July WIPocolypse...and the British are coming!

Seems like I just did a WIPocolypse post but I was pretty late with June's so they've sort of run together.  

You ever get stalled on a big project?  I don't think I've touched my Pride & Prejudice sampler in about a year now.  I just got to where I had to do more planning and things weren't turning out as well as I'd hoped so I was avoiding working on it.  I was inspired to do this sampler when the "neighborhood" samplers were popular a couple years ago.  And as usual, I went a bit overboard because this sampler is pretty big..it's 18" x 16".   Without having charting software it's kind of tiresome to work out what goes where, converting patterns from DMC to silk, reversing patterns I needed to go a different direction, etc.   I had more motifs that I wanted to use than I can fit in, even as big as this piece is. If I had to do it over, I would maybe do it over-1 on 25-count or something like that, and pick a different linen.  But at the time, I was all enthused to start it and the LNS didn't have much in stock that was a big enough piece so I ended up with cream 36-ct Edinburough linen.

(P.S. I always get a few questions about this sampler...it's a composite of motifs pulled from lots of other patterns, I did not draw and design all of it myself.  I do have a separate tab on my blog that lists all the patterns I've used so far, I think all of them are still in print.)

Anyway...I got it out about 2 weeks ago and forced myself to get it going again.  I seem to have gotten past my mental roadblocks and I was able to make some good progress.  Woohoo!!  When last we visited this project, this is how it looked...........

I've added a vignette of Lizzy & Darcy in the lower right corner.  I will be adding a tree next to them soon I hope.  

Then I added the military regiment in the upper right corner of the sampler.  Remember all the women were swooning over the handsome soldiers and of course we must have the infamous Mr. Wickham you know!   I was so thrilled when I found this pattern came out a couple of years ago  - it was perfect timing for me.  It's by Brenda Keyes' The Sampler Company  - it's called the "Over the Hills" sampler.  Before I found it I was trying to figure out how I could chart some soldiers and believe me I hate charting anything - I can't draw and find it extremely tedious.   Don't my British soldiers look great marching with the flag bearer and his Union Jack?   Sometimes, a plan does come together! (oops I just realized I forgot to finish the 2 little trees next to the tents...just the stumps are showing LOL)

And now here is a snap of the total sampler...you can see there's still a lot of blank space where I have to fit in Pemberley and Rosings Park and a few things, but I'll get there eventually.

 

Now I've decided to start a new project...a couple of Christmas stockings for my dogs.  They've had some cheap ones we bought of course but I always intended to stitch stockings for them that would match the ones I did for my husband and myself.  These are the old ones from the Cross Stitch & Country Crafts magazines..I still think they are lovely patterns even though published so long ago.

In my opinion, the designer never got the credit she deserves as the magazine never published her name. I'm pretty sure these were designed by Donna Kooler.   I know if I decided to stitch complete versions for the dogs that it would take forever and the poor dogs are already 8 years old so I better hurry up!  I'm going to stitch the abbreviated patterns where you stitch a nice cuff and just do a wallpaper pattern on the rest of the stockings.  I should be able to get these done easily by Christmas and I bought enough of the finishing materials that I can make them match the other 2 stockings.

 

I've got my mushroom Lugana cloth sitting out in the sun trying to fade it a bit...I noticed the new piece I bought is darker than the cloth I used to make the other two.   It doesn't really matter but I'm giving it a try anyway.

I've overdue celebrating another blogiversary (they come around so fast!) so hope to plan a giveaway over the next few weeks.  Stay tuned to this space..and thanks for spending a few moments visiting me!  

Tired of landscaping...............

Finally – time to share some progress on my Pride & Prejudice sampler! You can see on my right sidebar in my WIP photos where I was last time I posted an update on this – I had just finished stitching the house at Netherfield Park, the home of the famous Mr. Bingley. Well I have been busy over the last month doing lots of ‘landscaping’. It sure takes a lot of time even though I had made notes on what I wanted to do. I have added a formal garden from a Prairie Schooler chart, a fence from another Prairie Schooler chart, a lovely fountain from one of the cottage series by Elizabeth Designs, some grapevines inspired by a Blackbird Designs Loose Feathers pattern (had to chart my own as theirs wouldn’t fit), and finally Mr. Bingley his very self from an old Sudberry chart. So here is the finished vignette and a photo of the estate used in the 1995 movie. I hope he’s happy with what I’ve done with his estate. I have the hardest time getting the color right on my photos - it's so frustrating! I need a class on digital photography!


Here's a close up look at Mr Bingley at the entrance to Netherfield and his photo from the movie.

I’ve also added some grass here and there around the Bennett sisters’ home and a front walkway you can see below. The trouble with not working from a set pattern is you keep finding more things to add – a bird here, some flowers there, more grass here, etc. I'm still tweaking little things here and there. I am getting worried about fitting in all the rest of the things I had planned for this sampler but will just see how it goes. I’ve sized some of the objects on graph paper and been playing around with the layout but unless you really sit and chart the whole thing out (way too much work!) you aren’t totally sure what is going to work.

Here’s a photo of the whole sampler so far – I think I am close to halfway done! It measures about 19" wide by 16" tall.

The next portion I’m going to be working on the lower right corner where I’m placing Lizzy & Darcy as a couple. Last year I bought a cute pattern on eBay from a lady who has created several charts inspired by Jane Austen themes and I’ll be using Lizzy & Darcy from that chart. I believe this designer only sells her charts on eBay but if you like Jane Austen themes you may want to check them out. http://stores.ebay.com/West-Wind-Cross-Stitch-Designs

Also if are a fan of the A&E version of Pride & Prejudice I recommend this book on the making of the movie. It's not very expensive - got mine on Amazon - and it has a lot of great photos and details about the locations they used for the filming, the costumes, etc. This is my favorite photo of the modern-day actresses taking a break while filming - so unlike the ladies of the era! Note that one of them is doing needlepoint - yeah!

Netherfield is let at last...

Last week I got Netherfield Hall stitched for my Pride & Prejudice sampler. I took these pictures under artificial light and they're not the best but I'm happy with the house. You can see it looks pretty close to the house used for Netherfield in the movie. I used the house pattern from A Ball at Netherfield by The Stitching Parlor. I bought all five of her P&P samplers but I only using a few of the motifs from them to make my one big sampler. I still have lots to add to Netherfield - grass & trees, some animals, and of course Mr. Bingley himself. I am undecided as to whether to stitch him as a couple with Jane Bennett or leave him as an eligible bachelor - hmmm.


Here's my latest progress on My Quaker Lady. I have one small motif left to do plus the alphabet rows at the bottom. This has been such a fun piece to do. I hope to finish it up this week so I can start Quakers & Quilts on Sunday - woohoo!
Progress on my nine-patch scrappy quilt is also being made. It's pieced together in diagonal rows so each row gets longer and longer until you are halfway done and then the rows get smaller again. It's going together quickly thanks to all the trimming of blocks that I did. I struggled with picking the colors for the setting pieces because the nine-patch blocks are very colorful but it seems to be turning out well - at least in my opinion. I really love scrappy quilts.

Our Arizona weather has finally cooled off and we can say a thankful goodbye to summer! In fact today a cold front (okay well cold for us) moved in and it's quite chilly this evening. Time finally to put a blanket on the bed - yeah! Our days are wonderfully breezy and sunny and I sat and stitched outside on Sunday which was such a treat. Thanks for visiting and Happy Halloween everyone!

Beatrix Potter finish, trades anyone? , & my P&P sampler

Hello friends - I'm back in Blogland finally. After a bit of AWOL time, I am back trying to reconstruct what I’ve been doing the last month or so. Mostly I’ve been on a mission to finish up my Beatrix Potter and here she is! I’m so happy – I’ve been stitching with the online SAL that Hazel put together in January. I had a bit of panic when I ran out of the lightest color of thread a few weeks ago. Big thanks to Nicole who answered my post on the HDF Forum and had more of the matching dyelot. Thank you Nicole! I’m thrilled to have my first Quaker sampler done.

I also dragged out my Pride & Prejudice Neighborhood Sampler which was lurking under my stitching table feeling very unloved. I had put it away after not being happy with some of my silk coverage - once I get annoyed with a project I have to take a break from it. I added another half-stitch over the entire tree trunk and I am happier now with it. I still want to do the same for the roof on the house but I’m putting that boring task off for awhile. After doing a bit of landscaping, the Bennett sisters' home (which is about one quarter of this sampler), is complete! Next up is Netherfield Place, the home of the infamous, very handsome, and eligible Mr. Bingley!

Here you see some of my inspiration - the Bennett family and their home from my favorite A&E version of P&P (hey don't look at that car in front of the house, I'm just glad some lucky tourist took some pictures and posted them online):



I have a couple of trades I’d like to make if any of you are interested. I recently brought home LHN’s “Home of Needleworker (Too)” from my LNS – thought I didn’t have it but it turned out I do own it already. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve done this to myself! Anyway I have a brand-spanking-new copy of “Home of a Needleworker (Too)” up for trade and also two used patterns in good-as-new condition - LHN’s “Captain’s Inn” and “Peppermint Lane”. I always make a working copy so my used copies are in great shape. Is there anyone who would like to trade for some of these? There are tons of other LHN or Country Cottage patterns I’d love to trade for especially Liberty & Justice, most of the Dear Diary patterns, Two Roosters, Mayflower Landing, Traveling Stitcher, Gingerbread Trio, Beach Cottage and Cherry Hill. My email address is in my Profile.

I’ve also started on the My Quaker Lady SAL but I haven't gotten around to taking a photo yet to share - I've been concentrating on Miss Beatrix this month. I do love the pattern though and will likely end up getting the Gentleman Quaker to go with it.

AND….it’s market time again! More temptations and to-die-for patterns to add to our stash – HELP! Okay, so I have to live to 110 – as long as I can have my big Daylight magnifying lamp in the nursing home and they let me have needles I’ll be okay! I’ve been watching Kathy of CHS unveil each of the blocks of the new Christmas at Hawk Run Hollow and it’s on my list! I’ve not stitched any of the others from this series – not that I didn’t want to but they’re so big and it’s expensive to get all the silks. I’ve already determined that I’m just going to arrange my 9 favorite blocks from the CoHRH pattern for my own version of it – the other 3 blocks I like but they don't seem to really go with the rest that well so I'd rather do something different with those. I likely won’t start it until January though as I have plenty of other things going already that I want to focus on for the rest of the year. I know there are those over-achieving stitchers who will be posting finishes of CoHRH in no time at all but I’m content to go plodding along in my little stitching universe at half-speed LOL. My free time has to split between quilting and stitching and there's only so many hours in a day.

Hope this finds you all well, enjoying your autumn, and getting ready for October - my favorite month of the year! Pumpkins, leaves, cool weather, Halloween, and my birthday - what's not to love??

We're all Irish today!

Happy St Patrick's day everyone! A friend of mine at work was wearing the cutest button today - "Roses are red. Violets are bluish. A leprechaun told me St. Patrick was Jewish!" My friend is Jewish and celebrates the more secular side of many of the Christian holidays so it's perfect for her.

Here's a few updates on what I've been up to. I finished my first house on my Pride & Prejudice neighborhood sampler – the Bennett sisters have a home! This house took a while to do and I could not go to bed on Sunday night until I finished it at 11:45 pm. You all know how that goes! You can see my finished "Longbourn" and a couple of the photos of the house used in the mini-series which I modeled from. I still have 2 of the sisters to stitch and then I will take a picture of the whole piece so far to share. I am just about finished reading the book - it's an easy read and I can tell that the mini-series from 1995 pretty much went right along with the book. The one thing I've learned though is that Lizzie (the main character) is spelled "Lizzy" in the book . Who would've thunk it? I already stitched in "Lizzie" in over-1 so now I'll have to fix it of course.

I cannot believe the month is half over already – I am so obsessed with my stitching lately that the days are flying by as I try to get my March goals done. At the beginning of every month I am wildly optimistic of how much I will get done but generally disappointed in myself by months’ end. I did finish up this little patriotic pillow on Friday. I stitched it one evening and finished it off the next night. It's very small - done over-1 and it was fun to get something done quickly for a change. I tried the matching buttons that came with the pillow but I wasn't wild about them so I replaced them with these flat red ones. I'm not a fan of shank buttons - don't like the way they stick out and wiggle around.

DH and I worked very hard this weekend in our backyard. The weather was absolutely beautiful and we replaced 5 plants, and spent many hours sealing all the flagstone surfaces we have. It took over $150 in sealer – ouch – but it is something that you need to do every few years. The sun here is so intense it really fades things and the sealer brought out some of the color again. However, I now look like I have some kind of awful skin disease. The label said “cleans up with soap and water” – NOT! I cannot get the stuff off of my hands even though I have washed them at least 70 times, scrubbed, rubbed, tried turpentine, tried nail polish remover and finally have given up. What was that Lady Macbeth said? "Out damned spot!" Remember putting Elmer’s glue on your hands as a kid and peeling it off? Well it looks like that but it just won’t come off. I guess it’s going to have to wear off gradually but right now my hands look like I’m about 80. As soon as this stuff comes off I’m off to get a much-needed manicure that’s for sure.

I think I was one of the few people who never have seen Phantom of the Opera – at least the modern version. So I put the Andrew Lloyd Webber version on my Netflix list and watched it Sunday night while stitching on the Bennett's house. Quite a disappointment I must say and apologies if it’s anyone’s favorite! I knew it was a musical but it is more like an opera with very little actual dialogue that is not sung. I just did not care for it but at least I can check that experience off my list and be thankful I didn’t pay a lot to go see the musical. Luckily DH was watching college basketball so at least I didn’t have to hear his complaints about the movie – he never would’ve lasted through it that’s for sure! March Madness is one of my least favorite times of the year because it's non-stop basketball on the television at my house. Normally DH goes to Las Vegas for the first weekend of the tournament but this year he is not going due to the darn economy. Luckily I will hide out in my sewing room as much as possible until the games are over – I’m just not into it at all. Gonzaga, Florida State, St John’s, Indiana, who cares?? I don’t understand being excited about college games when you never even went to any of the schools! And the worst thing is, as soon as it’s finally over then the NBA basketball playoffs begin and that leads right into the start of baseball season!

I’ve decided to make another new project start – it feels so deliciously decadent! I’ve got a bin of kitted up projects and some of them have been in there for YEARS. This is a sampler called Kona Coast by Ewe & I & Friends. It used to be a model in an LNS here that sadly closed up a few years back. I loved that little shop (sniff sniff) and they hosted an annual teaching getaway to Hawaii every year. Sadly, I never went to any of the retreats but I believe this sampler was designed especially for the year they had EEF teaching. I always wanted to stitch it and am finally going to get it started at least. I love houses and this is so cheery – beautiful tropical colors and special stitches although I probably will not stitch the wording on it. I need another start like a hole in the head but when has that ever mattered??

Follow the yellow brick road.........

That song keeps going through my head as I stitch on one of my houses for my Jane Austen neighborhood. I am stitching yellow bricks as you can see from my WIP picture. I'm anxious to finish this house as it will be my first one complete on this piece - can't wait to get the roof and windows done so it actually looks like a house instead of a box. I have to make a trip to the LNS this weekend to get a few silks colors I need for the windows. Why is it no matter how much you have you always seem to need just a few more colors?

Since I started 3 fairly big projects in January, I haven't had many finishes. I did get this little flat-fold done this week - it's Happy Bunny Day by The Trilogy. I made this 2 years ago as an exchange for the SBEBB group and I really hated giving it away so I finally made a second one for myself. I had a little trouble with it - my iron leaked some hot water on it when I was doing my final pressing and it made the dark green overdye bleed onto the linen - eeeeeek! I quick plunged it into cold water and got some of it out with some stain remover but you can still see it a bit. Plus the cold water caused a bit of bleeding elsewhere. I was ready to kick something as you can imagine but at least it's for myself instead of someone else. Why wasn't I being more CAREFUL?!?!

I've been up late every night this week stitching as DH is out of town. (after all, what's more important - stitching or being tired for work?? ha ha) Trying to make some progress on Beatrix Potter and Peppermint Twist. Since I finished Mr. Bunny I am picking out another small project to start. I'm trying to do one small project a month to at least give me some finishing satisfaction. For March I'll be doing this little kit I put together probably a couple of years ago when I got the pillow on sale. Just a little patriotic piece that will be fun to put out this summer and it should be a quick stitch unless I screw it up like I've been tending to do lately.

Oh and I've been meaning to post a picture of this adorable pincushion my sister-in-law bought for me for Christmas last year. She got it on Etsy at a shop called The Daily Pincushion. Isn't it just too cute? I love it and and it matches my sewing room. If you ever need a pincushion or a little gift for someone, I highly recommend these. I have no connection to the seller but I think they're wonderfully made and I hope to buy some more! (not that I need them mind you.......but who doesn't love pincushions...)

Now back to stitching.....maybe I can finish the little snowman ornie I've been working on. I'm supposed to be getting one ornie a month done this year - well so far I'm at a big fat zero! Just not enough hours in the day. Until later............

Week one and off to a good start

I'm finally getting arount to my first post of 2009. Seems like it's been more than a week basically since New Year's. I really enjoyed my 2 weeks off work during the holidays. I finished quilting 3 lap quilts and finished off my Prairie Schooler trio of angels. I mounted them on a black taffeta ribbon. They weren't ready for Christmas 2008 but I'll put them out for next Christmas. That was the last stitching UFO I wanted to get done last year. (excuse the shadows in the picture....)

I started 3 new projects last weekend, - the Peppermint Twist SAL, Beatrix Potter and my Pride & Prejudice Neighborhood. I had so much fun finally working on something new! Here's my progress on my Neighborhood and Peppermint Twist. Haven't take a picture yet of Beatrix but I'm on my 3rd motif for that.


I made a few goals just for January and will see how I do. I haven't touched my French Alphabet Sampler in over a year so that's what I've chosen from the UFO pile to work on for awhile.

1. Pride & Prejudice Neighborhood – finish bottom and left borders, work on tree with Jane & Elizabeth under the branches
2. Beatrix Potter – finish 4 medallions
3. Peppermint Twist – finish Pointsettia block
4. Book quilt – finish Donna’s section, get started on Betty’s chapter 8
5. Complete page 3 of French Alphabet Sampler. Here's where it's at presently:

Planning those new projects....

Is everybody counting down to Christmas? Once Thanksgiving has passed it seems like you start to panic realizing everything you need to get done! I had a nice weekend but busy. I finished my Christmas ornament for the SBEBB exchange and mailed it off on Friday. Wish I could show it here but I better wait until it gets to its destination. I was very happy with it and want to make one for myself now! Isn’t that always the case? We send off these cute things but don’t always get them made for ourselves. Then I started on a Prairie Schooler angel ornament and here’s my progress so far. I made one of this set of 3 a few years ago and promised myself that I would do the other 2 this year. Well I might not make it before yearend but I’ll keep trying at least. Maybe at least one will get done. I would like to hang all 3 of these vertically on a big ribbon.



I did get to the LNS this weekend and spent about an hour and a half there. Once I get in the place I seem to lose all organized thoughts and become overwhelmed! I have to make sure and take a list with me otherwise I will come home without what I went there to get. I spent time picking out linen and threads for the Beatrix Potter SAL on Hazel’s blog. I got a big piece of Lakeside Linen’s Vintage Maritime White in 36-ct. I fell in love with a Waterlilies thread called “Chili” and then I found 3 coordinating colors in Needlepoint Silk. The NP silks look a little bright in the picture but they really match the Waterlilies thread just perfectly in real life. I can’t wait to start this piece!



I spent all Saturday evening planning out my Pride and Prejudice neighborhood sampler. I think I’m almost there! I taped together 12 sheets of graph paper, then cut out the basic motifs in the same size paper so I could play with the placement of houses and buildings, and people. I plan to make this sampler 320 stitches wide by 300 stitches high. I photocopied the major things I want to include (personal use only!), then I'll fill in as I go with trees, flowers, and animals. Since every designer uses a different size graph to print their charts, you kind of have to plan the sampler using graph paper that is all the same size. I still have one corner to work on – mostly because I’m going to have to do some drawing/designing of my own on that section – couldn’t find just the right charts to use. It may not not look like much from the photo but it’s my “blueprint” for making my sampler come to life. I’m anxious to get started! I still need to find the right linen before January 1. I’m thinking of ordering some linen from Sassy’s – never tried them but they look pretty. I’m tired of the same old thing and want to try some new colors. Anyone have any favorites? I haven’t seen just the right blue, would like a very pale sky blue but thinking maybe I better play it safe and get a neutral like Sugared Coffee, Creamy Cocoa, or Tan Marble. It is so hard to pick out colors on the computer! You really need to see them in person so I am just not sure what to do.