I decided to try and knock some of my Challenge list out.  My photos are of the projects un-ironed but figured that if I waited to post before ironing, it very well might be another month without a post from me!

First I pledged to finish the stitching only on A Lady's Worke Box (3rd project down) by With My Needle/Ellen Chester. It's such a beautiful project and once I put my mind to it, the stitching went rather quickly.  I had a small to finish up and the larger inside and outside panels left to do.  I also had to correct some border backstitching that wasn't done over the correct number of threads.  Ellen's instructions are amazing and I have no doubt I'll be able to finish this myself.  It most likely will not be this year based on what I want to accomplish.  Maybe the finishing will go on my 2019 WIP Challenge list?!

I also finished the stitching on this stocking from Blackbird Designs called Snowy Eve.  This is found in their booklet called Merry December which  has 3 stockings included.  Fun rather quick stitch!  I have the finishing to do yet for this one before it can count for my guild.  I'll probably do that in the fall.  I've done one before but I definitely want to improve on my technique.

Last up,  I finished block #3 of Autumn at Hawk Run Hollow!  This block was fairly densely stitched but also fun.  I've also started stitching the black outside border for the next block before I put it away.  I've pulled this back out to work on block #4.  It's a fun stitch.  I'm using DMC because there are about 60 thread colors for this one.  

The summer is already beyond hot here, even with all the rain.  Is it terrible that I'm looking forward to fall already?!

Wishing you all happy stitches!

Organization, Some Time Away, and Two New Starts

So hard to believe that October is over and the holidays are just around the corner!  This month, Greg and I escaped to the Smoky Mountains for a week away along with dear friends.  It was just what we needed.  She is a stitcher too and we both started Autumn at Hawk Run Hollow with the goal of getting that top block done.  I was able to finish mine, she decided she didn't like her linen so she worked on other projects.  It was a great week!

Since we've been home, I've made good progress on And Heaven and Nature Sing.  It's been a fun stitch.  I thought stitching all the brown on the deer would be a slog-fest but it went rather quickly.  I should be finishing this soon.  

Before we left, I worked on organizing my DMC.  Thanks to a $.02 skein sale at WalMart and Greg making friends with a WalMart associate I was covered in unorganized DMC.  Since I wanted to share the loot with my friend who lives in a very rural area, I had to figure out what I had.  I decided to use those Ikea boxes I bought some time ago.  I cut a PO cardboard box to make a center divider.

 

I cut smaller pieces to use as organizational tabs inside.

 

I ended up with 4 very full boxes.  Very full.  These photos were early on in the process.  After these pics my husbands connection at WalMart texted him to say she had even more $.02 DMC.   I was able to share quite a bit with my friend and I sent some to someone in New Zealand where DMC is $1.69 a skein!  I can't imagine!  I plan on buying two more boxes when our Ikea opens up and then the DMC organization should be done.  No plans to organize any of the rest of it yet!  

It's all logged into the XStitch app along with all my charts, fabric, and other threads except for what I bought while on vacation and have not put away as yet.  I love being able to easily see what I have and need at a glance!  Getting everything in there went much quicker than I thought.  

Tomorrow is Halloween and then we are full on in the holiday season.  I'm hoping to find some calm days with my needles during all of the busy-ness.  I hope that you can too and that all your stitches are happy ones!

4 Years

Earlier this week, I finished up bock #8 on Shores of Hawk Run Hollow.  I changed up the text for this blog and dedicated it to my son, Chris.  From a young age, he's loved the water, particularly the beach.  Even as an adult, he spends time at the beach or on the water.  Also, I thought that if I dedicated one project to each of my sons in a similar fashion, that'll be one large cross stitch project of mine that they'll each keep when I'm gone.

Any idea how to keep those long stitches taut?  They were but ironing seems to have relaxed them considerably.  I pulled them to the back for this photo.  

This is Chris and my Mom (who has dementia) last year.  Oh how I love this kid!  Mom too!

With the completion of this block, I'm also done with Shores of Hawk Run Hollow as I left this block to the end.  It's been a fun stitch though I must admit I got bogged down on the double block. Once I got that done, the rest of the blocks seem to have flown by!

I can remember Chris catching a seahorse at Coquina Key when he was about 10.  When he was younger, we spent a lot of time there with friends.  His dad/my ex wasn't fond of the beach at all and he worked weekends so we'd take off for the day.  We would see dolphins and manatees from time to time as well.  He also caught a baby sting ray.  Of course, he released whatever he caught after showing me.  Lots of good times!

Shores of Hawk Run Hollow

Carriage House Samplings

40 Count Lakeside Linen Vintage Meadow Rue

Called for NPI Silks

For those of you stitching this,  I needed a third 993/black.  I don't think I did any more frogging than you'd typically expect on a project this size but needed a third skien.  If you're not using 40 count,  you may need more 671 (I only had a tiny bit left), 991, 522 and 208.

I thought I'd started this project in 2009 or 2010.  Looking back, I find that it was 2012 - 4 years to finish seems like a long time.  Now that it is done, that doesn't really matter does it?

Sound of Silence

Is anyone still out there?  I didn't mean to be gone so long.  Truth be told, I thought about blogging almost every weekend but never seemed to put the thought into action.  But I did this weekend!

Just because I've been gone does not mean I haven't been stitching, knitting or sewing.  I have been!  Working on finding my sewing mojo which seemed to disappear year before last.  Knitting some here and there.  I'm having numbness/tingling/pain in my hands and knitting aggravates it the worst.  I have been doing more stitching than anything and today I wanted to update you on my progress on Shores of Hawk Run Hollow by Carriage House Samplings.  This has been a focus project for me this year as it is on my WIP Challenge list with my EGA chapter (our Facebook page is here) and I have the maximum pledge placed.  September of 2013 was my last blog post about this project. It's time to get this one finished!

This block was a pretty quick stitch for me.  I outlined the house first so when I needed mindless stitching, I was prepped for it.  I really like the trees on this one too.

Super fast though there is a counting mistake somewhere in the bottle.  Can you find it?  Me either!

We don't talk about how many times I stitched that row of fish.  Four.  Counting is not overrated.  And yes, it would have been obvious that there was a problem.  I would have left it as it was if not.

 Probably my least favorite block, though I do love the butterflies.  To me it looks like a peacock on a piling in the water.  A peacock!  

And this is the block that sloooooowed it all way down.  The dreaded double bock with only a few colors and lots of big blocks of stitching.  In hindsight, I should have just started another block and worked on it like you do a border - a little bit here and there and eventually it would get done.  You can see more of the entire project in this picture as well.   I have just one block left!  It's the one to the right of the ship.  It's another densely stitched block and is in many of the same colors as the ship.  I just couldn't face it right after the big block so I decided to leave it for last.  You can see a peek off to the right of my start and there isn't much more done than what you see.  

I have had two starts this year too.  Both of them are EGA chapter Stitch-a-Longs.  One I started in January and the other I started last weekend.  I'll save them for another post since I don't have pictures one of them yet.

Even though I haven't posted here on the blog (I have been posting here and there on my Instagram page), I am still reading your blogs and you continue to inspire me every single day!    I can't tell you how much I appreciate that.  Wishing you all happy stitches!

Spending Time with My Needles!

Things are actually moving along in the world of the needle!  A couple of weeks ago Greg and I went on vacation and I finished another block on Shores of Hawk Run Hollow.  I was happy about that! 

No ironing - otherwise this post would not have happened!

I've also been sewing!  I took out this old WIP (I refuse to call something a UFO for some reason) and have been working on it.  As I previously talked about, I'm making this one work with what I have on hand.  Since I started this early in my quilting "career", it's less than perfect.  I've made some adjustments and it's now smaller at 9 blocks vs. the 12 originally intended.  Would I put these fabrics together today?  Probably not. There are some 30's fabrics in there along with some Kaffe and a Tula Pink plus some other odd fabrics.   The quilt is from Egg Money Quilts by Eleanor Burns.  Excellent step by step instructions.  Some say you don't even need to read the words to understand what to do.

I'm going to try quilting this one myself.  I have some vague ideas of what I'm going to do on most of the blocks but need to figure out the sashing and cornerstones (not shown).  I'm not going to get better if I don't start doing it and I thought this would be a good quilt to start on!

It feels good to spend time with my needles again!  

Hey there!  We've been away at my parent's little cabin in the mountains.  The week before we left and the two weeks after have been really crazy work wise.  Big re-org and now I'm supporting groups in two other states as well as my own.  I also have a new manager who has flown out to meet me and spend a couple of days.  Hopefully the next two or three weeks will be more normal.  I won't say calm - because calm isn't going to happen!  

I did manage to finish block 4 of Shores of Hawk Run Hollow.  It wasn't my favorite block to stitch but I do love it finished.  As you can tell, I didn't iron for this pic.  

Many of you may have known that I was a member of Azalea Sampler Guild for a few years.  You may have also followed our blog.  Unfortunately, the group disbanded quite some time ago.  Many of the members joined our local EGA Chapter.  We've recently started a blog that you might want to check out.  We'll be going in and filling in some of our prior activities and of course, keep up going forward.   If you're local, we'd love to have you visit one of our stitch ins.  If you're not local, I'd invite you to visit your local EGA chapter.  It's fun to meet up in person with other needle arts lovers!

Before I forget, I've added a widget to follow my blog with BlogLovin' as Google Reader will be decommissioned on July 1.  I'm still deciding whether or not I like BlogLovin' or Feedly best but BlogLovin' is winning right now.

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

I'm hoping I'll have needle and thread in hand more over the next few weeks. Hope all your stitches are happy ones!

November

For Heather's Theme-a-Licious project, November was Nail it November.  I nailed finishing block #3 of Shores of Hawk Run Hollow, stitching almost all of this while I was on vacation mid-month.  I pretty sure I've posted a Theme-a-Licious post for each month, though I haven't always linked up in time on her blog.  Unfortunately, I've stitched very little since we've been home.

Here is my November block for the We Bee Learning Bee.  The yellow center is a bit bright in this picture.  I have to say, I really love the yellow and gray combination.

I've also been working on getting this quilt ready for quilting.  I've pieced and ironed the back and spent some time clipping threads on the back.  A lot time.  Evidence can be found below.  I am not fond of clipping threads.  On the other hand, it's a shame this quilt top has sat for a year waiting to be quilted.

How much time do you spend clipping and ironing before dropping off a quilt?  I iron as I go but I could probably spend 4 more hours ironing.  When do you say it's done?

I've also been working on assembling my Cotton Club quilt.  I have the centered assembled and two borders on.  Only the last border to go - it's mitered and will be my first mitered border.  Yikes!  I'm going to use Marti Michell's ruler.  Fingers crossed.  I have to get the border fabric cut out properly first.

I have a few days off at the end of the month that I'm really looking forward to.  It'll be the first vacation time we've spent at home this year.  It'll be nice to have some quiet after all the hustle and bustle of the holiday season.  I'm trying to take a very relaxed approach to the season this year.  We'll see how it goes.  In the meantime, may all your stitches be happy ones!

No Obligation October

The past couple of weeks have flown by.  We all got to spend some time with my two nieces.  My two grown boys went with us to see them at my parents house and they had a blast too.  Even though they are so much older than their cousins they really made an effort to spend some good time with them.  We're hoping the girls will come see us next summer (without their parents).  As a mom and an aunt it's good to see the love and affection they have for each other.  It just warms my heart.

Now time for a Theme-a-Licious update.

October was Obligation October.  I have enough obligations so I decided to just stitch what I felt like stitching and forget about obligations.  I started the second block of Shores two weeks ago.  I expected the seaweed to give me tons of fits but surprisingly it didn't.  I put the last stitch into this block on the 31st.  This block went much faster than I thought it would.

Earlier in the month, I finished up another block on Anniversaries of the Heart.  This is block 9.  Since one bonus block was in the first row, I'm officially 2/3 of the way through this one.  As with the other blocks, I'm holding off on the personalizations until the end.  Maybe we'll see this finished in 2013?

 

I haven't stitched a stitch since these two were finished up on the 31st.  I'll probably pick out something to work on tonight or tomorrow.   Tomorrow will be a quiet day as my sweetie is going to a football game and my youngest son is at his fathers for the weekend.  I'm hoping to spend the day in the sewing room with some time stitching too.   I'll have a nice zen day before the craziness starts at work next week where I have some serious deadlines to meet.  At least I'll be starting the week off with some happy stitches and I hope you do too!

Stitching!

Heather's Theme-a-Licous theme for September was all about smalls.  I decided to go rogue and work on big projects instead.  Since I was on vacation at the beginning of September, I actually got a lot done compared to my typical progress.  I finished another block on Anniversaries of the Heart.  No personalization is being done on this until the end.  I have things sketched out in my head but need to do some planning before I start adding it.  As you can see, I also just started the border on the next block.  I've enjoyed this project so far and hope to finish it up next year.

In my last post, I gave you a sneak peek of a new project I was starting.  Actually, the sneak peek was just a picture of the linen and threads.  I started Shores of Hawk Run Hollow on our last day of vacation and was able to complete my first block.  I haven't touched it since but do hope to start the next block in November.  Block one was fun!

I'm often asked how I have the patience for stitching.  For me, stitching (as does knitting and quilting) gives me patience.  It soothes my mind and chases the stress away and obviously brings me much enjoyment.   I do wish it was just as easy to turn to exercise but ... ummm, that hasn't happened yet!