Can't Put it Down!

 

 

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Oscar Stitching

I worked on two pieces tonight. Am determined to finish Sojourner Sampler this year (it was a guild project last year.) I added the three flowers on the right. Was struggling with the 40 count linen; I may have to resort to using magnification pretty soon!

Decided to switch to something a bit easier...sampler #2 in the Amy Mitten series...Vierlande. (Please excuse the wrinkles.)

Hope you had a good weekend!

 

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Tonight's Stitching

Started a Merry Cox project.

Hard to believe that just a few years ago I would not have even attempted an over one design!

 

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Excursion #1 Scotland

When Amy Mitten announced that she was going to do a series of samplers based on designs from samplers from different areas of the world, I knew I was interested. When I found out a passport was involved and that we would be traveling to a new destination every 80 days, I was sold!

I have had the travel bug since I was a young child. My Auntie Theresa used to take me on road trips. We took many trips, usually to Colorado. One time we drove all the way to British Columbia. Auntie Theresa also introduced me to airplane travel. We took many flights back in the day when it was a privilege to fly by airplane.

The travel bug stuck with me. In college, I spent two semesters living in Germany and had the opportunity to travel to numerous countries in Europe. One of the best experiences of my life! After college I became a travel agent and that job allowed me to travel to many places I never ever thought I would get to like Alaska, Hawaii, the Cayman Islands, Japan, and China.

I still travel a lot for my current job, but my destinations aren't always as exciting as the places I visited in my youth. I feel so fortunate to have had so many opportunities throughout my life to visit different places and experience so many different cultures. You know what? When you travel, you also have a greater appreciation for home and great pride for a nation where we enjoy so many freedoms.

Back to the samplers...I think you can understand why the theme is so interesting to me. I signed up along with about 20 other stitching friends. Our first excursion.... Scotland! According to Amy, this sampler design was inspired by antique Scottish samplers from 1740 to 1840. The colors in the sampler reflect those that would have typically been used in Scottish samplers.

My sampler is personalized with my father's and mother's initials. My grandparents initials are also included, along with my initials and the initials for my four brothers. This was such an enjoyable stitch!

Have Passport and am ready for my next excursion.

Vierlande, here I come!

 

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One More Night

Need to put the grass in yet...

 

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And Now For Some Stitching

So, over the weekend, I nearly finished my Scottish sampler. I wanted to wait until I got home to chart the large initials at the top. The last step will be to couch in the grass; a thicker chenille thread is used to create some texture.

I ran into one small snag. I ran out of "Miss Scarlett" and did not have enough to finish my rosebuds. Notice the unfinished buds in the bottom left corner?

Now before everyone that bought this kit goes into panic mode, I think I was rather wasteful when stitching my rosebuds. I should have carried my thread from bud to bud (the distance is not that far). Instead, I stopped and started a new thread for each bud. So that's why I think I ran out of thread. Two friends have already finished this sampler and had no issues.

One of those friends had some Miss Scarlett left over - exactly one length of thread left! She was willing to send it to me. I knew I would have it by Monday and could finish my sampler. She wrote and said that she added tracking to the envelope. Tracking? For a single piece of thread? Of course that thread was really important to me, but a simple Forever stamp would have done the job!

When I arrived home from work on Monday, the envelope - no wait, she sent the thread in a padded envelope. Really, a padded envelope for a single piece of thread? I'm starting to wonder if my friend was feeling ill. Perhaps she hit her head? She spent almost $3 to send me a single length of thread in a padded envelope?

Here's what was inside the envelope....a little needlebook:

And inside the little needlebook....my single piece of thread!

Thanks Chris. You really had me guessing on this one! Love the sweet little needlebook. The best part though, the single strand of thread was exactly what I needed to finish the remaining rosebuds.

I must add, this is the second time one of my stitching buddies bailed me out with just a single strand of thread (thanks Judy for assisting the first time it happened!)

I'm stitching the large initials at the top now. I hope to share a finish with you very soon!

 

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Belated Trip Report

My mom sent me an email today which said, "You must be really busy because you haven't posted information about your trip yet!" Yes, I've been busy mom. I also haven't had time to take any decent pictures of my stitching progress.

The rest of you are all wondering about the bacon. The bacon was to die for. Yes, I went on a weekend retreat with some stitching friends and we had bacon for breakfast every morning. I love big breakfasts.

Friday: Pancakes, eggs, fresh fruit, sausage and BACON!

Saturday: French toast, eggs, fresh fruit, sausage and BACON!

Sunday: Toast, eggs, hash browns, fresh fruit, ham and BACON!

Yes, we had some delicious breakfasts and some delicious evening meals too! We even had quite a spread for lunch on Friday and Saturday - cheese, crackers, veggies, dip, hummus, fruit...

But the weekend was really about friendship, fun, and stitching! You can see all the stitching spots waiting for stitchers to return after a restful sleep.

I'll be back soon with a stitchy post!

 

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The Mad Tatter

The Mad Tatter wanted me to share some of her tatting with you today.

These medallions are quite stunning in person, tatted with Lizbeth thread #20 using colors Mocha Bown and Latte Foam.

This is a lovely small doily done in Raspberry Frapee:

Attach four of them together and you get a larger oblong doily, this one is done in a thread color called Autumn Spice:

And here's another one; the thread is called Wildflower Garden:

J

The pattern for these last three pictures is called "Alma's" and it is from a book written by Jon Yusoff. The Mad Tatter has gone crazy over her patterns!

She's amazing, isn't she?

 

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Bacon

My mother keeps asking me what the deal is with the comments about bacon. It will all become clear in two days, although some of you have probably figured it out.

No stitching last night. Did a little shopping after work and made a few phone calls and then "poof" it was bedtime. Maybe tonight...

 

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A Very, Very, Very Fine House

My hands were better tonight and so I returned to the Scottish sampler and the house is now complete.

 

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Change of Plans

I really wanted to work on my Scotland sampler, but my hands were dry and it felt like I was snagging the silks. I'll have to work during the week to lotion them up so that I can resume stitching on this sampler.

No reason to waste precious stitching time though. I pulled out a different project that is being stitched with Anchor floss. Quite enjoyable since I love stitching alphabets!

Sorry for the dark photo. This is going to be a lovely sampler!

Snowed here all day. I don't think that it amounted to much. It was fun watching the fluffy snowflakes gently fall to the ground. Ask Maggie!

Don't freak out that Maggie was standing on the chair. It's an old chair and it's her chair!

Tomorrow is Monday again. Luckily it's going to be a short week for me. Four days until bacon!

 

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Building a House

Wish I could say that it is done, but I still have to stitch some of the framing.

Please pardon the wrinkles...

 

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Building a House

This progress is two night's worth of stitching. Got quite a bit done during the Super Bowl and a little bit more tonight.

 

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Weekend Escape

Sometimes I just need to disappear for a couple of days. Having short little weekends away help me to get through my long work weeks. This weekend I escaped to Wisconsin.

I took a vacation day on Friday (sort of). By 12:30pm I was on the road and heading east. Since I hadn't eaten lunch it only seemed logical that I would stop in my most favorite small town cafe in all of the Midwest - you know it, the Norske Nook!

I had my usual, a pork sandwich with mashed potatoes and gravy. This always brings back fond memories of road trips that I used to take as a child with my Auntie Theresa.

But you know best what the Norske Nook is well known for...their pie! I took a piece with me for later.

I arrived at my destination, Madison, Wi, and settled into my hotel room for the night. I always get a kick out of the signs in the elevators at Hampton Inns.

This one is probably my favorite though...

Why am I here? Lynn's of Madison (needlework store) hosted a class with Lori Markovic of La D Da. We finished the Tender Heart Stitcher's Roll. Here's a snap of my finishing in progress.

Lori is delightful. She spent time with each stitcher making sure they knew what to do.

I enjoyed the day immensely. Connected with quite a few stitchers that I have not seen for awhile.

After class, many of us went back to Lynn's for some stash enhancing.

They had a lovely display of La D Da models.

I could have driven home last night but the thought of driving after dark didn't appeal to me much, so I stayed one more night. Enjoyed another quiet evening in the hotel room. The lighting wasn't great, but I figured out that if I sat at the desk, I could watch TV through the mirror! Hey, we do whatever works, right?

It was a fun weekend. Here are a couple snaps of my finished stitcher's roll...

Thanks for stopping by. Hope your weekend was just as special.

 

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