My First Blackbird

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

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

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

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

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...

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

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.