Spring Fling

Kicked off the month of May by Zooming for Stitchville’s Spring Fling again this year. This year’s featured designer was Cathy Habermann. I’ve taken a few classes with Cathy H and learn something new every time.

During our class we went through the instructions for finishing her new teaching piece called Pieceful Spring. Cathy likes to collect ribbons and that’s what inspired her when she designed this project. The pillow is made up of five bands stitched on alternating colors of linen and then they are pieced together. The seams are embellished with some top stitching. I look forward to stitching and finishing this project!

Of course, I had to have a little fun with Cathy. We all know how much she loves flamingos!

During our Zoom call we could share our past finished from Hands on Designs. I pulled everything that was finished out of the vault (there are a few more stitched things that aren’t finished yet!)  here’s my lovely collection of Hands on Design finishes!

Have a good week and thanks for stopping by!

What Happened to April?

That went by fast. I didn’t stitch much. After finishing up the Merry Cox piece in early April, I was rather unsettled on the stitching front. I started a new sampler from La D Da and then set it aside. Then I started O Joyous Day from Blackbird Designs and set it aside. This past week I put a few more stitches in Snooty Parrots from Barbara Ana, but not enough significant progress to share. Sigh.

If you watch Flosstube you know that many stitchers are dedicating the weekend to stitching Blackbird Designs. It has been fun looking at all the pictures posted on Facebook and Instagram! We’ll see if I join in the fun before the weekend ends.

Today is also the first day of Maynia. I don’t partake, but I enjoy watching all the WIPs, new starts, and progress reports. Someday, I’d like to be totally crazy and start 31 new projects.

Also today, I will be Zooming for Stitchville’s Spring Fling. Sad that we have to Zoom again this year, happy that we are still getting together even if it is via Zoom! Cathy Habermann is this year’s designer/teacher. Love Cathy’s upbeat personality and always learn something from her.

No stitchy photos to share, so how about a picture of our very spoiled little girl!

Easter Weekend

This post was meant for last weekend, but I never got it posted. Sometimes, I’d just rather stitch than post to this blog! The holiday was a little closer to normal; my mom joined us (first time in over a year) and my two children were here. My mom and my daughter are fully vaccinated, my son just received the Johnson and Johnson vaccine, and I will get my second vaccine this week. My husband is scheduled for his first. We just need to get the son-in-law scheduled. Anyway, we took time to snap this photo of my daughter, the Mad Tatter and me.

The Saturday before Easter I purchased this chest at a shop that recycles wood furniture. I thought it would be a nice place to display needlework and it also provides storage for items not on display. What do you think?

Look at this other great purchase I made on Etsy! It came all the way from Norway. These beautiful Hardanger earrings are a little bit larger than a quarter. It was packaged up so nicely. 

I’ll leave you with another snap of Lizzie. She doesn’t realize that she’s too big to be a lap puppy!

A Petite Regal Sewing Set

I had the good fortune to be able to take a class with Merry Cox today via Zoom thanks to the Orange Coast Sampler Guild. In some situations, the pandemic is not such a bad thing because many guilds and other needlework organizations are offering classes and lectures via Zoom!

I’m almost always guaranteed of a finish with Merry when she sends the project in advance. If I have my stitching completed before the class, I can easily finish the project. Merry’s finishing is straightforward and easy to follow.

Without further ado, here is A Petite Regal Sewing Set by Merry Cox.

I have a few more things to share and will try to post again in the next day or two.

Lizzie says hello!

Wool Applique

Hope you are enjoying your weekend wherever you are! It’s a cooler, rainy day in Minnesota. Good day for stitching!

Tonight, I took time to finish up the wool appliqué piece that I started a couple of weekends ago via an online class with Rebekah L. Smith. It’s not perfect, but I am happy with it. All I had left was the stem for the flower and the blanket stitch around the edge. Rebekah likes to put a piece of black felt on the back of her stitched pieces; I picked up the felt at JoAnns during the week. Love the color palette!

Last Sunday I was very lucky and managed to score this project bag from Deborah Harry’s Etsy shop. It makes me happy because it reminds me of my Auntie Betty; she used to embroider dish towels like this. The bag is expertly made.

Little Lizzie played a hard game of “fetch” this afternoon, in between the raindrops. She’s all tuckered out for the night!

Stitching on another Blackbird tonight. Will try to come back tomorrow with an update!

Spring Fling 2017

Long overdue post. I’m kind of surprised at how long it took me to stitch these three pieces! This was the project from Spring Fling 2017. Barb and Alma from Blackbird Designs were there; it’s always a delight to see these two ladies!

Here’s my finished stitching:

The top right piece will be framed in a frame that we painted and waxed in class. It’s called “The Lily of the Valley.”

The bottom piece will be finished as a drum and it’s called “And Blossom as the Rose.” The top left piece is for the top of the drum.

I need to have a couple of serious finishing days pretty soon. I’m racking up the stitching finishes, but need some dedicated time to fully finish these pieces!

I think I might return to the Blackbird Designs project from Spring Fling 2019. I have one more piece left to stitch and it sure would be nice to have another finish in March!

Overdue Post

March is just flying by. Thank goodness the month is a little longer than February!

I’ve been busy stitching away. The first project that I worked on was this Pinwheel / A Homestead Gathering from Cathy Habermann. The kit is a collaboration with Me and My Stitches. I will receive four packages during the year. The stitching is done. Once I have this “finished finished” I will post a picture of the entire package and all the little goodies we received.

Next up - I’ve been working on this Blackbird Designs project. You will recognize it from the Sewing Club book, but I’ve had this project since 2019. Barb and Alma were the featured designers at Stitchville’s Spring Fling that year. There are four pieces that make up the entire set, I have three of them stitched. (Sorry for not ironing it.)

Finally, I participated in a beginner wool applique class on Zoom with Rebekah L Smith this weekend. This was our project. I still need to stitch the stem that attaches the heart with the leaves and then the flower at the top. I also need to blanket stitch around the outer edge. Almost finished. It was a great class!

Here’s a recent Lizzie photo. She makes me smile every day!