Mellow Bungalow

Old Finishes

2012-02-13T07:34:00.000-08:00

Looking through my blog I see that I never posted a picture of the finished Prairie Schooler design, November. Well, here it is, and I finished it well over a year ago....

And here is another small finish from a design by Barbara Ana that I did last year for my daughter, who graduated from high school.

I hope to take some more pictures of cross stitch finishes and WIPs that I have around here. I am enjoying getting back to my blog and it is motivating me to stitch more to see everyone's beautiful work. Now, back to stitching...

New Starts, sort of...

2012-02-10T15:45:00.000-08:00

I started both of these last year, but got so little done that they both seem like new starts now.

The first is Sunflower Inn by Little House Needleworks.

Here is a picture of the full design.

And next is Beacon House by Praiseworthy Stitches. This one has been so much fun to stitch so far. I love lighthouses. And I think I'll stitch one of the deer next.

Here's the whole design of this one.

Until next time, enjoy your stitching!

White Winter Woodland

2011-12-02T17:42:00.000-08:00

I am working on White Winter Woodland by Blue Ribbon Designs lately. It is being stitched with the recommended threads on Picture This Plus Spice 32 count linen, which is kind of dark, but I find myself growing more and more fond of it.

Hide and Seek

2011-11-28T07:15:00.000-08:00

Another finish, although a little late since I wanted to finish it by Thanksgiving. This is Hide and Seek by Diane Graebner.

Brownbird Sampler

2011-11-26T17:14:00.000-08:00

I finished Brownbird Sampler by Bent Creek. Now I have two of the seasons completed, Winter and Spring.

Dull November in January

2010-01-03T17:00:00.000-08:00

I have been stitching on the November Sampler by Prairie Schooler. It is going pretty fast, now that I am actually working on it. Here is an updated picture:

I am also getting back to stitching on my HAED projects, doing a little each day on Fairy Village. So far, I have only stitched very dark upon incredibly dark upon black, so there is not much to show, but as soon as there is, I'll post an update here and on the HAED SAL blog.

As for the traditional New Year goals, I want to keep it incredibly simple, as I am incredibly busy...busier than I have ever been in my life. So here it goes:

1. I want to finish two WIPs/UFOs that I have had for six months or more.

2. I want to read 50 books for the 2010 Reading Challenge.

3. I want to eat more vegetables. :-).

4. I want to adopt a dog from the St. Bernard Rescue Foundation of Texas.

That's about it. We'll see how it goes.

Still Stitching

2009-12-29T13:46:00.000-08:00

I thought I would try to update this blog before the year ends. Here are some pictures of the some of my WIPS....at least the ones I have been working on most recently.

Prairie Schooler ornament from the 2008 Christmas Ornaments special issue of Just Cross Stitch magazine.

Here is my WIP of Prairie Schooler's November. This is not such a great picture. The colors are richer and the fabric darker. I'll try to get a better picture next time.

And then here is Lizzie Kate's Christmas Flip-Its. I have 2 blocks left, and I have ordered the pattern for them. I am just waiting for it to arrive to finish this one.

Well, that is all for now. Happy New Year everyone!

Summer Snapperland Finished

2009-09-11T09:14:00.000-07:00

This morning I put in the last stitches on Summer Snapperland by Bent Creek, finishing that last block on the left. The crabs and the seahorses are my favorite parts of this design.

So here is a picture of the whole Snapperland at last. I made some color changes to fabric and threads. This is stitched on Zweigart 32 ct. natural linen and I exchanged GAST Blue Jay for the GAST Brethren Blue, and DMC 783 for the GAST Mustard Seed. I also made the little grassy bushes with GAST Dried Thyme instead of GAST Old Hickory because I wanted greener plants.

I have the patterns, including the free chart for the border design for the Autumn Snapperland, so I'll be getting to that one eventually.

I also finished the next section of the Lizzie Kate Christmas Double-Flip Its, so that makes 8 down and four more to go.

It is getting more and more difficult to get a good picture of the entire project, but here it is.

Happy stitching everyone!

Around the World

2009-09-07T06:45:00.000-07:00

I spent a lot of time surfing stitching blogs last night, and there were so many beautiful projects out there, I decided that it was time for another Around the World post.

First stop is in Spain (I think?), region or town unknown, to El Blog de Estrella where you can see her stunningly beautiful finish of Plight of Fancy by Long Dog Samplers. It is quite a different thing to see a stitched finish of a Long Dog instead of the computerized images on their designs. The colors on this one are so vivid and bright, and the photography is superb as well.

Next we travel on to Italy and stop at il mercoledi to gaze at Mariangela's three lovely finishes. She has finished My Quaker Garden and When This You See, both by Blackbird Designs, and a red monochrome design by Dany. It always amazes me to see how popular Blackbird Designs are all over the world. They show up everywhere.

A short hop over the Alps into France and we'll dash to des fils defilent in Paris to look at Ktia's unique and gorgeous finish of the Mary Wigham Reproduction Sampler in blues and tans. I have seen many different SALS for this one...French, Spanish, German and even Russian. I really like this blue and tan version.

Now across the ocean sea we travel, to the city of Montreal in Canada to a blog in Russian called My Workbasket to look at a gorgeous tea cozy that Amaryllis (I think...awkwardly sounding out the Russian letters) made from the new Tea Party design by Victoria Sampler. She even changed the saying to Russian. I love it!

Well, that's it for now. I hope you enjoyed the short tour.

Summer Snapperland

2009-08-28T17:56:00.000-07:00

I have not stitched much over the summer, which seems, sadly, to be a pattern for me. But anyway, I have fallen back into it now and I am nearing completion on the Bent Creek Summer Snapperland.

Here is a close-up of the right hand side which I recently completed

I am also stitching on Lizzie Kate's Christmas Double Flips. I have finished through the seventh block, and so I have 5 more to go.

Tomorrow I should get a good part of the next block on this piece done, as I will be stitching on it for the Saturday Night SAL on the Only One Ewe forum.

Stitch-A-Longs

2009-03-28T08:27:00.000-07:00

I have debated whether or not to make this post now. My husband and daughter have gone on a trip and they have taken my camera. I am able to take pictures with my son's camera, but it is not nearly as good as the one that has gone overseas.

But I have some ongoing SALs and I really don't want to wait another week until they return to post updates, so I will just make do. Thus said, please forgive the dark, blurry photos.

A few months ago, I joined a French forum, Les Copines, so I could participate in some of their SALs. So far, I have signed up for 3: Lizzie Kate's Christmas Flip-Its, Bent Creek Summer Snappers, and Madame La Fee's Gingerbread Cookies. The first two are ongoing, and the last begins near the end of April. With these SALs, everyone agrees to stitch on the same part of the design on a schedule, usually an objective every two weeks. I have found these to be enjoyable so far, and I like having the discipline of a schedule.

Here is the March update of the Christmas Flip-It Bits (this picture was taken before my camera left the country)

And here is Summer Snappers after two objectives. There is a new objective every 2 weeks. I promise that I will have a better picture next time.

And then I have stitched some on Mon Beau Chalet, I have not quite caught up to my March objective as I got a little off-schedule while I was stitching only HAED designs for a month (uh...I claim temporary insanity).

I return now to my stitching, and wish everyone a wonderful week!

Finally an Update

2009-03-18T05:46:00.000-07:00

At last, I have a little time in which to make a post. February and March are always extremely busy months around here, and when it gets like this I seem to choose to stitch rather than blog. But things seem to be slowing down some around here now, and next week it should get even better.

I have been stitching in this lost time, but it has been mostly on my HAED designs. I was motivated to get back to stitching on Santa's List, my Christmas HAED WIP, by an informal HAED SAL organized by Cindy F. Then I received a message from Denise on the HAED Forum that she was getting the Christmas SAL there restarted. I was already working on Santa's List, so I joined that one as well. Then I was delighted to find that Cindy and Wendy started a blog for HAED stitchers called Our Friends HAED SAL, which I also joined. When I finished my first page on Santa's List, I still wanted to stitch on a HAED, but I was ready to do something different. So I pulled Fairy Village out of the drawer, and then later retrieved May I Have This Dance as well. I have enjoyed getting back to stitching these designs. Progress is slow, but I enjoy watching the design emerge onto the fabric. Here are some updated pictures.

First is Santa's List by Ruth Sanderson. I have finished the first page.

Next is Fairy Village by Lisa Victoria. I have about 2 and 1/2 pages done.

And finally, here is May I Have This Dance, which I am still stitching away on as of yesterday. I have almost finished 4 pages, but only one of them was a full page. I have approximately 11,000 stitches completed.

I have stitched a little bit on some other things, keeping up with a couple other SALs, but I am going to save those for another post, or this one will become rather unwieldly.

happy stitching everyone!

The Blight Has Struck

2009-02-07T14:22:00.000-08:00

Everyone here in the Bungalow has been sick in the last two weeks. It is the dreaded flu...and a very potent version of it as well. My daughter is the last to succumb, and she has had it the worst of all. After just three days, she has a "really nasty nasal infection" according to her physician. I so look forward to it being gone, gone, gone.

Let us get on now to more pleasant topics. I finished the February portion of the Lizzie Kate Christmas Double Flip-Its. I changed the pink color in the stocking to a gold one so that the finished picture will better match my Christmas decor. This continues to be an easy, enjoyable stitch, which is a good thing because I stitched it while still feeling quite under the weather.

I also started work on the next pattern in my LHN Dear Diary Sampler. This is the section for Emmaline Whitcomb in Santa Clara. I can't wait to stitch the house.

Well, everyone keep well. I would rather have a visit from the dreaded frog than this horrid little bug. If everyone keeps healthy, I should be back to the HAED SAL next Friday. I will also be getting back to checking up on everybody's blogs.

New Project

2009-01-29T00:40:00.000-08:00

Last spring, in 2008, I posted about wanting to start Strawberry Fields Farm, a design by Victoria Sampler.

I decided to purchase the thread package from Vikki Clayton's Hand-Dyed Fibers website. Although I love her silk thread and it is a joy to stitch with, I was not happy with a few of the color conversions, and this had kept me from starting this design. It is hard for me to match colors from pictures on a website, so I finally decided to just replace the colors that I didn't like with threads from my stash. So, after a couple of missteps here and there, I have finally arrived at my own unique conversion for this design. It is mostly HDF silk, but with about 4 GAST threads as well.

So, here is my start on Strawberry Fields Farm. I stitched my first Queen Stitches on this section as well. They were not as hard as I had been led to believe, which leaves me with the uneasy feeling that perhaps I did not do them right.

Also, I also received this blog award from Lynn this week. Thank you so very much! I am supposed to list 5 different addictions, so here it goes:

1. Stitching

2. Coffee (McDonalds and Dunkin' Donuts being preferred)

3. 24 (the television show with Kiefer Sutherland)

4. Internet (stitching forums and blogs; news sites as well)

5. Baking (bread, cakes, cookies, muffins...)

I'll pass this award on to the following enjoyable blogs:

Kendra at the Stitching Hour
Stephanie at Stephanie's Stitching and Musings
Cathy at No Sampler Left Behind
Debby at The Stitching Wizard
Stephanie at In Stitches

It has been a long time since my last post, and the main reason behind this is we have been experiencing internet connection problems. It seems to be intermittent. Sometimes we can connect and be on 30 minutes or so before it disconnects and freezes, but other times we can't even get it to connect at all. My husband has been working at it, downloading updates and such, and it has improved, but it is still not as it should be. I am ready to get another service provider (being as this is an addiction and all). But anyway, it stayed up long enough for me to make this post :-)

Enjoy your stitching, one and all!

HAED SAL 2

2009-01-17T17:03:00.000-08:00

Well this week I had a much more normal HAED stitching day, as I couldn't stitch all day and all evening. I went with my children on a field trip to the Bureau of Printing and Engraving in Fort Worth where they make all our money...well the paper kind anyway. It was a fascinating trip, and we learned all kinds of things about how they make the greenbacks. The employees who actually run the printing presses work in fenced-in locked areas, kind of like cages, and they can only be involved in one part of the process and can never go into any of the other "cages". The security precautions are amazing. The most interesting part to me was the area where they showed how they "reclaimed" damaged money...money damaged by fire, flood and even explosives. I was surprised to find out how many people are storing stacks of bills in their homes. Unfortunately no cameras at all are allowed inside the Bureau, so I have no pictures to share.

And, I was gone most of the day, so I was only able to stitch in the evening. I got about 400 stitches done last night, and then I got another 200 stitches done this morning before everybody woke up. I just love those early morning hours when everything is quiet and peaceful.

Here is a picture of my progress on Santa's List:

I also did some stitching this week on Mon Beau Chalet, a design I am working on from the De Fil en Aiguille magazine. I finished my January goal for this WIP.

Here is a closeup picture of the motif that I stitched.

I have also been working on my Engelbreit, but I don't think I'll post a picture on that one again until I have it finished.

Have a great weekend everyone!

New HAED SAL

2009-01-10T11:42:00.000-08:00

Last week I read about a new HAED SAL on Cindy's blog. They were going to work on their HAED projects on Fridays. I have a couple of HAED WIPs which had not been worked on in a long, long time, so I decided that this might be a great opportunity to work on one of them. So I joined the SAL, and yesterday, Santa's List by Ruth Sanderson came out for some attention. I got a tremendous amount done for me, and there is a reason. My husband and son left on Friday morning for a campout, and so I just stitched and stitched and stitched. My daughter and I went out to eat at Chili's last night and then we watched National Treasure II and I stitched some more into the night. It was very enjoyable to work on a HAED again, and I will hopefully be back to it next Friday.

Click here if you want to see what the design will look like when completed.
Then here is my before-SAL picture:

And here is the after-SAL picture:

I also wanted to explain a little bit about the LHN Dear Diary sampler that I am working on as well, because there were some questions regarding it. The patterns are each sold separately and they are not really intended to go together into a large sampler, but I saw a picture of a Neighborhood Round Robin project that was using the Dear Diary charts in two straight columns of four. I thought that it was beautiful. (sorry, I couldn't locate this picture online) Then I read that an informal SAL was being begun by Cheryl and Vonna as they were inspired by this same Round Robin. I played around with the patterns until I decided upon a layout that I liked, and the rest is history. It will make a large project completed (243 x 317 stitches), but it doesn't seem overwhelming because I think of each separate little chart as a finish. I am stitching it on a full yard of 32 count Lakeside maple sugar linen.

And, finally, here are some stitching posts from around the web that inspired me this week. The stitching web is abundantly full of new starts in honor of the new year this week, but I found a few lovely finishes to highlight.

Penelope in Italy finished this adorable hornbook. I am not familiar with the design, but I like it very much.

Silvia in Barcelona, Spain has finished a beautiful redwork Bienvenue
heart with roses.

And Loreta has a gorgeous wintry finish of CCN's Forest Snowfall.

Until next time....

Lizzie Kate SAL

2009-01-08T12:18:00.000-08:00

This is just a quick post to show my progress on a new SAL which I have joined for the new year. It is a French SAL organized on the Les Copines forum for the Lizzie Kate Christmas Double Flip-Its, and they are calling it the 12 mois de noel or 12 months of Christmas. I have completed the January portion as you can see below. I used the DMC threads rather than WDW, and I am not going to attach the charms until the end. I think this is going to be a fun, easy stitch.

Dear Diary Progress

2009-01-04T06:12:00.000-08:00

I hope that everyone is having a wonderful stichy start to the New Year. For my part, I was glad to see the end of 2008. It was a difficult year, and I even had trouble getting into the holiday spirit in December. But now it is past, and we have a whole new twelve months to contemplate and make stitching plans for.

I have been stitching some. Not as much as I would prefer, but enough to finish the Mary Heaton section of the Dear Diary Sampler.

And here is a picture of the whole sampler to date.

Also, about a week ago, I purchased a skein of Crescent Colors Apple Fritter. I usually just buy the threads that a design calls for, but when I saw this one, it just called to me. I wanted to try it out on something small. Anyway, when I got home, I searched through some freebie patterns, and chose to stitch this Noel design by gazette94 . I love the color and I think that I am going to use it on a larger design that I have plans for later in the year.

Till next time....enjoy your stitching and families.

Christmas Eve

2008-12-24T09:52:00.001-08:00

Home for Christmas

With pomp, power and glory
the world beckons vainly.
In chase of such vanities,
why should I roam?
While peace and content
bless my little thatched cottage
and warm my own heart,
with the treasures of home.

Beatrix Potter

In all the preparations for Christmas, I still haven't had much time to stitch, but here are a couple of updates anyway :-). I continue my slow progress on my Mary Engelbreit piece, To a Friend's House the Road is Never Long. I am getting to the point where I can almost envision a finish.

And, I pulled out my Dear Diary sampler and began the fifth block, the Mary Heaton section. Here is a picture of where I was, and a picture of my progress. This is getting quite big, and difficult, therefore, to photograph.

My daughter and I have also been baking and cooking up a Christmas storm of sweet treats. Here is a platter with some of our creations. Starting at twelve o'clock and going around clockwise, we have peanut brittle, creamy butter mints, ginger snap cookies, peppermint bark, and fantasy fudge (using the old recipe on the marshmallow creme jar back from when I was a child). We also had coconut thumbprints, but even though we made two batches of these, none survived to get their picture taken.

Have a Holly, Jolly Christmas This Year

Some freebies

2008-12-12T11:48:00.001-08:00

I hope that everyone is having a wonderful, merry time preparing for the arrival of Christmas.

I have no stitching pictures to share, but I thought that I would post some links to some freebies that I have come across lately.

This beautiful French sampler, called Grand Abcedaire, is being offered by Gazette 94 in eight parts, one part per month, from now through July 2009. There are a lot of other great freebies on this site you can browse also.

Also check out:

Madame La Fee for a pretty candy cane ornament
Joli Tambour Creation has three very nice ornaments
Isabelle Vautier, one of my favorite designers, has a beautiful Christmas freebie

That is all for now. I'll probably come back and add more later.

Enjoy the season!

Christmas Stitching Update

2008-12-08T09:47:00.000-08:00

It is the most wonderful time of the year. The time where my family and I are so busy that we aren't home much, and when we are, it seems like we have endless Christmas chores to accomplish. I love it all, but it leaves less time to stitch. I have made some progress on my various WIPs, but not as much as I would like.

Here is what I have accomplished on my Mary Engelbreit piece. The yellow is gradually getting filled in, and the sign is almost done.

And I got a bit done on the North Pole project, participating with the Saturday Night SAL with the Only One Ewe forum. You can now see the elf's arm, appearing rather ghostly without its body.

And finally, I started an ornament from the 1999 JCS Ornament issue called Christmas Village by the Threads of Time. This is going kind of slow because I am stitching it one over one.

I have so enjoyed surfing around the stitching blogland this week, and seeing everyone's Xmas ornaments and other projects. It is very inspiring. Until next time....

Engelbreit Yellow

2008-11-30T13:16:00.001-08:00

I have been stitching and stitching and stitching and stitching some more with DMC 444 which I have affectionately? renamed "Engelbreit Yellow." Progress is being made, however, on the border. I have finished the bottom part, which is the thickest and have passed the halfway point. I apologize for these photos. I took them three times, but the colors are still washed out. Perhaps my camera needs new batteries, or perhaps the light is just not good today. Here is a close-up of the bottom part of the border with its multitude of little yellow stitches...around 1500, but who's counting?

Here are some international blog posts that will make an enjoyable visit this week:

Argante at Il Filo Incantato stitched The Thread Gathering by Victoria Sampler and finished it into a top for a box where she can store her various threads.

Maria at Un punto e una croce has finished Winter Sampler by Little House Needleworks. It is so cute with the little gingerbread man. She also has pictures of finishes of the others in this seasonal sampler series.

And look at what Gisele made with her finish of Noel 2008! She has finished it into a gorgeous bag. I love the colors that she used on this free SAL pattern from Chez Brodyzen.

Finally, I wanted to show you this finish by Amaryllis at My Workbasket of a beautiful Wolf. This blog is all in Russian and thus I can't read it, but she has some beautiful stitching, including some Teresa Wentzler.

And lastly, I wanted to show another new design that I have fallen in love with. This one is Peppermint Twist by Blue Ribbon Designs. I really need to finish something so I can start something new.

And the new pattern I mentioned last week by Tournicoton, Pere Noel Charmant, and other Tournicoton patterns can be purchased simply and easily by Americans at Violarium. I have placed orders with them several times, and their shipping to the US is both inexpensive and quick, and everything is done in excellent English.

Christmas is Coming!

2008-11-23T11:09:00.000-08:00

As I wandered around from blog to blog this week, I was enveloped in the Christmas spirit. So many of you are working on Christmas projects, ornaments are everywhere, Christmas decor abounded, and many in the Northern Hemisphere were blessed with their first snow of the year. I saw snow pictures from all over the world. Blogs were also beginning to get winter or christmas-themed backgrounds. Christmas and winter are definitely in the air!

No less so here, although we have no snow. I worked on The North Pole piece some more this week. I am now on the fourth floor of the design which seems to be the room of the doll maker. The brown checkerboard thing is the beginning of an easy chair.

I also stitched quite a bit on Mary Engelbreit's To a Friend's House the Road is Never Long, but I am so close to finishing the bottom border that I have decided to wait and finish that before I post a picture.

In the new design area, have you seen this new one by Tournicoton? I don't usually stitch too many ornaments or smalls, but I really like this one. It is called Pere Noel Charmant.

And finally, here are some blog posts that caught my eye this week:

First of all, Val at Jum's Blog really did now finish her Blackbird, I Thee Wed. She substituted the suggested threads with DMC, and the result is truly beautiful.

At Le Blog d'Alineka, there is another lovely Blackbird finish. This one is Strawberry Garden.

For a wintry finish, take a peek at Brodev's Hiver Nordique. She has stitched a gorgeous wintry scene.

Well, I had another to share, but I am looking at the clock and see that it is time for me to go to church, so I'll get to it next time. Oh, and I want to mention that I think I fixed the problem with comments from people who do not have blogger accounts. Now you should be able to comment with Open ID. Sorry about that problem.

To my American readers, have a Happy Thanksgiving! And to all others, have a great week!

Another Saturday Night SAL

2008-11-16T11:25:00.000-08:00

After a week of no stitching due to a slight injury to my hand, I was glad to start up again by participating in the Saturday Night SAL sponsored by the Only One Ewe cross stitch forum. I had a great night of stitching, due in part to my state of mind after returning from a stressful all-day swim meet. Those of you who have kids involved in competitive swimming will understand, but to those who do not, let me explain. Pools are usually not set up as a spectactor sport, so for many meets, parents bring their own folding chairs and space is always an issue. This year, perhaps because of Michael Phelps, it is nearly impossible to find a place to even set up your chair. This made parents cranky and unfriendly. In addition, indoor pool buildings are heated to a level for the swimmers' comfort, who are running around in wet swimsuits. So for parents, who are not in swimsuits or wet, it is uncomfortably warm. Then there is the smell and taste of chlorine in the air, and the echoey nature of almost all indoor pools that seem to amplify sound and bounce it all around all the walls, increasing its volume fourfold, I'm certain. Add to this lovely environment, about 250 excited, pumped-up, carb-filled 9 to 12 year olds, and you may begin to get the picture.

So when I got home, I was very happy to sit in my comfortable chair, and cross stitch away on the North Pole while watching The Lake House on TV. Cross stitching helps me to de-stress, and I had a lot that to accomplish :-).

I got the toolbox on the left side done, the icicle on the right side roof, and all the light brown stitching in the ceiling part. I continue to love this design and hate the fabric that I am using, but felt in my Q-Snaps helps tremendously. Here is the progress picture:

I also had a good stash week. Two separate orders, from two different stores arrived. One of the orders arrived promptly, but the other was placed nearly 9 weeks ago and I had all but given up on it ever arriving. I received Blue Bird Sampler and Christmas Row by Bent Creek, and Blessings & Kind Wishes which is a Loose Feather design from Blackbird. There were also some Weeks Dye Works threads which are for a another Blackbird design, Awake the Dawning Day, that I want to start, probably after Christmas.

And I also received Winter Wonderland by Crown & Thistle, which I have to tell you, I would never have purchased had I not seen one finished. The picture on the pattern really does not do it justice. In this package was also The 4th Day of Christmas by Prairie Moon, a designer that I am becoming more and more fond of, who actually lives near here. I have to say, though, I am still a little shell-shocked from perusing the thread list on this design-- a whopping 22 different GAST threads. Finally, there were three Lizzie Kate monthly flip-its from a few years ago.
I have been busy surfing many beautiful blogs this week. Here are a few that had some wonderful finishes:

At Jum's Blog, there is a beautiful finish of Blackbird's I Thee Wed. The colors on this one are spectacular! Edited to say that Val at Jum's Blog emailed to point out that this is not yet finished, there is a bit left to stitch.

There is also a cute finish at Roses et Caramel. Charline has stitched Winter Row by Bent Creek. I have seen several splendid Bent Creek "Row" design finishes in the last month, and it is really making me want to stitch one myself.

And at Croix Begood, there is a stunningly beautiful picture of her finish of Momenti di Vita.

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday.

Mon Beau Chalet

2008-11-07T10:43:00.000-08:00

I have developed a strong attraction to French designs. I like many of their popular designers: Isabelle Vautier, Tournicoton, Bleu de Chine, Madame La Fee, Tralala, Perrette Samouiloff, and A Mon a Pierre. I am also building a library of French stitching magazines and books. The very first one of these magazines that I owned was De Fil en Aiguille, Hors Serie Alpin, which is a special issue themed on the alps. This design that I am stitching, Mon Beau Chalet, comes from that magazine. I grew up skiing and backpacking in the Sierra Mountains of California, and these chalet-style designs evoke in me the memory and aura of those happy childhood times.

Here is my recent progress picture on this design:

I have also been surfing stitching blogs. If I stitched as much as I surfed, I might actually finish some stuff. Anyway, here are some of the blog posts that really got my attention this week:

At Petite Croix & Compagnie there is a post depicting her progress on a lovely work in blue called "la trousse de Jeanne". It is gorgeous!

At Bienvenue Chez Virginie, Virginie has finished stitching the beautiful Coeur Chalet by Bleu de Chine with a SAL. One of these days, I want to join one of these French SALs where they break the design up into parts and everyone stitches the same part in the same week.

At Il Mio Mondo...di crocette, Tina has finished stitching Autumn Row by Bent Creek and made it into a nice pillow. I love all these Row designs by Bent Creek. It is only a matter time before I try one myself.

Well, now it is back to stitching. Have a great weekend!

Drum Roll Please......

2008-11-04T13:52:00.000-08:00

The winner of the Winter Cardinal pattern giveaway draw is.....

Debby of StitchWizard

Congratulations Debby! If you could please send me an email with your address and I will send the pattern in the post tomorrow. My email address is in my profile.

Thanks to all who entered my first ever pattern giveaway. I am sure there will be more in the future.

As today is Election Day here in the United States, let me just remind my fellow Americans to:

Saturday Night Stitching II

2008-11-03T06:00:00.000-08:00

I participated in another Saturday Night Stitch-Along and once again I chose to work on my Cricket Collection North Pole design. It is really three different designs combined to make one project: First Story, Second Story, and Third Story; but I find those titles quite unsatisfying, so I'm calling it The North Pole. I am getting close to finishing up the Second Story. Next Saturday should see it done, I think. Then there are just two more rooms for me to finish.

For those of you who entered the drawing for the Winter Cardinal pattern, I am going to draw a name tomorrow, November 4th, in the afternoon.

That's all for now. Have a great week!

Winter Cardinal Finished

2008-10-30T12:40:00.000-07:00

This afternoon, I put the final stitches in Winter Cardinal. Now I just need to figure out how to finish him. But anyway, I am finished with this pattern by Something in Common, so I am going to offer it as a giveaway. If you are interested, please post a comment saying you would like the chart. If more than one person is interested, I'll draw a name, and then mail the chart to the winner. International stitchers, please feel free to respond.

Oh, I left off the border on this design. You can go here to see the original design at the Something in Common website.

Saturday Night Stitching

2008-10-28T19:45:00.001-07:00

On Saturday night, I participated in a Saturday Night Stitch Along with some other stitchers from a forum that I joined. You can stitch on anything you want, so I decided to pull out an old UFO and try to bring it back to life. This project is contained in three different pattern books by Cricket Collection. I have already completed 1st Story, and am almost done with 2nd story since I am skipping the floor with the Christmas tree (I think I do want to finish this in my lifetime...LOL). And the last pattern which I haven't begun yet is the third floor. It has a room where they make dolls and stuffed animals and the attic room where the Elf Secretary reads the letters to Santa. So here is my before-SAL photo:

While stitching, I rediscovered why this project became a UFO in the first place. I really don't like the fabric. It is very slick or slippery and it refuses to be held taut by either my Q-Snaps or even my hoop. I persevered though, and got the elf's head done and some of the wall on the left side. I will continue stitching it on Saturday nights, and I think I am going to try placing a piece of felt between the fabric and the PVC pieces in my Q-Snaps to help with tension issues. Even so, it is a fun piece to stitch.

Here are some more international blog sightings that I enjoyed recently:

Plaisirs d'aiguille Marie-Christine finished Fees de Noel by A Mon Ami Pierre.
Mausimom's She finished the adorable Two-by-Two and Santa Too by Homespun Elegance. I think that I am going to have to get this pattern.
Purr-Stitch Dolci finished the festive Christmas Elf by Mirabilia on a fabric that I really like by Silkweaver.

Happy Stitching!

A UFO Comes Out of the Closet

2008-10-23T15:10:00.001-07:00

This week I have stitched primarily on two different designs, and they are both Winter projects. Winter Cardinal by Something in Common is almost done. I have decided to leave off the border because it does not really match my decor...the border is Southwestern in design. So all that is left is stitching all the pine needles in straight stitch. I decided not to put a photo up this time because I am so close to being done. I'll just wait until then.

But I also stitched on The Road to a Friends's House is Never Long. I am trying to discipline myself to keep stitching on this even though the yellow border is ENDLESS. I really love the design, though, so I plow on. I stitch some yellow, then something else, then back to yellow again. I am nearly done with the more interesting parts, so soon it will be naught but yellow left to stitch.

Here is a detail of the little skier.

This Saturday, I am going to participate in a SAL where I have decided to work on an old UFO. This project has not seen the light of day for years. But my kids like it, so I have decided to pull it out of the mothballs and stitch on it on Saturday nights. Here is the before picture:

And here is a detail of the elf in the barn with the reindeer.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Some Recent Stitching

2008-10-17T06:07:00.001-07:00

The days are finally getting cooler here in North Texas, and I think fall might be here to stay. You can never tell here, though, we might be pulling the shorts and sleeveless shirts out again next week. Like many people, fall is my favorite season of the year. I love the cooler days, the colors of fall, the pumpkins and scarecrows, the end of mowing the lawn, the shorter days....just about everything about the season, except perhaps football. I think perhaps,, for me, it is because it signals the end to our incredibly brutally hot summers. It is like a drink of cool water to a man dying of thirst. I have noticed, however, that it is the favorite of most people, even of those who are in much more agreeable climates than Texas. Perhaps for some, it is a last calm respite before the rigours of a harsh winter season. But whatever the reason, I just want to take long walks with dogs, stitch out on my front porch and bake pumpkin pie.

I have been stitching some these last few hectic weeks. I started a new project from a French magazine, De Fil en Aiguille, special Alpine issue, called Mon Beau Chalet. Here is my progress so far.

And I started Winter Cardinal by Something in Common. This is a very small design, and all I have left to stitch is snow swirls all around him and the border. I think I am going to try to make my very first flat fold with this one.

On the international blog watch, I'll just list a couple that stood out for me this week:

At Cross Stitch Girl, Daniela has finished stitching the gorgeous Secret Santa by Lavender and Lace. This Santa design just really appeals to me.

At Chalet des Perelles, Cathy is almost done stitching Merry Christmas, Ella Vaughan by Blackbird Designs and I just love the colors. Her photo makes it look much better than the picture on the pattern.

Nivaira at Labores de Nivaira has finished Where the Heart Blooms by Blackbird Designs, but she changed the words. It is just beautiful!

And Paola at Il Blog di Paola has made a delightful flat fold with her stitchery of Blessed Are the Meek by Little House Needleworks.

Everyone have a great weekend!

Reba Jo Dix

2008-10-10T17:48:00.000-07:00

Reba Jo Dix

August 28, 1931 to September 30, 2008

My mother passed away peacefully and went to the arms of the Lord in the afternoon of Tuesday, September 30th here at my home. She was a strong, courageous woman full of faith in her Lord Jesus Christ. She will be greatly missed.

Hospice

2008-09-26T12:00:00.000-07:00

A month ago, I found myself suddenly providing end-of-life care through hospice for my mother at my home. Last spring she was diagnosed with her fourth metastases of breast cancer. She decided to forego aggressive treatment, and has been in a gradual decline ever since. She moved in with us in August and hospice people were called to help with her care. It has been a difficult journey, but a blessing as well to serve my mother in these last precious days with her.

She is now arriving close to the end of this battle, which has lasted 22 years, and though I don't know when the sun will again shine into our lives, I am trusting that our Lord will cause all things to work for His glory.

My First Blackbird

2008-09-23T18:33:00.000-07:00

Well, after a long, long blogging absence, I have been inspired by my completion of The House on Acorn Hill today to actually get out the camera, take a picture and upload it onto the computer. Once that was done, it didn't seem like such a huge step to actually make a new blog post. So here I am.

It seems appropriate that this design is finished right at the beginning of autumn. And I have to say that, even though it has become cliche, I enjoyed every stitch. Fall is my favorite time of the year and I just love the colors that go with it. There are a few more Blackbird designs that I am eager to stitch, so there will hopefully be a new start around here soon.

Since I had the camera out, I snapped an updated picture of my LHN Dear Diary sampler. I am exactly at the halfway point on this one, and I'll be starting on the fifth little sampler tomorrow.

So far, the Abigail Winslow sampler has been my favorite. I just love the little ship, the dock and the brown house.

I also did the Lucy Fairchild in Savannah sampler which came out rather elegant.

I might take a short break on this large sampler compilation to work on a smaller wintry LHN. I haven't quite decided yet.

That is all for now. Until next time...

Blackbird Designs

2008-03-16T05:39:00.000-07:00

I kind of went off track this last week. Did I stitch on my beloved Dear Diary Sampler? No, not a stitch. Did I then work on my Anagram Diffusion sampler? No, it is still folded away. Perhaps I went back to the Mary Engelbreit piece? But alas, no, that was not the case. What then happened? Well, to put it succinctly, I caught Blackbird fever while surfing around the glorious worldwide web. Are you familiar with this malaise?

It all began when I came across Keka's beautiful picture of her completed Beneath the Sunlit Sky. It is gorgeous! While still recovering from seeing that stunning image, I then ran across Nivaira's Awake the Dawning Day. I then found that I could not shake the beauty of these two finishes from my mind. So in the persuing days, I found myself hunting the web for other pictures of Blackbird WIPs and finishes. I found plenty to feast my eyes upon! It is strange, I had looked briefly at Blackbird Designs before and dismissed them as not quite my taste...disportionate foliage, somber colors. It must have been before I got glasses ;-).

So now I am in happy possession of three Blackbird charts as the picture below testifies. And I have Awake the Dawning Day and Moonlit Garden on order.

And I already made the plunge and started House on Acorn Hill. I started this one because I had all but two of the required threads on hand and some fabric that I have had forever and not ever found the right project for it. The fabric is actually darker and more yellow-toned than this photo depicts.
And now, that I have started one, I feel the Blackbird fever abating somewhat and I think I might be able to return to my Dear Diary sampler for a couple of days.

Fair and Square Round #5

2008-03-09T12:10:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I received these lovely squares in the mail from Nancy. K. for the Fair & Square Exchange. She stitched part of LHN's Schoolgirl Lessons one over one in a lovely varigated rose thread. They are so delicate and pretty, this pattern looks marvelous stitched one over one.

And here are the squares that I sent Nancy. This pattern came from a magazine out of my extensive (embarassing even) collection of cross stitch magazines, and I stitched them using Gentle Art Sampler Threads.

And finally, I did manage to find just enough time to finish Julia's portion of the growing Dear Diary Sampler.

Here is a picture of what I have stitched on this so far. Next, I think I will work on the next virtue square which goes above the Mercy one.

Have a great stitchy week everyone!

Julia and Her Sheep

2008-03-05T06:03:00.000-08:00

Just a short post to show the recent progress that I have made on the Julia Flynn section of the LHN Dear Diary sampler. And just let me say that I did not enjoy stitching the fence. No, it is not complicated or difficult in any way, my brain was just not fully functioning that day. I can't recall when I made so many little counting mistakes before that had to be frogged.

But I think I will keep stitching on this so I can hopefully finish the cabin, as everytime I look at this sampler, Julia seems to be reproaching me for not finishing it, so she can go in out of the snow. And looking at this picture, I just realized that I still need to finish the buttons on her coat, so she can't even button up against the cold. Unfortunately, I don't have much stitching time in the remainder of this week, but I'll see what I can do.

Happy stitching!

Bright Colors and Strawberries

2008-02-28T12:23:00.000-08:00

I have stitched another session, rotation I suppose you could say, on my Mary Engelbreit piece, To a Friend's House the Road is Never Long. This project has very bright primary colors, and it is always a shock to my system to go from stitching on a more muted piece, like my Dear Diary sampler to these typical Englebreit colors. I do love Mary Engelbreit's sense of color and her boldness with bright hues though. I think if I ever am blessed with a stitching room, it will be decorated a la Engelbreit. Her art always makes me smile. Here is a progress picture of this project. Next time I stitch on it, perhaps the merry skier will get some legs to ski with.

Now I am back to stitching on Dear Diary again. I really should be stitching on Petite Maisons de Campagne, but my hands just keep going back to the DD sampler. I am eager to finish Julia Flynn's section. The little sheep are so much fun to stitch. I still need to order one of the DD patterns, so a wander over to Stitching Bits and Bobs for a little shopping is on my list for today.

In March, I plan on starting Strawberry Fields Farm by Victoria Sampler. I am going to use the Vikki Clayton silk conversion which is posted on her website, with a few changes because some of the colors don't seem quite right to me. When I get it all sorted out, I'll post the conversion here on my blog. I am eager to start this project because it will be a breath of spring in my erratic rotation, and it has specialty stitches. Right now, I don't have anything going that has specialty stitches and it is enjoyable to do something besides the little x's now and then.

Until next time...

2008-02-23T15:18:00.000-08:00

I just thought I would make a quick post to show some of my progress on ongoing projects. I am still working on the Dear Diary Sampler, which is a compiliation of all the Dear Diary charts by Little House Needleworks. I am now working on the second little sampler, Julia Flynn from Steamboat. The fence, which is what I am stitching now is driving me crazy...I keep making little counting or chart reading mistakes.

I am also continuing to stitch on Sampler Saisons by Anagram Diffusion. Here is the progress that I have made.

And finally, I thought I would show some of my favorites amongst the many new designs that are available so far this year. Just below is Crab Apple Hill by Elizabeth's Designs.

Then here is Hearts of Freedom (I think) by Little House Needleworks.

And these are the Saltbox Seasons which are a Little House Needleworks/Crescent Colours collaboration.

I also love the new Shores of Hawks Run Hill by CHS, but I'll refrain from showing a picture of this one as it is getting lots of bandwidth EVERYWHERE.

Well, I had best get back to my stitching if I ever want to finish something. I hope everyone can wrap February up with a fruitful stitching week.

San Antonio

2008-02-04T05:38:00.000-08:00

This last week, we were visiting San Antonio while our daughter was rehearsing and performing in the All State Honors Band. Here is a picture of the All-State Honors Choir, All-State Honors Orchestra, and the All-State Honors Band. Allison plays the Bass Clarinet and this was her first year to play in All-State, although she has done All-Region at the Middle School level for a couple of years.

While she was in rehearsal for most of the day, my husband, son and I went and explored the city of San Antonio. The Riverwalk is a beautiful area downtown along the river with restaurants, shops, boats, and lovely walkways. Everything is very colorful in keeping with the area's Mexican heritage.

The Alamo is in downtown San Antonio and my son especially enjoyed visiting here. We were there on the first Saturday of the month which was fortuitous because they do re-enactments then.

I didn't get a whole lot of stitching done this weekend, but here are a couple of pictures showing the progress that I made on the Dear Diary Sampler and Sampler Saisons. I am not happy with how well the white is showing up in Sampler Saisons and I am contemplating switching to a varigated thread or a lighter blue for the white parts. I have only stitched a tiny bit of white so far, part of the skirt above the two blue legs.

Well, that is all for now. I hope everyone has a wonderful week of stitching.

Rebecca Small Finish

2008-01-26T12:01:00.000-08:00

Well, I have to tell you that this week has been one where I would rather stitch than blog. With two new projects and several older ones demanding my attention, it hard to pull myself away from the needle. I worked mainly on my two newest projects, the Dear Diary Sampler SAL and Sampler Saisons which I am doing with a sampler SAL on the HAED forum. I have found that SALs are a wonderful way to keep myself motivated, and blogging as well.

Here is the progress that I made on Dear Diary. I have finished the small sampler for Rebecca Small. I believe that I shall stitch one of the virtue squares above this one before moving on to another of the small samplers. This is so much fun to stitch, and it so cute IRL. Somehow I don't think the camera quite captures its essence.

My other main stitching project this last week has been Sampler Saisons 2007 by Anagram Diffusion. I am stitching this one over one on 28 count Sugared Coffee Lugana from Sassy's fabrics with Vikki Clayton silk in Woad Blue 2411. This is my first purchase of Sassy's Fabric which I decided to try after reading Vonna's glowing review on her blog. It totally lives up to her review. It has certainly become my favorite for evenweaves, and I am sure that I'll be trying her linen soon. The Sugared Coffee color is lovely, my ideal sampler color. This is also my first time to use Vikki's silks and I am extremely happy with them also.

Anyhow, here is my WIP on Saisons. I am eager to stitch some of the little design figures, but I am trying to get a good section of border completed first...borders are kind of a little obsessive compulsive thing with me.

I have also been stitching on Petite Maisons, but I have decided to wait until I finish the August square before I post a picture. The August square is very cute, and possibly my favorite so far, but I am finding it hard to pull myself off these other two to work on it. I am determined, however, to finish this one this year. And finally, like everyone else, I am eagerly awaiting the Nashville releases. I am particularly hoping to catch a glimpse of CHS Shores. I was surprised to see that Vikki Clayton silks already has a conversion pack for the threads available.

Well that is all, now I must rush back to my needle.

Dear Diary Progress

2008-01-19T15:31:00.000-08:00

I really don't have much to write about, but I thought I would post a picture of the progress that I made on the Dear Diary sampler. I did not finish Rebecca Small's section, but I hope to next week. I really like the red that is used in this pattern, DMC 355.

This weekend I am participating in the HAED Sampler SAL. This is a year-long SAL where you just stitch on a sampler of your choosing every 3rd weekend of the month. Of course, the samplers aren't HAED designs, so you find the SAL organized in the HAEDless Stitching section. If you like samplers, you should go take a look at the SAL thread because there are a lot of beautiful ones being stitched.

I decided to go with Sampler Saisons 2007 by Anagram Diffusion, even though it is going to be enormous. I don't know what it is about me and big projects. I'll post a picture next week of my progress. This should be my last new start for a long time. I certainly have enough to work on now. Here is a picture of what it will look like when completed, except mine will be blue.

Fair and Square Exchange

2008-01-16T14:12:00.000-08:00

On Monday, the postman brought these delightful Fair & Square exchange squares from Ruth. They are perfect and I just love these colorful birds. Isn't the signature square beautiful? She had read my blog and knew that I had been immersed into birdwatching lately. She also sent lots of lovely flosses...some Six Strands Sweet and GAST in soft spring colors. And to top it all off, a Mary Engelbreit card. I am a big fan of Mary Engelbreit. Thank you so much Ruth!

And here are the squares that I sent to Ruth. She said in her profile that she liked houses and sheep, so I found this pattern in one of my Point de Croix magazines. She said on the Fair & Square message board that they reminded her of the Alps...and so they are...the French Alps. I had a lot of fun participating in this round of Fair & Square, and I am eager to get stitching on the next.

Also, this past weekend was the HAED Challenge SAL. I got about 800 stitches done. Fairy Village is definitely a WISP, but I enjoy stitching on it for limited bursts of time.

Well that is all for now. I have been stitching on the LHN Dear Diary Sampler yesterday and today, but haven't got enough done to share a new picture yet.

Have a great week, everybody!

Google Images Search

2008-01-15T20:07:00.000-08:00

I saw this on Melissa's blog and decided to join in the fun. You are supposed to answer the questions, type your answers into Google Images Search, and post a photo from the first results page. You will get some interesting choices...

If you decide to play along also, please leave a message so I can come and see yours.

So, without further ado, here are mine:

What age will you be on your next birthday?

Place you would like to visit?

One of your favorite places?

Your favorite object?

Your favorite food?

Your favorite animal?

Your favorite color?

Name of a past pet?

Where you live?

1st grade teacher's last name?

Your middle name?

A bad habit of yours?

Favorite flower?

Favorite holiday?

First Finish of 2008

2008-01-09T20:19:00.000-08:00

I put the last stitches in Redbird Sampler by Bent Creek tonight. I really like the way it came out, and I think that Nutmeg Lakeside Linen was a good choice for fabric. It is more reddish in tone than the dirty linen that the model was stitched on, but I like that ruddyness. I would have finished it earlier, I had it all done except that snowflake next to the Z on the bottom row and the pine tree branch next to it on Sunday, but then I came down with a bad cold. I was too sick to stitch Sunday night, Monday and Tuesday. I felt better today, though, and finally got those last few stitches in.

I also stitched today on my Dear Diary sampler. This is supposed to be a Tuesday SAL, but since I was too sick then to get much done, I worked on it today. I have started with Rebecca Small's sampler because she is from Texas and so am I. This was so much fun...but then aren't all new starts fun. I almost didn't want to put it down so I could finish Redbird, but I did.

This weekend I'll be stitching on HAED Fairy Village as part of the HAED Challenge SAL on the HAED Forum. So I probably won't get back to Rebecca Small until next Tuesday, but I am enjoying this SAL so far!

I hope everyone enjoys the rest of the week, and has plenty of time to stitch.

Dear Diary Sampler

2008-01-05T07:06:00.000-08:00

I have been stitching away on Redbird sampler this week. I am now about two-thirds finished. Perhaps I can finish it over the weekend. Starting on Monday, however, I will have less stitching time, because it is back to school (well homeschool) for us here at the Bungalow. I shall have to return to Geometry theorems and Renaissance history and linking verbs and Spanish conjugations. Ah well, it makes the time I get to stitch all the more sweet.

I have also decided on another new start! I am going to join Cheryl and Vonna in a LHN Dear Diary sampler SAL. We were all inspired by seeing Lizzy's RR on the Heartfelt Friends Round Robin.

I have decided to stitch my sampler on Maple Sugar Lakeside Linen. Yesterday, I made paper cut outs roughly the size of the samplers. The small squares are the little virtue pillow designs that come with each sampler. On my 32 ct. linen, they should be three inches square. I am only going to stitch 4 of them on my sampler. The rectangles vary slightly, but will be roughly 6 1/2 inches by 4 1/2 inches. I played around with my cutouts on the fabric and finally decided on this layout. I still need to calculate how many stitches between the motifs, etc., but I should be ready to start stitching on Tuesday. I can't wait!

Happy stitching everyone!

New Year, New Start

2008-01-02T19:24:00.000-08:00

We spent New Year's Eve at the home of some good friends and played board games all night. Some of the games we played were Taboo, Oodles, Apples to Apples and Cranium. It was a fun way to while the hours away until midnight. Funny, we have had the game Cranium for over a year and never played it, never realized what a fun game it was. Well, now I think I can guarantee that it will be played. We love to play games as a family, but when it is just us, we tend to play Clue or Ticket to Ride.

I have traditionally started something new on New Year's Eve, but since we were actually gone then, I didn't get to stitch until New Year's Day. I started Redbird Sampler by Bent Creek. I have seen many, many pictures of this finished on various blogs and webpages, and I have always wanted to stitch it. This was finally the year I found the pattern...on sale even...and got going on it. Here is my progress as of the end of today.

I first stitched the Redbird in the WDW thread listed on the chart, Lancaster Red. It is a darkish, rusty, reddish brown and I thought the bird needed to be more red (perhaps I was unlucky in the dyelot for this skein). The pattern also lists DMC threads, so I restitched him in DMC 815. I like it better than the Lancaster Red, but neither looks like the model, so I might stitch him yet again in some other over-dyed red. At least he is small and easy to frog. My husband and kids like him how he is, so perhaps I'll just leave him alone. My son told me that I was killing the bird when he saw me frogging out the Lancaster Red version. He even thought the bits of reddish-brown fuzz left behind looked like bird blood. Oh the joys of a life with boys ;-).

This is stitching up very fast, which is unusual for me, especially lately. I have been stitching so much on HAEDs and other BIG projects lately, that finishes are few and far between. This and the nature alphabet I did last year have reminded that it is fun to work on quicker, smaller, easier stuff now and then. So that is one goal for this year, stitch more of these smaller fun projects. I foresee some LHN and CCN and Elizabeth's Designs in my future.

Other goals will be:
1.) Participate in the HAED SAL Challenge every month 0f 2008.
2.) Get started on a sampler for the HAED Sampler SAL.
3.) Finish Petite Maisons de Campagne by Maryse.
4.) Complete two pages on each of my HAEDs.
5.) Finish Engelbreit's "To a Friend's House, the Road is Never Long"
6.) Learn how to make a pinkeep and make one.
7.) Stitch 4 Christmas ornaments and finish them.

Well, that's enough for now. I don't think I'll list specific starts because I am so fickle, I could change my mind by tomorrow. It should be amusing, anyway, to see what I can accomplish.

Engelbreit Progress

2007-12-29T20:51:00.000-08:00

We are coming to the end of a very pleasant week. My husband has been at home this week, and it is very nice to have all of us at home at once for several days. We have had a big breakfast every morning. We have had waffles twice, french toast, breakfast burritos, and homemade biscuits with sausage and gravy. Not exactly a low-cal menu. It is a very good thing that this doesn't happen too often. The kids are happy with their new things, especially new Wii and Nintendo DS games, and my husband is happy and fixing things around the house that need to be fixed. And I am happy to spend time with them...and, of course, to stitch.

I picked up my Engelbreit piece yesterday and made some progress. I have stitched part of the sign which will say "To a friend's house, the road is never long" when it is completed. I find this to be such a fun and easy stitch...quite a break from my HAEDs. The bright colors are very different from my usual stitching, and it is fun to do something different. I can even sort of watch TV and stitch this one. Tonight I stitched on it while we were watching a couple episodes from season one of Babylon 5, which was one of husband's Christmas gifts.

I have also been thinking about what I want to start in 2008, and even what I would like to finish in 2008. There are a couple of SALs that I would like to join.

I am trying to choose a sampler to stitch in the Sampler SAL on the HAED Forum. I would really like to do Sampler Saisons by Anagram Diffusion. I just love that design, but the more I think about it, the size of it (549 x 557) is just too intimidating. I am also tempted to start the Historic Countries Sampler being released in sections in The Gift of Stitching online magazine. And finally, I would love to start Mouline Rouge by Long Dog. I am going to have to make a decision soon so I can get the fabric and fibers before the 3rd weekend in January.

December Thoughts

2007-12-27T22:03:00.001-08:00

I have not posted in a while. It has been just too crazy busy with the Christmas season. I think next year, I am just going to put the blog on holiday during December. But finally things are now getting back to normal. The decorating, the baking, the crafting, the shopping, the wrapping, the cards, the packaging and mailing, the caroling, the Christmas performances and parties to attend...all that has come to pass. I love the holiday season, but I also love when it is over. I still need to take down the decorations, and I traditionally do that on December 30th.

I have not had a whole lot of time to stitch, but I did participate in the HAED monthly SAL challenge. I managed to stitch on Fairy Village in each of the 12 monthly SALs in 2007. Here is a picture of this month's progress. I went ahead and signed up for the 2008 SAL challenge on the HAED forum with this same project. Also I finished my squares for the Fair and Square Exchange and I will be mailing them out to Ruth tomorrow.

And today I managed to drive over to my LNS, which was having a store-wide sale, and make a few purchases. I now own these charts: Redbird Sampler by Bent Creek, Fuchsia Chick Chat by Valerie Pfeiffer, and Colonial Homes by Little House Needleworks.

I also purchased some 32 count Lakeside Linen in Nutmeg and some threads for the Red Bird Sampler. The threads are WDW Bark, Lancaster Red, and Juniper; GAST Harvest Basket; and CC Roasted Chestnut (this last one because my LNS was out of WDW Chestnut and this looked like a good substitute). This store was missing two different colors of WDW that I still need for the Red Bird Sampler, so I will probably run over to the other LNS near me tomorrow to see if they have it. That particular store is more needlepoint oriented, so they don't have many cross stitch patterns, but they have a huge array of fibers.

Happy stitching everyone, and have a good Friday!

Busy December

2007-12-11T08:53:00.000-08:00

I have been so busy with Christmas approaching and the season's preparations that I haven't had as much time to stitch as I would like. So I don't have much to show here, but I did get this nature alphabet picture back from the framers. I stitched this last summer for my son's bedroom which is done in the theme of the Great Outdoors. He is very happy with it.

I also did manage to stitch another ornament, but the time to get it sewed together seems to vanish each day before I can head over to the sewing machine. Also, I am having trouble finding some matching ribbon for a hanger...the 3 stores I went to had bright red and bright green, but not the deeper red or evergreen that I need. I have just about decided to make my own twisted cord hanger. Anyway, this one is from a Prairie Schooler booklet called Holiday Homestead. I am hoping that after tonight, which is nearly the last of my children's Christmas performances (save one at church for the candlelight service), I will have more time to stitch.

Thank you to everyone who has visited here and left your kind comments. I treasure each and every one of them. My hope for everyone is that you find some peace and calm in the midst of this hectic season.

Petite Maisons - July

2007-12-01T06:07:00.001-08:00

I barely made my personal goal of finishing thru the month of July on Petite Maisons de Campagne in November. I put in the last stitch about 10:00 last night. I find that it is not as enjoyable to stitch something out-of-season. I want to be stitching winter samplers and ornaments with snowmen and snow-covered pine trees, not beach scenes with lawn chairs and sailboats. Ah well, it is done. Note to self: do not let yourself get behind on a calendar SAL.

But now I can get on with some other stitching. I was looking through my collection of Just Cross Stitch Special Ornament magazines and picked a couple that I want to make. Both have a formidable specialty thread list for such a tiny project. One, Decorating the House by Brightneedle, uses Old Willow Stitchery threads and Weeks Dye Works while the other, Starry, Starry Night by JBW, uses Gentle Arts Sampler Threads. I have most of the GAST, but I don't have Old Willow or WDW. I will probably try to substitute some DMC and GAST...I just don't want to buy 10 skeins of specialty hand-dyed to make one ornament. Especially as the stitched area is tiny, no more than 10 stitches of a color...not enough to take advantage of the shading created by the hand-dyed threads.

I am also going to start stitching for my Fair and Square exchange. This is my very first exchange! I got the fabric yesterday.... I studied my partner's likes and dislikes... I have picked out a pattern... I am ready to start.

Well, I hear my family beginning to stir, so now I am off to make breakfast. Merry stitching everyone and may your December be wonderful!

HAED Christmas SAL

2007-11-28T08:54:00.000-08:00

On the 24th and 25th of every month, I participate in a Christmas design SAL on the HAED Forum. There is also a themed monthly SAL planned usually on the 4th weekend of the month. This month the theme was Christmas and/or Mermaids, so I was able to do both of them. So here is how far I got on Santa's List by Ruth Sanderson. I enjoyed working on it, and it is a nice change from working on Fairy Village, my other HAED. You can't really see it in the picture, but the snow has sparklies in it created by blending filament.

I hope everyone has a good Wednesday.

Thankful

2007-11-25T05:45:00.000-08:00

We spent Thanksgiving with family at their lovely home in East Texas. I so enjoyed walking around their land, and I took some pictures. Please forgive the blurriness...I didn't realize that there was a smudge on the lens until later.

Their meadows had been recently mowed for hay, so they were very picturesque.

We had the traditional Thanksgiving dinner with all the delicious trimmings and a good time was believed to be had by all. I am so very thankful for God's grace in our lives, my wonderful family, and our health and provision.

And when I got home, I had more to be thankful for as I had a couple of packages waiting for me in the mailbox. What a glorious time was had revelling in the new stash. First, I received four backissues of some French magazines. Did I tell you how much I love French designs? Roaming around French stitching blogs, I came across some great pictorial reviews of some French magazines, and I decided to try and purchase these four. They took 5 weeks to arrive, but here they are! Point de Croix #47, Point de Croix Thematique #31 (Torchons), Mains & Merveilles #58, and De Fil en Aiguille Hors-Serie Alpin.

And, I got another package, this one full of charts. They are Strawberry Fields Farm by Victoria Sampler, Button Up by Prairie Schooler, Back from the Brink by Crossed Wing Collection, Circles of the Sea by Cross My Heart, Gingerbread Cottage by Country Cottage Needleworks, Magie de L'hiver by Isabelle Vautier, Winter Whites and Snowflakes and Frappucino by Little House Needleworks.

Some Engelbreit and a Parakeet

2007-11-20T19:50:00.000-08:00

I have been stitching away this week on my Mary Engelbreit WIP. I have now completed the upper half of the merry skier. Soon he should even have legs and skis. I have also inevitably added more yellow border and more blue sky. You can now see the bottom edge of where the moon will be. But now I am reluctantly putting it away so I can try to complete another month on my Petite Maisons, and to participate in the HAED Christmas project SAL. I have a barely begun HAED Christmas WIP called Santa's List by Ruth Sanderson.

The last couple of weeks, we have had an unusual visitor to our backyard birdfeeder. Our yard seems to have become an attractive refuge to someone's escaped parakeet. He is bright yellow and comes and goes with flock of sparrows.

He is less skittish than the sparrows, though, and will let us get quite close to him to take his picture. He also cocks his head as though listening to you when you talk to him. I hope he gets through the winter okay.

I wish all my fellow Americans a Happy Thanksgiving and a

wonderful stitchy week to everyone!

A Mitten Ornament

2007-11-16T10:07:00.000-08:00

I have been so inspired by seeing many festive Christmas ornaments on other sites, that I decided to stitch one also. Here is a small mitten ornament that I made this week from a 1999 Cross Stitch & Needlework supplement to the Christmas issue. There are four different ones, and I hope to make them all some day. I really love small mitten ornaments.

I need to purchase some fleece and some backing material before I can complete the finishing, but I plan to get this done this weekend, so hopefully I will have another photo of a finished ornament up soon.

Also, I found in my wanderings around the web something I would really like to share. I ran across this adorable realisation of a cute Christmas pattern in the magazine Mains and Merveilles #63. The original pattern in the magazine is for an apron, but I really like this adaptation better. You can go and make a short tour of Les Chalet des Perelles to see more of this project and many others.

Petite Maisons - June

2007-11-13T20:40:00.000-08:00

I am finally making some progress on Petite Maisons. Today I finished the June square. I modified the tiny bird on top of the apple tree a bit. The bird is composed of 415 and 840, and neither showed up well against the fabric, so I backstitched him with one strand of 435. I really like the house in this month and the little blue shed with the roses climbing up it, but the bushes under the apple tree are just a little...well...odd.

Here is a better picture (amazing what a little ironing can do) of the whole project so far. Six down and six to go. I hope to finish July this month also.

And here is how far I progressed on Fairy Village during this last weekend's SAL. Not a whole lot, partly because I had very little stitching time this weekend, and partly because this tree is extremely detailed and I am already tired of stitching it. When I get to the next column, it should go a little faster because there are fewer colors and a little fairy house which should make it more interesting to stitch.

Happy stitching everyone!

Audubon Birding Trip

2007-11-12T16:41:00.000-08:00

On Saturday, Kevin and I went on a birding field trip to Lake Tewakoni with the local Audubon club. Kevin has been interested in birds and birding for a long time, but this was our first birding trip with knowledgeable enthusiasts. It was quite an experience for us both. Here is a picture of the lake in northeast Texas where we went. This park was in the news recently as it is the place where that gigantic mutant spiderweb covered nearly an acre of ground. They had sprayed the web so the spiders were dead, but most of the web was still there.

And here is Kevin in typical birdwatcher pose. I think he was looking at a warbler in this picture. Highlights of our trip were two bald eagles, a pileated woodpecker (it was way bigger than I expected), some crested caracaras, some loons, and a palm warbler which is apparently somewhat rare in our area. We saw many other birds as well...Kevin had a list of about 40 different kinds. Red-Headed Ducks, Shoveler Ducks, Widgeons, Pelicans, two kinds of cormorants, Anhingas, Red-Shouldered Hawk, Red_Tailed Hawk. It was a great birding experience.

And here is a picture of some of the birding experts we were with. They were simply amazing. They could identify so many songbirds by their call, and they could find birds so fast in the foliage and identify them in a second. See that long tubular thing hanging from the shoulder of the lady in the tan vest...that is a camera lens. I had never seen a camera lens that long before.

All that birding turned my mind toward some bird-themed cross stitch, but that is another post.

November HAED Challenge SAL

2007-11-09T09:20:00.000-08:00

This weekend is the HAED Challenge SAL. This SAL has been going on all year, and the idea is that you stitch on the same HAED project the second weekend of every month all year. It doesn't matter how much you stitch, just that you stitch. I will participate, but unfortunately, I don't think I'll get much stitching time this weekend. Tomorrow I am going on a birding field trip with my son with the local Audubon Society. We should be gone all day. He is a Boy Scout and working on his Bird Study Merit Badge. I will hopefully have some pictures to post on Sunday, if not of birds, at least of some Texas woods. Here is the current picture of Fairy Village, my HAED Challenge SAL project.

Tiny Bit of Christmas

2007-11-07T06:02:00.001-08:00

Yesterday, I finished stitching a little Mill Hill Beaded Gingerbread pin on perforated paper. Although this is supposed to be finished as a pin, I am going to make it into an ornament.

And then this morning, I cut it out and did the final finishing. This was fun and quick to do, and I have one more of these in my stash...a penguin. I hope I can get it done before Christmas also, but lots of other projects are beckoning as well.

I wish everyone a very peaceful Wednesday and a good week of stitching!

Petite Maisons de Campagne SAL

2007-11-05T14:37:00.000-08:00

I am participating in a year-long French calendar SAL called Petite Maisons de Campagne (Small Houses in the Country). As you can see there is a nice design for every month. I am finding this SAL very enjoyable, but I am still terribly behind, just now stitching June when I should be up to October. Sigh. Every house and garden has been different and I love the colors. This is a free pattern series designed by Maryse at Les Grilles de Maryse. Her blog is in French but it is not difficult to access the patterns and print them out even if you do not know French.

Well, good stitching everyone!

Thunder

2007-11-04T12:07:00.001-08:00

Most stitchers seem to have cats, and I have seen some adorable pictures of many of them as I wander around the worldwide web, but I am a dog kind of person. We have two dogs. The first one I am going to show here is Thunder. All we know about her is that she is half Labrador Retriever. We got her from the Humane Society when she was about 3 months old. We don’t know what her other ancestry is, but she is a very mellow, easy going girl…very fitting inhabitant of the Mellow Bungalow. She usually lies nearby when I stitch, wherever I stitch.

Some Mary Engelbreit

2007-11-04T11:55:00.000-08:00

I have owned this Mary Engelbreit book for a couple years, and there are a couple of designs in here that I would really like to stitch. I finally decided to start my favorite one, called “To a Friend’s House the Road is Never Long”. I love the cute little cabin and the colorful, happy skier. The bright colors are a welcome change from my other WIPs.

The design that I am stitching is on the left page. There are several creative mini-projects shown for each design in this book. I love the little paperweight.

And finally, here is what I have gotten done so far. I am trying to do a little of the bright yellow border each time I stitch.

Have a good weekend!