It's Still a Mystery!

Little House Needleworks Mystery Sampler is still a mystery!  I finished part 2 late last night (or should I say very early this morning!)


Part 3 (the final part) should be out in another week or so.......

Two More Framed Pieces

  This is Let it Snow, a freebie by Ozark Sampler, framed in a ready made Mill Hill frame that was just perfect!











And here is Sue Hillis' 4 Seasons Baskets that was a round robin piece.  It was also framed in a ready made frame.  I love how both of these turned out.

6 Fat Men and 6 Snow Belles Framed

I picked up both of these this past Saturday.  The first one is Lizzie Kate's 6 Fat Men stitched on 28 count blue spruce linen.  I had to change one of the blue flosses on this one, but otherwise used all the recommended colors.












Here is the companion piece, 6 Snow Belles, stitched on a piece of Thread Gatherers 30 count linen that has since been discontinued.  For this one I used all the fibres as charted. 


I just love how they look in the white frames!  Wonder where they will hang?

Sampler Aux Bouqet Framed!

Here is the three part sampler by Jardin Prive that I stitched this past winter.  I had it framed during the annual framing sale at Welcome Stitchery and picked up this past Saturday.  I love how it turned out. 

IHSW Report

Well, the weekend is over, and I am sure you are wondering how the hermitage went this past weekend.  It was good, but could have been better.  Friday evening, I was too tired to stitch much after I got home from Folk Dance rehearsal, and it was raining and the lights were flickering, so I only stitched for 30 minutes on the new round robin piece that was in the mail that day.

On Saturday, we had a UFO day scheduled in Crystal Lake, and since I am not one to get up early I called Michelle to see if I could ride with her....that way I would have to get my butt in gear and get there before the crack of noon.... We hit the road a few minutes before 8 and were some of the first people there so we got our choice of seats and were merrily stitching away before 9 a.m.  At 11 we headed over to Welcome Stitchery to pick up our framing orders and to peruse the sidewalk sale.  I had forgotten my phone which held my shopping list, so I only got the items that I had preordered and my framing.  We headed over to the Public House for lunch and then to Material Girl for some fat quarters then back to stitching until 4 p.m.  Well, actually there was a lot of reverse stitching going on for most of the afternoon, but there was progress.  Once I got home, I stitch for the better part of the evening and managed to finish the Round Robin piece before I went off to bed.

On Sunday, I really was a hermit and didn't leave the house, I just stitched.  I made really good progress on the Little House Needleworks Mystery Sampler - part 2. 

More stitching would have happened if I didn't go shopping and to lunch on Saturday, but a girl's got to eat!  And more stitching would have happened if I hadn't stopped to take pictures of all the framed items I had just picked up on Sunday, and if I hadn't check out what other neat new projects people were stitching on various facebook stitching groups, but all in all, it was a good weekend.

Darla's Round Robin

I stitched on this all day Saturday....well I did unstitch some and restitch it, that's why it took all day.....

I don't have to mail it off to the next person until August 15, so I am very much ahead of the game....

IHSW is here again!

It's time for the July International Hermit and Stitch Weekend!  Starting Friday evening after folk dance rehearsal and all day Saturday and Sunday, I will be stitching!  On Saturday I plan on stitching at UFO day in Crystal lake, and the rest of the time, I will be stitching in the happy chair!  Join me!

My Jeweled Heart

I finished!  I put off the pulled stitches in section 11 for awhile, but I finally dug in and did them yesterday afternoon and now it is done!  I should say that the basket weave section with I also left until nearly the end came out perfectly!

This is My Jeweled Heart by Nancy Cucci.  You might recall that I took two classes with Nancy a few weeks ago. 

I have also kitted up the Amethyst version of this heart and will be starting it soon. 

Another Round Robin About to Begin!

Twelve Ladies Stitching on the Threads of Life Group has 12 ladies about to begin another Round Robin!   I am way ahead of the game.  I finished stitching the entire border this week!

The design is Diamond Quilt, by Handblessings Designs and was a free block of the month design in 2012.   I love the Wildflowers border, it was really fun to stitch with!

I also stitched up the first square.  When it come back to me in about a year and a half, it will be all done.  There are some charms to go on the piece, but I am not sure if I like them or not, so I will decide once it comes home!

Rose Quaker Page 6 finished

While on the sailboat, I stitched page 6 of Rose Quaker by Stickideen von der Wiehenburg. 

I always hate to put this one down after each page!  2 more pages to go and it is complete

Vacation, Part 2

After getting home from Pennsylvania, I spent two days at home, running errands, at various appointments, some shopping, some stitching and some baking.  No pressure, everything at a nice a leisurely pace.   I even found time to pamper myself with a mani-pedi and a haircut!

Thursday (on July 4th) John picked me for a drive up to the harbor in Racine WI to spend some time at the boat.  After dinner at Charlie's Chartroom, we settled in on the back of the sailboat to watch the fireworks.  It was like having a front row seat!  45 minutes of non-stop beautiful fireworks.  The best display I have seen in a long time.  After the fireworks were over, we went below deck to watch 1776, a yearly 4th of July tradition.


The next morning, we headed off to breakfast at Cliff's Boathouse.  The potato pancakes are to die for!  This place really needs to be on Diners Drive-Ins and Dives.  From the outside it really looks like a dive, it's rather small inside, 10 tables tops, and there is a wait, but the service is great and the food even better! 

After breakfast we went back to the boat to do some chores.  I got to wash all the cushions, while John worked on the teak and then washed down the entire boat.  My part of the chores didn't take so long, so I spent most of the afternoon stitching. 


I did have a "stitching" related chore on the boat, one of the tell tails was ripped off the sail while John and his friends were putting it up.  I got to sew the thing back on, while the sail was on the mast and the boat was swaying in the water....and I had to use a sharp needle.....ouch!

After that, more stitching, cocktails on the boat, a light dinner, more movies below decks and more stitching.  After a late breakfast on Saturday, we headed home to get ready for a party on Saturday evening.  Sunday evening he took me out to dinner and then watched another movie.

It was not easy getting up to go to work on Monday after a great 10 day vacation!

July TUSAL

It doesn't look as full after I smooshed it down abit, but trust me, there was a lot of stitching going on this past month!

A Visit to Pennsylvania

After many, many delays at the airport, I was off to Philadelphia, and then a drive to Lancaster at the
very end of June.  I arrived at the airport at noon for a 1:30 flight, but we didn't take off until 8 pm!  I got lots of stitching done at the airport!  I got into my rental car at 11 pm in Philadelphia, and then started driving to Lancaster.  Thank goodness for my trusty GPS, otherwise I would have never found my hotel in Lancaster! 











The occasion for the trip was the annual workshop of the North American Federation of German Folk Dance Groups.  The workshop was hosted by the Allweil Jung Folk Dancers of the Lancaster Liederkranz.  Although I missed the Friday evening portion, I arrived at the workshop Saturday mid-
morning. 













Over the course of the weekend, lots of dances were taught by Reinhold Frank from Stuttgart, Germany, who brought his son, Johannes, to play accordion for the teaching sessions.





 











Saturday evening was a gala dinner and more dancing, beginning with a grand march.

The weekend ended with a Sunday afternoon drive back to Philadelphia, and dinner and an overnight with Laura, Craig and the girls.  The bonus of Amy, Joey and Jane visiting from North Carolina was just wonderful.  Monday, it was back to the airport and lots more delays (and stitching) before arriving back in Chicago.

A Recent Mail Art Finish - Just in Time for the 4th!

Happy 4th of July!  The Mail Art piece I sent out recently was a patriotic piece for the 4th of July and has now been received so I can show you what I stitched on it.

The front of the "envelope" shows some fire crackers from the Sue Hillis It's Summer chart.  The alphabet is from a freebie by Victoria Sampler.   The address is her business address, so don't worry that I didn't block it out. 

The back shows a birdhouse that is from the Sue Hillis Life and Liberty chart.  The same alphabet was used on the return address.

The inside was lined with fabric that had firecrackers on it, and I enclosed a postcard of Chicago. 

To say the Sue loved it is an understatement!  And she reported that it arrived in perfect condition.

 

 

 



It's a Mystery!

Little House Needleworks is currently doing a 3 part Mystery Sampler.  Here is part 1 all stitched up.  Part 2 will be released in a few days......

Needleworker Finished!

I was away at a folk dance workshop over the weekend (more on that in a future post) and with all the flight delays managed to get a lot of stitching done.  I finished Needleworker by Little House Needleworks on Saturday evening before going to sleep.  It was stitched on 25 count Taupe Lugana over one fabric thread, with one strand of the recommended Crescent Colors threads.  I loved the design, the threads, not so much.  Unfortunately, the threads kept knotting and shredding and in general were very hard to work with.  I have used Crescent Colors threads often and never had this problem before, so I hope it was just a bad batch.

I will probably frame this next May when my LNS has their annual framing sale, if I can wait that long.....

June Progress and July Goals

Well, June sure went by fast!  I got quite a bit of stitching done, and had a good number of finishes.  I must get back to my WISP list.....gotta finish at least one more from that list this year!

June Progress
WISPS:
10 hours on Rocky Mountain Christmas  
work on Logan’s stocking 

Antique Map and Needlebook

Heirloom Christmas Sampler

In Progress

Strawberry #1
Fresh Baked 2 finished

Crazy January starts

Natalie’s Birth Sampler 

Future New starts

Joy and Peace  finished
Snow in Love
Good Tidings
afghan pillow bear
afghan pillow moose
Crystal Violets
French Alphabet block sampler
Silent Night (CCN)
Around the World in 80 Days
Owen’s birth sampler
Peter’s Birth Sampler
Natalie’s Stocking
Owen’s stocking
Peter’s stocking
Mark & Karen’s wedding sampler
Tony & Melissa’s wedding sampler
Halloween House #15
Rose Quaker page 5  finished
Pink Flowers on Gingham 2  finished
Huntington Heart  finished
Jeweled Heart   worked on it
Needleworker  finished
My Stitching Bag  finished
Patriotic Mail art  finished
Needlefelted blue bird  finished
4 person Round Robin my border finished
Leta’s RR finished
Table Runner  started
LHN Mystery Part 1  worked on it

July Goals

WISPS:
10 hours on Rocky Mountain Christmas  
work on Logan’s stocking 
Antique Map and Needlebook
Heirloom Christmas Sampler

In Progress

Strawberry #1
Jeweled Heart  
Table Runner 
LHN Mystery Part 1 

Crazy January starts

Natalie’s Birth Sampler 

Future New starts

Snow in Love
Good Tidings
afghan pillow bear
afghan pillow moose
Crystal Violets
French Alphabet block sampler
Silent Night (CCN)
Around the World in 80 Days
Owen’s birth sampler
Peter’s Birth Sampler
Natalie’s Stocking
Owen’s stocking
Peter’s stocking
Mark & Karen’s wedding sampler
Tony & Melissa’s wedding sampler
Halloween House #15
LHN Mystery Sampler part 2