A Wedding Sampler finished

I finished stitch Erika and AJ's wedding sampler last weekend. It is Bent Creek's Wedding Row stitched on 32 count linen, using the suggested fibres. The frame has already been ordered, and I will drip it off to be framed this weekend.

May stitching on Handblessings Project

I was able to stitch the May square on our EGA Chapter Stitch-a-long at the end of May. It is always an enjoyable stitch.

May Progress, June Goals

Another month and again, not as much stitching as I would have like.

May
Bavarian Table Topper no
10 hours on Rocky Mountain Christmas no
10 hours on Logan’s stocking no
November cup ‘o Tea no
8th day of Texas Christmas ornament worked on it
April Handblessings project yes!
afghan square #9 worked on it
Mystery sampler part 8 no
Work on Cloister garden no
Work on Crystal Iris no
May Little Hearts SAL yes
part 2 EMS Rose Sampler yes
kit up Logan's birth samper and perhaps put in a few stitches no
choose and kit up Erika's wedding sampler finished!
EMS monthly flowers SAL no
start on one LHN monthly ornament no
start on one Bent Creek photobooth no

June
Bavarian Table Topper
10 hours on Rocky Mountain Christmas
10 hours on Logan’s stocking
November cup ‘o Tea
8th day of Texas Christmas ornament
May Handblessings project afghan square #9
Mystery sampler part 8
Work on Cloister garden
Work on Crystal Iris
June Little Hearts SAL
part 3 EMS Rose Sampler
kit up Logan's birth samper and perhaps put in a few stitches
EMS monthly flowers SAL start on one
LHN monthly ornament
start on one Bent Creek photobooth

My Little Hearts - May

I recently finished the May square of Sylvia's stitch-a-long.

I love how this one is turning out!

EMS Rose Sampler Take two

I recently had a chance to stitch up part of this sampler. I really enjoy working on it even though this is the second time I am stitching this project, and hope to stitch one part each month until its finished.

Stitched on 25 count antique white Lugana, over 1, with one strand of DMC variations.

Handblessings Designs progress

Before the end of April, I managed to stitch the April chart of the Year of Favor of Our Lord project. This project is very enjoyable to stitch, I can do a square in an evening or two.

April Progress - May Goals

It wasn't a good month, stitching wise.....didn't get much stitching done. Hopefully May will be better!

April Progress
Bavarian Table Topper yes
10 hours on Rocky Mountain Christmas no
10 hours on Logan’s stocking no
November cup ‘o Tea no
8th day of Texas Christmas ornament started it
Quilt square for Loves Quilts no
April Handblessings project yes
afghan square #9 no
Mystery sampler part 8 no
Work on Cloister garden no
Meine Herzchen April yes
EMS Rose Sampler Part 2 started it
Work on Crystal Iris no
Bent Creek photo booth no
LHN Ornament no
Kit up Logan’s birth sampler and perhaps take a few stitches no
Choose and kit up Erika’s wedding sampler decided which one to stitch, have everything needed



May Goals
work on Bavarian Table Topper
10 hours on Rocky Mountain Christmas
10 hours on Logan’s stocking
November cup ‘o Tea
8th day of Texas Christmas ornament
Quilt square for Loves Quilts
May Handblessings project
afghan square #9
Mystery sampler part 8
Work on Cloister garden yes
Meine Herzchen May yes
EMS Rose Sampler Part 2 yes
Work on Crystal Iris
Bent Creek photo booth
LHN Ornament
Kit up Logan’s birth sampler and perhaps take a few stitches
Erika’s wedding sampler

My Little Hearts - April

I finished the April installment this past weekend. Here it is so far.

Cubs Season Opener

Even Murphy is sad that the Cubs lost their opening game......

March Progress and April Goals

March Progress
Bavarian Table Topper yes
Pin cushion for exchange yes
10 hours on Rocky Mountain Christmas no
10 hours on Logan’s stocking yes
October cup ‘o Tea yes
7th day of Texas Christmas ornament yes
Quilt square for Loves Quilts yes
March Handblessings project yes
afghan square #8 yes
Mystery sampler part 8 no
Work on Cloister garden no
Meine Herzchen January yes
Meine Herzchen February yes
Meine Herzchen March yes
EMS Rose Sampler Part 1 yes
Start a Counted Canvas project yes started Crystal Iris
Start Bent Creek photo booth no
Start a LHN Ornament no


April Goals
Bavarian Table Topper
10 hours on Rocky Mountain Christmas
10 hours on Logan’s stocking
November cup ‘o Tea
8th day of Texas Christmas ornament
Quilt square for Loves Quilts
April Handblessings project
afghan square #9
Mystery sampler part 8
Work on Cloister garden
Meine Herzchen April
EMS Rose Sampler Part 2
Work on Crystal Iris
Bent Creek photo booth
LHN Ornament

Love Quilts finish

I finally finished a square for Love Quilts. I had resolved to stitch at least 1 square each for this worthwhile cause, but it has to be stitched on aida, and I hate stitching on aida. The design is from Stoney Creek's Jungle Babies.

Last year, I didn't stitch a square because every chart I picked up had tons of fractional stitches and since it has to be stitched on aida (did I mention I hate stitching aida?) I just couldn't bring myself to stitch. This year I found a design without fractional stitches, but it had large color blocks.....can you say boring? I am just glad it is done!

Off to stitch something else on my list, on evenweave....did I mention that I hate stitching on aida?

A Year of Favor from the Lord Quilt project

At our guild meeting on Tuesday, we received the March chart for this project.

I stitched it up right away, so here you can see the first three months of the project.

Eileen Gurak, of Handblessings Designs told us that this is a promotal chart, and we could pass on copies of the design to anyone that wanted it. So....if any of you in blogger land are interested in stitching this piece, let me know and I can mail you the first three charts, and then send you three more charts every three months.

Spring!

Last spring I was part of an exchange with the Divas, but my part of the exchange never arrived. It is floating out there somewhere, or was misdirected by the USPS. Although I told Nancy not to, she stitched another piece for me and I just love it! It is so perfect for this time of year. I just love bunnies and Easter and spring and flowers and baskets....so I don't have to tell you that I just love this cube!

Thank you Nancy, you didn't have to, but I am glad you did!

October Cup 'O Tea

10 down and 2 to go!

I finished up the October Tea Cup chart the other day. I am really fond of Halloween, so I wasn't sure I was going to like this design, but I just couldn't skip a month so I just bit the bullet and stitched it. I suprised myself and found it really enjoyable to stitch.

Only two more tea cups left to do!

The Sending of the Green

I recently participated in a "Green" exchange on the Threads of Life message board. I received this wonderful package from Elaine. So many lovely green things. I especially love the Ladybug socks!

Below you can see what I sent Suzie for this exchange. It was fun hunting for green things to include.

7th Day of Texas Christmas

Since I am back to my rotation, I was able to stitch up the 7th in this series of Texas ornaments. Only 5 more to go!

Northwood Afghan progress

I finally got back to the Northwoods afghan and stitched another pine tree block. I have 8 blocks stitched to date. Hopefully I can stay back on track and get this finished in 2010.

EMS Rose Sampler, Take Two

I stitched Ellen Maurer-Stoh's Rose Sampler in 2008. I loved stitching it, but the end result was a rather large piece even though it was stitched on 32 count fabric. I had no place to hang such a large piece, so I gave it to Sue who loves it! She has it hanging in her home office.

I still love the piece. The cabbage roses and the scalloped part near the top remind me very much of a piece of embroidery that hung in my Oma's kitchen as I was growing up. The roses and scallops are traditional Austro-Hungarian themes and are close to my heart. I knew I had to stitch the piece again for myself.

This time I am stitching it on 25 count antique white Lugana over 1 thread with 1 strand of DMC Variations floss. Part 1 is now finished, and I am please with the way it looks. Perhaps next month I can stitch part 2.

My Little Heart SAL

Sylvia is hosting a Stitch-a-long on her blog! My Little Hearts is her own design, and she is releasing 1 square per month. I have finished the first 3 months to date. I did adjustments to the colors in the border and the hearts in each square, and I am quite happy with the results. I look forward to stitching these sweet little charts each month.

A 12 Part Stitch-a-Long

The EGA Chapter that I belong to has a 12-part project that many of us are doing. The vice president of our chapter is Eileen Gurak of Handblessings Designs and she is sharing her designs with us.








I had a great deal of trouble tracking down the fabric and one of the fibres, but I finally got it all together and was able to get the January and
February installments stitched. We will be receiving the next chart at our March meeting and I look forward to stitching it.

February Progress and March Goals

After a bunch of model stitching (most of it on short notice) both last year and the past two months, I finally feel like I can get my rotation back on track. I am much more productive in my stitching if I set goals for myself, so here we are!

February Progress
Start Bavarian Table Topper yes
Finish Thank Heaven for Little Girls Model yes
Valentine Ornament yes
September Cup ‘O Tea yes
January Handblessings project yes
February Handblessings project yes


March Goals
Bavarian Table Topper
Pin cushion for exchange
10 hours on Rocky Mountain Christmas
10 hours on Logan’s stocking
October cup ‘o Tea
7th day of Texas Christmas ornament
Quilt square for Loves Quilts
March Handblessings project
afghan square #8
Mystery sampler part 8
Work on Cloister garden

Back to the Tea Cups

Now that the emergency model stitching is done, I can get back to my regularly scheduled stitchine. I am quite behind on my rotation, and all my goals have just flown out the window.

I stitched the September Cup 'O Tea chart from Just Another Button Company this past week. It was a bit frustrating as I ran out of the main color and had to hunt down more so that I could continue stitching. Then there was the visit from the frog, causing me to restitch the outside border 4 (yes, count 'em, 4) times! But I finally got it right!

A New to Me Shop

I am still short some floss for an upcoming project, and I didn't want to drive all the way out to Welcome Stitchery for just a little bit. I remembered this needlepoint shop in Northbrook, not to far from my office, so that's where I went on Tuesday's lunch hour.

North Shore Needleworks is great shop, even if you don't do Needlepoint! It has lots and lots of fibres! I was able to pick up the few skeins of Weeks that I needed, and was able to check out the Caron Wildflowers colors so that I can make some color changes to a future project. I wouldn't go there for lots of overdyed cotton, because they are a bit more expensive than Welcome Stitchery, but when you need one or two skeins, it is a handy option.

I found out that they also do framing and finishing, so I will keep them in mind for those services, too.

A Monday Trip

Monday morning found me driving to Rockford, Illinois. The trip was not for pleasure, we were saying our final farewells to Paul Dawson, brother of dear friend Nancy, who left us much too soon. It was a tearful yet joyful celebration of his life.




But, what does a sad cross stitcher do to lift her spirits? She engages in some retail therapy, of course! Some stash enhancement! Luckily, the Needle and I was just up the road! The shop is rather small, but had a good selection of fibres. Cross stitch isn't really their priority, as the owner is also the designer of From Nancy's Needle, a design company specializing in counted canvas work. The designs are lovely, I have completed one and have a number if them patiently waiting in the wings.





Luckily, the shop had the two skeins of floss that I so desperately needed and couldn't get anywhere locally. I browsed around the shop for awhile, but there was nothing that caught my eye, so I left with my meager purchase and started the drive home.




I stopped at the Huntley Outlet Mall because I had never been there and didn't have to be anywhere for the rest of the day. I wasn't really in the mood to shop, but stopped in a few shops anyway. Lucky for me, the Kitchen Collection had the crock pot I have been looking for! It's a three-in-one crock pot, with three different size crocks. Two years ago, I received this crock pot from my children for Mother's Day but it arrived broken. I took it back to the store, and haven't been able to replace until today! Yeah! I can't wait to use it!


After the outlet mall, I stopped in Elgin to hug Logan. It made a sad day so much better!

Model Stitching Finish

I have been stitching away at this Sue Hillis Model for the last few weeks, and finished it tonight. It was stitched on 28 count antique white Lugana with DMC floss.

Sue will be releasing this and the companion piece at the Nashville Market coming up. My sister, Trudi, stitched the model of the companion piece.

Sue's charts are always a pleasant stitch, but this one had a lot of color changes, and fussy backstitching. I was happy to help her out, but I am glad to get back to my regularly scheduled stitching.

Happy Valentine's Day

Here is my Valentine finish which was sent to Sara.

Sara was my partner in the Divas' Valentine exchange, and I originally wanted to stitch a hardanger heart for her, but then I was asked to stitch a model for Nashville, I knew I wouldn't have the time to devote to the hardanger piece.

Plan B was a biscornu with hearts on it. Seemed like a good idea at the time, except that when I was almost finished I remembered

that I had already sent that same biscornu to Sara for a previous exchange. Plan C was the ornament that you see pictured here. It is a free chart that I found on a blog. Seemed like a good idea. It stitched up quite quickly, and then I took a peek at Sara's blog, and saw that she had also stitched this freebie! Now what? It was too late to go to plan D, so I sent it to her along with some other goodies. Now she has two of the same ornament. I hope she can forgive my lack of originality.

Valentine Stitching from the Frozen North

I received this lovely Valentine ornament in the mail from Viv this week. I love the ornament!

Sent along some lovely overdyed floss to remind me that spring is on the way, as well as a card with a picture of where she lives, and shere she drives to work every day. What beautiful scenery in the Yukon!

Thanks Viv, I love it!

Valentine's Exchange

Kim has received the package that I sent to her, so now I can post a picture. This is part of a valentine exchange on the Thread's of Life board. The package that I am to receive has been detained in shipping, but I am sure I will love what Suzie sent, no matter when it gets here.

Another Framing Happy Dance

I finally got around to framing this one! I stitched Wild Things for Adrian as a birth sampler. Adrian is the son of a co worker and had his 1st birthday last September. Adrian is also going to be a big brother this spring or summer, so I thought it best to get the framing done so he could have his birth sampler.

I was holding off because I was looking for a different frame but wasn't finding what I was looking for at a reasonable price.

Wild Things is a Dimemsions kit, but I stitched it on my own evenweave and used my own floss. The kit is still intact if anyone wants to purchase it.

Framing Happy Dance

This is Weather Wise by Prairie Schooler. I stitched it awhile back, but the recipient just received the framed piece a few days ago, so now I can show you the framed finish.

My Kingdom for a Window!

A window that opens! I have been sick, again! We have been passing germs around the office since last October, and have been taking turns getting sick. I firmly believe it is because it is too warm in the office, and I don't have any windows that I can open.

I have determined that the windows in some of the outer offices open, so on Monday, when I am alone in the office, I am going to turn off the heat, and open all the doors and windows for awhile. Some cold fresh air in the offices will not hurt anyone or anything! If I continue to do this every Monday, perhaps we will kill this creeping crud that we keep sharing with each other!

I am sick and tired of being sick and tired!

Found it!

The chart I was looking for has been located.

Turns out it was a Victoria Sampler chart, but not a freebie. Is part of the Beyond Cross Stitch series. After finding out this information, a quick call to Welcome Stitchery, and the kit was on it's way in just a few moments.

I look forward to stitching it.

Looking for a Chart

A number of years ago, I received the hardanger heart ornament that is pictured in this post as part of a hardanger exchange on the Teresa Wentzler Message Board.

I now would like to stitch this as an exchange piece but can not find the chart anywhere. I thought it was a free chart on the Victoria Sampler web site, but it is not there. I would appreciate any help in finding this chart!

Thanks!

I won! I won!

On the Threads of Life message board, everyone who participated in the ornament exchange, and mailed their ornament on time was entered into a drawing for an ort bag, made by Robin.

I was the lucky winner of that drawing, and my ort bag arrived today! Robin is an amazing stitcher, and also an amazing finisher! The ort bag is gorgeous! I love it!

Thank you Robin!!!

On the Twelfth Day of Christmas...

I know, I am a little behind here, but did want to finish up the twelfth day....

I received the chart on the left from my brother and sister-in-law. I believe the purchased the chart on their trip through Barcelona Spain last summer, as the chart is in Spanish. It is a lovely winter scene, and X's are X's in any language, so I look forward to stitching it!

The kit on the right is the Museum Celle kit from Permin that was given to me by Kim. It is lovely, and I look forward to stitching this on also. I do plan on substituting evenweave for the aida in the kit, though.

On the Eleventh Day of Christmas....

Here are two Strawberries that were stitched as exchange gifts. I haven't yet heard from the recipients if the gifts were received, so I didn't show the entire packages.

These strawberries are Prairie Schooler Designs and I stitched also stitched all six of them for myself but still need to do the finishing.

On the Tenth Day of Christmas....

This is the package that I sent to RaNea for our ornament exchange.

Another Just Nan Whimze Rose ornament! Can you tell I really love stitching this one! I have made and given away dozens of them, and don't have a single one on my own tree.

There were spoolie ornaments as part of the package. My daughter Kristin and I have been making these ornaments for years, and have made and given away hundreds of them!

On the Nineth Day of Christmas

This is the ornament and other goodies I received on the Diva's ornament exchange from Denise.

The ornament she stitched is by JBW designs and I just love.

On the Eighth Day of Christmas....

Happy New Year!!!

This is the ornament that I received from RaNea, as part of Elsue's ornament exchange. It's very cute. I need to find out where she got the chart from!

On the Seventh Day of Christmas...

Here is the ornament other goodies that I sent to Darla for the TOL ornament exchange.

The ornament is a freebie on the Just Nan Site, under the Whimze section. It is called Whimze Rose. It is stitched on 32 count antique white fabric, with DMC fibres instead of the suggested silks.

On the Sixth Day of Christmas....

Here is the ornament that I stitched for Pat, my youngest daughter's mother-in-law. Pat and I have been exchanging ornaments for years, and this is the one I stitched for her this year. It goes with the Hot Chocolate mitten ornament I stitched for her last year.

Over the years I have received many beautifully stitched and painted ornaments from Pat, and I treasure each one of them. The last few years, she has been sending me a cake instead. She said she was intimidated by my stitching and finishing. She shouldn't be, I can't paint nearly as well as she does! But the cakes are yummy!

On the Fifth Day of Christmas....

O received this ornament from the Threads of Life Ornament Exchange. It was stitched by Charlotte, and is really beautiful in real life. It made a wonderful addition to the hand made ornament tree.

On the Fourth Day of Christmas....

At the Threads of Life Board, we had a Christmas Sweet Exchange. The gift had to enclude something related to stitching and something sweet. I received this wonderful package from Karen Jackson! I just love it and can't wait to start stitching.

Here is what I sent to Margie. I forgot about the rules when I put the package together. I had some sweets in it but didn't have something stitching related - unless you count the Christmas fabric that could be used to finish some stitching.....

On the Third Day of Christmas...

The first Christmas Party of 2009 was our EGA chapter's Christmas dinner in late November. We had a gift exchange, an ornament exchange and received a few other goodies as well.

The small table topper was a door prize drawing. The cupcake was a gift from the outgoing chapter president. The dish towel was a gift from the incoming president and dinner organizer, the poinsettia ornament was stitched by Karen Johnson and the Santa and Santa candy dish were what I received in the gift exchange. It was a lovely evening!

On the Second Day of Christmas.....

This is one of my favorite stitchy gifts received this year. It was stitched by my sister, Trudi, from a Leisure Arts ornament book by Donna Kooler. It is stitched on 14 count plastic canvas with DMC fibres, and backed with felt.

I just love this Santa Star! He is such a cutie!

On The First Day of Christmas.....

The family tradition while I was growing up was that the Christmas Tree did not appear until Christmas Eve. Working for the Catholic Church also causes me to observe Advent, and not do too much decorating until Christmas Eve. In past years, when I put up lots of trees, I did start earlier, but in recent years, I only put up three. Perhaps one day (in my retirement) I will start putting up trees in November and have them all put up by Christmas, but not in the near future.

The tree pictured is the tree in my family room. Only handmade ornaments are allowed on this tree. I usually spend the time between Christmas and New Years, as well as the first few weeks of January stitching ornaments that will be used as gifts for next Christmas.

In the next 11 posts, I will show you some ornaments and other stitchy gifts that I received and gave this Christmas.

Field Trip!

Sorry to have been absenst from blogging for awhile, I have been sick. It's not life threatening, but bothersom none the less. It seems that the minute I am feeling a bit better, another part of my upper resperatory system is attacked by germs! I haven't even felt energetic enough to stitch!

But I did get a chance to visit a new (to me) shop last weekend. The Inspired Needle has been in business for a little over a year, and is located in Lemont Illinois, a mere 45 minute drive if you don't make a wrong turn or three.....

It's a wonderful little shop! Lots of things to tempt stitchers of any level! They carry my favorite silks!! Cathy, the owner, was very welcoming, and after shopping, we sat and stitched and visited a bit. It was great to see Karin, Denise and Barb again, and to meet Audrey for the first time.