An Update of Sorts

Oh my, so long since I have been here. I will share some of my finished pieces and WIPs at this time. Thanks for visiting me here despite my lack of posts. 

I started this blog in 2006 and moved to this address in 2011 after the old one was hacked. In the meantime, I have started sharing my stitching on Instagram and Facebook, thus the lack of visits to this blog. 

I do enjoy reading blogs, however, and I vow to return to that wonderful pasttime.

Here is one of my current WIPs.This is Yvonne LeClerq 1905 from Reflets de Soie.I am so enjoying this piece. It is being stitched on 32 count linen using DMC threads. 

Originally I had vowed to refrain from working on a labor intensive sampler  but I just could not resist this one.

This is my progress on Winter Quakers from Rosewood Manor. It is being stitched on 32 count fabric with the recommended fabric color called dwarf. I am using the called for Valdani threads. What a joy it is to work on this piece, and I do so as often as possible. 

This is Summer Breeze by Prairie Schooler that I worked on mostly at various stitching retreats and gatherings. I used DMC threads. I decided to finish it by using a simple poster hanger. I love seeing this in our home each day!  

It reminds me of my late mother as she loved summer. She also enjoyed reciting little poems about summer. 

This is Cottage from an older Cross Stitch and Country Crafts magazine. My husband and I framed it and gave it to one of my dearest cousins. She enjoys looking at it in her kitchen each day. 

Several years ago, I worked on many different weather projects. This is one I finished that represents 2020's weather in our city, starting with January 1st in the middle of the design. 

Here it is again, shown with another one I did that represents the same weather zone but starts with a summertime birthday. These projects were fun, and I ended up doing four of them in one year. The poster finish came in so handy, although I did have the other two framed as they were gifts. 

This was the first weather project I did, and it shows the weather here in 2019. It was designed by Stitchin' Mommy, purchased off of Etsy. 

Finally, this is a weather project I did that shows midwest weather for 2019.  On the bottom is Fractal Bookmark 705 from Cross Stitch Collectibles. I did shorten the length of the bookmark as I decided that would work for me. The bottom piece is stitched one over one on 28 count fabric. 

So there you have some of my recent WIPs and fully finished items. There are many more that will be shared down the road. 

Life has been busy & full of both happy moments and sad ones in the past few years. That is the nature of it, of course. 

Thanks for stopping by today. 

Welcome, Summer! A WIP and A New Season

I have been working on Sarah Braizear 1829 for a year now. I am so enjoying her!

Nonetheless, I decided to start two new pieces and I will share those here another day soon.

I have recently retired and am elated to have a new, more relaxed lifestyle.  I loved what I did, but I am now loving this new phase of life. The last month of work was very intense and busy, so it's been refreshing to unwind for the first few weeks of June.

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Each end of May and early June we await the blooming of the jacaranda trees in our area.  I took this photo while on a morning walk last week.  They are so wonderful to behold!

Here is a group of photos taken of Sarah B.  This represents the last few months' work.  I have done some satin stitching in the last few months which has been a nice change from the usual stitches. 

Thanks for stopping by today.

Happy Stitching,

Sue

Welcome, Spring!

Spring is a great time of year.  For me it is extra special this year as it is during this season I will retire from my job as a classroom teacher.

 I  do work through the end of May, but I am looking forward to a new, more relaxed lifestyle.  I will miss my job, I have no doubt of that. However,  I am hopeful that I will have lots more time to stitch!

I  have been working on Sarah B here and there since my last post.  Here are a few update photos of her. 

I have completed the border except for the satin stitches and filling in of some of the flowers.  It is great to be done with these 64 posies.

Part of me wishes I could switch to another project, but I just don't feel like trading this one out for the time being.  

Thanks for stopping by today, and I will update again soon after I remove the piece from the Q-snaps. 

Sarah Braizear 1829 Update

I have been working away on Sarah, making some very slow progress. Usually I only have time to stitch about 1/2 hour per evening, but that is better than no stitching at all, right?

Here are a few photos I took of the sampler this morning.

I hope to work on the sampler some this evening. 

The photo above shows a bit of the size of this sampler.  The Q-snaps I am using are 8 X 11 inches in size. I love my little lap stand! 

Thanks for stopping by today.

Post -Christmas Time and Sarah Braizear 1829

Pony Wall Decked Out- Village Arranged by our Grandsons

Stitched over the course of many years- How I love this series of patterns!

Our Very Old Front Windows- We opted to keep these old ones when we replaced. 

I took this photo on Christmas Night after all our family had left for the day. What a fun day we had together!

The holidays have come and gone.  Happy 2019 to all!

 It was a wonderful time for us, but I am always happy to put things away and start anew with the brand new year.  It feels bare when one first puts away the holiday decor, but for me it also feels less crowded and hence a bit more comfortable.  I wonder if I am one of the few with this outlook on holiday decor?

I have been working on Sarah Braizear 1829 and I am slowly making a small bit of progress.  I made it around the full length of the undulating vine border, but I had to be creative to get it to line up properly.  It is fine for now, hopefully my small miscount on stitches won't affect much in the middle of the border.  

I have been working on the lower left border and a bit of the interior tree found in that corner.  It is going slowly, but on the other hand this tree is large.  This large piece of flora corresponds with the overall girth of the project! 

I am fortunate to have a bit of time off work due to the holidays so there are more hours in the day to enjoy stitching.

Thanks for stopping by today, and please tell me what you have been working on lately.  :) 

Hurrah- I made it to the corner of this huge sampler!

The tree is growing each day! 

Update on Sarah

I have really fallen away from blogging. I miss reading blogs, and writing here as well.

Hopefully I can find more time to do so regularly.  I will make more time!

It used to be easier to post photos, and now it has gotten more complicated so I have fallen away a bit. I will strive to find an easier way to post them.

I have been working on Sarah Braizear 1829 since the beginning of June.  She has been my only focus except for a few times I worked on a small travel project.

I am plodding away on the border.  At this point I am not even half done with it, I'm sad to say.  Life is busy and afford little stitching time, that's for sure.

Here is photo that shows a bit of the border. 

I have completed the top part of it, except for the satin stitches.  I have decided also that from here on I will only do the outer green portion of the border flowers, with hopes of moving along quicker. I know that many are not doing to border first, but I am determined to do it this way to make sure it is correctly placed.  I have found some errors I have made, and fortunately was able to correct them.

Work keeps me very, very busy.  I wish life had more relaxation in it, but that is the nature of what I do. 

I did take some photos I wanted to share here.

First, here is a beautiful foggy morning in the fall where we live:

Secondly, I was amazed at this sunset one evening.  We do get pretty ones in the autumn here.

Thanks for stopping by today. 

Variegated Sampler Progress and Sarah Braizear 1829 Silks

It has been a busy few months.  I am a teacher and the school year will soon be over.  It has been a great year, but I am looking forward to vacation.  I miss my students at the end of each year, and thus at this time I feel that bittersweet emotion again.

My blogging life has been neglected. Alas, I am still here. I vow to return more often.

When I am not working and attending to life, I do find time to stitch here and there. I also watch Flosstube and watching these videos helps me indulge in my hobby when I am not actively involved in it.  On top of that I listen to Fibertalk as I commute to work, and that is enjoyable as well.

In the end of March we took a family road trip to Yosemite.  The beauty was amazing and awe inspiring. We hope to return there soon. Lovely place to go!

I also embarked on a new project around that time.  I love Instagram and get some stitching fix from hanging out there.  While looking through IG one day I happened upon a gal who was stitching a sampler I first adored thirty years ago.  It is the Variegated Sampler from the magazine CSCC.  The issue with the sampler is the March/April 1988 issue.  I recall wanting to stitch this piece when I first saw it, but you know how that goes.  So with the encouragement of other stitchers and the SAL group for the sampler on Facebook, I started this piece.

As luck would have it (and due to the encouragement of my then teenage daughter, who is now over thirty) I had purchased a package of variegated floss years ago.  I had all the required colors for the project.  I had used some of my variegated floss for various surface embroidery endeavors, so in the case of one color I relied on my DMC color chart.  I was able to match up some shades so that I could blend in colors and thus use just one strand of the 95 variegated color.  What fun it was to use that color chart, as always!

Here is my progress as of this morning:

And a bit more close up:

It has been a fun stitch!

In other stitchy news, I joined the Sarah Braizear 1829 SAL that was initiated by the podcast Fibertalk.  There's a group on facebook for it if this interests you.  I have my pattern now, as well as the silk floss.  Isn't it gorgeous?

I ordered and received my pattern and silk floss from Sassy Jacks Stitchery.  What a nice experience this has been! I am just awaiting the fabric, which is on back order. Evidently the SAL has created a worldwide shortage of silks and fabric.  I believe at this point the SAL group on facebook has over 600 members.  The pattern is gorgeous, and Sarah will be a big girl.  I will be stitching her on 36 count fabric, one thread over two.  I can't wait to get started and hope to get my fabric soon. We will see. If I don't, I sure have plenty of other projects that await my needle.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Houses of Hawk Run Hollow - WIP

It sure is slow progress on Houses of Hawk Run Hollow.

Last time I shared a photo it looked like
this .


I have worked on it just a tiny bit since I was mostly focusing on the mystery sampler, ornament, and life in general.  I wish I had more time to stitch, but someday when I retire I will, right?

Here is the piece as of last evening:

Thanks for stopping by today.

LHN Ornament and Lizzie Kate Update

So I don't have stitching goals, but I did decide to veer off a bit from my very few WIPs. 

I started to partake in a facebook group's weekend stitchalong.  I spent a lovely evening looking through my various JCS ornament issue to find all the LHN and CCN patterns within the ones I have.  I found some very lovely ones, but decided to stitch one called Woodland Snowfall. 

I am stitching this little ornament on 36 count fabric, using one thread over two.  The fabric I am using is lighter than the model for this piece, so I thus changed some of the colors to better suit the fabric. 

I haven't had any time to stitch in almost two weeks now, but I hope to get to it soon.

Here it is-

I had time to work on the Lizzie Kate Spirit of Christmas Mystery Sampler last month.  I am now on Part Two of this fun holiday piece.

Here it is-

It is coming along rather nicely, and it is a fun stitch.

Today I went with a dear friend to meet another long time friend for a meal in a city a bit of a distance away.  After our meal, us two stitching friends returned to our local area and then visited our local stitching store.  I got to show her a piece that I adore called Fractur Flowers by La D Da.

 I had  bought the pattern earlier this week, and it is thus added to my large list of  STD "stitching to be done" projects.  I had suggested the term STD one time to a facebook group where the administrators asked for stitching acronyms, but for some reason my suggestion wasn't added to their list. I thought it was kind of a fun term, but I guess it could offend some. I thought too that it had a double meaning as well because STDs (stitching to be done) tend to be infectious, and others seem to 'catch' them too. Enough on that! 

Here is a photo of it, although the shop had a model and pictures truly do not do this beauty justice!

Thanks for stopping by today, and happy stitching! 

Mystery Sampler Update

At this point all three Lizzie Kate Mystery Sampler parts have been released.  I have seen the finished piece, and I look forward to getting there eventually.

I am still working on Part One.  Life is so, so busy.

When I can't stitch, I enjoy watching Flosstube videos and looking at great stitching photos on Instagram.  Recently I have discovered Fibertalk and that podcast is enjoyable as well. These activities help me get my stitching fix, but just a bit.

Here is a bit of progress:

In other news, I was extremely touched to receive a gift from a former student.  He is now just seven years old, and I taught him last year when he was just in first grade.  While he was visiting Mexico last summer he and his mom bought a lovely breadcloth for me.  This sweet little boy knew I liked stitching, and birds. I will treasure this gift always. I love the bright colors and motif.  I can only imagine how hard some young or lady worked to stitch this piece.

Thanks for stopping by today. 

A Bit of Stitching

So life has been well, let's just say-  oh so busy.  That's just the way it is. Work gets in the way of stitching and relaxation. And so it goes...

Here is a small snippet of progress on my latest Lizzie Kate.  I love how it is coming along!

Thanks for stopping by today.

Houses of Hawk Run Hollow Update

I did manage to stitch a bit during August.  Here is the latest photo I have of
Houses of Hawk Run Hollow.

I sure love the rich colors in this design!

I also have been working the Lizzie Kate Christmas Mystery Sampler.  I am enjoying that one a lot, too.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Houses of Hawk Run Hollow Update

I finally finished the third block in Houses of Hawk Run Hollow.  I started this block back in January, if you can believe it.

Each block takes me about sixty hours of stitching. That seems very slow to me, but then again I know I am a slow stitcher.  I started the piece in April of 2016.  From then until now,  I have also stitched one small ornament and one tea towel.  You can see that I am slow, and that I don't stitch near as often as I would like to do.

I am excited to move on now to the next square.

Here it is at this point:

A close up of the third block:

In a previous post I showed a picture of the leaflet of a Plum Street design (Maxim & Zoya)  I wish to stitch. I bought the pattern at our lovely LNS We, of the Needle.  The other day I had to return to the shop to buy stronger glasses, and while there I took a photo of this lovely piece.  This was stitched by sweet Yvonne. Yvonne works at the shop, and is very helpful.  If you are ever in southern California and wish to go to a fine needlework store, do go visit We, of the Needle. It is the friendliest needlework store I have ever visited.  Kerry, the owner, is friendly and so personable.  She does fabulous framing as well as stitching.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Houses of Hawk Run Hollow Update

I was able to take a photo of my project yesterday while I had it off the Q-snaps.

It is enjoyable, but slow going.  Thanks for stopping by today.

WIP Houses of Hawk Run Hollow

Good Day to you.

Thanks for stopping by here. I know I haven't been around here much lately, and I miss my blogging world.

I am now back to work very much full time and then some, and it's quite a change after fourteen months of not working. I love my job though, so that makes it easier. I feel extremely fortunate to do what I love as a profession. Every day at work is uplifting, although not always easy.

I haven't had much time to stitch, but I have made a bit of progress on Houses of Hawk Run Hollow.

Here it is:

I was able to get a lot of projects done while I wasn't working. I know that an abundance of stitching will have to wait until my next big break in work, or retirement.  

Thanks for stopping by today!

Houses of Hawk Run Hollow WIP

I wish I could say I've had lots of time to stitch.  It seems I haven't, but that is just how it goes.

Summer has been busy with a small vacation, celebrations, and fun.  So that's a great way to go, isn't it?

I've also been preparing to return to work. This takes up a large chunk of my time. Today I have a large project looming ahead of me, all for work.

Here is my progress at this point.  I have a lot of filling in to do, that's for sure.  I have changed the wording of this block, in case you wondered.

Thanks for looking.

On a relaxing note, some views from a restaurant we enjoyed while on vacation. 

Thanks for coming by today!

A Bit of Progress- Houses of Hawk Run Hollow

I am slowly stitching away at Carriage House Samplings "Houses of Hawk Run Hollow".  I have been stunned at the size of this piece.  It is utterly amazing, truly.

I am stitching this on 32 count Belfast Linen. I now wish I had gone with a higher count, but I am not about to start over.  This is the only piece I am working on at the present time.

After about a month's work I am still not quite done with the first square.  There are twelve squares total! This may end up being an abbreviated version of the twelve square piece. We will see.

I do not stitch every day, but I am keeping track of stitching hours on this one.  This first square has taken many, many hours.

I am using DMC threads, and the colors are looking great to me. Here it is:

Last week I cooked minestrone for dinner one evening.  It was so delicious! If you're interested in cooking up some, here's the recipe.  It's been nice and cool around here lately, which is unusual this time of year. I'm enjoying the cool air immensely.

Finally, a photo of some flowers from Mother's Day.  It was a tough day--the first Mother's Day without my mom.  And so it goes...

Thanks for stopping by today!

A New Start- Houses of Hawk Run Hollow

I am not one who enjoys starting projects. I know that puts me in a minority, it seems, but that's the truth. It's not so much that I don't like starting, it's that I don't like gathering materials and putting it all together. I prefer just stitching on them!  I did, amazing as it is,  start and finish Mary Ann Blackburn already this year, so I am in a full swing stitching frenzy compared to my usual self.

Just about two weeks ago I started the Houses of Hawk Run Hollow.  It's been a lot of fun so far. I am tracking my hours of stitching on this one. This is something I used to do all the time, starting way back in the days of being an active participant in the Yuku Rotation Stitch Board.  That was long, long ago.

I'm amazed at how large this project will be in the end.  I started with the block that's in the second row, third to the right. The houses I am thus working on are rather small compared to the houses that are in many of the other blocks.  I truly had no concept of the size of this until starting. I love the hot air balloon in this block, and look forward to getting to that at some point in the next few weeks or so.

Here's a few photos to show the project, threads, and progress so far.

The completed project:

All the DMC colors for the project. I had to buy quite a few, even though my floss collection is quite large! 

My very first stitches on  this project look rather forlorn at this point. 

A bit more progress: 

Here's how it looked this morning when I finished a small stitching session:

Finally, I wanted to share this photo of Quaker Diamonds framed and hanging. For  years we had my great-great grandma's 1839 sampler hanging where Quaker Diamonds is now displayed. For now I will keep it this way.  I moved my great-great grandma's sampler to another part of the living room. This is my 'stitchy view' while in this room of the house.  Our television is to the right, and our front window is off directly to my left.  It's a very relaxing place to spend time. 

Thanks for stopping by today.