TA DA

Finally a finish. I finished Sail Away yesterday prior to going out to dinner and fellowship with some friends. I thought I was done the night before when I got the last row of flowers in but as I was checking the design top to bottom, I found I had missed several spots of stitches that needed completion like the flag pole on top of the house and the socks and shoes of the little girl. Must be a southern thing, always barefoot.  I had just a few minutes to stitch before bed last night and have almost finished a motif on Mary Wigham. I think I will focus on her for a while.

I joined the Summer SAL on the Blackbird group on Yahoo. Not sure why other than I have tons of BBD that I really want to stitch. I have never been able to keep up with a SAL although I love the concept. I decided to do Beneath the sunlit sky as I am missing the beach badly. I have a thing about herons and this design features one so it just seemed to be the right piece. I pulled the threads yesterday and had purchased the linen when I bought the pattern. It is a lovely green shade. I can't wait to get some time to stitch. I will post some pics when I get a decent start on it. Sorry about the glare - it is cloudy here and I just can't get a decent shot.

And lastly I wanted to share with you a cute little clock I found to use as it seems no matter where I sit to stitch in the living room I can never see the clock. Since I love tea I thought this was the perfect ornament for wherever I was going to stitch. It was at a little consignment shop here in town. I love it.
Hope your Memorial Day was great. I had to work part of the weekend so it was a short weekend for me but I did manage to get some stitching time in which was fun. Hope you have some stitching time this week.  Marjo

Still sailing

I have spent a good bit of time this weekend working on Sail Away.  I finished the the landscape part of it and am working on the picket fence. There are just two more rows after that. I love this piece but am ready to be done. This was part of a SAL and I am definitely bringing up the rear. I found that Stitches N things in Michigan is having a sale and I think the mats for this are included. I am going to check and see. The owner, Deb, is a pleasure to work with and I appreciate her sales on frames and things. May is the shop anniversary month and she always offers great sales.
After I finish Sail Away it will be back to CHS alphabets that I have worked on a little this week as I had several hours waiting this week and it is more portable than Sail Away. I still have a ton to do but it is coming along and I enjoy it as well. I will add Mary Wigham and FAS when these two are scratched off the WIP list. They are waiting patiently in the wings for some attention.
I belong to several Yahoo groups and one of them is for Blackbird designs. They are having a summer SAL that I decided to join. After all I have tons of their charts and love all the ones I have. I deserve a new start since I have been working steadily on WIP's for a while now. I think I am going to do one of the Loose Feathers Beneath the Sunlit sky. I love the beach and that particular design calls to me. Can you tell I am so ready for warmer weather?  I know I won't keep up, there is no need to kid myself, but it will be fun to get a much loved design started.
 Every holiday there are discussions among many of the blogs I read and groups I belong to about starting something new on the holidays. It occurred to me that I should start something new on my birthday this summer. I wanted to join the latest class from the Essamplaire but decided not to as it was such a lovely big project that would just overwhelm me.I am struggling with Mary Wigham  on 45 ct and not sure I could handle it on design that big with so much whitework and cutwork much less the recommended 50, 55 count. Yikes, I am not sure I could see that at all.  On the other hand I decided I would get the newest reproduction from The Essamplaire and use that as my new start for my birthday. The design is Victorine Delacroix sampler. It has the most beautiful colors. The website doesn't do it justice. That will be my birthday present this year and will celebrate with a new start. That is the plan right now anyway, my birthday isn't until July so plans can change. It is nice to plan though.

Changes

I just wanted to let you know that due to inappropriate comments with links to unacceptable areas being left I have gone to comment moderation. Therefore if you leave a comment it will not show up until I have read it and can post them. I am sorry for the inconvenience to us all but that is the only way I can think of to block unwanted messages. Will post stitching updates later. Thanks and enjoy some stitching today. Marjo

First walk of spring

My DH, I and faithful dog Kori took a walk through the neighborhood on a sunny day this week. At this point in the part of Alaska I live we are up to 16 hours and 36 minutes of daylight a day give or take a few minutes (we gain about 5 mins a day). That means the sun doesn't set until after 10pm. I always stay up too late when we start getting so much daylight. Not complaining though.

There is only a small amount of snow left on the ground but snow dog extroidinaire found every single patch as well as every bit of muddy puddle.  He loves any form of water and after all mud doesn't show when you are a lovely shade of chocolate

But above all he loves chasing every leaf that blows by, he absolutely intends to catch everyone and makes me smile every time....95 lbs of kid.
No progress to speak of on Sail Away. I got the lighthouse completed and started the ship. I am really afraid I am going to run out of one of the shades of blue that are the last two flowers in the grass and part of the little ship. I know that Shepherd's Bush will send me more but maybe I won't have to ask.
Hope there is some joy in your day and of course some stitchy stuff. Marjo

Sail Away progress