Back to our regularly scheduled stitching & sewing.........

I'm back on schedule after spending most of June working on blogiversary giveaways and RAK's.   I had 2 RAK's that I sent out earlier this July to Barbara of Mainely Stitching and Karen from My Favourite Things.  Both of them have been reading and commenting on my blog since my very first post 5 years ago so I wanted to reward them as faithful followers - thank you both!

I forgot to take a photo of Barbara's RAK but you can see it on her blog posting here.   I stitched a Prairie Schooler design ("Farm Fresh") and made it into a little pillow. I sewed a fabric project bag for her and also sent a needleminder from Paula Kelmscott's collection.  I chose a chickens theme for the stitched piece because if you read her blog you'll know Barbara raises chickens and of course since she lives in Maine she certainly needs to have the lighthouse needleminder. 

For Karen's RAK at least I remembered to take a photo this time before mailing it......I chose another PS design  because it reminded me of Karen with its cat and yarn balls.  Karen has 2 cats and she's not only a great stitcher and finisher but she knits too.   Karen  also received a mesh project bag I made and I included some fat quarter quilting fabrics for her to use in her finishing business.  I'm so pleased that Barbara and Karen liked what I made for them.

Prairie Schooler #116 - Y is for Yarn

Stitched in DMC on 32-ct linen, finished pinkeep-style

(By the way I found the cute little easel shown above at JoAnn's recently in the picture frame department and I went back and bought several more -  they cost about $2.50 US or less with a coupon of course.   What I love about these is they are small and work great for pinkeeps - they have sort of a rustic finish in brown/black.) 

There's a few things I finished back at the end of May that I haven't gotten around to blogging about...you know how it is.   May seems ages ago doesn't it although it's less than 2 months - how the time flies by when you're busy!  I stitched this piece below because it reminded me of an LNS I used to go to, and also to recall a special trip to Hawaii some years back.   This piece didn't seem that big when I started it but it was tons of solid stitching as you can see and seemingly endless sand..OMG.  I changed out the wording on the pattern and added a couple of hibiscus flowers.  This pattern used lots of specialty stitches which added some nice texture to the palm tree trunks, the water,  etc.

"Kona Coast" - oldie from Ewe & Eye & Friends

Stitched with DMC on 32-ct linen

Closeup of Kona Coast

I did manage to finish up my puppy dog quilt on time for the baby boy christening in June - my husband delivered it in person as I couldn't go with him to Chicago this time. I'm told the family loved it so mission accomplished once again.  I just found out that another niece is expecting so next year I'll need to do another baby quilt - it's tough keeping up with all these babies!

"Dog Daze" baby quilt - stitched & quilted by me

Pattern by Kimberly Rado

I posted about this last year..I had finally finished up an old quilting UFO that had been a nemesis of mine for way too long... this pattern was so much work!  You make tons of blocks then you cut them in half diagonally and recombine them all again.  There are many, many seams that drove me crazy matching up.   I took the quilt top to my longarm quilter a few months ago and I got it back a few weeks ago.  The quilting is fabulous and now at least I like this quilt again LOL.     I sewed the binding on the edges and have happily moved another  project to the 'finished' list.  I have no idea what to do with this quilt.....I'm thinking of asking for a quilt ladder for my birthday this fall as we have only 2 beds in our house which already have quilts,  and I'm short on wallspace.  I have lots of quilts just stacked up in closets.   I really don't need any more quilts of course but do you think that's going to stop me from making more?  :)

"Radio Flyer" - pattern by Miss Rosie's Quilts
Quilt pieced by me and quilted by a longarm quilter here in Phoenix......
hope you can see the beautiful quilting on the borders, and the back of the quilt really
 shows the pretty swirl pattern - love it!

Lastly thought I'd post an update on Quakers & Quilts. I got really tired of this piece and was trudging through it with a grumpy attitude...as in 'why did I ever decide to stitch this??'.  This week though I finally reached the point where I can see the end is getting near - I just have some more on the right side to do - one more quilt block and a little bit of the upper section.  I'm probably about 85% done.  Hallelujah!!   I'm starting to anticipate a happy dance!  I've got the energy going now  and working hard to finish this up quickly. I'm so anxious to start some new stuff but I am keeping to my rule of finishing a WIP first.   It will be heavenly to have all this tedious backstitching and the half-stitches behind me!

"Quakers & Quilts" by Rosewood Manor

(why does it look good until you photograph it and then every wrinkle shows?!?!)

Be back soon I hope!  Thanks for dropping in............

Totally Tuesday............

This morning we had the most wonderful cool breezes – ahhhh. Have to enjoy it as very shortly the heat of summer will be here to stay and there won’t be much mercy on us until fall. I just wish it could stay this way awhile longer!  My husband Dave and I celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary at the end of April – and coincidentally by reading Vonna’s blog I found out we share the same anniversary. I got my husband an iPad that he had been wanting and he gifted me with new wedding rings! We reset the diamond from my original yellow-gold wedding set into a new white-gold setting and also reset an anniversary band I had into white gold as well - that one is still at the jewelers as they had to order the setting. I'd never been able to wear the anniversary band with my former ring set as they were curved.    I still love my original wedding set and of course it has sentimental value so I kept it and we put a gorgeous sapphire in where the center diamond was before. I’m loving wearing my new rings while sitting on the couch reading blogs with the iPad of course. :)

I’m still reveling in the fact that Star Jones got kicked off of Celebrity Apprentice this week  LOL. DH and I have been waiting and hoping for that. It sure is crazy some of the wacky stuff we watch on TV these days – I never thought I would be interested in a bunch of crab fisherman in Alaska and loggers in Maine  either but I find myself watching the craziest stuff these days!

I recently got an order from Amy’s “Down Sunshine Lane” – the rest of the supplies I needed for kitting up Lizzie Kate’s Christmas Rules & Halloween Rules. I haven’t started them yet but hopefully soon. I was so pleased with the lightening-quick shipping of my order from Amy too – it was great having it arrive at my door in just a couple of days. Even though I have an LNS in my metropolitan area, it does take a couple of hours for me to drive there, shop, and drive home again – about the only time I have to go is Saturday and it takes up a chunk of my weekend.  So I still shop online some for the convenience and time-saving.  I'd love to make the Halloween Rules twice – once for me and once for a friend who loves Halloween but we’ll see.  I’ll be lucky if I get it done once let alone twice!

I’ve been diligently pushing forward on some projects of course. I started this king-sized quilt about 2 years ago – it’s a reproduction of an antique quilt that Moda Fabrics put out . The colors are subtle but I really love it – it just has so many pieces! I was cutting and sewing forEVER it seemed and no wonder – I counted it all up and the quilt has almost 1500 pieces in it! I finally reached the point of laying it out as you can see here – I’ve got my rows all stacked and numbered now so I can start sewing the blocks into rows and then the rows into the final quilt. I could’ve kicked myself as when I laid it all out I discovered I made like 16 extra blocks somehow – I miscalculated something when converting the pattern to king-sized. Sigh............... It’s funny as I just happened to fall in love with this quilt when I saw a model of it – and we have since redecorated our bedroom in shades of browns, mochas and aqua so that the quilt should fit in perfectly someday. It’s been a long haul so far but this quilt will not defeat me!

I had to break away from the big quilt this week as it was time again to make another baby quilt. My husband’s niece had a little boy not long ago and I’ve made quilts for all the new generation babies in the family so I’ve got to get this done in the next month in time to make the christening in June. I have this darling pattern called “Dog Daze” and so there will be 9 dog faces in this quilt. Here is the work in progress – trust me it’ll be much easier to recognize the dogs when they get their eyes and noses. Luckily I found a nice collection of cheerful fabrics at the quilt store on Friday and I got this far over the weekend – everything is cut out and ready to start sewing. I’m pretty happy with it so far and for once I picked something fairly quick and easy!

Meanwhile back on the stitching front.......I’m trying hard to finish up this little project by Ewe Eye & Friends called Kona Coast. It hasn’t been my all time favorite project, but it was one of those ‘self obligated’ projects – ever have those? I’ve had this little pattern probably a dozen years or more – the model used to hang in a local LNS and I always liked it so promised myself I would stitch it someday. For some reason once I make a stitching or quilting commitment I have to see it through. The shop has long since closed so I wanted to do this kind of to remember the place. They used to have an annual retreat in Hawaii and I believe EE& F designed this for one of their retreats as it has “Kona, Hawaii’ and ‘1994’ on the pattern. I will be leaving those out. I just have this endless sand at the bottom to get through and the borders and I can put this in the ‘finished’ column. I’ve been toying with the idea of making it into a tote bag.....but then again maybe I’ll just watch for a good framing coupon at Michael’s. I don’t take most of my things there but this one is just small and not something that I want to spend a lot of money to frame.

Quakers & Quilts has been coming along as well – this project and I have a love/hate relationship! I love how it looks but I am really REALLY tired of stitching it. Those quilt motifs along the bottom take a long time and there is so much backstitching – it reminds me of my days of stitching Paula Vaughan patterns – you’d think you were almost done once you got the cross-stitching completed then you’d spend a couple weeks backstitching. Aaarrgghhhh! I’m about two-thirds done so hoping I can knock this off the list maybe over the next month or so. I have the Quaker Diamonds pattern also by Rosewood Manor patterns but now that I look at the chart I see it uses all the same colors as Quakers & Quilts. I guess I could convert it to something different but right now I've lost my desire to stitch it. There are just those other hundreds of patterns in my cabinets that need my attention more!

My stitching companions Abby and Buster celebrated their birthdays last week. Buster is officially 8 and Abby about 7.  They had a great day enjoying their special chewies and new toys of course. My babies are getting older sniff sniff.........which reminds me they still don’t have the stitched Christmas stockings I thought I’d make years back........!

I’m also secretly making plans for some good giveaways this summer – I’m coming up on a significant blogiversary so making some special items and and gathering other gifties.....please stay tuned over the next couple of months!

Come visit and see my framing!

Well last week really got away from me, I intended to post these earlier but just getting time to do it tonite. I am not the best photographer but I did the best I could....I have museum glass put on my 'major' pieces so it makes them harder to photograph. I'm so happy with how these turned out. My 'English Sampler' below was framed with a gold filet and a backing behind the piece so that the cutwork would show. The framer used a linen filler (not sure if that's the right word) but it surrounds the sampler and it has about an inch of 'depth' to it. The glass is only over the needlework part and not the surrounding areas. This is a big piece - it's 28" long and I had to wait 3 months to get it back but finally the bare spot in my little sampler grouping is filled! I do have lots of other stitched pieces around my house but I've been trying to make this group just samplers.

(Click for a better view)

' English Sampler' from Treasures in Needlework Magazine

Stitched on 34-ct Legacy Linen in "Cafe Au Lait' with Soie D'Alger silks

The other piece I picked up was 'Sampler Lady' by Little House Needleworks. For her I picked out a rustic style frame and she is now hanging in my sewing/stitching room. I still love this design and I've started on LHN's "My Needle's Work" as sort of a companion piece.

I've been stitching on all sorts of projects.....I finally felt like I had made enough progress to post another update on Quakers & Quilts. I think I've made it to the one-third milepost now. I started out doing the quilts along the bottom and they are a lot of stitching and back-stitching so I was kind of burnt out on this project and took a break from it for awhile. I'm finding the upper portion goes a lot faster thankfully!


Are any of you "Deadliest Catch" fans? I was so sad when Captain Phil Harris had his stroke in January and died in February. It's been hard watching the show the last few episodes and seeing him pass away - it's like he died all over again. He was my favorite person on the show - you could tell he was pretty much the same guy on and off the camera. I think that's why people liked him so much - he told it like it is LOL. I work for a large international corporation where there are a lot of politics and a "process" for everything! My co-workers and I always say Phil never would've lasted a week putting up with the corporate world. Now when the next piece of corporate nonsense descends on us we laugh and say "What would Phil do?" The show just won't be the same without him next season. RIP Captain Phil!

Thank you so much for stopping by to visit. I truly enjoy each and every comment!

Dusting off the cobwebs - welcome 2010!

Yes I had to get the broom out and clean up around here – update the background and figure out what I’ve been doing the last 2+ months. I had a work crisis that started last November and took up a huge amount of my time (and sanity) up until the middle of December when I went out on vacation/holiday/unpaid furlough for a total of a month! It was WONDERFUL excepting that I had to work an hour or two each day I was on vacation or holiday. During a week of unpaid furlough the first week of January (cost cutting measure by the company) the company was not allowed to call me for anything so not being paid for one week didn’t faze me a bit – it was worth the peace of mind!

A month away from the office is the longest break I’ve had in 25 years and I took full advantage of it. There were Christmas preparations and shopping and baking of cookies. DH and I had a nice Christmas and New Years and celebrated some family birthdays as well along the way. DH surprised me with a lovely amethyst-pendant necklace for Christmas which I love. I did a lot of sewing after the holidays….I rested…I watched DVD’s…I started reading a biography of Andrew Jackson…..I spent some gift certificates….I went to see ‘Young Victoria’ at the movie theatre….I cleaned my sewing room and generally had a lovely time! I really didn’t stitch all that much as I tend to have trouble with my hands in the winter and didn’t want a repeat of last January’s arthritis flare-up.

Drum roll please……….I finished several quilt tops ready to go the long-arm quilter! A few of them had been sitting almost done for some years so I got them out and finished up the borders or whatever needed doing, made up the backings and bindings for all of them and they are hanging neatly on hangers until I start sending them out to be quilted.


I no longer want to attempt machine-quilting my own quilts unless they’re small things. The last one I did took me forever. I would rather pay the money for someone else to do them - they look better and I can spend my limited time on something I enjoy more. My recently finished tops are below - it's hard to photograph quilts - either they need to be hung up, on a bed, or you need someone with arms the size of Michael Jordan to hold them for you! I laid all these on my guest bed to photograph them.

This scrappy nine-patch below resulted from a year’s worth of exchanging nine-patch blocks with friends. I really like how it turned out and it’s destined for the bed in the guest bedroom.

Next up is an applique Christmas quilt whose applique work I did some years back but never got around to putting on the borders. This design is called “Christmas Memories”: and it was published some years ago by Barb & Alma at Blackbird Designs. I hope to send them a photo of the finished quilt once it’s quilted. I had forgotten how BIG this quilt is – it’s queen sized but it should look nice hanging on the red accent wall in the family room. Sometimes I can’t believe I actually did all that hand applique! I love the border fabric.

Next we have a flannel redwork quilt that was started many years ago. I don’t know why I never got around to finishing it. The redwork embroidery doesn't show up real well in the photograph but they are all animal-themed weather vanes from a book by a local quilt-store owner. I made up my own block with the dog outline to represent the Sheltie we used to have named Elvis. He died 6 years ago and he was so dear to my husband and I maybe that’s why I put the quilt away for awhile. Anyway, it is going to get quilted and displayed finally this year!

The quilt below is a design called "Radio Flyer". It's by Carrie Nelson of Rosie’s Quilts and “Schnibbles” fame. I started it a few years ago but I must say it was not fun to make – a lot of work and too many seams to match up. It was made from a Moda fabric collection but I'm not liking the fabrics as much as I did when I purchased them a few years back. But….at least it’s done.

This last top below ("Jane Street") I had already finished last year but I needed to get a backing & binding together for it which I finally did. I love the feminine colors and it should go nicely in my aqua & pink sewing room.

What thrills me the most is I have my list of WIP/UFO quilting projects down to FOUR! A few years ago I had about 20. Two of the four left I just started last year so that’s not bad, and another one is a Christmas wall-quilt that I am hand-quilting. I’m about 70% done with the quilting on it so hope to have it finished soon. I vow from here on that I am not having more than THREE quilting projects going at any one time. I hate having stacks of UFO’s and WIPs around – it stresses me out and makes me feel guilty.

On the stitching front, I am almost done with my 'English Sampler' that I started FIVE years ago when I took at class for it at Attic Needlework. I had planned to finish it in 2008 and then 2009….and well…here it is 2010 but I’ve already stitched in the month and year of completion so it WILL be done this month no matter what! I am just finishing up the lacis work which is slow going for me and not very enjoyable. I hope to post finished photos later this month.

I’ve picked up my Plymouth Sampler again. I never really got going on it very well last year – it seemed that top border would NEVER get done. Once I got past that things seemed to go a lot better and I’m enjoying it now. My WIP/UFO list of stitching projects is much larger than I wish it was – I’ve got 11 things going and that is too many. Unfortunately, most of them are big projects so I can’t expect many finishes anytime soon. I did work on Quakers & Quilts some in December and this is where I’m at so far.

I haven’t picked it up in a month but hope to get back to it next week. I didn’t do any new holiday starts – just didn’t want to add another project to the WIP basket! Not that I don’t have dozens and dozens of charts I’d love to stitch….but we’ll see. I’d like to have a finish before I start anything new.

I’m still trying to get around to everyone’s blog updates. I finally got everyone set up to 'follow' which took me awhile as I read about 130 blogs! I’ve seen so many wonderful Christmas ornaments over the last month and enjoyed seeing some of your “stitchers year in review”. I worked hard all year but didn’t have as many finishes as a lot of you! I’m looking forward to a better year than last – 2009 wasn’t terrible but it had its stressful times and I am hoping for a more positive year ahead. I wish good health, happiness, and many finishes for all of you in 2010! I am thankful to be a part of this online community of friends sharing the things we love.

24 and there's so much more........!

Ahhh.....I can recall one of my best college buddies saying that on his birthday - unfortunately it was a few decades ago! Yes folks, I must admit I'm a LONG way past 24 but hey I'm still here and tomorrow is my birthday so I'm celebrating. I don't know where all those years went that's for sure - you ever look back on your life and wonder where did that person you used to be go? I'm grateful for all I've had in life - lots of wonderful experiences, family and friends. I'm grateful I have passions like stitching and quilting in my life and I'm able to share it with people I've never even met like you! I appreciate you coming by and I love reading all of your blogs which inspire me every day. For today I won't look for any more wrinkles, get depressed about my weight or worry about getting older - I will enjoy the present and all its blessings. :)

I picked up a few new things from market - not much as we continue having employment issues in our household since May. However, you can't be good all the time, right? I still have some birthday discounts from some online stores I can use this month. I'm making a couple of short lists for those as I hate to waste the discounts. I'm anxious to pick up "With My Needle" since The Goode Huswife has issued it as a single pattern now. It's a must-have for me - go see Nicole's progress on hers- wonderful colors!

I picked up Quaker Diamonds from Rosewood Manor - I LOVE this pattern - and the Sarah Woodham reproduction sampler from Teresa at Shakespeare's Peddler. This is a gorgeous antique sampler Teresa has reproduced. "It's Cold Outside" from Blue Ribbon Designs is not new from this market but I've been wanting it awhile so picked it up with some of the supplies to stitch it. I've had this Quakers & Quilts pattern below for some months now but I finally splurged on the silks and fabric. The pattern calls for Valdani varigated threads which are cute, but I don't really want to start a stash of Valdani. I would rather invest in silks that I use more regularly - not to mention I wanted to stitch this on a smaller count of linen than what was called for. My LNS had done a conversion from the Valdani to Belle Soie which I altered a bit to my own taste. Don't the colors look luscious? I plan on stitching on Lakeside Linen's 40-ct Vintage Bisque. I can't wait to get started! If there are any of you that would like to stitch along I would love some company to share progress with. Another great thing is the new pattern from Rosewood Manor I just bought uses the same colors so I will get dual use out of a lot of my silk investment.
Here finally is an update on My Quaker Lady. She didn't get much attention last month while I was finishing up Beatrix Potter but she is fun stitch. I now have to buy the coordinating Gentleman Quaker of course. How's a girl supposed to resist a coordinating pattern?? I'm also waiting on my order of the latest special edition Gingher scissors below - "Elena". I got them from Mike & Carol's store (Carol of Garden of Stitches). They have the best price around for these and I've gotten great service always from them. Then I saw the new "Mia" edition at JoAnn's yesterday so I have to take my coupon up there this weekend and pick them up too. I don't care much for the plaid on the Mia scissors but I collect them so I must have them anyway!

Thanks for stopping by!