More Stitching!

Hello!  :)

Things have been a little up in the air around here the last week. My hunky dudes father passed away last Thursday. He lived a good long life. We will be putting him to rest this Friday. We were at his house going through things for days and still have more to do. When we came home at night I would sit and stitch. It was nice and relaxing.  :)

The first new project I started over the weekend was "Tall Sheep" by Shepherd's Bush. It stitched up pretty quick. I finished it on Monday night. Here it is . . .

It's stitched on 28ct antique white monoco. I really like the way it came out. It was supposed to be stitched on 20ct so the buttons were a little big but I think they look okay (I hope so anyway). There are supposed to be 4 flower center buttons too but they didn't look right so I left them off. This was a really fun piece to stitch. I love the colors except for some of the greens that didn't blend well enough for me. For example the word "sheep" is on the hill. You can barely see it. If I stitch it again I'll adjust the greens. I'm not sure how I want to finish this yet so it will go into the finished pile with the others.  :)

On Monday I received the second pattern in Little House Needleworks "Sheep Virtues" series. This one represents "Love". I sat down to stitch it on Tuesday. This is what I had done that night . . .

On Wednesday I managed to finish it. I'm really liking how these are coming out. Here it is . . .

I switched my fabric this month from lugana to linen so I will be re-stitching the first pattern soon. This piece was stitched on 30ct cocoa linen using DMC threads. I didn't realize it right away but both of these patterns contain sheep. I guess I'm in a sheepish mood . . . heehee  :)

Tomorrow I'll be attending the Quilt, Craft & Sewing Festival in Pomona, California with some girls from my stitching group. After we will be going to one of the girls houses and stitching for awhile. It will be nice to get away for the day. I'm really looking forward to it. I'm not sure what I'll be stitching next though since I finished my ongoing projects. Guess I'll have to figure it out pretty soon.  ;)

Until next time . . .

Stitchingly Along...

Hello!  :)

Perhaps that should be the title of my blog with how much stitching I've been doing lately... lol!  :)  I'm definitely moving stitchingly along. I will be moving sewingly along again but for now stitching is bringing me comfort and joy.  :)

When I last shared with you I had begun stitching the first piece in the new Little House Needleworks series called "Sheep Virtue's". Here is where I left off . . .

 This "Hope" piece stitched up pretty quick. I finished it the next day.

I can't wait until the end of this month when the 2nd in the series comes out. I already have my fabric ready and waiting.  :)

This past weekend I began stitching on a piece I've been wanting to work on for awhile now. Lizzie Kate's "Boo Club" is a fun piece that actually has 12 individual designs that can be stitched separately or all together. I'm stitching them all together on a piece of 28ct Golden Harvest Lugana.

I've made quite a lot of progress in a few days. I've actually been stitching more than I've been on the computer which isn't normal for me.  ;)  I think it's coming along very nice. I had to change the original yellow border to the bluish/green color already used in the design. There are also stars in each section that I haven't stitched yet. They were suppose to be yellow and won't show up so I need to change them. I'm thinking about using a silver color with some shimmery strands but I haven't decided for sure yet. I'm also considering just adding star buttons. I'll make that decision eventually.  ;)  For now I'm just plugging along.

I got some good news today. My Yahoo stitching group, SoCalCrossStitchers, will be getting together again on February 23rd in Upland. I can't wait to spend another day stitching with these lovely ladies. We also have another stitching day set up for March 9th in Newport Beach, an overnight stitching day/night on May 18th in San Diego and we're talking about setting up a retreat. I'm so glad I found these ladies. If you're a cross stitcher in Southern California we'd be happy to have you join us!  :)

Oh I almost forgot . . . It's the time of the month to show my ORT's for the

What are ORT's? They are your 'old ratty threads' that are leftover when your stitching. Before I show you my jar for 2013 I need to show you how full my jar got in 2012 (since I forgot to earlier).

It got pretty full huh? I love all the colors. While I should throw these out, I just can't yet at least. I may find something else to do with them. I think for now I'll keep them.  ;)

Here is my jar for 2013. Two months of stitching so far. Such a difference.  :)

Until next time . . .

Gone but still going...

Hello!  :)

I know I haven't posted in awhile again. I've actually been busy but just haven't stopped long enough to write a post. Sometimes I procrastinate because I haven't taken pictures yet, and you know a post isn't a post without pictures.  ;)  Then sometimes I have the pictures ready but then finished more items and need to take more pictures. Lol! It's a never ending cycle!  ;)  I'm here now though and basically up to date with all my pictures.  :)  I know I'm rambling . . . so sorry! Here's what I've been up to . . .

I joined a new yahoo group of cross stitchers from Southern California called SoCalCrossStitchers. Shortly after I joined they scheduled a stitching get-together. I was so excited. I was going to get together with a group of ladies who like stitching as much (if not more) than I do. The night before I was packing my bag to bring with me the next day and realized that I needed a case for my reader (stitching) glasses. I didn't want them to get scratched afterall. This is what I came up with . . .

Of course it's pink.  ;)  I had no pattern so I kind of figured it out as I went along. Here's a view from the side . . .

I used some flannel for the inside to keep the glasses safe and protected.

It works great for my pink polka dot reading glasses.  ;)

I'm happy with how it turned out although next time I will make it a little wider. Maybe round the bottom corners and a strap that snaps would be nice to attach it to the handle of a bag or anything else I'd like.  ;)

After the glass case I needed to make a cover for my 8" x 8" q-snap frame. Got to keep that fabric covered and clean!  ;)  I choose an aqua print from my stash.

It turned out good and works great.

Next time I will finish the seam a little different and start with the fabric a little longer. Not too bad for my first try without a pattern again. I also made a red cover for the 11" x 11" q-snap frame I purchased the next day. I also picked up a 17" x 17" one and still need to make a cover for it.

After all that sewing I was ready for the next day. I went and met some wonderful ladies and had a great day of stitching and chatting.  :)  The project I worked on was my Lizzie Kate Very Scary (mystery) Sampler. If you recall I last stitched on this piece on back in August. Wow! Here's where I left off . . .

I had stitched parts 1 & 2. When I got ready to stitch part 3 I realized something. I messed up!  :(  I started the project too low on the fabric and didn't have enough room for part 3. I got really frustrated and put it away. Other ladies in the group were working on theirs so I pulled mine out again. I looked at the pattern to figure out what I needed to do so it would fit on my fabric. It was so easy to adjust it. I couldn't believe it. It had frustrated me so much before. Now I had it all planned out and stitched away. I stitched Saturday at the get-together, that night when I got home and again on Sunday.

I was really liking how this part was coming out. I kept stitching on Monday and managed to finish it on Tuesday night.

I love the kitty! He's sooo cute!  ;)  Here's the completed piece.

I'm not sure how I'm going to finish it up yet. For now it's going into the finished pile with the rest of them.  ;)

I was on such a stitching rush that I started a new project that same night. Here's where I left off . . .

This is a new pattern from Little House Needleworks "Little Sheep Virtues- Hope". It's part of a 12-month series that I'm doing. This is the 1st month. The next one is due out the end of this month. For now I'm thinking of finishing them all together in a quilt with homespun fabrics. I actually managed to finish it yesterday (Wednesday) but haven't take a picture yet so you'll have to wait to see it.  ;)

It was nice to stitch again for myself. This weekend I do plan on starting a new project and also continuing with my next piece for Sandy Hook. Thanks for hanging with me through such a long post. Hopefully I'll be back sooner next time.  ;)

Until next time . . .