time flies!

Hello! It has been awhile and the time between then and now has flown as if it had wings attached to it!

I hope everyone is enjoying their summer. It's been very hot here with the heat index keeping everything at not so comfortable averages of 100-115 degrees. I think it's the humidity that gives it that extra punch. Still, the good stuff of summer is still good - fresh peaches and watermelon, fireflies, floats in the pool, less indoor cooking (yay!!), flip flops, tall stacks of thunderstorm clouds piling up in the sky and the glorious storms themselves.

First, let me introduce the newest member to our family - Cooper Hank. He's about five months old now. DD brought him home. Of course, she's back at college now, so the grandparents are raising him. I had forgotten how much energy Lab puppies have and how funny they are. He's very smart but he's even sweeter than he is smart. Here he is with his monkey and pink tennis ball. He likes to carry as many toys in his mouth at one time as he can, or at least one in his mouth while he pushes the tennis ball all over the house.

Miss Kitty is less than thrilled that he's here to stay. She often looks at me as if say, "What were you thinking?!"

I was in a stitching slump for a while but have worked a little on a few pieces. This year's patriotic piece was LHN's America, but I probably won't finish it now until next year. Although it might be just the thing to work on when the winter stitching gets old.

America - LHN
40 count Vintage Bittersweet - Lakeside Linen
conversion to NPI

I love the BBD Reward of Merit designs - they are so sweet! Here's the start of Bird in Hand although right now there are no discernible shapes. The only change I've made was to use Pomegranate thread as it's one of my favorite reds. The Reward of Merit Bluebird is kitted and waiting in line.

Bird in Hand - BBD
30 count Irish Cream - R&R
Pomegranate - GAST

I retrieved Kind Fond Love from the WIP basket and am glad I did. I'm really enjoying working on it. However, I still wonder if I should have used a vintage piece of fabric rather than the non-vintage Maritime. Hard to say. I go back and forth on this point so I want to hurry up and get it stitched before I end up restarting it on something else.

Kind Fond Love - Samplar Company
40 count Maritime - Lakeside Linen
conversion to NPI

Speaking of restarts, here is the (little) restart on Sarah Verrier. I love this design and am very happy that I decided to stitch it on a different fabric with different threads.

Sarah Verrier - Amy Mittens
40 count vintage Pearled Barley - Lakeside Linens
conversion to NPI

And to wrap it up, I finally had Sarah Tobias framed.

That's about it for now! Hope everyone has a great weekend.

our cherry tree

My last post contained snowy pictures and here we are now at Spring! Cold weather seems so long ago and my last post seems even longer ago. I haven't stitched much since my last post. Instead I have been removing the shrubs from around the house so we can rework our gardens. Painted the front porch. Cleaned out the first of several closets. Picked out paint colors for walls. Picked up tomato plants. Spent evenings in the porch swing with a glass of wine listening for the whippoorwill. You know, Spring stuff.

Spring treasures from our yard

One of the things I love best about this time of year is that daylight savings returns. I love the long days filled with light and that feeling that you have extra hours in the day to get even more done. I like stitching in daylight much more than at night; it's such a cheerful thing to stitch in sunlight. I stitch at night, but not for very long and darkness makes me want to settle down and escape into a good book instead.

The other thing I love about this time of year is the return of the professional tennis season.

Today I finished the Little Red R sampler while watching the amazing Nadal win his 6th Monte Carlo title. Victorious Nadal above, and here is the Little Red R. And what does that little red R mean...?

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Goode Huswife, Little Red R Sampler
40 count Lakeside Vintage Light Examplar
NPI conversion

So until next time, have a glorious week!

Melissa asked for the Little Red R Sampler conversion to NPI threads, and here it is!

dmc 355 : npi 208
dmc 370 : npi 313
dmc 501: npi 155A
dmc 502: npi 523
dmc 613: npi 984
dmc 830: npi 316
dmc 831: npi 315
dmc 926: npi 922
dmc 3768: npi 324

winter/stitching

Yesterday we had several inches of snow - very exciting for us! It's beautiful and doesn't stay around long enough to become tired of it. It was so cozy inside with a cheerful, crackling fire, a pot of New Chicken Gumbo Soup, a glass of wine and my needle. Life is good.

Today the sun came out and the snow capped trees sparkled against the sharp blue sky. Even Miss Kitty ventured out into the snow early this morning.

snow kitty

I've worked a little on a few designs. I'm enjoying them all so much it's hard to decide which to work on!

Village of Hawk Run Hollow
Carriage House Samplings
40 count LL Vintage Maritime White, NPI threads

Quaker Friday got me started working on a sweet reproduction sampler I've wanted to start for several months - The Little Red R Sampler. This one is very fun to stitch. When I studied the chart before I started it, I didn't really notice the little odd things in the design - unbalanced symmetry, dropped stitches - that make it intriguing to stitch. I wonder who stitched it, how old she was, and if it was a practice or learning piece, and if she cared about the odd little stitched places or was just glad to have it done.

The Little Red R Sampler
The Goode Huswife
40 count Vintage Light Examplar, NPI Threads

Not much done on Kind Fond Love. I haven't worked on it much and miss it. They still don't have their heads, but are almost clothed.

Kind Fond Love
The Samplar Company
40 count Maritime White, NPI threads

That is it for now. Happy Valentine's Day!

A Shiny New Year

2010 is here in all its glory and filled with the new promises and hope a new year always brings. It was a wonderful and very fast holiday season but it had very little stitching in it. I am just now catching up on blog reading and it's been fun because it's like being away, coming home and hearing the news of family and friends.

I love New Year's Day. We always stay home, build a fire and just relax. I made a very yummy black-eye pea soup, fresh collards, cornbread and little peach turnovers. And, like so many stitchers, I started a special project on New Year's Day. This year it is CHS Village of Hawk Run Hollow. I almost hate to put this in writing, but I would like to complete a block a month. Stitching commitments don't always stick around here! I have a few other projects in mind. Most are completing works in progress or designs I have had kitted for awhile. I am considering restarting Sarah Verrier (a New Year's Day start from a few years ago) and using a different fabric and threads. I love the design, but the fabric seems very thin and the silks start to fuzz quite a bit. In other words, I think I would be happier if I used fabric and thread of choice.

Here's my NYDay start. I'm not sure what the design in the upper right hand corner actually is, but I like to imagine its the tail feathers of a hawk and its perched on the edge of the design and just out of view:

Village of Hawk Run Hollow
Carriage House Samplings
40 count Vintage Maritime White, NPI silks

I do love the colors in this Christmas piece, and I love the little snowflakes. This is as much as I stitched before the holidays picked up speed and my projects stayed in the WIP basket. I wasn't sure I'd like working on 30 count fabric but it's been a nice change from my usual 40 count. I think it's the right count and color for this piece. I may pull it out again in the summer when it's in the 100s and humid, the time of year when I dream of icy cold snow.

Merry Christmas
Blackbird Designs
30 count R&R Sheep's Straw, recommended threads

This is the headless lady in Kind Fond Love. There will actually be three headless ladies, I hope. (Don't worry, I will put their heads on once their bodies are lined up!)

Kind Fond Love
The Sampler Company
40 count Maritime White, NPI silks

And last but certainly not least, Miss Kitty in her festive elfwear.

Have a wonderful week!

A finish and two starts

I do love this holiday season that starts with Thanksgiving and glides into Christmas and then rolls into the promising New Year. So much to be thankful for and all of the little ways holiday season joy is shared with family and friends. No matter how bumpy the year was up to this point, it ends as a reminder of the goodness in life.

So, Sarah Tobias is finished and actually has been for awhile. I just haven't had much time to do the fun stuff on my computer. This was a fun piece to stitch and a forgiving one, too. A minor miscount doesn't ruin the design or require much unstitching. I will probably have her framed next year. Please just overlook the quality of the pictures. I think my aging camera is not long for this world.



I was very excited to start Kind Fond Love by The Sampler Company. I went back and forth deciding whether to use Lakeside's Vintage Maritime White or just Maritime White and finally decided on the nonvintage. Here is my progress so far.


I just started Blackbird Designs' Merry Christmas from their Joyeaux Noel book. It is a joy to stitch. I'm having fun stitching it while I watch Christmas movies. I want to stitch Joyeaux Noel next year. And wouldn't the little Eiffel Tower stocking be cute to use as a gift container for a pair of earrings, necklace or other small gift?



I have been thinking a lot about this bowl. I adore this bowl. I cherish it deeply and it gives me so much pleasure to use it, and I've used it a lot during this cooking season. It was my grandmother's bowl. While I love the set of bone china she left me, I think if I had to choose (which I hope I never will!), I would keep this bowl. It's nothing fancy. It's a Homer Laughlin that she probably found a long time ago in a dime store. It never goes in my dishwasher and I store it in a safe place. The chip on its edge is no longer sharp but worn smooth from constant use. I know why she chose this bowl and used it frequently - it's cheerful with its green polka dots, scalloped edge and fading flowers in the center. My grandmother loved her family, flowers, feeding birds and homeless dogs. Her heart always had room for more. Every time I use it I remember the wonderful times spent in her home, the pecan sandies in her cookie jar, the Cokes in little bottles in her pantry, her big front porch with the swing, and the good Southern food she cooked.



Now I'm off to catch up with blog reading. I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone is stitching!

Have a wonderful week!

Miss Tobias, Sisters and One Seed

It's beginning to feel a little like fall here. The sky is starting to show a crisp, clean blue free of haze and the air has a sharpness in it. I love sitting in my living room and looking out at the woods while I read or stitch. The trees are starting to turn to luscious plum, red, orange, gold and yellow colors, and I love to watch them drop their leaves, like flecks of gold spinning to the ground. I truly hope heaven is a perfect autumn day.

Well, slowly but surely I am moving along and Sarah Tobias is almost done. I have thoroughly enjoyed stitching this piece and I think it's because of a combination of things - 40 count Lakeside linen that I love, same for the NPI silks, variety within the design, lovely colors, thinking about who Sarah Tobias might have been, and the fact that the design is forgiving of my stitching errors. I had in my mind that a symbol was for a thread color other than what it was supposed to be. It seemed to work out fine, or at least I like it just as it is.

Sarah Tobias, Blackbird Designs
40 count Vintage Light Examplar, NPI threads

I seem to be photographically challenged lately and the pictures aren't very clear. But you get the idea.

I started Sampler Sisters of the Thread. This is another fun piece to stitch. I really like the alphabet, especially the unexpected shape of the letters. Look at the G and J, and the long leg of the K. Very nice. I've misplaced the Moss thread and that is why there are gaps in the alphabet. I've been twice to my LNS to buy it, but end up sidetracked and leaving without it.

Sampler Sisters :) of the Thread, Primitive Needle
40 count Pearled Barley, recommended threads

And you may not really be able to see the next photo, but I updated One Seed for Another with the thread I had to order. I absolutely love fences and gates in samplers and this one is no exception. I adore this vine covered gate. I cannot say the same about the over one verse! You can see the little bit of progress I've made on the one over one verse. After taking out the G in Goode a couple of times, I decided to come back to it later.

One Seed for Another
Goode Huswife
40 ct Vintage Light Examplar, NPI silk

In case you've been wondering how Miss Kitty is doing, here she is sporting her new pink collar with tag labeled with her name and phone number. When she gets bored she jumps up on my desk and sprawls out on my work papers as if to say, "Really, you are very boring today and it's time for you to rub my tummy."

Hope you are all well and have a very good week!

Finishes and a new start

Finishes, finally! Actually, they've been finished for a little while, but I've been waiting for the rain to stop and clouds to leave so I could take pictures.

A Whistling Girl is finally finshed. Although I liked the design, I wasn't crazy about using just one thread on 36 count, but I do see that it fits the piece.

A Whistling Girl
Hands to work
36 count Examplar
recommended threads, one over two

The Amanson sampler is also finished. Whenever I work on a reproduction piece, I always wonder about the original stitcher. Can you imagine what Erika would think if she knew that her little sampler was being replicated today? Imagine how you would feel if in a hundred plus years someone found a sampler you stitched and reproduced it - that would be amazing! Reproduction stitching always reminds me of something written by Thomas Carlyle:

Past departs not, nothing that was worthy in the past departs; no Truth or Goodness realized by man ever dies, or can die; but is all still here, and recognized or not, lives and works through endless changes. ~"Characteristics" Thomas Carlyle, 1831~

Erika Katrina Amanson (1870)

The Essamplaire
32 count Vintage Examplar
conversion to Weeks, GAST

Since its release, I've wanted to stitch Blackbird Design's Sarah Tobias. I like the neatness and clean design of each motif. I converted the threads to NPI silks using Joy's conversion as a guide, and am in love with the color of this red thread (although the picture doesn't do it justice). It complements the mossy brown and different greens very nicely.

The first motif is missing its left flower and stem and will have to wait til later to add it as I really wanted to be done with it and move on to the next motif.

Sarah Tobias
Blackbird Designs
40 count Vintage Light Examplar
NPI conversion

Hope you have a great weekend!

BabyGirl and BF - fresh peach ice cream!