sad weekend

My beloved Cubs didn't make the cut. Again. A gloomy pall hangs over the city. Most of us die hard fans thought this would be the year because they have been playing so well. They were only out of first place for a couple of days the entire season. But a different team showed up for the playoffs. Next year for sure. :-)

I've continued my work on Quaker Casket but I didn't get as much done as I was hoping. The plan was to be working on the largest section by now but I just didn't feel like stitching much. If you are familiar with the design of this piece, you can see I changed the above front panel. It was designed to be a memorial sort of piece with family initials/dates and such. But I don't have much family of my own (well actually none except for my three pugs :-)) so I changed it to be the alphabet. I like how it turned out very much. I only have one more motif and a couple more letters and I'm ready to start the top piece. And just in the nick of time! I received an email yesterday saying my casket was almost ready to ship. I can't wait to see it.

progress

I haven't been making a ton of progress with Quaker Casket because I haven't been stitching much. But what I have completed I love. I'm very happy with the color now - at first I was worried it would be too light. Now I think it's just right. :-) My goal is of course to have all the stitching completed by the time my casket comes. I'm figuring that will be sometime in early November. I should make it with plenty of time to spare.

A good start

I have made a good start on my Quaker Casket over the weekend. I finished up the first end piece on Saturday and I'm almost finished with the second. I would have finished on the way into work today but after working from home for a week, that 4:30am wake up call was a bit of a shock and as a result I fell asleep on the train ride in. I've decided to do the five pieces required from small to big. That way when I'm good and tired of working on the big top piece, I'll be all done. :-) I'm not sure if I'm going to do all five parts without a break yet. I really need to get going on some other fall stuff I've had in my stash for some time now and I really want to start work on St. Reatham again. I only have three pages to go and I really want to complete it by the end of the year.

All in a Moon finis

All in a Moon by Miss Cresent's Crowne

recommended Crescent Colours floss

32 count Silkweavers Poltergeist

I stitched up All in a Moon yesterday - super, super quick! My sister's birthday is next month and I'm planning on giving this to her. I'll buy a small wood frame and add a few embellishments to it and paint it black. It was so quick, I might even make one for me!

Jill received the Prairie Schooler Exchange from the Hooked on Exchanging blog yesterday so I can share a photo. The design is stitched from "A Farmer's Almanac", #144, on 32ct. Silkweavers Poltergeist using DMC floss. I finished it as a pin/needle cushion and it's filled with 100% emery. I'm very happy with how it turned out and I think I might make a similar style one for me.
Back
Here is my new start - Quaker Casket by Sampler Cove. I'm stitching mine on 36 count Lakeside Linens Maple Syrup using a Vikki Clayton variegated silk called Magpie Warbles. I'm a little worried it's too light of a floss. I wanted a delicate look but this might be a little too delicate.

Loose Feathers Mystery finis

All done! :-) I LOVE how it's turning out. I'm stitching mine on 32 count Silkweavers Heritage (one of my favorite linens) using the recommended overdyed floss.

I can't wait for the next three sections!

almost!

As you can see I've almost completed part 3 of the Loose Feathers mystery. I'll most likely finish up today. I love how it is turning out! And it's big - I love having a big Blackbird Design.

I was planing on starting my big Quaker Casket project but I picked up a cute little piece last week when I was at my LNS called All in a Moon by Miss Crescent's Crowne. It's a Halloween piece so the time seems right for it. I also want to work on the Papillion Creations Mystery. The latest part is very small so it will only take a couple of hours or so.

Yeah Clancy-Boy!

Yeah my Clancy-Boy! On Friday he earned his first Open Standard Qualifying score and it was a first place! This is our first Q since April I think. Here is a photo from the weekend (it's a photo of the photo, I'll upload a better one when I get to the scanner at work). I love how his ears stick up in the air. :-) Four of his other five runs were also very good. Only one mistake per run. We are so close to breaking out I can smell it. :-)

Here is my progress on the Loose Feathers Mystery. It's moving along nicely. I also found time to complete (ok almost!) my HoE Prairie Schooler exchange. I have to make a quick trip to Joanne's and get one last thing for it but it will go out in the mail tomorrow. I'm very happy on how it turned out and as soon as it has been received, I'll post a photo of it.

building the house

I've been working at the start of the house for the past couple of days (the big S is the design detail on the front door). And this is all you are going to see for many more days! :-) This house is a biggy. You can see from the photo that I just ran short of WDW Olive to finish the grass under the house. I think I started with 1 1/2 skeins (maybe two full) but it didn't last through the first three parts. It just so happens that I'm going to be driving past my LNS on the way to the agility trial that Clancy and I have this weekend so I can run in a pick up a couple. I'm also going to pick up a skein of WDW charcoal as I'm getting short on that. I had a ton of the other colors in my stash so I should be ok for the rest of this part and the next.

Loose Feathers Mystery part two

I finished up Part Two of the Loose Feathers mystery. Another fun section! I have a good start on part three but there is a big honking house on it so it will take a while to complete.

Here is a close up of part two. I'm using the recommended over dyed-floss on 32 count Silkweavers Heritage.

a wet weekend

Rain rain go away! Yesterday was the rainiest day in the Chicagoland area ever. At my house, we had to dump the rain gage at 5.5 inches because it was full and we had to start over. And we don't know how long it was spilling over. So I'd estimate we have already received somewhere around 6.5 to 7 inches of rain and the forecast is for another 2 to 3 inches today and high winds as the remnants of Ike move through. We don't have a basement or live by a flooding river but there are huge puddles everywhere. And the pugs hate to get their feet wet. It's been a struggle to get them outside. And driving anywhere has been difficult because all the roads are flooded. But when you compare us to some of the other areas of the country, we don't even have it bad! So I send my best wishes to everyone else.

But I did have plenty of time to stitch! So I finished part one of the Loose Feathers Mystery. I really like how it's turning out. I made a bit of a start on part two so we'll see how much I get in today. Because of the rain, it's a perfect day to stay indoors and stitch and watch the Lord of the Rings movies. :-)

a finis and a new project

On this past Tuesday, the latest installment of Book of Ink Circles was released. I worked from home that day so I was able to finish it before I ate my dinner. :-) Next release is on the 30th.

Here is my new start, the Blackbird Designs Loose Feathers Mystery Sampler. I'm planning on completing all three parts currently available before moving onto my Quaker project. They are all very small and I need the break of working on mono designs before I start another huge one. I'm doing my Mystery Sampler on one piece of linen rather than the six separate sections as recommended. It's going to be huge and very cute when finished. :-)

Randenlap Celtic finis

Randenlap Celtic by Marion Freyzer

32 Count Fresco from Colorscapes

Silk floss Crab Doodles and LE 2451/2437/5307 from HDF

I can't believe I finished this piece up last night! My three hour train rides combined with four more hours of stitching was all it took. :-) I love how it turned out.

Now onto something new!

almost

Almost ready to move onto a new piece. :-) But at the pace of my stitching, I'll be working on this for the rest of the week. I didn't put a stitch in on Friday or Saturday and Sunday I had to work on a Hooked on Exchange piece which I need to send out next week. I so want to finish this one up! So close....

another one down

Thanks so much for all your kinds words regarding my Sampler of Stitches finis! Several new people posted and I have added you all to my Google Reader. :-)

I finished up the top band today on the way into work and I even got started on the center block - the last block! I should be able to finish this up by the end of the weekend. I really want to start working on something new but I have to finish this first. I've been in a mini-slump the past week so it's import to put this piece to bed. Then I can move on without feeling like I've left this behind.

I'm all set to go with the two most current Loose Feathers and the mystery but a much bigger project has been screaming at me. :-)

Through my participation on the Vikki Clayton message board, I found a women who's husband handcrafts the casket that goes with the Quaker Casket from Sampler Cove Designs. Several months ago I found the chart on eBay and I've just been waiting to save enough cash for the casket. Well I received a nice bonus from work and the first thing on my list was the casket. So a couple of weeks ago I made the arrangements for it and it's currently in the process of being created. :-) I can hardly stand it. I hope to have it in a month or so. I have also found the Quaker Huswife chart that Diane created to go along with the Casket design. I'm using Lakeside Linens 36 count Maple Sugar and I purchased a fat half yard. I'll need to purchase some 32 count also I'm thinking.

For floss I ordered 100 yards (two spools) of Magpie Warbles from Hand-dyed Fibers.

The plan is to make as many Quaker small stitching accessories as I can fit into the casket using the Maple Sugar linen and the Magpie Warbles. I'm so excited to get going on this project. It's going to be a blast to put together.

Sampler of Stitches finis

Sampler of Stitches - The Drawn Thread

Recommended 30 count Custard Cream Dower Quality Legacy Linen

Recommended NPI silks and speciality fibers

I finished up the last chapter of Sampler of Stitches this evening. :-) I started it on March 6, 2007. It seemed like it took forever for all the parts to be published. Now I need to start a new Drawn Thread piece since I always have a large piece in the works. So what's it to be? I have several at home.

Aoife and I had a wonderful time at our puppy agility clinic. I really learned a ton and the instructor, Ann Braue just loved Aoife. And even better, my own agility teacher Anne who also attended the seminar, told me I was doing great with Aoife's training.

another one down

I'm down to just two sections. :-) Yeah!

only three to go

You can now see the completed size of Randenlap Celtic as yesterday I did all the remaining outlines of each band. How I would love to finish this one by the end of the weekend! Yesterday in the mail I received the new Loose Feather chart, Beyond My Heart and I really like it. I also had Drema send me all the fibers for this one, the mystery and #32 which I haven't had time to start yet. Seeing that package all full of pretty colored floss, makes me want to get going on something new. :-)

Have a great weekend!

half way at least

I'm sure I'm over half way with Randenlap Celtic and I love how it's turning out. I'll finish the small band today during my lunch break and start work on the band at the top. Then there is a band to the right and then the huge center motif.


The next week will be hectic and I'm how much time I will have to stitch. Clancy and I have an agility trial this weekend and on Tuesday Aoife and I leave on a three night/two day vacation at a puppy agility camp in Eau Claire Wisconsin with agility great, Ann Braue. Ann and her border collie Spree, along with the other members of the US Team, won the Silver Medal in the Team Competition at the World Championships in Hamar, Norway last September. And placed 14th out of 118 teams in the individual competition. They made the US World Team again this year and are travelling to Finland to compete. It will be a wonderful two days.


This is our first getaway for just the me and Aoife. She is a spoiled little brat now, I can't even imagine how she will be when she gets back. :-)

BoINK Part 8 finis

Part 8 of Book of Ink Circles was released yesterday afternoon and I did mine last night. It's fun watching this piece come together. Next release is on September 9th and it's the cross to the left
Here is the promised progress photo on RC. There is a slight difference between the two colors but you really have to be looking for it. :-) But I'm happy with it.

changing things around

Here is my progress on Cirque des Cercles. I'm happy with how the silk I picked out is working with Phantom. Of course it's hard to tell because I still haven't learned the art of taking photos of my work so the colors show up true. ;-) Maybe one of these days I'll figure it out. The plan was to work on this until this morning and I'm following the plan so I put Randenlap Celtic in my bag for the commute to and from work this week. The difference in the two shades is very small and as I feared it is a different weight silk. I tried using one strand and then two strands and I like the way that two strands look the best. I'll take a progress photo tomorrow because I had to pull half of what I put in so there is not much done.

It's been a good year for my veggie garden. This is just one day's harvest. I've been picking like this a couple times a week now for several weeks. :-) Nummy!

Happy First Birthday Aoife!

I can't believe my little puppy is a year old today. :-) My how time flys.

My three kids together :-) from the left, Molly, Aoife and Clancy.


Here is her first official photo as a member of the household taken the evening she arrived, from the left, Clancy, Aoife and Molly.

And about 30 minutes after that photo was taken. :-)

Last night in agility class my friend Peggy and I had a little party for our two puppies. Here is Aoife (on the left) and Seven together.

I made pug cookies for the class.

And the reason most of you stop by.... ;-) Here is my new start, from Ink Circles, Cirque des Cercles. I'm stitching it on Picture This Plus Phantom using a Vikki Clayton silk called Glacial (it's in variegated shades of light purple, light green and light aqua blue). I've had this chart since the day it came out two years ago. And I've finally started it! Yeah!

I also received my new skeins for my Celtic piece and the color change is very very slight. But I'm going to use them in any case. I might be the only person who knows there are two different colors! :-)

moving on for now

Well this is it for this color - unless of course the silk I ordered on Saturday doesn't work for the piece. And it occured to me last night that I might end up with two different weights of silk - premium vs. regular. If that is the cast I'll have to check if looks ok.

I've made some progress ;-)

As you can see, I've made some progress with Randenlap Celtic over the weekend. ;-) I literally rotted in front of the TV watching the Olympic coverage. How about the US Swim team? I was jumping up and down rooting those guys on during the relay late last night. What a win! I really enjoy watching the games every time it comes around.

But back to RC. As you can see, I've been skipping around on this piece. It's charted for two similar colors and the original plan was to only use one color (the one that is stitched on the piece is called Crab Doodles). But I remembered at some point on Friday evening, that Vikki Clayton put out a limited edition color that is very similar to the variegated color I'm using. So I went ahead and ordered enough to complete the piece on Saturday. Below are the two color sets. The top three skeins are the colors that comprise Crab Doodles (2453/2435/5307) and the bottom three are the colors that comprise the LE color (2451/2437/5307). So at this point I only need to finish one band in Crab Doodles and then I'll start a small band with the LE color when it comes and see if it works. I'm hoping it will be a subtle change. In any case, I will finish the last band today and I'll have to put this piece aside until the fibers arrive in the mail sometime later in the week. I'm not sure what I'll stitch but I'm thinking maybe St. Reatham or maybe a new start.

I'll leave you with a photo of the pugs. They were sleeping and I had the camera on the coffee table but when I moved to pick it up they all went on alert! I'm sure they were hoping it was time for a walk. :-)

Papillion Creations Mystery Part 7 & 8 finis

I finished up the Papillion Creations Mystery "How Does Your Garden Grow?" parts 7 & 8 today. It's 13 parts long so we are now half way. But it feels like there should be a lot more to go judging by how much extra linen I have at the bottom.

Here is my progress on Randenlap Celtic - as you can see not a ton done since my last progress photo as I've only had one round trip train ride this week. I've been working on other stuff but I think I'll work on it tomorrow and the coming weekend. It's been tough finding the flow and I'm sure just as I find it, it will be time to start work on a new and different band. :-)

No plans for the weekend - just the usual dog training and lawn work. :-) But with temps in the 70's it will be a beaut. And I'm so slow at work right now, I just might take tomorrow off.

Book of Ink Circles - part seven finis

Another winning block from Tracey! Here is part seven of Book of Ink Circles. I love it. :-) And to think a month ago I wasn't sure if I liked it or not. But the last two installments have put me over the edge. Since all my border is complete, I'm thinking I'm closing in at over half way done with this piece. It's too bad I have to wait for each piece to come out. I have a feeling if I had access to the whole thing, I would go ahead and finish it. ;-) Next out (in about 10 days or so) are three of the tiny boxes.

I'm working from home this week so when I have stitching time (working from home means no train time), I'll be working on the Papillion Mystery, How Does Your Garden Grow? - parts seven and eight came out a couple of weeks ago. That is another fun piece.

I took a little time yesterday to go through my charts. I have manged to fill two 4" binders to capacity with charts I have purchased and freebies! WOW! I had no idea I had so much around the house. :-) Stash is good. Now if I just had the money to kit some of the ones that I really like. Oh I have a ton of linen but fibers? Not so much. :-) And I need to buy/order some more time. Does anyone know where the closest time store is? LOL!

Thanks for stopping by!