Linen & Nashville

I bought some linens recently from Wyndham Needleworks since they were on special. Mostly R & R linens as they're not always available 'on hand' at a lot of needlework shops. You know, I find it hard to buy linens online because sometimes when you receive them the colour looks different to what you were expecting. Overall I'm quite happy with these.

Top to Bottom - R & R Reproductions 35ct Kansas City Blend, 35ct Liberty Gathering Gray, 40ct Liberty Gathering Gray, and 32ct Zweigart Golden Sand

Left to Right - R & R Reproductions 30ct Mink, and 35ct Park City Blend

It's nice to have a few linens on hand to go with a new project. Keep in mind though that R & R linens tend to be on the stiff side.


Now onto Nashville Market. I'm sure most of you are up to date with what's been released by now? So what's your favourites? I absolutely love SB Blue Snowman!!! I'm a real sucker for these snowmen series they do and this one is just gorgeous.

Other favourites of the new releases are:

SB - My Land, Liberty Pincushion, Liberty Scissor Fob, and Lucky Sheep
BBD - Honeysuckle Manor book, and Snow Garden
SHAKESPEAR'S PEDDLER - Jenny Bean's Humble Servant Sampler

They're the main ones I like. I'm not going to race out and get them now though. I can wait.

Onto my SAL with Melissa. I really didn't get much done yesterday as I didn't have a lot of free time. I've stitched a few letters to the left of the woman and made a start on the tree. Melissa hasn't been feeling the best so she didn't get a lot done either. Hopefully she'll be feeling better soon and next time I'll have some pictures to show.

First Finish for 2010 ~ Summer Iris

My first finish for 2010 has come slowly but here it finally is.

I've enjoyed stitching Summer Iris. The thread colours went well with the fabric and with the personalising of the year and my initial, I'm pleased with the end result. There's no graph if you want to change these two features from what's on the original design so I've had to create my own 'J' and work out which way I wanted to do the '1' in 2010. It took me about five attempts for each before I was happy with them.

One day I'll complete this little piece and turn it into a pincushion or the like.

DESIGNER ~ Blackbird Designs

PATTERN ~ Summer Iris

FABRIC ~ 30ct WDW Baby's Breath

THREADS ~ WDW Dove, Fawn, Cappuccino, & Rum Raisin - GA Grecian Gold (2 over 2)

STARTED ~ 3 January 2010

FINISHED ~ 22 January 2010

I'd like to try to do the wool strawberry for which instructions also come with this pattern, one day.

Photo courtesy of Blackbird Designs, One Stitch At A Time blog

In the meantime I will show you some more pictures of my stitched Summer Iris.

Thank you for taking the time to look and comment.

Weekend Stitching

I made good progress with Summer Iris yesterday. I'm loving the colours of this one and it's such a sweet, simple design. A real pleasure to stitch.

I'm trying to get a little more creative with my photo presentation. Thanks to Tammy giving me some help on where to put new downloaded fonts on to my computer so I can have access to them, I've been able to get more interesting fonts to use. It's a bit exciting when you discover new ways to do things. I'm not what you'd call a whiz when it comes to computers, though I get by. I'm learning a few other things that I had no idea you could do also. :)

Now I know you'll all be wondering how I'm going to 'finish' this one once I finish it. Not being overly into the side of finishing things off into something right now, I will probably put this aside until the time comes that I am creative and confident enough to turn it into a lovely needlework item. We'll see anyway. I've said it before, but the stitching is what I get the most pleasure from.

Hope you're all having a lovely weekend (mine's nearly over now) and your stitching projects are coming along nicely, giving pleasure to your hearts. Thanks for stopping by and for your beautiful comments. (((Hugs)))

Stitching with Glasses

I got a new glasses case during the week. It arrived in the mail from The Silver Needle and was part of my order in their New Year's Eve sale. It's a Vera Bradley one and I just love it! The fabric name is Java Blue.

Yes, I wear glasses. Mainly for computer work, reading, and stitching.

I have also done a little more of Summer Iris. You would think I'd have it finished by now but I haven't been stitching. It's been very hot here lately and I haven't had much time for my needlework. I worked on it last night but I would have got further had it not been for a little frog appearing again! Drats!!!

Summer Iris - 14 January 2010

A Funny Cat Story

Not a lot more to show but I thought you might like some new photos to gaze at. I only stitched for an hour or so last night, so I didn't get much done.

Summer Iris - 6 January 2010

I wasn't even going to post tonight but for this...

Here's a funny story which may make you giggle. I was taking down my Christmas tree and decorations last Sunday. I had bags lying about the floor to put things in, which included some large paper ones with handles. My cat Charlotte, decided to hop in one of these paper bags and rummage around in it. Next thing I hear is this noise and the paper bag flying off at a great speed! The bag went up over my lounge, down on to the floor, through the dining room, to the kitchen, down the hall, then all the way back to the lounge room, and started the journey over again! When I'd realised that a cat was inside this bag, with her caught in the handles, I started to laugh. Then I panicked because I thought she was going to damage or break something while she was flying around the house. So up I jumped to rescue her. She wouldn't stop though because she was scared out of her wits trying to get this bag offf her. Eventually I caught her and removed said bag! No major damage done, though poor pussy hid who knows where, for the next 10 or so minutes. She eventually came out and I gave her a big hug to calm her down. Where's the video camera when you need it? Funniest Home Videos would have had another entry!

Charlotte

First Stitches for 2010 ~ Summer Iris

I put needle to thread yesterday, for the first time this year. I'm working on BBD Summer Iris.

BBD Summer Iris - started 3 January 2010

I already had it kitted and I'm stitching on the recommended WDW threads and 30ct Baby's Breath linen.

The thread colours are yummy looking and go so well with the fabric. They are: WDW Dove, Cappuccino, Rum Raisin, Fawn, and GA Grecian Gold.

This sweet design is just right for Summer stitching (sorry for those of you in the depths of Winter).

Thank you for visiting and please drop by again to see my progress!

BBD kitted charts

I have some new stash to show. I placed an order with Handcrafts Online recently, and some of the items I ordered have arrived.

Here's a couple of BBD charts I got kitted.

BBD - Summer Iris

THREADS (from bottom to top) - WDW Dove, Cappuccino, GAS Grecian Gold, WDW Rum Raisin, and Fawn.

The fabric is WDW 30ct Baby's Breath which is a soft peach colour.

The other chart is from their Loose Feathers club which is a new release.

BBD - Summer Basket

Threads included are (in no particular order) - GAS Grape Arbor, Cornhusk, Conch, Old Hickory, Grecian Gold, Highland Heather, Avocado, Clover, Brandy, Caramel Corn, WDW Peach Fuzz, and Dove. These are all threads needed to make the main chart and My Home threadkeep.

Fabric again is 30ct WDW Baby's Breath.

I love both kits and all the thread colours. They'll really look gorgeous on the fabric. I'll just add them to my list of needlework to do in the future. :)

Moonlit Garden ~ finished!

I got stuck into the rest of the wording last night. My Moonlit Garden I finished at 12pm! I didn't want to leave it until today to complete, so I persevered. A happy dancing I am doing ~ ~ ~

DESIGNER ~ Blackbird Designs

PATTERN ~ Moonlit Garden (Loose Feathers #22)

FABRIC ~ 30ct Broomstick Brown

THREADS ~ Weeks Dye Works (2 over 2)

STARTED ~ 25 April 2009

FINISHED ~ 13 June 2009

I took a while to get going on this one, which had nothing to do with the design. I love it! I didn't even get sick of doing the stars. I think I'll eventually have it framed.

I just adore the Autumn colours in it!

I still wasn't able to get the true colour of the fabric through my photos. It's almost the same as shown on the front of the chart though. A beautiful, warm tone to it, which compliments the thread colours.

I hope you've enjoyed my latest journey with me? It took a bit longer than I would have imagined, but I got there in the end. A wonderful pattern to stitch.

My next start will be the second Stacy Nash project from the 2009 Group. We'll have to see how my finishing skills turn out with this one. I haven't read through the instructions yet to see whether there's too much to it. I don't think it will be too difficult though. I'm looking forward to working on it!