November 3, 2012:

It has been a long time since my last post, but that doesn't mean I haven't been stitching.  Work has been busy and it has slowed me down some, but I have several projects in progress and a couple of finishes as well.  My first big finish is the Lizzie Kates - Very Scary Mystery Sampler SAL.  This is one of my favorite projects of all time.  I love Halloween and the colors are amazing.  There are also a few specialty stitches thrown in for extra visual interest.  I hope to have this one framed by next Halloween.

Along with Very Scary I finished the third bonus design, Scary.  I'm trying to decide how to finish the three bonus designs.  I'm thinking possibly pillow ornaments and starting a Halloween ornament tree for next year.

After finishing these projects I decided to stick with Lizzie Kate and the Halloween theme.  I started Halloween Rules and managed to finish it on Halloween.

You can probably tell that I love Halloween.  My boys do as well.  This year Christopher was Scooby Doo and Mark was General Grievous.  Here are the boys with their pumpkins, Christopher made a Hello Kitty pumpkin and Mark a Captain America pumpkin:

I am currently working on catching up on the Passione Ricamo Mystery Fairy SAL.  I'm working on Part III and have IV and V left to catch up on.  

I will try to start posting again more frequently.  After I get caught up on the Mystery Fairy I'm going to try to finish The Thimble Fairy and then I may start something for Christmas.

August 14, 2012:

The summer of stitching is now over.  School starts back up tomorrow so that will mean a lot less time for stitching, particularly over the next couple of weeks getting everything ready for the students to start.  But I have tried to make the best of my time this past week and have a lot done to share.

First I finished 12 Months of Happiness by Susan Greening Davis.  This is a really cute perpetual calendar and I'm so excited how it turned out.  The frame is amazing.  I love it!!!  

I also finished Part 2 of the Lizzie Kate Mystery Sampler "Very Scary", as well as the second bonus design.  I am loving this sampler and can't wait until next month for the final piece to arrive.  The border is quite interesting and I want to see how it all ties together.  I'm keeping an eye out for some small black frames that will look good for the three bonus designs.

I am also hard at work on Part 2 of the Passione Ricamo Year Long Mystery SAL.  I'm not done with part 2 yet, but should have it finished within the next couple of days.  Still no idea what it is going to look like when finished, but I love the colors.

Finally, I am continuing to work on my last Stitching Fairy.  The Thimble Fairy by Nora Corbett.  Not as much done as I would like - but I've been bouncing back and forth between designs.  I will be switching back after I finish Part 2 of the PR design, unless I decide to work a little more on Dress Makers Daughter, or Madonna of the Garden.  So many patterns in progress that I love!!

August 5, 2012:

I've been very busy stitching this week.  Summer break is almost over and I'm trying to wrap up as many projects as possible... although I started one new one as well.

Here is my progress on 12 Months of Happiness:  -- I'm on July!!

I also started Mirabilia's Dress Makers Daughter.  So far I've been stitching for two days and just have a small portion of the background of Winter done.  It's going to be a huge project - but well worth it in the end.  This one has tons of beads and speciality fibers it is going to be an amazing finish:

I also wanted to share some of the other goodies I picked up while I was in Memphis at my stitching retreat.   These first two pictures are hand sewn pouches.  They include bits of needlework and lace and are very unique and beautiful.  I'm not sure what I'm going to use them for yet - they are so pretty I'm afraid to get them dirty.

This next item is a piece of vintage butterfly lace that has been put into a glass ornament.  This is going to hang on one of my walls... I'm still trying to decide exactly where.  I love butterfly's.

This is a handmade needle book.  The first picture shows the cover - the X stands for cross stitch.  The second picture shows in inside of the book.  This will be put to immediate use as I picked up several packs of Bohin needles while I was in Memphis.

This is some really pretty crinkle ribbon that I though I could use in finishing a project.  I loved the color.

This is a piece of vintage crocheted lace.  I plan on getting this preserved and framed - I thought it would look amazing on a dark blue or purple background.

Last, but definitely not least:  I picked up a yard of white lace banding.  I plan on designing and stitching a band sampler to showcase a variety of stitches.

July 29, 2012:

It's been a busy stitching week.  I've been in Memphis for Rock-n-Roll Memphis with Susan Greening Davis.  We have been working on a perpetual calendar - it's an beautiful project and when finished it will be placed on a wonderful frame.  It will either go on my fireplace mantel or I might take it to my classroom I think my students would enjoy it.

The project includes a bundle of beautiful limited edition colors from The Gentle Art.

Here is my start of the project with just the numbers stitched.  The numbers are all one over one and there are three separate panels of numbers.

Here I have started stitching the months.  There are four months per panel.  I have made some minor adjustments - added beads to avoid the colonial knots.

Here is a close up of part of the calendar.

While in Memphis we have also had fun visiting family.  We took a tour of the Fed Ex arena where the Memphis Grizzlies play.  Today we went to Graceland and did the tour.  Here is a picture of the boys with Susan Greening Davis:

I was also able to visit a local needlework store Stitchers Inc. and had a great time shopping.  I picked up and kitted several Lizzie Kate designs including Halloween Rules and 6 Fat Men.  I also picked up several Halloween designs, lots of fabric and fibers and some Bohin Needles (my favorite).  I've also been stitching a lot this week and have finished Water Lily and started The Thimble Fairy by Nora Corbett - the last of the Stitching Fairies that I had left to stitch.

I will post some updates on 12 Months of Happiness and The Thimble Fairy soon.  Happy Stitching!!!

July 20, 2012:

My fabric finally arrived and I was able to stitch Part 1 of the Passione Ricamo Mystery Fairy SAL.  I stitched it on Rainbow Dreams fabric from Silkweaver:

I love how Part 1 turned out -- 11 parts to go.  Part 2 should arrive on August 1st - I saw a preview today so I know that the yellow tail you see in the picture will be a crescent moon.  I still have no idea what the fairy looks like, but I'm sure she will be beautiful.

I've also been continuing to work on Water Lily by Nora Corbett.  I love the colors in this one as well:

This cute little guy is my son Christopher who picked out the fabric for Water Lily and decided that she was the one I should be stitching on right now:

Christopher is my biggest stitching fan and takes a great interest in what I'm working on.  He likes to sit with Mommy and help.

Next week I'm looking forward to a workshop in Memphis with Susan Greening Davis.  I'll post some pictures while I'm there.  I'm also looking forward to visiting Stitchers Inc. a Local Needlework Shop located in Memphis.  I don't have a local shop here so I have to order all of my supplies online.  It will be nice to do some in person shopping for a change.