January 31, 2017 - One full month!

Hi all. Still progressing. I survived the day and still feel pretty good. I think I'm on the path to full recovery. 

Today marks one full month of blogging. I look forward to it every day. I'm really enjoying digging in my stash and rediscovering projects that I still love. It's also an opportunity to give a good look at some projects and decide what I want to do with them. 

My project today is probably one of my oldest WIPs. I started it for a coworker long ago when my heart was much bigger than my time management. I changed the colors to match her wedding. While the project looks lovely, I'm not interested in stitching it any longer. So, I've made the tough decision to remove it from my stash. If anyone reading this is interested, please comment here or contact me. The linen is lovely. I used DMC floss so it's not a problem to replace and I've got my conversion written down and in the bag with the project. Have a wedding coming up? This is probably about half stitched!

The Wedding

Lavender & Lace

228 x 301

28/32 ct Natural Linen from Zweigart

DMC floss with green conversion

Anyone interested in adopting this project?

Laura :)

January 30, 2017

What a difference 24 hours can make. I couldn't go to sleep Saturday night. My stomach hurt so badly and I was making frequent trips to the bathroom. I told Jeff at about 2am that I didn't think I'd be going to church in the morning. I finally tried to go to bed and dozed off only to jerk awake a little after 3 with my mouth start to water. Yep, you know what came next. So awful and violent I feel like I'm bruised from the inside out. My rib cage hurts! I'm pretty certain I didn't break anything, I'm just so sore. Yesterday I think I slept about 20 hours. Seriously! I would move between the bedroom and the living room but couldn't stay awake for more than a few minutes at a time. Bless my boys' hearts. They took great care of me. I had fallen asleep on the sofa, yet again, and woke up about 3:30 soaked completely through. My fever had broken, making this a 24 hour flu. I'm glad I was off today, though. I was so weak I would not have been able to function. I still feel fuzzy, although since I'm diabetic it could just be mostly that. I've been pretty good today, eating small meals and still sleeping quite a bit. Hopefully I'll be able to sleep tonight! I have to go to work tomorrow so we'll see how it all goes. 

Anyway. on with the stitching! I managed to stitch a little bit today. I'm trying to finish the January section of the Quaker Fantasies 2017 SAL. I don't think it will be finished this month, but it should be finished shortly into February. I'm enjoying my color choices so far. 

My selection for today came because of a Facebook post from my friend, Paula. She showed her progress on this one and it made me want to visit with mine again. This one even comes with a story. Blackbird Designs' blogsite http://www.blackbird-designs.com/ says they are 17 years old this year. I don't know if that includes both quilting and stitching, or just their quilting start. I do know that several years ago, I was at a stitching event at The Old Mill Stitchery in Liberty, MO. We were having a lovely time with our seasonal projects when this woman walked in and talked with Mary, one of the shop owners. Mary then turned to our group and announced that the other woman was part of a new cross stitch design team and wanted to know if we would like to see their first designs, which they were getting ready to take to Market. Of course we were thrilled! It was wonderful seeing their unique approach of converting their love of quilting into cross stitch. I fell in love with their designs on the spot. 

About 6 or 7 years ago I was in the Mill when Barb Adams came in and joined me at the thread wall. She was choosing colors for a new project. She was excited to share her ideas for it. I wanted to know how soon I could get it! She said it was in the early stages so I needed to wait a little longer. She had told me she was feeling that it would be a holiday garden of some sort. I waited a few months then started bugging the ladies at the Mill for news of this garden. They had no idea what I was talking about. I was privy to the new project just through luck of the moment. They hadn't announced anything about it. Finally, in 2011, Christmas Garden was released. I knew it had to come home with me, but like so many other projects, it got set aside in favor of another project. I think this will be a focus project for me this year. I want it finished. I want it framed. I want it hanging. That means that each month I will put in a few stitches (at least) on this project. With that said, I'd better get stitching because there's only one more day left in this month!

Christmas Garden

Blackbird Designs

225w x 272h

32ct Parchment linen from R & R Reproductions

Overdyed floss as charted

Taking it easy so I'll recoup faster!

Laura :)

January 29, 2017

Today's post will be short and sweet. I have stomach flu with a temperature of 101. I've slept all day. 

My project is a fun one today. There are two parts to it. On one side it's happy and the other irritate. I started it right after I got it but just didn't stick with it. Here it is:

A Primitive Moodkeep

Plum Street Samplers

138w x 77h/142w x 72h

32 ct Days Gone By linen

Flosses as charted

Sorry for the short post. I just can't manage anything longer today. 

Laura 

January 28, 2017

Happy Weekend! I'm happy to have made it through. I'm sitting in my lounging jammies looking out at a bright, sunny day. It's cold outside, but the sun is trying to convince me otherwise. I decided to write early today so I could get busy stitching and have a weekend of progress. I think I'm working on Quaker Fantasies 2017 SAL first. I need to finish it so I'll be ready for the next section. I want to get back to my Butterflies, though, because I've been putting in a lot of stitching time on it and it's going really well. I should have a finish soon if the current progress rate continues. 

I was chatting online this morning and realized I have several more WIPs I haven't even seen yet! It's a little scary to think how many projects I have started. And yet, I'm thinking of starting another large project very soon. I would just need to find the fabric to work on since it's larger than a fat quarter. The piece is 205w x 467h. On 32 ct fabric with a 3" border, I would need my fabric to be 19" x 36". I know I don't have anything that large currently in my stash. I did see a really gorgeous piece on Silkweaver Facebook sales that will work well if I can buy 2 pieces that are uncut. Each piece is 18" x 32" if I remember correctly. Crossing my fingers while waiting for Kevin to answer!

On to today's project. It's Favorite Things from A Needle & Fred. I like this one so much I bought it twice! I'm stitching on 28ct Blackcurrant Wine Jobelan from Polstitches Designs. The color is fabulous but it's Jobelan - an evenweave. We all know how I feel about almost anything other than linen, right? So, that's strike number 1. Then I pulled the threads it called for. While in theory I like them, I'm not really enjoying that Peach Ice Cream as my first block. It made me put the piece down and move on to something else. That's strike number 2. I still like these quirky flowers and want to see it finished. It's just going to be a struggle to get past this first box. February will hopefully see me work on this one. I do not want a third strike! I want this to be stitched and finished so I can look at it often. 

Favorite Things

A Needle & Fred

77h x 148w

28ct Blackcurrant Wine Jobelan from Polstitches Designs

GAST and WDW floss as charted

It kind of looks like a butterfly at this point, right? I'm off to stitch! Hopefully it will be a great weekend. I hope you all have good progress as well. Send me your pictures. I'd love to see what you're working on. 

Laura :)

January 27, 2017 - Quaker Pincushions

Happy Friday! I'm so glad it's the end of the week. It has been a long week. There were some definite highs, though. Our elementary school is celebrating kindness. The stu63 ts are being given a chance to show kindnesses to people in the building. Yesterday I got a heart from a student and the note on it told me that I'm nice. So sweet! Then, today, I got to read the essay of a 4th grade student who had written about me. The essay said I'm important to him because I help him to be smart and not feel stupid, among other things. Sometimes you do things that are just decent and normal in your perspective but that are truly kind and meaningful in someone else's life. I've just felt so wonderfully loved! So, my acts of kindness turned into other acts of kindness and maybe these students are learning that kindness really is important. We all need it, even crave it. It doesn't need to be a big thing. It's most often those little things we don't even think about that mean the most. 

So, today's project is another small one. It's a fairly recent project, too. It's one I started sometime last year. It's just a small pincushion so it really shouldn't take much time. I've chosen a fabric remnant and a floss I really like. It should turn into something really gorgeous. There are 3 patterns in the folio. I'll probably make each one. But, I need to finish the first one before making plans for any others. Look for this to be finished in the first half of February. Of course, the true test will be getting it finished into a pincushion. I'll need to get a gorgeous felt backing to finish it and a lovely button to go with it. 

Quaker Pincushions

Jeannette Douglas Designs

Pattern #2

63 x 63

28ct Evening Song Blue linen from R & R Reproductions

GrapeVine floss from Hand-dyed Fibers

Until tomorrow...

Laura :)

January 26, 2017

Today's project is another gift. It was given to me by Judie in a round robin group. She even included silks to stitch it and a pair of lovely scissors. Our small group was very active for a long time. It was so nice to work with a group I could trust implicitly. I got to work on a lot of projects I would never have seen otherwise. The demise is mainly my fault. My mother died and I kind of fell off the radar. They tried to reach out but I was just in such a state that I didn't accept the support they were offering. Not one of my finest moments and one with such a regrettable outcome. 

So, I think the reason I haven't completed this small gem is guilt. I feel badly about breaking up our group. I didn't have anyone's project so at least I have that small mercy. Maybe I just need to stitch this and reflect on all the good times I had with the group. I've got a great start on the project so it won't take much to finish it. 

Amethyst Collection Needlebook and Scissors Fob

Cherished Stitches

scrap of overdyed linen

silk flosses

Laura :)

January 25, 2017 - Gift Tile

I pulled out a new bag of projects today to choose my blog subjects. I have more left in the big tub to pull from so I'm set for several days. 

Today's project is a wonderful gift from Denise aka Mel's Mum. It's the perfect mix of colors for me and I love it. In fact, it used 18 DMC colors in a tile that will be about 8" square. The humorous thing for me is that I didn't see the peacocks until I read the title. I focused on the iris in the center of the page. Iris are my favorite flowers, especially in purples. I loved it the minute it arrived and still look forward to having it stitched and displayed. 

Seriously, why can't I just sit home and stitch? I've become more hyper cross stitch sensitive since I started writing again. I think about my projects all the time! I want to cross stitch, think about cross stitch, write about cross stitch, show off my cross stitch projects, look at everyone else's cross stitch and talk about cross stitch! Oh my goodness. What is a girl to do? ::sigh:: I suppose retiring early isn't really a viable option. So, I'll just have to keep on doing the best I can and post back here so you can see what's going on in my little corner of the world. 

Peacock Tile Floral 16

DMC Creative World

112w x 112h

28ct off white linen

DMC threads

I'm off to do some more stitching! The butterflies are coming along nicely!

Laura :)

January 24, 2017 - Lavenderblue

I'm tired. Jeff and I went to Healthy Lifestyle/Nutrition class again tonight. It's a great class and we're learning so much. I feel better just going to class. Then, we went to Sam's to pick up some things we need to implement changes in our diet. Not too much, we've done a pretty good job thus far. It was just a few things new and replenishing some things. 

Anyway, I'm home now and pulled the first project I came to. It's a change for me. It's more of a needlepoint type project. It's on canvas and uses perle cotton and Caron Watercolours. I bought this several years ago at a shop Debbie took Nancy and me to visit in Bolivar, MO. We had a lovely day and came home with several great projects. I wanted to work on this one immediately because, of course, it is PURPLE! I even found purple canvas to stitch it on. It uses so many gorgeous colors. I love how it looks. My problem with this one is that it has to be stitched on a frame and I just don't enjoy it. It's difficult for me to sit in my recliner and work on it. For a little while I took it to Thursday night stitching with Nancy at the library and made some good progress. Then something else came along that caught my interest more. This is now part of the the stitch list for the first half of February. We'll see if it gets any of my attention. 

Lavenderblue Celtic Knot Quilt

From Nancy's Needle

192 x 192

#18 Lavender Canvas

Caron Collection Watercolours 

DMC #5 Perle Cotton

I've been stitching more often so I'd say this blog is doing it's job! It's great to be inspired by one's own projects!! LOL

Laura :)

January 23, 2017 - A Mystery Sampler

I pulled out a project bag today and found a piece I truly treasure. It's 2008 Mystery Bonus Sampler from Blackbird Designs. It was originally released in 5 parts as a bonus in 4 different patterns for the year. Each section is able to be a stand alone sampler or be put into the big sampler. I collected the patterns. I decided I didn't want to have to try to match up the edges of the samplers and then sew the individual pieces of fabric together so I opted to choose one piece of material and stitch them all together. There are only 10 floss colors in the whole project. It took me a long time to start the project but at last I did. I stitched fairly quickly through the first pattern, Where My Heart Blooms,  then set the project aside in favor of something else I felt was more pressing. It continued to lay in wait until last year when I finished section 2, Rites of Spring. Now I just need to make sure that I pull it out again soon and work on it. I don't expect the whole project to be completed this year. I simply hope to continue making progress. 

2008 Mystery Bonus Sampler from Blackbird Designs

Part 1: Where My Heart Blooms

Part 2: Rites of Spring

Part 3: Blessings and Kind Wishes

Part 4: Beyond My Heart

Part 5: Keepsake

Total Sampler:  349w x 120h

35ct K C Blend linen from R & R Reproductions

Overdyed flosses

After I posted last night, I did stitch more on another project. I finished a butterfly! If the rest of the project goes as quickly, I should have another finish soon. 

Happy Stitching!

Laura :)

January 22, 2017 ~ Starting and Finishing

I've had a good weekend. I challenged my RMC/BAP SAL Weekend group on Facebook to work on something they LOVE this weekend. I suggested it could be something that they're close to finishing or something they've been wanting to start. I just wanted it to be a weekend of happy stitching. I've had one myself. 

I have had A Friendship Sampler from Carriage House Samplings in my stash for a long time. I really enjoy designs with certain elements. One of those is hearts. This design immediately got my brain kicked into high gear. I decided I would buy a large piece of neutral fabric I like and then add my stitching friends' names. Then I thought it would be fun to get them to choose the floss I would use. I only need 2 colors, each one length or about 12" - 15". I've collected some choices but just hadn't started yet. So, I thought this was the perfect choice for what I'd challenged the group to do. I've started in the upper right hand corner with Judy Starkey's choices and then added Lisa Milzarek's choice below that. Lisa sent one color and I think the little wonky heart worked well with the beautiful blue she chose. It was a fun start and I'm looking forward to adding many more. If you haven't sent me floss, contact me privately so you can be part of my sampler as well! If you message me, I might even have your favorite floss colors and you'd just need to let me know what the colors are. 

A Friendship Sampler 

Carriage House Samplings

40 ct Alabaster linen

flosses by friends' choices

Then, I decided I needed a finish. It's already late in January, which is typically a good month for me to finish up a few projects. I haven't had any finishes so far this year. I'm enjoying my blogging project, but I have been choosing mostly larger projects that won't be finished for some time. 

I went back and looked through my blog entries and decided I could finish one of them. It's A True Friend from R & R Reproductions. I knew it wouldn't take long and I did work on it a little bit after posting about it but then had set it aside. I didn't want it to fall by the wayside again so I pulled it out and stitched it today during the Green Bay Packers vs. Atlanta Falcons playoff game. It was a good way to motivate myself through the finish. I decided to leave the verse off. I have the pretty green frame that is pictured on the pattern. I got this at a stitch retreat weekend and it came with the frame. Now I just need to get it framed and I can display it. 

A True Friend.....R & R Reproductions48 x 6432 ct American Chestnut linenDMC FlossStitching finished 1/22/2017

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So, now I'm off to work on another project for the evening. Hopefully there'll be more significant progress on another of my projects very soon!

Hugs and Stitches, 

Laura :) 

January 21, 2017

Another late night post. The reason tonight is that I've been stitching for a large part of my day. I've enjoyed working on my projects today. I've just set my latest project aside for a few minutes so I could write my blog entry. 

Today's project is Blue Moon Angel from Lavender & Lace. I've had this chart in my stash for about as long as it has been published. The copyright on the pattern is 1995. That's a long time for this to be in my stash. I really like these angel patterns. I've stitched 5 angels, but one of them twice so 6 in total. Two have been gifts for my sister-in-law, one a gift for my daughter and the other 3 live with me. I have most of the series in my stash. This is my second start on this pattern. The first time I decided my fabric was just too dark. I wasn't enjoying working on it and so I didn't. This time I started during one of my January binge starts. I've chosen a fabric that's easier for me to work with so hopefully it will see completion, even if it takes awhile to see daylight. I don't have much of a start to show you, but you'll see my beautiful fabric. 

A word to the wise here. I (nearly) always put the selvage edge on the left. This was a great help tonight because there's not really much there to be able to tell what's what. I would advise being consistent when you can or somehow marking your fabric so you'll know where the top of the fabric is. My little tic has saved me more than once. 

Blue Moon Angel 

Lavender & Lace

188 x 225

32ct Solo Belfast linen from Silkweaver

DMC flosses

Kreinik braid

Mill Hill Beads

I'm back to stitching again!

Laura :)

January 20, 2017

Oh my goodness! I nearly missed posting today. As it stands, I have about 35 minutes to write, proof and publish this post. I was trying to wait until my husband wasn't watching what I'm doing because today's project is for him. 

Jeff and I celebrated our 30th anniversary last April. We had planned to take a family cruise later in the summer to celebrate the event. I had plans to make a few gifts for him. Then, his health got in the way. He's having problems with his hip and so far hasn't gotten a clear diagnosis of the issue. The only thing that has been agreed upon is that he needs to lose a significant amount of weight. Then, either the issue will resolve itself because of the weight loss or he'll be a surgical candidate. 

Anyway, we had to postpone the trip. I lost steam on everything. It just took all of my momentum and put me at a standstill. I managed to finish one project. It's an idea I got from Pinterest. I drew my hand and then inserted bands with love quotes. It came out great and made a unique gift for Jeff for our anniversary. 

I still have another craft project to finish. And then there's today's blog subject. I saw A Good Marriage - Lizzie Kate being stitched by some online friends. I really liked it so I decided to buy the kit and make it for an anniversary gift. It didn't start as well as I hoped. I definitely struggled. I finally made an adjustment and managed to get through my first row and start on the second. That's where I stalled when we canceled the trip. Now it's 3 months until our anniversary and I'm having trouble picturing this one as a finish in time for the event. I still love the sentiment expressed in the design. So, here it is. My progress thus far. 

A Good Marriage

Lizzie Kate

110w x 195h

32ct Light Chino linen - R & R Reproductions

overdyed flosses as kitted

Such beautiful colors and so sweet. ::sigh:: Another one that just needs some love. Why do I have to sleep?

Laura :)

January 19, 2017

I got to go stitch with my sister, Nancy, tonight. We used to have a standing Thursday night cross stitch date every week. We hit a stretch where it just wasn't working out. This is probably the first time we've stitched together in several months. It was fun, as usual. We chat and stitch and just have a nice time spending a couple of hours together. 

So, since I spent the evening with Nancy, it seems only fitting that I write about a pattern she gave me. Nancy followed Teresa Smith's blog and entered a contest to name a pattern. She was quite surprised to find out she had won. Her prize was a copy of the pattern. It's not really Nancy's style but she knew I would really love it so she gifted it to me. I don't think she had read any of the details of the project. This thing is HUGE! Well, at least it's really long. I had to buy a custom piece of fabric. Thank goodness I thought about it when a LNS had a fabric sale. I was able to get a nice linen at a severely discounted price. Then the floss I thought I would use just wouldn't work so I went on the hunt again. It's only one floss color so I settled on a great floss from Threadworx. It looks great against the fabric. I've stitched one motif and started on another. Much, much more progress needed!!

Motif Musings

T A Smith Designs

116h x 648w

28ct linen (greyish)

Threadworx floss 1140

1 strand over 2 threads

Aren't sisters great?

Have a wonderful weekend!

Laura :)

January 18, 2017

I woke this morning to fog, fog, FOG! It was very pea-soupish around here. It makes such a very unusual feeling. Near isolation, looking for others trying to navigate safely. By afternoon it had burned off and was sunny. Crazy swings of weather in January!

I found a gorgeous project for today. It's Winter Peace from Sisters and Best Friends. I have all four of the patterns in this series. I tried and tried to come up with a plan for stitching them but couldn't find anything that worked for all four. I've finally come up with a plan to stitch each one on a piece of 40 ct dyed linen from Silkweaver. I love the combinations I've come up with. I just need to get busy and stitch them! It seems I write a similar sentence on nearly every entry. I think I may have a problem. 

Hi. I'm Laura and I'm a cross stitch addict. 

::sigh:: There are many worse things I could be, right? I just need more time to stitch. Of course, maybe I just need to win the lottery and then I could retire early and have the time I need to stitch more. A girl can dream, right?

Winter Peace

Sisters and Best Friends

59w x 115h

40 ct Periwinkle Mist Newcastle linen

Overydyed flosses

Happy Stitching!

Laura :)

January 17, 2017

I just got home from Nutrition class. It was very interesting. Jeff went with me and we're both looking forward to going back for the rest of the 8-week series. 

I recently read Teresa Wentzler's blog entry announcing her retirement from cross stitch designing. Her arthritis has just gotten to be too much. It makes me sad. I'll miss seeing more designs from her. 

Today's project is a free pattern from Teresa. It's one I chose to stitch and make into a bookmark for my son, Brendan. I wanted something cool for him that would encourage him to read more. Sadly, I stalled out. All those color changes and fractional stitches had me stressed every time I looked at the pattern.  I think I might change some colors and use overdyed flosses instead of the myriad changes. One of my friends stitched this and used some metallic flosses for parts of the pattern. That would be fun to play with as well. Since my son is now 17, it's time to stitch this and gift it to him. 

Stretch

Teresa Wentzler

33H x 160W

remnant linen

DMC floss - until I convert it!

Not much of a start, but it does mean the border is set. 

Laura :)

January 16, 2017

Today was an extra day off due to Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. A day to remember a great humanitarian who effected change through non-violent demonstration. I hope as we move into a new era in the United States, we can remember his example.

My project for today is from Cross Eyed Kat. I don't know that I've seen many patterns from her. I think I bought this chart in Plano, TX but I'm not 100% sure. It's the first of her Mini Impressionisms series. I don't know if Kathryn ended up designing any others or not. 

Anyway, I really like the look of this project. It's Texas Wildflowers. It's just a sweet little pattern that shouldn't take too much time, although it does have quite a bit of confetti stitching. You'll see from my WIP that I've only stitched all of one color. It's spread through quite a bit. I have also added a little bit of two other colors but still have quite a bit more to see any real progress with this one.  

Texas Wildflowers

Mini Impressionisms No. 1

Cross Eyed Kat

70 x 70 

28ct white Quaker linen

DMC floss

I'm off to discover another project. Hope you're all having fun finding things in your stash as well. 

Laura :)

January 15, 2017

Officially half a month into the year and I've blogged every day. I've really been enjoying the writing process. I've found that writing about my projects has made me remember more about them. 

I've also decided that I will use the blog to choose my project pool. So, now that I've blogged for half of the month, I'll use the projects from days one through fifteen and work on them in the second half of the month. With that in mind, I made sure to create a new WIP yesterday. It's the subject of today's blog. 

I've joined a stitch along (SAL) on Facebook. It's Quaker Fantasies from Aury Torres-Morillo. It feels more Moroccan to me and after a discussion with the Saturday morning chat group, I settled on a color theme. I chose fabric and floss from my stash. The project calls for 2 golds, 2 greens and 3 flower colors. I chose 3 golds and 2 greens but have chosen a variety of flosses for the flower colors. I want to give it a tile look and have small variances in the intensity of the colors in each section. So I've started stitching on the first section. I think I'm really going to enjoy working on this project. 

Quaker Fantasies - 2017 SAL

Aury Torres-Morillo

261 x 205

32ct Wexford linen from Silkweaver Fabrics 

Now I have 16 days to play with everything I've discovered so far while finding more goodies for the beginning of next month!

Have a great week!

Laura :)

January 14, 2017

Good morning! I had a good night's sleep and am happy to begin my 3-day weekend. I have plans to stitch this weekend after my online chat Saturday morning. I'm hoping for lots of progress. 

I really like Little House Needleworks. They have such sweet patterns. Also, I'm a sucker for a good rabbit in a design. Not those cutesy rabbits with comical faces, I like a more primitive or realistic look to them. The design today fits the bill. I really like the verse on this one as well. I don't think I had any real issues with this project, just too many other things calling my name. I'm finding that a lot of my WIPs are things I still truly love! 

I need to figure out how I want to work a rotation of all these goodies. Maybe I'll try to work on everything I pull in one month. Or, if that seems too overwhelming, maybe I could break it down to half month segments. Today is the 14th so I could pull one more project for tomorrow and then just work on those 15 projects for the rest of the month. It would be interesting to see how much progress I could make during the rest of the month. 

So here's today's project:

Morning Berries

Little House Needleworks

53 x 204

28 ct Arbor linen from Picture This Plus

overdyed flosses from my stash

So, here's to a great stitchy weekend and staying out of the freezing rain!!

Laura :)

January 13, 2017

Friday the 13th and a full moon. Ominous, huh? There's nasty weather coming our way here in Kansas City. We're supposed to get freezing rain throughout the weekend. We're trying to prepare in case we should lose power. Our school district even released 2 hours early today. We had no rain start until about 10 tonight. 

I'm writing with just over a half hour left in the day. Nothing like cutting it close. 

I pulled a different bag and am working my way through it. Today's project is Buttercups from Shepherd's Bush. It's one of a series of eight patterns: Amaranth, Bilberry, Bluebells, Buttercups, Mulberry, Rowan Berry, Violets and Whortleberry. This is a project I've had for a long time. I've stitched the first three and had a pretty good start on the fourth one. Then I started to work on the first band and realized I was missing the perle cotton and a couple of flosses I need for this one. I don't understand how I'm missing these! I thought I'd put all the supplies together so I'd be able to just finish the project and move on to the next one. 

These are sweet little projects with several interesting specialty stitches in each pattern. This project is 51 x 70 stitches and they're all a similar size. I'd like to finish off this series and frame all of the projects in either the same frame or similar frames in complementary colors. When I decided to stitch the series, I ordered enough 32ct Belfast linen to stitch all of them. They're all cut to size so, other than gathering floss, which I obviously have failed at, everything is together. 

So, with no further ado, here is today's project: 

Here's to a great stitchy weekend!

Laura :)

January 12, 2017

Another crazy day! Not bad, just busy. I had some great laughs along the way so it made it all a bit more bearable. 


Today's project is an oldie but a goodie. It's Hearts & Flowers, The Violet Sampler from The Drawn Thread. Well if you know anything about me, you probably know my favorite color is purple. I love violets, too, although my favorite flowers are irises. 


This project was out of print when I discovered it. I searched and searched and finally found someone who had the chart so I bought it. I bought a piece of Dark Lavender 32ct linen and all the flosses and gemstone hearts to complete the piece. I started stitching and then got sidetracked. I don't remember if I had an issue with the project or just started on something else. Anyway, I'd still like to see this finished. It's so full of gorgeousness that it needs to be finished. So, I'll just have to suck it up and do it!

More tomorrow!

Laura :)

January 11, 2017

Busy, crazy day. I woke too early - twice! I couldn't sleep again and ended up getting up early and trying to get my day started. Jeff called and needed to be picked up because his truck wouldn't start. ::sigh:: Thank goodness I had been up early. I was ready to go and got him taken care of before heading off to an early meeting only to discover it wasn't at the location I thought it was supposed to be. I raced to the actual location and made a few minutes of the meeting time. My work day seemed long then I had another meeting after school. I came home and took Jeff to pick up his truck. I finally came home and tried to rest for a few minutes but it just didn't work. Jeff had put a roast in the pressure cooker but it got in late so we ate later than I wanted to. 

Now for the good stuff! My project today is A True Friend from R & R Reproductions. I got this project at a stitch retreat. It was a secondary project and I just didn't get to it. It even came with a lovely green frame. It's a sweet project and one I'd like to see finished. It's another casualty of one of my annual starts. Currently I have all of the green stitched so there's not that much more to finish it. I really should just add it to the rotation and finish it!

A True Friend.....

R & R Reproductions

48 x 64

32 ct American Chestnut linen

DMC Floss

Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day!

Laura :)

January 10, 2017

Happy Tuesday! It was a beautiful day today and tomorrow promises to be even nicer. The weekend is forecasted to be a great time to stay inside and stitch. Maybe I'll make some good progress on my current projects. 

Today's project is a little different than the others I've posted so far. I've already had 3 finishes on this project. They are M Designs tree series. I've stitched Believe, Joy and Dream. 

I plan to add one more tree on this piece of fabric. It's the free design Pray that M Designs put out to honor the Hurricane Katrina victims and show support for them. It will make a nice pattern to round out this piece. I originally had plans to make a forest of sorts of 8 different patterns. Once I started, I decided to line them up and just stitch 4 of them on this one piece of fabric. It's a Crystal linen from PTP but I'm unsure of the color. I also have 4 other patterns that I want to stitch on individual pieces of fabric. So, this is posted here to show the evolution of a project. I'll post back to show more progress on my trees!

Off to stitch!

Laura :)

January 9, 2017

New day, new project. I've chosen an oldie but a goodie today. It's HummingBead Heaven from Just Nan. I saw this project years ago at the Stitchin' Post in Plano, TX. The shop is no longer there. It was a great shop, absolutely HUGE and full of wonderful treasures. I was able to completely kit up the project but then it sat for years and years. I finally pulled it out and started stitching. Then, I moved on to something else on my rotation and just didn't make it back to finish this. I do think I'll finish this. I'm just not sure when that will be. It's not a project that is currently calling to me. We'll see...

Happy Stitching!

Laura :)

January 8, 2017

Hello again! It's been a good weekend. I had the rehire party for my second job yesterday. It was good to see lots of familiar faces. 

I'm a little later posting today. It'll give you all a chuckle to learn the reason. I was looking through the latest bag of projects I had pulled. I was able to cull two charts that I don't think I'll ever stitch. Then I rediscovered Butterflies from the Arts & Crafts Designs folio by Ginger & Spice. Picture This Plus has had this stitched and displayed as a shop model for probably as long as they've been open and I've always been drawn to it. I finally asked for help finding it because it never seemed to be in stock. When they handed me the folio, which was in stock, I saw why I'd never found it. Can you figure out why?



The butterflies are turned at such an angle that they're nearly invisible. I did a quick look online and couldn't find a better picture. It's a circle of butterflies and what I think are probably dragonflies. It's made up of lovely DMC lavenders, antique blues and blue violets colors. Since I am a purple fanatic, this one totally fits the bill. AND, I had purchased a piece of 28ct Desert Sky Cashel linen on clearance. It's just perfect. It's subtly colored with hints of blues, pinks and yellows. So, I gave up resisting temptation and I started it today! I didn't do much, just the head and body of one butterfly and part of one wing segment. But it's started! So, I have yet another WIP!! Just what this crazy stitcher needed. So, here's my start. It's not much but it's a start. The fabric will not show anywhere near as pretty as it really is. Maybe during the day when it's finished, pressed and framed. 

So that's today's WIP. Newly created but a WIP nonetheless. Now I can start looking for tomorrow's!!

Hugs and Stitches, 

Laura :)