Summer Queen-- Almost Done!

As promised , I worked on my Summer Queen. I have been battling a virus, and when I felt well enough to actually stitch I decided it was a great time to do so.  I discovered, quite happily, that I had very little left to do--pretty much only a bit of beading was left, in fact. Why had I put this away for so long? I literally hadn't worked on this piece in almost five years. Unacceptable!  Now that I have a lap stand, I found it MUCH EASIER than when I did the beading in hand, or with Q-Snaps alone.

I did drop a few bead cases full of lots of beads a few times and had to spend a fair amount of time picking them up. Sigh... I lost a nice beading needle, too, and hope I find it before someone's bare foot comes in contact with it.

I was able to slowly string one long strand of beads and attach them to the dress, but I have two strands left  to do after my bead order arrives. Somehow I ran out of the necessary colors!  This process of stringing them took me some time as I don't have the cool beading accessories that I perhaps should have at my disposal. So be it.

I also had to redo some of the beads I'd done on the head so long ago. I found out I'd actually started this piece in the summer of 2003.

Here it is:

Bead Strand Added

Full View with One Bead Strand Attached

Thanks so much for stopping by today.

Who Me? A Stitching Goal?

I started Mirabilia's Summer Queen long ago. I think it was perhaps in 2002. I haven't worked on this piece in many years, and I think it's time to do so. Truly I don't have much left on this piece!  I do, however, have quite a bit of beading left to do.

I love the piece, and my goal is to finish her this year. There, I said it! I am not one to set a goal with stitching, but this one I have set. I have had to set goals in my professional life, so for me setting a goal sounds too much like work and not like a fun hobby. But truly, I must finish this piece at some point, right? It might as well be in 2015.

 I bought this pattern while on a trip with my mother and children back in the summer of 2001. We visited the quaint town of Solvang, California for a few days in August. If I look back now, I realize my kids were only 18 and 15 at the time.  This Danish-themed town features several fine needlework shops. It did at that time, anyway. I showed several patterns to my mom, who isn't a stitcher but loves pretty dresses, of course, and she selected Summer Queen.

Here she  was-- when I last tucked her into her needlework resting bag:

It's time to pull her out and get to work!

Fingertip Towels and Quaker Diamond Progress

I recently discovered some fingertip towels that I'd stitched for my mother years ago. It was fun to pull them out and use them this Christmas. The design was from a Leisure Arts magazine.

Quaker Diamonds is coming along. It's been fun working on this one!

I hope you're having a wonderful, stitchy day!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! 2014 flew by so quickly, and I would imagine this upcoming year will do the same thing. Isn't that what happens when we get older?

Our holiday season was saddened by the loss of two beloved pets, as I mentioned on my last post. It has been a tough adjustment as they were part of the family for so long a time.

The decorations around our home cheered us a bit, but I was glad to take them down and get things back to normal.

A few pictures of our home at Christmas time:

The Christmas tree cookie jar was a special gift from my children  when they were teens.

My cousins and auntie sent these flowers to my mom for Christmas--love!

Ornaments hanging from our tree in the front yard. I love these large orbs!

I've been stitching a bit on Quaker Diamonds. Here's a few photos of my progress that were taken last week, so some more recent ones are coming soon: 

Thanks for stopping by today!