wipocalypse post ( a little late...)

Do we sense a theme here?

Anyway, I've decided to join in this year, because, even though I know that I will be starting new things throughout the year, I really do want to focus on getting some WIPs finished.

And I'm off to a good start. This is a design from ByGone Stitches  called Autumn Quaker Seasons and it is now finished...yay! Actually, I am kind of sad to see it done because I really enjoyed stitching this piece. It is stitched on a beige-y evenweave with threads from Carrie's Creations - Mud Pie, Toasted Marshmallow, and Koala Claw (silk). I started it last January,

This month, we are supposed to introduce ourselves. I've lived in Oregon for the past 22 years, originally from New York. I'm married with two grown daughters and one amazing grandson who is 7 years old. We also currently have two dogs and one cat who let us share their space. I'm a librarian, and am seriously thinking about retirement, maybe in the next year or so. I love to spend my time stitching (duh!); reading cozy mysteries; watching sports and British TV shows; listening to music and finding new places to explore. There is a tab on my blog called "Stitching Plans for 2016". There you will see a list of some of the WIPs I hope to stitch on this year, as well as some other goals...like an ornament a month...I still have 5 days to get January's done!

Hope everyone is having a stitchy day!

gifted gorgeousness...a little ( or a lot!) late

Last year, I signed up to participate in Jo's Gifted Gorgeousness SAL. But, like so many other things last year, I didn't keep up very well. So I decided to sign up again this year. I know...I'm already late for my first post, but hopefully that will get better! Since the regular posting date is the 15th of the month, I will post my progress as of then.

The first piece is the same one I was working on last year...Quaker Seasons - Autumn from By Gone Stitches. The pattern was a Secret Santa gift from Gillie in 2014. This is was my progress then, but I have stitched more on it, so next month I will hopefully have a finish!

This second piece is from Blackbird Designs. I belong to a Blackbird Designs Fans Facebook group, and since so many of their designs have gone out of print and go for huge sums on Ebay, etc, a lending library of sorts has been started. This is a design I was fortunate enough to be able to borrow
(so that's a gift, right? even though it will be returned and re-gifted!) It is called Moon Garden.

So, that is it for January! Now let's see if my addled brain will get this post to the proper place!

Hope everyone is  having a great stitchy month!

lynda

another wonderful giveaway

  
Nancy, from Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe, is generously offering a fabulous Valentine's Day giveaway. Check out her blog for all details.

Have a happy stitchy day!

some stitchy progress

This was an extra long weekend for me. On Thursday, I fell going up the stairs at work (clumsy!) and I have been sore ever since. No-one ever said I was graceful!

I had to take hubby to the doctor on Friday, so stayed home and managed to get some stitches in on Moon Garden. It's getting there...finally! I wish I could take a decent photo of this piece. Maybe when it is finished!

Was lucky enough to have a sleepover with Asher on Saturday, so we got to have lots of grandma time. Always a joy!

The rest of the weekend was mostly spent watching lots of football and running errands, but I did manage to get some more stitches in on my Autumn Quaker. I can see the finish line on this one. I really love stitching on this piece and will be both sorry and happy to see it finished!

Hmmm...can't seem to get this centered. Oh well...off to work. Hope everyone has a wonderful day.

Thanks for taking the time to visit!

first TUSAL of 2016 and some weekend stitches

January 9 was the first New Moon of 2016, and that means our first totally useless SAL post. Here is my faithful froggy with this month's basket of orts. Lots of pretty colors in there.

On Friday, I took part in my first Friday Frolics, thanks to kitten stitching's blog. I decided to stitch on Moon Garden by Blackbird Designs. This is where I ended up. The colors are totally off in this photo. The photo in my previous post is much closer to the actual colors. I don't know how this happened!

On Saturday, I picked up my Autumn Quaker Sampler to work on. This is a piece that I really want to finish soon. I love the colors and I love working on it.

And finally, on Sunday, I re-started Quaker Christmas II. I didn't get very far, but I am thinking that this will be a long term labor of love. Slow and steady.

I feel really good about the things I accomplished this weekend. I worked on the three pieces that I wanted to work on and made some progress on each. I haven't set any goals for this week...maybe tomorrow...

Thanks for taking the time to visit today...happy stitching!

friday follies

My friday got off to a messy start when I spilled my entire chai latte while opening the door to the library this morning. And I'm cold again. I know, stop complaining! Everyone else in the building is too warm and I am sitting here with a huge fleece blankie wrapped around me, trying to warm up. Plus, I think I probably look a tad ridiculous. Oh well.

I am really looking forward to some stitching time this weekend. I've stitched a tiny bit on my autumn sampler, but to be honest, I have been so tired every night when I get home that I have been falling asleep in the chair more often than putting needle and thread to fabric. I feel really bad too, because hubby doesn't get home now until almost 9 at night, so theoretically I have lots of time to stitch...and instead, I have been snoozing. Maybe it's just that this was the first week back after the holidays and I'll get a second wind or something...

I'm thinking of stitching on Moon Garden tonight. This is a design from Blackbird Designs, and the pattern has been loaned to me since it is out of print. Because of this, I really want to get it finished, but for some reason, I just can't seem to get into stitching it. The colors are all very pastel shades...maybe that's it, I don't know. But I decided to give it all my attention tonight and see how far along I get. This is my starting point:

Saturday will be devoted to the autumn quaker sampler, and then on Sunday, I plan on re-starting Quaker Christmas 2. I started this one a long time ago, and didn't get very far (a theme with me!). When I picked it up again last year, I was really determined to finish it by Christmas. Then I finished the first page, and when I went to start the second, I realized that I had stitched it the wrong way on the fabric. I had the short ends on the sides, making it more horizontal like QC1, but it should have been more vertical. I just didn't have the heart or the energy to pick out everything I had stitched, so I put it away for later. Now later is here, and I have new threads and a new piece of fabric and I am just starting over. Let's see how far I come this year!

I hope you all have lots of time to stitch this weekend. Thanks for taking the time to come and visit!

snow day!

Yesterday, I got an unplanned snow day, thanks to all the ice all over the roads. We woke up to snow on Sunday...pretty unusual here in the valley...but it gradually turned to icy rain which turned to really hazardous road conditions. Now, I am originally from the Hudson Valley region of New York, and no stranger to snow and cold weather, but I must confess to becoming a bit of a weather weakling since moving to Oregon! I don't like the cold all that much at all! And driving on ice is not the same as driving in snow!

So, on went the fireplace, and with a nice big mug of tea, I hunkered down to watch the new season of Downton Abbey and stitch to my heart's content. What a wonderful day!

And this is the result...my little lost but not forgotten Lizzie Kate. Geesh...it only took 4 years to finish...what was I thinking! It just needs two little buttons.

Anyway, I also found another lost treasure...another Lizzie Kate design called The Art of Aging Artfully.  I started this one on January 29, 2012...but this is as far as I got.

So I'm thinking that maybe I'll do a letter or two a week, and pretty soon it will be finished.

Tonight, I will be stitching on my Quaker Autumn Sampler. Gillie (at Friendly Stitchers) has challenged us to pick up a WIP and finally get it done, so this is the one I have decided to do first. It's fitting too, because this was a gift from Gillie when she was my Secret Santa a couple of years ago.
I've finished the first page.

Thanks for stopping by to visit today...I hope everyone is enjoying their day!

not the way I planned to start stitching the new year!

Not sure why I thought any "plans" I might have made would go smoothly...

The stitching plan was to start the 2015 Prairie Schooler Santa on New Year's Eve...the pattern didn't come in time and my grandson spent the night and we welcomed in the new year together. New Year's Day was to find me starting Crazy Socks from Rosewood Manor...but that day was spent playing with my grandson and continuing nursing the hubby through a bout of vertigo. Today we woke up to snow falling...something that doesn't happen too often here, and I spent a lot of time "thinking" about what I should stitch, finally filling in our 2016 wall calendar and wondering how/if I could get to work tomorrow.

I finally picked up a needle and thread when I found this little ditty while searching for something else. It is Lizzie Kate's Did You Ever Stop to Think...seemed appropriate! I did some sleuthing and realized that I started this in January of 2011 (yikes!) as part of one of those 'start a bunch of new designs in January' challenges. You can see that I didn't get very far that January! Hopefully, it will get finished this January!

I hope everyone has a happy and healthy 2016! Did everyone start a new piece on New Year's Day?

Thanks for taking the time to visit my blog!

a special giveaway to start off the new year!

Nancy, from Victorian Motto Sampler, is graciously offering another giveaway of some of her beautiful flosses. Visit her blog to see all of her gorgeous threads and patterns. 

Good luck!