On the Road Again

My Partner In Crime and I are on the road again. It’s so nice to be attending retreats and other needlework events again.

This weekend, we are in the “land of roundabouts!” (They drive us nuts.) we are in southeastern Wisconsin.

Our first stop was at Lynn’s of Madison. Lynn’s always has a excellent selection of linen and she has wonderful models on display.

Second stop was Witchery Stitchery in Mt. Horeb. This is a good place to stop for old treasures. I remember visiting this shop 20 years ago.

After a lovely day of shopping we headed to our hotel. Thunderstorms rolled through this area last night. We were safely tucked away in our room watching Flosstube!

Looking forward to more adventures today!

Big Celebration

We celebrated this weekend. The Mad Tatter’s turning 90 on June 14 - Flag Day, and 90 is most definitely worth celebrating! Lots of food, family, and friends - beautiful flowers. We were blessed with great weather.

Lizzie says “hello!”

Weekend in Amana

We had a great time this past weekend in Amana at the Farm Girl Gatherings Retreat. Got to visit with many old friends and made some new friends. Lots of good food and fun shopping.

The guest designer was Teresa Kogut and she designed three special pieces just for us. They came packaged in this wonderful box. (The box alone is a collector’s item!)

Here’s the sampler:

Here’s the needlebook front and back:

I don’t have a photo of the third small design.

This was my workspace. That little puppy dog pincushion was made out of vintage feed-sack fabric.

And what’s a weekend without a delicious piece of pie?

Teaser

My Partner In Crime and I are on a road trip again. We left home on Thursday morning. Our first stop was the red barn in Iowa. Stopping for ice cream is mandatory. We reached our destination Thursday night! Stitching all weekend!

Elizabeth Hancock 1831

Finally a finish! I started this sampler back in October and have been working on it off and on ever since. I thought it might help me re-ignite my interest in stitching. The linen was a joy to stitch on - 36ct Vintage Sand Dune from Lakeside. I had it all kitted up with the called for Belle Soie silks and the colors were luscious! It took forever to stitch that border! 

This is not a true reproduction, but rather an adaptation and it was charted by Little House Needleworks. I’ve had it in my stash for a few years!

Here’s a recent Lizzie shot; she was all tucked in and taking a nap.

Her friend Nala (my daughter’s dog) is staying with us this week; they are besties.

Finishing Day

Greetings Stitchy Friends! My last post was a month ago; I’m so sorry. Life has been extremely busy.

I haven’t been stitching as much as I would like, but I have been stitching. In January, I spent a long weekend at “The Ranch” and accomplished quite a lot that weekend.

Yesterday, I had time to do some finishing. Enjoy the pictures!

This first project is a Blackbird Designs piece from the last in person Stitchville Spring Fling (2019). I finished the box and the small pinkeep. The fabulous Joy finished the bag and the needleroll for me. I can’t remember the names of these pieces, but I’m quite sure they are in the Sewing Club book.

Next up, is Acorns and Crows Stitch House from Chessie and Me. This was the project offered at Quilter’s Station last September. We painted the house in class (it’s distressed looking).

Last up, I Rest Thy Needle from With Thy Needle and Thread. The Lone Elm Lane clamp on stitching box was made for this project. I need to find the right place to display this. The strawberry was made by Five Times Blessed.

That’s all I’ve got for today. Hope your needles are humming!

Almost forgot, I snapped a photo of Miss Lizzie yesterday, also know as “the Queen of the Castle!”

Hawk Run School House Finished

It’s finished! This sampler will be retired for awhile now. I want to work on either things!

Almost, Not Quite

Just a little more stitching to go and this block will be finished! Anyone who has stitched a Hawk Run Hollow piece knows how stitching intense these blocks are!

Stay warm this week!

Happy New Year 2022

Here we go. I think that the New Year holiday is my favorite because it’s all about new beginnings. Had great hope for 2021 but it turned out to be not such a great year. I lost many dear friends and other acquaintances. I think we all were hopeful that we would see the end of COVID and yet it continues to march on. So, 2022, we’re counting on you. Please don’t let us down!

The last three months of 2021 were busy. I didn’t stitch very much and when I did, I stuck with the same project. I was digging through my stash one day and this project jumped out at me. I’ve had it forever, it’s stitched on Lakeside Linen Vintage Sand Dune and it’s stitched with Belle Soie silks! It’s the perfect combination! The color palette is quite scrumptious too. I’ve made great progress on it, but there’s still quite a lot of stitching left in the border!

Sorry for the wrinkles. If I had to get the iron out then I wouldn’t have been posting right now. The color of the linen in the second photo is more accurate.

Little House Needleworks - The Elizabeth Hancock Sampler

After Christmas, I wanted to work on something different and I decided that I really want to try and finish this piece in 2022. When I started it, years ago, I had big plans to do a block a month and quickly figured out that there is a lot of stitching in those blocks! I’ve spent three or four nights on the school house block and have lots of stitching to go. When this block is complete, I will still have five more to go.

Carriage House Samplings - Village of Hawk Run Hollow

Before Christmas, we did some painting to freshen up our walls. Our wall that spans between our dining and living room used to be red; we reverted back to a neutral palette and it’s a cream color now. We had a hard time putting nails in the wall again! Over the weekend, we put up these picture ledges. I’ll be able to switch out stitching pictures without putting so many nail holes in the wall!

Finally, I’m cleaning through a closet today and found two picture frames with some stitching in them. These pictures used to hang in my daughter’s bedroom when she was a baby. I pulled the stitching out - oh boy - look at the taped edges! Let me tell you, that tape is really dry. I can also see the hoop marks in the aida (at that time, I didn’t know that you should remove your hoop at the end of the day.) I’m going to cut off the tape and soak these pieces in some sudsy water and then make them into some little pillows. They bring back good memories.

That’s it. Hope the new year is good to you. I’ll leave you with a picture of our little Lizzie from New Year’s Eve.

Advent Calendar

When Kitten Stitcher announced that she would be offering a stitcher’s Advent Calendar, I knew that I would have to have one. It has been so much fun and something to look forward to every morning! The gifts have been wonderful, such a fun idea! 

Below are pictures of the gifts for the first 12 days of December.

Nine and ten might be my favorites so far, but I love them all!

I have so many things to do before Christmas. Two weeks left to get it all done. Hope you have a wonderful holiday season!