jan 31

Beatrix Potter Sampler - January progress

Prairie Schooler freebie ornament

Lizzie Kate - Happy Holidays

Lizzie Kate - waiting for little spider charm

I can't believe January is over already. It seems like it was just Christmas.
I'm still struggling with this bug...I did go to the doctor for a Rx but I don't think it's working too well.
I finished my three ornaments for the month this week. There are 2 Lizzie Kate designs and one Prairie Schooler. I still want to add the little spider charm to the one LK, but I have to get the charm first. I really don't like spiders, but when I re-read the story of the Christmas spider it made me want to add the charm after all.
My Beatrix Potter sampler is progressing slowly, but I'm ok with that. I really enjoy stitching on this one so I'm going to take it slow I think.
I'm not sure how well my rotation plan is working. Some days I have done what I set out to do...others, not so much. I'm thinking that it may be partly due to the fact that I really haven't felt well all month and most days when I come home from work I am too pooped to do much stitching. I'll keep pluggin away at it though.
I wish I could figure out how to get these pictures to pst someplace other than the top all the time...can anyone help me?

lynda

jan 25

It's been a quiet Sunday...we woke up to snowflakes but they didn't stick. It's still cold though. I did some grocery shopping and laundry...I don't understand how 2 adults can accumulate so much dirty laundry in a week! But now there's food in the cupboard and an empty laundry basket so I can stitch for a bit. Hubby drove up to Mount Hood for night skiing so I'm alone with the doggies, some leftover pizza and my stitching basket.
I finished the stitching on two ornaments (I'll post a picture once they are finished) and my piece for the Prairie Schooler exchange. Can't show a picture of that one yet though. I'd like to work on one more ornie tonight and maybe finish up one set of fair & square squares.
I've been hit with some kind of infection for the past week which has been making me a bit miserable. I think it's basically the same old cold germs just moving around from body part to body part! Right now I'm drinking lots of cranberry juice!
I didn't get to stitch on "Three Things" this week, but here is a picture as it is now. I've been trying to stitch on Beatrix Potter on Sundays but haven't done any today yet, so no new photo there.
Hope everyone is having a great weekend. It seems weird not to have any football to watch. So I watched figure skating instead!

Jan 21 ~catching up~

I don't know where the week has gone! I thought it was starting to get a bit milder, but this morning it was very cold when I left for work. I feel the sniffles coming back...ugh!
I have been getting a little bit of stitching done, but my camera battery has died so I won't be able to post pictures until the weekend.
I've started one set of squares for the Fair & Squares exchange. Also worked a bit on "Three Things" and the Beatrix Potter Quaker Sampler. I'm almost finished with the first of three ornaments for this month...better get moving on those! And last night I started the Inauguration Sampler design from The Sampler Girl while watching the ceremony and events from yesterday. What a wonderful day...I was in awe watching the faces of everyone in the enormous crowd...you could just feel the hopefulness and pure joy. I am not a very political person, but I am looking forward to the next four years and I truly believe that that they will be good years if we all work together to make it so.

jan 13 ~some small finishes~

With being sick for a week, I wasn't in much of a stitching mood. But I did manage to get a few small things done. One is a bookmark for an exchange so I can't show a photo of that one yet. Ther other two are my monthly blocks for January and February for the Stitcher's Timeout group.
January's theme was "desserts". I stitched the central cake motif from LHN's "Chocolate Shoppe". For February we were to stitch something red, so I chose this red bird from the Reader's Digest Big Book of Cross Stitch Designs.
I also stitched a little bit more on "Three Things", but not enough to show. And I started the Beatrix Potter Quaker Sampler and finished 2 motifs.
I'm hoping to get lots more stitching done this week!

jan 13 ~ stitchy mail!~

I should really go get the mail more often! Today my mailbox was full of wonderful stitchy treasures. The top picture show the very special new design from Heartstring Primitives...I know I said I wasn't going to buy more stash but I just couldn't resist this one! And I didn't even know that Beth lives right here in Oregon! Small world!
Lori Ray had a give-away on her blog a short time ago and I was the lucky winner. This is the package she sent...2 skeins of Eterna silk in the prettiest pastel shades, an issue of the British magazine "Quick and Easy", a piece of ivory jobelan, a stitchy card to make, a tiny Prairie Schooler pattern and a Bent Creek Santa design (2 of my fave designers) and some really pretty thread from South Africa in a beautiful shade of yellow. At the bottom of the photos is the very pretty snowflake block that I received from the Stitchers Timeout monthly block exchange. It is stitched on a pale blue and is so delicate...the photo doesn't do it justice. Thanks so much Rita!

jan 9 ~a no photo post~

I'm sitting here at work sniffling and sneezing...been like this all week. It's really getting old by now!
The worst part of it all is that I am so tired and stuffy that I don't even feel like stitching. So my new rotation has pretty much flown out the window this week! I did manage to almost finish my monthly block, just need to add the personalization. And I did one more motif on Beatrix Potter on Sunday.
I am determined to get at least a little bit of stitching done on "Three Things" tonight at the Friday night SAT with Let's Stitch. So wish me luck, and hopefully tomorrow there will be some pictures to post!

jan 4 ~ the best laid plans ~

Last year I planned to stitch only from my stash. It worked pretty well until about September when I started buying stuff again.
So this year I planned to stitch only from my stash. Then we got snowed in around here and Acorns & Threads (my LNS) decided to have a sale.And I still had my discount coupon from the fall open house. So I stopped by on the way home the other day and promptly fell off the wagon! I did try to buy only things I was almost certain I would get stitched this year though (well...with the exception of the initial "L" piece...I don't think I'll be able to finish that one). Here are some pictures of what I bought. I also got some needles, a few pieces of fabric and lots of floss to go with these and some other things I needed floss for.
So from now on I plan to only stitch from my stash.......

jan 3 ~ rotation ~

I've decided to try doing a rotation this year with my stitching. I've never really done this before so I'm not sure if it will work out or not but we'll give it a go anyway!
This is the plan:
Sunday: BAP
Monday: Blocks & Ornies
Tuesdays: SAL & WIP/UFO
Wednesdays: WIP/UFO
Thursdays: Ornies
Fridays: Let's Stitch SAT (pick a project)
Saturdays: Exchanges & Round Robins
I'm thinking if I finish all my commitments for the month (like have all the ornies done early) then I can start something new. It sort of sounds like a plan to me....

Last night I worked some more on "Three Things". This will be my Friday project until it is finished. The photo shows my progress so far.

jan. 2 ~ happy new year! ~

I can hardly believe it's a new year! Where did the last one go??
I want to update my photo album with pictures of all my finishes for 2008 but probably won't get to it until later this week. I was surprised to see that I had 53 finishes...many were small pieces, but that's a lot for me nonetheless.
I started the Beatrix Potter Quaker Sampler last night and nearly finished one motif. My DH got me a floor stand for Christmas, which was a wonderful surprise, but it took me a little while to get used to using it. And we had to move the recliner back downstairs and my stitching chair upstairs...so it didn't leave much time to stitch. I'm planning on working on it some more on Sunday so I will post a picture then.
Here is a photo of my last stitch of 2008..."Penguins First Christmas" by Brooke Nolan. I was looking through some stash on Christmas Eve and came across this pattern and thought it would be so cute for Asher. I knew I wouldn't see him until late on Christmas night so I stitched like a crazy woman and put the finishing touches on literally minutes before they walked through the door. I know he doesn't even know what an ornament is yet...he's only 5 months old!...but maybe someday he'll think it's kind of cute!
Here's the ornie and a picture of Asher with his Pappi and one of him with his Auntie Sara.