LHN January Progress

Progress!  

Have had a couple of quiet days at home this week during the day 

and so I've enjoyed some time to sit and stitch.   

Had to redo the little pine tree as I miscounted where it's placement

 should be the first time around. 

Never fails that even with a small pattern, I'd mess up.

Such a cute pattern.

  

All Quiet On The Stitching Front.....

Haven't picked up the needle to stitch since late September. 

We took our annual weekend getaway to Asheville in September (celebrating our silver anniversary--25years!) and that called for a new little stitchery.  I had recently purchased Blackbird Designs  "Tis Hallowe'en".  Thirteen stockings and projects of stitchy goodness.  Here's what I did back in Sept and how it still looks today:



"Whooo's Knockin' at My Door?
Blackbird Designs "Tis Halloween" booklet
30ct Cafe Kona
called for dyed threads

 



Didn't get very far.  Best intentions and all that. 

Few pictures of the weekend trip:

 

 

Spent time relaxing at the Biltmore Inn each day.  





 

Lots of stitching in their comfortable sofas and chairs by the windows in the library; taking in some wonderful views of the mountains.  Here I am waiting for hubs before taking tea.  :) 

 

 

The big house.  Look at that sky!  Couldn't have asked for a more perfect day.

 

Mums all set out.

 

Took in a bit downtown Asheville.  The morning was cloudy and quite misty which...

 

 

...made it a great morning for coffee and pastry at the City Bakery Cafe.

 

Had great weather to enjoy dinner outside one night.

 

 



It was a little too early to enjoy fall in it's colorful splendor but the weather was great and we had wonderful and relaxing time.   Look forward to doing it again next year.

 

Blessings!

 

 

 

 





Autumn Sampler

Happy Fall Everyone! 

Now that we are officially in the Autumn season, I just want to stitch fall related items! 

Happens to me almost every single year.

Still stitching away on City Sampler but I put it down to work on a little freebie from Brenda at With Thy Needle and Thread. 

(because it's fall related and I couldn't stand not to stitch it now that we were approaching fall).

I'll post a pic of that when I get a little more done to it. 

What I've got here today is an Autumn sampler that I did years ago.  The pattern was offered in a Better Homes and Garden Magazine. 

Like many years ago.   See the date there?



1994.  Eighteen years ago.  

And I'm embarrassed to say that it's not framed. 

I know.  

Apparently I like to stitch more than to frame/finish a project.

But what I think happened, was that the sampler didn't really match my home decor colors at the time.  It would have clashed is what I thought.  I just loved stitching it.  Well, not ALL the leaves (lots of changing the thread color there).  Plus it wasn't fall anymore, the season being passed by the time I finished this (I think I've stated I'm not a fast stitcher), so no hurries in getting it framed anyway. 

It clashed, not fall season, why bother?

So, I forgot about it.  For a long time. 

Then I went through a dry stitching spell, where I didn't take up a needle and thread all that much. 

I rediscovered it in my stitching stash drawer when I got back into stitching again. But it wasn't the fall season so..........back it went into the drawer.  To be forgotten about again.  Out of sight, out of mind. 

So, here we are 18 years later.  It's almost an antique.  

Well, not really. 

I think it will finally get to the framers this fall.   I better not put it back in the drawer just in case!  Clash or no clash, it should be framed. 

Have you ever had a stitched item that took you forever to frame?  I hope I'm not the only one. 

For my stitching friends, are you a frame it with glass or no glass person?  Share your thoughts. 

Until next time,

June Cottage

Happy Labor Day!  That is what we are celebrating today.  Actually, not so much celebrating  as enjoying a day off from work and school.  It's been such a nice 3-day weekend.

 

Finished up CCN's June Cottage a while back but just now got it pressed and had it's picture taken. 

 

  

 

I decided to leave off the flowers that were floating with the clouds and didn't make the French knots.  I'm not all that great with making the knots but truth be told, it's more laziness than anything.  I just wanted to be done with the piece and really didn't want to trouble myself with doing them.  Perhaps when I take it back out to frame it up I'll do them.  Or not.

Skipped around with these cottage months and today I ordered October's.  I'm so itching to start on something new that is autumn related!  Ready for that season to be here.  Done in with the hot weather already. 

 

In the meantime, I've once again been working a little more diligently on Weeping Tree Sampler.  You can see previous pictures of this sampler I posted (back last August) here.  I made mention back then that I'd hoped to have had it finished before the end of the year was out.  Oops.  That didn't happen.  I put it down for other things (probably something fall related!) and then just didn't take it back out. 

Here's a not so good photo of it's progress. 

 

 

I've actually gotten the house all done since the photo was taken and have fixed the few places I missed some little x's on the brick work.   All I have left to do on the house is the window pane backstitching.   Then it's on to the bottom part of the house where the phrase is along with some motifs at the bottom border and another planter on the side of the phrase.  Then last it will be the sawtooth border all around the sampler.  That will be a job.  I keep going back and forth on whether or not I'll do the sawtooth border.  I'm all for it right now.  That can change tomorrow. 

Off to enjoy the last of our free day with some more stitching.  Hope you have a great rest of the week!  Thanks for stopping by!


 



Cottage Of The Month Progress

So.

Little behind on my cottages.  Got a little sidetracked with other stuff but I'm back on stitching these cute houses.  Here's my work in progress on June:
 

See the lenses?  I'm sporting readers now, +1.0,  to do my needlework.   I had been struggling for awhile and then it occured to me that magnifiers might help and so I went shopping for some and got a 3 pair pack for $8 at my local TJMaxx.

What a difference it has made in my stitching!  And you know what?  I kinda like wearing them.  Thought I would feel so self-conscience and well, old.  But not really.   Now I find myself checking out glasses wherever I go in case I find a really cute pair. 

Think I'll go slip them on now and stitch a few rows before breakfast.

Have a great day!



Sunday Hello

Hello!  Had to dust off the cobweb's off this little blog of mine.  It's been awhile since I last posted! 

We have been just plugging along doing our usual things.  We have enjoyed a nice Spring break from school taking a couple of days to play at The Great Wolf Lodge, boys have started baseball once again and doing a little spring cleaning of closets and drawers.  So much more to do in that department (and house cleaning!) but at least I've made a small start.  Doing a little of this and a little of that and enjoying each day as it comes. 

At the end of February I finally put the last stitches down on CCN's January cottage.  Love, love the colors on this one!  It was a fun stitch and for now, it's gone into the finished drawer to be pulled out next year.

Since Feb has come & gone and March is soon to be over, I'm not going to start on those cottages right now.  I may start April but I doubt I'll get it finished before the month is out.  I'm not that fast of a stitcher!  So, I'm leaning on getting May's cottage and stitching that one so that I can have one cottage that has the potential of being framed and displayed in it's month. 

In the meantime, I have been stitching on a couple of things that are new.  One is something I found online.  Ran across This Blog on Pinterest and found this free chart of Jane Austen's house with one of her quotes "There is nothing like like staying at home for real comfort".  I just think it's such a pretty pattern and since I'm pretty content just being at home and a fan of all things Austen, this fit me to a tee.   I had to start this one right away.  Originally I picked out a different color way than what the designer had listed but it began to have a fall feel to it and that's not how I wanted it to turn out.   Ended up going with the recommended DMC colors she has listed on her pattern which, to me at least, gives it a more summer and brighter feel to it which is what I'm leaning to right now. 

36 Ct Vintage Maritime White Linen by Lakeside Linens
DMC threads as listed on pattern
Gazzette94

I've gotten more stitching on this since I photographed it.  I have the top and border sides done along with the top part of the phrase and have just started on the house.  Am enjoying stitching this while watching my favorite Austen movies.   If you'd like the pattern to stitch, you can find it Here. 

I'll be back soon with some stamped cards I have made recently.  Dusted off my stamps and ink pads and played around with them some.  It's been way too long since I've done that and it was such fun. 

Thank you all for stopping by and taking a peek at my blog!

Hope you have a lovely day!

New Stash

Last weekend I had taken a little road trip to a needlework shop, in Salisbury, NC.  I had no idea there was one so close to me until I read about it in Caroline Stitcher's blog.  The local one here had closed some years ago and the one in Raleigh that I had visited before closed last year.  So sad to see some of these places go.  I hope the one in Salisbury, called Spring Robin, continues to do well.  It is a darling little shop and although I didn't get to stay long, I had so much fun browsing and touching all the wonderful patterns she has in stock.  Robin, the shop's owner, is so pleasant and was so helpful in helping me choose some threads and fabric for a project.   Looking forward to going back sometime and enjoying the downtown area that it's in as well. 

Here's what I came away with:

(I needed more stash like I need a hole in the head!)

Little House Needlework's My Lady, CCN's Feb & Mar Cottages, lots of WKWs and GAST threads, Wisper thread and platinum belfast fabric for My Lady. 

Before going to the shop, I had placed an order with Country Stitches Online, Brenda Gervais' shop.  I purchased Be My Valentine along with 35 ct Abecedarian linen from R&R reproductions.  It's a popular linen that seems to go out of stock quickly so I decided to purchase it as soon as she got some in. 

Isn't this little heart cushion so sweet?  I love it!  I even have the Whitman's Sampler chocolate box too so that I can recreate it as Brenda has.  She includes a how-to with the chart.

Woke up this morning with a little dusting of snow.  Finally! 

(Although I really wished it would have happened on Tuesday so that we could have had a really long weekend.  We all love a snow day from school!)

Looks like powdered sugar on the ground.  It's not much and the temps are supposed to rise to be in the 50's with the sun shining so it won't last long.   Boys are getting ready to go out and play before it melts. 

Me?  I'm going to enjoy it from the inside with a cup of hot coffee.  And play with my stitchy stuff.

Have a great Monday!

A Little Valentine Bird Stitch

Brrr.......it's a cold and windy weekend here.  The coldest weather we've had yet I believe.  It's such a shock to the system when we've had such mild weather.  But I don't mind it really, especially if we stay indoors for the most part.  And I'm not tired of wearing sweaters yet so I'm good. 

 Regardless of the cold, I braved out early Saturday morning for a nice drive to Salisbury, NC to check out a needlework shop that I had no idea existed.  Faye  (Carolina Stitcher) mentioned the place on her blog.  What a treat!   Came back with a few things for my stitchy stash.  Not that I needed to get anything as I have plenty of stuff to work on but....you know how that goes.  :)

So after getting my Blackbird Stocking done, I'm inspired to get more things finished.  Out of the stitched drawer and into the light to be admired. 

Here's one that was stitched last year:

Valentine Bird (Wee Ones) from Heart In Hands Needleart. 

Check out that long crease in the fabric!  Guess I need to improve my ironing skills. 

Stitched this on the called for fabric, 32ct Summer Khaki Belfast Linen, and used Crescent Colours and Weeks Dye Works listed on the pattern.   A little heart button from Just A Button Company adds a little emblishment.

Found the frame at my local TJMaxx.  It's a regular picture frame with the glass removed.  Used a little bit of batting to make it puff out slightly. 

A little bit of whimsy for February. 

Hope you have a great day!

A Challenge Met

Drum roll please.............................

Ta-Da!



Blackbird Designs
"Merry December" monthly stocking series
linen and threads as charted



I finally did it!  A stocking.  Not as perfect as I would have liked, but it is completed. 

Now that I've done it, I'm asking myself "Why did I take so long in doing it?"  For some reason I felt quite intimidated in making the stocking part but it turned out easier than I expected.  Followed Vonna's instructions which can be found here.   She put Blackbird Designs' instructions in visual form which was very helpful. 

Now I can't wait to make more of these little stockings!  I think I need to extend this challenge to stitch at least one stocking every couple of months before December so that I can have a few more to hang on the tree this year. 

Hope your week has gone off to a great start! 

Linky party @ Thistlewoodfarm

First Blackbird Stocking

Last post I mentioned that I signed on to a challenge here? 

So here's my challenge piece: 

A Blackbird Designs stocking from the Merry December pamphlet.  This is one of three designs that are included.  Like I mentioned before, I stitched this back in January of 2011 intending to finish it (along with stitching the other two--ha!) so that I can hang them on the 2011 Christmas tree. 

Well.  It didn't happen.

 

I'm not really strong on the follow through, so I challenged myself to get it done this year.  And par for the course, I procrastinated to the last minute as the deadline to get said challenge accomplished was Jan. 31st.  Today is the 30th and I finally took the piece out, got my materials and got to work.   I'll post my little stocking tomorrow!  I have to admit, I'm pleased as punch with it. 

Until tomorrow,

The Impossible Challenge

I was invited to participate in Kari's "Imagine the Impossiblities" Challenge  ( Thank You Kari!! ).  If your interested in reading more about it and joining in, check out Kari's post here:  Thistlewoodfarm.  She has a beautiful blog and a sweet story on how she and her family came to live in their current home.  Love what she has done with it!

So what am I challenging myself with?  I have lots to choose from but for this particular challenge, I'm going with this:

I've stitched one of these stockings...... last year.  Last January to be exact.  Intending to finish it sometime before December rolled around and hang it on our tree this past Christmas.   It didn't happen. 

I love to stitch but for some reason, I think procrastination plays a huge part here (have I mentioned I'm a bit of a procrastinator?), and I don't get my little works finished properly.  I've got quite a few projects just laying in a drawer waiting to be put into frames or made into pillows, etc. 

Well, I hope to change that and by the end of this January, I'll have a little stitched stocking to show you.  (It's in that pile above).

My inspiration came from seeing Siobhan's stockings.  Lovely finishes!  That's when I decided. 

It may not be an impossible challenge for some, in fact, a rather easy one.  But it seems to be challenging for me at the moment.  Hope the tide will change and it will inspire me to get the rest of my items finished.

Speaking of finishing, still plugging away at CCN's January cottage.  

I'm a slow stitcher folks (to be honest, I hadn't picked it up since last Sunday).  I need to get this done already.  January will be over soon.  Perhaps I'll have it in a frame and ready for next January?    ;)

                                                               Hope you have a great week!

                                                           

A New Start.....

Here's my new little project for January.  I had high hopes to have this already finished before January arrived.  What was I even thinking?!  Ha!  I received the goods a couple of weeks before Christmas(I ordered from 123stitch--super fast shipping) but I just didn't get a chance to sit down and start it, what with all that needed to be done around here as the holiday approached.  I do most of my stitching at night and most evenings I turned into a pumpkin by 7pm.   And then there were the seventy two snowmen that I embarked on.  That took a little of my stitchy time.  Not too mention handmade cards.

So here's Country Cottage Needleworks monthly series, January

I went with 32ct Lambswool Linen and the recommended colors and threads.

I love how the colors are turning out.  Looking forward to stitching the little house next.

Hope this first day of the new year has been enjoyable for you.  Everyone here is content and I'm getting ready enjoy this:

via pinterest

And do some of this:

Until next time,