A Southerner under the Northern Lights

Dorothy, you'll have to take my word for it

2012-02-08T19:55:00.000-08:00

Dorothy Walpole

At this point Dorothy Walpole is just a green border line. I had changed out the fabric since I did not like the fabric that I got with the design. I used Vintage Pecan Butter and it is a great color. I have worked across the top part of the border so I could be sure that the piece would fit before I got too much done. I am enjoying this piece and look forward to getting more time with her. I hope to spend Saturday's working on it as normally that is the day I spend the most time stitching.

Winter Carnation BBD

I am loving the BBD stockings. They are so much fun. I finished Auld Lang Syne stocking. It is a cute thing. I moved on to the second stocking from January named Winter Carnation and finished that during the Super Bowl. Great colors that are cheerful for this grey time of year in Alaska. I think the birthday one which is the third one from January will be one I make more than once. How cute to put a small gift in and give to friends as a keepsake. I think I will use them as gift tags. Quick fun stitch.

Be My Valentine Drawn Thread

I have signed up for several classes this year. I just love learning about needlework. I am taking the Amy Mitten class on thread winders. I got the fabric and thread packet in the mail today. I am looking forward to starting it. I would love to keep up with it and finish on time with the class . I have also signed up for Sally Munro with the Essamplaire. I hope to get started with it on time as well. The kit has not yet been received for that but I am sure it will be here soon. Not like I don't have something to work on in the mean time. That is why I did not start any other large projects except Dorothy Walpole this year. I knew I was going to take some classes. I just got my chart of Ann Dale from the Attic. It is missing a couple of colors that were back ordered. That is for a SAL that is being run by the Attic. I intend to do both SAL from Ellen Chester's annual newsletter stitch a long. I have wanted to do a darning sampler and the other sampler is just lovely. I have one more class upcoming that starts in May. It is an 18 month long class on Needlework Caskets. I have always wanted one and this seemed the best way to get one - take a class. I am really looking forward to each of these classes for different reasons. Most of all because I love needlework and learning about needlework is something I particularly enjoy.
I have gotten some small seasonal charts. One of the ones most recently received is a Valentine small design by Drawn Thread. The colors are just gorgeous. I want to do a small seasonal Valentine display for next year. I have some pincushions, some free patterns for smalls and a little pillow. Along with this will be a few small framed pieces including this new Drawn thread, a new Shepherd's Bush and new little Lizzie Kate. I think they will look great together.
Hope you have some stitchy time in your week.
Marjo

Snow and stitches

2012-02-04T13:18:00.000-08:00

bird feeders and house out back

Out my front door

Kori enjoying the snow

We are in serious need of some shoveling. It snowed again yesterday, but that is okay because that means it warmed up enough to snow. The first is shot is out the back door, the second the front steps and the third is the back with the dog who has made a path to under a tree when there is enough room to move around. The sky is blue today and bright sunshine makes for a cheerful day. I am looking forward to some stitching time and the next few shots are of my Blackbird design stocking. One finish and the next two are different shots of the small progress I have made on the second stocking. These are quite fun and I am loving stitching on these in between the big projects I always seem to choose.

Blackbird designs auld lange syne

Winter Carnation BBD

Hope you are enjoying your stitching as much as I am, Hope you have lots of stitching time in your day. Marjo

a little bit of progress

2012-01-30T22:14:00.000-08:00

I have been stitching a little bit on the monthly teacup designs that were out a couple of years ago or so. I collected them but never stitched them. I stitched this yesterday. There are lots of reflections from the magnifier- we are adding more light but not that much yet so evening pictures are always after dark. That is the top of the cap and the handle of the cup. I am going to keep working on this tonight. I would love to get this finished and move onto another month. At this rate it would be February's cup. I have also been stitching on Dorothy Walpole, my January 1st start. I am loving this. I decided to move all the way across the top because I wanted to be sure I had cut the fabric correctly. I was afraid I was too narrow but no, it is good.

I am also working on the monthly January Blackbird stockings. I just picked one up last night. It was great fun and hope to finish it tonight. I am so enjoying these designs.

Santa by Homespun Elegance is coming along. I have taken it with me to my stitch group but it works for me for late night stitching when I am tired. I am waiting for the thread to come in for the bag Santa is carrying but I still have plenty to do.
Hope you have some stitchy time this week.
Marjo

Progress of an odd sort

2012-01-12T22:32:00.000-08:00

Homespun Elegance Gifts to you

I am sure this will be perfectly clear what I am stitching on this week, or maybe not. I have been working late hours and by the time it is stitching time here at home I have been too tired to work on small count fabric so I decided to pull out this Santa from Homespun Elegance and put some stitches into it. It is on huge count fabric and boy does it eat up the thread. This is his shoulder (in case you couldn't tell) and there is much more to fill in. I found as I was working on this that I do not have all the thread for it. So another order had to be made. Having to place an order just for thread is one of the biggest aggravations of living in Alaska. So instead of moving on to his bag of goodies I had to go back to his red coat. I guess I could have moved over the other way toward the beard, I will head there when I pick up later.

Sally Munro Essamplaire

Tonight was supposed to be our stitch night but the weather is so bad we just decided to stay home. I have read all the blogs I follow, looked at all the stores I like online and signed up for the Essamplaire class as well. Just what I need is another project but I have loved the look of this one since it came out in a previous newsletter. Picture is from the Essamplaire website. I enjoy taking classes as I always learn so much and I have always enjoyed the classes from Essamplaire.
I leave you with a picture from my drive home, this female was headed into the hospital stopping for a snack as I was headed home, note the blowing snow out there....that is why I am home stitching.....
Hope you have some stitchy time in your day.

Marjo

New beginnings, progress and a finish too

2012-01-07T16:53:00.000-08:00

Dorothy Walpole on V. Pecan Butter

I was able to find all the parts I needed, get the piece on the scroll rods and spend some time stitching on Dorothy Walpole. I love it. The colors are great and I am going to enjoy this piece. At least that is how I felt till I actually got the stitches into place and found I just didn't like the color fabric I had gotten. It is way too distressed and way too green for me. I tried to like it and then just decided I needed to find a better color and get on with it so I changed out the fabric and am so much happier with it. I am sad I spent more time messing with it than stitching on it but a beginning is always good.

Mary Wigham Needleprint

I am working on Mary Wigham as part of a SAL on Facebook. It has been much neglected, but even a little progress is a good thing.
I am also going to try to do something that I used to do to get a stuck in the water WIP going and that is put in just one strand of thread a day into a piece. ATS is the piece I chose and one strand for me will be one length of floss a day. I just feel like if I don't do that I won't ever get it done. And I have to get it done, really I do, I had found the perfect frame for it. I even have the wall space for it. Sigh. I will work on it in rotation but I will also try to get in a strand a day as this is such a huge piece.
My first finish of the year is a BBD stocking from the December patterns 'Merry Christmas'. I really am enjoying stitching them and can't wait to have them all done. They are an easy travel piece.

BBD December stocking, Merry Christmas

I usually stitch in a rotation by weeks. Recently with my limited stitching time that has ceased to work for me any more. I just try to keep a few active WIP going at any one time and focus on them till I hit a wall and then take another one out of the WIP basket. It keeps me stitching on that huge pile and makes me happy to be able to put needle to thread as often as I can.

Hope you had time for stitching in your day. Marjo

So what are you stitching on New Year's Day

2012-01-01T09:44:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year

Having 2 holidays back to back has given me the unique opportunity to have 2 short work weeks back to back which means I get to stitch a little bit more. I have so enjoyed that. I decided this year I would do a New Years Day start and have been through my huge stash and came up with quite a list to choose from. I chose Dorothy Walpole. I have wanted to stitch that since I first saw the original on the Scarlett Letter website several months ago. I love the colors. I am using the Attic conversion for fabric and silks. I am glad because the fabric that came with it didn't seem right to me. I had to go find scroll rods that would hold it. I love stitching.

BBD Snowy Eve Stocking

BBD Merry Christmas

I did have one last finish for the 2011 round up of the second of the December stockings, and almost finished the third but was just too tired to stay up any more. I will work on it today to try to finish so I can move onto the January stockings. I am really enjoying these little stockings and look forward to having them on a tree for next year. I am going to continue with my ornament stitching so I always have a small to work on to fill in travel stitching time or just so I get an occasional finish.

I decided last night I really need to take some things into the framers soon. My new to me office at work has totally blank walls and I think I would rather see my stitching there than anything else. I have several that are needing to be done. I think I am going to try mailing some to the framer by the Attic to see how the cost compares and the quality. I have only found one framer up here that does needlework but choices are limited up here. I will take a couple of pieces to her this week if I can and then wait for the sales the other framer has to try them.
Hope your New Year"s Day is full of stitching.
Marjo

Stitching time

2011-12-31T09:22:00.000-08:00

Stitching time always means progress time for me. I have spent a lot of time stitching (lovely!) and quite a bit of time planning what I am going to stitch next. I always make new year stitching plans but they are always loose plans knowing that if something screams loudly form my WIP basket or the kitted and ready to go basket plans will change. I am close to several small finishes and of course would hope 2 or three of them could be done with any diligence at all by year's end. I would love to have all my current small things done by then so I can start the year with new things from the WIP pile.
I am still in love with ATS and will continue to stitch on it throughout 2012.
I want to start the January BBD stockings so I have kitted them up and they are ready to go. The December ones were such a fun stitch. I loved them.
I want to join the SAL on the Attic website for Ann Dale. It is another of those really big projects that I love that I want to try to keep up with. Doubt I will be able to but there is nothing wrong with trying.
There is a sampler Facebook group that is doing a SAL on Mary Wiggins and since mine is in the WIP pile I may join them for the motivation.
I would like to see what Ellen from With My Needle has planned for her newsletter stitching. I love the idea that I am stitching along with other stitchers on the same projects. I may join that one depending on the choices.
I want to do a block of the month type design and since I have Anniversaries of the Heart started I will probably stick with that to whittle down the WIP pile. I have several others I would love to stitch already kitted up but I am such a slow stitcher.
Speaking of the WIP pile....I have been looking at the list and decided to take some different types of stitching off of there and see what progress I can make. So for now the list to work on for 2012 is
Anniversaries of the Heart
And They Sinned

Blackbird stockings Jan – Nov

2 sets of Halloween stockings

Scotty Biscornu gift

Whitework drawn thread sampler (EGA class piece)

Crewel confidence (EGA Group correspondence course

Mystery sampler (EGA group project)

Hummingbird kit gift

Common Ground

Santa pillow Homespun Elegance gift

SHT wedding sampler for a friend

Mary Wiggins with a SAL

Bluebird Box by Crossed Wing Collection
The last newsletter from the Attic put me in the mood to stitch one of my Darlene O'Steen samplers that has been sitting around for a while kitted and ready to go, either the Proper Stitch sampler or Pinks. I am drawn to band samplers and haven't had one in the pile for a while. Wonder if I can find it, either one......

5 of these are very small pieces and some are close to being finished so the list is not as daunting as you would think. Of course added to that are two SAL's that will be new starts that are alway large projects. I of course feel free to add and subtract as I go as the WIP list is long and varied. I feel like as long as I am stitching from the WIP basket I am meeting my long term goal to whittle it down.
This year I am doing something really different for me. Starting in May I am taking a class on designing a needlework casket. I think this will be an ambitious project for me but I have always wanted one and my husband truly pushed me to take this class. I have taken many forms of online classes from the one I took almost 20 years ago that was an online teacher who described in words what our next row of stitches should be because the design software available now didn't exist to the Victoria Sampler Stitcherama I really enjoyed to the online classes offered by Margarit of Essamplaire that I always look forward to. We will see how this new class goes.

The list of new starts I want to do could be even longer but I really want to finish my WIP pile so I can replace it with all these lovely new starts. New starts that are calling my name right now........

Sweetheart Tree anniversary sampler for my husband and I

Sweetheart Tree tea box new start
Margaret Cottom by La De Da
6 Fat Men by Lizzie Kate
Elizabeth Hancock
Christmas Garden by BBD.
Winter Wonderland by BBD
Victorine Delacroix by Essamplaire
Dorothy Walpole by Scarlet Letter
Oh, I do so love big samplers.
I have never done a New Year's Start that I can remember but this year one of those might just have to come out of the packet and add their name to the WIP hall of fame. (Famous for not getting finished)
I enjoy planning what I will stitch, mostly I try to get it organized so I don't waste valuable stitching time hunting down the pieces for a project.
Have a safe and lovely New Year's Eve. We will be home quietly enjoying the snow and hopefully a fire. Hope you find some stitchy time. Marjo

Digging out

2011-12-28T07:45:00.000-08:00

So, I spent quite a bit of time yesterday working on trying to bring some semblance of order to my stitching room. To call it a disaster area would just be trying to be kind. It is the room where everything get shoved when no one else knows what to do with it. Add to that the fact that I have more stash than I could ever hope to finish if I lived forever and kept both my eyesight and my mind. Really I wonder at myself sometimes.

I did get quite a bit of work done on sampler for a friend who recently got married. It is just a small sampler but it has given me fits all along. I got help from Cathy @ Inspired Needle to change most of the thread colors out. Then I decided to change the charting of the name, then I didn't like how it looked and spent a good bit of stitching time on Friday taking it all out again. So today I put it all back in and I think I am satisfied with that part. Now I just have to finish it and add the beads. I should have by all rights been done with this thing months ago. I will show a picture after it is gifted. Maybe. If I ever want to see it again. Which is doubtful at this point.
I am joining a Stitching Challenge on the Blackbird designs bulletin board. I intend to do all the stockings that I have purchased but not stitched yet. So that gives me 12 choices already if you count the Halloween book full of stockings. I also want to work on, and with any luck finish, the Anniversaries of the Heart designs as well. There are several other patterns of theirs I would love to do as well. I bought the Weekend design book and the little sampler in there appeals to me. I hope to be able to stitch that out of my stash. I bought some of the quilt fabric from the Fat Quarter Shop to make a bed runner that is appliqué which is the only kind of quilting I can do. Not so good at cutting lots of straight lines. Mine always end up crooked. I wanted to have a hand pieced item to work on. That way if light is low where we meet to stitch or I am just too frustrated with what I am working on then I have an alternative.

Early in the year I got some towels to transfer designs onto and stitch. I have not done even one of those but I do intend to have one of those in my stitching bag as an alternate to my big projects. I hate to waste any stitching time I might get and so I like to take more than one project with me on our weekly stitch gatherings. I am working on the BBD stockings, some Christmas ornaments and the freebie Tea designs that came out a year or so ago. I am going to work on some of the smaller stitching projects for a while. I want to participate in the two big SAL's this year and actually try to keep up with them. I think those are really my only goals for stitching this year. Of course the Attic has announced theirs but due to a death in the family Ellen Chester, WMN, has not announced her choices as of yet so I will have to wait and see what I think as to whether I can complete it or not. I am such a slow stitcher that it is just not realistic to think I can get that much done. Of course other than the SAL there is no real deadline to the stitching. The BBD group is loose, no pressure so I didn't mind jumping on that. I intend to spend some more time this week putting the stash into more organized sections so I can focus on what I have outlined to stitch and then I can shop my WIP basket for something that is calling my name. I hope to continue to work on my WIP pile to get it completed and then I can shop my stash for some new starts. Of course all this is subject to change.
So what plans do you have for the new year stitching wise? I am seriously hoping to stay on the wagon for a while. My stash is getting way out of control. I want to only purchase threads I need to finish things. I should have plenty of fabric to stitch most any sampler I want to stitch. I seem to have used up a bunch of threads lately so I will have to buy some more thread but only if I start something new. All my WIP should have their fibers unless I robbed them.....which is entirely possible. I was looking at my WIP list today and I still really want to complete everything on there. I have already ordered a couple of samplers but from now on it just goes on the wish list and then if get some finishes I will consider a purchase. That is the only way I am going to get this under control. Hope you have lots of stitchy time today. Marjo

finishes, but not by me

2011-12-27T07:55:00.000-08:00

These are a few of my favorite things. Long stitched, finally finished.

Homespun Elegance Merry Stitches

Homespun Elegance

CHS Quaker Sampler

These are the finishes I got back from the finisher a couple of weeks ago. I absolutely, absolutely love them and will definitely be sending some more items to her in the future. They are just so fun. I wish I could do this myself but cannot and just need to get over it and move on.

Yes, I am still stitching

2011-12-26T07:25:00.000-08:00

It has been way too long since I updated my blog. Sorry about that, not sure where my time goes but go it does. I think my biggest drawback has been trying to get decent pictures made of my progress on my pieces. I have been working on small items or gifts (not Christmas gifts just gifts) and the small finishes have been so exciting as I usually work on really big projects that at times seems never ending but for me the fun is in the stitching but I would like a finish or two occasionally. I have finished some ornaments lately, at least the stitching.

I did something new this year. I am a terrible finisher. I have so many finishes that are languishing in a box in my stitching room that I really love and need to have up in my home but I just have no skill in that direction. Well, I decided that I would send a few things out to be finished. Other than to a framer I have never done this before. I was so excited to get a package in the mail (okay, I am always excited to get a package in the mail!!!!) full of finishes. I had sent out my CHS quaker stocking and some ornaments a couple of larger designs to be made into pillows. She sent back the ornaments and the stocking and I am in love. Oh what a wonderful job she did. I am ready to send her another box of ornaments to be finished. It is truly a wonderful thing. I could never in a million years made them look that good.

I have been on an ornament kick lately. I am stitching the Victoria Sampler bird ornaments. I find they are going quite quickly when I get a chance to stitch. I am also going back and stitching all the BB design stockings. I am loving those as well. I am almost done with the Christmas/winter ones and am moving on to the January ones. I am finding I don't have the threads for many of them. I find that hard to believe but search as I could some of them are just not to be found. That is one of my biggest frustrations as I am dependent on shipping to be able to move on with my stitching. That is one of the reasons I like the the project packs that Victoria Sampler provides - I am never missing those threads unless I lose them. I have so many ornament designs that have caught my fancy. Many of them freebies from designers that are kind enough to share, plus all those years worth of Just Cross Stitch Ornament editions I have saved. I have a large box of Christmas ornaments that are just waiting to be stitched. Some of my favorite designers for ornaments are the Little House Needleworks and Homespun Elegance so I have kitted them up so they are ready to go. I keep them in my Whitman's Christmas tin with all the stuff I need to stitch so I can always grab that and go. I think I have 10 or so patterns kitted up in there. There is nothing more frustrating to me than to have time to stitch and can't finish/work on something due to missing threads. So here are a few of the things I have been working on lately. Hope you have some stitchy time this week.
Marjo

Little bit of progress

2011-10-23T20:27:00.000-07:00

Just a quick update to show my progress on ATS. It has been my focus piece this weekend. Now I can finally move it on the rods and get onto the second half of the first page of the pattern. Sigh
I did get several ornaments kitted up.That involved spending quite a bit of time putting up my DMC's that had been pulled for one thing or another and then pulling the new ones I need. I am missing a few threads. Joann's was able to help me with the DMC but I needed a few overdyes so they are on order. I want to have several ready to go. I have to have something I can actually finish when I am working on something as big as ATS when a finish would be a long time coming. I will work on some of the smalls that are gifts this week and then will move to the ornaments. I have managed to get several kitted so I can just take my tin with me in the car and work when I can carve out some time.
Have some stitchy time this week.
Marjo

Saturday in my neighborhood (no stitching)

2011-10-22T00:33:00.000-07:00

Last weekend my husband and I went out and took pictures around our neighborhood just for fun.

This is the Alaska Range seen from the end of our subdivision.

This is where the Eagle River flows through with Knik arm in the distance.

different shot of the same viewpoint.

Snow topped mountains, it is starting to come.

the river

another shot of the same river

Fireweed as it goes to seed

The mist hovering over the mountains. This is my favorite shot of the day. I love the mist over the mountains. It is one of my favorite views of all.
We spent so much time taking pictures I didn't get any stitching done. I hope for better things this weekend. Hope there is some stitchy time in your weekend.
Marjo

Stitching updates

2011-10-19T21:09:00.000-07:00

I have been really restless with all my stitching. I started working on ATS again, still on the cloud. I am ready to move away from that cloud! I am working on some gifts and some ornaments as well. I am frustrated with Elizabeth Foster though I have wanted to work on it for a while. The colors are off between the picture and the graph. I have tried to contact the designer but no answer so far. It is designed by the Marking Sampler. I am hoping she will have designs for sale on the Online Needlework Show and will have a contact email there. The colors on the picture don't match the graph at all. I have ended up putting it back in the WIP basket until I get some clarification.
I am going to work on some little monthly designs that were freebies with purchase of the buttons. They are teapots and teacups that I really liked. One of the shops I visited in the Lower 48 had these little designs completed and made into flat folds. I would love to do that as well but with my finishing skills not so sure about it. We will see.

So here is my finish of Matchless Grace. I really loved this little piece. I love the different directions the blue flowers go as the border goes around.

Still high about the clouds in ATS. I enjoy this piece and will continue to work on it on the weekends. It is too big to lend itself to travel to stitch night.

Here is my little progress on the amazingly frustrating Elizabeth Foster. I have made a little more progress since I took this shot.

I am also working on the first of the Bird ornaments from Cathy of Victoria Sampler. I finally spent some time on them and really enjoyed working on this one.

I am still working on some gift stitching that cannot be shown yet. Once they are gifted I will be able to show you pictures.

These are the two latest editions added to my growing needlework library. Love having books to read about stitching when I am just too tired to stitch.
So what are you working on? Hope you have some stitchy stuff in your day.
Marjo

Staytreat

2011-10-17T21:15:00.000-07:00

We had a great time at Cathy's house for our retreat. Getting us all together gets to be more of a challenge as time goes on. Our solution to this problem was to do a one day (all day) retreat locally. We had a blast. Cathy had decorated her home for her favorite time of year and it was beautiful as always.

We had too much yummy food and the swans put in an appearance. I was happy. We walked down to the walkway to the edge of the water and saw the swans. We couldn't stay out long, hardy Alaskan women that we are because the wind was whipping down the water and it was cold. Not sure the pictures turned out because I couldn't hold the camera very still. We get high winds up here. There were lots of swans and Mallards and some other duck I could not identify. I was there for the swans.

I got all but the last couple of stitches in Matchless Grace but was able to finish it Monday night. I did work on my "new to me retreat piece" of a Teresa Layman design. It was a challenge with all those knots trying to follow the lines. Not so sure how that will turn out but it will be a fun experiment. I enjoy the cross stitch more.

People were knitting, quilting, doing crewel and some just stuck with their current WIP which was fine. It was just for fun. We go to be cozy, talk, eat, stitch and just have a good time. Mission accomplished. We had one gate crasher but since she wasn't here to stitch she decided not to stay.
Hope your week is full of stitching.
Marjo

Still stitching

2011-10-03T22:38:00.000-07:00

At our weekly stitch together on Thursdays I was able to get a few more words in the verse on Matchless Grace completed. I was able to get the verse done before retreat Sunday. I hope to finish it at retreat. There are just a few motifs left to do. This is such a fun stitch. I will have to pull threads for my Retreat piece and for a few ornaments I want to kit up.
I hope to share pics of the new or new old items everyone brings to retreat on Sunday. So looking forward to it. The member's house where we are going to be spending the day backs up to the edge of the water and they still have swans visiting out on the sheltered part of the water. I am definitely taking my camera for the chance at a good picture of them. I love watching swans.
I need to get baking as I am taking scones and some form of desert, or maybe two kinds of scones, the one I make that has white chocolate chips could almost be a dessert.

Hope you have some stitching in your day. Marjo

Progress report

2011-09-27T21:53:00.000-07:00

Just a quick update. I was able to spend some time stitching last night ( and will be back to it as soon as I post this ) and made some progress on the verse on Matchless Grace. Once I got in a groove it seemed to go much faster. I had a big knot on the back that I didn't catch so I had to take a whole word out. That is why the "came" is missing an 'e'. I hope to get a few more words done on the verse tonight. There is another whole line of verse and then I just have about 5 little motifs and it will be done. I am enjoying stitching this even the over one part! The color on this photo is still not accurate. Maybe tomorrow we have some sunshine and I can get a more true to life picture.
We are doing our Fall Stitching retreat this upcoming weekend. We are just doing a day long retreat at one of our member's house. We will get there early and stay late. We will take food just like always and it will be so much fun. I am always excited to get together for stitching with my friends. We decided this time we would have a stitching challenge just for fun. We were talking about how many of our little group had finished what is fondly known as their 'retreat piece' the last time we got together. The discussion went from there to see what the new retreat piece would be for each one. Somewhere along the way it became a challenge for each of us to bring something we don't usually do to work on. It can be any form of needlework and you don't have to work on it the whole time. We have had some lively discussions about what project each of us will bring to try some new form of stitching... at least new to us currently. It should be fun. I decided to do a Teresa Layman design of Knotwork. I have wanted to try one of those for a while. It was recommended on the Silver Needle website I think to start with something that doesn't have a lot of detail so I found a little pumpkin with a cat that I am going to try. According to the instructions it takes 3 to 6 hours to stitch 1 square inch of knots. Needless to say I won't get it finished that day but it will be fun to start. I found a small frame to try it out on to keep the material tight (supposedly that is the key) so I will get the fabric basted on to it this week and get the floss pulled. I also want to get some ornaments kitted up completely so I can always have one to stitch on in a lull. I went through and made a list of all the fibers needed so I can pull them tomorrow. I pulled a mix of Little House Needleworks and Homespun Elegance ornament patterns. They use similar colors so the list of fibre to pull is not as long as you would think for the 9 patterns I pulled. Always planning the next stitch.
Hope you have some stitchy time in your day. Marjo

It's Fall

2011-09-21T21:31:00.000-07:00

From my Sunday evening walk, I couldn't resist the colors. This is one of the favorite parts of the path through the neighborhood where I live. I love it mostly because it signals the beginning or the end of my walks. Depending on how tired I am decides whether I am happy to start or to end.
I cannot believe it is already Fall. I have no idea what happened to the summer that's for sure. I have been sadly remiss with updating my blog. I have been stitching and will add some photos for my updates. I tried last night and blogger would not upload the shots. So if you are reading this it is safe to say it finally worked.

This is my not so much of a start of Elizabeth Foster from Marking Sampler. I have wanted to do this for a while and am glad to putting some stitches in it.

One of the others I am working on is Matchless Grace by Heartstring Samplery. I am at the verse. I should have checked that pattern a little closer before I started because I changed to a smaller count fabric and the verse is over one. It has definitely slowed me down. Please excuse this picture. I took it late last night and it is not even close on the color. It is called Confederate Grey but it is green in real life. I love it and the bright blue flowers just make me smile. I just have 3 more rows of verse and a 3 or 4 small motifs. I would love to have this finished soon.

The other small thing I am working on is a gift so no pictures till it is done. Next up will be Common Ground from the WIP pile. I need to work on some smaller items for a little while.

So much to (tell) show you

2011-06-12T09:00:00.000-07:00

I don't know where to even start telling ya'll what I have done and all the changes going on.

So the retreat was awesome as always. I love going on retreat with these ladies; there is nothing I would rather do. We had a bunch of food, did a lot of stitching and even some reading and sleeping. (see previous post for pictures). Wow, I didn't realize how tired and stressed I was until I spent an evening talking to my friends. They are the best. There are changes coming to the group and it makes me sad to know folks are going to be moving away..take deep breath....and I won't get to see them. Oh, sad times ahead but fun and excitement for them so I can't help but be excited for me.

I have changed jobs and have more time to read and do my stitching. I don't have to get to work until a little later but I still wake up early. So I get up and try to do a little stitching them. It has been so productive for me I also finished the BBD Summer SAL that has been languishing all Winter. I did Beneath the Sunlit Sky. I love it. I was also able to finish a Christmas ornament from long ago Merry Stitches by Homespun Elegance on a recent road trip. I am thrilled and now I need to go to get some framing/finishing done. I have 4 pieces to go to the framer and at least that many for finishing. In Alaska it is hard to find a framer that does needlework correctly. I have one lady who has done a good job and will start the trip downtown to get the framing started. I have 2 BBD pieces finished and Sail Away by Shepherd's Bush, and CHS Alphabets to get framed. I have a hornbook from Exemplars from the heart that I have the frame for that I need to stretch and get framed. I just have trouble getting things straight.

I am working on more from the WIP basket. I decided I really needed something that was full of color since we are still in the gray part of Spring when the snow is gone but the grass is still brownish and the trees are just beginning to bud. I am ready for flowers and color...so I decided I would pull Common Ground by Just Nan out of the basket. I have already gotten the entire border done. I am loving this extra time in my days.
So sorry for the wrinkles but I had taken these projects on my out of town trip so they had to be folded to fit into my carry on bag. Since my friend's luggage got lost a couple of years ago with her stitching in it I have never packed the linen parts except what I can carry on. I am getting ready to put Common Ground on the stretcher bars. The colors are glorious and I am enjoying this immensely. Plus the border matched up just the way it was supposed to. Will post more later.

Have lots of stitchy time in your day.

Needlework accessories

2011-06-11T10:22:00.000-07:00

There are several items I use for my stitching every time I pick up needle and thread. I most often use Bohin needles size 28 as I usually use small count fabric and one strand of silk to stitch with. I keep my favorite stork scissors attached to a zinger to my collar for my use. (I love the scissor fobs but I still manage to hunt for scissors unless I am using a needlework stand.) I use qsnaps and scroll frames for all my stitching. I cannot stitch in hand as so many people do. I just can't control the fabric and thread and there goes my enjoyment. I use a small Baby Z lap frame for my qsnaps, a heavier Lapmate stitch frame for scroll rods and the Stitchmate floor stand for big projects at the stitchy spot. I use a Daylight round magnifier floor light that either gives me enough light or light and magnification depending on the needs of the pattern. Along with my favorite linens and threads these tools are part of all my stitching on a regular basis. I have project bags of many sizes and descriptions and many lovely gifts provided by friends which I have shown you in the past. Strangely enough, there are also a lot of non traditional tools I use with my stitching all the time.

My computer is my shopping mall. I have a list of all my favorite sites and spend time searching them regularly. Etsy is one of my favorite places to shop. If I can't make something that is a great place to find someone who can. I wanted to show you some of the latest finds from some of my favorite shops on Etsy.

Some designers have shops on there: I got some lovely needlework cards from Heartstring Samplery for my correspondence. She had some Christmas ones I got that I want to get enough to use as cards for next year. They are gorgeous, Christmas and samplers, what more could you ask? (Pictures are from Heartstring Samplery, photos are her work as well as the cards in the photos.)

Homespun Elegance, one of my other favorite designers has started a blog and an Etsy shop and I found some special things there as well. These tags will grace birthday gifts this upcoming year. I just loved them. (artists photo)

My electronics...yes, well. Between my Macbook, my Ipod and my soon to be IPad, yes we are a Mac family. I cannot really sew. I can see how it is supposed to go in my head but it never translates to fabric of the sewing kind. Again, I turned to some of my favorite Etsy stores. Dixie's Window worked with me to make special matching designs for my favorite electronics. In real life I am a jeans, lace and pearl kind of person and she was able to make the perfect wonderful designs using those three elements to house my necessities. Perfect. She is working on a couple of more things for me.

I have mentioned that my other favorite pastime is reading. I like journaling and reading and I found two people on Etsy who have helped me with decorating my plain old black journals into something fun as well as my used paperbacks are covered with a little color and attached bookmark. Love it. (Designers picture as well.)

One of the other really pretty things I found was a reading pillow. Susan from SusanKeepsakes was willing to work with me to make a reading pillow that will hold my books and my IPad. How cool is that? This fabric is particularly beautiful in person.

I have to mention that I don't have an Ipad yet, I am waiting for the next generation to come out soon. I have learned from being an Apple user for a while that second and third generations follow with all the improvements from the original release. I have the money saved and just waiting for the release. I am just getting ready for it to be absolutely outfitted when I get it. Have to be prepared you know.Please note that pictures are mine except for the ones where credit is given.

Hope you have some time to use your stitching tools today. Marjo

Retreat updates just a little late

2011-06-10T11:12:00.000-07:00

We had a great time on retreat several weeks ago. I made a lot of progress on my pieces but of course not as much as I wanted to. I got the last square done on CHS Alphabets and two of the blocks filled in. I still have 8 blocks to fill in. As I do the fill in I pull the pattern for that block back out and check to be sure I haven't missed anything on it. I am hoping to get a little work done on it today. I did work on Anniversaries of the Heart for part of a day. I got the linen color thread I needed and got quite a bit done on that one but I am a slow stitcher and I am good with that.
We had a great time. Two of our members were wounded and thus unable to attend. We had the place to ourselves and stitched the whole time. We didn't hike, we didn't watch a movie, we just ate, stitched and slept. It was great. We try to do that twice a year and I look forward to it every time. I love to see what everyone else is stitching on and what progress is made.
Dee was the only one with a cross stitch finish this time. This will be the inset for a mirror. It is so beautiful in real life.
Gretchen knitted a dish cloth with a new yarn she bought on the way down. It was a lovely pattern and the colors striped out quite lovely on it. She was working on a teapot design. She was the designated baker for the weekend. When I worked a lot of overtime she volunteered to be my "personal baker" and made some extra muffins (they were so good) and egg salad as it was coming down to the wire and I was cutting it close for time. I really appreciated it. We always have plenty of food, no one ever leaves hungry. We took some of it to one of our wounded members so since she couldn't come stitch she could at least snack with us.

Jeannette had several different projects. She was doing some hand quilting on a crazy quilt piece she had started back when we had a visit to the area by Judith Baker Montano and it getting ready to finish it out. The crazy quilt part is done she is doing the quilting now. She also was doing an Alaska themed cross stitch and had knitted, felted and was embellishing a purse for her own use. Lovely work as always.

Joan had her retreat piece and is coming to the end of it. It is a class piece from EGA that didn't get finished and she is determined to get it done.
We had a great time and I am always ready to go back. Have some great stitching time in your day. Marjo

Reading and stitching

2011-05-04T10:41:00.000-07:00

My two favorite past times to be sure. I love reading mysteries as you can tell from my sidebar of book lists. I check out all the online bookstores for new and upcoming reads, add then to the notes on my phone and am thus armed whenever I make it to the store to be able to get a good book should one cross my path. I love going to the library but due to budget cuts ours is not open on Mondays which is my only weekday off work. I miss it. What more could you ask than a great big room (I live in a small town) full of free books. I love it. Fortunately for me, the librarian loves mysteries as much as I do so I rarely have trouble getting a copy of the latest bestsellers on my list. Fortunately, I can browse the card catalog online and put books on reserve. My husband walks our chocolate lab at the park across from the library almost everyday so he is the only way I can get library books. He loves to read as well so there is no hardship for him to go to the library for me. When I can't get one from the library or the used book stores I do hit up Amazon or their branch Audible for books to listen to while I stitch or right before I go to sleep. The timer on the IPOD is a wonderful tool for me. I went shopping at Audible yesterday as I knew my husband was going to be working all day today so I would have plenty of new books to choose from for my listening pleasure as I stitch. They have recently started releasing (or maybe Audible just picked up) the Ngaio Marsh books. I love old mysteries like that and I stocked up. I listed my newest choices in the sidebar listing of Books upcoming to be read. I recently hit up Etsy for an Ipod cover as mine is getting much the worse for wear. I have had it for years and it goes everywhere with me. I have to laugh at myself as I keep a charge cable in my stitching carrier as I would hate to run out of battery and no way to charge it when I have time to listen and stitch. Not your normal needlework basket I guess. Speaking of stitching, time to shut down the computer, and put on the water for tea and get to work on my stitching. The dog is asleep, my husband is at work and the cat will sleep on my lap so now it is my turn to stitch.
Hope there is peace and at least a little stitching in your day. Marjo

Did you see????

2011-05-03T11:31:00.000-07:00

Did you see Dorothy Walpole is charted and ready for sale at Scarlet Letter? I have been checking back every once in a while to see when the chart would be ready. I recently posted about this wonderful reproduction. I finally saw it was ready for sale and put that one on order. I also got Dorcas Haynes as well. Jean at Attic Needlework is making Dorothy her May Sampler and I cannot wait to get the color conversion as I think the change in fabric and threads will make it look more like the original. I am so excited. I know, I know I need another sampler like I need a hole in the head but this one I must have. I hope you have something you are excited about to stitch and time in which to stitch it. Have a stitchy kind of day. Marjo

Really, is it really May already?

2011-05-02T21:59:00.000-07:00

Well, I have no idea what happened to April. It just swooped by me and here it is May. I have much to report and pictures to follow. Stay tuned.....Have a stitchy sort of day. Marjo

Latest progress

2011-03-18T08:59:00.000-07:00

I am heading out on retreat this weekend with my stitching buddies. Just wanted to share a quick post of my last pic of the CHS Alphabet. Hope to have a lot of progress to share when I get back. It has been a long week at work with many decisions to make and work to be completed. I am so looking forward to a weekend of no stress. The most I will have to decide is which piece I want to stitch on and which chair I want to sit on. The food is cooked, the snacks are prepared and I am ready. Always ready for some friend time and stitching. What more could I ask for?

I have about 10 bottom areas to fill in and the X block to finish. This is done on an unknown color and count from my stash using the called for threads except I am filling in the base of the blocks with Tropical Ocean from Gentle Art. I skipped around filling in the bases so I could use multiple dye lots of the fill in color and not notice a big jump in dye lots just in case. I will have to go back and do a block by block check as I go to be sure I didn't leave anything out but the finish line is definitely in sight. I did go ahead and date it as I felt sure I could finish it this year though there for a while I had my doubts. I swear those blocks grew like bunnies the more I would fill in the more there seemed to be.

I will take pictures when I get back from the weekend to show you how much progress I have made. I am taking only a few projects. I always take too much but sometimes frogs drive me to put down a piece for a while and with all that uninterrupted stitching time I have to have a back up. I am taking a Homespun Elegance Christmas ornament Merry Stitcher, CHS Alphabets of course, Anniversaries of the heart and Beneath the Sunlit sky which has such beautiful colors. I want to get CHS Alphabets done but want to stitch on some other things as well. Oh, and I will take what I wanted to become my new retreat piece FAS. I have not touched that in quite some time but not sure if that will happen this weekend either. I really want to concentrate on the ones that are closer to being finished I think this time.

I hope your weekend is full of stitches, friends and family. Marjo

Market already

2011-02-15T10:11:00.000-08:00

Have you been reading all the previews for Market already? It seems this time that there are way more previews than there used to be. I enjoy it as it allows me to shop ahead as I don't have a local store to be able to see the items. This way I get to peruse the pictures and look at the lists for floss and fabric. This is really the only kind of shopping I like to do besides maybe the antique or consignment stores. I mostly buy samplers now but there are a lot of pretty things being previewed.
I have mentioned before that the counted canvas appeals to me for a change of pace. The latest one to be released at Market By Nancy's Needle is Quilt Market and that will have to go on the Wish list for sure. Especially after my recent trip to Amish country. I have purchased from her online shop a couple of times and I highly recommend it for good prices and fast shipping.
Another Market pre-release is from With My Needle Miss Trenner's Needlework Academy boxes. I love the way Ellen Chester has painted those and lined them. They are just so cute. She also has a new sampler reproduction that is a lovely floral that is on the wish list.
I have purchased a couple of designs from Heartstring Samplery in the recent past and her new ones for market this time are definitely on the must have list for me. They are called Matchless Grace and Permit me not to stray. I also want a couple of her prior releases that strike my prim side. The one I want the most is Simple Bounty Cupboard Sampler which is a purely simple design that I love.
I am intrigued by Rosewood Manor's Crabapple Tree design. I would love to see it up close and personal. Several of her new ones look really nice. Blackbird Designs new book of all the class pieces is on the please purchase for me list for sure. The Flood by Plumstreet Samplers is a fun one that looks really big. Another one I would love to see in person. GPA designs has released two pincushion dolls that look lovely as well. I could go on and on. There are so many great designers and I have picked just a few. I have many more I could list for sure. So what is on your list either to buy or to wish?
Oh, so much to stitch. Speaking of which I need to turn off the Mac and get back to that.
Hope your day is full of stitches. Marjo

Samplers

2011-02-14T11:25:00.000-08:00

I love samplers. I love the alphabets, the houses, the over or undersized people, the colors, the whole thing really. I love reading about them, I love looking at them online or in person on the rare chances I get to somewhere to see them. I just plain love samplers. I love the idea of the hours spent stitching that brought pleasure and creativity to the hearts of the young girls and women who came before us to give us samples that talented designers have reproduced for us to stitch. I go back through the old newsletters of the Attic just to look at all the samplers. I just really love them. I collect the patterns and wish I stitched more quickly so I could have more of them on my walls. Yesterday while I was browsing the usual sites I came across one for sale on Scarlet Letter website. I usually don't even look at the antiques as I know that there is no way I could ever afford one but this time I decided to look. I really hope they make a reproduction of this one. I absolutely love it. The colors are so pretty to me. And I really like the bargello section. The picture is from the Scarlet Letter website. You really need to go to her site to see it in more detail. Lovely, Sigh.
Hope you have a very stitchy day. Marjo
.

Edited to say, that I had written to Marsha Parker to ask if she was going to reproduce this lovely thing and she already had and for those of you who love it as much as I do, it will be available in a couple of months according to Marsha of Scarlet Letter. She has close ups of this lovely on her site. Check it out.

So is it safe?

2011-02-13T09:49:00.000-08:00

To finally add the date to the CHS Alphabet sampler? Here I am with just the fill in left to do and 3 letters. I have gone back around the vine where I missed a flower or leaf and got those all caught up and I am examining each square as I fill in the bottom part so I can be sure when I am done that I am really done. I took some time away from this piece for the last two weeks as it seemed the more I worked on it the larger it grew and I had doubts that there would ever be a last stitch for this one. I have been working on Merry Stitcher ornament, ATS, Happy Hearts by VS and Anniversaries of the heart BBD but now it is back to the CHS Alphabet. I really hope to finish it soon. I really thought I would be done by now. I still have quite a bit of of fill in left to do but that goes pretty well when I have something to watch on TV or a good book to listen to. This picture represents the colors better than the last one I posted, not sure why the last one was so yellow. I am already contemplating what I will pull out to replace this one when it is finished which I think is why it seems to be taking so long. As you can tell from my side list of WIP's I have many to choose from.
Cathy, from Inspired Needle came through yet again for me with rush deliveries of the much needed Linen colored floss from WDW that I know is here somewhere but not sure where that would be. Sure I will find it now that I have replaced it. I will spend some time on Anniversaries of the Heart now that I have that color as it is a large portion of the design for Snow Garden. I will work between the two of them today and then move on tomorrow to something else.
I think I would like to focus on ATS for a while. It has been so sadly neglected for so long. I did not get the sun and the cloud finished the other day like I wanted so maybe it would be best to just focus on it until I see some progress.

I am taking some breaks from the large items to stitch on my ornaments as I really want to get several done this year. Sorry about my shadow on the picture. It is snowing here (no surprise it is Alaska after all) and I couldn't get a true color shot without a shadow on it somewhere. I have collected the Just Cross Stitch Christmas ornaments for years and never get many of them stitched. I have now kitted several up thanks to Drema and her sale at Needlework corner and would like to get them all done as well. She has a specific section with the fabrics and threads needed for the JCS ornament edition each year. She tells you up front what she carries and what she doesn't so you can make your list. I think that is a great service. Now if I could order TIME I would be all set.
SO much to stitch, so little time. Have a stitchy day.

Rotation update

2011-02-02T13:30:00.000-08:00

Late last year I joined the Blackbird design group in a SAL for the Anniversaries of the Heart. I am stitching them all on one piece of 40 count LL Vintage Light Exemplar that I had left over from another project. I started the Snow Garden yesterday after spending quite a bit of time trying to find all the thread that should have been in it's box ready to go but wasn't. Found all but one color I need and of course it is one of the main colors but I will order that today and just keep moving around it. I am loving this stitch. The greens and grays are pretty much what I see out my window during the snowy part of the year up here so it suits life right now but I am looking forward to a finish of the first one to move in the reds of the Valentine house block which is next. It is definitely a fun stitch.
I have finished the poor Homespun Elegance Santa who had been languishing in the Christmas ornament stitching tin for the better part of a year and moved onto another one Called Merry Stitches from the same designer. (See last post) Another one that I needed two colors to be able to finish. You would think with the number of skeins of GAST and WDW I have that I would never be missing one but not true. Thanks to Cathy at Inspired Needle for sending me those two needed colors, I will email her soon for the MIA WDW Linen I need for Snow Garden. She has been so easy to work with for the last two years since I found her brick and mortar shop on a trip to the lower 48 to see the boy child. I really appreciate her along with all the other shops who are so helpful to those of us who do not have a LNS.

I also decided I needed something new from the WIP to stitch and ATS has been just screaming at me lately so I pulled it back out and have put it on my floor frame so it can get some attention. Since last touched I have finished the middle portion of the cloud and if I get the time to stitch today I hope to get the sun and the cloud finished. I just think it will move faster if I can get the cloud done. Underneath that section is a bunch of smaller motifs that will be fun to add in as well.

I am not done with CHS Alphabets but just needed a break with it for a while, it seemed the more I stitched on it there was still much more to do. It will be my Thursday night stitch until finished but bringing some new old stuff into the rotation.
Thought I would show my stitching bag complete with all the current projects seeing the light of day. I will rotate them based on what is screaming loudest that day at this rate. I used to be pretty strict on a rotation when I didn't work full time but those days are gone and I have enjoyed this weekend just working on a bunch of different things throughout the day to mix it up a little bit. There is an article on the Shakespeare's Peddler website that speaks to working on something for ten hours and then moving to the next project. I might try that but even that may be more than I can do. I tend to just work on something till I fill the need to change and then move onto something else from the WIP pile. I used to stitch on a rotation of 4 pieces with a week on each piece but with my work schedule I can't do that as some weeks I barely get to stitch. But I am still having great fun with it and to me that is what it is all about.
Hope you have some stitching in your day.
Marjo

Ornaments

2011-02-01T21:48:00.000-08:00

I am working on several ornaments this year. I love stitching them but finishing them is always a challenge for me. This year I hope to stitch the entire set of LHN including the new ones she is designing for this year. I have also been collecting the ones I like from Homespun Elegance. I think they are fun. I really want to do a the new bird designs from Victoria Sampler, the button up bird designs. I can dream can't I? I want to do some ornaments for gifts this year, some to add to our tree, and plus I can at least have some small finishes this year. I have one of the Homespun Elegance ones completed and one more started named Merry Stitches and the fabric and threads to do the bird designs from Victoria Sampler.

I hope today is day full of stitching. Marjo

Stitcherama

2011-01-31T22:12:00.000-08:00

Since there were many comments from people who had not heard of the term "stitcherama" I thought I would do a quick post to try to explain a little better.
Stitcherama is a word coined by Thea Dueck for her new form of class teaching to be able to accommodate many people to attend a class in the privacy and comfort of their home but still with the classroom feel to it. You can sign up for the featured project through the Victoria Sampler website and then join a Yahoo group to discuss the project and then a real time webcast where you can write in and ask questions and make comments that everyone in the class can read. So even in your bedroom slippers you can attend class, have all your tools that you usually use at your disposal and ask all the questions you want to ask the teacher or others about the project and the finishing. Part of the teaching is done by special videos for specialty stitches that are then made available after the webcast to replay as many times as you want to get the hang of new to you stitches or techniques. The webcast is real time so Thea is there teaching while you are watching, a little like a one way Skype conversation. The participants have to type in their questions but I didn't find that a problem as we had 3 hours for 2 days to ask questions. There were people there from all over the world and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I got my kit ahead of time with instructions on layout and pre-stitching. There were lively discussions, scheduled breaks and previews for new designs or for other teaching designs in the stitching stage. I thought it was a great idea. You can go to the Victoria Sampler Website to see the available classes and sign up that way. After the class the discussions continued on the Yahoo group.
Hope this answers all the questions a little better. Thanks for checking in and back to stitching. Marjo

That's a keeper

2011-01-31T10:06:00.000-08:00

I was only able to attend one day of the Stitcherama put on by Victoria Sampler but I can't tell you how much fun I had. I was able to stitch along and read all the real time posts and comment along. Along with very clear video snips of specialty stitches that you can replay to your heart's content I was able to gain a lot just from tips Thea shared while teaching. I learn by seeing and then doing much better than from reading directions so it was great for me. Of course getting to see up coming pieces in the works was an added bonus. I know some folks had some technical difficulties but I was lucky to have had no problem at all. I would do it again in a heartbeat and will listen to the recast available more than once while it is available. Fun for those of us who generally have to make a long and expensive trip for a class. Great alternative in my opinion and while I would rather take the trip that is not always possible with either work or time or financial constraints.
Hope you find some stitchy time in your day, Marjo

Challenges for the New Year

2011-01-04T10:00:00.000-08:00

I have enjoyed reading several blogs where people are starting 15 projects in 15 days in January. One of my stitching buddies has always held to the idea that January was a "no fault" start month. She is retired and is able to finish all her starts. I on the other hand cannot even finish the things I have already started much less 15 more additions to my really long WIP list. I am really enjoying seeing all the new projects other bloggers have started though. It is my favorite part of blogging and in fact being able to see what everyone else is stitching is why I started blogging. I love seeing what everyone else is stitching.

I will have one new start in January. I am going to do the Victoria Sampler Stitcherama for Happy Hearts. I love the fabric for the lining and the threads for this piece are wonderful. This will be my first new start for the New Year. I am excited to get time to do this. I hope to have CHS Alphabets done before that but I doubt it. The pictures do not do this kit justice.

I will have some other new starts as I will continue with the gift stitching throughout the year. I am trying to keep them all small as I really want to finish the big projects I have started. I am going to take FAS as my retreat piece. I have wanted to work on it for a while. Once a get a couple of these done I will start something else from the WIP basket or maybe a new start. No rules just fun stitching here. Hope you have some stitchy time today. Marjo

Now where was I ?

2011-01-03T19:48:00.000-08:00

with CHS Alphabets? Actually since this picture was taken I have finished the wording on Y and working on the hive on that letter. Down to three letters and the fill in at the bottom. It will still be a while before I am finished with this.

Mary Wigham is still on page one. I have not touched it since my trip to California and Pennsylvania. I look forward to starting back working on her. I love the colors they are a great combination and look so much better than the picture.

I apologize for the lousy picture of this one Beneath the Sunlit sky. The color is no where near accurate but it is dark here and today it is overcast. Plus I should have ironed it. Guess I will have to change the date on this one. I love the soft colors of this one as well.

This is a piece I did work on while I was away. My sister asked me a long time ago to stitch this particular design. I could just never get myself to work on it. This piece has a bunch of half stitches. I decided this will be my "strand a day" project in the hope of someday getting it done. She has already mailed me a second kit to stitch for her. I need to get busy.

This year I want to stitch more ornaments. They will be my Thursday night stitching with my buddies projects once I finish CHS alphabets. This is one I started a long time ago and poor Santa has languished in the tin every since. I just have the wording and the bottom border and it will be done.

Hope you have some time for stitching. Marjo

Snow, snow and more snow

2010-12-02T11:50:00.000-08:00

All day long on Thanksgiving it snowed a gentle quiet snow that covered the landscape in a blanket of pure white. It made for a lovely day. It was the first really good snow of the season and after two days of ice storms it was a welcome site. It is quite cold here, single digits, the last few days and I am bundled up even in side. Sometimes I think just looking at all that snow makes me cold I don't have to be out in it.
I managed to get some more stitching in and am getting close on the CHS Alphabets but considering this is December already doubt I will make it this year but we will see.
I have not managed a daily strand of thread but have managed to at least ply needle to thread most days. I finished a Christmas gift and am working on other gifts (not for Christmas). I will post a picture later of where I am with all my projects. CHS Alphabets have seen the most work so not much else to show but need to update where I am with the current WIP's for myself.
I love having stitching in hand with a cup of tea or coffee, blazing fire and watching the snow outside. Good day in my book. Hope you are having a stitchy day. Marjo

Part two vacation the west coast

2010-11-08T11:20:00.000-08:00

California here I come!!! I have only visited California once before so I was quite excited to visit again. This is the first time I have ever taken a week off by myself and I was excited to see what I could see. I traveled from Pennsylvania to Sacramento, California. The point of the trip was my decision to take a class at Elegant Stitch taught by Jaquie du Pleiss of It's Finely Finished. I have done a PALS convention once and took classes, one Camp Wannasew by Silver Needle and a Merry Cox weekend at the Attic. I was really looking forward to the class. It was "I had a Farm" and centered around three trunks filled with tea and lace. Once I found out about the tea and lace part I really wanted to go. I was able to score the last slot and so then it became the question of what was I going to do between leaving my friend on Tuesday and waiting for class on Friday evening. I decided I would go to Yosemite and see what there was to offer there. I loved it. I went into the park three times and basically spent the entire day there for 2 of those days. I drove all through the valley one day walking to what I could and driving to a lot.

The second day I drove to Glacier Point and was so glad I did. I packed picnic lunches and read and stitched at the top for a while just enjoying the view and the quiet. I drove down and hiked until dusk and enjoyed the sunset around the huge rocks. The third day I stayed just a while to say goodbye and then hit the road to Modesto to Elegant Stitch and stitching heaven.
I was so excited to be in a brick and mortar store

and see all the things I normally just get to read about online. I fondled the threads, handled all the fabric and pawed through the patterns. It was wonderful. The retreat started with an open house at the shop, catered food and all the shopping your could cram into 2 hours. The next morning class started and the morning flew by with excellent teaching by Jacquie and Lois roaming around giving us excellent gifts to fit into the trunks we would be making. There were not just gifts that she bought but also things that she put a lot of work into making especially for each person who attended (scissor fobs with our initials on it, necklaces with initials worked into) and all fitting into the theme. We learned how to finish the boxes to make them into trunks, we got special bits f lace to add to the design and to make a necklace out of. There was so much to the kit. I was really impressed. I absolutely loved it and wished I could go to every class offered. Everyone who was there was very welcoming and as a newbie I was made to feel one of the group, always a place to sit for lunch, always a table with a spot to sit and conversations were lively. I met some great people and laughed till I cried at some of it. I thought the hotel would rock when the stitchers found out the Giants were going to the World Series. It was good to see I am not the only baseball loving stitcher. Though my team didn't make it all the way this year I had to smile at the ladies at my dinner table with their phones giving a play by play account of the game off of the MLB application for their phones.
The shop was open for more shopping and I took advantage of it mostly just to continue to touch it all but I did pick up a few things, some linen on sale and a couple of things to be made into gifts, fabric and thread for two patterns I took with me for that purpose. Wonderful time.
And that is where I have been and why you haven't heard from me. Back to the routine now. Hope to post more often with stitching updates. Have a stitchy day. Marjo

Vacation

2010-11-06T11:25:00.000-07:00

Since I have moved to Alaska I have been blessed to be able to travel once a year to spend a week with my best friend of over 30 years (ouch) to catch up and move back into the stream of life of friends. We go wherever the whimsy takes us and do whatever there is to do there. This year we decided to have a stitchy element to the trip and make the trip coincide with the Stitching weekend organized by Stoney Creek in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. I have never been to Pennsylvania so I was looking forward to seeing new places and doing something new with my friend. She always finds us the best places and this year was no exception. She found us a cottage on a farm in Mount Joy that was just wonderful. It was named Oasis and with good reason. It was a lovely little cottage with the view of the goats, a horse and chickens from the front porch. We had lovely weather and drove all over in search of used books. We are both inveterate readers and are rarely found without a list of books we are searching for in hand. We found several books we were searching for and I am excited to say that I found 3 needle work related books that I have been searching out . One small store that we found had several needlework books and I had to get these as he was having a sale and that made the finds even better for me. We ended up with more books than we had room for so we donated what we read while we were there to the local library book store for friends of the library sales. We ate pretzels, shared a pumpkin moon pie from a local bakery, and took in the Amish markets and antique stores as well as a couple of quilt stores.

The weekend took us to the Stoney Creek festival to the marketplace. Not that either of us needed to buy anything we looked at each booth and managed to purchase a few things ( of course). It was much smaller than I had expected but each shop or presenter that was there was quality as far as I could tell. I was most attracted to Karen Kubbla of Rosewood Manor's booth. She had a lot of her models there and all the charts with some of them kitted up and had the Valdani thread packs for some of them available. I fell in love with Quaker Spring after seeing the model even though I had not noticed it much when I saw it online. The color of the fabric is just wonderful and the thread colors are great. She had the model for Quakers and Quilts on display and made me want to get mine out and start it right away (how is yours coming Jacquie?) I could have bought so many of hers but with a WIP list like mine. I will buy Spring Quaker and do it when I get some of my WIP done. I did buy a little Teresa Layman kit as I have wanted to try these for a long time and felt now was the time. I also bought a Stoney Creek Pattern book to do with snowmen and a Homespun Elegance Christmas ornament. We spent most of the day looking through the shops that came and had booths and went back several times to the Rosewood Manor booth.

All too soon the time with my friend was over (where did it go) and we had to part until next year. Sigh. I am blessed with my friend and I look forward all year to seeing her. We did spend a lot of time stitching (her more than me, I read) but I did work on an old WIP that my sister asked me to stitch for her that I have procrastinated over. Finally I made some progress on it and hope to have it done by next Christmas for her. Lots of color changes but it will be different to do a picture instead of the samplers I usually do.

Enough for the first week of my vacation it was fun. Next installment, week two on the West Coast. Have some stitching in your day. Marjo

Just one stitch

2010-11-03T23:47:00.000-07:00

I have a stressful job, not physically but sometimes mentally I am stressed out. It helps that I have a bit of drive home to work out some of the stress before I get home but I really want to be able to stitch more often in the evening because for me it really is a stress reliever. I have been considering this a lot since I got back from vacation and realized that I don't really have time built into the day to do that on the days that I work. I want to be more intentional about that. I was reading some other blogs today and someone else had their finishes listed and the list was huge. I just can't imagine ever getting that much stitching done in a year. I will be lucky to add even one more thing to the list for this year. I am not worried about it but realized that stitching truly makes me happy why am I not taking more time to do it.
For a long time I wrote on a board who had a section on folks who stitched "the daily strand" and that was a way to work to finish a piece that had been neglected or one you really wanted to get finished. The commitment was to stitch a strand a day on something. I think I will go back to the daily strand and see if that will help eke out the time to get a few stitches done and improve my frame of mind.
Hope your day found you time to stitch. If so what were you working on? marjo

Retreat with no snow

2010-10-30T10:43:00.000-07:00

Could it be? The TNTSL's (my stitching group - thursday night tea and stitching ladies) decided to move retreat up to a non snow time to see how it would be. We met for lunch on Friday and had lunch at our usual diner in Palmer. Betty, one of the adventurers among us took us to a new store that was jam packed with quilts, clothes and candles etc. It was a great store and none of us could believe we had missed it all these years. Didn't buy anything but got some great ideas of things to do decorating wise ( such as it is here). We made the rest of the trip to the bed and breakfast. The owners were there to welcome us and we quickly unloaded our stuff, our stitching the food and settled into stitching. Several of us have retreat pieces. They are pieces that usually get the most stitching done at retreat for whatever reason. I always take way more than I could ever stitch in 3 days. But I enjoy having something to choose from because if I really mess something up, the joy disappears and it goes back to the WIP pile until I can face it again. I took CHS Alphabets, Blackbird designs Beneath the Sunlit sky and some smaller things I wanted to work on. I spent most of the time on CHS Alphabets but progress is slow for me. I am a very slow stitcher but I don't worry about it.
The sun shined on us and we loved every bit of it. The food was great, company is always good and we got to enjoy stitching outside and soaking up some much needed sun. I stayed a little later as my house was empty so I camped on the porch for the afternoon stitching in the sun. It was great. Having the sun was wonderful but I will be honest with you, getting together with the TNTSL's is the best for me and I don't care what time of year or where we meet I love my stitching group. They are the best. Retreat was in September back to back with our annual trip to Denali. Wonderful time with both trips.

Hope you have some time for stitching.

August Happenings

2010-10-28T10:41:00.000-07:00

The end of August saw us traveling to Minnesota to move our son to college. We took a few days for vacation and since it was our 24th anniversary my husband and I took some time to ourselves to visit some of the lighthouses around Lake Superior and to take in a Twins game. We had a great time and saw lots of new places. Of course I took my stitching and made some progress on CHS Alphabets. I am trying to get that particular piece finished this year so I tend to go to it more often than anything else right now. This picture shows where I was when I started the trip. More to follow.
Hope this time brings some stitching time for you. Marjo

Where

2010-10-26T20:53:00.000-07:00

Have I been? I can't believe it has been this long since I posted on the blog. I have been gone on a road trip and a vacation and a retreat so I have much to share. In the process of getting life back to some semblance of control but hope to have several updates coming. Time did just get away from me but much to share on the stitching front so stay tuned for soon to be photos and updates from the chilly north. Marjo

Something new

2010-08-15T11:49:00.000-07:00

Well, new to the rotation even if not new to me. I have decided to pull out some pieces that I bought a while ago from Nancy's Needle that I love and really want to finish. They are done on canvas (as close as I get to needlepoint) with quilt type themes and I love them. I finished a trip around the world a while ago and now I want to do some others to go with it. First I am going to add this one to the rotation as I had started it and never finished who knows why. I think it will be a good drive time stitch as it is larger count than a lot of the other projects I have. Sometimes when we are traveling around the light is not strong enough to do my cross stitch in the car. I want to give this one as a gift to my neighbor who does not read this blog. Hence it is safe to post updates of one of my gift stitching projects.
Along with hedgehogs, I have a fondness for gingerbread men and houses. I therefore had to buy the gingerbread houses that are based on the same them as the Two Cabins. For the Halloween lovers among us there is also Two spooky houses. They are not huge but lots of fun to stitch. I got these all by mail order (what else) already kitted up. I hope to make some progress on this. So much to stitch, so little time.
I hope you have some stitchy time today. Marjo

Surprise

2010-08-14T10:44:00.000-07:00

I was so surprised a couple of weeks ago to get this lovely package in the mail. I had received an email from Carol who read a blog posting about my fondness for hedgehogs. She wanted to share some freebies that she had found and wow did she share. I was blown away but her thoughtfulness. Not only were there several hedgehog patterns there was also a sweet Shepherd's Bush kit for a sewing roll that I just love. The colors are so lovely. I cannot wait to get that stitched up. Thank you so much Carol for your very sweet, sweet gifting. I cannot tell you adequately how much I love it all. Aren't they just the cutest things??? I love hedgehogs. Thank you so much for these lovelies.
Hope you have some stitching in your day. Marjo

Progress in pictures

2010-08-13T07:36:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the way the pictures look, colors are off due to the gray weather here. We have had rain almost everyday this summer. While we tend to have rainy Augusts here usually May, June and July are sunny and wonderful. Not this year. It does make it hard to get good shots of the colors on my stitching. I have done a lot of fill in on my CHS alphabets. I decided I didn't want to wait until the end and have all those blocks to fill in. Not done by any means but progress.

My summer stitch a long for the BBD group is a really fun stitch. I love the colors and the design and well just everything about it. I am looking forward to some progress on this and a finish before too terribly long. It stitches up pretty quickly when I can get the time to work on it.

Mary Wigham is just beautiful to me. I am using the thread conversion from Jean at the Attic. She did a wonderful job with the colors and I just love it. I am almost done with the first page and hope to get some more done on it today. Really much prettier in person color-wise.

The other stitching in the rotation is for gifts that I cannot share until after I gift it. I hope to remember to take pictures of the completed product this time. Can't believe I forgot to get a shot of that little frog one...it was so cute.
Off to get a warm drink and settle in with a little bit of stitching. Hope you find time in your day for stitching. Marjo

busi-ness and a rant

2010-08-12T11:31:00.000-07:00

I am sorry it has been quite a while since I posted, I have several updates coming now that I can get my camera to work.I have not had a lot of time to stitch lately due to work. I have had the chance to meet with my stitching buddies so some progress has been made. You gotta love those ladies. I got several blocks filled in on CHS Alphabets and am almost finished with the first page of Mary Wigham. I am loving the 45 count now that my eyes have adjusted to it. Not saying I would use it exclusively but would use it again. My idea of starting Victorine Delacroix for my birthday did not work. The kits were filled with the wrong sized linen and the problem was fixed swiftly by The Essamplaire but then I found I didn't have scroll rods that would fit the new size of linen. I have not had time to remedy that situation so that was a non starter for me. I have just stuck with my current rotation with dreams of more whirling around. I did get a great little freebie done that was a frog biscornu for a friend who collect frog things. It turned out so cute and I forgot to take a picture of it. I will see if she will bring it back to stitch night so I can get a picture to share. It is a free pattern with a flower on one side and 4 frogs on the other, I really enjoyed that one. There are some more gifts in the works but not able to be shared yet. I really like stitching the biscornu's as they are fun and portable. I am trying to post some pictures today so look for more posts and no more rants. Read no farther if you just don't want to hear it.
I am frustrated today with a lot of things but since this is a stitching blog for me I just want to rant about the stitching industry for a minute. I am not a computer geek by any means but I use my laptop quite a bit and since stitching is a passion of mine I do read a lot about what is published by other stitchers in their blogs, newsletters from various stores I do business with, professional stitching groups such as EGA as some sampler guilds I am a member of. I love browsing the sites and looking for what is latest and greatest by my favorite designers. I love seeing what everyone else is stitching and enjoy spending time with my stitching buddies whenever I can. I live in a remote area and stitching stores are non-existent here. I have to do all my business by mail order by virtue of where I live. I have my favorite shops online and I try to spread my business among several different shops based on their own specialities. I have read how shops are loosing business because of the economy and how many are closing due to the lack of business. My problem with this is the utter lack of service and communication I have gotten from 3 totally different shops in the last few months. I realize things are hard to come by especially specific specialty threads, or fabrics or whatever. I get that and don't mind waiting for what I want. Really I don't. But I do mind being ignored totally, having orders just not filled with no communication as to why, being told my order is being shipped when in reality the items ordered don't even exist (sold out and no longer available), being told my order will be shipped and not shipping it. That is from 3 different shops recently and I have to wonder if I am being treated this way, and I am a small consumer for this business no wonder the shops are in trouble. I do have to wonder though if what I read about shops being in trouble is really something of their own fault. Oh well enough said. Sorry about that but I have spent quite a bit of time trying to find the status of a few orders I have made recently and when one shop owner suggested that it was my fault that my order had not been filled because I didn't follow up fast enough (why do I have to follow up at all???) that sent me over the edge. Even though I did follow up apparently even that was not good enough as here we are almost 4 weeks to the day that I placed an order and still no sign of it. Even to Alaska Priority Mail is 3 to 5 days, usually just 3 no matter where you are mailing from. Cannot put all the blame on post office - I always check the post mark. UGH.
I feel like I do need to say that there are still many many stores that give excellent service, great products and are quick to work out any problems either with items shipped or unavailable. I am always saddened to hear of someone's favorite shop going out of business. I am not trying to bad mouth anyone (no names even hinted at so not to cast aspersions.) Just expressing some frustration here with an industry I love.
Back to stitching. Hope you find some time today to stitch.
Marjo

4th of July on the beach

2010-07-05T21:35:00.000-07:00

Grey clouds could not damper my enthusiasm for being at the beach. Hard to see but there is a Mother eagle and her baby is on the left. Dad was in a tree just to the left. Sat and watched them for quite a while. Fishing, then feeding the baby then taking turns flying around but always close to the nest.

Not sure who is walking who.Katachmake Bay in the distance. We hiked from the Coastal Museum down the Slough Trail to Bishops Beach.

Not the beach I would have chosen but to those of us who love the beach, a beach, any beach is not to be sniffed at. My DH and dog of love Kori headed south to Homer, Ak to the beach for the 4th of July. We had a great time and I even got some stitching time in, mostly in the car as the beach and a dog are too messy for my needlework. It was beautiful, did I mention, I love, love, love the beach.

Hope you have time for some stitching. I have now gotten all the flowers done around the border and more of the blue filled in at the bottom of some of the letters. I found that the easiest to do in the car. Got the bottom two corner blocks completed as well. Will not add the year until I am sure that I know the year it will be complete. Happy stitching to you all. Marjo

Progress, not a lot, but progress

2010-07-05T21:17:00.000-07:00

I did not get the time to stitch I wanted to on my day's off last week but I did manage a little bit. I did get all the flowers done on the CHS Alphabet border and some fill in continued on the blocks. I could do that while I was watching baseball and while in the car running errands. I could not work on Mary Wigham on Sunday as I was not home and I cannot carry it away from the magnifier light since the count is 45 which is a challenge for me. I did get some more of the white flower completed late in the evening. I have some problems with some gift stitching I am working on but nothing too bad that getting rid of a few frogs would not take care of. I am organizing my stitching for the weekend so I will stay on track. I am lucky enough to be off 4 days this weekend and I hope to get some stitching and reading done.
Hope you have time for stitching. Marjo

stitching time

2010-06-23T22:30:00.000-07:00

I have not touched my stitching at all this week. I had lots of errands to do over the weekend and been too tired to pick up my stitching after work. I have so much I want to stitch and really need to pick it up in the evening if I am ever going to get them done. I still have gift stitching to finish I am hoping to at least get some work done on that this week.
I really missed stitching on Mary Wigham this weekend. I hope to get more time this weekend with her. Now that I can see the 45 count better I am really excited to work on her. I feel like I am making good progress in the limited stitching time I have.
Thursday night is my stitching with friends night. I hope to be able to get together with them this week and get some stitching on the BBD Summer Sal Beneath the Sunlit sky which I did not get to touch on Monday or CHS Alphabets which has been sorely neglected. I just look so forward to being with my friends it doesn't really matter what I am stitching on just that I am stitching with them.
I broke down and bought the newest Needleprint chart for Hannah Gilpin. I am going to pull the DMC colors and see what I think. I am intrigued by the neutral colors of this one. I have done some monochrome Quakers: Beatrix Potter in Nan's Mulberry by the Threadgather's and Long Dog Mouline rouge in Blueberry by Gloriana. I have never done one in such muted tones of the same shade. I am waiting to see if the Attic does a fiber conversion. I always seem to love what Jean comes up with and I do have a gift certificate from there. They are among my favorite pieces and make me smile every time I look at them on my living room wall. I eventually want to add some of the multicolor Quakers to the wall. That of course would mean I would have to spend some considerable time stitching.

As you can tell we are all a litttle bummed about the lack of stitching progress. Here are the the kids wondering why I am not stitching instead of fussing at them for the mess they have made.

Hope you are having a better week at stitching than I have. Will update with progress pics after tomorrow nights stitching. Hope stitching is part of your day. Marjo in Alaska

Monday with blackbird designs

2010-06-14T23:29:00.000-07:00

I made some progress on the Summer SAL today. It is another fun stitch. This is the before and below is where I ended up at the end of the evening. I love the colors and the higher count fabric (28ct) makes it go faster. The second picture has a truer color than the before but still not quite accurate.
I made some progress on the birthday stitching as well.
I finished another book on tape while I was stitching today. It was a reread of The Secret of Chimney's by Agatha Christie. I really need to get some new books to listen to. I am now listening to Diane Mott Davidson's Sweet Revenge again. It is cute and worth a second run but would like something new to listen to. Will have to check out the online offerings. All for now.
I hope your day is full of stitches. Marjo

Summer SAL Blackbird designs update

2010-06-14T16:34:00.001-07:00

I spent the evening working on this. Day was full of errands but the evenings usually mean baseball (or Netflix) if it is a travel day. I am loving this piece as well. I know I say that about them all but then why else do it. Not much to show on this even though I spent the evening on it. More of the words completed.
I occasionally do some canvas pieces. Very few, mostly quilt designs. I particularly like the little houses designs by Nancy's Needle. The newest one is the two houses at the beach. That will be the next purchase for summer stitching. I won't get to the beach this year but a girl can dream can't she? They work up quickly so they are great for travel as I don't have to have perfect lighting for these designs. I have done the winter ones and have the Gingerbread houses yet to do. Will work on them at the holidays. Since they are for me they always get pushed to the bottom of the basket. I cannot do painted canvases though I do think they are beautiful. I am a counted thread kind of stitcher.
Hope the week brings lots of stitches. Marjo

Sunday with Mary

2010-06-14T16:12:00.000-07:00

I stitched some on Sunday with Mary. I have a poor quality shot of the colors.It is gray and cloudy today so my pictures just won't show true color. I am loving this design. It is quite a lot of fun. I do enjoy the medallion samplers. This is my before and after for this Sunday. The white shows up quite well in real life but not so much in the picture.
I am stitching on Beneath the Sunlit sky today but Mary is really calling my name. I finally got the last color floss I needed for BTSS thanks to Lois at Elegant Stitch. She has helped me out of more than one bind where I was sure I had all the floss colors I needed for something but couldn't find it. The bayberry I needed was not to be found in my box of threads and I was so glad to get it in the mail over the weekend. Of course I am always exited when something comes in the mail from a ONS. :)
Hope your day is full of stitches. Marjo

Weekend stitching

2010-06-11T20:40:00.001-07:00

I always have great plans for my weekend stitching. I am off this weekend and am already pulling out patterns and threads to be ready to stitch as soon as I get up in the morning. It may be cloudy and gray outside but I don't mind. I get to stitch this weekend. I am going to work on birthday gifts for my stitching friends tomorrow and then Sunday will be Mary Wigham and Monday will be Beneath the Sunlit sky. At least that is the plan today. I may save Monday for the gift stitching. We will see what really happens. The best laid plans...
I am going to work on the birthday gifts tonight while I watch the Mariners play. I am almost done with one and hope the second one goes as quickly. Having fun with these little designs. Will have 4 more to do when these 2 are done and then it will be Christmas gifts. I hope to start my Christmas gifts by July. I can't wait to share these with you. They are really quite a departure for me but I am looking forward to something a little different. We shall see.
Thank you for the lovely comments on the Essamplaire pattern I get to start next month on my birthday. The colors are really so pretty in person. I am going to mount the fabric on my scroll rods and I have already sorted the threads onto the thread cards. I was missing a color and Margariet has already sent me the replacement.
If you get the Attic newsletter, she spoke of the use of the Belle Soie silk shading and that it didn't mean to cut it up. I obviously didn't understand that. Plus some of my threads, in particular the blue I was working with do no really have a lighter tone so much. Good to know what she meant by that. I sometimes take things much too literally. If you don't get that lovely newsletter you can go to the website and it should be posted. She always has such lovely samplers and generally pretty stuff. I would love to be able to go there and just sit and stitch.
Is anyone planning to stitch the new Quaker Needleprint is releasing? It looks lovely. I am curious what the thread color will be. It is such a muted tone; I couldn't decide what color that really is. I am sure that will find it's way into my workbasket eventually.
Hope your weekend is full of stitching. Marjo

Birthday gifts

2010-06-10T23:31:00.000-07:00

I spent Monday working on birthday gifts so can't show that work but thought I would show you a picture of the New Essamplaire chart that I bought myself for a birthday start this year. It is Victorine Delacroix. The colors are so much better in real life and I love it. Of course I don't need a new start. I have enough WIP's to sink a ship but it is so pretty and it IS my birthday present. Oh, I am continuing with my WIP basket emptying process but I just couldn't resist one or two new starts.

I am still working on CHS Alphabets, Mary Wigham by Needleprint and BBD Beneath the Sunlit sky but I should be done with the BTSS relatively quickly and that makes room in the rotation. Plus I am getting some of the WIP that are smaller out to go in my travel case that I keep in the car and think I can knock a couple of them out while I wait at appointments. I am never sure why I almost finish something and then put it down. If I had more time I would stitch over my lunch break but 30 minutes doesn't give me enough time unless I remember to pack my lunch. I do take something to work on everyday just in case it works out but by the time I stand in line to get my lunch, and then eat the time is up and back to work I go
Hope your day is full of stitches. Marjo

Sunday with Mary Wigham

2010-06-07T10:50:00.000-07:00

I am loving working on this. I thought I would share my progress after Sunday's work on her. She and I enjoyed the Versus bike races and then went out to enjoy the mountain view from my front porch while I soaked up some sun. This is before. I am still on the fence about the blue. I know the conversion said to use the lighter part of the blue but the light part of that particular skein is very little and I am not keen on hacking up expensive silk. I will try it once and see how it goes.

Here is after. I would have gotten a lot more done but the yellow was incorrect so I finished it then noticed the problem so had to take the inside out and redo it. Mary had made some mistakes but I made different ones so I frogged and re-stitched. I got the next blue two tone motif almost outlined before I had to give up and go to bed. I ended up taking out a bit of the very dark part of the upper blue motif but on the picture it is very light so I think I am going to change it. I love the way the shades look as I am sure the older dyes didn't fade in a uniform color. This is only the second medallion Quaker I have stitched in multiple colors. My other two I used just one color. I am enjoying working on Mary though progress is slow it is fun and what more can you ask from your hobby. The sun is calling me outside so I will take my tea and my stitching to the front porch for a while. I really need to clean house but I have all day so it can wait. Just a few more stitches.
Hope you have stitches in your day as well. Thanks for checking in with me. Marjo

Moving on...with my stitching

2010-06-06T12:30:00.000-07:00

Stitching time has been at a premium lately but try to get at least a few stitches in. Looking forward to the weekend and some serious stitching I hope. I need to get stitching on my BBD stitch a long as well as finish some birthday gifts for some stitching buddies. I hope to spend Sunday working on Mary Wigham. I am stitching her with the conversion to Belle Soie from the Attic Conversion. In looking at the original on the Needleprint blog site I don't think I am using the right blue for the motif I am working on. It is way too dark. I will have to check my stash and see if I have any lighter blue to use. I may have to pull that out so I will work around it for now. There are some bright colors in there and it just makes me smile to think of the young ladies choosing the colors for their designs. I probably wouldn't have chosen the same ones but I love them in the reproductions.
I have listened to some good mysteries this last week or so. I finished the series by Deborah Morgan about an antique picker set in Seattle. I have enjoyed them a lot. I have listened to all 5 of them and really liked them. I love mysteries and these were a great addition to the read pile.
I hope to get a few stitches in CHS alphabets as I really want to get that finished as well. It is easy to stitch in the car and on the road so I am sure I will pull it out to go as I think my husband wants to go out for a little shopping tomorrow. I am hoping to do a block a week on the CHS Alphabets so I can get it finished by the end of the year. It is easy to stitch while watching TV so hopefully I can get some progress on it this weekend. I have so much in my WIP pile that I really want to get done that I need to concentrate on some finishes so that list goes down a little bit.
I will spend the rest of the week to get the gifts done for my stitching buddies. I am enjoying stitching these. I will try to take them to work so I can get a few stitches in over my lunch half hour when I can. So much to stitch, so little time. Well the sun is shining. I am off to get a cup of tea and head to the front porch chair to soak up some sun..it is not quite 60 degrees here but the sun is shining. I spent yesterday working on Beneath the Sunlight sky out stitching by the River, lots of sunshine and no bigger wildlife than the birds. Perfect. Hope your day is full of stitches where ever the perfect place for you is. Marjo

TA DA

2010-05-31T22:10:00.000-07:00

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

2010-05-24T11:21:00.000-07:00

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

2010-05-15T17:18:00.000-07:00

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

2010-05-06T20:33:00.000-07:00

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

2010-05-01T19:07:00.000-07:00

This is where I left off and this is where I got to after last weekend. I am volunteering at an event this afternoon and my husband at a different one this evening so I hope to make even more progress today on this. I love it but am ready to move on to some of my other loves. I think I will get the Jill Rensel mats for this one and the frame listed. I just love the decorated mats. Will wait until I am actually finished to ponder that any further. I will work on this until it is finished.

I have gotten the fabric I needed to stitch one of the gifts for the May birthdays in my stitching group and need to get stitching on that but I am afraid it won't be this weekend. I know Sail away will get the majority of my time.

I had some questions about the biscornu. I did do my own finishing. I find them easy to finish which is saying something as finishing is always a challenge for me. These pieces don't seem to be hard to me so I enjoy them. I like using beads along the seam but didn't have any beads in the bright purple in this design. This particular design was stitched over one on 28 or 32 lambswool with DMC as charted.
As soon as I finish Sail Away it will be back to CHS Alphabets and the FAS. I have to find my bigger q-snaps for that one as I haven't stitched on it for a while and I don't store anything with q-snaps in place.

I still love the Gloriana Dried Pink Roses I chose for this design. The fabric is Elegant Bean. Hope you have had a stitchy week and find time for needle to thread this weekend. Marjo

I forgot

2010-04-13T21:44:00.000-07:00

I forgot to show you the cutest little pouch I got from a friend at retreat. In addition she gave us each the cutest little pattern with a button I had ever seen. Isn't it sweet?

Finally a picture of the biscornu I stitched for a friend's birthday. It took me way longer than I thought it would and I was way too late with it. I had given her the rest of her birthday surprises but this just took me forever to get finished. Now that she has gotten it I can post a picture. The design is Pansy Biscornu by Cedar Hill.

I made some progress over the weekend on Sail Away. I got the waves put back in and the small part of the hill completed and two trees. I still have the bigger part of the hill and 3 more rows after this so I am closer to be done but not really that close. I am excited because I think if I get a couple of more weekends with it I will be done. I have so many WIP to choose from and bunches that have not been started that I would love to begin. I have already been looking at the WIP list to see what I will concentrate on next. I will work on FAS and then something smaller off of the list after I finish CHS Alphabets sampler. I will continue for a while only using new starts as gifts for my friends. I have a great desire to get more finishes from my WIP list. I may pull out a canvas piece as a change of pace. I only have two starts on canvas. One is a bargello pillow from an older issue of New Stitches and the other is a piece by Nancy's Needle named Two Cabins that I will finish for a friend. I haven't worked on canvas in a while. I enjoy it as a change from cross stitch on occasion. I am attracted to the quilt patterns that Nancy's Needle uses on her canvas designs. This small design is not a quilt pattern but cute none the less. I would love to get the bargello pillow done as well. Let's face it, I would really like to get everything on the list done plus all the things I have purchased to work on as well. Oh well, if I live to be really old and keep my eyesight. Hope you have time in your day for stitching. Marjo

Stitching stuff

2010-04-11T13:00:00.000-07:00

I found a new little item to use as a accessory tote around. As I have said before I tend to travel around the room (don't have a particular chair I always stitch in) so I have a couple of little things I use to carry pins and needles, a beeswax and regular thread and whatever else I think I need at the time. I found this one on a website called Country Sampler, a store that has quilts and cross stitch. I followed a link there looking for Blackbird designs quilting things and thought this little French tin was just too cute and of course I had to have it. My header shows the wooden one I usually use and if I am traveling to someone else's house to stitch I sometimes take a basket that works really well as well.

Speaking of baskets I saw the one on Ellen's blog for With My Needle that she is making for her new Nashville release Mrs Waddlelow's Huswif. I cannot wait to see the finished project. I love baskets and particularly if it is a bigger basket where I could carry the project in it as I work on it. Anything to just be able to grab and go to get some stitching time in. I am waiting to see what the added parts are before I invest as I want to get matching fabric and fiber to stitch the set on. I don't like to stitch the baskets unless they can stand up to use. I like looking at them but I love being able to use them. So much to finish but always planning something else. A weakness, I know.
I have made some gift progress which I can't show yet, never know for sure who is checking in on the blog :) I spent last evening taking out the waves on Sail Away as I messed up the count. I hope to get some stitching time in this afternoon and get that redone and a little bit more added. I refuse to let the frogs chase me away from this piece. I really want a non-gift finish. Hope you have a stitchy week. Marjo

Progress pics

2010-04-06T20:10:00.000-07:00

Stitching for me is my relaxation, my time to think and do something for me. I enjoy pretty things and enjoy learning new stitches and see how designers mix the colors. I am excited to always browse the internet for what is new or for information on stitching. I love to read the history behind the reproductions and would like to think had I been born back there even if I was the scullery maid I would have tried to make something beautiful with thread and needle.

I have so many projects that I want to stitch I need to quit checking out the stores on the web. I have been influenced by many of the blogs I have read to stitch things out of what is usual for me. I have been increasing drawn to some of the French designs and my goal this year is to add one or two to the stitching pile.
Here is my progress yet again on CHS Alphabets and Sail Away.I made a bit more progress on Sail Away by Shepherd's Bush. I just have the bottom section left to do with that and am settling down to watch the bike races with my husband and decided to work on this a bit. Since these pictures I have finished Jump and moved on to Needle on CHS Alphabets. Still not quite halfway but lots more progress than before. Plus, I am working on gift stitching for upcoming birthdays. I am waiting for some fabric to show up and then I can start on it. Hope it gets here soon. Two May birthdays in my stitching group.
Hope you have a great week and find as always some stitchy time.
Marjo

Quilting

2010-04-05T11:03:00.000-07:00

I do now and have always loved quilts. I cherish a couple that were my grandmothers and I even have some pattern pieces she had stashed away in her bible. I unfortunately have no skill in that area. I have tried several times to produce a quilt, have started more than one and never finished one yet. I decided the other day that with all that fabric I really ought to find a use for it. I want to quilt, I love the finished products and I would use them but I just can't get the hang of it somehow. So, I got a book about beginning quilting at the local quilt store. I have more than enough fabric and I decided I would work on using up the fabric up that I had to try to make a quilt. Perfection would not be required (good thing I make up my own rules) and I will work on it slowly so not to frustrate myself. I needed to get some things before I start so I made a quick trip the quilt store for the suggested items to start quilting with from the book I bought. I knew I needed a new blade for my rotary cutter. The book I bought suggested some rulers in particular sizes and I picked one up. I do not want this to become a huge investment, though as my track record with quilting is not good. We will see. Even if I can't make them it doesn't dim my love for them one bit. Stay tuned for the progress on that front.
Until next time, hope stitching finds a place in your day. Marjo

Long over due

2010-04-04T11:25:00.000-07:00

Gretchen and her finishes.

Can't believe how long it has been since I posted. I think of it but getting the pictures together somehow always bogs me down and I get behind. I am going to start leaving my camera in the car as the weather is a little warmer and that will afford me the opportunity to get some better scenic pictures for you. This past weekend was mine to work so not so much stitching but between having to take my car in for a check up and waiting for some testing for my husband I have managed quite a bit of progress on CHS Alphabets this last couple of days. I got 2 more letters done and almost a third one with the flowers added on the vine and even most of one of the boxes filled in around the words. I love making progress. I haven't made stitching night since we got back from retreat due to working late. I miss going to stitching with my friends so much, I actually get to resent work when I can't have my personal time with my friends.
As for retreat, it was lovely as always. I was really tired when I got there but was happy and rested when I left with some stitching done, too much food and laughter and some different movies this time. I will have to get one of the girls to tell me the names of the movies we did watch. We had 3 this time and they were all different.

I think 3 of us had finishes and we oohed and aahed over whatever the others were stitching. Gretchen, I think, was the only one who had two finishes. Lots of talent in that group. The weather was snowy in snits but not bad and no more than we are used to. Several braved the trails; I didn't as I was really worn out this time and just didn't have the energy. Not so many great sunsets this time but we could really tell there was more daylight in general. It was beautiful. Sigh. We have already booked our next retreat there. This is a shot of a lovely sitting area that is part of the breakfast area, the view is the entire valley full of sunlight. Awesome place to sit and just relax. Love it.
Hope your week finds some stitching time.
Marjo

Pictures from retreat (picture heavy)

2010-04-03T17:41:00.000-07:00

Had a wonderful retreat with friends and got a bit of stitching finished but no pics of it to post yet. Hope by the end of the week I will have delivered the gift and then will post a picture. It took way longer to stitch than I thought as always but the stitching is complete and finishing will be done soon as I can find the backside piece of fabric.
Several people had finishes and everyone had plenty to stitch on, more so than we could ever finish. We started out at the local eatery, and then onto one of the local quilt stores. We may not have a needlework store but we have plenty of yarn and quilt stores around. I may have to go back to that quilt store to get a pattern for a lovely log cabin design. Not that I quilt but someday......
The weather turned out okay, it was snowing when I left but I don't think we had any more snow over the weekend. It was cold but the house has in floor heating and lots of windows so we were toasty warm. Friends, good books, good food and movies to enjoy and all the stitching you could possibly do. What more could a stitcher ask for? I wanted to share with you just how beautiful this place is. Lovely antique quilts, warm wooden furniture, wide open vistas and lots of great friends.
Hope your week has some time for stitching in it.
Marjo

Retreat!!!!

2010-03-12T09:03:00.000-08:00

My friends and I leave for our Spring? retreat today. It of course is snowing... after all it is Alaska. We meet for lunch and then maybe some fabric store browsing and then off to stitch for 3 days of fun, food, a good movie (we always have a movie night) and stitching, stitching stitching. I am taking more to stitch than will ever see the light of day but then I always do. It all has to get stitched anyway. I may even throw in a new start if I get bold. You never know what will make the final cut.
I am taking tonight's supper and a lunch choice (we tend to graze for lunch) and everyone else will add to the mix. You never know what will show up but it never fails to be good stuff.
Stitching time, long periods of stitching time, good friends, good food, you gotta love it.
Hope you have some stitching time in your weekend as well. Marjo

Isn't he cute??

2010-03-09T10:48:00.000-08:00

I have a weakness somehow for hedgehogs. I have a hedgehog pincushion and now I have a hedgehog beeswax. I just thought it was so cute and I really fancy the little touches beeswax adds to my stitching baskets.

I finally found the Hedgehog sampler by Sheepish Designs. I think he will have to move closer to the top of the new start pile. It should be a fun quick finish something that does not often visit my house as my favorite designs seem to be the truly large pieces.

Here is the stash that came from Hedgehog Handworks this week. It is the required AVAS for this sampler. Now to my fabric stash to find a piece of fabric to work it on. It calls for 35 count but I don't think I have any that size or even 36 count. Most of my fabric is 40 count. I love the colors in this.

Hope you have a stitchy day. Thanks for stopping by my cosy part of the great Northwest. Marjo

Questions answered

2010-03-08T22:47:00.000-08:00

For those of you that had questions on my last post I wanted to answer them. I grew up in Macon, Georgia, went to college in Augusta, Georgia and lived in the Atlanta suburbs for 18 years before my husband decided he wanted to move to Alaska for a better job opportunity. We have been here 9 years. I came virtually kicking and screaming and now don't really want to move away, at least not for a while. This is my view from the walking path next to my house. I have gotten quite accustomed to it over time.
Hope your day is full of stitches.
Marjo

Sunny Sunday afternoon

2010-03-07T18:15:00.000-08:00

It took me, a southerner for almost all of my life, a long time to get used to winter in Alaska. The first time I tried to drive my husband to work in the snow I cried. He so thoughtfully shared that memory with me this morning as we were contemplating our plans for the day. It has snowed in spurts here the last couple of days and we have quite a bit of snow out and about. Where once I quailed at the thought of driving in it- convinced I would go off the road and be stuck forever and freeze- now I will drive in almost anything and laugh at myself and my earlier fears. Today is a beautiful day full of sunshine and still freezing temperatures. The blue sky and sunshine makes up for me the falling temps. I realized yesterday driving home from work that in Alaska (unlike Georgia where I grew up) you celebrate spring with the addition of light to your day as opposed to the blooms on the flowers or trees. Don't get me wrong, Alaskans are all about flowers and many people have greenhouses in order to be able to plant ahead as frost won't be gone until much later here but all summer long flowers there will be. Currently we are up to not quite 11 hours of daylight from a low where I live of 5 hours 27 minutes. Our peak daylight for the area will be 19 hours and 22 minutes. Other parts of the state will get more light and some less.
On the stitching front I have spent more time cleaning my stitching room up than I have with needle and thread but DH and the Kordog are out to walk through the white stuff and I am settling in for some stitching time. Hope your Sunday was bright and you got some stitchy time. Marjo

Stash is not always for stitching

2010-03-06T22:31:00.000-08:00

In the mail today came some threads I had ordered when Hedgehog Handiworks had a sale on along with a book I have wanted for a while and I can't resist a book on sale. I have actually read this bok from our library but had long wanted a copy of my own. It is British Embroidery Curious Works from the Seventeenth Century by Kathleen Epstein. But for me stash is not always stitching stash. I seem to have taken to collecting tea as I collect needlework.
Every Thursday night my stitching group gathers for tea and stitching. Yes, we always have tea. I do not have easy access to the tea store in town due to the hours I work so I buy off the internet for my tea sometimes. While searching tea on the internet I came across the Queen Mary Tea Room in Seattle Washington. Now, I have never been to the shop but I have ordered their tea products and thus far have not been disappointed. Today several lovely tins of tea came in the mail and the hot water is on to heat to enjoy some of these lovely treats. I would like to make it to the shop as their tea menu, that came along with the order, sounds so fun. We really ought to take a road trip. I was pleasantly surprised to find free little tin of a tea called Orange Creamsicle they included in my order as it had been delayed. I wasn't worried and it was really nice of them to include the little freebie. This will have to go in the basket for retreat for something new to try. I love the packaging on their tins. So let's put the kettle on and stitch something. Hope you have a day full of stitching. Marjo

Very little stitching

2010-02-21T23:24:00.000-08:00

Work has taken me away from stitching much over the last couple of weeks. This is my weekend to work so needle will not meet thread until tomorrow when I am off. I had been gift stitching so no pictures of that as I have not been able to actually gift the item yet.

It is time for our Spring stitching retreat and I cannot wait. I absolutely love going off with my stitching buddies and spending some serious time stitching. And while the stitching may be serious as we go in search of the elusive finish little else about the weekend is serious. We laugh and relax and stitch. It is absolutely the best thing I do for myself short of my once a year trip "outside" with my best friend.

It seems we each have a piece that becomes the piece we take to retreats to work on until completed. Last retreat several folks finished their pieces so I am looking forward to what ever one will be working on. I have decided to use FAS as my retreat piece. I love it and the color is a very nice shade of Gloriana called Dried Roses. I look forward to getting back started on it. Along with that I will take Sail Away, CHS alphabets and one other yet to be decided. I always take way more than I can stitch on but you never know what will be crying out for attention.

I have already made meal decisions, picked out my pieces to work on and thought about what clothes I want to pack. I am ready....

I hope this weekend finds you with plenty of time for stitching. Marjo

Stash came today

2010-02-19T11:12:00.000-08:00

This is the stash I ordered from Inspired Needle at the Super Bowl sale. The Victorian Rose sampler by The Sweetheart Tree, Autumn Leaves and Sunflower Seeds by Blue Ribbon Designs and some Prairie Schooler charts. I got some floss and a clip on light magnifier for a friend, some fabric that was backordered as well as a piece for the Sweetheart Tree design I bought. The floss is for the BBD newest Loose Feathers and the BRD pattern I just bought. No more until Market and then I need to go on the wagon, really I do......

Thank you for all the sweet comments about the puppa. He is a mess and a sweetheart. He is such a sweetie he is known around here as Kori dog of love. He appreciated all the hugs and treats he got out of the deal and said he would be happy to pose anytime particularly if there was food involved. He is out in the snow walking with my DH, his second favorite past time after eating.

I don't have much stitching to show as I am gift stitching and don't want to spoil the surprise. I did get a little more done on the CHS Alphabets and a few threads into ATS but not that you could tell with the pictures. I am working overtime this week so not much stitching time to be had.

Hope your day has some stitching time included. Marjo

Thank you

2010-02-11T17:51:00.000-08:00

Thank you all for letting me know it was Vonna from the Twisted Stitcher blog where I found the lovely spool chests. I looked and looked for that post and could not find it. It even make Kori happy to get it all figured out. He always gets excited when I do because he thinks there will be a treat in it for him. Hope springs eternal.

Marjo

Stitching storage finds

2010-02-09T22:18:00.000-08:00

I am always looking for a better way to organize my stash and I love old looking wooden items the best. My sewing room is a hodgepodge of wooden cabinets that I just love that are used to store all my stitching stuff. On another blog someone showed a spool cabinet she had purchased off Ebay. (I cannot find that post and I apologize to not be able to credit her with the find, I am so sorry) I could not resist trying to get one for myself and the seller was having a sale and was willing to ship to Alaska (not everyone is at least for a price I can afford). I was able to get three chests for the price of another one I had been considering including the shipping costs. I am so excited.

I bought the little one to store all my beads, buttons and embellishments in. It will hold packs o needles and other items I tend to loose in my stitching room.
This one is in the living room by my chair. I can slide my currently project in the drawer along with threads etc so they are waiting right there when I get ready to stitch.
This one will hold all my threads except DMC which I will leave in the Thread organizer binders they are currently in. All the perle and Krenick threads will go in here as well as some of the odd bits of carded threads that I use at times like Whisper.

I have not stitched much since the weekend but what I have done I cannot show you as it is gift stitching. I am stitching on Lambswool 32 count. I was surprised with just how stiff the fabric is. It seems harder to stitch on stuff that is that stiff.

I am trying to do a strand a day on ATS, it will take forever to get it done that way but once I finish CHS Alphabets and Sail Away, I will use ATS as my focus piece I think. I really want to get it stitched and framed and on the wall but I have to finish the other two first. The next to must finish pieces will be French Alphabet sampler and Mary Wigham. I couldn't settle on just one project yesterday so I stitched a little on all of them. Talk about stitching ADD.

I have so many samplers I want to stitch but I want to make a little more progress on the Monster WIP list.

I hope to have some stitching to share on the next update. Have a great stitchy day. Marjo

Super Bowl Sales

2010-02-08T00:08:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned, I did not even watch the Super Bowl this year (I am a dyed in the wool baseball fan) but I must admit I did take advantage of the Super Bowl Sale from Inspired Needle. Cathy, the owner of the shop, is such a sweet lady and has already put my order in the mail. Her shop is just a year old. I highly recommend her lovely shop to you if you shop online or live near enough to Chicago to get there. One of the good things about the boy child going away to school :) was finding her lovely store. I will post pictures when the box arrives but is is mostly just thread for a pattern I am stitching and a linen cut. I did order a Sweetheart Tree pattern that was just too pretty to pass up but for the most part I am trying to not buy much else until Market and I already know of several things I want from there. I hope the pre-orders I have already made are all that tempt me but I doubt it.

I do have some pictures from my New Year's Eve sales that I took advantage of this past year. I found some sampler charts I had been looking for specifically plus a couple of new ones I had not seen but looked like they would complement the ones I already had and ones I want to do. Please excuse the glare but it is snowing here and not much light for the pictures but if I didn't get it done I wouldn't ever remember once I start stitching.

Back to the stitchy place to get the Alphabets out. Hope you have a great stitchy day. Marjo

Progress on the CHS Alphabet

2010-02-07T23:33:00.000-08:00

Work has been busy and stitching did not get much attention this week at all. I have a three day weekend this week and will do all my errands on Saturday so Sunday and Monday will see some serious stitching time. I did get a few stitches in CHS Alphabets. I still love this and got quite a bit done on the border and couple of blocks done. I am leaving the bottom of the blocks until last to fill in I think or at least I thought I would and then decided to use a blue and see if I liked it by just doing one block at first.

I also need to work on gift stitching for the next up on the birthday list. I hope to spend some time working on And They sinned but I do so want to get CHS alphabet finished that I may not touch anything else.

We usually watch the Superbowl for the commercials. This year I retired to my room to read and stitched instead. I even took a short nap...too many hours at work this week. Hate to sleep through good stitching time.

Last weekend I got to go to tea with some friends and it was delightful. There is a small restaurant that does a tea by invitation only and while I am not on the list my friend is and she always opens the invite to us all. It was fun to see an old friend and to make a new one as well and the food and the tea was wonderful. I quite enjoyed it. I do believe I was born in the wrong era.

It is snowing quite heavily tonight. It is quiet and peaceful as the white stuff blankets us yet again. Hope you find some time to stitch. Marjo

Stitching wth Jane

2010-01-25T19:35:00.000-08:00

Thank you for all the kind comments on the stitching set I made as a gift. It was quite a lot of fun to stitch and appreciate all the nice things you had to say about it. My finishing skills are not great so I was pleased it came out okay.

After an almost year long visit in the WIP black hole I got this out to start back to stitching on it this weekend. Or really Sunday and Monday as I worked on Saturday. While I watched Emma I worked on the middle part of the cloud. After running errands all day I am going to settle in and stitch some more on this piece. I recently read an article on stitching on one piece for 10 hours and then changing to the next as a rotation. Would probably work for me but right now it is strictly by who screams the loudest or gift stitching. I have another birthday gift due in February and have it started but not nearly finished and I should be stitching on it but ATS won the screaming match and so it goes. I don't think I said in the previous post this design is being stitched on Elegant Bean with the called for fibers. I am enjoying stitching on it. Doubt I will get it done but it is a nice break from the alphabets and sailing ships which have been the most stitched besides pumpkins and spiders of late around here.

I enjoyed Emma so much on PBS last night I am going to stitch to it again tonight as it is just me and the puppa. I would prefer to watch it on TV but the online version will have to do.

My books came from Amazon. Tea with Jane Austen by Kim Wilson with some lovely tea recipes and a collection of Jane Austen letters entitled "Letters of Jane Austen : Selected from the Compilation of Her Great Nephew, Edward, Lord Brabourne. Emma has quite put me in the Austen mood. Now if I could just figure out how to make my hair look like that.......

Enjoy some time stitching today. Marjo

happy birthday friend

2010-01-23T23:37:00.000-08:00

This week we celebrated one of my stitching friend's birthday. I had been stitching on her gifts over the holiday as not to be late. It all started with Just Nan patterns.

My friend loves Halloween and all things pumpkin and when I saw this design I thought I had to stitch it for her birthday. This is a Just Nan design for a needlebook.
The front of the finished needlebook. I love the way this one was put together, something different and so cute.
This is another Just Nan pattern that was supposed to be the top of the witches hat. It seemed suited to the idea of a halloween emery so I adjusted it a little and added some spooky pins. I enjoyed the needlebook design so much that I decided the square design would make a perfect biscornu.
A sneaky spider crawling to the top
of the same pattern as the needlebook stitched into a biscornu. It was such a fun stitch. The outline looks so dark black because I added some beads as I joined it together. That alone made me decide I was going to buy some short beading needles.
And here is the set all together. I added a tombstone thread winder and a pack of my new favorite needles and there it is. Happy birthday dear friend.

Have a great day stitching. Don't forget to watch Emma tonight for all you stitching Jane Austen lovers.

Marjo

Cries for attention from the WIP basket

2010-01-11T15:33:00.000-08:00

From the deep dark recesses of the heavily overloaded WIP basket come two long neglected projects. First up is the New Year start from 2009 which made it through half of one page before finding its' way into the basket never to see hardly any light of day the rest of the year. I really want to get this done. I found the perfect frame for it when last I was at the framer and it will probably be discontinued before I get this done. I need to add it back into the working rotation (which is not really a rotation at all, just more of who screams loudest today kind of thing). I really like it and intend to get started back with it this year. I got lost in the second half of the cloud and need to get back to it. Sorry the pictures are both kinda of gray but it is a gray kinda day here.

I was reading a thread on one of the Yahoo groups I belong to asking about favorite Gloriana colors especially for a pink and it made me think of French Alphabet Sampler that has been in the WIP basket for years. I made a big mistake in the A and didn't find it until I stitched the B and then had to take them both out. I lost my enthusiasm for the piece. It has been long enough now and I really would like to work on this for a while I think. I did manage to get the letter A back in before into the basket it went but it is a huge project and much more to go. It will go faster if the frogs will stay away. I am working it on Elegant Bean with Gloriana Dried Pink Roses. Really more of a pink brown than mauve at least in the hank I got. I really like that color and may use it for another big project. It has a sweet variegation.

Did not get enough stitching done on CHS Alphabets to take a picture of...slow progress. Not much stitching time after work these days.

Have fun with your projects. Marjo

Stitching accessories

2010-01-10T01:10:00.000-08:00

I love pretty things and I love having my stitching organized so I don't waste my time searching for what I need to stitch. I thought I would show you some of my favorite things. I love putting the whole project in these lovely mesh stitching bags. These two were gifts from one of my stitching buddies. I love them. They are large enough for the entire project on scroll frames or qsnaps with thread etc all inside. I can just grab and go. I love tins so I found a long Whitmans tin that holds quite a few of my on the road necessities. I have one ready to grab with thread for basting, an emery for needles and pins, an extra pack of needles and a tape measure, and small magnet. It is long enough to hold my scissors on a zinger as well.

This picture shows a glimpse of my new favorite the Bohin needles. I took an online class from the Essamplaire and she offered these needles to us. I really like them much better than the Piecemakers or John James petites I was using.. These have been added in all my stitching buddy gifts since I was introduced to them. Might as well spread the addiction around.
I don't always sit in the same place when I stitch at night (unless I need my big stitching lamp and it is on wheels if need be) so I use a wooden carrier to make my stitching portable at home.
I have scissors, a thread holder that also holds not only thread but also has a slot for my laying tool and for my scissors and star detailor , thread for basting, floss holders and pincushion, extra needles, fabric scissors, ruler, tape measure, and 3inch square.My ort jar fits in there as well. It also holds a covered Altoid tin with thimble, magnet, beading thread and needles.
The pincushion with attached bag and altoid tin were gifts in prior years that are favorites that I use all the time.
This new light with magnifier by Craftlight is my newest accessory that I love. It is great for scroll rods or q-snaps and provides enough light when I need it. Sometimes when I am stitching on the road a little extra light comes in handy.

No stitching progress yet today. I may post again today as I was pulling out two old WIP that have been screaming for some attention. I will update later with where I am starting the new year with them. I really like to have 4 things going at once so I will see which 4 will make the cut for first up this year.

Off to stitch. Hope you have some stitching in your day today. Be Warm.

Marjo

Little bits of stitching

2010-01-10T00:02:00.000-08:00

This is the third section of a gift for a friend. I will post a picture of this if it turns out. It will be a lot of fun if it works out the way I want it to. Unfortunately I cannot always make things turn out the way I envision them. We will see how it goes but first I have to stitch it.
The fabric is really a bright purple. Of course it is dark up here so pictures are not the best for true colors. This set of gifts is the first time I have used Weeks Linens. I love the colors but it seems like it is fuzzy. This is the third piece I have used and so far they all do it.

Yes, these are the threads from last years projects so i decided I would empty the jar to start over for all the new projects or rather new old projects for this year. I love looking at the threads remembering the fun projects they were part of. The jar is one I found in a little shop up here. It is actually the bottom of a older cheese grater jar. I like using old things in new ways.

Hope you have a great stitchy day.

Marjo

January WIP update

2010-01-04T13:52:00.000-08:00

I have made a little more progress on CHS Alphabets. I hope to spend the weekend catching up on this piece. I love the goose that is on the block I am stitching. I have not put the flowers on the vine or filled in the bottom boxes but I am having fun with this. I think I am going to use blue on the bottom blocks.

I am hoping this will be my first finish of 2010. I finally put it back on the scroll frames so I could get a better handle on it. I hope it will be complete soon. I love the colors.
My finish of BBD Home is where My Heart Blooms that I finished on retreat. It was a lot of fun and I enjoyed every stitch. This will go to the framers this month. I have a spot on the wall all ready for it.

I have decided to do some new Christmas ornaments this year. I found the perfect Christmas tin and pulled the ornaments I have had for a while and pulled the threads needed to stitch them. I really want a more homemade ornaments to choose from next year. I love tins and this one was a great find. I love to use them to carry smalls for stitching in. the little jar in the right hand corner was an old Avon creme jar of my mom's that is now my portable ort jar.
I worked on an Homespun Elegance ornament off and on as I didn't have one of the Wisper flosses called for and since it is used on another project I ordered it. Now the floss is in hand thanks to the ladies at Elegant Stitch and Santa is almost completed. I worked on him last night while we had movie night at our house. I want to do at least one ornament a month if not two and have a bag full of them in various stages of kitting so I can move more quickly. I will take the ornaments to work for lunch time stitching when I can or my waiting for something stitching. I even pulled out a Christmas themed Whitman sampler tin to carry them in.
Wanted to post some update pictures though not much stitching has been going on. I did take advantage of a couple of sales over the New Years weekend to get some samplers I had wanted for a long time and to get fabric to stitch them and threads needed to finish some current patterns. Now I have placed the last order and no more until market as I have more to stitch than I will ever get done. I read that Kathy has finished the new Autumn at Hawk Run Hollow so I can't say I won't buy anything else as I am sure I will add that to the stash.

I blanked out the books I have read to restart the list with the New Year. It never seems like I get much time to read but the list showed me I read way more than I thought I did. That is a good thing.

I have checked my WIP list and decided what ones to move to the top instead of a new start. I just really want to finish all my WIP's so I pulled out a few, added any needed threads I might have borrowed out of the bag and now I am ready. I have a bunch of new things to start but I don't think I will for the first little bit of this year except for gift stitching. I have the January birthday gift done and need to pull fabric and thread for the February gift. I will post pictures after I give the gifts. I want to stay ahead on gifts this year as I do so love to stitch my gifts for my friends and my sister.

I downloaded some radio shows to my IPOD so I am ready to stitch. Hope you are having a great stitchy day.

Marjo

Happy New Year

2010-01-01T00:13:00.000-08:00

Quiet evening spent at home watching old movies with my hubby. The boy child has gone out to a get together with his homeschool friends. Most of the kids are home from college for a few more days and this is an annual get together for them as they climb one of the local mountains and sled down the side. They have a New Years service at the stroke of midnight and go back to one of the families houses and warm up before driving home.

On this last evening of 2009 I wish for each of you lots of stitching time in 2010.

I am contemplating what I am going to work on tomorrow. I have spent the time I had today stitching on Sail Away. I have so many things clamoring for my attention I can't decide what I want to spend tomorrow stitching. New start? or one of the pile of WIP's that haven't seen the light of day in forever? I am on my way to see what the stitchy place has to offer. I did finish 2 smalls this week and they were a lot of fun. They are gifts so it will be a while before I can share pictures of them.

HAPPY NEW YEAR from our house to yours.

Happy stitching, Marjo

Stitching away on gifts

2009-12-19T00:37:00.000-08:00

No, not Christmas gifts, but birthday gifts. Ellen Chester of With My Needle posted about whether you set goals for your stitching or not. I don't anymore. I do have a few loose goals, I would like to stitch more and be more consistent with putting in a daily strand. Every little bit helps. I want to continue to stitch from my stash especially from my extensive WIP pile. I think the only real goal I have is to do more finishing of the things I finish stitching. I have so many things that need to be finished into something I want to spend some time working on some of those things. I did finish a bell pull today and my very old sewing machine seems to be doing okay. I have been toying with getting a new one but my old one is not doing as badly as it was there for a while the whole underside would knot up.

I would like to stitch some Christmas ornaments and joined the LHN ornament of the month club with Elegant Stitch. The first one is kitted up and ready to go soon as I finish the Santa one I am doing now. I am out of a piece of Wisper so it is on hold right now. I decided I wanted to stitch more ornaments this year so pulled several from my stash, kitted them up and ordered what I needed to have them ready to go. With little items like that I like to have them where I just just pull them out and start when I am ready. I hate having to wait for package to arrive to work on something. Plus it isn't worth it to have just one piece of floss mailed to me up here. I think I will feel more productive if I add more smalls in this year.

Hope you are having a stitchy day. Marjo

Snow for Christmas

2009-12-16T16:46:00.000-08:00

The view from the front porch. You can see how deep the snow is as you look at the top of the garage. Methinks I need to get the shovel out or no one will be visiting us.
Kori, snow dog extraordinaire, playing in the snow as he absolutely loves to do. There is no such thing as too much snow for this dog.
The tree in the front covered in ice and snow.
Kori on yet another adventure. Who knows what needs to be rescued from the snow in the back yard but our intrepid explorer will find them.
Am stitching on birthday gifts so can't share a photo but thought you might like to see our latest Christmas time snowfall. Definitely a white Christmas here. The dog is the photo is our 100 lb Chocolate lab up to his nose in the snow. He loves it.

Have a great stitchy day. Marjo

In answer to your comments, we won't stay home, it will be off to work as usual. The roads will be plowed and you drive slow but there is no such thing as a snow day in Alaska. Coming from Georgia it was a huge learning curve for me to even think about driving in it but now I do it regularly. And as to the comment on dogs and snow, this one thinks there is nothing better to plow through the deepest part of snow he can get to. He absolutely loves the snow. Thank you for the sweet comments.

Stitching update for December

2009-12-14T21:42:00.000-08:00

I am working on a birthday gift I don't want to post a picture as I am not sure if my friends look at this blog or not. I have made great progress on it. I really need to set aside a week of my rotation to do gift stitching. If not I get too far behind and don't get anything done on time. I am halfway done with Homespun Elegance ornament from last year. I have put a few strands in CHS Alphabets and I don't think I ever posted my finish of Where your Heart blooms by BBD. It is in the picture of a couple of posts ago about our retreat but this is closer up. I am making progress on SAIL Away the SAL. Finally some progress on another long term design that I really want hanging on my wall. I have a possible Christmas start in the offing that I am looking forward to. Again, so much to stitch so little time. Hope your day is full of stitching. Marjo

Christmas stitching party

2009-12-14T09:54:00.000-08:00

This is the center piece Jeannette made for her lovely table. I love the colors of the flowers.
Gretchen, ever playing the clown decided to model her mesh bag.
Another wonderful dessert by Betty.
Jeannette made us each tote bags personalized for each individual and Betty made us each a fabric mesh stitching bag. Wonderful. We got many sweet gifts to make the season bright.
We had our stitching group party this last week for Christmas. We had a great time. You couldn't ask for a better group of friends to share a hobby with. We had lots of luscious foods and much laughter as always. Jeannette hosted the party this year and set a beautiful table complete with flowers she arranged herself for the occasion. A wonderful time had by all. Merry Christmas.

Hope your season is bright and much time for stitching and friends to share it with.

Marjo

Christmas stitching

2009-12-13T23:55:00.000-08:00

I have been contemplating a new start for Christmas this year. I have not made many new starts this year but have been mostly working on items from my WIP pile which is embarrassing large. Even so, I want to stitch on something new for Christmas, maybe even a Christmas pattern. I have all I need already for two of the Joyous Noel from BBD patterns and one of those seem like a good idea. I also have several other kits put together to choose from when I decide to move to something new. For the most part I think I will continue to work on patterns that I started already during 2010 as they are all things I want to stitch. My stitching time is limited enough that I don't have many finishes. None the less, I may choose something new for Christmas.

I have made some progress on Sail Away the SAL that finished with me still out at sea. My son is home for Christmas (excited and happy mama here) so it seemed a good time to try to finish this one. I love the needlebook that was part of the SAL for all the members. It is a sweet and beautiful piece that had a lot of thought and effort put into it. Thank you so much for including me. I hope to get some time to get this piece finished as I really love the design and what it means to me.

I am also working on CHS Alphabets as my strand a day project. It is moving along as well. I will try to post pictures this week.

I want to kit up a few Christmas ornaments this year and work on them and hopefully finish one a month. I love having handmade ornaments for special gifts for Christmas. My goal is also to get all the BBD stockings done - stitched and finished in 2010. I have neglected stitching gifts for my stitching buddies and this next year I hope to remedy that. I have some great ideas for each of them, now if I can stay on schedule to get them done. I have made a good start on the January birthday and have the February birthday design kitted up and ready to go.

I have gotten some threads and a couple of pieces of fabric to stitch some patterns I already have but other than that not many purchases. I am trying to be wise about my purchases. I do find it frustrating to not be able to work on something because I am short on a piece of thread or embellishments. Living where I do it is always hard to find more than just the basics. We did have a shop but she moved the business into her home so getting there for those of us that work is challenging. She keeps a lot of threads but not much silk and very little Lakeside Linen or R&R. It is actually cheaper for me to buy online as she is a small establishment and passes on all the shipping costs to the buyer. So I can get items faster and cheaper online which is sad but it is the reality of living in Alaska. One of my stitching buddies made a trip to the Lower 48 for Thanksgiving and got to a store and got several threads I needed. It is great when it works.

So what about you, are you starting something new for the holidays? Christmas or a New Year's Day start? I am always curious to see what everyone else is planning with their stitching.

Have a great stitchy type day. Marjo

Pictures of retreat

2009-12-13T23:40:00.000-08:00

This post is heavy with pictures, just to warn you.

Busy doing what we love to do.
Intent on their stitching.
This is a comparison shot of both the Blackbird Designs Where my heart blooms. The one on the right is Betty's. She handdyed her own fabric and used called for colors. I used fabric called for and used more red than the pattern suggested.
This is the group of happy stitchers.
Picking out a sleeping spot. This is just one of the rooms we could sleep in. Everyone in the group has a favorite spot.
Werewolves, many scary werewolves. All of the folks bake a lot but Betty has a special talent for making fun stuff.
This s where we ate breakfast every morning. We are smack dab in the middle of 20 acres and so although there are people around we don't see or hear them.
Some serious stitching going on with a beautiful sunset in the background. It is a cozy place to settle in for stitching for us all.
Gretchen cosying up to the werewolfe right before she ate him.
Some of our luncheon and snack spread. All that stitching makes you hungry.
This is the area before we settle in for some serious stitching.

Belated retreat report

2009-11-28T23:59:00.000-08:00

I cannot tell you how much fun we had on retreat a few weeks ago. Once again life is in fast forward as we blew through Halloween and Thanksgiving and now we are speeding to Christmas. I apologize for waiting so long for this update but life just got in the way.

At our retreat as always we had plenty of food and wonderful fellowship. We were treated to several sunrises and sunsets that were just beautiful and the weather was cold and crisp. We spent Friday hitting all the quilt and fabric stores. Each of us (not me) do many different crafts, some knitting and quilting and sewing along with cross stitch so we hit the available stores which for us are few and far between. This year one of the crowd has taken up scrapbooking so we took in the local stamping store as well. I thought I could get addicted to that as well so was proud of myself with only buying one stamp that was local to our area for my letter writing.

We had lunch at a little diner and each enjoyed our choices then we headed out for more shopping until it was late enough to go to the B&B where we were staying. We settled right in for some stitching time. Everyone pulled out pieces new and old and we stitched and talked about everything the way comfortable friends do. We looked at craft magazines and read books to take a break and of course there were snacks galore. Betty, who is quite the baker brought werewolf cupcakes and we laughed as Gretchen hammed it up smooching the werewolf before cheerfully eating him.

I finished Where the Heart Blooms and got a few stitches in Alphabet of Stitches by Drawn Thread. Of course I took enough projects for all of us but I never know what I will be in the mood to stitch when the time comes. Saturday is our movie night and this time Joan brought Mamma Mia, which I had never seen. We laughed and laughed as only a group of women can. I am sure we would have not found it near as funny had we not all been together watching it. We also had a copy of Rosemary and Thyme we watched over supper Friday and Saturday. We had homemade pizza one night and chicken pot pie the next. We never have to worry about not having enough food. Joan brought a delicious salad and Dee brought the pie. Betty made the pizza and we all brought lunch items, fruit and such so we could either have a meal at lunch or snack. Jeannette brought a black bean hummus that was a hit as well as scones that were eaten up before the end of the weekend. We made more than a little dent in the sweet potato muffins

that Gretchen baked for us. As I said delicious food is always abundant. My friends know how to cook.

On the stitching front we all made great progress on some long term projects and Dee and I even managed a finish. It was great fun and we were thrilled to be together stitching. We are already booked for a time in the spring and again next Fall. We are already plotting menu's and movies and where we will have lunch on the way out. Retreat is always a blast and a much anticipated treat for all of us.

Cannot find the camera so will upload shots when I find it buried somewhere in my stitching room.

Marjo

We lost our girl cat one today

2009-11-19T14:55:00.001-08:00

Sorry to share that today we lost our girl cat one. We have two identical cats my husband and son got for me from a rescue place when we lived in Georgia. They had both been mistreated and were tiny. They were the same size and color except for their eyes so we took to calling them girl cat one and girl cat two because unless you were really close you could not tell which was which. They have never grown much and now we have lost one. She was hiding all day yesterday and she was dead when I got up this morning. I am so sad and her litter mate doesn't know what to do. Even the dog is moping. We will miss our dear girl cat one.

Ready for Retreat

2009-11-10T22:29:00.000-08:00

I am so ready to go on retreat. We have all day Friday, all day Saturday and over half a day Sunday to stitch. It is a wonderful place and in my humble opinion, my stitching buddies are just the best for sitting around stitching with. We are all different ages and we all stitch different types of designs with actually little overlap of designers and designs. I love seeing what everyone else is working on which is why I love reading blogs about stitching. I will spend the next few days deciding which projects I will take. I almost always take something new to stitch on. Not necessarily a new start but a WIP that has not seen light of day for a long while. I know I will take Where the Heart Blooms by BBD as I am nearing completion with that one. My new old WIP will probably be Drawn Thread Alphabets. I will probably take a small project I might could finish. Not sure what that would be. I will probably take the Sail away and CHS alphabets even though I won't be able to work on all of them but you never know what mood will strike and you can't just go to the stitchy room and get something else. It is the standard joke with my buddies that I bring enough for everyone to stitch on if necessary. Must be prepared. I will try to add some pictures of the projects that make the cut.

This will be great after the last two weeks at work full of overtime and stressful situations. Like I said, I am SO ready to go.

Have a great stitchy week. Marjo

November stitching update

2009-11-08T11:54:00.000-08:00

I am all the way up to the Dee part of this one. I really like working on it but put it aside so I could get some progress on the other two works currently in the rotation.
Sail Away by Shepherd's Bush is coming along. I never can keep up with a SAL but I do so love the idea of stitching the same thing with a group of people but stitch too slowly to ever keep up. I love this and the soft colors. Underneath you can see a peek at a neat sewing bag my good stitching friend Betty made for me with the lovely blueberry fabric. I thought it was just the bag to carry this project.
I cannot tell you why it has take me so long to get this little sampler done. I love it. I did change the color of the roof to the Mulberry GAST instead of the called for color. In my childhood I remember the white clapboard houses having red roofs. I also did not black in the window but will fill it with yellow for the light that we always leave on. I just have the top row of bushes or flowers or whatever you want to call them left to do as since this picture I have done all but one strawberry on the border and not long after this posts that will be done.

The first snow of the season came, went, little stayed, but the cold temperatures were left behind. Great stitching weather only it won't go away for several months so more than stitching will have to go on. I just don't have time to stitch on everything every week. I am going back to a weekly rotation. That works best for me. I have tried different ways to get stuff stitched these last couple of years but I think I am going to go back to the old rotation. I will do one week of each item and then a week of gift stitching or finishing if I am caught up on the stitching. That usually holds until I am down to the last little bit of a design and then I have to finish it. I will continue to have a daily strand piece for lunch times or travel times. Of course none of this is rigid as for me the joy is in the journey.

My stitching friends and I are getting ready for our Fall/Winter retreat. I am so excited. Three days with the best stitching buddies one could hope for holed up in a massive log home on 20 acres in a valley with a view of a glacier. It is gorgeous there. We bring our own food and we hike when we have sat too long to move anymore. Then Saturday night we stitch and watch a movie someone brings. We stitch all day until we have to leave on Sunday. It is so much fun I can hardly wait.

Well, I have time to stitch, there is a roaring fire in the fireplace and a cup of tea ready to go in the kitchen. That is Sunday afternoon bliss to me. Hope you have a terrific stitchy day.

Marjo

Making progress

2009-11-02T18:33:00.000-08:00

I worked the weekend so today is my stitching day. I worked yesterday evening on Where My heart Blooms from Blackbird Designs. It is an old Loose Feathers but as always I am behind. I am pleased to finally see some progress on it. I will try to download some pictures. I got the outline of the border completely done. Would have made more progress if I hadn't had to take some of the vine out because I was off by one line. I finally got it back in and now I will work on it a little more tonight. I worked all afternoon on my EGA class piece but can't really get a clear picture of the whitework. I finally realized I needed to make some copies of the pattern so I wouldn't have to keep flipping pages as I work on the design for the class piece. Cannot figure out why it took me so long to figure that out. Having the extra copies makes the stitching go so much faster. I took advantage of some overtime to buy some stash from The Sampler Girl. I have the Comfort of home from the early release in Gift of Stitching so I got the one by the sea and the new Christmas design as well. I also got the kit for La De Da bird. I have made a lot of bird purchases this fall so 2010 seems like it will be bird stitching.

Have a great week stitching. Marjo

Sailing Away

2009-10-20T20:17:00.000-07:00

I will try to post pictures tomorrow of the progress I have made at long last on this project that everyone else in the SAL has long ago completed. I am slow. I work long hours at the hospital and am just too tired to stitch some days. I did get the girl done and the last of the little motifs done above her. Before I turn in tonight I hope to get the next row completed but that may be too ambitious for the time remaining. Our son called tonight so I am a happy Mama right now. Being able to see him and hear his voice makes it a little easier to be separated, but not a lot..
I did go to the WIP bag and pull out Just Nan's Be Scarry which I had started long ago. Not a big piece. Have no idea why I got tired of it but re-kitted it and it is in the pile when I just want something little to stitch. Of course while I was looking for it I found a couple of other Just Nan's that are small that could use some attention. I pulled them out but realistically won't touch them for a while. They are two class pieces I took a long time ago and never completed for again an unknown reason. One if Heart of Gold, the charm that goes with that is really pretty, and seeds of friendship which is done on a pretty lavender piece of linen. I think these will be my travel pieces as they are small and easy to pick up and put down as we travel around yet not so small count that I need my magnifier.
I did finish a couple of books this weekend, Chocolate Snowman Murder and Murder Most Maine. Both short reads but fun. I love a good mystery.
Hope you all had a stitchy day. Thank you for all the comments. I appreciate it. Marjo

WIP Lists and decisions

2009-10-20T10:45:00.000-07:00

I have more than my share of projects I have started but not finished....35 to be exact. Currently. There are several from Market and the Online Needlework Show that are just begging to become next up for that very long list. I have spent most of this year stitching from that very long list but since my stitching time is little and I am a slow stitcher not much progress has been made. I was perusing the list today as I need to work on something small for a while so I will actually get a finish this year. Things are looking bleak for anything in my rotation though I still hold out for CHS alphabets and BBD Where my Heart Blooms to come in as finishes before year end. I wanted to pull something small out to work on but boy, when I looked at the list almost all the small things are completed and that just leaves the monster projects I am most fond of working. I did see Just Nan Halloween on the list and if I remember correctly I had quite a bit of it done. Maybe I can pull it out of the WIP bag and use that to take a break from the bigger things. Of course I am really trying to convince myself it would be okay to start something new...like With My Needle A Multiplication Table Exemplar. It's small. I have the chart, I have the fabric I think. I do not have the fiber called for but.....I need to stich to my WIP lists to get it down to a manageable number. Off to the stitchy space to see if I can find the Just Nan piece. At least it goes with the season and I have a friend who would love to have it and her birthday is coming soon.......we will see.
Have a stitchy day. Marjo

Sunday afternoon at the water''s edge

2009-10-18T22:16:00.000-07:00

Finally a little more progress on SAL Sail away. I have wanted to work on it for a while but time comes in short spells for stitching. I went to one of my favorite spots today and read and stitched on Sail Away by Shepherd's Bush. I had joined the SAL but as usual did not keep up. One of the things I like most about that spot is if you sit there long enough you may, just may catch a glimpse of the pod of Beluga whales that swims through Turnagain Arm. I was lucky today and saw the group of them. The place is called Beluga Point and it was one of the first places we found that I loved when we first came to Alaska. It is a wonderful place in my humble opinion and I finally made some progress on Sail Away while I watched the white heads bob up and down in their pursuit of fish to eat. I can't share a picture as my camera isn't good enough to get a shot like that.

I have finished almost all of the upper half of Sail Away. I intend to keep working on it this week with the hopes of finishing it soon. I am also going to stitch on my class piece. Hope your day was stitchy too.

Marjo

Ornament trees and stockings

2009-10-12T15:24:00.001-07:00

Two posts in one day ate up my stitching time but I had time to take pictures today and thought I could share some of what is going on at my house stitchy wise or at least what is planned. Our sweet lab of love wrecks havoc on our Christmas tree so the last couple of years we have just not had one. He is home alone during the day now that our son is at school and tree became a target of his boredom. This year I decided I want to use some table top trees so I could leave out for my stitching. I really want to stitch the BBD stockings. I have been getting the patterns and even took advantage of the special fabric pack by Lois at Elegant Stitch. I don't have a lot of Crescent colors but am slowly collecting them to get started on them . I hope to get them stitched and use them on a little tree I got from Dyeing to Stitch in Virginia. They were so pleasant to work with over the email. It is cute and I think it will work just great for the little stockings. I really wanted to do the Halloween ones for my friends for the stitching retreat but it is not going to happen this year. We always try to have an October retreat so maybe next year. I think they would make great favors for my stitching friends. I am always a day late with my stitching. That is why I buy designs when I see them. Sure enough I don't buy it then when I do get around to wanting to do that design it is not available anymore.

Along with stitching and reading blogs and websites about stitching I am addicted to buying books about stitching. I usually buy used books and even got a book shelf for free for my stitching room to keep them all in. I love reading them and studying the pictures of what others have done before me. This time I splurged and bought some new copies of some older titles I got on sale on Amazon. I bought The Embroideries of Hardwick Hall by Santina M. Leavey , and The Silk Ribbon Embroidery Bible by Joan Gordon and a new book by Judith Baker Montano Embroidery and Crazy quilt stitch tool. I saw a sweatshirt with crazy quilting designs all over it for a price I couldn't go for and it made me decide I should try that as a hand embroidery project. I found the sweat shirt and have tons of ribbon I got at garage sales one summer. Now we will see if it goes anywhere. I got a white sweat shirt with the intent to overdye it when I get the embroidery on it. I may dye it first and then stitch. Still plotting with that whole idea so far.

Hope your days are stitchy. Thanks for stopping in to visit.

2009-10-12T14:49:00.000-07:00

I have been stitching but it always takes me a while to get the pictures uploaded. It was my weekend to work so today is my stitching day. I had errands to run so not much stitching time. I have really just been working on CHS Alphabets. I have the blocks all outlined and the vine is done but still no flowers and I still haven't decided what color I am going to use to fill in the base of each block. I have changed the cats to solid gray for obvious reasons and made the eyes yellow and green to match the girls at my house. I hope to finish cats and move onto deer today. I will pull the pink for the vine out and use it when I am watching TV and want something to stitch where I don't need the pattern as much. I will save the bottom of the blocks until the end so I can see what color will work the best with all the other colors.

I am hoping to get something done this week on Where my heart blooms as I really want to stitch some other designs. Our small stitching group has a retreat coming up in November and I want to be able to start something new or an old WIP that hasn't got much started on that. I still have a huge WIP list to get done as well a bunch of new things I want to start. Since I will be able to sit for a while and stitch over that weekend I will hope to get a lot of work done on something. My current thoughts on what will go with me that weekend: Kind Fond Love by Sampler Company, Drawn thread Sampler of stitches or Alpine Sampler, EGA 17th Century Sampler. Of course by the time the retreat comes around I will change my mind a dozen times. It always happens that way.

I did get some items from ehandcrafts.com from the online needlework show. Mostly reproduction samplers were on the list. I really have to figure out how to make more progress or quit buying anything or I will have to live forever to get done. I have a long WIP list and an even longer list of what I want to stitch that I haven't started. I guess it could be worse.

The weather today is absolutely beautiful. Temps are up in the 50's which is wonderful for us for October. By the end of the month the snow should be here and we begin the long months of winter. It is already quite dark when I drive to work and the radio announces daily how much daylight we have lost today. This is something that is announced year round. We are consumed with how much daylight we will have everyday and from now until Dec 21st we will loose about 5 mins a day and then it will change to gaining light.

I did join the facebook SAL for the Christmas at Hawk Run Hollow coordinated by Shakespeare Peddler's Theresa Vennette. I had never particularly wanted to be on Facebook but we will see how the SAL goes. I am still waiting for my pattern and fabric to come in the mail. If you are stitching it you should join the group...it should be fun.

Hope your day is full of stitches. Marjo

Alaska in the fall

2009-09-27T12:15:00.000-07:00

Alaska has 4 seasons but Spring and Fall are really very short. Around Labor Day the more Northern part of the state is already full into change in fall colors but it is later in the month for the colors to change in the southcentral part where I live. Yesterday was rainy all morning but when DH and I left the house later to run errands the skies had cleared and I took some local color shots. Also, as you can see in the higher elevations the rain left it's mark as termination dust. That term came from the time of the gold rush when the snow would touch the top of the mountains. Then they knew they would have to start packing up soon as the passes would be impassable and they would starve without the ability of food/supplies delivery.

The river is Eagle River and the path is at the nature center where we go to hike until August. Every year in August they close that particular trail as the bears frequent it on their way to feasting on the final ending place for many, many salmon. The last great feast for these particular Grizzlies prior to the winter hibernation. Human interaction is frowned upon. There are many other paths to take that don't take you through the bears dining room and other things to see there. One of our favorite places to walk.