I Sigh Not For Beauty

Hard to believe that it is the last day of March! Time is just fleeting by. Decided I better get one last post in before the end of the month.

First of all, thanks to Lelia and Amy for selecting me as one of their "Liebster Blogs." For me, blogging is just a vehicle that I use to record my stitching progress on the various projects that I enjoy working on. It's fun to go back and look at all that I have accomplished. I really enjoy viewing your blogs too. I may not always comment, but I'm reading them! It's really fun when I have the opportunity to connect with online friends; I'm looking forward to meeting Amy at Stitchville's Spring Fling Retreat in two weeks!

This past week I have spent my stitching time working on I Sigh Not For Beauty. This beautiful sampler was designed by Ruth Ann Russell of C Street Samplerworks. I am using the linen/silk conversion that Attic Needlework put together. It is such a beauty and I have enjoyed every minute that I have spent stitching on it. I have quite a bit more to go, but have made good progress in the 2+ months that I have been working on it. This also happens to be my guild challenge piece this year and so I am committed to finishing it by the end of the year!





In between housework and grocery shopping today, I hope to play in my stash a little bit...we'll see.

Have a great day - happy stitching!

Almost Finished...

I made good progress on my retreat piece today. The stitching for the strawberry fob and the pinkeep are done; I have a little more ribbon embroidery and beadwork to do on the pincushion. I may leave this final little bit for next weekend; I'm antsy to do some plain old cross stitch!

The strawberry...



The pincushion...the remaining beadwork and ribbon embroidery will go along the outside edge...



And the pinkeep...




Very tired - did some spring cleaning today - washed windows and vacuumed under furniture that hadn't been moved in awhile. I'm pooped!

Thanks for stopping by!

Pinkeep Side Two

Tonight I planted myself in my stitching chair and stitched all night so that I could complete the stitching on the other side of the pinkeep. (See yesterday's post for the front side.)



This project is from The Victoria Sampler; Thea Dueck is coming to Stitchville for our annual Spring Fling; just 19 days away now!

Tomorrow night I will tackle the stitching on the pincushion or the strawberry.

Making Progress

I've finally started working on my retreat piece for Stitchville's Spring Fling. Spent one night basting and then started stitching one side of the Pinkeep on Tuesday night. Tonight I was able to finish by doing the bargello stitch. Of course there are beads and ribbon embroidery yet to be done, but I'll save those for another night!

Crazy Weather!

It's hard to believe that it is still March and we have no snow and record high temperatures. Yesterday, it hit 80 degrees and that's just unheard of for our part of the world. Crazy weather everywhere I think. Maybe there is something to the global warming theory...

Despite how strange it is, I was glad that it was a beautiful day yesterday. My daughter ran in her first 7K in downtown Minneapolis; the Get Lucky 7K. The participants were all dressed in crazy attire - I wish I had pictures of some of the really crazy ones! There were serious runners too! Can you pick out "The Hulk" in the photo below?

Many green wigs...

And tutus...and shamrock headbands...

It was a beautiful day; over 8000 runners participated in the 7K...

My daughter wanted to run the 7K in under 45 minutes; her final time was 40:51 minutes. She said it was a lot of fun and she's looking forward to her next race! Here she is with her two friends (DD in the middle):

I know you are interested in stitching too, so here are a couple more little finishes from that bottomless basket of smalls that I am determined to conquer! Have no idea how long I have had these three kits, but they were quick and easy to stitch; I will save the finishing for another day in the not so distant future!

Hearts of America (Minnestota X2, Indiana)

The Victoria Sampler

Kits -White 25 ct Lugana and DMC

That's all I've got for you today! Thanks for stopping by.

A Star Pouch

I know, I know! I should be working on my pre-work for the upcoming Stitchville retreat...but another project was calling my name today and I just couldn't help it!

Do you remember this La D Da kit from a couple of years ago? It's been neglected for so long, so when I pulled out my basket of smalls it kind of jumped out and said "Stitch me, stitch me!" And so I did.

The stitching was easy; the finishing not too bad. Lori's finishing instructions are very good. Since I had purchased the kit, I had all the supplies I needed to finish up this little pouch. I think it will come in handy for storing scissors or a small 6 inch ruler when I go to stitching get-to-gethers.

Here's the front:



Here's the back:

A Star Pouch

La D Da

35 ct Weeks linen

Needlepoint Silk

All in all, a productive day wouldn't you say?

Sampler Update

Happy Saturday! Happy Weekend! It's positively beautiful here in MN this weekend. Gorgeous spring weather with warm temperatures. I opened up several windows to let the fresh air in!

Thought it was time to give you an update on the sampler I am working on. I haven't had a lot of time to stitch in the last week or so, but I think I've made pretty good progress. Just a few more flowers (four to be exact) on the right side, and the outside border will be done. I am loving this piece - great design, wonderful Belle Soie silks, and a scrumptious linen color.

Please excuse the wrinkles - I didn't take time to press. The colors in the photo of the entire piece are most accurate; the close up of the top left corner is a little bit washed out.




The design is "I Sigh Not for Beauty" from C Street Samplerworks...

I'm going to have to put this down soon. I have some stitching to do for the upcoming Stitchville retreat, plus I want to finish a couple more smalls out of that smalls basket. Wish me luck!

Just a Couple of Buddies

Okay, I was only going to buy the sheep - it was too cute! But then I had to have the penguin too. And you know how much I love dogs. The chick, well that one just stole my heart!

I just couldn't resist these button buddy kits from Just Another Button Company. Tonight, in just a couple of hours, I assembled all four of them. May I introduce you to (from left to right): Charley Chick, Sherry Sheep, Penny Penguin, and Harriet Hound!



Thanks for stopping by!

Great Day of Stitching

I love to stitch...

I especially love to stitch when I'm with a group of friends...

Some of my stitching friends will tell you that I like visiting more than stitching...

Sometimes that is true!

Today, a group of stitching friends got together at a local quilt shop that let us use their classroom for a nominal charge. We started at about 9:30am and stitched away until 3:00pm. Some took time for lunch at the restaurant next store; others just continued stitching. Lots of progress was made on many projects.

I took pictures of some of the projects - I wish I had captured all of them. Here are some of the things that members of the group were working on today!

A good time was had by all!