Give

Give by Lizzie Kate
from the Double Flip series

stitched on 32 count linen with WDW & GAST fibers

Here's what the whole (wrinkly) thing looks like so far:

I am officially 1/3 of the way done! This is going to be one looooong piece once all twelve are finished!

P.S. I started VoHRH!!! Hooray!!!

Season of Hope HD

Season of Hope by Little House Needleworks

stitched with DMC on 28-ct. Antique Ivory linen

I've been on a bit of an internet diet this last week. We had a storm take it completely out, but once Verizon declared it fixed we were still staring at a dead modem. We're back up and running again, and I've been playing catch up on my blog reading. Please forgive me lack of commenting! I'm hoping to be back to "normal" soon!

I've been busy out in the yard, trying to stay ahead of the weeds. They sprout as fast as blog posts! If only there was a delete button!

I've also been getting a tiny bit of stitching done. I'm working on Give from LK and should have it finished soon. I need to tie myself to my chair tonight because I really don't have much left to do on it. Believe it or not, I still haven't started VoHRH! Why do I procastinate?!?!?

We went to our first Rangers game this season on Tuesday. My daughter treated us to some very nice seats, in the fifth row right behind the first base dugout. And who cares if we lost! The weather was perfect (remember last year's rain-out about this same time?), the view was ideal, the food was classic (hot dogs with grilled onions!) and we had a fantastic time!

Goal Review

A little late, but here is what I accomplished in March:

1. Start and finish "Remember" by Lizzie Kate. Yes!
2. Start and finish "Season of Hope" by Little House Needleworks. Almost...
3. Start "Spring Has Come" by Prairie Schooler. Yes!
4. Start and finish at least one of the bird ornaments from "Birdsong II" by PS. Yes!
5. Reduce my pile of UFO's! No... I guess that's why they're UFOs :-(

For April:

1. Finish "Season of Hope" by LHN. (I am sooo close on this one!)
2. Start and finish "Give" by LK.
3. Work on "Spring Has Come" by PS.
4. Start Village of Hawk Run Hollow by CHS!!!
5. One more attempt at the UFOs!

I have been such a lazy blogger these last few weeks. Maybe I should add "Be a better blogger" to my list! It's not that I don't have things to share, it's just that I'm woefully ashamed of my photography skills! I may have to turn that job over to my DD. She has a much better eye than I do!

You may have noticed VoHRH on my list. I finally broke down and splurged on the Vikki Clayton silks. I had the fabric and pattern already so now I'm all set! Woohoo! I'm excited but I must admit, also a little nervous. 40 count fabric?? Eep!

We've had a few more showings on the house but still no offers. I'm starting to get grumpy! Any happy thoughts, prayers, good vibes, rain dances, or whatever else you can spare would all be greatly appreciated!!

I hope everyone had a great weekend!!

Hand Dyed

Happy Easter!

Still Here!

And still stitching! I have two finishes to share! The first is the next installment in my LK monthlies, called "Remember". Here's how it looks so far:We're definitely having some issues with wrinkly linen here! And this is after I ironed it!

I stayed up past my bedtime last night and finished this little guy:It's the red-headed woodpecker from Prairie Schooler's Birdsong II. Instead of filling in the background with stitches, I cheated and used some light blue (okay, it was dawn grey!) fabric. See the line where the fabric was folded? It will not go away no matter what I try! Does anyone else ever have this problem with fabric that's been in your stash for several years? I have all these nifty little packages of fabric in my closet that I've been trying to use, but they all seem to have these fold lines. Any advice?

I hope everyone has an enjoyable Easter weekend! I will have everyone home tomorrow except my oldest son who is still in Korea. Now I'm off to boil a couple dozen eggs for the kids to dye!

Fear of Finishing

I admit it! I'm a finishing chicken! I'm terrified that I'll take some lovely piece that I spent hours stitching and completely ruin it by trying to turn it into a pillow or pinkeep! So I decided I needed some practice to build up some confidence. I pulled out an old round robin that didn't really have much of a theme (unless it was "Cross Stitch from the '90s") so the motifs didn't go together very well. I still cringed when I took the scissors to it, and cut away one of the squares; Victim #1 was in my shaking hands! With the hardest part behind me, I got to work making a little hanging pillow. I had to sew the entire thing by hand because my machine is still being cranky. And I learned some lessons. Number one: Don't forget your seam allowance! What a newbie mistake! My second lesson concerned the hanger part: If you want it to be on the outside when you're done, don't sew it to the inside! I'm also going to have to learn how to be neater about sewing up the "stuffing hole". It came out a little lumpy. Other than those few things, WOOHOO! I did it! And I have to say, I couldn't have done it without the inspiration I get from other stitchers who share so many lovely finishes on their blogs! Thank you all!

A Non-Stitchy Post

Saturday has turned into "Adventures in Baking" day here. So far we've tried focaccia, bagels, and kolaches. Today it was baked donuts. I couldn't help but laugh when we pulled them out of the oven. We made belly buttons!

Some got dipped in cinnamon sugar, some got dusted with powdered sugar, and some got eaten right away!
We are showing the house tomorrow at 1:00. This is our first serious showing in close to two months so keep your fingers crossed!

SBQ Time!

This week’s SBQ comes from the archives:

After you stitch a pattern or kit, what do you do with it?

For the most part I hang on to them, even the freebies I print out from the internet. A lot of times they're pretty worn out by the time I'm done with them but I don't think I've ever thrown a pattern away. I've also sent them on to other stitchers or done trades.

Winter Has Returned!

Did I say spring had sprung? I take it back! Here's what we woke up to this morning...I know most of you are tired of snow by now, but I have to say it was totally gorgeous watching it fall last night in the moonlight. I was surprised this morning to see so much had accumulated. I had to get outside and take some pictures quick before it all melted!

I started Spring Has Come from Prairie Schooler yesterday while watching our winter storm roll in on radar. I'll get a picture posted as soon as there's enough to show! Tonight will be Sonic Burgers, American Idol, and primary results, with a little stitching thrown in!

Goal Review and a Finish

Overall, I think I had a good month...
1. Continue to work on Winter Sampler. I did, but not much. This one is in danger of becoming a UFO :-(
2. Finish "Love My Coffee" by Lizzie Kate. Yes!
3. Start and finish "Dream" by Lizzie Kate. Yes!
4. Start and finish "Love" by Lizzie Kate. Yes!
5. Start and finish February Woolly Tyme blanket. Yes!

Goals for March...
1. Start and finish "Remember" by Lizzie Kate. (I'm planning to do one of these a month.)
2. Start and finish "Season of Hope" by Little House Needleworks.
3. Start "Spring Has Come" by Prairie Schooler.
4. Start and finish at least one of the bird ornaments from "Birdsong II" by PS.
5. Reduce my pile of UFO's!

And here is my latest finish...

Lovebird

a delicious freebie from Deborah at Midsummer Night Musings

stitched with DMC on 28-count Golden Tan Quaker Cloth

My itchy nose says spring has finally sprung here in North Texas. Even though our temps have been in the 50s and 60s, I still had a case of the winter blahs last week. I'm hoping to shake them soon with some springy stitching!

Dream/Love HD

Dream & Love

from the Double Flip series by Lizzie Kate

stitched on 32 count linen with WDW & GAST fibers

These were such fun to stitch! And the best part is there's ten more to go! Woohoo!

We've been busy as beavers around here, still doing little things around the house in the hopes that it will sell soon. I bought a flat of pansies yesterday and stuck some in a couple of flower pots in an attempt to make the front of the house look less drab. My daughter planted the rest around the pool in the back while I cleaned out the flower beds. We had some rain recently and the weeds are starting to pop up everywhere. More rain is expected tonight and tomorrow. I may have to go out and rescue my flower pots, poor babies!

I'm hoping for a more relaxing day tomorrow. I want to finish reading Emma (I love me some Jane Austen!), maybe make a pot of chicken soup for dinner. And then there's the small question of what to stitch next. Hmmm...

Happy Valentine's Day!

Meet Charlotte

I decided my little sheepie needed a name to go along with her new blanket! She doesn't look too happy about either, though...
Now hush, Charlotte! That hem is perfectly straight!

Happy Dancin!

Love My Coffee

from Coffee Crazy by Lizzie Kate

stitched on 28 count mystery fabric with Weeks Dye Works fibers

I just love these Coffee Crazy designs! Love the colors, love how simple and quick they are to stitch! I'll have the other two done before you know it, haha!

Next up, though, is my February Woolly Tyme sheep blanket. It's sitting here, kitted up, just waiting for me. But I tend to drag my feet when it comes to starting something new. I don't know why. Anyone care to give me a jump start?

January Goals Review/February Goals

I had a short list, but I managed to do everything on it! Baby steps, right?

1. Work on Winter Sampler. I did, but not very much. Considering the size of this project, I really should devote a little more time to it.
2. Start/Finish Season of Rest (LHN). Done!
3. Start/Finish Winter Fields (Secret Needle Night). Done!
4. Work on reducing my UFOs. Finished one UFO and made progress on three others.
5. Find Woolly Tyme blanket kits! Hooray! I found them on Thursday, the last day of January!

I'm gonna keep it short and sweet again for February:
1. Continue to work on Winter Sampler.
2. Finish "Love My Coffee" by Lizzie Kate. (I was sneaky and started this last week!)
3. Start and finish "Dream" by Lizzie Kate.
4. Start and finish "Love" by Lizzie Kate.
5. Start and finish February Woolly Tyme blanket. No more naked sheep!

We spent Wednesday and most of Thursday internet-less while our service provider tried to fix the problem. I completely lost my patience at one point and yelled at one of their technical support people. I think he said his name was James. Sorry I hung up on you, James. Then I called back and talked (calmly) to Edwin who told me he'd send a service tech out the next day to check things at the house. Mark arrived at 10:00 and laughed about how they had tried to fix my old line with a new circuit that wouldn't work on it because, well, it was too old. Mark had them switch us back to the original circuit and it looks like we're stuck with what we have for now. At least until I get my voice back, haha!

Anyone watching the big game tomorrow? I'm not a football fan, but I'll tune in for the commercials and halftime show. Plus I enjoy rooting for the underdog. It's also a great excuse for pigging out on chili con queso!

It's Here!

Shores of Hawk Run Hollow

Freebie Finish

We've been plagued by an intermittent internet connection among other not so fun things, including my first (and hopefully last!) root canal. Ick! Finding the desire to sit down with my cross stitch has been tough but I did manage to put the final stitches in this cute freebie from Lizzie Kate the other night.

You Have Stolen My Heart
an exceptionally old freebie from Lizzie Kate
stitched with Gentle Arts Sampler Threads on 28-ct. lavender Quaker Cloth

I've also been trying to finish up another of my ancient UFOs, Just Nan's Winter Roses. As much as I love getting things done that I've been wanting to do forever, I'm really feeling the need to start something new. As in something that was published in this century!

UFO Sited!

I've spent the last few days working on several of my UFOs, and I'm proud to report I actually finished one of them! This one is (was!) my oldest UFO and one of my earlier projects. My guess is I started it sometime in late '80s. The chart was in one of my cross stitch magazines, and because my oldest son loved kites I had to stitch this one for him! Plus it was designed by Susan Winget! I remember I stopped working on it because the fractional stitches were such a pain on aida. And then there were the French knots! I couldn't make a decent French knot if my life depended on it! I tried and tried. See...

What a mess!

So, almost 20 years later, here it is!

Do All Things With Love
designed by Susan Winget for Leisure Arts (not sure which publication)
stitched with DMC on 14-count cream aida

Season of Rest HD

Season of Rest

by Little House Needleworks

stitched with DMC on 28-count Antique Ivory linen

I'm thrilled with how fast this one went! I'm finding the trick with me is to stay with one project until it's done. I have too many UFOs that are close to being done, but I put them down to start something new. And speaking of UFOs, my plan today is to go through my closet and find one or two to work on. Who knows, I might even find my sheep blankets!

Is it the weekend yet?

Hope everyone's Friday is going well.

Mine?

Could be better...

I also learned that it's a good idea to empty out the previous day's leftover coffee before starting a fresh pot. There's only so much room in one of those carafes!

On the bright side, the tracking info for my Silver Needle order from their New Year's Eve sale is showing "out for delivery"!! Woohoo!!