How can it be 2020???

Another year has passed, and once again I am left wondering how it passed so quickly!
All in all, it was a pretty good year, with mostly good things happening and only a few really low points.

My older daughter moved back here to Portland and it has been really nice having her close by again. So now all the chicks are back and we are able to have more family time together.

Jeff and I were able to take a wonderful week in northern Idaho, where we stayed in a cottage on the river and were able to visit Glacier National Park as well

On the sad side, we had to send our beloved dog Eros over the Rainbow Bridge. He was 16 years old and live with us that whole time, so it was a very difficult time for everyone. But, it was his time, and even though we didn't want to say goodbye, we had to think of what was best for him and let him go.

I've been having some problems with my hands which makes stitching for long periods difficult at times, but somehow I still managed to get 19 pieces finished this year. The last two were done last minute for Christmas gifts for my girls.

 This is "I Do", an older design from Bent Creek that I stitched as a belated wedding sampler.

This is called "Take Time to Heal". My daughter and I saw it at a craft fair and she really liked it, so I went home and found the pattern on line and stitched it up for her. The flowers were supposed to be french knots, but since I don't do those well, I used some rainbow gallery thread instead and it turned out really cool and sparkly.

For the coming year, my plan is to work on my WIPs (of which there are many!) No more "start too many projects in January" and then never finish most of them for me. I am keeping myself to no more than 3 new starts at most each month...still probably more than I should, but there are so many projects calling to me from my stash that I can't help myself! I've joined a sort of support group for WIP stitchers, and we have vowed to keep each other motivated!

For January, I am going to try to finally finish my two oldest WIPs. Since they are 20 years old, it seems like the right time!

The first one is called "Alice" and it by Lynne Niccoletti.

This second one is the January quilt from Paula Vaughn's book "Quilts for All Seasons". It is my oldest WIP.

And my January 1st start is Quaker Street by Marjorie Massey. I made a small start on it today, while watching the Oregon Ducks win the Rose Bowl...quite a fun game to watch!

I've made a few resolutions, but I'll talk about them next time. Until then, I hope you all have a wonderful 2020 to look forward to.

Please remember to always be kind to yourself and others.

Happy stitching!
lynda

Autumn Equinox 2019

It's hard to believe that fall is already upon us...it's my favorite season, so I am one happy camper, but once again the year is flying by. And once again, there is the hope that I will have the ability to stick to posting to this blog on a regular basis...the desire is there, but the days just seem to go by too fast.

I have been stitching, in part due to some monthly challenges that are keeping me focused. I am also doing Stitch from Stash this year, and I'm doing pretty well (even though I am still adding to my stash from time to time!) I got through the first 6 months with money to spare...not doing as well this half, but I think I will catch up soon.

One of the challenges I decided to try was the Stitch 9 Challenge. This was started by Farmgirl on Instagram. You choose 9 projects to complete before the end of the year. So far, I have 5 of the 9 completed. I'm hopeful that I will be able to finish the other 4. 

Here are some pics of 4 of the ones I have completed:

The first is Spell of the Moon from Blackbird Designs:

Next is Coming to Town from Prairie Schooler. I used the 2011 date because that was the year it was released as an annual piece. I'd like to find the other yearly designs to do someday as well.

This is Mansfield Park from The Sampler Girl. This was a WIP for a long time. I decided to restart it because I didn't like the original fabric I had chosen.

Last is Quaker Gone Poe from Michelle Ink. I love Quakers, and I love Edgar Allen Poe, so this was a no brainer for me to want to stitch, and it was really a pleasure to do. I enjoyed it so much!

I have lots of other projects on the go, many as a result of pulling out WIPs for the monthly challenges with the 24 Hours of Cross Stitch facebook group. I have been encouraged to make progress each month and I see some more finishes coming before the end of the year.

I'll share some more pictures next time, but until then, I hope that maybe I still have some readers left, and if you're one of them, thank you!

"Till next time, please be kind to yourself and others.
xoxo lynda (cozysitcherpdx)

Nancy has done it again!!!

Nancy Turner is again offering a set of her beautiful threads to a lucky winner. These are the gorgeous purple shades, and if you are a purple lover like I am, you must be drooling already! The drawing ends March 1st, so hurry on over to Nancy's blog to enter.

If you have never tried her threads, you are in for a real treat! Good luck!!

Be kind!
lynda

More wonderful giveaways!

Hello stitchy friends!

Please head over to the Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe blog where Nancy is so generously offering two wonderful thread giveaways...the flower collection and the autumn collection. Both sets are gorgeous!

Good luck!

March WIPocalypse update

I have been a pretty lazy stitcher (and poster) these past weeks, but I have managed to get a little bit done.

Since I missed last month's check-in, I'll show a picture of what I accomplished on Light of Peace first. This was my Olympic challenge piece. It's my first full coverage and really slow going for me. And, to be honest, I paid much more attention to what I was watching than to my stitching! I love the winter Olympics!

Also, to answer last month's question, I have lots of gadgets, but the three things I absolutely need to stitch with are a good light (either natural or lamp), a magnifier of some kind and my needle threader (can't live without that!)

I have stitched a little on some of my Year of WIPs pieces, but the only WIPocalyse piece that I worked on was Strawberry Fields Forever from Blackbird Designs. I was able to finish the stitching on the upper left corner of the piece.

To answer this month's question, the one new to me dyer that I love is Colour and Cotton. Her fabrics are lovely, and her threads are gorgeous! Other dyers that I have used for some time that I would recommend are Victorian Motto Sampler and Carrie's Creations for threads, and Chromatic Alchemy and Under the Sea Fabrics for fabrics. They all have outstanding products and amazing colors. As far as designers, I am always discovering new designs thanks to Facebook groups and Flosstube. I think Stone Street Stitchworks has some really cool designs, and I love Madame Chantilly and Lili Violette. I also always seem to be drawn back to Barbara Ana Designs, Ink Circles, Kathy Barrick, Jardin  Prive and Silver Creek Samplers.

I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone has stitched this past month. 'Till next time, please take time to be kind to yourself and others.

March

Hello again friends!

It's hard to believe that it is already March! And even harder to believe that the month is nearly half over! Yesterday, our temps were up to 70 and today it is way cooler and rainy  - typical PNW weather! I was going to try to make March a "Stitch Every Day" month, but that just didn't happen. I really don't think I was meant to "plan".... other than to just pick up whatever I feel like stitching on any given day. I guess that could be called a plan...maybe!

I also meant to blog way more often this year, but February went by in a blur. Technology and I were not friends and I couldn't get my computer and camera to cooperate with each other at all. I missed all my SAL posts for the month so I will have to catch up next month. I did post my TUSAL on the Facebook group though.

And my stitching bug decided to take a vacation as well...wanted to get out of the cold, I guess! I did have a finish, and did a bit on my full coverage piece, but I really do not like the fabric I am using for that. It is a Monaco (Charles Craft, I think) but it feels a little stiff. Is there anything I can do about that, I wonder? My finish was one of my YOWs pieces from this year. It is To Be Thankful from Country Cottage Needleworks ... I changed the fllowers from white to yellow... sorry for the wrinkles

Most of the month was taken up with watching the Olympics, which I really enjoyed; doing our taxes, (which I didn't enjoy at all!), spending lots of time with my husband because he was off for a week (and talking about his maybe retiring this summer - YAY!) and paying off our mortgage (triple YAY!!!) Oh...and I also made a cannoli cake for my daughter for her birthday cake, which was a big hit! So the month flew by and we are well into the Year of the Dog.

So far this month, I've worked some on Light of Peace and Strawberry Fields, but I don't have pictures I can share here yet. I also had a fun time at Acorns and Threads at their Market Day. Jeanine was kind enought to bring back a bunch of things for me and I added to my bag when I was there. There were so many great designs at Market this year. Here is a pic of what I got that day:

I just want to start them all right away!

The birds are singing, the doggies are all sleeping...seems like a perfect time to stitch, so that is what I am going to do! Thank you to everyone who takes the time to still read my blog, and for your comments. It really means a lot. Please remember to be kind to yourself and to others, and to be grateful for every day.

'Til next time,
lynda
















































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WIPocalypse Update

Hello, friends! Sorry to be a day late for this check-in. The weekend just flew by and before I realized it, it was gone!

I have been feeling kind of out of sorts for awhile, but I have been stitching, and I was able to make good progress on some of the pieces I chose for this year.

Two of these are carryover pieces from last year's Year of WIPs. This first one is from The Cricket Collection. It is called Dickens' Mittens - The Last Word (Book #288). This piece was started in January of 2011 in one of those Crazy January Challenges. It is stitched on a very pale greenish/gray 28 ct. jobelan with the called for DMC. 

The second piece that didn't get finished last year is a sampler from primitiveBettys. I love her samplers and this is one of my favorites. It is called Live Laugh Love and was also started in January 2011. It is stitched on a piece of 28 ct. opalescent jobelan from Silkweavers called Chocolate Vanilla Swirl, with the called for DMC. You can't really see it, but in real life, it looks very sparkly!

One of my plans for this year was to stitch Light of Peace, and I did make a very small start on it. It is stitched on 28 ct. antique white Monaco with the called for DMC.

Questions for this month: What other SALs are you participating in? Do you plan on joining the Olympics Challenge and what are your goals?

Full disclosure, I don't do very well keeping up with designer SALs...you know, the ones with a new part every month or so. I start out ok with part one and print out the parts, but then I fall away. I do have a few of these from Tempting Tangles designs that I hope to finish someday because I do love the designs.

For this year, I hope to join in on some of the SALs from the different Facebook groups I belong to, like Stitch from Stash, Stitch Maynia, and Soulful Stitching. I am also doing a year-long Sampler SAL a mitten SAL, and a year-long Little House Needleworks/Country Cottage Needleworks SAL.

I do plan on joining the Olympic Challenge. I am opting for the Endurance Run...not because I am a one at a time stitcher, but I would really like to make some headway on Light of Peace. It is my first full coverage piece and I think if I dedicate myself to putting stitches in it every day during the Olympics I will see progress. Since this type of design is new for me, I am hoping to finish page one (there are 4 pages, the design is divided into quadrants)

So, until next time, please remember to be kind to yourself and others and to be grateful for every day.

Thanks for visiting!

A Busy Stitchy Weekend!

This past weekend was both International Hermit and Stitch Weekend as well as WIP It Weekend with the Little House/Country Cottage group. Since I have a few Little House pieces in my Year of WIPs, I decided to concentrate on one of those.

This is Necessities Sampler. It is stitched on a neutral colored 28 ct. jobelan with the called for DMC threads. I started it in January 2015 as part of one of those Crazy January Challenges.

This next piece is from The Cricket Collection Book #328 (the one with Playing with Jax). It is called Little Boo and is stitched on a 32ct. Lugana from Picture this Plus - Chrysalis (a very very pale green),with mostly the called for DMC threads. I did not use the Kreinik and also subbed an Anchor thread for the eggplant color.  I love stitching these little mittens and hope to finish them all one of these days!

It's a gray and rainy day here in Oregon, perfect for curling up by the fire and attacking those WIPs, so until next time, remember to be kind to yourself and others and to be grateful for every day.

Thanks for visiting!

A Wonderful Giveaway

If you have used Victorian Motto Sampler Threads, you know how beautiful they are. If you haven't tried them yet, you should!

Nancy is having another wonderful giveaway of a set of her threads. Stop by here to see how you can enter!

Good Luck!

YOW 2018

Hello friends, today is the official start of Soulful Stitching's Year of WIPs (YOW) 2018! Soulful Stitching is a Facebook group run by Melanie Watkins. Last year, I finished 12 out of 16 projects and I feel pretty good about that. Some of them were WIPs that were around for years. So this year, I have chosen 20 projects to work on for this SAL. 

Project #1: This is Dreidel, Dreidel from Ink Circles. This was my January 1 start this year (barely!)

Project #2: This is Carve Blessings from Count Your Blessings. Started in January 2017... this was supposed to be a 10 stitches per day project, but I found that hard to do, so here it is!

Project #3: This is Thread Gathering from Little House Needleworks. This was the original kit, and I started it soon after it came out, but I can't remember when that was, sometime in 2006 though.

Project #4: This is Olde Shaker Tune from Homespun Elegance. This was started January 2011, s part of  Crazy January Challenge.

Project #5: This is Hawaiian Mandala from Ink Circles. This was started in July 2016. I've had to buy threads for this 3 times because I kept losing them!

Project #6:This is Coffee Quaker from Heartstring Samplery. This was started in September 2017, a SAL I didn't keep up with.

Project #7: This is Mansfield Park from The Sampler Girl. I started this many years ago, but didn't like the fabric, so I restarted it again in November 2017. (this was one of my original pieces from last year but I misplaced the pattern and had to replace it with a different project.)

Project #8: This is Thirty Birds from Hands to Work. I started this in January 2011, another Crazy January Challenge start.

Project #9: This is The Bookshelf from Little House Needleworks. I started this in June 2006. (another piece from last year that I lost the pattern for...do you see a trend here?)

Project #10: This is A Good Marriage from Lizzie Kate. I started this in January 2017 (again, barely!) I had hoped to finish this for our wedding anniversary last year...maybe this year?

Project #11: This is My To Do List from Lizzie Kate. I started this in January 2017.

Project #12: This is Necessities Sampler from Little House Needleworks, I started this in January 2015, another Crazy January Challenge start.

Project #13: This is Ocean Daughter from Who Knows? I started this in January 2017. I started this as pasrt of a monochrome challenge SAL but didn't get very far.

Project #14: This is Deers Among Wood from Dessins DHC. I started this in December 2017. I've had this in my stash for so long and I'm glad to finally have started it!

Project #15: This is To Be Thankful from Country Cottage Needleworks. I started this in September 2017, another birthday SAL piece.

Project #16: This is Warm Winter Woolens from Little House Needleworks. I started this in January 2012, another Crazy January Challenge piece.

Project #17: This is Gina, Queen of the Sea from Ink Circles. I started this in September 2017, as part of a birthday SAL.

Project #18: This is 47 Hearts from Silver Creek Samplers. i started this in February 2015.

Project #19: This is Quaker Gone Poe from Mchelle Ink. I started this in November 2017.

Project #20: This is Cinnamon Stars from Plum Street Samplers. I started this in November 2017.

Whew! So that's quite a lot! I think I have my work cut out for me. No real plan...I thought about doing a rotation, but I think I am more likely to just stitch what I feel like each day. I'll post my progress here, so I hope you'll follow me on this journey.

Until next time, please remember to be kind to yourself and others and to be grateful very day!
Thanks for visiting!

TUSAL 2018

Hello friends! Today is the first New Moon of 2018, which means it is time for our first TUSAL check-in of the year. TUSAL stands for Totally Useless SAL and this SAL has been around for several years now. I didn't take part last year because I wasn't able to stitch for a good portion of it, but it's a fun SAL and I'm glad to join in again for 2018.

 To participate, you must have a blog or join the Facebook group (to post) and all you do is collect your ORTs  (those little leftover bits of floss) all month and post on each New Moon. It's fun, and if you want to join you can go here for all the details.

I've brought my Froggy out of retirement to help me share my orts for this month. There hasn't been as much stitching happening as I had planned, but I did start a few new projects, so the basket isn't empty!

Until next time, please remember to be kind to yourself and others and be grateful for every day!

Thanks for visiting!

Gifted Gorgeousness 2018

Hello friends, well I'm a day late for this check-in, but better late than never!

Gifted Gorgeousness is a SAL hosted by Jo at Serendipitous Stitching. We are supposed to share things that we are stitching for gifts, or things that were gifted to us, or using materials that were gifted to us...you get the idea! I'm sort of stretching it with the piece I started on Saturday. This design was loaned to me by a stitching friend, but I consider being able to stitch it a gift, so I think it counts!

This is Grim Gourds by Plum Street Samplers. It's stitched on a 28ct. Jobelan (sandcastle) with mostly the called for DMC. I substituted Weeks Onyx for the 310 and Sunset Medium from Victorian Motto Sampler Threads for 729.

Until next time, please remember to be kind to yourself and others and be grateful for every day!
Thanks for visiting!

WIPocalypse 2018 - the First Post

Hello friends! Thanks to all of you who welcomed me back. I am really looking forward to a year of stitching all the things!

WIPoocalyse is a yearly SAL in which participants try to get all their WIPs stitched before the end of the world. It was started by Melissa in 2011 or 2012 (I think) to help us all achieve that goal. You can find more information about the SAL here. Each month we also have a topic or question to talk about. For the first post...an introduction, and talk about our plans and projects for the coming year.

I'm lynda, wife, and mother to two grown daughters and 4 furbabies, and grandma to one adorable little boy; a retired librarian and a stitcher since high school. I started with crewel embroidery and then stamped cross stitch and finally counted cross stitch. That was a long time ago, and my tastes have changed a lot since then. When I started, it seemed all I stitched were Precious Moments designs, and most of them, if not all, were given away as gifts. The first big piece I did was a unicorn tapestry that my mother still has hanging in her home. Now, my tastes run all over the place and I have lots of designers that I love from primitives to quirky. I especially love Quakers and samplers of all kinds.

A few years ago, I joined in on WIPocalyse...I think it was 2012. I started out pretty well but didn't get too much accomplished. Anyway, since I am also doing the YOW challenge (more on that in my next post), I decided to concentrate on some other pieces for this year's SAL. I am pulling out some UFO's, my four carryover pieces from last year's YOW and a couple more. (I am also going to post a page at the top of my blog of all the pieces that I have put at least a few stitches in...those that I can find, that is!)
(I apologize in advance for all the wrinkles in the photos!)

The UFOs date back to 2000! The first is from Paula Vaughn - the  January Quilt from her book Quilts for All Seasons. I started it in January of that year, and my plan was to stitch one quilt a month all year! Ha! What was I thinking??? I do know why I put this one aside. First, I had joined in on some forums on the internet and was introduced to lots of wonderful designs. Then I found jobelan and realized how much easier fractional stitches were on that, as opposed to the aida I had been using. And I realized that I had made a mistake in the quilt and got frustrated. Anyway, too much rambling!

The second piece is called Alice and it is by Lynne Nicoletti. I remember having a really hard time getting this pattern, and it went pretty quickly when I started it. I don't remember why I put it down tho.

The next piece is Celtic Autumn from Lavender and Lace. I don't remember when I started this one. I do remember getting the color conversion from someone online.

The fourth piece is Love with a Capital "L" from Papillon Creations. Again, can't remember how old this is, but I remember that I had just discovered Carrie's Creations threads and ordered some for this piece! At some point,  I lost the pattern and had to re-order it too.

The last UFO was actually passed on to me many years ago from a friend in Australia. It is from Glendon Place and is called Five Simple Rules. I had to buy some of the threads twice because I misplaced them, but I would really like to get this one finished this year.

The four carryover pieces from last year's Year of WIPs are;

Live Laugh Love from primitiveBettys:

Strawberry Fields Forever from Blackbird Designs:

Dicken's Last Word from The Cricket Collection:

and Sampling in the Square from Blue Ribbon Designs: (this piece was a round robin. I stitched all the borders and lettering and still have the bottom square to complete)

I would also like to work on Quaker Christmas II from ByGone Stitches: (I originally started this several years ago, but after finishing the first page, I realized that I was stitching it horizontally instead of vertically. I had too much stitched to rip out, so I restarted with different colors)

and Light of Peace, a painting from Thomas Kinkaide. ( I haven't started this one yet, but plan to this week)

Now I know there is no way that I will get all of these finished, but my goal is to at least work on each one, and who knows what might happen!

I'm looking forward to working my way through my WIPs with all of you!

Until next time, please remember to be kind to yourself and others and be grateful for every day!
Thanks for visiting!