Christmas at Hawk Run Hollow update

It seems the year is running out faster than usual....it's already the end of October and summer seems so far away! I spent the last week working on the 10th block of Christmas at Hawk Run Hollow. This is one SAL I am managing to keep up with and will no doubt finish by the end of the year, what with only 2 blocks to go. After this, it's time to start some stitching gifts!

Block 10 with the cardinal birds is my favorite block! Here it is so far as well..... the silk gauze is going to need to be blocked when it gets framed, as it has warped slightly as all canvas does.

I made no changes to the 10th block. The next block is solid stitching, so it will take some extra time.

To everyone who is enjoying the Halloween season, have fun, stay safe and don't eat too much candy!

Halloween stitching!

What a busy last couple of weeks I have had! I was in Lancaster, PA for the Stitching Jubillee for the 14th-16th (more in a later blog entry)and took a class by Catherine Jordan, the Tree of Life Journal. It is a small crewel embroidery piece and I hope it will be finished this year! If you check her site, the little postage stamp-sized reversible necklaces have a similar Tree of Life piece. The journal is more the size of a note card. I got the Cats & Dogs kit while I was there.

I also finished up a Quaker Halloween SAL from the San-Man Originals board available to members only (but, it's free to join!). Sandy is a very generous person and you can find a few of her freebies on CyberStitchers, including another Quaker piece. I really love the Witchy Boot!

I spent most of last week getting more organized in my hobby room (what with all the new stash!) and stitching my monthly biscornu.

This time it's the Owlscornu by Barbara Ana....with a little black cat button on top, and a bat on the back! If you visit her site, she has several freebies of similar brightness!

You can see the little spider peeking out from under the edge!

I am back to stitching on my 10th block of Christmas at Hawk Run Hollow and will have more about the stitching festival soon!

A little progress on the Rose Garden Sampler

Just about to start packing for my trip to the Stitching Jubilee in Lancaster, PA! I did want to post an update on the Rose Garden Sampler SAL I started last month. Part 2 is essentially complete, with a little extra from the adjoining pages. I am finding this very fun to stitch and have had a hard time putting it away to move on to the next item in the rotation! I am stitching it over 1 on 25ct white lugana. The picture is clickable.



I started a little Halloween piece over the weekend, which I will take to my stitch group tonight to work on. Trying to decide what to take on my trip, since I hope to spend many hours stitching when I'm not in my class, or shopping! I am NOT taking my laptop, so I'll have to report in next week when I get back. DH and DD will just have to cope without me for a few days!

September Recap, October Goals

September Recap
WiPs...
~Christmas at Hawk Run Hollow, Block 9 Done!
~Castles in the Air, Pts. 13 Postponed again....
New Starts...
~2010 Schooler Santa Done!
~Rose Garden Sampler Started...one page done...working on second page
~Zara Biscornu Done!
~Kitty Kalender for Feb. Done!
~Hummingbird Mandala?? (waiting for fabric!)
I got the fabric, but decided to start this in October after the Stitching Jubilee in PA

October Goals
WiPs...
~Christmas at Hawk Run Hollow, Block 10
~Rose Garden Sampler SAL...Second page done!
~TW's Companions
~Castles in the Air, Pt.13 (maybe?)
New Starts...
~Tree of Life Journal class Started....
~Kitty Kalender for March
~Quaker Halloween Done!
~Owlscornu Biscornu Done!
~Hummingbird Sparklie Garden Mandala (hope to start!)

My Biscornu for September

I am continuing with my monthly biscornu, if for no other reason that I enjoy them, but also because I have dozens of patterns to use up making these obsessive little items!

This one is a pattern by Pelin Tezer called Zara. It has two motifs, one positive, one negative, and thus an interesting way to use the pattern as a biscornu. The fabric is a scrap of Lavender Mist cashel, the threads are Gentle Arts Simply Shaker, Moonlit Path and Tea Rose, respectivly. It is a little over 3 inches across, and I added a wide ribbon to hang it from a knob.

I also got a fair number of new goodies from my LNS after the St. Charles Market. You may be seeing a couple of them really soon because they are really loud in their calls to "Stitch ME!"

Plus, two weeks until my friend Carolyn and I leave for Lancaster, PA and the Stitching Jubilee...we are counting the days!

Update on Christmas at Hawk Run Hollow

I have finished the 9th block of Carriage House Samplings' Christmas at Hawk Run Hollow! If you have not seen the previous progress check out my older posts on the subject. I am stitching one block a month as a SAL, which has helped me make progress on this! Threads are DMC, and it is stitched over 1 on 40ct silk gauze. Each square is a little over 2 inches. The only change I made on this block was to use less backstitch on the church windows.

A few things back from the framer....

I am lucky to have an excellent framer at my LNS, and thru them, a finisher as well! I got a few things back this week that were over to be framed or finished. The first one is a needlepoint pillow, which was from a class I took in 2003! Finally I decided I was never going to make it into a pillow myself (canvas is rough on sewing machines!) so I sent the canvas piece and fabric I picked for it off, and here it is.....she mitered the corners perfectly for me!

The other two are framed pieces I stitched earlier this year. They are going in my kitchen.

One is the Val's Stuff April Showers on gingham, the other is Teresa Layman's cross stitch version of Singing Tree.

I am working on block 9 of Christmas at Hawk Run Hollow this week...stay tuned!

February Kitty

It's been awfully warm this summer so I thought cool and stitched another cat from the Val's Stuff monthly Kitty Kalendar series for February! Plus it was two days quick and a fun happy dance! I changed some of the Weeks floss to stuff I had on hand and used a Silkweaver solo from my stash. I love the gray and pink together! I should admit I am fixing the eyes on these by adding french knots because the kittys look asleep, and moved the whiskers down a bit to suit my personal taste.

After this, I am back working on Christmas at Hawk Run Hollow, block 9. Some little froggies visited, but I sent them packing! Watch for the picture update later this week!

Rose Garden Progress Report

Hi all! Here is the first WiP picture of my new obsession which I showed off in my last post. I finished one page of part 2 (and a little from the page below) and now am taking a break from over 1 on 25 ct lugana to stitch another of the Val's Stuff monthly cats. I got distracted last week by a new book by one of my favorite Sci-Fi authors, which cut into my stitching time. Who knew only six DMC colors could be so pretty! I really love the flower circle.




I am trying to stick to my rotation, so I'll be getting back to Christmas at Hawk Run Hollow soon, but also have another floss toss to show off the fabric I got for the new Chatelaine, the Hummingbird mandala.....only two silks (in front) might be an issue on the blue opalescent 28ct jazlyn, so I will watch them carefully when I get started, probably next month sometime. I still have to pull all the DMC for this as well. It's really hard to decide what to stitch when there are so many wonderful designs that are saying that I just *have* to stitch them!

What? Another SAL you say?

I must be certifiably crazy to start another SAL this year, especially one so large! I usually am not much into traditional samplers but when I tripped over this sampler SAL online I could not resist it! You can find it here. The designer is in Brazil, and her name is Wal D'Champs. Her company name is WDC Designs. The SAL is called Rose Garden and it is very unusual for a traditional sampler, and like I said...Large! Try 500x600 stitches! There are some wonderful motifs and animals on the sampler as well as several different alphabet styles. She is releasing a part every other month for a small fee of one dollar US for each part. Part 5 of 12 just came out, so I'm way behind already! It will last out this year and next so that will give me some time to catch up...assuming I do nothing but stitch, of course! It is charted in DMC, with and Anchor conversion. There are only 6 colors, three greens and three pinks. I changed the pinks slightly to match my decor in the guest room where it is destined to live. I decided that because of the size and my scroll frame limits I would stitch it on white 25ct lugana over 1. Here is a picture of what I have done so far, starting with the top middle point (pt.2) and working my way back eventually. This is just one motif! I included the floss so you can see the colors, and a picture of the cover to show the size.

You all know I also have signed up for the new Hummingbird Mandala from Chatelaine right?

I am still waiting on fabric for that....which would make my 5th *jumbo* piece going at once. Yep, I'm certifiable. That's not counting the CaHRH which would be *jumbo* if it were not on 40ct silk gauze! I wonder if they make an exercise bike with a scroll rod attachment?

August Recap, September Goals

Better late than never, here is my monthly goal report!

August Recap
WiPs....
~Christmas at Hawk Run Hollow, Block 8 Done!
~Castles in the Air, Pts.11 and 12 Done!
~Holland Landscapes, Pt.7 tulips Done!
New Starts...
~Country Bouquet Card, World of CS Mag Done!
~Summer Breeze Biscornu, Dinky-Dyes Done!
~Witchy Poo, Amy Bruecken Designs Done!
~January Kitty Kalendar, Val's Stuff Done!

September Goals
WiPs...
~Christmas at Hawk Run Hollow, Block 9 Working...
~Castles in the Air, Pts. 13 & 14 Postponed...
New Starts...
~2010 Schooler Santa Done!
~Rose Garden Sampler Started 9/4...page 3 done, working on p.4 rest of month...
~Zara Biscornu, Pelin Tezer Done!
~Kitty Kalender for Feb. Done!
~Hummingbird Mandala?? got fabric, will start in October

Christmas is sooner than you think!

Yep, I just realized...only about 3 and a half months till Christmas! I just recently got the 2010 Schooler Santa, so stitched him up over the first few days of the month...this year Santa is a skier! Eventually I'll have a whole tabletop tree of Santas when I get around to finishing them all into ornaments. ;-D