On the Second Day of Christmas

Today I started Early Christmas Morning from Blackbird Designs. Lest you think your eyes deceive you, yes, I’m stitching it over one on a 28ct Cashel linen. My Partner in Crime stitched it over one and her finish was to die for. So, of course, I must do the same. I think I made pretty good progress for a couple of hours of stitching!

Before I pack the Christmas ornaments away, here are a couple of my favorites. All were stitched from various JCS ornament magazines over the years.

Here’s your Lizzie photo for today. She thinks she’s hiding from us!

On the First Day of Christmas…

I hope that all who celebrate had a lovely Christmas. We spent the day with family, eating good food and holiday treats and just enjoying each other’s company.

On both Christmas Eve and Christmas Morning I had time for a little stitching and worked on Feliz Navidad by Blackbird Designs. The border is complete along with the words “Feliz Navidad” at the bottom. Now I just have several motifs left to stitch in that open space.

Today, my sister-in-law, my two nieces, and a friend of my mom’s gathered at the Mad Tatter’s house for an afternoon of tatting (or crocheting, or stitching). My nieces are both trying to learn tatting. 

My start for the First Day of Christmas is Whittaker by Stacy Nash. Whittaker will be a companion to Paisley (see my previous post). I’d like to get the outlining, eyes, nose, mouth, and buttons down the front finished tonight so that all that’s left are the filling stitches.

Tomorrow I plan to start another piece. In fact, I hope to start a new piece on each of the 12 days of Christmas. Let’s see if I can do it!

Hope you are warm and safe wherever you are. I’ll leave you with a Lizzie picture. She was soaking up the sunshine coming in our front window this morning!

Paisley, Feliz Navidad, the Jingle Ball, and Lizzie!

Here’s what I have been stitching on these past two weeks…

Paisley from Stacy Nash. She’s all stitched and ready for finishing! Stitched on Fox and Rabbit 36ct Baked Clay. I used the called for threads with one exception - I used Weeks Parchment instead of Roasted Marshmallow. The Roasted Marshmallow was too yellow for my taste.

Next up is Feliz Navidad from Blackbird Designs. Hoping to finish this by the end of the year. Stitched on PTP 36ct Legacy with the called for fibers.

Had a great time this weekend connecting online with designers and other stitchers at the Jingle Ball! What a great weekend of entertainment, classes, and fun. It was a great way to start the holidays.

Let me leave you with a photo of Lizzie. She was on her throne this morning monitoring her kingdom.

Thanks for stopping by.

Cathrine’s Big Heart

Happy Thanksgiving weekend!

I had a finish at the end of October that I wanted to share with you. It’s called Cathrine’s Big Heart from La D Da. I loved stitching it. I didn’t love the over one so much, but I got through it!

I thought I’d share some of my favorite fall stitches with you - these were stitched in the past.

These are from Blackbird Designs. The framed piece was one of their original Loose Feathers. On the left are the projects from the Quilter’s Station retreat in September 2021. (Finishing of the bag and drum was done by Joy Hayward.)

This is Betsy Morgan’s Gathering for Winter Etui. Love this piece and all the smalls that go with it!

This is a La D Da piece. I love the colors! My Finishing Touch finished this flat fold for me.

A few more assorted pieces, some stitched by me, some stitched by friends. Some collected on shopping excursions.

This little lady was really tired after all the Thanksgiving festivities!

Lots of Framing!

It’s been a little bit since my last post; October was a busy month filled with lots of stitchy goodness! I finished a number of different projects and hope to share them over the next week or so, but today, let’s start with some recently framed stitching.

About a week ago, I received a package in the mail from Patti Nicolosi. She framed these first three pieces for me. She suggests the best mouldings and does an expert job stretching and framing.

Here’s the first piece - All Joys For Thine by Blackbird Designs. My maternal grandmother was born in 1889 and I’ve included her initials “TF”.

Next, is Liberty Hill from With Thy Needle and Thread. I can’t wait to display this piece with my other patriotic pieces next summer!

I love this next one so much that I don’t want to put it away! It’s Hilda Boo and Sunflowers Too from With Thy Needle and Thread. Guess what? I did not stitch this one. I found the finished piece at Amazing Grace, a shop in Amana, IA. The price was right and it was stitched beautifully. I’m going to enjoy it a bit longer before Putting it away.

Last up is a Stacy Nash design - Tribute to Summer Sampler. This piece was started by a stitching friend who passed away last year. I finished stitching it and added both of our initials to it - SLT and CB. This piece was beautifully framed by Deb at Stitchville.

I hope to return soon with additional updates! Happy stitching!

Stitching in Blue Earth

We just can’t get enough of sharing our love of stitching with other like-minded needleworkers. 

We took Erica Michaels’ berries class this afternoon via zoom.

Does the lab on this towel look like someone you might know?

Halloween Finish

Happy Halloween!

Today I finished the Little Sparrow Sewing Box; a sweet little stitch from Stacy Nash.

Here are some of my Halloween stitches from the past:

Mary Garry, Hands on Design, and La D Da:

Shakespeare’s Peddler:

On to November!

Friday & Saturday Stitching

Lots of stitching this weekend. 

I finished the over one on the C, D, E, and F blocks for the Sampler Book from Erica Michaels.

I started and finished this perforated paper project from Hands on Design.

I also spent some quality time with Catherine’s Big Heart from La D Da. I still have to complete the over one on this one (maybe next weekend).

We have been eating well. We had Chicken Parmesan last night.

We’re staying until Monday so another full day of stitching left!

Stitching Retreat

First day at retreat and I’ve finished four pieces!

1. Stacy Nash - House on Pumpkin Hill - I just needed to finish filling in the large white pumpkin at the bottom. Done!

2. Stacy Nash - Little Sparrow Sewing Box - the bird and the spool of thread needed to be stitched. Done!

3. Erica Michaels - Sampler Book, Letter A - needed to stitch the over one label at the bottom. Done!

4. Erica Michaels - Sampler Book, Letter B - needed to stitch the over one label at the bottom. Done!

I hope that the next three days are equally productive!

Birds & Bees Sewing Roll

I had one more finish this past weekend. This is the Birds & Bees Sewing Roll, Biscornu, and Fob from Stacy Nash. The stitching is finished and the real finishing will come later.

I was working on this when the Queen died so I added a crown at the top of the needle roll.

This project was an exclusive on Facebook.

Knocking these finishes out! It feels good!

Snooty Parrot Sampler

This finish has been eight years in the making! This is the Snooty Parrot Sampler stitched on 40ct Lakeside Vintage Examplar with a silk conversion from the Attic. Don’t study too close - I eliminated a couple of over one motifs. Just needed to be done!

So happy to have this WIP finished!

Road Trip - Day Five

Last day of the retreat. I have been a huge fan of Blackbird Designs since my first retreat with them in 2007. It was so good to see Alma again. She tells the best stories. Her display of various Blackbird projects did not disappoint. 

The project she brought for all of us to stitch was fabulous as always. It was packaged so beautifully.

Can’t get enough of Alma and Blackbird Designs!

Teresa Kogut was our last teacher of the weekend. She designed a stunning project for us, all packaged nicely in a beautiful box. I have a picture of the sampler but need to do some editing and will post it later.

Snapshot of all the teachers, including Rita from Quilter’s Station.

Of course, the best part of the weekend was meeting up with old friends and making new friends.

I’ll have to do a wrap up post in a day or two with the additional pictures I have to share.

Have a great week my friends!