Going out with a Wave

I'm sure most everyone has given up on me ever posting to my blog again. I'll just say it's been a tough year. For those who don't know me IRL I had to have some major surgery this year. Things started taking a bad turn in January and weren't great until the surgery in August. The 3-4 week recovery time stretched to 7 weeks out of work. Thankfully I started a new job in March with a great company, working for a great boss who understood what was going on. Then a week after I was back at work my dad had to have a pacemaker put in. The good news is I think we've all settled down into a somewhat normal routine now.

I might have been sick, but I still managed to stitch and knit some. I've got some pictures to regale you with a little later, not all at once. I mean, I wouldn't want to overwhelm you or anything now would I? Well that and I need to break out the camera and take some actual photos! My DF Jackie was over Friday stitching and watching season 1 of Sherlock with me and she saw some of my goodies all finished. She insisted I needed to get back to my blog and since I promised her, and DF Heather I would...and because I have a finish to share, today was as good as tomorrow to start back.

Oh, the finish? You want to see? Well the picture isn't fab, I took it with my phone, but you'll get the idea.


It's the completed stitching for Long May She Wave (now you get the title right?) by Ellen Chester. Ellen came to our duClay EGA Chapter earlier this year and taught this lovely piece. I can't believe I actually finished the stitching. I even went today to find the thread and other things I'll need to do the actual finishing. I had hoped to get started on it this evening, but I'm a little too tired to manage that. I'll try and work on it tomorrow. I'm very excited to get this accomplished as Ellen is headed back to Jacksonville to teach another class for us in 2013. I'm all signed up and it will be a first for me to finish one of the classes I've taken from her.

I'll be posting some other pictures and some musings soon. There's lots going on my my stitching/knitting/needlepoint life. Our EGA chapter decided on a great SAL for this year, Drawn Thread's Toccata #1. We're also doing a challenge to help those of us with issues completing things. We'll see if it helps me or not. Plus I've been making some progress on other classes I took last year and the monthly clubs I joined. Oh and there's Theme-A-Licious over on Heather's blog. I mean, I can't resist with the chance to post this banner at least a couple of times a month...


I'm a sucker for anything with Mr. Tennant in it. And I like the themes too. 

So please come back and stay tuned. I'm getting back into the swing of things, catching up on my favorite blogs and hopefully things will stay sane, or at least what passes for sane in my life!

Liebster Blog Award

The very sweet Alice over at Pins and Needles with other cat things blog gave me a new to me award. Thanks Alice! 

Here are all the details about the Liebster Blog award:

Liebster is a German word, meaning favorite, dearest or beloved, and the Liebster is awarded by bloggers to other, newer bloggers who have fewer than 200 followers, to spread the word and help the new(er)bies gain wider recognition.  The award comes with four conditions that each recipient must satisfy when accepting:

1.  Choose five up-and-coming blogs (with fewer than 200 followers) to award the Liebster to.
2.  Show your thanks to the blogger who gave you the award by linking back to them.
3.  Post the award on your blog.  List the bloggers you are giving the award to with links to their sites.  Leave comments on their blogs so they know about the award.
4.  Share five random facts about yourself that people don't know about you.

My 5 blogs with fewer than 200 followers - this was harder than I thought it would be.
Corgi Cottage -  Laurie has beautiful stitching and sweet Corgis. What more could you want?
Karoline's Korner - I love Karoline's blog for the stitching...and well because of where she lives. I dream of going for a visit!
Wooley Thoughts - Melody is a dear friend and I love seeing all her WIPs. I'm lucky and get to see most in person since we don't live too far from each other and are both members of our local EGA.
Tot Hill Farms Stitches - Chris is a fantastic stitcher, plus she makes great pictures of trips she takes.
Knit Kimber Knit - Thought I'd throw in a little yarnie-goodness only blogging. Kim knits and spins. I just love all the colors. Plus she's a collector of sock yarn, love me some sock yarn! I'm not sure how many followers Kim officially has, so she's kind of a wild card.

5 Random Facts about myself: (these are always hard!)
1. I was on a competitive swim team as a teen, before my parents moved me to "the country".
2. I love rabbits/bunnies/hares and really want to own one but never have.
3. I live in Florida but I'm not that fond of the ocean, I'd rather be in the mountains.
4. I collect cookbooks.
5. Sadly I like all the "Housewives" shows. Everyone has their vice.

I keep meaning to share something fun with everyone. Now is as good a time as any since we need some pretty pictures.

Anyone want to take a guess what this is?

Maybe this will help....

The last time I went to my hairdresser she had this for me in her car. The perks of having a hairdresser that also deals in antiques. She figures its from the 70's.  She found it at am estate sale and immediately thought of me so she picked it up for me. I had some cleaning to do, but it turned out nicely. I love it. I put it in my office, which still needs some work to turn it into the office/craft cabana.

I'll leave you with some final pictures and wish everyone a great week!

What the March Madness Winds Blew In

Well March has come in here all blustery and that has helped me pick something different each day. I think what I'll do this month is try to work on something different each week day that I stitch but let the weekends, especially Sunday, be my wildcard day(s). Sunday gets special treatment because I tend to knit while watching that week's NASCAR race and chatting with my knitting/crochet buds who are fellow fans. So, here's what's been done so far.

1st - If you were reading yesterday's post you'll remember the "key to quality blogging - foreshadowing" moment I threw out for you all to ponder. You see I stuck with Blackwork Band Sampler from Rae Iverson/Moss Creek Design since I was making some good progress. Managed to finish up the satin stitch border and work some more of the vines.

The first was also my first day as an employee, rather than a contractor/consultant, at ING. I'm excited about this change. I'll also be changing jobs within the company, but that comes a bit later, first I have to hand over the large project I just took over in February to a new contractor. That will take a few weeks since she also has to learn the way ING does things.

2nd:
Decided to go back to Long May She Wave by Ellen Chester and see if I couldn't finish one of the small pieces that gets attached to the book. Went with the needlebook front and managed to finish it. Of course that's because it's so tiny and the red and white stripes are closed herringbone with is so easy and goes so quickly when worked "in hand". Isn't it cute??

I know it looks almost exactly like last month's flag, but really it's different, and even smaller.

3rd:
One day last week I got a new goodie from market in the mail. I totally blame my DF Jean for this one. She's the one that pointed it out to me and of course I had to have it. I mean, it's Noah's Ark! So, I decided to get a start on it. It goes quickly since it's on 18 ct and is stitched over 2 with a single strand of pearl cotton. It's going to be fun to work on and I may have to pull it out to work on it when I'm tired this month. This is called The Noah's Ark Mantle.

4th:
The 2nd race of the NASCAR season brought out my version of Saroyan. I'm knitting it with a 4 ply cotton yarn that I found on Etsy. It changes colors so right now it's just blue, but soon it will start changing to the next color. I love this colorway. I think it will make a great piece to wear this summer, or next considering how slow I'm knitting on it, with a cute dress or tank top. I've only managed to get 5 repeats done, but hey, I have all season right?


Next weekend I'll be in Atlanta with my friend and work buddy Theresa R. We're going to take a class for the painted canvas called Halloween March. I'm looking forward to playing with something new and fun.

Hope to everyone is having fun with their version of March Madness!

Fangirl February!

I'm REALLY late with this post. No excuses, I've just been busy with work and...and...like I said I've got no excuse. Anyway, you don't come here to read, you come here for pictures.

Fangirl Febrauary was fun. I ended up not working a whole lot of different things. I got started on Long May She Wave, a class I took last year with Ellen Chester. When I started it I just had a few red & white rows done. I worked on it until I finished. This is the front of the book that you end up making after you've stitched all the little pieces. I was excited to get this finished. It's the largest part until you start putting it together.

 I also worked on one of my favorite of all time pieces from Rae Iverson. I took Blackwork Band Sampler back in 1998. Interestingly this is the class where our fearless Theme-a-licious leader Heather and I met. I do have a picture from the last time I pulled this piece out so you can do a little before and after comparison.

Before

After

This one is getting close. Of course I've been saying that for YEARS and as you can see I still haven't finished it. I'm sure it will show up again soon (foreshadowing).

I also pulled out a needlepoint piece that I've been working on to finish. I've only got her hair to put in and she'll be ready to go to the finisher. Here's how she looked at the end of the month. I really only worked on her one Saturday, so it's not a lot of progress.

Finally I took Ann Dale with me to Sampler Guild since it's our guild project this year. Didn't get a whole lot done since I tend to do more talking than stitching. However, I got more of the ground under the trees finished so that's progress.

I also did some finishing. I stitched this several years ago and have never done anything with it. I have no clue why I went with this grey fabric, but I like how it's ended up now that I've got the box made.

I also picked up my pieces that I took to the framers. Have a look.

Winter Garden Gate

HallowEden

March Madness has begun and I've actually worked on a few different things. I might even manage to get a post out before the end of the month!

Jardin January update

I have plenty of reasons why I haven't posted in a month and a half. Things like Christmas, going to the Champs Bowl game to see my beloved Seminoles play, a trip to Atlanta for some time with friends and for work, then home where I've felt "a little puny" for a few weeks. But those would all be excuses and really no one reading this cares about them. All you care about is pretty pictures of what I've been working on this month.

I had grand plans...GRAND plans, let's review the list.

• Margaret W Brown 1838
• Tulip Slip
• Winter Garden Gate
• Pansy Garden
• Wild Woodviolets
• Antique French Ribbons
• The new Christmas Stocking
• Ann Dale
• Misty Morning Vineyard
• Anniversaries of the Heart
• Daughters of Longbourn Hall
• Mary Corey

Now let's see what I actually managed to accomplish.

When January started Winter Garden Gate looked something like this...

I'm happy to report that I finished it and even managed to take it to the framers where it's currently hanging out. I'm so excited! Since this one was started in 2005 I think it counts not just for Theme-a-licious but also WIPocalypse! I'll have to remember and hopefully show a picture of it framed when it's time for that post in February. See how pretty?

For whatever reason the only other piece that kept calling my name was Ann Dale. I made a start on it Jan. 1 and just kept picking it up. I didn't take it with me to Atlanta, it's a LOT OF FABRIC to travel with, but I'm happy with my progress so far. Most of the ladies in my Sampler Guild are working on this so I'm anxious to see how much progress everyone has made. The colors are so very me, all those reds and greens. This is one that I hope will continue to hold my interest. We'll have to see. I have a bad habit of starting large projects and then loosing interest. Oh who am I kidding, I do that with small projects too. All that "ohhh, look at the new start/project/shiny" gets in my way. But take a look and stick around to see what comes next.

And now comes Fangirl February. A Valentine to our favorite designers. Back in December I had a nice long list of designers I thought would be good candidates. I'm fairly certain at least one of those will make the cut and I might have to pull out something from another favorite. So for now here are the possibilities:

• Moss Creek Designs - I have plenty of WIPs from Rae I can choose from. Decisions, decisions.
• Ellen Chester - There are a few that I have in my stash. PLUS the fabric and fiber for Quaker Samplings III came in the mail the other day. Maybe getting a nice start on that is in order.
• Plum Street Samplers - Again, I have more than a few designs in my stash I can pick from here and some are even kitted up ready to start.

The problem is I have plenty of designers that I would be happy to work on. I could add Blackbird Designs on and work on AOTH, or Mirabilia and work on Christmas Fairy. I'm really going to have to think about it for a day or so and see what feels right. Hopefully I'll do better in February and you'll see an update on the 15th that will show some progress on something. I might even have to pull in some needlepoint for the month! Until then I hope everyone's stitches are perfect!

For those who want to see more about Theme-a-licious and check out The Magic That Is Heather's blog.