March 31, 2017

A Bunny's Fill

Shepherd's Bush

50 x 116

32ct Light Sand linen

kitted flosses, etc. 

I'm not much in the mood to blog about stitching tonight. You can see why in my previous post. I simply wanted to post because I'm trying to do this every day. 

This is another sweet Easter kit. It's smallish but has loads of fun stitches. I'll have to decide which one goes first, A Simple Egg or A Bunny's Fill. Either way, I'll have another beautiful project to display. 

Have a peaceful weekend. 

Laura 

Inconsolable

It's a sad, sad day at the Landis household. We arrive home late this afternoon to find that our sweet kitty, Pekoe, had been hit and killed. We adopted her when she was a poor little abandoned kitty, nearly starved to death. We weren't sure if she would make it, she was so emaciated. 

She just had the sweetest heart ever. She purred if you looked at her. She purred louder if you talked to her and she talked back. She purred loudest when she could curl up on your lap and have you pet her. What a little sweetheart. We will miss her so terribly. My 17-year-old son is nearly inconsolable at this point. This picture is just a few weeks ago. All curled up with my stitching things, right against my side. 

I told Brendan we have to just believe that Pekoe is with my mom and brother being loved on nonstop. Maybe some day we'll see her again. 

Until then, I'll miss her every day. 

March 30, 2017

A Simple Egg

Shepherd's Bush kit

63 x 103

32ct Ivory linen

silk flosses

beads

Another Shepherd's Bush kit. I do adore them! This one is relatively small. It has very few steps due to it's size, but they've managed to personalize this one with fun, unique stitches. Since I love Spring and Easter, this one if a perfect fit for my stash!

I don't think it really qualifies as a Smalls for my upcoming stitching event, but maybe if I finish several other smalls, I'll reconsider this one. It's starting to scream to be stitched. Sometimes I can't resist so we'll see what happens in the next few weeks. 

Thursday night. I'm so glad the weekend is nearly here. We will be attending a funeral on Saturday. My cousin was hospitalized with Influenza B which turned into Pneumonia. This stuff is no joke, especially this year. I've heard of other cases in our area where people have died and it all started with the flu. Sad, just sad. 

I've challenged my FB friends to work on a surprise project this weekend to celebrate April Fools' Day. Join in and stitch something that's been screaming loudly or that scares or surprises you. Have fun and post back to let me know what you stitched!

Laura :)

March 29, 2017

Quaker Easter Egg

Bent Creek

64 x 80

I can remember the day I bought this. It was during one of the shop hops. Jeff drove me out to Two The Point. I looked around for a little while and, along with a few other things, bought this chart. I really like Quaker motifs. Also, the message on this egg is wonderful. Spring is my favorite season and Easter has my favorite hymns of the year. 

I will look for the charted floss colors in my stash, but I'll substitute if I don't have them. This might still be small enough to qualify as a 'smalls' to go in my upcoming smalls week. 

It's a busy time of year for me. I'm starting to work at my second job. I've been working for a couple of months but the amount of scheduled time is about to increase substantially. That will mean less stitching time. I need to make sure I keep my mojo in full force and my WiPs moving forward. I've made such good progress I don't want to stop now. 

Until later!

Laura :)

Top 5 Tuesdays ~ Top 5 Film Related Charts

Top 5 Tuesdays ~ Top 5 Film Related Charts

This theme was a little more difficult for me. I don't own any film related charts. I looked online and found charts I like.

1, Star Wars - Darth Vader: My son would absolutely love for me to stitch this for him!

2. Goonies Never Say Die: Loved this movie. What a fun reminder. 

3. Inconceivable: The Princess Bride has long been a favorite at our house. 

4. Singin' in the Rain: A classic. I love musicals and this one is a favorite. ("And I can't stan' him!")

5. Chibi Groot: "I am Groot!" 3 words with so many meanings! LOL

So that's it for me. I look forward to a new challenge next week. 

Laura :)

March 28, 2017

Chick Love

Trail Creek Farm

You Are Simply To Dye For is the first project where I used Silk 'N Colors silk floss. I was going to substitute something else for it but my daughter, Katie, insisted on the silk floss. I just couldn't justify the expense. I was working on converting it to cotton overdyed floss when Katie announced she would buy the silks. No matter how I tried to convince her, she just kept insisting. So, she bought me the silks and I stitched it. Such a cute, cute project! 

I've kept this pattern around so that I could stitch the two smaller projects, Chick Love and Love Ya Chick. They're such fun little designs. They should be added at some point to my smalls stitching. The smaller one could go in my printer's tray and the larger one could be made into a fun pillow for seasonal display. See, I've got a plan already!

Laura :)

March 27, 2017

Easter Parade

Blackbird Designs

I made it! I've been having computer issues all evening but have finally managed to get things together enough to post. I've had this chart for about as long as it has been out ~ 2005. I was immediately drawn to the basket. I had started it but it is not with the pattern. I don't remember what happened to it. I suppose that's the problem with being a serial starter. I don't always work all the way through a project. Nevertheless, I will start this again and see it through. I'd also like to stitch the bunny. These are two very great projects in one chart. It will need to make it into the WiP pile sometime in the future. 

Need to keep this short!

Laura :)

March 26, 2017

Bunny Love

Trail Creek Farm

1412 x 47h

Well, it's the last day of my Spring Break. I've had a pretty relaxing day. I slept late and stitched a lot. I've made some good progress on my Hope of Spring. It has been a great week. I would, of course, like more time off. I feel like I just started to really relax and now it's over. Oh well, only 9 weeks of school left. 

Bunny Love. Too cute! Not my usual bunny pattern but I still like this one. One day I will stitch this and have so much fun doing it! It won't be soon. There are several others I like more than this pattern but I will keep it still for a while longer. 

I've been trying to decide what smalls I want to pull to start the month of April. I need to get them pulled and kitted so they'll be all ready. I have so many great choices. Maybe I'll see what's already kitted and go from there. Of course, I think I'll have to sneak in at least a couple of the cute little bunny charts I've found!

Laura :)

March 25, 2017

Easter Bunny Row

Bent Creek

272 x 32

I'm home after a great trip with my sister to Wichita to visit friends, stitch and shop. We had a lovely time stitching with a few friends. We laughed and talked and stitched and ate and finally, finally went to bed. We got up this morning and I stitched some more. After breakfast we headed to Heart's Desire and shopped. I got a couple more charts, some beautiful fabric, a piece of felt for a pincushion and a few flosses for one of the charts. Then, I sat down and stitched and managed to finish this: 

Ship of Life

The Need'l Love Company

PTP linen

mystery flosses from a grab bag

I LOVE how this came out! I used the same floss for the lettering that I did for the rocks by the lighthouse. This was so fun to stitch once I got it going. It didn't take that long to stitch. I just needed to concentrate on each of the elements to make sure they all got in correctly. An interesting note: The flosses I used for this came from a grab bag that I bought at a LNS. They took leftovers from kits they'd made for events and put them randomly into bags. My bag had various amounts of floss in several colors. I did have to pull a couple of flosses from my regular stash but not much. It's my 5th finish of the year. I started the year with 61 WIPs. I added three more and have completed 5 this year. I now have a total of 59 WIPs. Hopefully I'll get a couple more finished soon. The only thing that will stop my current progress is my 'smalls month'. I've been thinking I would use the month of April for smalls. I may have to rethink this and maybe choose a week each month for smalls. That would allow me to continue to work on my WIPs and make progress. Of course, it will create new projects but I'm planning to make sure I finish one small before starting another. It should be fun no matter what. 

Today's project is Easter Row by Bent Creek. It's such a cute pattern. I think I will look through my stash and find a variegated/overdyed floss to use for the alphabet instead of changing for each letter. There are some wonderful little creatures and bits spread through the row. It will be a fun stitch. I'm not sure it would qualify as a small so I guess I will not be starting it any time soon. I did buy a beautiful piece of Lilac linen today that would probably make it just perfect. We'll see!!

I'm so exhausted I'm not even sure this is all making sense. I hope you've had a great weekend. I'm looking forward to one more day of Spring Break and sleeping and stitching before heading back to school on Monday. 

Happy Stitching!

Laura :)

March 24, 2017

Good Eggs

The Trilogy

108w x 45h

32ct Natural Belfast linen

GAST & WDW floss

chick button

Love, love, love these eggs! They're so pretty. Great colors, cool vines, a sweet little chick. This will be a pure pleasure to stitch. I bought this kit at Heart's Desire in Wichita after looking at it for such a long time. That seems to happen with a lot of things I buy. I look for a long time until I just can't stand it any longer then I give in and buy the chart. I figure that if I still like a project after visiting it for a few months' time, it must truly be meant to be part of my stash. 

I'm realizing the number of charts I have in my stash. I've not even scratched the surface yet. It definitely makes me think I should slow down. There are just so many great charts out there that it's hard to decide when enough is enough! At this point, I don't think I'll ever be able to stitch everything I have. It's definitely not the point since I consider my charts part of my collection hobby as well as my stitching hobby. Thank goodness for a husband who understands! LOL 

Have a great weekend!

Laura :)

Top Five Tuesdays ~ more than a little late!

This week's theme is Your Choice. Well, I've been thinking about it since the weekend. I've finally decided to show my top projects that are stitched but need to be finished. When I went through the pile, there were waaaay more than 5. So, this week, I will post, in no particular order and forgetting the names/designers for most of the projects:

Laura's Top 20 Projects in Need of a Finish

Generosity 

The Drawn Thread

I fell in love with this project when I saw the model hanging on the wall at CC & Company. I visited it several times before bringing it home and finishing it fairly quickly. I didn't find the exact buttons it called for. I chose buttons I really like. They're a mix of different mediums, too. Definitely a frame job. 

Faith, Hope, Love

The Workbasket

35ct Mocha linen from R & R Reproduction

This was fun to stitch, but oh my, did it require accurate counting! I did a floss toss with a few different overdyed flosses and landed on this one. I don't remember what color I used! It's really long so it probably needs a frame. 

A few years ago I was given a bag of stitching supplies from a friend who doesn't stitch and was clearing out her mother's things. I found this little cutie in there. I LOVE this bunny! I think it would make a perfect pin cushion. 

Three of my St. Patrick's Day projects that need to be finished! Irish is already pinned. I originally thought I'd make it a cube. Sl'ainte may end up being a long pincushion. I think I already have a frame for the Irish Blessing. I don't currently have any SPD projects ready for display. I think I've also stitched LUCK from Bent Creek so it should be included in this grouping. 

Violet's Blue

Blackbird Designs

When I saw this design, I knew it needed to go on purple fabric. I've added Jeff's and my initials and the year we were married. This will be framed. 

Second Chances 

I Still Do leaflet

Ink Circles

Orphan linen from Picture This Plus

I took this fabric and pattern into PTP and Marilyn was able to spend some time with me pulling flosses that would work. Since purple is a favorite for both of us, it was fun to play with all the colors. I really like how this came out. I have fabric and a great button to make it into a big pillow. I thought it would be a nice start to choose pretty things for the bedroom and use this as a decorative pillow there. 

Bloom

Threadwork Primitives

What a sweet design. I stitched this easily in one weekend. I will finish it into a pincushion. I need to find a good display space for my pincushions!

Garden Flowers

I cannot remember the designer on this one right now. I tried to look online but wasn't successful in my search. Anyway, I really enjoyed stitching this design. I remember looking at the picture on the pattern and not seeing the fence at first. I tried to choose fabric that would allow all of these beautiful elements to show. This could be a nice framed piece or smallish pillow. 

Birdhouses in my Thistles Garden

Thistles

Solo fabric from Silkweaver

I think this fabric and pattern were made for each other! I love how all the colors play off each other. My sister, Nancy, has stitched this and hers looks completely different. It's always fun to see how different the same pattern can look with fabric & floss choices. I think it needs to be a long pincushion/pillow. 

?

Is this the cutest flower ever? I had so much fun stitching it. I know my colors are not quite as charted because I found a great overdyed floss to use for parts of it. I enjoyed all the quirky elements that came together to make this project perfect. It may be framed so I can see it hanging every day. Maybe it needs to go to work with me? 

Where the Blue Berries Grow

The Gathering Place

40ct Ale linen from Picture This Plus

Vikki Clayton silk flosses

I saw this pattern and fell in LOVE. It has unusual coloring and it drew me in instantly. I had a terrible time trying to stitch this until Nancy and I started going to the library every week. I worked on it there where the light was better and I was stitching at a table. It made it easier to see all of this. This will be framed, although, a pillow could be sweet!

Voice of the Shepherd

Lavender & Lace

solo fabric from Silkweaver

floss as charted

This pattern had been in my stash for such a long time. Then, one year, Nancy and I decided to stitch it. My fabric is greenish and hers is blue. Our two projects look so different and so pretty! Every time I look at this, I'm filled with peace. I breathe deeply and just relax. Don't you love the trees leaning over the top? To be framed. 

Red, White & Blue

The Cross Eyed Cricket

This pattern came out after 9/11. I bought it and intended to get it stitched right away. It actually took several years before I ever pulled it out and stitched it. I used the silk flosses it called for as well as the fabric from R & R Reproductions. This will be framed. 

Miss Mary Mack

La~D~Da

Pickled linen from Picture This Plus

Oh, such a fun, fun stitch. Jeff chose this pattern as one he wanted me to finish last year. It was finished during Spring Break last year. I need to ask him how he would like it finished. I'm guessing he'll want it framed. 

Skeleton Crew

The Cross Eyed Cricket

linen from Picture This Plus

This project is finished due to help from a round robin group. It traveled the world to get completed. It is stitched with glow-in-the-dark floss for all of the white bits. I recently priced this out for framing. I need to save some pennies and wait for a framing sale!

Give Thanks Always

I found this at a cross stitch shop in Bolivar, MO when my friend, Debbie, took Nancy and I to visit. I picked up several great charts that day. Unfortunately the shop is no longer open. For some reason, I went crazy and bought a piece of evenweave to stitch on. I hate evenweave. Wait, let me say that the correct way. I HATE evenweave! It made working on this project a real chore. I think I shoved it in the drawer as soon as I finished it. Now I'm ready for it to come out and be framed and displayed. It will be a long, irregular frame so I'll have to watch for a bargain. 

Give Thanks

The Drawn Thread

This is a project I bought, took home, chose supplies and stitched almost immediately. I really like everything about it. I just need to get it framed and hung. 

Deck the Halls

Bent Creek

CC & Company has had this on the walls for years. I've looked at it for years! I finally caved and bought it. I took it home and stitched it right away. It's such a fun project! I have a great frame for it and need to figure out what to do to cover the end where I don't have quite enough fabric. I'm thinking of adding a Christmas print fabric to the ends to complete it. 

Holly

Nora Corbett

Another great one that was on display at CC & Company. I finally bought and stitched her in 2011. That November-December I pulled a bag of several Christmas and Winter themed projects and stitched furiously. I finished several projects and still need to frame them all! This will definitely go into a frame. 

Santa of the Forest

Lavender & Lace

linen from Picture This Plus

So, this is the perfect wrap up for my crazy Top 20. I started this as a gift for Jeff many, many moons ago. I finally sent it out in a round robin - twice! The ladies liked it enough to work on it twice for me. It's all stitched with DMC aside from the gold. I've kind of pictured this as a banner of sorts but my hubby is insisting on a frame so a frame it will be. Another one to save up my pennies and let someone else frame for me. 

Now you know why I should never be turned loose with a random theme!!

Happy Stitching!

Laura :)

March 23, 2017

Spring Two

ewe & eye & friends

Another cutie from eef. I don't think this was one of the Black Sheep club. It's just one I liked. The surprise is that it's the chick, not the bunny that made me buy this one. It's just so silly and goofy!! Still inside it's egg, too shy to come out? These will be fun to stitch. I definitely feel a smalls month coming up. Maybe April will be the time since then all these cute designs will be appropriate for the season. I have about a week to gather supplies and projects and see what I can get finished. 

I also need to have a month where I focus on finishing. I have several projects just waiting to be pinned and mounted into frames. Others have fabric and stuffing and are waiting to be made into pillows. I would guess I could finish 10 or more projects in a month's time if I focused on finishing. Then I'd have more lovelies to add to the decor!! Finishing is always something I struggle with. I love to stitch but just don't follow through on the finishing. Maybe June would be a good month to do the finishing since I'll have a little more free time available. 

Tomorrow I'm off to Wichita to have some stitching time with friends. Nancy and I are going to stay with a friend. She has invited other stitchers over for a fun get together time. I'm really looking forward to it. Hopefully I'll make some good progress on my projects. 

Laura :)

March 22, 2017

Bunny in a Basket

ewe & eye & friends

80h x 80w

35ct Italian linen from LC Kramer

Anchor & DMC flosses

This little cutie came as a kit from the Black Sheep Club meetings I used to attend years ago at The Old Mill Stitchery. I really enjoyed the kits from these meetings. I still have several waiting to be stitched. Bunnies are some of my favorites. AND, this project has purple in it. I cannot believe I haven't managed to work this one into my rotation in all these years!  

In some ways it's very difficult to go through my stash this way. I want so badly to work on all of these projects. I've found very little that no longer interests me. I just hope that blogging this way helps me keep my stitching mojo. Do you have things that help you keep yours?

Laura :)

March 21, 2017

Spring's a Buzzin'

Val's Stuff

44h x 42w

I've had this cute little chart for some time. I went through a time where I bought a lot of things from eBay. One of the many things was a lot that contained several charts. This was one of them. It's such a cute little project. This is another project where I just need a little time to get it stitched. 

I have so many of these smallish projects. I think maybe I need to designate a month to working on this kind of project only. I wonder how many I would finish if they were all I worked on for an entire month? I would imagine I would finish a good 4 or 5 at a minimum. 

There may be a small month in my near future!

Laura :)

March 20, 2017

Breath of Spring

Blackbird Designs

105 x 41

GAST & Crescent Colors

Happy Spring! In honor of the first day of Spring, I thought I'd choose an appropriate chart. This one has some of my favorite elements, bunnies, flowers, great colors...what's not to love? It's fairly small and should stitch relatively quickly. It does call for 13 colors of floss. What? I'll probably end up using whatever bits I find in my stash that I think will work within the project. I love the clean look of the white linen, but knowing myself, I'll probably choose something overdyed with a nice pattern to it. Yellow, soft pink, soft blue, maybe green? We'll have to see what I come up with!

Laura :)

March 19, 2017

NOTE: ACK! My post didn't get sent yesterday so I'm sending it along today. 

The Bunny Collection

JBW Designs

I love bunnies! I think I've mentioned this multiple times. ;) This pattern is such a cutie because it has 5 different bunny patterns inside. It gives cute ideas to make it a birth announcement, too. I think I'll probably just finish them all as pincushions and display them every year for Easter. They're all 54 - 58 wide by 38 - 40 high. They would be very quick to stitch. Maybe I'll get one stitched this year???

Laura :)