Catching Up. Slow Stitching. A Winner. Face it, this is a mishmash...

I got behind in my blog reading! It is truly amazing how fast the number of posts in Google Reader goes up when you aren't looking. It's being pared down but I find myself snapping from one blog to the next with no comments being left. I'm reading, enjoying your stitching and your life updates but forgive me if I haven't commented lately. Once I catch up, I will be my usual chatty self.

Stitching is still slow. How can you concentrate on stitching when your reader has a gazillion unread posts? But I'm close to a finish on Blackbird Designs Small Token. This is going to make the prettiest pin pillow. I'm looking forward to the finishing.

I can announce the next stitcher on the Traveling Pattern in my recent post...Jan of Stitching Cats is it! Congratulations Jan! I will be in contact for your mailing address.

In case you missed it, I have a new freebie posted yesterday. You can clicky the cat in my left sidebar to see all my freebie designs, they are all still available for the asking. By the way...who is ready for a new reindeer freebie? Anyone?

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox

A Traveling Pattern

I finished Angela's Traveling Pattern a while ago. My blogging mojo has been nil so this is LATE being offered to the next stitcher!  I'm the 18th stitcher of this Lizzie*Kate design Life's A Stitch. Do you want to be #19? If so, leave a comment on this post saying you would like to and I will choose a new stitcher.

Crappy cell phone photo =D

The only requirements are, 1. You must be a regular blogger. 2. You must agree to stitch the design and pass it along.

This will be closed on Friday, November 9th and I will choose and announce the next stitcher on the weekend.

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox

Just Stitchy

Life has been busy for me...good busy not bad busy! I have been keeping up with reading your blogs and with my stitching I just haven't been blogging. I concentrated on The Finery of Nature and it looks fantastic. My camera need replacing, I think the focus is going out. I cannot get a clear snap but these pictures give you an idea.

Last week, I received Angela's Traveling Pattern from Mouse. I made a good start on it over the weekend. Watch this space: when I have finished a new stitcher will be chosen! 

The weather was so nice on Sunday I stitched on the back patio for a few hours. Pure bliss. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to stitch outside every day? I'm hoping for some nice autumn weather this year.

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox

Try, Try Again

I meant to post again last week but I kept getting sidetracked. Then, I meant to post on Sunday for WIPocalypse full moon but sat my butt on the back porch and stitched instead. This really wouldn't be a problem but circumstances prevented me from WIPocalypse last month so it's about time I make a WIPocalypse post!

Now that my traveling patterns are all finished I've been concentrating on my Prairie Schooler 12 Days of Christmas ornaments. I finished 10 Lords-a-leaping! Isn't he handsome?

Wait! He looks kinda funny. Oh no...I forgot his eye and golden buttons!

There, that's better! Hmmmmm, still looks odd. Is something missing?

Holly berries! GEE ~ Is this one done yet? How long have I been at this hobby? I think I'd better check all the other ones I've already "finished" too...

I made a really good start on number 11 as well:

Traveling Pattern? You mean the Shepherd's Bush one? Oh, heck...I nearly forgot that as well! Sorry, sorry, sorry! That is heading out to Kathy of Kathy's Sit and Stitch. Congratulations Kathy! Those of you really, really wanting to stitch this please bookmark Kathy's blog and be watching for her finish!

I'm trying to arrange a treat for you. Yes, that was cryptic, wasn't it?

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox

Yet Another Traveling Pattern

Boo ~ I completely forgot about posting for Theme-a-licious yesterday! I blame it on having finishes to show and not actually showing them! Our theme for April was to work on our biggest projects. You might remember, I got drawn for three Traveling Patterns at once so I re-arranged my goal to include the Amazonian task of finishing 3 TP designs before the end of April. I'm tickled pink to say I did it!

The first Traveling Pattern, Thankful.
The second Traveling Pattern, The Busy Needle.
And presenting the third Traveling Pattern, Tending the Blooms:

Design ~ Tending the Blooms

Designer ~ Shepherd's Bush

Fabric ~ 32 count Daffycat-Dyed Belfast Linen

Fiber ~ DMC

I screwed up the row of satin stitches somewhere. I never could figure out where or what I was doing wrong. So, I shrugged my shoulders and went on. Funnily enough, life didn't end.

When Gracie sent me the Traveling Pattern she included this little RAK of wonderful goodies. Sweet counting pins, silver charms, a fun bumblebee design and the coolest vine- shaped trimming ever. Thank you Grace! I love it all!

Oh hey, you know what this means? Yup, I have to send this design on it's way to the next stitcher! If you would like to be the next to stitch this design leave a comment on this post asking to be included. I will choose someone in the next few days ~ so hurry!

Next up for Theme-a-licious is:

May Memories

Remember when you took that class? Or decided to commemorate that event? And then abandoned your poor WIP? Take a stroll down memory lane by working on it again.

I'm at a loss. I really don't have any abandoned projects, unless you count Peacock Tapestry? It's not abandoned ~ just disliked ~ lol. I have to be really "in the mood" to stitch on that ~ so not gonna happen. Maybe I will work on my Prairie Schooler 12 Days ornaments and/or my Finery of Nature instead? Or maybe something else?  I guess I will surprise you...

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox

A Weekend to Hermit

Ah, the one weekend each month to do nothing but stitch! It was International Hermit and Stitch Weekend and I made use of every second I could spare. Of course, one must do the laundry, dishes and take care of the gardens but for the most part, I stitched and stitched some more ~ Dash even cooked for me every meal! Yes, I know how lucky I am, girls...believe me.

So first up, I started my next Prairie Schooler "12 Days of Christmas" ornament 10 Lords a-Leaping and I made excellent progress:

Lynn, you aren't the only one with Zombie people! 

It was so hard to put this one down but I knew I had to start the next Traveling Pattern or I'd get behind. Wouldn't want anyone to think I was a flaker! Here is where I got to on that:

This is Tending the Blooms by Shepherd's Bush. I chose a very bright spring green linen I dyed a long time back. Wish you could see how pretty it is in person! However, since this is linen, it is terribly wrinkled and you can't see it in the picture but I'm weighting the edges down with my scissors and needle minder ~ lol!

I am so impressed with how much stitching I was able to do! There were some comments on my TUSAL post about how people wished they had as much time to stitch as I do. Really? Me? No way ~ I am still The Queen of Slow Stitching and don't anybody forget that! I work full time (and when I am not AT work I'm worrying about work) and I am the worlds worst about managing my time when I am home. I spend way too much time ogling blogs instead of stitching or even crashed in front of the TV because, poor me "I had a hard day." If we all actually put ourselves to it we could accomplish so much more than we do!

If you would like to join us for the next International Hermit and Stitch Weekend visit Joyce's blog for details. IHSW is the third full weekend of every month so the next one starts May 18th. Joyce usually has a sign up in advance so you can let everyone know you are "coming" that weekend.

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox

The Busy Needle

This was the second of the three Traveling Patterns I'm stitching. Whew ~ this means I've only got one more to go! This Traveling Pattern was started by Lynda of A Cozy Little Place for Stitching. A change up from the others ~ this one travels a set schedule ~ so now that my turn is over it has been sent on to the next in line.

Design ~ The Busy Needle

Designer ~ Little House Needleworks

Fabric ~ 32 count tea-stained Lugana

Fiber ~ DMC

Many thanks to Lynda for including me in the travels of this design. Thanks go to Shar as well, for loaning me her copy when I asked. Blog friends are the best!

Okay, one more traveling pattern to go. Stitch, girl, stitch!

Before I forget...I drew a winner for the Bird in Hand pillow ~ Deborah of Cranberry Samplings. Thank you all for playing along and I will try to have another giveaway soon!

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox

A Bird in Hand

Last weekend I finished my Nina's Threads Project into a pillow. I waited until now to share with you so to give Nina a chance to post on her blog first, since it was all her idea! She has had it up for several days and now it's my turn:

Design ~ A Bird in Hand

Designer ~ La-D-Da

Fabric ~ 32 count tea-stained Lugana

Fiber ~ Nina's Threads 

This was such a fun project. I really enjoyed working with Nina and getting a chance to try her lovely hand dyed threads. I am very pleased to learn you can buy Nina's Threads in the US at The Thread Basket. It was nice to see there are two sizes of skeins so if you only need a little you can buy a half size at a reduced price.

I found the finishing fabric at Hobby Lobby, taking my stitched piece with me to color match. I couldn't believe I was able to find fabric that went so well. It's like Nina had that fabric in mind when choosing the thread colors for the design. My pillow is lightly stuffed with fiberfill. Big thanks to Nina for letting me try her threads!

This pillow could be yours! If you would like to own it, leave me a comment on this post and I will choose a winner in a few days.

And the winner of the drawing for the Traveling Pattern, Thankful, is geeky Heather of It's Geek to Me. Thanks to everyone that entered and don't be too disappointed if you weren't drawn since you can follow it to Heather's blog and try again after she has stitched it!

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox

Thankful

Or maybe that title should be one down, two to go? I completed the first of the three Traveling Patterns. I will probably get thrown out of the stitcherhood on my ear but I cheated on this one! I edited it severely:

Was that too much creative license? I loved the sheep. Loved the flowers. Thought the tree was great and the lacy border superb. Hated the verse. Don't know why! So I edited. Forgive me! I stitched this on a scrap of linen I dyed yellow...worrying the entire time that sheep was going to fade away!

Details: 

Design ~ Thankful, a complimentary pattern

Designers ~ Little House Needleworks and Crescent Colors

Fabric ~ 32 count "Daffycat Dyed" Belfast Linen "Sunshine"

Fiber ~ DMC 3799, 3865, 3346, 434, 3832

I've not seen the full history published anywhere but you can see some Thankful stitcherhood finishes here:

Anne of Doll's Musings (sorry Anne! lol)

Mouse of Tales of a Stitching Mouse

Gracie of Needles Pins and Dragonflies

Tricia of The Stamper's Stitches

If you know of other finishes let me know and I will add them in!

Now for the good part! If you'd like to be the next member of the stitcherhood leave a comment saying so. I will not put your name into the hat unless you ask to be added. If you ask to be added and your name is drawn you will be expected to stitch the design as quickly as possible so the pattern can go on to the next stitcher. Don't ask to join if you aren't going to be reliable!

Hurry now, I will draw a winner very soon...probably this weekend!

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox

March Madness Failure

I am perfectly aware how atrociously late I am at updating for Theme-a-licious. I have been dawdling because I totally failed my plans for March Madness. I only completed two projects and of those, only one got finish-finished. I meant to stitch and finish one a week. Yes, me...the Queen of Slow Stitching. Stop laughing! I really meant to do it!

My first finish was the Bent Creek Red Winged Blackbird stitcher's pocket:

This was sent as a secret RAK to Barbi! She received it earlier this week and you can read about it here.

My next project was La D Da's A Bird in Hand:

Horrible wrinkles and lighting here. This was stitched using Nina's Threads as part of Nina's Threads project. Nina chose the colors...I just stitched! This still needs finishing but I should get to that soon!

For April our theme reads:

Amazon April

Dip your needle into the vast swath of fabric dedicated to your BIGGEST projects!

I kinda have a problem with that...and it's called "obligation stitching." I  was chosen to be the next stitcher on three different traveling patterns. Oh holy crows! How did that happen? No one enters giveaways expecting to be drawn! 

My first project is underway and two more are being mailed to me. Instead of working on Finery of Nature as I planned, my Amazon April will be filled with these three projects. My Amazon task, lol. Be ready for drawings! Two of these Traveling Patterns will be drawn by lottery. As I complete each one, I will put it up for grabs to the next lucky stitcher!

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox

A Blogging Post

...or rather, a mishmash post that has too many topics to properly title!

The Traveling Pattern

Yes, I STOLE Julie's picture!

First up ~ my Traveling Pattern is on the move again! Julie just finished stitching and is offering it to the next stitcher. Hurry now to get in the draw as you only have until the February 29th! Click here for Julie's Blog.

ORT jar labels

Pat Winter has some awesome ORT jar labels you can print off. I thought they were great fun. You might like to use them to dress up your jars.

Please prove you are not a robot

You've seen those around ~ unless you never leave comments. You probably have them on YOUR blog and lots of you don't even know it! Do us ALL a favor and turn them off! Don't give excuses about not wanting spam...I haven't used Word Verification in YEARS and I am not swamped with spam. In fact, since Blogger went with the new spam folder system I haven't received a single piece of spam...I am usually fishing proper comments out of the folder! I do moderate my comments ~ just in case there is spam AND because I receive so many comments I might miss reading them.



Here is a very good post about this topic with great instructions on how to change your settings. You can see I have stolen Tex's picture (with permission lol) and used it in my sidebar with a link to her awesome post!

The Anonymous Troll:

Another thing you need to change is the settings for WHO you allow to comment on your blog. I have seen several posts recently from blogging friends about an anonymous troll. This troll finds something to complain about you or your blog. The way you are hosting a giveaway or an RAK or simply just something to gripe. From what I understand, these comments are unusually hurtful.

Change your comment settings to only allow "Registered Users". If you have it set for "Anyone" that means anyone can comment on your blog...even anonymous trolls.

I'm very sorry if you try to comment on MY blog and you cannot because you aren't registered. I don't allow just anyone to comment on my blog. You can see I don't suffer a lack of comments because of this.

I do get troll comments (from fake registered users I assume) on the rare occasion. They get no reaction but to tap that delete button. Same thing goes for hateful email. I don't need other people's garbage so I simply don't accept delivery.

My blog. My rules. You don't like the way I do things? Don't visit! Trolls will be always be ignored if they insist on visiting.

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox

An RAK & The Next TP Stitcher

Recently, Lynn stitched the cutest kitty ever! When she was through with the design she sent the pattern to me...along with a few other charts she thought I might enjoy. Now, the charts are so perfect for me I think Lynn must know me well! Aren't RAKs the best? Thank you so much, Lynn! I can't wait to get started stitching!

Are you ready?...The next Traveling Pattern Stitcher is Karen of Karen's Handiwork. Congratulations, Karen! The chart will be on it's way tomorrow. Anyone interested in stitching the Traveling Pattern should bookmark Karen's blog so you will know when it comes up for the next stitcher! Thanks to everyone for entering and for your enthusiasm for this project!

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox

A New Traveling Pattern

There once was a Traveling Pattern. It went all around the world traveling from stitcher to stitcher and I was blessed to be a part of it. You can read my experience here. Sadly, the last stitcher to have her (in March of last year?) has apparently flaked and has not sent the pattern on. I'm going to be kind and not mention who she is but I am really rather angry about the situation. Not to mention incredibly saddened by the loss.

There is now another copy of that design circulating in our blogging world. I thought I had bookmarked or written down who currently had it but I can't find it. I am sure someone will spot it and let me know! EDIT: I knew someone would come through for me! Thanks to Cath!!! ~ The New Sisterhood pattern is Currently with: Nan of Nan's Needlework Notions and is being sent to the next stitcher!

I thought it might be fun to start my own Traveling Pattern. I bought a couple of designs and when they arrived I chose this one. Yes, it's my Count Your Blessings that I started last week! It has few colors that are easily changed to suit the current stitcher and is a simple and quick stitch that shouldn't be burdensome. Easy to arrive, stitch and send to the next person. Sound like fun?

Daffycat's finish:

Design ~ Count Your Blessings

Designer ~ Shakespeare's Peddler

Fabric ~ 28 count mystery tea-dyed

Fiber ~ DMC

If you would like to be part of this new Traveling Pattern there are a few rules:

1. Comment on this post, saying you would like to be part of the Stitcherhood.

2. By leaving this comment, you agree (if you are chosen) to stitch the design and send it along to the next person in a timely manner. If this means dropping everything in your rotation to concentrate on this project...so be it. If you can't bring yourself to do this ~ don't sign up.

3. You must have an active blog to participate. If you have a blog but never post to it ~ you won't be chosen to be the next stitcher.

4. This is a giveaway-type Traveling Pattern. That means you must follow it from blogger to blogger to enter each time it is ready to send along. Commenting on this post doesn't make you a guaranteed part of the Stitcherhood.

The Traveling Pattern has been stitched by:

1. Sharon of It's Daffycat, Oklahoma, USA

2. Karen of Karen's Handiwork, South Carolina, USA

3. Patty of Hanging On By A Thread, Florida, USA

4. Terri of Chocolates for Breakfast, Stitching for Lunch, unknown location
5. Lynda of A Cozy Little Place for Stitching, Oregon, USA
6. Nataly of Nataly's Needle Creations, Massachusetts, USA
7. Erin of Fairy Tales & French Knots, New York, USA
8. Jo of Serendipititous Stitching, Suffolk, UK
9. Mouse of Tales Of A Stitching Mouse, South Yorkshire, UK
10. ??? Maybe you!

If you would like a chance to be the next stitcher please leave a comment! The next stitcher will be chosen on Sunday, February 13, 2011. I will try to keep up with the travels and fill in the next stitcher in the list as it goes along.

Thank you for visiting my blog today

xox

My Title is in Question

I might lose my title of The Queen of Slow Stitching if I keep this up. Look at my weekend progress on Count Your Blessings:

This design is such a pleasure to stitch, you wouldn't believe. The colors are fun, the fabric is lovely and the frogs...well, it must be too cold for frogs. I am in need of a bit of advice. The windows are stitched as charted. Do they look odd to you? Kind of blank? Do you think I should fill them in like the door window is filled? Hummm...

Here is a little peek at a Totally Useless prize that has come from Loredana in Croatia. Loredana blogs at Villa Loredana.

Isn't the mesh bag pretty? It's filled with lovely threads and a sweet sachet kit with Pansies to stitch. Thank you, Loredana!

And there are even more TUSAL giveaway prizes awaiting showing off! I will get to them as soon as I have time.

A major snowstorm is expected overnight. They are calling it snowmagedden. *blank stare* While I enjoy the excitement of getting a snowfall I can do without snowmagedden. Thankyouverymuch. Actually, Oklahoma has really had it easy this Winter with some very cold weather but only one ice/snow event. So I shouldn't complain. But I am a wimp and I hate driving in snow and ice and I can't miss work. *cries* Pity me, if only a little bit.

.

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox

New Start

It has been a good stitching week! (Not such a good blog week ~ my reader is full and I'm way behind!) I finished the stitching on my second blogoversary giveaway prize, finished it and mailed it out today. I can't wait to show you. It turned out very nice! So, I've kitted up a new project...

Aren't the colors luscious? This is Count Your Blessings by Shakespeare's Peddler. A nice, simple design that looks fun to stitch. I've changed the red from a purpley one ~ 3685 to a darker red ~ 221. And I changed the tan ~ 612 to a gold ~ 729. These are the colors used for the house & door so I thought it right to pick colors to suit. I'm thinking of beginning construction this afternoon!

I received a mysterious package from Down Sunshine Lane yesterday. It contained Little House Needlework's Cardinal Winter...their first Ornament of the Month for 2011. I didn't order this so who sent it? Fess up! Is this an RAK? Or is it for the TUSAL giveaway? I do remember one of you having a giveaway for these but I cannot remember which of the 630 blogs in my reader you could be! I am blond and easily confused.

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Edit: Danielle from Peace, Love and Stitching sent the LHN ornament to me. I won her giveaway and I'm so far behind in my reader I never knew!

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox