Need to Sit!

Well I haven't been stitching much. I haven't decided who I feel about it. I'm enjoying all that I'm doing, but I miss making things. Lately, between dog club stuff, karate stuff, skating club stuff, renovating my new home and prepping for my BF's surgery...well I think that speaks for itself.

However, I couldn't resist getting this chart that was made from a painting I commissioned of my pup:

Jo Lynch painted it and Heaven and Earth Designs converted it to cross stitch.

And, I couldn't leave the HAED site without getting another chart...as if I'll ever have the time to stitch all of this stuff:

This is such a lovely piece!

There's a stitching retreat coming up that I really really want to go to because I've missed so many. It's been a long time since I've had the chance to chat with my stitching friends. But it happens to be the night my BF comes home from the hospital. Maybe his sister can sit for me - I hope!!

Let the Games Begin

I'm off work for the morning while I wait for the plumber to come over. I figured I should take a little time to write an update while I wait.

The big news is that I finished the Quaker Game Board yesterday...

I'm pretty thrilled about finishing this. It's been a while since I finished a large piece. Also, it's the first finish in my new home :-).

I spent a little time putting away the last of my craft materials and then I decided to pick up Bright for a little more work this morning...

There's still quite a lot to do on this project, but it goes quickly... if I find the time to work on it!

While I was cleaning I discovered that I had another finish that hadn't been documented. I think I completed this one in January just before I was moving so it was lost in the shuffle. It's a lovely Bass Clef.

I need to get this into some sort of finished form as it is a gift for someone (long overdue).

I generally have a little project I'm working on for time where I'm stick at the doctor's office or doing my laundry. The current one is a small freebie I got called Waiting for the Harvest.

Finally, my TV project is a weaving project I work on rarely. But I'm hoping to get a bit more done on it in the next few months. It is a bit of an organic process creating this. I have an idea of where I want to go with it, but the concept changes every so often as I work on it.

Is it so Hard to Press a Button?

Yup apparently it's very difficult to even remember to bring your stitching project with you to work, let alone find a couple of minutes to get to the copier to scan an image of it. But I finally did. This is my other completed project from the stitching retreat. I can't believe it was just last weekend!

Another Great Stitching Retreat!

This past weekend was the annual A Stitcher's Garden  retreat. This year is the 10th Anniversary of the retreat and my 5th year attending. There were more attendees this year than any other retreat I've been to. It was a pleasure chatting with and stitching projects by Lori Markovic of La-D-Da and Linda Ebright of Lizzie*Kate.

As usual I left the retreat with more things than I can possibly ever stitch and a HUGE smile on my face as a result...

I also got to see a friend or two that I haven't had the chance to catch up with in a while...

And of course I did a little stitching and finished a couple of projects...

(note I'll add the photo of my other finish as soon as I can get a good quality version).
And I met a number of new friends!

Of course now I want to spend all of my time stitching and thinking about next year's retreat! Instead I'll do what I can to get this year's stash cataloged and get back to work. But I'll be sure to make some time each week to let my needle fly!

Quietly Plugging Along

In between karate, dog classes, work, food and sleep I've been doing a little stitching here and there. After finishing Sudden Showers I decided I should get to work on the Quaker Gameboard that has been languishing and also finish off a few smalls that were lurking. I'm trying to get through the WIPs and UFOs floating around the house so I can start a HAED project.

First I finally finished the pieces for the Polychrome Palooza project. I still need to assemble everything, but I figure that's something to do on a day i'm home sick from work and looking for something to stave off the boredom.

Then I FINALLY did the commemorative sampler from last spring's stitching retreat.It was a quick piece. I whomped most of it out while I was sitting at the car mechanic's garage waiting for my car to be winterized.

Then there was the nametag for the upcoming stitching retreat. But you can't see that one yet because it's a surprise for the retreat in March.

In addition to all the little things I've been assiduously working on the Quaker Gameboard. Here's the last WIP photo from the end of October:

And here's where I'm at as of 10:30pm last night:

This week I'll be heading to Portland, OR for the holidays. I'm planning on taking this project with me and also "Merry and Bright". I'm hoping to get a decent amount done on each while I'm on the planes and also hanging out in the airport. I have a nice 4 hour layover in Chicago that will allow some quality stitching/people-watching time.

Oh and.... I had a lovely attack of the greedies and ended up getting a number of new stitching patterns (like I really need them). Moon N Starz Cat, Rottweiler, Whimsical French Bulldog and Purple Dragon. And at the end of October I ordered more Silkweaverfabric (again, like I need it). Due to a rush on the limited edition colors it took a little while for me to get it, so I had a nice mail day recently when it all came in. I didn't get a photo of it all but here's the list of what I picked up and some images following from the website:

Cnt	Color	Fabric	Size
28	Solo - slate blueish	Linen	18x26
28	Solo - lt blue/purple	Lugana	18x26
28	Solo - tan/lavendar	Lugana	18x26
28	Solo - pinkish coral	Linen	18x26
28	Solo - deep blue (midnight)	Linen	18x26
32	Splash of Brandy	Linen	26x36
32	Autumn Leaves	Linen	18x26
32	Frankenstein	Linen	18x26
32	Harvest	Linen	18x26
32	Hocus Pocus	Linen	26x36
32	Witches Brew	Linen	26x36
32	Flighty Fairy	Linen	18x26

Check(ers) This Out!

I love fall! It's finally a comfortable temperature outside for me and the dogger, the air smells crisp and clean in the morning and people start to wind down so I have more time to stitch :-D.

After finishing Sudden Showers I pulled out my Quaker Game Board project that I had done a little stitching on before I started the other project. Now I'm starting to make decent progress on it. It's difficult to see the letters that I've finished as they are white on the light tan and washed out with the flash, but you get the idea...

I've done a bit more since this was taken over the weekend. Is started the inner borders for the empty squares on the fabric. I'm organizing a dog event this weekend, so I'm not likely to be getting a lot done on it this weekend. I'm hoping that I'll be able to do more next week during the week.

I've also been sporadically working on a knotwork project. Mostly this has been my morning before work project. I posted the finishes for the scissor fob and the needle book cover. I'm now working on the scissors case. I also made progress beyond the photo here over the last week. I'm now just about finished with the first row in red...

I volunteered to provide awards for dogs passing the event this weekend from the "herding group" and forgot to get items. So... I'm frantically trying to get some little projects finished so I can hand out some ornaments to the successful dogs. I'll get photos of those once they are completed and handed out to the winners. Wish me luck - time is short!

Sudden Showers

It was quite fitting that I finished this project last week during a day of showers. It felt great to finish one of my larger projects finally. I haven't been able to stitch nearly as much as I would like over the last year or so and I missed that feeling of accomplishment :-D. So here is... Sudden Showers:

Today I'm planning to get back to working on my Quaker game board. Yay!