stitching time

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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