Retreating, WIPocalypse and Smalls

Camp Stitchalot was a resounding success.  The weather here on the East Coast another Nor'easter made for a tense Wednesday as they kept pushing back the snow stop time and I was leaving early Thursday morning.  Fortunately the snow stopped, the roads were clear and Federal government offices in DC opened two hours late, so I didn't have to deal with horrible traffic on the way north.  An overnight at my sister's and I was off to Davison, Michigan.  I made a stop at Stitches 'n Things it was sort of on the way after all to do some pre-retreat shopping, but didn't spend too much as there was going to be a boutique at the hotel and I could always go back to the shop if I really needed something.  I got checked-in, settled in and did a quick run around the boutique before heading off across the parking lot to Lucky's Steakhouse for dinner with my sister-in-law.  The retreat officially started at 7:30 with a welcome and a very nice gift bag (including a very nice bag).  I've already put all the things away so no pictures but it included two limited edition GAST threads, a fabric frame, some yummy candy and some charts. 

Beth Seal of Summer House Stitche Workes was the guest designer and I signed up for her pendent class here are my finished pieces

Friday evening we picked and cut out the pictures and glued them into the pendent.  Saturday we sealed them and Sunday we put a resin coat on them.  They're about 1" square and I think I will make scissor fobs out of them.

The rest of the weekend was stitching, stitching and a bit more stitching with some shopping thrown in there for good measure.  I started Silver Creek Samplers Forever Love as my retreat project and got it to here before I left:

Stitched on 32-count Picture This Plus "Earthern" with Weeks Dye Works and Gentle Art Sampler Threads

This is a wedding sampler for The Hubs' niece.  A couple more words and some filling motifs and the major part of the stitching will be done.  There is a band across the bottom with the bride and groom's initials and wedding year to finish it all off.  I hope to have the majority of it finished this week.  The wedding isn't until next year, so I am well ahead on it!!

I also worked on Just Nan's Happy Bluebird while there and finished it at my parent's.  This is where the  part of my title comes into play.  The Smalls SAL is hosted by Heather at Stitching Lotus and is a reminder that bigger isn't always better.  I had great hopes of finishing my The Sampler Life SAL this year with this SAL, but so far I have found other smalls that are more interesting. 

Stitched on 28-count Antique White Brittany with called for threads and Bluebird charm

And looking at the photo, I just realized that I missed an eyelet, so a 99.99% finish.  I'll be stitching an eyelet tonight for a 100% finish.

I mentioned shopping.  Here are three of the things I bought:

The pattern is "Bloom Where You're Planted" from With Thy Needle and Thread.  There's a thread inside the package the pattern does not come with the thread I just store them all together, so the photo is actually of four things.  The fabrics are from Hand Dyed Fabric by Stephanie.  Stephanie herself was there and honestly we looked a bit like a swarm of locust descending on her when she came in.  The fabric on the left is 32-count Balsam Fir and the one on the right is 28-count Autumn Splendor. In addition to the pictured items, I ordered a piece of 32-count Glastonbury Tor for Mirabilia's Shakespeare's Fairies after hemming and hawing over colors - thank you to everyone that helped with the decision making.  I also picked up Crab from the Mill Hill Buttons and Beads collection and the GAST for Ingleside Imaginarium's Guardians of Notre Dame.  I am happy to report that I stayed within my budget, but I could have blown it wide open with the fabrics.  The whole "colors are different on your monitor" thing?  TRUE!!  I never would have picked Glastonbury Tor if I hadn't seen it in person.

Last but definitely not least is .  WIPocalypse is hosted by Melissa at Measi's Musings and is a gentle nudge to finish some of those pieces that may not have been getting the love they deserve.  Melissa gives us blogging topics each month - this month's is: What newer designers and product creators (fabric or floss dyeing, etc) out there have you discovered and recommend?  I am always the last to find out about something new, so if I mention it as new it's most likely many months or years old. So with that caveat, for me, Stephanie's fabrics from above are definitely my newest "oh my, where have you been all my stitching life" product. 

As far as WIPocalypse stitching, Goldie went from here:

to here:

and Japanese Zen Garden went from here:

to here:

My weekend plans other than a boatload of laundry are to add that last eyelet on Bluebird, finish off the main portion of Love, pick out my small for April, and then figure out where I am in my rotation - I really think Goldie is up but would love to put a few stitches in Zen.  decisions, decisions....

IHSW Round Up and TUSAL

So, I had Saturday and Sunday to stitch.  Minimal interruptions and Cadfael queued up on Britbox so what did I do?  Completely frittered Saturday away doing I can't remember what and spent most of Sunday morning making a packing list for my trip.  I didn't sit down to stitch until almost 1:00 Sunday afternoon.  Thank goodness dinner was in the slow cooker or I would have lost a lot more time.  Needless to say, I did not have the progress on Goldie that I would have liked, but have only my inability to focus to blame.  I did learn that the only place more dangerous than semi-modern Midsomer was/is 12th century Shrewsbury Abbey and its surroundings.

While I didn't live up to my expectations for an IHSW, there was a fair amount of stitching done.

On Friday Goldie was here:

and right before I took it off the stand it was here:

I almost forgot my  post.  TUSAL is hosted by Sharon at It's Daffycat.  If you stitch, knit, crochet or do any sort of craft you have the raw materials to participate in TUSAL - scraps and snips.  Save all those bits that you'd normally throw away and every new moon post a photo.  Why? Because everyone needs an excuse for a pretty jar.

Okay, so maybe this photo is more an excuse to showcase Trouble again, but you can see the ORTS in the jar.  You can also see the not so yellow flowered meadow.  The current forecast will have the meadow white by Wednesday afternoon or evening.  They're predicting a snow storm starting anywhere from now until sometime Wednesday with anywhere from 0" to several feet of snow.  Okay, they haven't said feet, but the constant coverage on the television would make you think so.

Gifted Gorgeousness and it's IHSW!

After days with temperatures in the 80s a few weeks ago, we have been below normal the last week or so.  It has also been very windy - like blow my car around on the highway windy.  I don't drive a high profile vehicle so I am not used to it.  Ah well, I ran all my errands this afternoon, so I plan to stay in all weekend and participate in !! 


 is hosted by Joysze at Random Ramblings and Jo at Serendipitous Stitching.  There is also a Facebook group.  IHSW is a chance for us to be independent together - shout out to Hermey from Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer for that.  Coincidentally, the little crab is also called Hermie .  Participation is easy, pop on over to Joysze's blog for all the "rules", but basically, you stitch as much as you can this weekend with people from around the world.  In addition to the outside errands, I almost have the laundry done and have slow cooker meals planned for tomorrow and Sunday so I should have plenty of stitching time available.  The Goldie Stocking is back on the frame for this weekend.  I think I forgot to show my progress from a couple weeks ago, so will do that now.  When you last saw Goldie, she was here:

and today she's here:

This shows the full width of the stocking top.  It starts narrowing down in a couple more rows to start the stocking shape.

It is also time for my  check-in.  Gifted Gorgeousness is hosted by Jo at Serendipitous Stitching.  Yes, the same Jo I mentioned above (she's a very busy lady with all her hosting and blog hops).  Gifted Gorgeousness is a way for us to thank someone for a gift of stitching supplies or to show something that we are stitching for a gift or anything else we can shoehorn into the theme.  Both of my focus pieces are gifts, so fit perfectly in this SAL.  I've shown you Goldie.  My second piece is Japanese Zen Garden by Chatelaine.  It was here when I posted the beginning of March: 

and when I put it away last weekend, I had gotten to here: 

This is on 32-count Summer Sky Jobelan with Martina's DMC conversion.

I also had some progress on Just Nan's Happy Bluebird  

It's a bit crumpled as I'm stitching this one in-hand.  Not as much progress as I would have liked as I found a counting mistake and had to pull out all but about 10 stitches.  Now that the backbone of the piece is in, I should be okay.

Getting very excited, as Thursday I head off to Michigan for my weekend at Camp Stitchalot hosted by Stitches 'n Things.  After the seemingly never ending stress of the last few months, I am looking forward to some quality stitching and family time. 

February WIPocalypse

If you live on the east coast, you know March is coming in like a lion!  We're not getting the snow or rain that New England is, but we are getting the wind.  We live in a bit of a hollow so we're not getting the worst of it, but a few of the gusts shook the house and rattled the windows.  I ran out for groceries and there are a lot of trees and branches down.

The resident cats thank you all very much for the attention and would like to ask if anyone would  give them a kind, loving home where they could eat as much as they want.  Their annual trip to the vet was last week and Salem weighed in at a whopping 18 pounds no wonder I can't move when he jumps on me, Spot and Trouble weren't anywhere near that but were a bit on the chubby side, so the vet said the "d" word.  I don't know about yours but putting my cats on a diet is torture.  It was bad enough when the bottom of their food bowl was even slightly showing between the bits of kibble and they thought they were starved.  But now that the bowl is actually empty at times? I am so glad they can't use the phone or I'd have the Humane Society at my front door.  Salem lays down in front of the bowl and just stares at it.

On a much happier note - Olivia was adopted on Sunday.  So both guest cats now have families and I am hoping they are forever this time, the poor things have had two long- and one short-term homes.

So on to stitching.  It's past the end of the month, but it's still time.  WIPocalypse is hosted by Melissa at Measi's Musings and is a little nudge to remind us to pay some attention to those pieces we've already started.  No pressure and no long-term commitments necessary, just stitch and post when you can.  Melissa does give us topics each month and this month's is:  Gadgets! Show us your favorite stitching gadgets.  I don't know if it counts as a gadget, but my favorite tool is my stand.  Years ago The Hubs bought me a Needlework System 4  stand and scroll head.  Yes, it was pricey but this was in the days of two jobs and disposable income but it has been worth every penny.  It's well made and makes stitching so much easier just a happy customer and in no way affiliated. They also have great customer service.

I have it easy this year, I don't have to do too much thinking about what's on my WIPocalypse list and what's on my stitching list.  I'm only working on two pieces.

Goldie went from here:

to here:

And Zen went from here:

to here:

I ran out of DMC939 so there's a little gap in the dark blue there in the upper left, but I bought a new skein this evening and will fill that in next round.

I also had a new start:

This is Just Nan's Happy Bluebird.  It's stitched on 28-count antique white Brittany with the called for DMC.  I know I said I was going to stitch The Sampler Life SAL blocks as my Smalls piece, but I am finding many, many excuses for not stitching it, so I have decided that I'm going to do one more block and call it done.






And, this photo says that the ground hog was wrong:

February Smalls Check-in

It's time for February's  check-in. But before I get to that, Trouble, Salem and Spot are rather upset that I have been giving the guest cats more attention here than they've been getting. So to right that here's a picture of the resident cats:

The two black lumps are Spot (on the left - if you look very closely you can see the white spot on her foot that gave her her name - that and I thought it was funny to call an almost solid black cat "Spot") and Salem (on the right) and Trouble is in the bed in the front.  And yes they have their own chairs.  A couple of years ago, The Hubs and I bough new desk chairs.  We couldn't get to the dump right away, so we pushed the old ones to the edge of the room.  Weelllll, the cats started sleeping in them and the chairs haven't made it to the dump yet.

I do have to talk about the guest cats a little.  I have been stalking checking the rescue group's website to see how the girls were getting along and on Thursday it showed that Molly was adopted.  One big sigh of relief and now huge crossed fingers that Olivia finds her family soon.

So onto  check-in.  The Smalls SAL is hosted by Heather at Stitching Lotus.  This SAL is the main reason I have any finishes throughout the year.  I tend to be a BAP stitcher so anything that reminds me that small is good too is for me.  This month's piece is By the Full Moon from Ink Circles:

 It's stitched with DMC on a mystery piece of hand-dyed fabric although I am positive it is from Picture This Plus.

And before I forget again - if you're in the Richmond area and have a few hours the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts is hosting The Terracotta Army: Legacy of the First Emperor of China until mid-March.  I went a couple weeks ago and am going again next Sunday.  I have seen a number of television shows on the topic, but to come around the corner of the main exhibit hall and actually see them stopped me in my tracks.  They don't allow flash photography so the photographs aren't particularly good but give you an idea:

and here's a close up of one of the faces:

I may have watched too much Scooby-Doo when I was a kid, but it was not hard to imagine them stepping off their display podiums and walking out the door.  And if the warriors aren't your cup of tea the museum has an amazing Faberge (I can't get the ' over the "e") and Russian Decorative Arts collection - including five Imperial Eggs.

Zen is still on the frame and I hope to get some quality time with it this afternoon/evening and tomorrow.

GG, TUSAL, IHSW, EIEIO

I don't blog for a week and suddenly I'm behind on three SAL check-ins.  But first some news on the guest cats.  Molly and Olivia are now in the care of the wonderful folks at Feline Foundation of Greater Washington.  One of the first rescues I contacted back at the beginning of this saga texted me with their information and suggested very strongly that I call them, so I did.  Forty-five minutes and  several emails with pictures, etc. later, they tell me that there is someone very interested in Molly and a waiting list of people wanting long-hairs and/or Maine Coon cats so they don't expect that Olivia will have to wait too long for a home.  I dropped them off Friday and sniffed and had watery eyes the whole way home, my brain knew my part in their story was going to be short but my heart didn't get the message - I don't think I'm cut out to be a foster, but I know this is an amazing chance for them to find wonderful homes.  So onto SALs....

 is hosted by Jo at Serendipitous Stitching.  It is a way for us to thank the generous people that have gifted us with stitching things, or to show things we're stitching as gifts or anything we can shoehorn into that criteria.  Two of my pieces are perfect fits for this SAL as they are gifts, but they are also part of  my  post.  IHSW is hosted by Joysze at Random Ramblings or on Facebook by Jo of Serendipitous Stitching.  IHSW takes place on the third full weekend of each month and is a wonderful excuse if you need one to sit and stitch for the weekend.  I worked on three pieces this weekend and as I mentioned two of them fit with Gifted Gorgeousness.

My main focus this weekend was Goldie.  In the last few minutes of Sunday I had a page finish.  It went from here:

to here

This is the fastest I have ever stitched a Heaven and Earth Design page.  Fingers crossed that I can keep it up.

Japanese Zen Garden went on the frame this morning.  When I showed it last, it was here:

And right now, it's here:

The majority of this was done last weekend, I have only stitched one rock and the blue stitches on the outside there.  The open areas will be filled with beads and specialty stitches.  I want to finish the cross stitches in the next section out before I start adding all the bling and fussy stuff. 

I had a bit more progress on By the Full Moon.  Not sure if I will finish it before the Smalls SAL deadline, but will give it a try.

 
And finally TUSAL.

TUSAL is hosted by Sharon at It's Daffycat. Another no stress SAL - just save all those bits that you'd normally throw away in some sort of container and post a photo each new moon.  Mine are accumulating nicely.  I'm pretty stingy with my thread, so it always amazes me how many ORTs I collect every year.

I'll be working on Zen for the rest of the evening - gotta love long weekends.

Survived!

Survived what you ask? Taking Molly and Olivia to the vet.  I figured things had calmed down too much so they needed stirring up again.  Anyway I am very happy to report that both girls are healthy and are now up to date with their shots.  Both girls are also younger than the in-laws said.  The vet estimates they are no older than 7, the in-laws said they'd had them for 10 years.  Molly, who I have not heard say a thing made her displeasure about the trip and being at the vets know LOUDLY to all who would listen - she made one of the dogs in the waiting room jump with one of her howls!! 

This cute little Jim Shore snowman came in the mail today 

 

Funny thing is, I didn't remember ordering it.  Now I do forget things, like where I put my keys or parked my car or why I walked out of the room, but I don't forget needlework orders ESPECIALLY as I'm participating in Stitch from Stash right now.  Digging around a bit more in the envelope and there was a letter congratulating me on winning one of the prizes on The Stitchers' Village 12 Days Event!  THAT I had totally forgotten about entering mostly because I never win anything so I never went back and checked. 

 

Speaking of Stitch from Stash, I had a zero spend in January but have already spent February's budget.  I caved and signed up for the Ingleside Imaginarium Guardians of Notre Dame SAL.  If you haven't seen it, here's the border and first two parts: I have no idea what color fabric or whether I will order the over-dye to do the border, but I love grotesques and gargoyles so looking forward to starting this.

 

I am still filling in the ear/head on the Goldie stocking.  When I put it on the frame last week, it was here:

 

 

And when I took it off the frame a few minutes ago, it was here:

 

It's definitely looking more doggish. 

So there's some stash and some progress and now, a new start. 

This is By the Full Moon by Tracy Horner of Ink Circles.  It's from the 2010 September/October Just Cross Stitch and is stitched on an unknown scrap fabric although I suspect it is either 28-count DaVinci or 28-count Haunted both by Picture This Plus with DMC.  Yes, I know I said The Sampler Life SAL pieces were going to be my smalls until I finally finished them off, but I just couldn't find one that called to me.  When I went looking for one, this jumped out and grabbed me.

Zen will be going on the frame for this week.  The PTBs finally showed up so I plan to go back to the middle and tart it up a bit.