What's in Your Stitching Basket?

I recently had to relocate my stitching basket so the husband could set up the magnifying light during my recent vision impairment. My vision is still impaired, but it's back to "normal" and I can see to stitch again without the magnifier! Hooray! So, since I had to lug the thing to its new location, I got to thinking, "Why is this thing so stinkin' heavy?!?" That got me taking an inventory of what's in the basket.

This is what I found:

My current SNS project, LHN Seasonal Saltboxes

Caroline, my current ornie, which is close to being finished if I can bring myself to liking the way it looks after I fill in the snowflakes which cause my stitches to look all wonky. I hate that! I also need to finish the garland, too.

The now left side frogged "Evergreen" which is my Sunday project when I feel like stitching on Sundays. Thank goodness football season will soon be here!

This is the September Flip-It from Lizzie*Kate's first series of Flip Its. It was my "traveling project" way back in the day, maybe 2003 or 2004 or something??? Who knows? It's a cute little piece and easy to stitch. Why can't I bring myself to work on it?

Then there's this piece:

Another great little piece that I really like, but can't bring myself to A.) remember that I have it, and/or B.) remember that it is so close to finished I could do it in less than a week. *sigh*

I also discovered this Trilogy or BC project, Snapperville, started many, many moons ago. It was supposed to be a SAL piece with a friend, *cough* *cough* but she never got around to starting it and I've had no motivation to work on it. Again, I love the design, love stitching on it, but just can't bring myself to pick it up because my ADHD stitching brain forgets about it. (That's my story and I'm stickin' to it!)

I also found this pretty piece, which I truly love, but again, find myself having difficulty picking it up. You know, gotta find the q-snaps, then put the thing on the q-snaps and all that stuff. I'm really beginning to think I need an intervention!

This one I need to finish simply so I can say, "Yeah, I've stitched a Paula Vaughan." I need that to bring credibility to my stitching and so people will think I'm one of those elite stitchers because, after all, only "accomplished" stitchers would ever dare to stitch a color chart full of quarter, half, three-quarter, and popcorn stitches that included an INSANE amount of backstitching and color changes. Right?

Ahhhh....Blessed are Those by Blue Ribbon Designs. This is truly my final WIP, which is really a UFO. Beautiful, beautiful design, but a HORRIBLE chart! I think that's what discourages me from stitching on the thing. I have to use a magnifying glass just to read the darn chart! Why do designers do this to middle-aged women whose eyesight is fluctating?!? Does this chart come in a large print version? LOL



I found these two FINISHES in my basket, which aren't really finished. This one needs to have the charms attached and I need to decide if I want to stitch the border on it after all. I've seen it done both ways, and I just can't make up my mind.


And then there's this Jeremiah Junction project that was a round robin with a bunch of wonderful stitchers from the OOE board. It's beautiful, isn't it? Did you notice, though, that there's backstitching missing on the 2 corners at the bottom? Yeah, those were the ones I stitched and I haven't added the backstitching on them yet. Should I be embarrassed to admit that I stitched this in 2005?!? Yes, it's been languishing in my stitching basket that whole time. Five years worth of whole time.



Lest you think that was it in the stitching basket, I'm hate to disappoint you. There's more! I also found a couple of calendar pages I was recording my time on from when I actually stitched enough to record my time (*cough*), a semi mutilated 2009 JCS ornie edition magazine (still in usable condition, though), a couple of charts that I was going to stitch at some point in time, two (2) gardening newsletters from a nursery in San Antonio that my wonderful Dad sends to me each month after he's read them, written funny comments throughout the articles, and used for scratch paper (I could subscribe to the online version, but that would take away his fun.), a skein (new) of yellow yarn from some long-ago plan to crochet something useful, and yet another skein of yarn, this one a pukey seafoam green that I practiced with. It must've been on sale when I bought it because I'd have never purchased something that ugly if it wasn't and if I was in my right mind! Lastly, there's a framed print in there that belongs to my husband. I think I gave it to him for our anniversary or Christmas or maybe even for a birthday gift MANY years ago. I could probably wrap it up and give it to him again and he'd never known I'd regifted it!

On that note, I think I'll leave you with a challenge to tell what's in your stitching basket (or bag or whatever you store your projects in) if you're feeling brave. I'm off to find some kind of support group for my affliction!

Some Early Works

I recently reconnected with an old college roommate on Facebook. I was also her notetaker (she is deaf) for many of our classes, too, so we had a unique relationship. We'd kept in touch for many years after college, but then in 1998, I moved here to Fort Worth and she moved to Georgia due to some illness and health challenges. After that, we lost contact, but with the creation of Facebook, we've been reunited. A couple of weeks ago, she shared pics with me of some of the things I'd stitched for her while we in college. These are about 20 years old and Carla has these hanging in her guest room.




I have no idea the designers of these are, but I do know they're stitched on aida (Fiddler's it looks like) with DMC threads, cuz that's just about all there was back then.

The other day, I went into the living room and I found Her Royal Highness Hannah Grace sleeping atop a stack of moving pads. I've dubbed this shot, "The Princess and the Pea".

Introducing....

...my finished "Heart of America" by Little House Needleworks piece!! I'm just beyond thrilled to finally have her finished and ready for hanging in the closet with the rest of my finishes waiting to be framed! LOL


Design: Heart of America by Little House Needleworks
Fabric: 32 ct. Vintage Examplar Linen from Lakeside Linens
Fibers: Crescent Colours included in the kit

A view from my garden to leave you with...

Progress on Heart of America

Here's what I've gotten done since Saturday night. I'm really enjoying this, so I've decided to continue working on this project for the week. I really don't feel the "urge" to move onto another project at the moment and I'd like to get this block finished this week. Don't think I'll make the SAL deadline to have the whole piece finished, but I'm enjoying this project and that's what is really important. Please forgive the crummy picture, but I was being lazy and didn't want to take it out of the q-snaps to lay on the scanner.

My Needle's Been Busy

I put the last stitches in LHN's The Busy Needle last night. This was such a delightful stitch! For some reason, it seems that LHN designs are so peaceful to stitch. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I can clearly see the chart! LOL



The Busy Needle
Designer: Little House Needleworks
Fabric: 32 ct. Blue Dynasty from Silkweaver
Fibers: Crescent Colours

The chartpack is only available from The Busy Needle.

A Little Progress & Other Updates

I've been stitching on LHN's "The Busy Needle" this week and have really been enjoying myself. Here's where I was before I started on it this week:



And this is what I've accomplished in the last 2 days:



The pictures are really dark, so it's even prettier in person.

Thank you all for your well-wishes for a speedy recovery. I went to the doctor today and lo and behold, I have a sinus infection. I get at least one of these a year due mainly to allergies caused by the crazy weather in Texas. See, today it was 84º and the wind was blowing from the south. In South Texas, this is cedar season, so all the cedar pollen blows up here. (When I lived in south Texas and people get sinus infections, they called it cedar fever.) Tomorrow, it's going to be another warm day, but then a cold front is moving through and our temps will drop 40º in a very short period of time. The winds will change and blow from the north. This brings a whole new set of allergens. My body cannot tolerate these drastic weather and allergen changes every other day or so. My nose retaliates by getting sinusitis (sinus infection). Hopefully in a couple of days I'll feel totally new and the pressure in my head will be gone!

The husband's feeling much better, but still coughing and running a low-grade fever. The doctor's called in medicine for him. Yea!

Off to watch Grey's Anatomy and do a bit of stitching! Have a good evening all!

My January Ornament & Other Ramblings

Snowman's Quaker Christmas
Design by Midnight Stitching
Fabric~32 ct. Vintage Autumn Blush
Fibers~DMC, GAST, and Crescent Colours' Cool Azul

I put the final stitches in this while waiting for my load of laundry to dry so I could have a shirt to wear to work today. This was such a fun stitch. The main change I made to this was the color of the Quaker motif. The original color was supposed to be a weird shade of green, and I changed it to blue. I also left off the 4 stitches in the middle of each "flair" on the sides of the motif.

Today marks day 4 of a sinus headache. I had this same problem a month ago and went to the doctor. He prescribed a course of antibiotics, which obviously didn't do a very good job. The pressure is centered smack dab in the middle of my forehead right between my eyes. My top teeth hurt, my ears are ringing, my nose is stuffy but running (figure that out!), my throat hurts a bit, and I'm generally miserable. The good news is I'm not running a fever and I'm not coughing!! For now, taking Tylenol dulls the pain enough to endure it. A nice steamy shower feels really good, too, but I can't stay in the shower all day long! LOL

Mark's not feeling well at all either. He's got a massive sinus infection (discovered by the MRI he had earlier this month), wheezing, terrible coughing, very runny nose, drainage, stuffy head, and a low-grade fever. I've told him that if he's not better by Thursday I'm calling the doctor and making an appointment for him. I will go with him if I have to because he claims he "just has a cold". Uh-huh. He also thinks the doctor doesn't know what else to give him since he gets these upper respiratory infections/bronchitis/sinus infections several times a year. He's so exasperating sometimes!!

I'll head off to work today and leave the husband here at home to rest and tend to the cats. Good thing they know how to wake him up to get fed, or he'd probably sleep until tomorrow and they'd be half-starved when I got home. LOL Once summer gets here and the weather calms down, we'll all feel better!!

A Bushel & A Peck is FINISHED!

After stitching for 4.5 hours today, I managed to finish La-D-Da's "A Bushel & A Peck". Woohoo!! Stitched on 32 ct. Vintage Autumn Fields using Crescent Colours' Belle Soie silks.



I've not decided whether or not to stitch my initials and date in the space on the left between the inside border and flower's stem. I am SO glad to have this one finished!!

A Bushel & A Peck Won the Screaming Match

I decided to work on BAAP more so because I've already got one LHN in my rotation and sometimes too much of a good thing gets really boring. So in between making banana bread with the really,really ripe bananas sitting on my kitchen counter, taking a nap, then waking up to make dinner of taco soup & cornbread (yummy!), here's my progress. Tomorrow, I return to my exchange piece!



In other news, I have started a food blog. I felt like I was posting too many food posts here, so they have a new home. You can visit it by clicking on the link to In the Kitchen With Stephanie in the sidebar. I posted my Lemon Pound Cake recipe with pics this morning.

My First SNS Progress Report for 2009

I've decided to work on LHN's Sweet Little Berries as my SNS project until it's finished. I've only had this thing in my WIPs pile for about 3 years and I'm ready for it to move out!

Here's where I started:



And here's where I stopped after almost 3.5 hours of stitching.



Tomorrow, I'll be working on another LHN chart, City Stitcher, Country Stitcher, but I really hear my La-D-Da piece screaming at me. We'll have to see who wins the screaming contest! LOL

:o)

January 1st Piece Progress

I spent almost 4 hours on my January 1st piece, The Busy Needle by Little House Needleworks. Now I remember why I don't particularly like monochromatic designs! LOL Here's what I got done today.



Tomorrow, I return to work, so my stitching time will be limited, but I'll continue working on this. Saturday is Saturday Stitch Night and I think I'm going to work on LHN's Sweet Little Berries.

May I Have This Dance?

A happy dance, that is. Finally, after 3 long years, I have completed my Lizzie*Kate Flip-It Blocks!!!!! Without further ado, please, let me introduce to you...

...December...



...and the piece in its entirety minus a few cosmetic things like charms, a few stitches on the sides, and ironing.



I also need to decide if I want to stitch the border around it. Join me in celebrating my final finish of 2008.

Sunday's Progress & Utter Failure of the Dallas Cowboys

I was able to get a lot of stitching time in yesterday, especially during that dismally embarrassing Cowboys loss. It all comes down to TEAMwork and they're not a cohesive team. Too many prima donas promoting self and not working together for the good of the TEAM. I am a die-hard fan, so I'll be cheering them on next year. It will be interesting to see what happens during the off season.

Now then, back to the topic of stitching! As I mentioned, I did get in a lot of stitching time on my December Flip-It block.

Here's where I started:



After Sunday's time on it:



I might be able to get it finished today!! If so, I'll work on my exchange piece. Then, on Thursday, I'll start my January 1st piece.

Saturday Night Stitch Progress

Because I'm not sure when (or if) we'll head out tomorrow, I wanted to post a pic of what I got stitched today. I'm almost finished!! I only have a star and a deer to stitch and that's it!! I got in 4 hours of stitching time throughout the day today and I almost managed to complete my ornie.

My Friday Finish

I put the final stitches in my Lizzie Kate Flip-It November block this evening. Only 1 more month to go!!

Another Finish!

I have been stitching the Lizzie*Kate Flip-It Blocks for a couple of years. It was supposed to be a one-year project. I think I'm on year 3 now! LOL I put the finishing touches on the September block this past weekend. I am determined to finish these this year! Only 3 more months to stitch and then the border.

First Finish of 2008!

This is my first ornie finish for the new year! I really like the way it turned out. It's a free design from Maryse's website, . I stitched it on a scrap of 28 ct. Barley Harvest linen from Woven Workes using Crescent Colours' Bandana and Toasted Marshmallow.

I've Been Stitching!

I've been learning to crochet, but I'm still stitching!! I'm devoting most of my stitching time to "City Stitcher*Country Stitcher" by Little House Needleworks. My goal is to have it finished by the SAL deadline of February 8th. We'll see if I make it.



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See that house there on the right?? I had most of the broad side of it finished when I discovered that the white stripe going vertically was off by one square!! Usually I'm able to live with those little "personalizations", but this one was really bugging me, so I ripped it ALL out! I did save the roof, and most of the white accent, but all the solid color of the house itself came out! *Sniff* I'm back on track, though!!

This weekend, I'm hoping to finish up a sweet little Christmas ornie, so stay tuned for another post!

La-D-Da's Bushel and a Peck Progress

I have been stitching exclusively on gifts and exchanges the past 2 months, so yesterday, I decided to work on my incentive piece. Here's my before & afters.

Before:

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After 4 hours yesterday:

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I'm stitching this on 32 ct. Vintage Autumn Fields linen using Belle Soie silks from Crescent Colours.

Back to an exchange piece today.....!!!

ABC Exchange Piece

I stitched Bent Creek's Neighborhood Row for my ABC exchange piece at the OOE board. I went with a piece of 32 count linen I found in my stash and GAST, WDW, and a couple of CCs thrown in for good measure. It has safely arrived at its destination, so I can now show it off!!


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