Clydesdales!

Okay fellow horse nuts! (in no way is this an endorsement by me of the product) You really have to watch the Super Bowl just to see the new Clydesdale commercials...check this link out! Last year I sent an email to AB suggesting they do a commercial w/thoroughbreds and in support of the Barbaro Fund to fight laminitis in horses. I got back a polite form letter. Watch carefully when you view the Director's clip.....I CAN"T WAIT to see the commercials now! Thank goodness for DVR!

Now back to your regularly scheduled stitching report....
Holland's second window is just about done, the tulips above will have to wait for the next rotation. Pictures soon. I'm still cleaning the hobby room, and sorting through the stash....will probably have some stuff for sale when I'm done.....February is nearly here!

Speaking of Biscornu....

In case no one is aware of this, I confess an addiction to biscornu! Today I found a French blog I didn't know about that has many biscornu patterns for free, plus hearts and other small patterns. Her name is Francois Sablaise and this is the link to the Grilles gratuites part of her blog. There are four pages, and to access the graphs you need to click on the pictures, or on links under them. They are in pdf format. I don't know much French, but managed...need to find the comments link so I can thank her!

Yesterday I joined a Peacock stitcher blog here on Blogger (see my blog list) and started a hunt through the stash for peacock charts....also mined the internet for freebies. If you know of any good ones let me know! I probably have the vast majority out there, but.......(imagine a shrug smilie here!)
I have done a couple of peacocks from the Workbasket ladies, but have quite a few patterns in the stash, including TW, Chatelaine, Dinky-Dyes, Long Dog, etc. Sometimes I just get these obsessions and have to let them run their course.....DD's Shiraz Sampler is calling loudly and I am waiting for a new silk Jo cooked up that will be perfect! (blue and teal!).

Still working on my Holland Landscapes in the meantime, the right side window is filling up!
I'll be back with pictures once that is done, then on to the tulip topper on that window.

Oh, and I have a canvaswork piece all ready to start, probably later in February. It's Northern Pine Designs' Blue Bayou, and it's all in peacock blues and teals! Maybe that will keep me going until I get the silks for Shiraz! Wish there was more time in the day, or that I needed less sleep!

Another biscornu!

Yep, another addition to the biscornu collection (it's an addiction, really!) this time from Sweetheart Tree. It's biscornu kit #1, Cherry Blossom Biscornu. After the snow on Tuesday this week, today it is in the 60's and somehow Cherry Blossoms seemed appropriate!

Today I'll be able to get back to working on my Holland Landscapes finally!

Snow Day, New Start

In America today, we have a new start....a new President, and a new view of the world and what place we all have in it. Mr. Obama, we are proud of you and your family, may God bless you all and keep you safe. Appropriate now that here in NC we are having a Snow Day....clean slate, so to speak......and it feels like Christmas morning for some reason! I'm going to enjoy watching the snow fall, and watching history made on the tv, while I stitch away on my latest project. Life is good! Here are a few pictures of the view out my windows......

Snow covered front lawn

Lad, our collie, contemplating the snow!

(the cats are indifferent, of course)

Frozen Bird Bath

New Hope...daffodils peeking above the snow!

Many bird visitors!

I filled my new feeder on Sunday, and it's nearly empty...saw multiple birds visiting (this pic was taken from inside the house) including this Cardinal, Carolina wren and Tuffted titmouse. Also there have been visitors such as a female Towhee, a pair of Mourning Doves, multiple Sparrows, a winter plumed Goldfinch or two, and fast flying Chickadees. I'm sure there are more hiding in the bushes, so I'd better fill the feeders!

There are still snowflakes falling this morning, and it's 25 degrees F. Best wishes to all on this special day in America!

Awards?

Okay, so I found out about the award my good friend Carolyn gave me....too bad I can't put her on my own list! I'm supposed to list 5 addictions (not a hard task, except to narrow it down!) and pass on 5 awards....I'm so new here I hardly have any idea, but here goes....some friends are going to be surprised, I'm sure!

Five Addictions (in no particular order)
Stitching
Stashing
Books
Family Time
Chocolate

Five Award winners
It's Geek to Me (longest known web stitching friend)
Dani...Black Belt Stitching Wizard (she of the great tutorials!)
It's Daffycat (with a name like that we must be related, right?)
Freebie Gallery (source of all things to inspire the stash hunt)
Cross Stitch Happy (I'd pay good money for her freebies!)

Guess that's it.....back with more stitching news later!

Week ends with a flurry!

Well, the week sure ended with a flurry! No, not snow (darn, it's sure cold enough!), but a flurry of finishes! That Memory wall quilt is finally done, and I also finished putting the beads on another M Designs tree...the Dream Tree! Four down and five to go for another wall hanging...

Here are the pics....the quilt is based on the attic window pattern, but since the windows are different, I dubbed it a Memory quilt for our friends in Iowa.

and

And my friend Carolyn will be happy to know I finally took a picture of my Holland Landscapes by Chatelaine....so far I am done thru part 5, plus the tulips over the top window. The fabric is from Silkweaver, and is called Dreamin'. I'm going to work on it all next week after I finish a biscornu from Sweetheart Tree. I have a baskeball game to watch this afternoon (Duke is playing Georgetown) and didn't want to deal with the big Chatelaine while trying to watch!

Carolyn gave me a Fabby Award, and I'm happy, but I don't know what I'm supposed to do!

Help!

Cold!

Wow! It's sure gotten cold outside! At least my internal battle with the "cold" virus seems to be over, and I've been sewing up a storm the last couple of days. I have gotten the whole memory quilt pieced, and ran to Michaels today with my coupon to get some batting to quilt it...machine quilting that is! It is a small crib size/wall hanging quilt so it shouldn't take too long to finish. I also pulled out a pair of stitching pieces to finally finish into pillows...poor things had to wait 5 years! They are the Dog Lovers Heart and Cat Lovers Heart from Sekas & Co.

The memory quilt is a gift for long-time friends of DH's family who celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary last year. I started it late last summer so it may turn out to be a 51st anniversary gift! I really have to be in the mood to sew on the machine (ie. not be tired or distracted) so once the worse of my cold was past, and sleep was caught up on, that quilt seemed to piece itself! Hopefully it will finally be done by the weekend, and I can check one WiP off the list for the year! I'm just about done with the Dream Tree (four letters and the beads) and then I will allow myself to get back to work on Holland Landscapes...part 9 just came out, and I'm still working on part 6!

Slow week...so far

This week has started off slowly because I'm fighting off a winter cold....yuck! Last week, between stitchings, I've been working on cleaning out my hobby/sewing room of all the non-stitching related *stuff* that's been piled up over the years. My DBIL is building me a couple of pieces of "furniture" for the room, and came over Sunday to dry fit a shelf for next to the laundry sink in the hobby room.

Maybe I should explain...this room is former attic space near the laundry room upstairs--the prior owners finished it as a model train room, but it's perfect for my stitching and quilting hobbies, with a long central table complete with underneath shelves. I'll put some pictures up once I get it "presentable", don't worry!

At any rate, he is also going to build me a counter cupboard with sliding doors for storing fabric and such, and for that I have had to get rid of all the *stuff* to make room....not that I'll miss 5 boxes of old 90's era tv shows on vcr tapes (why did these even get moved in 1996?). I will have a new project to work on after this, as I also uncovered all the boxes of family photos dating back to my high school days....that will be a chore to sort, but fun too I think. Plus there are a lot of old files to be shredded.....DD gets paid by the bag to shred!

I'm worn out with all the cleaning and the cold, so Sunday and Monday I worked a bit on a quilt, and finished an ornament (from the pile of 35+ that need to be ornamentified!).
Here it is...it's called Seasons Tweetings, an OOP chart from San-Man stitched over one.



In the evening, I started the M Designs Dream Tree to do while watching TV. I should get to finish that up in the evenings with games to watch...Carolina Hurricanes play tonight and Thursday, and Duke b'ball has a game at Ga.Tech Wednesday. Stitching keeps me from getting too nervous watching my teams! (Don't worry Carolyn, Holland is coming out soon...I'll post a "Before" picture soon!)

Floral Motif on a Tote

Today I finished my second project of the year....a tote bag (gift) with a floral motif from the Dutch blog My Aunt's Attic . I used some Janlynn floss from a varigated threadpack someone gave me, pink for the roses, green for the leaves and yellow for the rest. I'm quite pleased by it, and plan to do another using a butterfly motif in four different Anchor varigated colors. Watch for that in the next few months. Below is the tote bag, and also a close up of the floral motif.

First finish of 2009!

I started stitching this little piece on New Year's Day while watching the Winter Classic hockey game....seemed appropriate as the teams playing were the Redwings and the Blackhawks! It is by Praiseworthy Stitches and is called Winter Bird Delight. My friend Meredith gave it to me last year, as I was drooling over her kit...(it comes with Crescent Colors threads, and you supply the fabric)....I saw her WiP over the holidays and pulled it out to start as soon as I got home. I had some opalescent fabric from Silkweaver that was a good color too. It's wonderful to have Stash!

Made a few minor changes to the backstitching and charted my own initials. I think it turned out very nice!

Stitching Plan for 2009

Every year I make a stitching plan, listing all the projects I have as UFO's, WiPs, or Series projects I'd like to work on over the year. I add or subtract as the year goes on, but it gives me an outline of what my goals are. I would like to finish at least one project from each category or series during the year. Here is the 2009 Plan....I will update thru the year.

2009 Stitching

WiPs
~Memory Quilt (gift) 100% done
Started 5/28/08, Done 1/16/09
~Alla Turca SAL 100% done
Started 5/20/09, Done 8/22/09
~Holland Landscapes, Chatelaine 50% done
Started 5/31/08, Progressing...thru Pt.6, 4/10/09
~Spirit Tote (gift) 10% done
Started 12/9/08 Frogged and retired...too many mistakes!
~Castles in the Air 21% done
Started 4/16/09, Progressing...thru Pt.5 Sept. 2009


UFOs
~Evening in the Park, Chatelaine--51% done
~Dragon Feathers Afghan, Fanta Cat--75% done
Resumed December 2009-80% with only 4 blocks left!
~Italian Garden, Liz T. Diehl--100% done
Resumed November 2009, Completed 11/25/09
~Companions, TW--20% done
Resumed October 2009, 3 days working...
~New Zealand Map, Heritage Stitchcraft--2% done
~Breaking Dawn, Kustom Krafts--2% done
~Flower Power, Crossed Wing--1% done

Series in Progress
~Elizabeth Designs Cottage series
(3 of 12 done for appliqué quilt before 2009)
--Black Crow Cottage
--Climbing Rose Cottage
--Crabapple Hill Cottage
--Gardner's Cottage
--Old Stone Church
--Pine Tree Cottage
--Seaside Cottage
--Shepherd's Cottage
--Woodland Cottage

~Hearts of America, Victoria Sampler
(16 of 50 states done for a quilt)
--Ohio Heart Started 2/25, Done 2/25

~JCS Ornaments
(3 dozen or so left to stitch from the 2003-08 issues)
Christmas Partridge (2003)
Started 11/5, Done 11/27
Winter Whitetail (2003)
Started 12/13, Done 12/18

~Halloween cat quilt
(5 projects done for crazy quilt thru 2008)
--3 Black Cats
--Fat Bat Cat

~Little House Fruit series
(5 of 9 done for banner, 2006 & 2008)
--Blueberries
--Plums
--Apples
--Pumpkins Started 11/27, Done 11/29

~Name Tree wall hanging
(4 of 9 done for banner 2009 and before)
--Dream Tree Started 1/12, Done 1/16
--Believe Tree
--Joy Tree
--Peace Tree
--Matt Tree
--Kathy Tree

~Schooler Santas 1989-2009, Prairie Schooler
(17 of 20+ done)
--1991 Santa Started 7/5, Done 7/11
--1990 Santa
--1989 Santa
--2009 Santa Started 10/2, Done 10/5

Separate New Starts
(kitted and ready to be StRIPed)
~Winter Bird Delight, Praiseworthy Stitches
1/1 Start, 1/7 Done!
~Floral Motif (gift), My Aunt's Attic
1/8 Start, 1/11 Done!
~Cherry Blossom Biscornu, Sweetheart Tree
1/17 Start, 1/22 Done!
~Garden Biscornu, Kissy-Cross
2/2 Start, 2/4 Done!
~Blue Bayou, Northern Pine Designs
2/4 Start, 2/10 Done!
~XS Cat, Margaret Sherry
2/21 Start, 2/21 Done!
~Growth Rings, Ink Circles
2/11 Start, 3/25 Done!
~Roberta's Cats Biscornu Fob, Cross Stitch Happy
3/25 Start, 3/27 Done!
~Peacock, Papillon Creations
3/28 Start, 4/1 Done!
~Peacock Heart, Gift of Stitching
4/10 Start, 4/12 Done!
~Pansy Biscornu, Dinky-Dyes
4/12 Start, 4/15 Done!
~Butterfly Tote, My Aunt's Attic (gift)
4/23 Start, 4/29 Done!
~Frog Biscornu, Casey Buonauguiro
5/14 Start, 5/19 Done!
~Assisi Kiwi Tote, CraftsWebNZ
5/21 Start, 6/15 Done!
~Beaded Rose Biscornu, Just Nan
6/1 Start, 6/6 Done!
~Going Bananas, San-Man
6/17 Start, 6/18 Done!
~Kitty Frame, San-Man
6/19 Start, 6/19 Done!
~Summer Butterfly Biscornu, Alexandrina
6/28 Start, 7/3 Done!
~Bluebird Soap Dispenser, Cathy Livingston
7/12 Start, 7/15 Done!
~Cheetah Biscornu, Cross Stitch Happy
8/2 Start, 8/11 Done!
~Floral Biscornu, Alice Okon
9/4 Start, 9/9 Done!
~Boo Club Banner, Lizzie Kate
9/15 Start, 9/27 Done!
~Midnight Magic, Mill Hill
9/28 Start, 10/10 Done!
~Coffee Crossword, Primrose Needleworks
10/12 Start, 10/28 Done!
~Owl Biscornu, Stitch Creations
10/13 Start, 10/31 Done!
~Fabulous Fall Biscornu, Cat's Whiskers
11/2 Start, 11/4 Done!
~Lynne Biscornu, Maria del Valle
11/30 Start, 12/4 Done!
~Yo Ho Ho Ho, Sue Hillis
12/21 Start, 12/22 Done!
~Topiary Wreath, Mary Englebreit
12/30 Start, 12/30 Done!
~Christmas Wreath, Mary Englebreit
12/31 Start, 12/31 Done!


Finishing/Framing (pro framing not included)
Afghans
--Dragon Feathers

Biscornu
--Cherry Blossom Biscornu Fin. 1/22
--Garden Biscornu Fin.2/4
--Roberta's Cats Biscornu Fob Fin. 3/27
--Pansy Biscornu Fin. 4/15
--Frog Biscornu Fin.5/19
--Beaded Rose Biscornu Fin.6/6
--Summer Butterfly Biscornu Fin.7/3
--Cheetah Biscornu Fin.8/11
--Floral Biscornu Fin.9/9
--Owl Biscornu Fin.10/31
--Fabulous Fall Biscornu Fin.11/4
--Lynne Biscornu Fin.12/4

Ornaments (35+ to do)
--Seasons Tweetings Fin.1/12
--Raccoon's Visit Fin. 2/14
--Not a Creature Was Stirring Fin. 2/25
--Peacock Heart Fin. 4/15
--Winter Whitetail Fin.12/19
--Yo Ho Ho Ho Fin.12/23
--Topiary Wreath Fin.12/30
--Christmas Wreath Fin.12/31

Pillows
--Cat Lovers Heart Fin.1/14
--Dog Lovers Heart Fin.1/14
--Needlepoint Sampler

Other finishing
--XS Cat Fob Fin. 2/21
--Going Bananas Fin.6/18
--Kitty Frame Fin.6/19
--Bluebird Soap Dispenser Fin.7/15
--Midnight Magic Fin.10/10
--The Peacock
--Peacock Repose
--CMH Christmas Animals Banner
--SMO Flip Calender
--LHN fruit series banner
--Name Tree wall hanging
--Boo Club Halloween Banner
--Alla Turca

New Year, New Blog

Hi y'all! It's a new year, and time for a new blog! My friend Carolyn insisted I get one going here so bear with me as I learn a new blog system. I'll be back soon with an updated profile, and some pictures of my recent stitching! May everyone have a Happy New Year in 2009!

ETA: I added links to my Yuku Profile page if anyone wants to see what I've been doing in the last few years, stitching wise. You are also welcome to visit my Webshots Albums, most of which are stitching related. I'll be starting the year fresh here with my 2009 Stitching Plan and my finished projects as they are completed. Feel free to leave comments on anything you see at my links. I will edit the 2009 Plan as I complete things. Way too much organization you ask? It's my background as a librarian that forces me to organize!