almost the weekend!

I got a lot done last night. It was a total stitching night. Well is was after I put the pugs through their agility paces in the backyard. We train every night for at least 5 to 10 minutes per pug. Even Molly gets to take a turn. My teacher and I were chatting a few weeks ago on how good we both thought she could be so I'm trying to retrain her using some new skills I have picked up over the past year or so. She loves it and I would love to get a couple of titles on her. :-)

Wish Clancy and I luck for the agility trial this weekend! And you have a great weekend!


Jolene is having a really nice giveaway on her blog: Check it out.

not much to show

Any progress on It's Berry Time is progress but it's sure going slow right now. Right now I get so tired when I'm stitching on the train because I'd rather nap and at night I'm ready to go to bed around 8:00pm/8:30pm so I'm not getting as much done then as I'd like on my HoHRH. But I know this will pass at some point and I'll start to have more time. I forgot to take a picture of my house but it's not changed much from my last update. The house has a roof and that's about it. I fell asleep last night during Top Chef and did nothing on Tuesday because of agility classes with the pugs.

This weekend not much stitching will happen because Clancy and I are returning to AKC agility trials. It will be our first since I pulled him last December because of our poor performances over the previous six months. We've worked on our fundamentals and especially our weaves so I'm hoping to start having better results. It's an outdoor trial and one we did last year. I really liked it, it was small and the day went very quickly. Hopefully it will be the same as last year without the huge thunderstorm Saturday morning. Our first run that morning was in a downpour in the muddy field. Clancy didn't mind but I sure did. :-)

My agility coach has classes every Friday evening outside in the summer and she told us to come tomorrow night for a practice run before the trial. I think that is very nice of her and I hope we do well because it will help my confidence for the weekend.

a third complete

I'm almost a third complete with It's Berry Time. I love a quick piece. :-)

I did finish up the roof of my new house but I forgot to take a photo. Tomorrow for sure.

House #6 finis - half way!

I finished up House #6 from Houses of Hawk Run Hollow on Saturday. So far it's my favorite. I love the overstitching on the house. And filling in the background was a piece of cake. :-) I'm using the recommended NPI, one over two on the recommended Lakeside Linens.

Here it is in all it's half way finished glory!

Last night I made a start on my next block. Because I've gotten a late start on this month's block, I looked for the lightest stitched blocked that butted up against a finished one. It looked like #10 was the lightest because 25% of it was just lettering. And since I managed to get in all the letters, I'm already 25% finished. Talk about getting caught up. :-) I'll actually start on the house tonight.

Here is my progress on It's Berry Time. I worked from home on Friday so I haven't touched this since Thursday morning. But it's coming along and I'm still very happy with it.

Here is a picture of the girls, Molly on the left and Aoife on the right. They look so sweet in the photo and you would never know by looking at it that they both can be terrors and totally rule the house and keep the boys in their places. :-) As well they should. :-)

pretty

I really like It's Berry Time. I'm using one strand over two so it's looking very delicate. I love it when it all comes together. :-)

I've had a couple of comments saying that I need to change to name of my blog to Four Cool Pugs now that George Murphy is staying. I had not thought of that. It was time for a new look in any case but I'm not sure if I'll change the name or not. :-) GM officially belongs to Mom and Dad so he really isn't mine. Of course when I'm around the house, he is with me and the other cool pugs but he doesn't sleep with me. Thank goodness! Four would be way too much. :-)

A new start

Since I could not proceed on my Petit Etui (not enough CC floss) I started on the new Loose Feathers, It's Berry Time. Such a cute design! I'm doing mine on 36 count Silkweavers Purely Primitive using Gentle Art Old Red Paint. I didn't have enough of the called for CC Wild Berries but I thought the Old Red Paint would look nice. And I think it does. :-)

I'm continuing to stitch in the background on House #6. My goal is to have it complete by the Monday. I love how the colors pop on the black background.

wonderful vacation

Today is the last day of my vacation. I DON'T WANT TO GO BACK WORK! :-) I really need to win the lottery or find a rich man who is ok spending all his money on me. :-) I really and truly can do without work. Clancy, Aoife and I had a blast at Agility Summer Camp. Clancy is really maturing into an amazing agility dog and the sessions with the three instructors have done much to increase my confidence in him. As for Aoife, she didn't actually participate in any of the sessions, rather the two of us took the chance during the breaks for relationship building. By the end of the three days, she didn't want to be anywhere on the courses except next to me. That was an important concept for her to learn.

I did bring along the new Loose Feathers to Eau Claire but didn't even take it out of my bag - there was just no time. As for the past few days, I've taken what stitching time I had and worked on Houses of Hawk Run Hollow and I'm on the home stretch of House #6. I think this is my favorite house so far and that makes it so much nicer to work on the boring background. But I'm sure it will go quick. I took some time last night to pull the silk for the next house and I've decided to work on House #10. It looks like the lightest stitched block that is touching one of the blocks that I've completed. I'm already so far behind for the July house, I'd like to try to get caught up the rest of the month with the easier block. A nice goal I think. Here is where I left off on Petit Etui. Yes, I pulled everything I stitched in. When I looked at the silk colors in comparison with the Crescent Colours I much preferred the Crescent Colours to the Vikki Clayton conversion. So I'm starting over. I don't have the money right now for the floss I don't have so I'm putting this aside until I can purchase them. I'm very happy with my decision. Thanks to everyone who made a comment when I was deciding what to do. Everyone is totally correct - I need to love what I'm working on especially when it's an important piece to me.

I took a few photos of the gang over the weekend. We have decided to keep Murry and we are calling him George Murphy. :-) We could not stand to let him go and are very happy. I think he is too.

Here is George and Aoife. When I cook, I have to put a bed in the kitchen because they get so underfoot. :-) I was making cupcakes for a party and the folks and they were everywhere until I put the bed out.

It was Clancy's birthday on Saturday so he got the birthday bandana instead of a red, white and blue one. My little boy is now four! Time sure does fly.

agility weekend

Yesterday evening was the first time over the past four days that I did any stitching. I'm officially in a slump. But I did manage to start filling in the house. I will do the over stitching on the house that is called for. I think it adds a nice touch.

Here is the progress I've made on my first side of my Petit Etui. At this point I'm not really liking the Vikki Clayton conversion very much at all and I'm torn if I should press on hoping I start to like it or stop where I'm at, pull what I have completed and switch to the Crescent Colours it's charted for. I hate it when doubt creeps in, especially when it's a piece that is important to me. I think I need to pull what CC skeins I have and compare them to the VC and see what's what. Maybe it's just this piece but if all the colors are very different from the Crescent Colours I probably should make the switch.

The past weekend was all about the pugs and our agility careers. We had a two day seminar with one of the leading instructors in our style of handling - Karen Holik. What a good time we had! Karen was so easy to listen to and take instruction from. And we get to see her again in three days! Today is my last day at work until July 8th - tomorrow I'm packing up the agility pugs and we are heading to Eau Claire Wisconsin to attend a three day summer camp with Anne Braue - who is also one of the leading agility instructions currently out there. Three full days of nothing but dogs and agility. For me, it doesn't get better than this. :-)

almost the weekend

These squares for the Etui are going to move along quickly. They are only 110 x 110 (with the bottom being slightly larger). Somehow they looked bigger when I was studying the photos of the finished etui. I picked up the side with the most speciality stitches. I picked the square randomly but it worked out. When I do multi-part pieces I like to go from hard/heavy stitched to easy/lightly stitches. That way if feels like I'm zooming along at the end. :-)

Here is my house #6. It's coming along nicely. I have a super busy weekend coming up. On Saturday and Sunday I have an all day agility seminar with Clancy and Aoife, a party on Saturday night and I have some planting I need to take care of on Sunday. I'd like to finish the inside of the house before all this starts. :-)

Isa V Grand Marquior part 3 finis

I finished up part 3 of my Grand Marquior yesterday on the way home from work.

As you can see, I have started to experiment with the silk for the contrast on the letters. The first test is totally wrong - way too yellow.

I like the one on the very bottom - Bewooded from Vikki Clayton. It's a new color and I think it works good.

Here is my new start - it's the panel designed by Cherished Stitches called With Affection. It's for my Etui. Yeah - color! I'm using Vikki Clayton silk rather than the called for Crescent Colours.

a roof

I just love the colors on the night house. I can just picture them in the moonlight. I'm almost done with the roof and I should have time to finish it before I go to agility tonight. Yeah! :-)

progress!

I made visible progress on House #6 over the weekend. I'm hoping to finish up the tree and make a start on the house tonight. Yeah!

Here is my Grand Marquior. I'm really getting bored. I sure hope if finish off this release in the next couple of days. I want to work with some color! :-)

friday!

It's finally Friday and not a day too soon in my opinion. :-) I finished off the sixth piece of the installment of the IsaV Grand Marquior. Only three boxes to go and I'm finished with the third release. I'd love to get this section done by Monday but I have no idea what I'll feel like stitching on this weekend. And I have plenty of choices. :-) Ain't life grand. :-)

Almost half way finished with the entire piece.

Have a great weekend!

finally

I finally have started House #6! I don't have a chance in hell of finishing it by the end of the month but it felt good to at least get it going. :-)

I'm still really lagging behind on my Grand Marquior also. I should have had this part finished by now and I'm hoping that maybe by next week I can start my Etui.

Not a stitch put in :-)

I had a wonderful couple of days off and weekend. But I was so busy with party plans I didn't have time to put a single stitch into any of my projects. I'm even behind with my train project - my IsaV Grand Marquior as I slept a couple of rides last week. I can't even remember the last time I didn't stitch for so long of a period. I'm way behind with regards to my House #6 of HoHRH. I haven't even started yet. I'm hoping tonight I can at least start on the border. Summer agility is now in full swing and I'm starting to fill up my weekends like crazy so I'll have even less time going forward for a couple of months.

The birthday party for my Dad was fun and the weather even cooperated somewhat with the rain stopping several hours before everyone came and the sun even came out for a while. Yesterday was the first decent weekend day in weeks - warm and sunny and I worked like a dog outside. I'm almost finished with most of the larger tasks that I assigned myself in the spring. Now I can just enjoy. :-)

rain rain go away

I haven't been making quick work of my Grand Marquior but I'm making progress. :-) I'm almost done with the first row of the third section. I really enjoy working on mono pieces. No scrambling for floss. Just pull another length out of the bag.

I haven't posted any pugs pics for a while. One of the people that attends the same agility class as me likes to bring his camera once in a while. Here is Clancy in action.

And a beauty shot of Aoife. :-) She looks so soulful in this shot.

The Simple Things finis

The Simple Things - design by Blackbird Designs

32 count Antique Gold from Silkweavers

Recommended Weeks Dye Works fiber

I barely got this piece finished last night. :-) So much for stitching all weekend. But the weather was crappy and since Mom and I have having my Dad's surprise birthday party this coming weekend, we decided to give the house a thorough cleaning. And that means I gave the house a thorough cleaning. :-) I cleaned from sunup to sundown both Saturday and Sunday. And every evening this week, I have list of things that still need to get done - from cooking to outside work to a few loose ends inside. I took Thursday and Friday off work for most of the harder stuff - like the outside work and that should help with getting things done.

After finishing off Simple Things, I did have some time last night to grid out my linen for A Petite Sampling Etui but for my train rides this week I really wanted to get caught up with the IsaV Grand Marquior. I'm close to being behind with this piece as I expect the fourth release to come out any day. So as soon as part three if done, I'll make the Etui my next start.

This is a pretty good photo of the colors! First time I've been able to get one. :-)

ready to move on

I think I'm going to finish this piece over the weekend before I start on my house #6 of HoHRH. I'm ready to move on to something else and I won't until I finish this one up. The plan had been to make it into a pillow but the finished size is smaller than I thought it would be so I'm not sure if that will work for me now. I still like the idea of it but I did want a large finished piece. We'll see. :-)

Have a great weekend!

a nice surprise

Progress is fast and furious on this piece! :-) I love it when projects just move along. Thanks to everyone for your kind words that you have been leaving for me. I love to read them. I promise Patti to send you some fairies as soon as I find some that want to fly over the pond. ;-)

I had a package waiting for me when I got home from work yesterday. I wasn't expecting anything so I was quite excited at the unexpected surprise. Tracy of Ink Circles (one of my designing heroes) attended a fund drive at her local animal shelter and purchased this cute calendar for me! How nice is that? It just so happens that last Christmas no one gave me one - usually I get a couple - so I still needed one. Thanks so much Tracy! In her note she said mine are cuter. And I totally agree. :-)

almost half way

I've been working away at The Simple Things during my commute back and forth to work. I'm almost half way I figure. I've made a few changes. The stars are charted for Kudzu, the color photo shows them in Pelican Gray and I made them Schneckley. :-) I'm also changing the color of the three blue flowers. My dye lot of Pelican Gray is very gray whereas in the photo is a bluer dye lot. I've decided that I like the bluer flowers so I'll go through my floss tonight and pick out something on the bluer side than the Pelican Gray I have. And I'm 100% positive that I will not stitch the chain stitch around the leaves and such. I don't think it adds much to the piece and I think I like mine on the simple side.

I had a couple of comments yesterday that made me laugh - I truely did not put a stitch in all weekend but I had a couple of really productive rides on the train on the way home Friday and in on Monday. :-) So some stitching happened just not while I was sitting still. :-)

such a nice weekend

I didn't put a stitch in all weekend! Mostly because of the weather. It was as nice as predicted. I planted my entire vegetable garden and did some major clean up. I'm a little sore today but nothing like I would have felt if I had not lost weight. Just another of the major benefits of getting healthy. :-)

Houses of Hawk Run Hollow House #5 finis

I finished up house #5 last night! Yeah, it's even three days early. :-) Now if I can just put my nose to the linen and start on #6 all will be perfect. :-) I'm using the recommended NPIs, 1 over two and the recommended linen in 32 count.

I'd like to stitch a big chuck of The Simple Things but the weather forecast is calling for temps in the low 70's with mostly sunny conditions. I know myself only too well. Not much stitching will be going on. :-)

Have a great weekend!

sleepy days on the train

I've barely made any progress on The Simple Things - I've been so sleepy on the train! The chart calls for chain stitching around the leaves but I don't think I'm going to do it. I'm leaning toward making a pillow out of this and I don't think it would need it. But of course I'll see when the time comes. I didn't finish up my house last night. I got home from work and felt like having an evening with some magazines. :-) And I went to bed at 8:30! Hopefully tonight.

Two Hearts finis

Two Hearts, Loose Feathers #34 - design by Blackbird Designs

32 Count Golden Harvest by Silkweavers

Recommended fibers

Lots to share today! I finished up Two Hearts over the long weekend and framed it collage style. I LOVE how it turned out. I really channelled my inner French girl. :-) Click on the photo for a close up. I did a hemstitch around the piece and there is a really pretty lace trim along the top and left side.

The weather while on the cool side was nice for getting more of my outside in order. The only project I didn't get to was putting in my vegetable garden. I'll have to do that this coming weekend.

I'm almost finished with House #5 of HoHRH. I only have a couple of the window frames and shutters to go. I have agility tonight with the pugs so I'll finish it tomorrow evening with several days to spare! The plan is not to waste a day in starting House #6 - the midnight house - it's a biggy.

For my commute project this week, I started the latest Loose Feather, The Simple Things. I'm doing mine on 32 count Antique Gold from Silkweavers. It's going to stitch up quick I think.

I was not able to draw names for the Plantation Sampler until this morning. On Sunday my modem died and I had no Internet connection. I was so lost without it!

The Pail of Destiny (a nod to Edgar for the Destiny part :-))

And the winner is: Tracy J. I have emailed you Tracy.

Murry my new foster pug was dropped off on Friday. What a sweetheart he is! He loves playing with toys and chasing the other pugs. I don't think he will be with me very long at all.

pre-giveaway, giveaway! :-)

I love The Plantation Sampler from Canterbury Designs. So much so, I bought two! :-) It's an oldie but a goodie.

If you would like my extra copy, please leave a comment before Monday evening and I'll draw names for it.

Mrs. Pearson finis

Mrs. Pearson - design by Carriage House Samplings

32 count Golden Harvest by Silkweavers

Recommended NPI Silk

My evening went as predicted yesterday. I finished up Mrs. Pearson but didn't touch HoHRH. For today's commute I put Two Hearts from BBD in my bag. I need to finish this Loose Feathers up before I start the next one.

My 3rd blogoversary is coming up in June. Look for a give away! I'm working on it now. :-) I'm taking a page from Edgar and I'll ask people when the time is right to mention it on their blog (if they have one) to be included in the drawing. But not yet! :-) This is just a heads up that it's coming.

almost

I sure would like to have Mrs. Pearson finished today - I think I can if I don't work on HoHRH when I get home from work tonight. And I'm surely tempted because then I can start work on something new. :-) And who doesn't love a new start?? :-)

I'm fostering Murry for Northern Illinois Pug Rescue and I really don't know if they adopt out of the area. But I think it all boils down to what's easy and it's certainly easy to find a home for a puppy. With adults and seniors it's much harder and I would think they would be more willing to go out of state.

a new foster pug

I debated on whether or not to include the date box and just extend the background blocks up the side. But the time it would take to correctly re-chart it didn't seem worth it. :-) So I'm putting it in.
Take a look at this sweet face! He name is Murry and I'm going to be fostering him starting on Friday. He is six months old and is so cute. It's a very sad sorry on why he is ending up in adoption but it includes divorce, a sick child and a grandmother who won't let dogs in the house. I'll do my very best to find him a great home. It's going to kill me to give him up in a couple of weeks.

Thanks!

Thanks so much for all your very nice comments about the new me! Each and every one is truly appreciated. :-)

I was able to finish up Mrs. Pearson's dress over the weekend and this morning I got a start on the background. That is going to go fairly quickly I think. I'd love to move onto something new this week. But what? I have so many things calling me right now. Such a nice problem to have.

I didn't get as much done with House #5 as I wanted over the weekend but when do I ever? LOL! Rather than start on the windows I tackled the border on the bottom which requires more counting and hence more thinking. I should finish that part up tonight and then I'll start on the windows. I know I have a ton left to finish but how would I love to get this finished by the long weekend (next Monday is Memorial Day - day off work!). I'm thinking about taking this Friday off work also to make it an extra long weekend. I love those the best. I have a ton of lawn work to still do for the spring/summer and my Mom and I are giving my Dad a surprise 81st birthday party in two weeks. I want everything in tiptop shape before then.

Doing the Friday Happy Dance and BIG NEWS!

One of many weekend goals is to finish Mrs. Pearson's dress. Doable I think but I also want to get a lot more done on House #5. We'll see. :-)

I'm so glad it's Friday - I have had the week from hell at work. I've been plagued by mistakes and tasks that should have taken minutes have taken hours. I can't wait to get out of here. :-)

In other HUGE news today, this morning I made my Weight Watchers goal. :-) I started my diet on November 4th and as of this morning I have lost almost 60 pounds. My original pie-in-the-sky goal was 135 and this morning I weighed in at 134.6. :-) I'm going to go for an even 60 pounds however so I have 2.6 more to go - about two weeks more of actual dieting. I've gone from a 16+ (the + means the size 16s were tight) to a size 4! I never in a million years did I see me as a size 4. Even years ago when I was running around 20-25 miles a week did I managed to get smaller than an 8.

Many years ago (2001) I ran a marathon and even did a sprint triathlon (2002) and after a few joint injuries totally stopped working out. That is when the weight started to pile on. I didn't even realize how miserable I had become until a couple of months ago when I woke up one day and I wasn't so miserable. :-) I never thought that the weight could just run me down the way it did, mentally and physically. Now I'm running pain free and I hope to do a 5k in June. And my attitude is 180 degrees different. :-)

Life is good :-)

a hand!

I managed to get Mrs. Pearson's hand on the end of her arm today. Soon she will have clothes. :-)

More progress on House #5. I'll start work on the windows tonight.

she's coming togerther

Mrs. Pearson is starting to come together. She now has a body and arms and everything! :-) Maybe she will even have a hand by tomorrow afternoon. :-)

I finished up the border on House #5 last night while I watched the last bit of the Biggest Looser finale. Does anyone else think Helen took it a little too far? She looked way to thin to me. Of course it got her $250,000 and she can always (and probably will) gain a little back.

eyes and a nose

I did receive my missing blue silk and was able to finish Mrs. Pearson's face. I'm not sure if it makes her any less creepy or not. :-)

I made a good start to block #5 of HoHRH. I'm really going to be good for the rest of the month and get this finished. :-) Yes, you have heard that before. :-) I have many other things temping me right now. Part 3 of my Isa V Grand Marquior is fairly screaming at me and I love the new Loose Feathers AND I still have to finish the Loose Feathers I started two weeks ago. Not to mention the couple of other charts I have picked up in the last couple of weeks. I need the summer off.

a bird!

Mrs. Pearson now has a bird on her head. Oh how cute. :-)

more floating head

I'm not made a lot of progress since Monday but at least Mrs. Pearson's hat is finished. And as we speak, the last skein of silk (and the new Loose Feathers) is flying it's way west from Drema. And if I can stay awake for the rest of my commute this week, I might actually get in some serious stitching. :-)

no update today

I don't have a photo update today - not much progress was made on either of my two projects last night as I worked all my pugs outside last evening - I set up the coolest agility course and we had a blast.

But I thought I would mention that Edgar's second blogaversary is this weekend and he having a contest! If you would like to win the secret prize..... just comment on this post (on Edgar's blog) and mention it on your blog (if you have one) and Edgar will announce the winner on Monday, May 11th. Thanks Edgar - it's always fun to stop by your place. :-)

House #4 finis! A third of the way complete!

I finished up House #4 from Houses of Hawk Run Hollow on Saturday. I did change the inside window color by one shade darker. The recommended color was way to close to the window sash color and it didn't even show a difference with the two dye lots I had. I pulled the silk for house #5 and I hope to start it tonight. It would be nice if I could get a head start on June's house - the nighttime house. That's going to take forever. :-) So the plan is to finish #5 as soon as I can and make a start on #6 before June even starts.

I sure do still have a lot of linen left! :-)

Rather than working on my Loose Feather piece over the weekend I really wanted to start Mrs. Pearson. Right now she looks like something out of a Tim Burton movie! I don't have the primary blue silk - I don't know how I didn't notice that when I ordered the silks but I'll put a call into Drema first thing tomorrow. And I can work around it's absence just fine in the meantime by working up the piece.

It's May already!

I came close to finishing my House #4 but close really doesn't count. I'll finish this up over the weekend - I'll make it the only project I work on. Maybe I'll have time to start Mrs. Pearson. The silks I ordered came and are they ever pretty! Pinks and light blues. A lovely change from the the ochres that I usually see with the CHS that I tend to stitch.

Here is Two Hearts. Slow going as like I mentioned yesterday, naps are taking priority on the train. That happens sometimes. I just get in a groove and can't break it. Maybe next week I can stay awake.

Have a great weekend!

it's raining again

It's raining today. While that is not an unusual event here in Northern Illinois, it has rained 13 out of the last 14 days. I'm growing quite tired of it. I am NOT a duck. :-) So far the forecast for the weekend is on the coldish side but no rain.

Here is my progress on Two Hearts. Not as much progress as I would have liked mostly because napping has been just lovely on the train this week. :-) I worked on HoHRH last night but forgot to take a snap. I only finished one side of the house. I will not make my goal this month but I'm not concerned yet. May is a long month and I'll have a long weekend tossed in there for good measure.

My new start

I started Two Hearts from Blackbird Designs yesterday. It was the last Loose Feather. I never got around to doing it because I had to finish the mystery first and then something else came along. :-) But I liked the look of it and I figured now would be a good time. I chatted with Drema yesterday and she gave me all the details on the new Loose Feather. It should be out soon! The small in this one is a pin cushion that rests on top of a wooden stand. I have of course pre-ordered the stand and I can't wait to see it. Why did I call Drema you ask? Well I really needed the chart from CHS called Mrs. Pearson. The one with the lady with the bird on her head! I saw it completed at the International Quilt Show a couple of weeks ago and I could not get it out of my head - I must stitch it. So I ordered all the NPIs for it and the chart. I'll figure out what sort of Silkweavers linen to use when I see the silk in real life.

Petites Lettres Rouges finis and some exchanges

Petites Lettres Rouges design by Blackbird Designs

32 count Silkweaver Cocoa

Vikki Clayton Mermaid Blue 2327

What a quick little stitch this was! And such a pleasure. I managed to send it off to Alma for inclusion into the BBD contest. :-)

I started back with House #4 from HoHRH and I realized that I don't have a chance in hell of finishing it by the 30th as all the windows plus the house needs to be filled in. Oh well, May is a long month. :-) I should be able to finish this month and #5 without any difficulty (if I actually sit down and stitch it that is!).

I also have a couple of exchanges to report on. First is what I sent out to Ellen S in Kentucky for the HoE Valentine's Exchange. I forgot to take a photo and Ellen kindly posted one on the HoE blog. I made her a box with a JBW design on it.

As fate would have it, Ellen had me in the Woodland Exchange that just went out. This is what she sent me.
I was lucky enough to get Edgar as a recipient. I've been on the receiving end of some of his kindness and it was great to give a little back. :-)

I stitch a BBD design called Country Garden and dedicated it to his recently departed dog, Hunny. As usual, I forgot to take a photo before sending it off so I took this from the HoE blog.

a couple of Blackbird finis :-)

Peacock Pinkeep - design by Blackbird Designs

Recommended 28 count Gingham Linen Weeks Dye Works

Gentle Arts Overdyed floss

This baby is big. :-) Somehow six inches round didn't seem so big when I read the instructions but in real life it's the largest pinkeep I own. :-) I finished it up yesterday afternoon. Very easy to finish but lots of hand work so it took longer than I first thought it would. Love it though!

I also had time to finish up the needlecase. I like this technique a lot and I'll be using it again.

Peacock Needlecase - design by Blackbird Designs

Recommended 28 count Gingham Linen Weeks Dye Works

Recommended overdyed floss

This was a much quicker finish - maybe an hour or so. I'm also very happy with how it looks. I'm wondering if all the sewing smalls this year will match. I guess I'll find out next month or so when the new Loose Feather chart comes out. Of course I can't wait.

I had a piece of dark green hand dyed wool for the inside.

The weather was so freaky all weekend. On Friday it was 75 and sunny. Beautiful! I left work early so I could enjoy some of it. Saturday morning started out the same and I had time to get the grass cut for the first time this year but by noon it had started to storm and the temps dropped until it was in the low 40's by the end of the day. Hence hardly any outside time and a ton of stitching time. :-)

Weather was the same on Sunday until much later in the day when the temps rebounded a bit but by that time I was fully into stitching mode. I've almost finished up the the Blackbird Designs first ever contest! Barb and Alma are in France and they say they have picked up some goodies for the winner. The rules are very simple, stitch the piece, include a bird, add your name and email a photo to Alma by April 27th (those were the rules as I understood them last week but I don't see that bit on the blog anymore). That's today. It's not a design contest - they are going to draw a name from the finished photos they receive.

You can see I added an entire bird family! I have just my name to finish and I have to figure out what I want to put in those two empty spaces. I'm thinking a heart in the upper one and maybe USA in the bigger of the two. I'll just make the deadline as I'll be finishing this on the way home from work and emailing the photo around 7:00pm tonight after I iron it. :-)

Have a great week!

Needlecase stitching finished

I finished up the needlecase on the way in to work this morning. And I even had a few minutes to put a couple of stitches into Beatrix Potter. :-)

moving on

Yesterday I started the BBD Needlecase and I'm already almost finished! It's a very quick piece. When this is done I have to put some time into my Beatrix Potter for the month. The plan was to totally finish this piece and the pincushion over the weekend but the weather forecast is already calling for nice temps. So that means no stitching or sewing while I play in the backyard with my pugs. :-)

Here is the band for the pincushion. Talk about a hard piece to photograph. :-) But you get the idea.

fast weekend

The weekend flew by. I finished up the top of Peacock Pinkeep on Friday evening. The plan had been to work on the side band piece on Saturday and to turn it into the finished product on Sunday. Well I got up on Saturday and it was sunny with a forecasted high of 70 degrees plus. So all stitching plans went out the window. Saturday was also the first day of my new running program with Weight Watchers. They partnered with a fitness coaching company and set up a "run a 5k in nine weeks" program and it's free for WW members. What wonderful timing it turned out to be, I've been wanting to start running again for some time and I even gave it a go once or twice on my treadmill over the past few months, but never could make it stick. My group meets on Saturday mornings at 9:00am at the nicest park about 15 minutes from my house. Perfect! And I've even completed this program eight years ago when I started running back then so I know what to expect. It all cumulates with an optional 5k on June 13th with one of the Skirt Chaser races. Not sure yet if I'm going to do the 5k but it's a nice goal to work toward in any case.

When I got home it was late morning so I grabbed my neighbor to help me trim a way out of control apple tree that is on the edge of both our yards. That literally took the rest of the day and when I was finished I was just too tired to stitch. Tree looks good though! :-)

On Sunday the weather had turned and it was cold and rainy so I decided to drive out to the Quilt Show for inspiration. I was disappointed I didn't find much. Nothing jumped out to me. I really dislike a lot of the current quilt fabric trends and I spent most of my time there looking for things I can use for cross stitching. I did pick up a couple of great scissors and a couple of really cute pincushion patterns but that was all. When I got home most of the day was over and I only had time to start the band of my Peacock Pinkeep. I ended up with a pinkish color that is lighter and has less of a salmon tone to it. I think it will look ok with the other piece.

All for now - have a great week!

Almost the weekend!

In an effort to save money, I have probably been penny wise and pound foolish. I'm over three quarters of the way done with the top piece of the pincushion and I realized this morning that I probably won't have enough of either main color of floss to complete the alphabet portion that goes around the piece on the sides. If I would have purchased the entire kit from Drema I would have more than enough because the Belle Soie skeins have so much more thread on them. So unless I use a second pinkish color for my sides, not only will I need two more skeins of floss but the gas to my LNS as well. Bummer. I had planned on driving out in any case tomorrow to look for buttons but then I realized yesterday that I didn't have button money this week. Maybe in two weeks. So stay tuned to see what I end up doing! LOL! I'd love to finish this over the weekend.

I'm not real happy with my GA Pomegranate - its a little brighter than I think it should be. I like the GA Chamomile however. And I'm happy with the touch of WDW Fawn that I added for the thread color, it was charted to be the same color as the peacock but I like how it stands out now.

Today is the first day of the International Quilt Festival which is held every year in Rosemont, Illinois. This is the first year in five that I'm not going today. I don't have any money this week!! Waa-waa-waa for me. :-) Over the past couple of years I've picked up some great things for stitching and some great quilting things also. The fabrics and trims are to die for. And the things are kitted up are amazing. But since I'm not quilting much it's hard to justify spending a lot of money on that particular hobby right now. In fact I don't think I started anything I purchased from last year's show and I know I didn't finish anything to completion from the show I attended two years ago. Maybe I'll drive out Sunday morning for a few hours. If nothing else it's great for inspiration.

That's all for now, have a great weekend! And thanks for stopping by and leaving your comments - they are always fun to read. :-)

My new start

Yesterday I started on the new Loose Feathers - Peacock Pinkeep. It's going to go super fast. I'm using cotton floss rather than the Belle Soie Silk recommended on the chart. I'm trying to save money where I can. :-) I love the linen and I think I'm going to buy a little more for future projects while I can. I'm sure Drema still has some. Last year I've finished a pinkeep in this style. It's super easy and at that time I said I wanted to do one of these for me but never got around to it. So now is my chance. Actually the hardest thing is find wool this time of year. The wool makes up the body of the pinkeep and last year I could not find any because like this year, it was already put away for the year. If I can't find any, I'll use felt like I did for the other one. I'm sure it works the same.

The Big Zipper Finis

The Big Zipper - design by the Bent Creek

32 Count Purely Primitive by Silkweavers

Overdyed fibers by Weeks Dye Works, Crescent Colours and Gentle Arts

Well it's all done now but the shouting. Which means I still have to go buy all the buttons for it. I should have time to drive the hour each way to my LNS and select them on Saturday. That should be fun.

I'm making great progress with House #4. I have noticed that I like to do outlines where ever I can so then I can fill in without looking at the chart. It makes for great lazy stitching when I'm tired after a hard day and I want to watch tv and not pay much attention to my work. :-) I do have to buy several NPIs for House #5. Good thing Drema has a good sale going. I might as well go ahead and purchase all the NPIs I need for the entire project as I only need 10 skeins to complete the set.


I've also started to think ahead to Shores of Hawk Run Hollow. I was indifferent to the piece when it first came out but I did purchase the chart and the 32 count Vintage Autumn Gold when it became available. I went with the 32 count because that is the linen count that I started the series with and I figured I should stay the same for all the Hawk Run Hollow pieces. I wish now I had at least started with the 36 count but at the time I stitched the Village I had never used anything smaller than 32 count. Anyhow, several fellow bloggers have started their pieces and I'm really loving it. So I guess at some point I need to start buying the silk for that one also. I want to change the saying in block #8 to match the other saying that runs through the piece but since I won't even put a needle to this piece for at least a year, I don't need to really start to think about that yet. :-)

back to the grind

Back to work today and I had to come in on time to boot. It was sure hard getting up at 4:30am when I had been getting up at 6:30. :-) I had a great week off work and I got done some things that weren't even on my list like fixing my koi pond. That was a biggy and it feels great. I did finish my needlecase and my exchange piece which gets mailed on April 24th or so. I also managed to make a start on House #4 but it was not much of one because on Friday I had a great mail day. Everything I had on order with Drema came in. And you can see I didn't waste a second to get back to the Big Zipper! I only have the fence and trellis to complete and I'm finished! Yeah for me. :-) Aren't those two little frogs cute? And how about that Garden Gnome? I didn't notice either one in the big picture because it was so small and all the details were lost.

I did list my complete kits on eBay on Saturday. Here is the URL if you are interested. As said before, I listed them for half off. I'll see if I have any interest. I know I would have jumped on something like that.

Big Zipper Complete Kit - half off

I'm planning on putting the year in the top empty space and my initials in the space on the left.

This is where I'm at with my House #4. I've started on the roof of the main house. The plan, as usual, is to work on this every evening until it's finished, hopefully by the 30th.

I also received the latest Loose Feather from BBD. I purchased the custom dyed linen from WDW and it is really going to make the piece. I'm planning on starting that as soon as I finish the BZ. I also purchased the little Loose Feather's charm for the needlebook and it's so cute. The last piece in my package was the latest hen from Twisted Oaks Designs - Penelope Penhen. Drema made a mistake and sent me the silks for this but I'm glad she did, they are very pretty. I have already made the first one Coq Au Pins and the two will look so cute sitting in my craft shelves together.

So goals this week are very straight forward, finish BZ and get a great start on the new Loose Feathers. And get caught up on sleep! LOL!

My last day

Today is my last day of vacation. Talk about quick! I need at least another week to get my list even partially started. :-) Over the last two days the weather has been wonderful - for mid-April that is. Almost 60 degrees both days and totally sunny. So I ended up doing yard stuff for the entire two days. I had to fix a major problem in my fish pond and that took an entire day by itself. I had a piece of pipe come apart late last fall and it was too late to fix it as it was already snowing outside. Since my pipes are three feet under the ground, it took a lot of digging to get to the problem and then of course I had to replace the section of pipe and put in a new joint. I bet you didn't know I could do my own plumbing. :-) As a result, I have only had a couple of hours to stitch and I can't show what I stitched because it's for an exchange. I haven't even managed to put a stitch into my HoHRH! I'm really behind with that now and I've got to get going before Nicole breezes past me. :-) We are both doing one block a month but she is also on vacation this week so my only hope of keeping up with her is if she didn't bring Houses with her. :-)

The pugs are way short of nap time because of all the time spent outside over the past few days. This is what they were up to yesterday at 4:00pm.

Who is who? This is my Aoife and her sister Seven. They really do look alike. Seven is on the right. I still want to keep her but I'm sure her mom Peggy won't let me. Bummer, Aoife and I are really going to miss her when she goes home tomorrow.

Here is Mikey. He didn't move all night. :-)

And Clancy, he didn't move much either.

Lucky for them, the weather is not going to get out of the high 40's/low 50's today because it's going to be mostly cloudy all day so they will be able to get caught up on naps. And I'm going to also try to get on track with other tasks. I still want to clean out my craft cabinet and start my House #4. And finish my exchange piece. It will be tough however because tomorrow the laminate floor I bought for my parents for Christmas is being installed in the living room. One of my brothers is coming over to help me and since the living room is 19' x 16' it will take all day.

Until next time! Have a great weekend! :-)