Drive-by post.......

I'm off in the morning for a week roaming the Midwest as we visit both my hubby's family and mine.   Things have been hectic around the Willow Tree household, but I wanted to do a quick post before I left.

Since I wasn't with my mom on Mother's Day, we'll be celebrating when I see her next week.  Mom loves pansies and I found this free chart online that I stitched up for her and mounted in a box.    I added a little more fill in around the edges so that the entire area was filled with stitches.  I hope Mom likes it!

I also finished a little patriotic small - I've been inspired by so many great smalls I've seen on your blogs -  especially those darling baskets of themed smalls that Carol from Stitching Dreams does - I've started my own patriotic collection.   This is "Liberty House" from Ewe & Eye & Friends.  I found it on eBay after looking for a few months since it's out of print.  I changed the year and put 1776 instead of 2012 - it seemed more appropriate.    I've pulled several patriotic designs from my stash and will be working from that pile as I can. Maybe by the end of summer I'll have enough for a bowlful!

Thanks to tips from Cathy over at With Needle & Thread, I'm excited to be visiting Stitchville USA while on my trip. It's in the suburbs of Minneapolis and only 11 miles from where I'll be visiting for a couple days on our journey.  Lucky for me they're open on Sunday afternoons since that was really the only time I had available.  It's been a long time since I was able to visit a different stitching shop so I'm really looking forward to it - expect some stash photos when I get back!

Thanks for dropping by friends...can you believe it's June already and the year is almost HALF OVER?!

Finally - my May WIPocolypse update

Can't believe it's almost the middle of May already!  Seems like I've been stitching along but I don't have a whole lot to share.   I stitched a little more on American Sampler but not enough that I feel like taking new photos so I'll save an update on that for next month.   I've also been working on putting the binding on 2 quilts that I had quilted so I need to finish those up and get some photos taken. Those are 2 big things off of my WIP list!

We had an absolutely wonderful time in Maui....we didn't want to come home!   The weather was great and the resort was lovely.   We stayed in the same Wailea area where we had visited about 10 years ago, but at a different hotel this time.   Other than a bit of sunburn the first day (not enough sunscreen - note to self for next time!), and losing my prescription sunglasses in a big wave (next time put them on a cord!), all was great.  We ran into someone from the Dog the Bounty Hunter show in one of the hotel pools...not Dog himself but someone else on the show.   It was funny as we had been joking on the way about maybe seeing Dog.    Here's the views from our hotel room:

I did finish up the April selection for the 2012 Year of Small blog.  This is "Tisket a Tasket" from Little by Little Designs. I made it into a standing easel.  It was hard finding some fabric to go with the funky colors in this piece but luckily I had something in my stash that worked. 

I also finished up my May ornament, the companion piece to Merry Skater from last month.  This is LHN's "Happy Skater" from the 2011 JCS ornament issue.    I need to do the finishing on both of these...I got some cording made for the hangers but that's as far as I've gotten.  I think I want to do a beaded edge on these ornies which means I need to order some more beads.  The LNS always seems to be out of red or green beads....grrrr.

Last night I started on an old EEF piece....this is "Liberty House".  I've wanted this pattern awhile and when I saw Faye's finish on her blog last summer I had to find it.  I was able to get it off of eBay a few months later and it was kitted up even so I was thrilled.   My hope is to have a small basket of patriotic smalls sometime this summer so this will be the first.

It's supposed to hit 105 this week in Phoenix - ack!   I'm not mentally prepared for the heat yet...hopefully it won't last more than a day or two and then go back down a bit.

A few things to share.........

Got a few things to share with you before I'm off to Hawaii on Monday.   How is it that even going on vacation is sort of work....at least until you get there. There's shopping for clothes and things you need....laundry...packing.....getting the dogs ready to go to the dog resort....and a busy week at work getting things transitioned off to coworkers while I'm gone.  I'll be glad when those wheels lift off the runway!

I was able to complete 2 little finishes last week.   This is from the 2012 Year of Smalls group and it's the January project - Little House Needleworks "Poinsettia House".   I started it in mid-March as I only joined the group about mid-January and so started out right away with the February project.   This seemed to be quite a lot of stitching - that house particularly!   It was my "Celebrity Apprentice" project that I would work on Sunday nights while DH and watched the show.  (We love to diss the celebrities LOL.   Some of them seem to be real wackos!)   I changed the words from "Poinsettia House" to "Tis the Season" and added a few beads.  I guess it'll sit in the framing pile for awhile now....I've been spending a lot on framing and quilting lately so taking a break for a few months.

Little House Needleworks "Poinsettia House"

stitched on 36-ct LL Vintage Examplar with Crescent Colours

I've been so busy this month I was getting bummed about not getting an ornament stitched....on Tuesday I started a LHN one and it was such a quick stitch I finished it on Weds evening. So glad!  Now I can keep to my one-a-month schedule.    I plan on stitching the companion piece (Happy Skater from the 2012 JCS issue) to go with it and then I'll finish them both into ornaments.  This was just a totally fun stitch!

Little House Needleworks "Merry Skater" - 2010 Ornament Series

stitched on 32-ct R&R 18th Century Stone with DMC

I did get my little BBD piece finished into a pincushion....I have a lovely piece of plum colored wool on the back and it's filled with crushed walnut shells. It's now sitting with all the rest of my pincushions.

And speaking of framing...this is partly why I need to take a break.  I picked up another framed piece below last Saturday from the LNS.     It's been patiently waiting its turn for about 3-4 years now.   This was a round robin project that was done with a small online group I was in for a few years.  We aren't together anymore and sadly one of our members passed away a couple of years ago.  I don't know what most of the others are doing but assume they are still stitching.  Many of you may read Roberta's blog, she was also in our group and stitched on this piece.  She's only other member I know of that is currently blogging.    I don't  have hardly any blue in my house but once we tried this frame it was perfect for the piece so I went with it.  I'll hang it in one of my hallways once I figure out a place -  it will remind me of some fun times stitching in our little group.   When we stitched this piece we stitched all the squares to be in the same direction - the original pattern has every other row facing a different direction but I planned on hanging my piece and wanted them all facing 'up'. 

"Sampler Gameboard" by The Drawn Thread

Stitched on 32-ct lambswool with DMC

That's all for me for a bit....I'm not taking any stitching with me on my trip. I downloaded a couple movies and some books to my Kindle and will spend some time doing that instead. I don't like stitching on planes anymore because I have to wear readers on top of my regular glasses and it looks rather nerd-ish in public!  

April WIPocolypse update -Willow Tree Stitcher

Now that I'm part of the WIPocolypse I see that moon starting to get full each month and feel like I better speed up my stitching!  The deadlines seem to come by faster every month.

I've been keeping busy of course.  Somehow I don't seem to get in those stitching slumps some of you do...I may not get as much done as a lot of people but I've lost not a bit of the desire to stitch every day as much as time permits.   I've held myself back from starting too many new things this year other than my monthly ornament I promised myself and the 2012 Year of Smalls projects.

I finished up stitching the March 'smalls' project - have all the materials laid out to make this into a pincushion which hopefully will get done this week.   I loved finally finding a project I could stitch on this pinkish linen!  I love almost anything pink  :).

Blackbird Designs Reward of Merit - "Pins & Needles"

stitched with overdyed cottons on LL "Vintage Bittersweet"

Then I finally got around to finishing up this little patriotic piece....last year when the 10th anniversary of 9-11 happened I felt guilty this had been in my stash almost 10 years and not been stitched!!  It is a BBD pattern that I added the commemorative date to as I saw a similar model in my LNS.   I'm debating whether to frame it or make it into a hanging pinkeep-style finish. It's small - only about 8" by 3" because I stitched it on 40-ct.  This wasn't my most favorite piece to stitch...I was having issues seeing it on the top half...and I was bored with it.  Once I reached about 60% done though I got a second wind like a sprinter heading for the finish line  - I picked up speed and got the rest done in 3 evenings! (okay..no laughing...that's fast for me!)

   Blackbird Designs "Home of the Brave"

stitched on 40-ct something with Gloriana silks

Last but not least, I am making continued progress with American Sampler .I thought I would first show you a photo where I left off about 3 years ago, before I picked it up this past January to work on for the 2012 WIPocolypse.

pre-January 2012 (geez note the date I took the photo- January 2009!)

Here's how it looks today. I love the house which is one of the features that really attracted me to this sampler.  Who wouldn't want to live in such a pretty house??   It had a lot of over-1 stitching though for all the doors and windows.  I'm almost down to the flower vase on the right border which will be exciting.  My queen stitching is picking up speed a bit now that I'm regularly working on this piece.  There will be a miniature "George & Martha" on the grass by the house soon...at least that's what I'm calling the couple since they resemble George & Martha Washington and this is after all the "American Sampler".  Sorry these are all colored slightly differently - so hard to get accurate photos of how it looks!

I'm getting ready to go on vacation in about 10 days...lots to do getting ready and I haven't even started my April ornament or April smalls project.  I'm falling behind but they'll keep.     Last night I bought a new toy .....a Kindle Fire.  So far I just love it!    We have so many gadgets at our house already...multiple networked computers and laptops, then we have our work laptops because we work at home most of the time, various iPods, smart phones and my husband's iPad.  He was wanting me to get an iPad also but I wanted something smaller I could carry in my purse.    Maybe I'll actually be able to fit in some reading now...I've downloaded some free classics so far but need to go out and do some browsing for some good books to read.   What is also a great feature is being able to load my stitching lists - I'm an obsessed list-maker.  I keep an inventory of all my patterns, all my threads, linens, and 'wish list'.     Maybe having these with while shopping will stop me from buying duplicate patterns!  I've done that way too many times.........

Last night was the season premiere of Deadliest Catch Season 8.....I'm a big fan having watched it for many years.....so I was parked in front of the big screen TV stitching on LHN Poinsettia House and glad my show is back.   Life is good!

It's not Mega Millions but we have two winners! (apdickens - where are you?)

Out of 71 nice bloggers who left a comment, the Random Number Generator picked #11 and #43 which corresponds to Jackie of Jackie Stitches and "apdickens".  Jackie I have sent you an email.    'AP'  - you left no email address nor do you have a blog or email address listed in your profile.  Please contact me so I can get this out to you - my email address is in my profile if you click on it at the right.  If I don't hear back from you within a week I'll draw a substitute name. 

A big thank  you to all who entered and sorry everyone couldn't win!   I didn't win the Mega Millions jackpot tonight either - boo hoo hoo - it's back to work on Monday I guess!

Needlebooks to giveaway - 211 Followers - thank you!!

I wanted to do a giveaway the end of February when I reached 200 followers but I'm late with getting it done.   Anyhow.....better late than never as they say.  Thanks to so many of you for being followers!  It means so much to me to have people who read my blog and kindred spirits with whom I can share my love of stitching and quilting!

I was trying to think of what I could stitch for a giveaway and I decided to use two Shepherd's Bush pieces I stitched a long time ago.  I've made them into needlebooks and I hope they find good homes!

I don't know if these patterns are even in print anymore...I believe they were called "Bluebells" and "Amaranth".   Each one of these is 4" x 5" with a ribbon-tie closure and some wool felt inside.   One is coral and light green, and the other one is blue.

You don't have to be a follower or do anything special - just leave a comment on this post and I will draw 2 names on Friday evening March 30th.   (yes I will mail outside the U.S. so anyone can enter).   Good luck everyone!

Bit by bit....some framing and progress......

Well it's sort of dreary Monday here in Phoenix this morning.  That's rare for us but a storm moved in over the weekend and we had rain and hail yesterday.  It's pretty weird having hail in March here!  We actually had to go out between storms and get on a ladder to clear out some of the gutters that were overflowing in front of the house.  Guess we should be doing that when it's not raining but we didn't realize there was so much tree debris built up in them. All in all though it was a good day for staying in and getting things done around the house - including stitching of course! 

I picked up a few framed Lizzie-Kate  pieces on Thursday night....I always put museum glass on my pieces but it makes it hard to photograph them.   "Dog Rules" is getting mailed out tomorrow to a nephew in Colorado - I hope they like it!  I put a sort of rustic frame on it which I think should go well in their home.    The little piece in the pink frame is going to be hanging in my sewing room/office.  I found the pre-made frame from Victoria Sampler at the LNS and it fit the piece just right so was a little cheaper than getting a custom frame made. I like the buttons on the corners - fits right in with my sewing theme.  :)

"Dog Lessons for People" by Lizzie Kate

"Life's A Stitch" by Lizzie Kate

I've finished up my March ornament this weekend - yeah!   This is from Ursula Michael's Design...I don't know what year it came out in the JCS Ornament issue as it's in my '10th Anniversary Collection" magazine.  I stitched this ornament for an exchange some years ago on the old SBEBB group and always wanted it for myself.  I backed it with some vintage-looking Christmas fabric and love it.

"Holiday Sled" by Ursula Michaels

JCS 10th Anniversary Ornament Magazine

I've having a great time stitching an ornament per month and already completed 4 this year. I've kitted up LHN's "Merry Skater" and the companion piece "Happy Skater" for April. I'm anxious to start them but need to work on my Year of Smalls projects.  I haven't gotten the March one by Blackbird Designs started yet (better hurry!) but I'm trying to catch up with the January selection - the house is a lot of stitching.  I'm hoping once I get the house done I can finish up the rest a little faster. 

"Poinsettia House" - Little House Needleworks

Here and there I've been picking up a little stash....I've got "ornament fever" now and seem to be accumulating way more patterns than I have time to stitch! (as usual....)   When I picked up my framing last week another pattern sitting up by the register called to me loudly and then I saw the cutest tiny little hornbook (no photo)  that was a "must have".  I now have to go through my patterns and find an ornament pattern that will fit on it but I'm sure I'll find something.  Milady's Needle had some kits but they were $25 so I just bought the hornbook by itself ($12)  and will find my own pattern to stitch for it.   So I actually SAVED money this way, right??

Recent stash........

I'm plodding along on American Sampler...working on the house in the middle of the sampler.  There's a thread that is used for filling in the background behind the verses that wasn't showing up well on my light-colored fabric.  I ended up having to order a couple more colors of silk that I hope will work.....now you know you just can't go and order 2 skeins of thread from a website right?  So I added in a few other things....I'll be watching the mailbox anxiously this week for sure!

I hope your week is a good one and you find a few moments to enjoy something you love........ 
               

Jeanne's March WIPocolypse Update

Don't you love the photo of Ireland in my header?   Oh just imagine living in a cute little rowhouse like that with lace curtains. :)   I can almost smell the fresh clean air after the rain! 

Things have been hopping around my house lately - visitors from out of state, lots of work issues and the usual stuff.  Can't believe it's time again for a WIPocolypse update!   I've been looking online at the new things from Market but nothing has really blown my socks off (which I'm secretly glad about).  Wonder if I'm starting to reach some sort of stash threshold?  Probably not...I'm sure in no time at all I'll have another episode of internet shopping!  My wish list is never empty that's for sure.

Here's my progress on American Sampler...I'm finally getting 'in the groove' on this old project. It took me some time to re-orient myself back in January  after letting it sit a few years...some of my threads had been pulled out for other projects, I had changed some threads and not written it down (note to self:  never do that again!), I had to repurchase the chart, etc etc.  However, things are going well now....I made progress this month with the border on the right  - adding another queen-stitch carnation and some smaller flowers, finished the top verse and got a good start on the house.  I love the house and am enjoying stitching it.   The only thing is I wish I had picked a darker fabric ......back when I took a class for this project (circa 2006) the shop brought in a selection of fabric cuts and I just picked one and went with it.  However, there are parts stitched in white like the railing on the top of the house that aren't showing up well on my linen....oh well - I'm sure not starting over so will have to live with it.

I also am trying to finish up my March ornament - I'm close - still working on the darn backstitching.  This ornament is taking awhile....it's one of those projects that doesn't look at all good until you get all the stitching and backstitching done.   Lots of half-stitches, metallic fibers, etc. I stitched this years ago for a gift - I love it but I'll also be glad when I'm done with it. 

I'm working on a little LHN project too - Poinsettia House for the 2012 Year of Smalls blog.  This was the January project but I'm just now getting time for it.   I'm stitching the house in overdyes and not doing it one-stitch-at-a-time.....hoping to avoid an excessively  'stripey' look but it's not working out entirely.  I love overdyes for lettering and small motifs but on big blocks of stitching I don't like the striped effect you sometimes get.

Two weeks ago I was able to get away for a weekend quilting retreat which was wonderful for the soul.   I don't have any big finishes to show you...I worked on lots of different things. I did complete a little top that I'm going to put on my dining room table this fall - it's all apple fabrics I collected years ago (not sure why but I was in an apple-mood apparently).  I still need to do the quilting and binding.  Unfortunately it barely made a dent in the apple fabrics!  That's the trouble when you've collected quilting fabric for almost 20 years  - using it up is almost impossible.  You make something and then you have loads of leftovers and scraps that you can't just throw away...the stuff multiplies like rabbits!  Also pictured is a wool folk-art heart - I saw this in a vendor booth at some show a few years ago so finally getting it made...it's going to be a pillow soon.  It's all done with buttonhole stitching.  

Lastly, I got started on making some padded bags to store my stitched pieces in - I have lots of seasonal things that aren't always on display and have been stacked on the floor of my guest room closet.  I've cleared a shelf in an armoire I have - my goal is to be able to stack all these projects there in bags.  I hate wrapping them up in tissue paper all the time. It's a good way to use up excess fabric too - each one has a Velcro flap and a place for a label on the front. I got 3 done at the retreat but still need about 10 more.  They're easy and fairly quick to do.

Well now you know what I've been up to.   I'm  anxiously waiting on 2 of my quilts to come back from the machine-quilter and then I'll have lots of binding to do on them.  When I pick them up I have 2 more quilt tops to drop off and then my backlog of quilt tops will be gone!  For years I've had tops hanging in the closets....it's a great feeling to be getting caught up.  I recently gathered all my finished quilts together in one place and my husband could not believe I had that many.   I wish I had more room for displaying them but maybe someday...in the meantime they keep each other company in the closet LOL.

Thank you for taking time out of your busy day to stop by and read my blog - so many of you are doing fantastic things, I only wish I could do all your projects!

Boxes for needlework at Hallmark (and Amazon too!)

P.S.  (3-3-12)  I bought another larger one today and got the brand name this time -"Cottage Garden"  I Googled the brand and found that many of them are carried on Amazon.com.       Here is a link:

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dgarden&field-keywords=%22cottage+garden%22+boxes

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Hey readers just wanted to tip you off to some cool boxes I found at my Hallmark store yesterday. I don't know if all the Hallmark stores have these or not but I was excited to find them.   I was in picking up some birthday cards and my store has a big display of all sorts of boxes that can be used for needlework.  They had round ones in cream, black, and wood grain.  In fact I have seen the same cream and black ones in my LNS, I think Shepherd's Bush has charted some designs that fit them. They are really nicely made.  There are a variety of wood grain rectangular boxes in different sizes - the larger ones contain a music box as well. They also had some smaller heart-shaped ones.  Each box is lined and comes with a window in the hinged lid into which you can insert your mounted needlework. I tested it out by adding a piece of matboard covered with padding and linen and there is plenty of room. (the boxes come with a glass insert which you can leave in or take out).

I bought a small one (about 3.5 X 4.5") for $12.95.  I plan on buying more in various sizes for gifts.  As you probably already know, sometimes buying boxes from the needlework accessory companies can be pretty pricey.  While these aren't exactly cheap they are reasonably priced I think.   

Here's a photo of the store display I took with my cell phone and a closeup of the one  I purchased.

That's all for today....I had a great time at my quilting weekend but no time to do further updates today.

WIPocolypse 2012 - February update

Well I'm a couple of days late I think but that's okay.   I've still only worked on one of my WIPocolypse projects, the American Sampler. I got a little further along.  I unrolled it from the scroll bars to photograph and discovered I didn't finish a little flower along the top way back when I stitched that part a few years ago - oops!  I finished the two trees in the middle, got most of the column stitched on the left side of the center, and did one more line of the over-1 verse.  I almost finished the lavender queen-stitch flower but I need to get one more shade of lavender thread to fill in 4 stitches and that requires a trip to the LNS.  The pattern calls for 3 shades of lavender but when stitching you couldn't tell the 'medium' much from the 'light' so I am altering a bit. 

I have a couple small finishes this week.   This is from one of those Just Another Button Co pincushion kits.  It's called "Stuck on You".  I took it with me to my monthly meeting with quilting friends and did the whole thing in about 2 hours.    My pincushion collection keeps growing but I can't help myself. I think it came out really cute and perfect for February.  The bottom box portion comes with the kit but it seems to be from those Whitman's little candy packs they have out this month for about $1.29.  I bought a couple at the grocery store in case I ever want to make more of these as gifts.   The kit included wool roving to use to stuff the 'chocolates' and it was so much nicer to use than the polyester stuffing.  I may try that in future for stuffing other smalls, it seemed to be less lumpy.

And, I am ahead of schedule and finished my February ornament last night.  I might even get 2 stitched for February (!) but I probably should work more on my WIPs this month.  I love the peppermint tree in this one!

We just purchased some tickets for spring training baseball games for next month (spring is coming already!)  and tomorrow we're headed out with friends to a fair Phoenix is putting on to celebrate Arizona's 100th year of statehood.   Yes we're one of  the 'youngsters' when it comes to the 50 states - Arizona was the 48th state (last on the mainland) to join the union on February 14th, 1912.  Happy Birthday Arizona!

Thanks for stopping in to read my blog, I treasure each and every comment.  I have added about 100 more blogs to my list in Google, I just need to find more time to visit everyone!

Bravo Queen Elizabeth - 60 years!

Monday marks 60 years on the throne for Queen Elizabeth.   You have to admire her still doing her duties at 85!  I think she's in the running for breaking Queen Victoria's record as the longest-reigning British monarch.  Considering her mother the "Queen Mum" lived to be over a 100 she's got a good chance I'd say.  I've always been a bit of a royal watcher even from 'across the pond'.  Here's one of my favorite photos of the Queen - looking every bit the 'royal'.

HRH Queen Elizabeth II

Ascended to the throne Feb 6, 1952
   

In stitching news, I finished up "Dog Lessons" last week.  I hope to get it dropped off to be framed sometime this week - it's a gift for a family member.  I modified the colors a bit to add a third color to the lettering as I thought it needed a little more 'life'. 

"Dog Lessons for People" by Lizzie Kate. 

Stitched with cotton overdyes on 32-ct Light Mocha linen.

I posted the finish below on the '2012 Year of Smalls' blog already but here it is again.  This is 'Garden of Love", our February smalls project.  It stitched up really quick with a kit I purchased from Inspired Needle in Illinois. Luckily I had the perfect fabric in my quilting stash to make it into a little flange-style pillow.    In the photo is a teacup from a little china set I had as a child. I was thrilled a few years ago when my mom unearthed them in storage.   In it is sitting a 'red hat' bear my husband got me as a joke when I turned 50 a few years ago.  (what's so funny about turning 50 I really don't know!)    Anyway,  I swore I would never be a red hat lady but my little bear is kind of cute.
   

"Garden of Love" by Citrouille Designs

Stitched with Belle Soie Silks on 36-ct LL linen

I'm working on my February ornament which is a LHN pattern this time, and I'm almost done with the stitching part.    I'm frantically trying to make some progress on American Sampler because it's almost time again for  a WIPocolypse update!  Didn't we just do that??

Wow - I have reached 200 followers - thank you so much friends!  I will have a giveaway a little later this month to celebrate, but I need a little time to get my act together.  Stay tuned.............