A Good Stitching Week

Before I get to the stitching, I have to say "hello" and "thank you" to my new followers and a "thank you" to those of you that have been following for a while.  I appreciate that you take time out of your day to read whatever it is I am rambling on about.

First, the epilogue for some already finished pieces.  Friday was the opening day of the Virginia State Fair, so The Hubs and I headed out bright and early so we could start the annual junk food feast with breakfast, but also to see how my entries fared in the competition.  I'm thrilled to say:

Christmas Presence placed first in its division (cross stitch on other than Aida) and

Secret Victorian Garden placed second in its division (needlework other than cross stitch - if your piece is more than 50% specialty stitches it goes in this division).  First place went to a very pretty The Common Thread Sampler from Jeanette Douglas Designs.  Things were set up very differently this year, so I am not sure what piece took Best in Section, but there were some very beautiful and beautifully done pieces this year.  Lots of sunshine, lots of food and lots of walking made up the rest of our time there.

Now on to the current pieces.  Thursday evening I put It's About Time on the frame.  I didn't have a lot of time for stitching but I did finish a couple of blocks:



 After the fair on Friday, I worked on Santa and the Mouse for a while

I finished 3 blocks and a few stitches more.  This one is really messy due to having started in the middle and working out.  The circular shape is already forming.

Saturday I took a bit of a break from my rotation and worked on Shakespearean Fantasy for two NOVAs and The Fellowship of the Ring.  I put in right around 1,000 stitches and had another column finish. 

I finally put some decent time into the tiger head from The Sampler Life's SAL (The Two Towers).  I am, once again, not going to have a finish for the Smalls SAL this month, but I am happy with the progress and I think I fixed the error I found last time around.

And finally, I worked on To Have and To Hold Bridal Sampler.  Here's where it was before I started adding the names:

I completed DNephew's name and found it was one block off AGAIN!  Maybe The Return of the King isn't the best movie to have on while working on something that takes some concentration .  This time I put a pin in the starting spot, frogged his first name and restitched it then moved on to the rest of his name.  It is now centered.  I have finished the "and" between their names and part of his fiancé's name and feeling so much better now that the names are pretty much behind me.  They were much more of a chore than I expected.