On the Road Again

I finally got my bag unpacked and all the laundry done from my St. Louis trip last week and am packing it up for a trip to Michigan starting tomorrow.  This trip is for fun so packing will be a little different than last week's which was for work, but still takes a bit to figure out what I need (of course if I forget anything, there are stores nearby...).  A bit of stitching has happened but nothing that will win me any speed awards.

First up, Christmas Presence.  I spent a good chunk of a morning working on it and got several colors completed.  It went from here:

to here:

I think I will work on him this afternoon as the blank spaces are big blocks of color and should fill in fairly fast.

I pulled out a semi-oldie for my small piece this week, 12 Days from Plum Street Samplers.

I finished the vertical between 9 and 10 and started the bottom line on 9.  Oh yes and started 10th day.  I think the black bit is a hat, but I am not 100% sure.

To Have and To Hold had the most progress and is here now:

More backstitching.  This band also has three Rhodes hearts which I am looking forward to.

I am just waiting for clothes to dry so I can pack my bag so while I'm doing that I think I'm going to work on Christmas Presence and then put To Have and To Hold back on the frame for tonight's stitching block.  I have a small piece I found in my stash drawer that I may take with me in case I get tired of reading.

Gifted Gorgeousness and IHSW

It's a bit past the 15th, so a little late for the official  check-in.  Fortunately, Jo keeps the check-in open for a few days to allow us stragglers to catch up.  If you click on the Gifted Gorgeousness 2016 picture, it should take you to the official rules page.  The Reader's Digest version is - stitch with something, pattern, thread, needles or fabric, that someone else gave you and show it off to the rest of the world to say "thank you" or if you're stitching something that will be a gift, you can show it off here.

Stitching has been a bit slow but I do have two pieces that fit the criteria.  The first is:

Christmas Presence  This was one of the 2015 Heaven and Earth Designs SAL pieces.  As it was a freebie, I am counting it as a gift from the charter/designer.

I finished a column and got a good start on the next one.  I am debating whether to do the last column or not. The piece will be  a 4.75"X4.75" square once this new column is completed.  I like the idea of a square, but I also like the idea of having a bit of play for framing.

My second piece is another Heaven and Earth Designs piece, It's About Time. Kate at Needles and Haystacks gifted this pattern to me. 

I finished one more square in this column.

And that's all I have for Gifted Gorgeousness this month.  These are also the only two pieces I worked on for .  Not as much as I would have liked but time just got away from me this weekend.  I'm all packed for my trip.  The weather is supposed to be miserably hot in the central US this week and I've seen predictions for 101+ F for Wednesday - so glad we'll be inside.

Not Much Stitching

Stitching has been a bust the last week or so.  Time just seems to be zipping past me.  I can't tell you exactly what it is I'm doing, but it's taking all day to get it done.

The one piece I did work on was The Sweetheart Tree's To Have and To Hold Bridal Sampler.  I am happy with the change to purple/lilac threads.  I am a bit concerned with the beads, but have a while before I get to those.

The colors are a little off and there isn't a fold in the middle - very strange what shows up on the camera.

The silver cord just above the Scotch stitches is not enjoyable to work with, but the little bit of sparkle is nice.

They started the office repair/renovations today, so my last day in the office was yesterday.  I fly out to St. Louis for a week on Monday and then start two weeks of vacation when I get back on Friday.  Right now, I should be back in the office on August 8th, but there are so many offices being done in the building that I think they are running behind schedule, so it may be a little later. 

This week is the third weekend of the month so it's .  Click on Hermie there and it should take you to the sign up page.  It's supposed to be a scorcher here so a good weekend to sit inside and stitch.

A Finish, a Start and some WIPs

No excuse for not posting, not reading or not commenting, I just managed to stay away from the computer, except for work, for the last few weeks.  I filled in the time with reading, stitching and yard work.  There was some housework in there also, but I don't like to think of that too much.

As the title says, I had a finish!  Here is Just Nan's Christmas Soldiers

Now to get the fabric and get it finished-finished.  As I mentioned before, I am thinking of green for the backing and cording.  One stocking down, one to go.

While the recipient of the next stocking makes up her mind on a pattern, I started DNephew's wedding sampler:

This is To Have and To Hold Bridal Sampler by The Sweetheart Tree.  It is stitched on 28-count Platinum Cashel with DMC, WDW, Kreinik, perle cotton, and Mill Hill beads.  I did change the charted blues for purples to match the wedding colors.   As usual for a Sweetheart Tree there is a ton of backstitching, which is my least favorite stitch, but so far it's going well and I am excited to try all the different stitches in the sampler.

In addition to these two pieces, I worked on four other WIPs, It's About Time, Shakespearean Fantasy,  Christmas Presence, and The Sampler Life SAL.

I finished one column and one block of the next column of It's About Time.

 

The lines that are showing up in the picture do not show up in real life - not sure why they show up in this photo.

 

Next?  More black in Shakespearean Fantasy:

 

 



Slowly but surely moving along. 

A bit more on Christmas Presence:

I think I'm stitching paneling and curtains, but not completely sure.

I also added a few more stitches to Tiny Tiger on my The Sampler Life SAL piece:

The nice thing about such a small piece is that the focus shows up almost immediately (although the right ear looks a bit strange right now).

Hard to believe it's July already.  The really nice thing is that between office renovations (they're finally coming in to repair the damage from the 2011 earthquake and replace the 1970's era carpeting), a week long training and my vacation, I only have to go into the office four days this month.  I will also have a week's worth of telework in there, and it will be so nice to have that extra three hours of sleep each morning.  Oh and being home at 4:45 rather than 7:30 will be a treat too.