The best laid plans…

 Well, November didn’t turn out the way I’d planned. It was going along fine…and then I got sick the week before Thanksgiving, and for the rest of the month, I kind of lost momentum. I didn’t have much energy, even to stitch.There were eleven days with no stitching at all, and though I did do a little, there was nowhere near what I’d hoped to do.

I did have one finish, my sixth from my WIPGO board. The design is ‘Live a Quiet Life’ by October House Fiber Arts. It is stitched on a 28 ct. jobelan fabric called Rosemerta from Under the Sea Fabrics with the called for Weeks, Gentle Arts and Classic Colourworks threads.  

I also worked on Quaker Street by Marjorie Massey. It is my 25/7 piece and I am stitching three strands a day on this one. Here is my progress:

November was also Black Sampler November. I stitched a design from La-D-Da called ‘Like Home’. I really planned on finishing it, but that didn’t happen. Here is my progress:

The last piece I stitched on was my birthday start, ‘The Red House Sampler’ by Brenda Keyes. I only made a small start, but a start nonetheless!

So, plans for the rest of December…stitch day 11 and 12 to finish the 12 Days of Christmas by Satsuma Street; continue my 25/7 piece; and maybe start 12 new projects for my own 12 days of Christmas…who knows? I’ve been looking through my file drawers of old patterns and I keep finding so many treasures that I would really love to stitch, so why not start them?

Hoping everyone is enjoying the winter holidays. Remember to be kind to yourself and to others, and happy stitching!

lynda

It's really Fall now!

After lots of days in the mid-high 80's in October, we are finally settling into our usual fall temps and the rain has started. Last night was Halloween, and it was really pouring...kind of sad for all the littles who were out for trick or treat.

I had a couple of small starts in September, both of which have been put aside for now. The first was the "Acorns and Threads" sampler from Carriage House Samplings. I really like this sampler, but I am not really crazy about the thread and fabric I chose. The fabric is much darker than it shows in the photo, so I may be changing this out:

The second piece only got a tiny few stitches, but it is definately one I want to finish. It is "Olivia Ochreleiph" from Silver Creek Samplers, and I love all of the beautiful fall colors in this one.

In October, I participated in the Witchy Stitchy challenge on Embroidery. com The goal is to stitch every day in the month. The first piece I worked on was "Celtic Pumpkin" by The Scattered Seed. I have had this pattern for a long time, and I even had the called for fabric which was a brown linen. I don't normally stitch on linen, but I thought I could manage this small piece. Well, I couldn't! I just had a really hard time keeping my stitches neat. So I substituted a piece of jobelan from my stash (Anubis from Under the Sea Fabrics) and used the called for threads. I was able to start and finish this one during the month!

The second piece I worked on was "Halloween Quaker" by Lila's Studio. I started this one in 2019, but
kept putting it down for one reason or another. I showed where I was in my last post,, but I am happy to say that it is now finished! (and by Halloween too!)

I also am up to date on my "12 Days of Christmas" sampler from Satsuma Street.

My plans for November are simple...I want to stitch all the samplers! I have several I want to start and a few that are WIPs, so I hope I can get some finishes before the end of the month. I'll show what I manage to get done next time.

Also, my next 25/7 piece is another WIP..."Quaker Street" by Marjorie Massey. I started this in January of 2020, and put it down amidst all the COVID stuff going on. Anyway, this is where I started

And where I am after day one:

November is my birthday month, so I am gifting lots of stitching time to myself (I hope!) I hope you will all join me!

Until next time,  please remember to always be kind to yourself, and to others. Happy stitching!

Almost Autumn

 It’s almost Autumn and I can’t wait! This is my favorite time of year…I love the cooler temperatures, wearing warm sweaters and socks, hot cider and all the fall colors.

Now that our hottest days are pretty much over, I also get the chance to sit outside on the front porch and do my stitching. It’s usually pretty quiet in our area and I get to listen to audiobooks or music while I stitch, so I am a happy camper for sure.

I do have a few finishes to share! I have been doing WIPGO (sort of…sometimes it’s hard to keep up) and I have finished a few of my projects.

This is ‘Christmas Sentiments’ from Stoney Creek. It is stitched on an opalescent fabric from Silkweavers which was in my stash since forever. I used the called for threads, but used snowflake buttons instead of stitching all the white snowflakes.

This is ‘Charity’ by Rosewood Manor. Stitched on a white jobelan with the called for DMC, the black is from Anchor.

This piece is called ‘Lena’s Fancy’ by Vintage NeedleArts, stitched on a mystery jobelan with mostly called for over-dyed floss. I stitched this in memory of my grandma Lena, and changed the year to the year she passed away. 

This was not aWIPGO piece, but it a a project that I started in 2016! I actually originally started it in 2012, but after stitching almost 1/4 of the piece, I realized that I was stitching it horizontally instead of vertically!There was too much stitched to frog out, so I shed a few tears and put it away. I finally decided to restart it in 2016, using different fabric and different colors. The flosses are from Victorian Motto. It has been slow going, but at the beginning of August, I joined a new group, stitching 25 minutes or 25 stitches a day on a project. Some days I stitched more, but I was able to finish the piece by the end of the month.

This is ‘Quaker Christmas II’ by By Gone Stitches.

My next 25/7 project is ‘Halloween Quaker’ by Lila’s Studio. I was anxious to start this when it came out, but couldn’t decide on a fabric. Anyway, I finally started it in November 2019, but kept putting it away. I don’t know why! So, this is what it looked like when I picked it up again on September 1st…

And this is where I am now. I’m stitching it on Haunted from Picture This Plus, with the called for flosses, substituting Anchor black for DMC 310. I’m really enjoying this again and hope to have it finished by Halloween.

So, I think that’s all for today. I have lots of stitching plans for the next few weeks, so we’ll see what happens.

  I hope everyone is finding lots of time to stitch, or at least time to play in your stash!

Please remember to be kind to yourself, and everyone you meet.

Until next time…cozystitcherpdx

Spring has sprung….or has it?

It’s the week after Easter, and we had snow flurries last week, so is it really spring? The sun is peeking through the rain clouds, and baseball season has finally started, so I’m saying yes!

Does anyone still blog in the age of Flosstube?? I’m thinking probably not so much, but I’m remembering how much I used to enjoy this, so it’s worth trying again.

I have been doing some stitching  this year, but not as much as I would have liked to. I have finally realized that I am a very slow stitcher, but that’s ok. I still enjoy every stitch, and that’s what is important to me.

I’ve had 2 finishes this year, as well as several starts. I’m doing WIPGO again, but am doing starts instead of WIPs. I’m keeping up with my goal of working on each called for project for 5 days (mostly), and I can see some finishes in my future, so I’m ok with it.

My last finish of 2021 was finished on New Years’s Eve…it is ‘Miss Bingley’s Library’ from Plum Street Samplers.  I really enjoyed stitching this one. Since I hate stitching with white thread, I changed the color of the library…I used a thread from Threadworx that was white with a bit of blue mixed in. I really like the way it turned out.

My first finish of 2022 was actually one of my January WIPGO picks. I finished stitching it during the Love to Stitch 2022 challenge at embroidery.com. Stitching on it every day during February helped and I finished it the first week of March. It was a bit stressful, because I was using a thread from Victorian Motto Sampler Threads…I thought I had enough, but the closer I got to the end, the more nervous I got. Victorian Motto no longer makes all their individual colors, but I was very lucky to have a fellow stitcher send me a skein, and I was able to finish, with a little bit to spare! 

This is ‘Peace Band Sampler’ by Heartstring Samplery. The thread is Angel Flower from Victorian Motto.

My second finish is an older WIP…I’m not sure when I started it, but it was at least a few years ago. At the time, I wanted to finish it during Lent. I think this happened two or three years in a row. But this year I decided to just keep at it until it was finished, and I did finish it in time for Easter. This is ‘Prayer of St. Francis’ from Lizzie Kate, using most of the called for threads (except 1, I think!)

And I’m getting really close to a finish (finally!!) on this one ‘Quaker Christmas II’ from ByGone Stitches. I feel like I’ve been working on this one forever! Maybe soon…….

Anyway, that’s all for now. Hopefully, I’ll have more to show soon.

Please be kind to yourself, and others.

And keep Ukraine in your prayers.