Strawberry Garden Finished and Thank You!

First, let me say a huge Thank You to all of you that commented on my blog anniversary and birthday! Your greetings were very much appreciated!  The winner of the gift certificate was Rowyn. I hope you find something fun to purchase with your certificate Rowyn.

I also finished Strawberry Garden by Blackbird Designs! Stitched on 32 count R & R Alabaster linen with the recommended Classic Colorworks and Weeks Dye threads. Love this piece! I was so scared of those lazy daisy stitches...but it was all for naught! I even managed to muddle my way through the. buttonhole stitch.

Next I am going to start Sarah Redfearn by The Scarlett House...I have been kitting projects like crazy. I need to slow down, but it's so hard when so many great projects keep on coming out. I also have my Chicago trip coming in July at Tomorrow's Heirlooms. Tanya Brockmeyer of The Scarlett House and Stacy Nash will be presenting a patriotic themed weekend! I can't wait, plus I will get to visit with my friend Loralee!  Anyway I must run, it's raining all sorts of farm animals here in NW Florida today...just yuck.

I hope your weekend is wonderful one! 

Blessings
Sharon 

Blog Anniversary, Giveaway, Birthday, WIP...Oh my!

I am back from vacation!  It was wonderful and relaxing...we will be doing a cruise again. I love that there is no cleaning, cooking or any thoughts of housework related items. It's a beautiful thing!  Now, while I was gone my blog had a little milestone...it's tenth anniversary on 4/17! I can't believe it's been that long, and though I don't blog so much anymore...I haven't been able to go kaput on the blog! I wish that I was more interesting or could stitch faster...but you just get little old me! LOL So for those of you that continue to visit me, I say a tremendous thank you to!

So in honor of my blog anniversary... I am giving away a $50 dollar gift certificate to 123 Stitch! Open to anyone that leaves a comment on this post only! Please make sure that I have a way to contact you by leaving your email in your comments. I will draw a name 5/9/16!

Happy Birthday to me...today is also my 50th birthday! It is such a blessing to be here, to be healthy, have a job that I love (well most of the time) my family, friends and cats! I really have nothing special planned today. Going to hang out with the family....and hopefully put some stitches in!

Here is my WIP Strawberry Garden, I was hoping for a finish but cruising got in the way! I am getting close. Those Lazy Daisy's take a little time, but I am pleased with them. The basket calls for a different stitch (alternating satin like stitch) however, it's just going to be plain cross stitch for this girl, as I started the stitches...but they were working my nerves some! There is also a creative error present that I shall forever remain mum on. ;-)

This is a second project that I started by Kathy Barrick called the The Tea Keeper...I have a little plan for finishing this one. Lets hope it comes to fruition. 

Anyway, I am going to run, going to visit my mom and relax. I hope your day wherever you are is beautiful and blessed! I will leave you with a picture of my cruise. I didn't get any good pictures this time...don't know why! This is one of my favorites of the ship! This was on Grand Turk in the The Turks and Caicos. Carnival Sunshine was the name of the ship. 

Blessings 

Sharon 

A Little Stash...

It's been a busy few weeks for me,  because  I have been working and preparing to go on vacation, so much so that I have not stitched very much. But vacation has finally commenced and hopefully my needle and thread will meet soon. Has that stopped me from stashing?  Of course not...especially with the latest and greatest from the Nashville Needlework Market! Every year,  I think I am finished ordered for now....

So a couple of weeks ago I was approached by Elise who is the designer for Spruce XStitch.  I had never heard of her designs before. She is based in Australia..  She makes the most adorable charts and kits for cross stitch.. The one below is one of my favorites...".I cross stitch so I don't kill people."  I think most of us can relate! LOL The kit comes with aida fabric and presorted threads. You can peruse her site at Spruce XStitch  and I am sure you will find something to catch your eye! This is the kit I received below.. Go by and visit her site,    

                                                                                                      

My other acquisitions are from Plum Street Samplers and Blackbird Designs. Two of my favorite designers....I kitted these up with fabric and threads as well.. 

Blackbird Designs

Plum Street Samplers

I must run,,,have to sleep now. I have a blog anniversary coming up next week. 10 years! Though  I don;t blog as much. My blog is still  a part of me and if my thoughts could post themselves, you would see a whole lot of posts! LOL 

Work in Progress Strawberry Garden

This is Strawberry Garden by Blackbird Designs, a chart I have long loved and avoided because of the lazy daisy stitches in it. However not too long ago I saw a great little video on YouTube about them and the rest is history. I still don't think they are the best, but I have at least conquered my fear over them. They really do add to this piece and I have seen it stitched without them.  I am stitching this on 32 count R&R Reproductions alabaster linen with Classic Colorworks threads. The threads are so vibrant and pretty! 

I am finally getting some framing done and I had this Blackbird piece framed. It's Hannah Lovina Joslin from the Honeysuckle Manor book. I changed the name and dedicated it to my maternal grandmother. It's very special to me! I had one more small piece to show you. But I seem to be having trouble posting it. I am waiting for more framing to coming back...more of Blackbird designs. I can't wait to show you!  I hope your week is off to a great start! 

Willow House Finish

It's been a long time coming...but Willow House by Blackbird Designs is finally finished! The shop sticker on the pattern when I bought it is dated for 2009. I really don't remember when I started working on this but I don't think it's been that long. It's stitched on a 30 count R and R linen called Witches Brew I believe with the recommended Weeks Dye threads. The eyelets in the house worked my nerves a little, I just never felt I could get them right. So I opted not to put in the area up by the roof where the letter G is and just used regular cross stitch. Also, the purple star was supposed to be over one and rather than tear my hair out I changed it to a smaller version of the gray star to the right of it.  Amazingly, I was able to get through my lazy daisy stitches. That was after watching a very helpful video on YouTube. I figure all these little changes makes it unique to me.  I added mine and my daughters initials to complete the piece. 

It's been very hard to get a good picture of this piece...the linen is golden in color not sure it's as golden as this picture shows. However other times the flash just will completely wash it out. I took this picture at night as well.  Now I am on to my next project, I am pleased with these two finishes as I am making progress here in 2016!  The month of January continues to be a challenging however, and my ear infection and hot water heater are now minor. But I won't go into that right now.   Thanks for stopping by and I hope your weekend is fabulous! 

Blessings

Happy New Year & A Finish!

                        

Happy New Year dear friends! I hope that the new year has started out well for everyone. It's been busy here in my little part of the world.  An ear infection ( thought I was too old for that!) and broken water heater to name a couple of things that have gotten my year off to a running start!  Anyway, amazingly I have a finish!  This is Malabar Farm Pinkeep by Stacy Nash. It was stitched on 30 count Confederate Gray linen with GA threads. I changed one color to Weeks Teal Frost...that was the inner  flowers and the peacocks tail. I love it.i also changed the linen as it was supposed to be stitched on Weeks Straw linen. 

Now I hope to get Willow House completed...so close on that one too. I am trying not to start anything till I finish up a couple of projects....though it is killing me! Lol  Thank you to everyone who stopped by to say hello...so nice to hear from you!  Anyway, just wanted to to share this finish!  I hope your week is off to a fabulous start!

Blessings! 

Merry Christmas!

As usual it's been far too long since I have been to this space. I don't know why as its always on my mind and even open on my browser!  I started this blog almost 10 years ago to deal with a  marital separation and to connect to other stitchers. As I connected and progressed this blog saw less and less of me. Next year will be the 10th year of my blogs existence and I really hope I can change that!  I must admit to being stitching challenged this year...I have finished only one medium project and to 2 small ornaments.  I seem to have been more of a collector...because I have stashed like crazy! Getting more stitched is something else I hope to change in the new year.

Today I  wanted to come here and wish everyone a very Merry Christmas! May your holiday be filled  with love, laughter, joy and family,. I leave you with some previous work that I finally finished. First is Wee Santa 2011 by Heart in Hand that I finished into a stand up cube.

This second finish is an ornament by Shepherds Bush called Seek an Ye Shall Find. It was a little kit that I had. This finish gave me a fit as that is definitely not my strong suit! 

Both of these had been languishing around and I am glad to get them out and enjoy them! Anyway, I am off going to spend some time with my family and hopefully my needle! 

Blessings my friends! 

Tomorrow's Heirlooms Retreat (Picture Heavy)

As usual, it's been a bit since I have been here but I won't wax poetic about that. I am here to tell you about my lovely trip to Chicago for the Plum Street Sampler and Jeanette Douglas class at Tomorrow's Heirlooms! I have long wanted to meet Paulette of Plum Street and when I heard this class was being offered I knew I had to sign up. The class was the weekend of July 17th-19th.  I went a day ahead because I wanted to spend a little quality time in their store.

This is the front of their store. It wasn't super big, but it was jam packed full of all things good and stitch related. Old and new. When I arrived, I had just missed some of the retreat ladies and I had the whole store to myself for a couple of hours. It was delightful! Jan was working that day and she was so wonderful and patient with me .I truly enjoyed my visit. Then the first event of the weekend was the meet and greet with Paulette and Jeanette in the TH hotel suite that evening. Both designers were super nice and I must say Paulette was just as beautiful as I had imagined. Jeanette was a hoot, so funny! She also is former nurse, I was surprised to find out.  Plus we got treated to their wonderful models and some new releases to boot! If you haven't gotten these two, run to get them! 

I love this and I have started this one...slow progress Gorgeous colors. I will show you soon! 

As a cat lover this had to come with me! It's beautiful and in the picture below you can see some more of Paulette's fabulous tarts!

Some of her serial bowl finishes just because ;-) 

Serial Bowl Lessons

Then the second day was a class day and we started off our morning with Paulette of Plum Street and this beautiful sampler she designed.

It is called A Merry Hart and it is gorgeous! Done on PTP Ale. Mine is on 32 count.

Yummy colors!

Then next is was Jeanette's turn and this was her design

It is called Pumpkin Patch Box and it came with the wooden tray and all the little felt and threads to  make it everything. It's quite lovely! They also both did a collaborative project together of which I can't find to show a picture of! :-(  I will try to show it in my next post. I will show you a picture of them going over their piece instead!

The other two ladies (one in yellow is Kim and the darker solid pink is Pam) they are the owners of the store and put this together. They were super nice too! 

 I also got to meet a very special someone and that would be Laura! We have talked via email and follow each other on Instagram, but of course we had never met. I must say Laura inspires me to buy...a lot!! LOL She has such beautiful person inside and out and I so enjoyed meeting her! Your can find Laura's lovely blog here. Here we are together...now don't look at me!

Laura and I!

Another friend I had an opportunity to meet was Kathy!  She also model stitches and has done some model stitching for Paulette too. We were room mates in Chicago and it was a pleasure getting to meet her to too. I do believe there was more enabling of stash involved too! 

Kathy!

I also was able meet several other online friends. Which was amazing! Linda, Brenda, Natalia, Katrina, Rita, Teresa, Karin Deborah, Nataly and Pat. I hope I named everyone!    All in all just a great trip and now my ears are perked up to see what comes out next. I am really wanting to go to Country Sampler! Anyone been?  If you have made it to the end of this post. I thank you for bearing with me and thank you for visiting me too! 

Blessings my friends!

Two Wonderful June Finishes!

First,  the most awesome finish of all! My daughter graduated from high school this past week! So excited for her and for what her future holds. I can't believe my second baby is finished with public school and that part of her life is over.  Now she an adult and moving on to the next phase...college!  Current plans are to attend college locally and major in Graphic Design.

This is Alexis with her boyfriend Antwain on graduation day right after she got finished! So happy for her! He is a great guy too, he just graduated as well and will be attending college on a football scholarship a few hours from us. 

Alexis with a few of her friends from her baccalaureate service. It was such a lovely service and the pastor did a beautiful job encouraging and these young adults on their way. I love looking at this photo and seeing seeing all the girls bright shining faces. They are all looking forward to the future and I hope and pray that it filled with happiness, and the purpose that they seek in life! 

Now onto my second June finish...Antique Sampler 1861 by Blackbird Designs from the book In Friendship's Way. I didn't stitch it on the called for mello linen but instead did it on 32 count vintage lentil by Lakeside Linen with the recommended Gentle Arts and Classic Colorwork's  threads. I love it.  I thought about staining it, but as that makes me nervous I will leave it it alone.  This is my first finish of the year, I am sad to say...but hopefully there will be more! Thanks to all who encouraged me on my last post.  I appreciate it and as always I appreciate your stopping by to visit me!

Next month is an exciting month for me, because I am going to Chicago to Tomorrow's Heirlooms for a class with Paulette Stewart of Plum Street Samplers and Jeannette Douglas. Can't wait! Now I am off to find that next project or finish another. Happy Sunday to you!

Stitching Plans and Dreams 2015

Finally, I am posting,  if  I posted as much as I thought about posting to my blog you would tell me to please stop! Why do I worry about it you say?  I still like blogging, I just feel that I am a boring blogger...that is not to generate any sympathy, but just how I feel. Anyway, lets get on with the program! This post has been hanging in my inbox as a draft for quite some time so bear with me.   So this year, I am not joining the Wipocalypse. I was a terrible participant, as I never kept up with any of the postings. It was fun to see everyone's progress and I also came across some great new blogs. I didn't finish very much this year and blogged even less than last year, however I still love my stitching and I have no plans to stop blogging for the time being. Ha! she says!  I do hope to stitch more and by making this list, hope that it will motivate me! (I am motivated, motivated to buy more!) So, the list is long and for my slow (think tortoise or perhaps slug) self quite crazy! Don't judge-lol!

So without further ado here is my 2015 and beyond dream stitching list (* means they are in progress)

ES Spot Motif Sampler by Of Female Worth*
Away We Ride by Blackbird Designs*
Ohio Treasure by Threadwork Primitives
Christmas Village by Threadwork Primitives
Sleigh Rides and Snowflakes by The Scarlett House
Summer at Hollyberry Farm by Stacy Nash
Thankful Davis by R & R Reproductions*
Margaret Cottam by La D Da*
John Reed 1844 by Forget Me Not in Stitches
Love Thy Neighbor by Plum Street Samplers
On Prudence by Plum Street Samplers
Tombstone Spots by The Primitive Needle*
W: A Mexican Band Sampler by Needlework Press*
Pomegranet Sewing Tray by Stacy Nash
Jack's Bash by Plum Street Samplers
Willow House by Blackbird Designs*
Little Red Chair Sampler by The Scarlett House
Mary Magee by Needlwork Press*
Things Unseen LK Mystery Sampler
Margaret Withrow 1809 By Gigi R.
Autumn Posey by Plum Street Samplers
Spring Delivery by Plum Street Samplers
Diversity in Beer by Ink Circles*
The Gift is Small by Blackbird Designs*
Antique Sampler 1861 by Blackbird Designs*
Stitch Every Day by Hands on Designs
Henrietta Binns by The Scarlett House
Cherry Hollow Sampler by Stacy Nash
African Lady by Corrine Leroy*
The Letter "S" by Nora Corbett

I am sure I could add more to this crazy list, so many beautiful patterns and so little time. Such fun to see in black and white, to hope, dream and perhaps create just a small amount of some of the loveliness on this list.

Now, I still belong to a couple of clubs, Colonial Gathering, The Prim Ladies and Stacy Nash, so I have some kits from last year to throw in the mix, and let's not forget what may come up during the year...
                         
Here are a couple of works in progress that I hope to complete soon!

This is Antique Sampler 1861 by Blackbird Designs from their book In Friendships Way. I am stitching it on 32 count vintage lentil linen by Lakeside with the recommended Gentle Arts and Classic Colorworks threads!

This is Willow House by Blackbird Designs being stitched on a 30 count linen by R&R reproductions. I don't remember the name. It's darker in real life. It's being stitched with Gentle Arts and Weeks Dye Threads 

That's all for now, I hope to be back sooner than later and thanks for visiting if you have lasted this long! Blessings to you!