Yes you are seeing correct

Good Morning everyone!!!  What a gorgeous day it is today!!!  I have a fun day planned, and I wanted to show you something first.  PROGRESS!!!!!!!!!

Thursday night I picked up SDW and I powered out the rest of the top blackwork.  WOW.  What a gorgeous row of stitches.  I told you earlier in the day I didnt really enjoy this type of work, but maybe it gets easier when we get older????!!!! Can it be???!!  LOL  What I found was that after 2 of the flower looking tops, I had memorized the stitches and was able to really just sit and stitch.  I had the chart handy because I wanted to double check every once in a while.   I still cant believe it.  It is well worth the stitching.

And as you can see it looks like lace!!!  Incredible.
Friday night we met up with some family for dinner and got back late enough I couldnt sit and stitch.  Straight to bed :(  It was a enjoyable meal and visiting with them is always great fun, but I am fired up like I was with DB, now with SDW.  I want to stitch!!!! I am thrilled to see such advancement last night.  It really is such a beautful piece.  I took some time to make some color adjustments on the letters below, far off in the stitching future, but I was in the mood to do it, get it done right?
There is it.  Now, off to have fun today and more stitching tonight!!!!!!!

I hope everyone is having a fabulous day!!!!

Flowers of Lebanon

I was darn close to finishing the Flowers of Lebanon by Goode Huswife (oop) piece 2 nights ago, but didnt have the black NPI that I needed to fill in a few spots.  I knew I had some somewhere, but having been moving WIPs around here and there, couldnt for the life of me find it.  So, I had my LNS send me a hank of black.  Why a hank?  Well you can never have enough black and well, it doesnt go bad, just gets misplaced.  Not being able to finish Flowers, last night I decided to work on SDW and low and behold, I found the black NPI I was looking for!  HELLO!!!!!!!  LOL.  I was super excited and finished it right up.

 

I love the bright colors in this one, and was thinking of what others have been stitched on black, and what others would look great stitched on black.  Any thoughts?  I am thinking of a few this size and square shape to hang on the wall together, framed the same.  Kind of fun right? 
It was fun to stitch this one on the called for 32ct linen along with the called for NPI colors.  It was brainless I tell you!!! Brainless.   Sometimes you need that right?!  SDW is on schedule for tonight.  Not seeing it for the last few weeks, pulling it out last night reminds me of why I love it.  Maybe I will tackle the blackwork on the top.  I love the look of it, however sooo time consuming.  But, when its done, it will be done.  I always leave that sort of thing like the over one on samplers till the end and it is not fun for me to leave and 'look forward' to.  LOL  We shall see what the weekend brings.
Have a wonderful day everyone:)  Thanks again for stopping by to visit!!

Old Nantucket and ???

Finishing up Old Nantucket by Little House Needleworks (45ct vintage meadow rue and my silk conversion) on Valentines Night, while watching movies and eating chocolate-- yes, I had to have a piece or 2!!!! AND I did get my first ever heart shaped candy box.  Yes, I have received chocolate in the past, but this year was the first in different shape box--I'm crazy, but that everyone knew already :).  I remember Grandma would always receive a heart shaped box of chocolate from Grandpa every year for Valentines day- the biggest one I think I can remember-- when you are kid everything is big right?!  It  was great to think of that story this past Valentines.  

Old Nantucket came out great what do you think?

I wonder what the frame will look like on this one.  Fun how the creativity doesn't end with the project, the frame is a whole other decision :)
You remember I shared 2 pics of thread rings a couple posts ago?  One with black linen and the other with brighter colors, I think on vintage woodsmoke?  Well, I decided to pick the black one to start by Goode Huswife- The Flowers of Lebanon.  OOP but I found it last summer on a road trip and couldnt resist.  It reminds me of the colors from Goode Huswife- Black Forest.   I like the bright colors however I havent really stitched with them for a bit.  Why not? 

I was thrilled that the border matched up, even the most simple of borders still can be a pest.  Here is where I stopped last night. 

It is such an easy little stitch and I am having fun with the 32ct burlap linen.  LOL  No offense to anyone stitching with 32ct, I have to laugh, I received an email from a friend who said stitching on 36ct compared to 40ct was like stitching on a fishing net.  Well, you get my joke when I mostly stitch on 40-45ct.  It is nice for a change to stitch on a larger count, I do own it and why not?  We all started somewhere.  AND, I know that someday I will only be able to see 28/32ct.  Take it while I can :)  As long as you are stitching, it is all GOOD!!!! 
I also talked about a driving project back in December and it was Elizabeth J M Mears.  Well, yesterday we went on a drive and I brought Miss Mears will me and unfortunately didnt get that much done because the roads are just aweful!!!  I dont get it.  With all those tax dollars paid, where are the smooth roads???!!!!

But, some progress is WAAY better then no progress right?  One of 4 fruit baskets and started the 2nd one.   Since working on her yesterday, I might have to work on Elizabeth instead of that other gorgeous project I showed you last week, but you never know.  This above is the driving project.  I cant sit in the passenger seat and work on 45ct.  Hard enough on 40ct! 
Tonight I think I will continue on the Flowers piece, and see where the stitching path leads in the next few nights.  Maybe SDW??!!!!!!!  Yikes!  I need to get back to that great sampler asap.  Until next time my friends.  Thanks for visiting!

Organizing my Threads

I have had several requests and inquiries over the last few posts about my thread organizing.  I wanted to dedicate a post to show you all how it works, and then ultimately how you too can be this organized :)
Years ago, a friend of mine had shown me her system using these tabs and I knew immediately it was for me.  I quickly ordered a few sets and had my work cut out for me, because I had been a floss away user previously.  I feel that system worked well, but this one for me worked even better.  They last longer, you can reuse a tab if you want (with a quick switch of the sticker), quickly change them from one project to the next, store them with ease, and the best part is finding a color you are looking for with ease.
To begin organizing to these tabs is an undertaking for sure, but the end result is sooo worth it.  It is an investment within your investment.   Saves on 2 things we all need more of, time and money :)

These are the tabs you start with, along with the provided labels you start with this pile

of threads, and this can be done with your cotton threads as well as your silks.  I left the DMC on the trusty cards they were put on and are still stored in those plastic boxes-- you know the ones.  I rarely use them so I didnt feel switching them to this system would be beneficial.  The binder rings are a great way to keep your threads together for each project.  I actually hang my ring I am working with on the post of my stitching light, so they are always close at hand.

The 3 rings shown above, 2 are from the previous post, and the 3rd is Old Nantucket.

 I am near ready to remove and replace the silk tabs from Nantucket into the dry, and dust free storage bin (has a lid), to be ready for use in the near future.

All the tabs fit securely into these plastic slides.  Similar to a report cover we used way back in the day for that 'report' :)  LOL.   These slides have a hook on the end of each side which sit perfectly in a standard size file bin.  They are for folks that file with hanging folders, so instead of folders, I am hanging silk and cotton threads.

As you can see, in the above picture, the hook on the end of the slide.  I label each color with the vendor, color name and if possible the dye-lot on the backside.  You may ask why I have multiples of some of the colors listed, well they are some of my favorites and you can never have enough of them and, or are purchased before the system and I purchased duplicates.  This is where the money saving comes into play.  You can easily check your stash for the colors needed and if you have them great, you just saved $$!!  LOL.  I am easily amused.  What this system is also great for, folks like me that change a lot of colors out for another, you can easily skim through the slides looking for that perfect color and pull it out for a fast floss toss on your linen.  Especially in the middle of the night on Saturday!!  WOWZA!!!! LOVE THIS!!!!!

I purchased the plastic tote at my local Target for $12 bucks in the plastic storage section and you can purchase these great thread organizers at Acorns and Threads in Portland OR.  It is an outstanding retail shop and they are always happy to help you get what you need; from threads, linen, patterns, of course thread organizers and so much more.  They are happy to mail anywhere in the US and outside the US :)  The shipping department is friendly and fast.  Call them today to order your set --just mention you saw it on my blog (Love to Stitch- One stitch at a time) and they will know the exact system you are calling about and start organizing now!!!  I would love to hear from those of you that do get this system and let me know what you think :) You wont regret this for sure.
If anyone else has any questions, please dont hesitate to ask, I am happy to help.  Thank you for your patience in the answers, I thought it would be so much easier to explain if you saw it.
Happy Valentines Day to all!!

Pluggin' Along

I am more than overwhelmed with the amount of comments, texts and emails I have received about my Dutch Beauty!!  What a week to really feel loved :)  Thank you sooooo very much, it means the world to me and I am over the moon.
I did a bit of stash diving and boy was it ever fun.  I havent done that in forever and I really had a hard time deciding what to stitch on next.  There were 4 top choices and I had to make some sort of decision right?  I even had my Husband diving with me, which I think is great-- and yes, he does really care :)  It is rare I know!!!!!!
The next night after finishing DB, I decided small was key to the next week or so's stitching.  I pulled out Old Nantucket again and have made some great progress.

I am almost ready to wrap this up and add it to the framing pile.  I am stitching this along a few of my friends and it is amazing the difference each of our samplers are-- why you ask?  Well, we have all chosen our own linen and chosen our own threads.  I love doing that, why should they be the same?! Sometimes it is exciting to step out of the box, well, I do still have boundaries.  LOL. 
I have 2 pics of threads/fabric I wanted to share with you, 1 is a small new start on burlap black linen, and the other is a larger WIP.  I think I am going to start the black one this week when Nantucket is done since it is a small, I will have a better sense of accomplishment instead of working only on my favorite- large samplers!  Plus there are so many stinkin cute smalls out there :)

So many decisions!!  AArrghhh :) 
Thanks again for stopping by.  I hope everyone is off to a good week, shoveling out from the snow or enjoying the beautiful sun!!!!

Can you hear the singing?!!

Last night around 8:30pm, I put the final stitches in the largest project to date I have ever stitched.  That is correct, I have finished Dutch Beauty!!!!!!!!!  My first finish for 2013.  One less WIP!!  So many things to be excited about!!!  Exactly 4 weeks from my last post, I completed the final row and added the flowers to the border.  I have stitched so much in the last 4 weeks, that my shoulder was killing me from holding my hoop!  I was so desperate to get this finished and I posted last time I wanted it complete before April 1st, then I made a new personal goal of January 31st.  Well, in the last 4 weeks, there has been alot of adventure so sometimes I didnt get as much stitching in as I wanted.  So clearly that goal came and went.  Not much longer after my goal and stitched in less then a year, here is my Dutch Beauty!!

 

I am sooo thrilled to be done stitching this piece.  It was getting quite tedious near the end, I wasnt enjoying it anymore.  I feel like if I didnt push myself I wouldnt have felt this way--but it had to get done.   I was tired of the threads sitting out for so long, and what a joy it was to put them all away. With each and every page complete, there were less and less I had to stitch, I was pumped up.  You can do this!!   I spent time with each and every motif choosing the colors I wanted to stitch with-- I didnt follow the symbols at all, I referred to them, however most of the time chose a different color.

I spent a long time stitching the swan motif, I wanted to see the family separate from their mother.  I wanted depth for feathers.  I do feel that using the over-dyed silk that each motif popped from the next.  The flowers you can smell and the animals breathing.  Amazing what simple things can do for your project.  I know it was worth the time using this technique instead of following the chart.  Do I want to try that in another project?  Sure, but not for a long time!! LOL.

Using 23 overdyed silk colors and stitched on 45ct Vintage Maritime White from Lakesided Linens.  She measures 25 1/2 inches x 15 1/2 inches.  Thanks again for all the great emails, texts and comments keeping me motivated.  I know that is what helped drive me to complete this fantastic sampler.  I look forward to having her framed this summer and hung in a special place :)
The next question is that tonight, I will have to stitch on something else.  I cant just sit and do nothing!!  I actually might have to break out the WIPs and play for a bit!!!!!