Whats Next?

Thank you to everyone that has left such wonderful comments on Village!! I am still amazed it is done. I know you have been waiting patiently also to see the new WIP's I have been teasing you with. The first pictures is the start of the new Long Dog 'Pigalle'. Surprised? The colors have been completely changed, and the fabric too. Of course :). I am using 40ct Tarnished Silver Lakeside Linen, with Belle Soie & Gloriana silk; 1 strand over 2. I am thrilled with the turnout. It was a difficult choice. It took several conversions, with the help of several ladies, and several days to think about it. I love the colors, and look forward to the outcome. I didnt realize all the blackwork involved, and I am not a fan of stitching it, I love the outcome though. As I say, one stitch at a time!


This 2nd picture is another Long Dog piece called 'Nimrod'. Stitching on one of my favorites, 40ct Vintage Autumn Gold, Lakeside Linen with Gloriana silk. I really like the color combination, it is so different from what I usually stitch. Well I guess both pieces are. It is nice to work on a small piece for a change!!

Village is DONE!!!!!!!!

Ta-da, pressed and ready for viewing!!!! Complete Village of Hawk Run Hollow!!!! Finished on Sunday afternoon among stitching friends, what a great accomplishment, and to be with my friends, was even better!! I am THRILLED to have this one stitched and under my belt. I really enjoyed stitching this whole piece. As I thought of each block was a 'new' project. I kept the original colors that Kathy chose for this piece, and I am thrilled that I did. The colors are gorgeous!! 36ct Light Examplar Lakeside Linens, with 2 strands of NPI. Thanks for all the cheering on!!

I will post Pigalle pics tomorrow, as well as a another Long Dog piece I have started. Is everyone staying cool?! It is hot here, but no complaints from me :). Have a super day!

A Tasty Treat

I wanted to share with all of you, a wonderful surprise I received this weekend. Homemade Marion Berry and Raspberry Jam. WOW!! One of my friends canned this jam with her children, and shared these 2 with me. How did she know I LOVE these?! Thank you so much for this great treat. It was a fabulous lunch today!!

I have a few things to share. First, I finished Village of Hawk Run Hollow yesterday, Sunday afternoon!!! YEAH!!!! With the help of my friend, for giving me NPI 993 lot 6; to help finish. We still cant figure out why I ran out of 993. Is it because the pattern calls for 40ct, 1 strand; and you need 3 skeins? Or is it because I used 36ct, 2 strands; with 3 skeins??!! LOL. (For those of you stitching Village on 36ct with 2 strands, you will need more then 1 skein for block 12.) Anyway, I will be sure and get an extra of any color listed with quantity for the next one. I cant run out again!!!! I lent my iron to a friend, so I should be able to press it tomorrow and post a picture perhaps Wednesday.

I have started Pigalle from Long Dog Samplers on 40ct with gorgeous Belle Soie colors. I will post some pictures of the progress tomorrow. It is so delicate!! I am not used to stitching on 40ct, these past few weeks of hard crunch time stitching on Village, it seems so different! Not to worry, I am already back into the swing of things. Remember 45 & 48 ct are still calling!!

It is very hot today so my Husband and I decided to take it easy, ran our morning errands and rented some $1.00 movies. First was 'Australia', which wasnt bad. I was able to work on my floss organizing some more. I worked on Crescent Colors, got them done. I am going to need some more supplies! I really am loving this system. If you are interested, it is the post right before this one. The 2nd movie we rented is 'Taken'. We havent watched it yet, will do so in a few. I have been looking forward to this one, so I hope it is good!!!!

Hope everyone is enjoying their summer, I cant believe it is the last week of July already!!! Have a great day!

Organizing my Floss

A few months ago, a group of us were talking about how to best organize our floss. Many suggested the floss cards or floss away bags. My friend Barb mentioned she purchased a hanging floss system from a fabulous Cross Stitch shop in Portland OR, called Acorns & Threads . Really? I am sooo interested!! The next time I saw her she had brought her system with her; I was sold. I immediately ordered mine, and this is the what it looks like. Plastic storage slides with hooks on each end, to hang in a standard size file tote. (I purchased my storage tote at Target.) The way it works is you have clips ("keepers") & you take your floss, thread it through the hole, and it hooks right into the hanger. Then you can see your floss! You can see what colors you own, and makes it SOO easy for floss toss. When you want to use a specific color, just slightly twist, and the clip/keeper comes right off. Gather the colors you need, and you can put them on a ring. I have my Gentle Arts threads already organized. It took an entire afternoon, but it was worth it. I have already saved money by checking to see if I had a color I needed and not buying a duplicate; also to see what colors I didnt have. I must say, I am thrilled!! If you are interested, please call the shop-- they do MAIL ORDER!!!!!

I cant wait to organize the rest, but as you all know, I need to get my VILLAGE done!!!! Gosh, the background is gonna take forever!!!! I better get on it, it has to be done this month!!!!

Block 12 progress

With every errand imaginable to run yesterday, I still came home and after my Husband grilled some fabulous pork chops, had a great spinach salad; I got in some stitching on Block 12. I know this is my favorite block, and I could hardly put it down. 'Want to go to bed, it is midnight.' Really, already??!! I suppose we better, morning sure comes fast! I wanted to share the progress right away. Hope to get some more done today.

Block 11

One of the best days so far this summer was yesterday. An entire day of stitching, from 10 am- 12 midnight. Yes you read correctly, midnight. Stitching outside on a beautiful warm summer day (no sweater this time), with some of the Best friends a gal could ask for. So much laughing, and carrying on. The day wouldnt be complete without a little enabling from Kim, Jenifer and Ink Circles. Many of us are adding a few nice things to our stash, that is for sure. 45ct anyone? Sign me up! Me too!! Me too!! So much fun!! We are kids in a candy shop. We took a nice lunch break and stitched more. Then just before supper, a whole bunch of us took a 'drinking' break, and polished off a few refreshing pitchers of Ruby beer. YUM!! Thanks Sherry for ordering it! It certainly is always delicious. Can't wait for another round-- Tasha, Kim, Peggy, Sherry, Barb, Jenifer- again next week?! Jeannine you will have to come with us too :)

Barb and Lynn had their 'PEACE' projects with them, and they are really cruising, having completed almost the top 2 left pages, I am very inspired to work on mine, and I could be picking it up in the very near future. Absolutely exquisite. It is hard to describe the beauty, and fine detail in this piece, it is like fine lace.

As you can see from my posted pics, Block 11 is complete!!!! I finished it earlier today, and didnt have time to post because we went to a fabulous BBQ, and hung out with more relatives I havent seen in such a long time-- since last summer!! Lots more gatherings this summer- dinner, dancing and lots more visiting look like the menu. Another boat ride will also be an order! I just love it, the weather was fabulous and the ribs my Husband cooked up were terrific!! Did I mention corn on the cob!!??!!! Anyway, Block11.... (so easily distracted!) I was able to stitch a ton yesturday on block 11, and around 11 pm, ran out of #293 NPI for the bottom left bush, so a bit disappointed that I might not finish it, both Jeannine and Barb offered to look in their stash, to see what they had. This morning, and after a much needed night of sleep, I got up and found what I needed- the right dyelot, and finished this puppy up. YEAH! I am back from the BBQ and well into Block 12. I am sooo excited to stitch this block, I am glad I waited till the end to start it, instead of jumping the gun. I will post pics this week--- Hopefully I will be done with Village!!!!

Block 10

What relaxing couple of days.... Sunday was cool, cloudy and finally rain. Yuck. I cant believe it is summer, with a sweater on? Today was a bit better, overcast in the morning, the sun broke through some and warmed up a bit. But besides the weather, it has been a great couple of stitching days. I am off to another great week. Finished Block 10 of Village, and have started Block 11 already!! I am getting so close to finishing this piece, I can hardly wait. The question already on my mind, is 'What is going to be next'? Can you imagine? I have a few ideas, besides stitching on Mary W., you will just have to wait and see!

Hornbook Angel

Hornbook Angel by Primitive Needle
July 7- July 11, 2009

Another busy week has gone by, and a bit of stitching to go along with it! Looking for another easy project, I found this Hornbook Angel. 2 different Crescent Colors, and a great piece of 'Stash' Linen; 36ct, stitched over 2 with 2 threads. I really like the fullness of the thread; I am doing that as well with my Village. I had this stitched almost in a day, but went through an entire skein of thread, had to wait a few days to get another skein, and vola-- I am now done!! It was fun to stitch!

I have Block 10 of my Village half done, and hope to complete it today, and get started on 11. I am so close, it is really getting exciting!

We are off to another fabulous summer-- tons of friends, family, stitching and laughter!!! I cant wait. Yesterday a wonderful potluck, with a variety of excellent salads and desserts. Gosh, what a fabulous lunch!! I hope we can do it again soon!!

Thanks to everyone for your wonderful comments yet again, it is always a pleasure to read them! Hope you are all enjoying your summer!

Fond Hearts

Blackbird Designs- FOND HEARTS
July 2- July 6, 2009

What an interesting few days it has been! Village has been put on the back burner for this weekend, I did manage to stitch the 3 squares out on the bottom, so I am ready to go with the last blocks. Alot of ups and downs this weekend, it has been rough. Lots of visiting with family, lots of laughing & lots of crying. I really enjoyed visiting with my extended family, some you see but twice a year. It is great to come and bond together. To celebrate the 4th of July and a Birthday, it was very special.

I have a hard time sitting still, and while with a ton of family, complete concentration is not going to happen. I went into the bucket of fun, and found this Blackbird Designs 'Fond Hearts'. Great little piece right? I was thrilled with my choice until I realized all the words were 'over-1'. What??!! Stitching the heart & Flowers were done on day 1, and the words took me the rest of the time. Stitched on 28ct Creek Bed Brown from R & R Reproductions, with the recommended WDW Floss. I had kitted this up a few years back, and was overjoyed that I found a piece of "burlap" in my stash, LOL!! Having taken this picture at the wee hours of this morning, I tried to be creative with the sun, shading, & without ironing it, you still get a great look at the piece. I will never forget the weekend I had when I look at this on the wall.

Eating out was the staple of the weekend, breakfast, lunch & dinner; which was another bonding time with everyone. Gourmet Coffee for $0.50 cents!! Shopping also made its way in as well. It was kind of fun to go with such a group, 4-6 different people purchasing little goodies, passing out coupons to our favorite places. Food shopping was an adventure, with all of us thrown into the store, and going our different ways with our shopping carts, lists in hand; almost feels like you are on 'Super Market Sweep' LOL!!

Saw a FABULOUS parade on the 4th, even these fighter jets flew right over the parade route, so low you could almost wave to the pilot! Candy was thrown to the kids, ice-pops given out, and a wonderful afternoon picnic. Fireworks were everywhere, some so close and some in the distance over the city. People were lined up on the streets, across bridges, on roofs of apartment buildings. Outstanding!!



Can you believe I received this Blog Award?! What a wonderful surprise. Cristina gave me this award and I am honored that she did. There are so many wonderful blogs, out there that I like to read, I think something like 50, that everyone deserves the award. Life is always throwing something new at you, and it is hard to keep up with these blogs!! Thanks for thinking of me for this! I hope everyone is having a fantastic summer and keeping those needles flying!!