Taking on the Challenge :-)....

Last year a lot of people decided to do the 10 - 20- 50, or 10 - 25 - 50 challenge. I even managed to type up a list of things in my challenge, and well, the list went one way and I went another . That happens a lot around here, especially when there are projects to do, and last year was a big year for projects on the house inside and outside. I redecorated, sewed curtains, cushions, reupholstered furniture, painted....it was a busy time. Anyway, this year I decided I would give it another try, but I am doing it a little differently than what most people are doing. I don't stitch all that fast, so doing one that had 10-25-50 would take me forever. Most likely I would be feeling quite deprived if I had to wait to buy anything until I had 25 projects completed. I don't do many small items, and being a slow stitcher, well, I could go on for two years and maybe meet that goal. So that doesn't work for me. What I am doing is a 10-10-10-until I finish -- this way I can at least manage to buy a few things along the way and not feel like I have broken my commitment to the challenge. Anyway, this works for me.

Now what will be on the list to finish. I really want to get to some UFOs, so I will have a dual list, one of UFOs and another one from my current new projects and older WIPs that i have not categorized as UFOS at this point. This is what is on my list, and they are not in any particular order, so some of them will be done sooner than others, and not in the listed order. I will be glad to get through ten of them by the end of Summer....and that would be pushing it really if I manage that.

On my WIP List are:

The Marquoir Sampler
Elizabeth by Carriage House Samplings
Hannah Pepper (Fine Lines Magazine)
Edcina Pieters Sampler(SANQ Magazine)
Quaker Round Robin
Quaker Pocket (gift for friend)
Quaker Fob (gift for friend)
Quaker pin keep (gift for friend)
Salexandra Sewing Tri-fold
The Silk Sampler (Quaker)
House of Hawk Run Hollow
The Many Years Sampler (online)
The Workstation (Judy Odell)
Plymouth Sampler (Brenda Keyes)
ABC Marquoir Sampler - Pastel
ABC Marquoir Sampler - Red and Brown Combination with Baneberry from Vikki
Clayton Silks; Sampler is by Gigi and Carrine
ABC's from Carriage House Samplings done as one sampler.



My UFOs that I will work on in the first batch are:

Hope Needle Roll (Maureen Appleton)
Star of Wonder (Ornament from JCS Magazine)
Snowmen Melt Your Heart - Homespun Elegance
Wisdom and Understanding - Cross Country Stitching Magazine
Pulled Thread Pillow - Debbie Novak
Happy Memories - from Gloria & Pat's Christmas...A Season of the Heart chart
New Mexico Christmas Freebie from Lindy Jane
Wee Hearts - Heart in Hand
Morning Light Sampler
Sampler of Heart - Stitcher's Attic
Apple Pie - Stitcher's Attic
Heart and Hand - Ewe and Eye
Christmas Basket over one - My own design.
Victorian Welcome - Nutmeg Needle
Antique Wildflowers Heart - Sweetheart Tree
Toile Rooster - Birds of a Feather
Quaker Ornament - JCS Magazine

I'll be posting pics of these as I begin to work on them, and update as I get enough done to show my progress. Hopefully I can manage 10 by September. I'm going to try.

Bye for now...
Cathy

My Most Recent Finish...

Well, I promised a photo of my Bent Creek Summer Zipper project, and here it is. I apologize for the crooked view that I took of it, but I'll try to get the picture taken again and hopefully without the crooked part .
And just for your enjoyment, here is a picture of my fountain flower bed in my back yard from 2007 before we added our fence. When my flowers have bloomed sufficiently to fill the flower bed I'll take new pictures so you can see them with the new fence we added last June.


And here is the fountain with the new fence .....

These are the curtains I made for our baywindow area in the kitchen last year.... I also painted my kitchen a pretty soft yellow....

I also sewed up some new cushions for my swing and also for the chairs to my outdoor table ...
I had quite a lot of sewing to do last year, and it was wonderful getting them all done myself. I made cushions for my benches and pillows, and now all the furniture outside has a new look.



When I get some pictures of my clematis I'll post them here, it has about 75 blooms on it now, and it is just gorgeous. Hopefully the wind didn't blow them all away tonight, it was pretty windy here in New Mexico.

Until later....Have a blessed day!

Cathy

Good to be back again.... Update April and May...

Hi all,

Well, life does have it's little turns at times. I have been in the hospital in the last month, and am healing well, but what a surprise. Found I had uteran cancer and had to have surgery almost immediately, which I am very glad they were able to schedule and take care of quickly. Thankfully, and I give praise to God, I am fine, they got everything and I do not have to have chemo or radiation therapy. God is so good! I was really praying that God would make this as easy as possible and that I would not have to have any treatments afterwards. The doctor said they caught it at the earliest possible time, and that is good! I had a wonderful doctor, Dr. Padilla-Paz -- he was the most attentive physician I have ever had, and a true gem! Truly, I pray the blessing of the Lord all over that man's life and his family.

So, now that i am out of the hospital and mending -- I'm taking life a little easy at home. Resting a lot, sleeping, and doing some housework, but just what I can manage and not pushing it. My DH has been an angel...truly! I am back to cooking meals again, which is fine, I enjoy cooking most of the time, and it's been good to get back into the swing of things at least to some degree. NO yard work for me as yet, as that is a little more ambitious and I need to let everything mend inside, so I"m not pushing the lawn mower these days . I will be glad when I can, it saves me having to work out schedules for people to do things for me, and I honestly enjoy being out there too, so I'm looking forward to when I can resume my gardening duties.

Since I have not been working as hard, and resting more, I have picked up my needle and started the SALexandra project, which utilizes some of the Sajou patterns and we will be making it into a little tri-fold piece when we're done with the stitching. It's over one, and I am using Baneberry (Vikki Clayton silks) for the design, on a lovely porcelain pink Dower 30 ct linen. It's turning out so nice!!

The other project I started is also a freebie from the web. It's a sampler called "Many Years Sampler"...for obvious reasons . I honestly am not sure what the end size will be, I'm using a half yard of linen, figuring it can't be any larger than that . I have downloaded the first 4 parts, and am about half way on the first part, using Vikki Clayton's Garnet Premium silk, 1 strand over 2 threads on 36 ct linen -- Lakeside's Maple Sugar, which is a really lovely hint of pink beige tone. The subtle change in the thread from a lighter red to a dark red with some hints of purple look very nice and dramatic. It's a lot of fun to stitch with over-dyed fibers as you never know how the piece will look until you start stitching. The variation in the thread also creates it's own interest and makes it much more fun to stitch with.

While I have been recuperating, I have worked a bit on my list of UFOs and Kitted projects. I am past 100 in the count!!! Shocking, yes!!! But there are a lot of kitted projects that have not been started, so they don't count as UFOs . Or at least that is what I am telling myself. I figure that the UFOs that I have which in most cases are barely started are almost like new projects, so they might not even count as UFOs .....do you like my rationalizing? It might work. Seriously, there are a few projects that I will just toss, they aren't worth bothering with, they are old and not interesting to me any longer. I have one project on aida, that's how old some of these projects are, and that one definitely gets tossed . Most of the UFOs though are projects I would finish, and some I will give away, others I will finish into stand ups or other things that don't require framing. I really do want to finish most of them. The ones I have questions about I will set aside and take one day to just deliberate whether they are worth bothering with or if I should reclaim the fabric and fibers and put the pattern away for another time. Sometimes it is worth doing that if the project is in a color that no longer suits your decor, or if somehow you just can't see yourself finishing it and hanging it on the wall on that fabric or the combination you picked originally. Many would be better done over on a different fabric or with different color schemes. So eventually I will be going over all of these projects again and making some decisions about what stays and what goes. The nice thing about that is that it will dwindle the list by a few projects, and that won't bother me at all .

I haven't managed to list all my WIPs or UFOs though, so there is more work to do and who knows what the final number will be. That might actually be a little spooky when I finally get to that place.

My plans are to make a list of the projects, and show what they are here....so you can review them....laugh and/or cry ....depending on how it affects you . I may do a little pouting myself after I find out how many there are. I have pulled out about 8 projects to set aside to work on this year. I figure I can finish them and maybe even make a dent in a second set of 5 or 8, depending on how diligent I am. I would like to finish some current WIPs and continue to work on the two new projects i started this month. They were more therapy than anything else. After getting out of the hospital, I just wanted to play, have something to do that was totally different and fun, and so that is how the two new projects were started. I like them a lot, so they will not become UFOs, of that I am sure.

Not sure if I mentioned it, but my only Finished project was a Bent Creek Zipper from way back for "Summer". I had purchased the frame well before I finished the project, and it had sat there forever waiting for me to get the stitched piece and frame together. At the end of April I did manage to put some time aside and assembled the piece. IT looks very nice now hanging near the breakfast bar in the kitchen area. I'll take a picture of it tomorrow and see if I can't upload it for you to see. It's about time I added something to this blog that was a completed project. I have a lot of Works in Progress, and maybe this week I will set aside some time to photograph them all and give a pictorial update of what I have done in the last 6 months.

Hugs to all, enjoy Spring! It's raining outside -- which is wonderful. I hope we get a lot of it this week! It will cool things down and help make things more tolerable since my air conditioner is not connected as yet.

Bye for now, thanks for visiting! (or commenting)
Cathy

Plans for my kitchen:

Since I painted my kitchen last year, I have been wanting to get started on some projects for the walls. This is the list I have come up with. I'm hoping to get some of these started in the near future though I am working to finish the Marquoir Sampler now before I start anything else. I also have some smalls in the works that I'd like to finish up before I get too much else going. So the anticipation is growing and here is the list:

Designs for my Kitchen -- Carriage House -- Only One Ewe
-- " " -- Spring (which I need to buy the chart for)
-- " " -- Strawberry Blond
-- " " -- Scarlet Berries
-- " " -- Northern Exposure
-- I already have Bounding Bunny, by Bent Creek in the kitchen.
and one still life of an aged picture of fruits in a distressed pale
yellow frame
-- La D Da -- Jasmine's Song and Our Daily Bread and Polly Wolly Doodle
-- La D Da -- My Sunshine

I can hardly lwait to get started! Guess I'd best get that Marquior moving along, huh?

Have a godo one...

Cathy

Thinking about what to do in 2008 --

Well, I have been thinking about what I want to stitch in 2008. Last year I spent a lot of time working on painting the house with a new color scheme in mind. I'm working with a light cocoa on most of my walls, and a pale yellow in my kitchen, which though it sounds strange actually works nicely with the other walls, as there are cream walls in the house as well. Anyway, this year I want to concentrate on finishing up some projects that I never got to last year. Thankfully there weren't but 3 maybe 4 items that I didn't get to, and that is not bad for a whole year for me. I generally start out with about 50 things on my list -- I know, it's pretty crazy, but I do get a lot done if I put it down on paper.

So what is my plan? I have been reviewing what I didn't get to last year in the house, and at the same time thinking about things I want to add to my walls as far as samplers.

This is what I have to do:

1. Finish making 3 roman shades, one for a back door in my living room leading to the back yard/porch. -- the other two roman shades flank my fire place and are kind of long and narrow. These ought to be easy to whip out now that I have done one of them for my kitchen (last year) and learned how to dismantle them and do all the measurements, add the little bone circles in the back, thread the cording through them, and add new velcro on the backs to get them stuck back where they belong .

2. Plans for the laundry room are to first paint the walls a pale soft yellow green, it is so subtle that it is almost not there, but enough to look good with the wood in that area. I've always wanted to decorate my walls in there with folk art, and I have decided to stitch up the "ladies" series by Carriage House Samplings. I also want to add Sarah Spurr to that room, and a few of the La D Da pieces. I have room for about 4 pieces under the cabinets, and 4 pieces on an end wall and 2 pieces on another end wall by the door way. That's all though because the rest of the room has a pantry in it and there is no place to put anything on that side .

3. My kitchen changed colors last year, as I mentioned before, and I want to stitch some nice bright things for that space. I have some pieces in there now, including a nice still life of fruit that is in a sort of antiqued pale yellow frame. Looks great with the new paint. I would like to add some pieces in red though, and some piece in green, things that kind of pop and grab your attention. I haven't picked the designs as yet, but that should be fun working on those this year. I haven't much wall space in there, lots of cabinets but not wall space. So the only areas I can decorate are under the cabinets by the sink, and one over the stove (if I dare), and two narrow spaces by the door way that will allow for something that is long and narrow, or two smaller pieces that are also narrow -- maybe 5-6 inches wide. I"m sure I can find some things to add in there. I love to use seasonal things in my kitchen, and traditional things like fruits and still life pieces. Right now I do not have a list of projects, but that is what I will concentrate on next and then I will post them here.

4. Pieces that I am going to finish in the next few weeks are the Marquoir Sampler -- I honestly hope to have that one done by March 15th, and to the framer after that. This one will be placed in my stash room most likely or in the guest room. It all depends on where it works out best. I have loved this samler for so long, it will almost be sad to finish it. It's been a joy to work on this one and make the little changes to make it my own along the way.

5. I have about 3 pieces to frame that I have the frames on hand for. They are Bless You by Bent Creek; Rise and Shine by Bent Creek; and a Watermelon design one of the Zippers (from way back ) by Bent Creek. These have been sitting a while, and I will be placing the Rise and Shine in my kitchen as I have a really nice soft red frame for it. The Watermel Design will probably go in my laundry room for the moment. I have others I want to stitch and finish for that area too. Maybe they will see a finish this year. The Bless You I am giving to my husband, and it may go in his dressing area in the master bath, or he may take it work. He is such a blessing to me, and I like stitching for him .

6. There are other pieces in process, and I hope to get them to a finish this year...they are:

-- Edcina Pieters -- a sampler from the SANQ magazine -- This one is for our
bedroom also
-- And They Sinned -- This will hang in the front entry way.
-- Vierlanden Sampler, an on line SAL -- This one will hang in the Stash room
-- my Quaker RR -- which is over due as far as finishing it goes. -- this will also hang in my bedroom.
-- Hannah Pepper -- this I would realy love to finish before the year ends. --
This I will hang in the dining room when it's finished.
-- When the Calling birds Sing -- this is for our bedroom.
-- The Workstation by Judy Odell -- I didn't finish this last year, so I plan
to get it completed this year.
-- Elizabeth by Carriage House Samplings -- I have plans to work on
Mary Margaret, Mollly and Suzanna as well as Sarah Spurr for my
Laundry room area.
-- Queen's Plums Accessories -- by Indigo Rose. I got the kit last year for
my Birthday, and I'd love to finish it before my birthday comes this year
which is in June.
-- House of Hawk Run Hollow -- I plan to work on this and finish it by
the year's end. Not sure how that will happen, but I hope I can make
it. I really would love to get it on the walls before Christmas.
-- Redwork & Withdrawn Work Sampler--This is my own creatoin. I
have already done the pulled thread portion, as far as getting the
threads removed, but I need to do the hemstitching around each block
and then fill in all the areas with red stitched designs. It will be a fun
project to work on this year.
-- Silk Sampler - I forget who designed this, but it has quaker motifs in it
and I would like to get it finished and framed for my stash room. I am
creating a wall of Quaker designs for that room. I presently have 9
black frames that are awaiting my stitching so that I can get them into
the frames and on the walls.
-- Permin Celle Sampler by Permin of Copenhagen-- this is another beauty and I do hope that it sees a finish this year. I have so many great pieces to work on.

I think those are all of my WIPs -- enough to keep me busy for a while. I don't have plans to start anything new as far as samplers go for a while. I want to work on these diligently until I am finished with a few. I will be working on some smalls and ornaments through the year, and that is about all I plan for new starts. I'm really wanting to focus on these pieces so I can start a whole bunch of new things and work in some smaller pieces as well. These huge ones are hard to finish very quickly. I do have a few quakers on the 'to do' pile, and a Spanish sampler or two, and a lot more folk art. It will be fun working on these and I hope to have some finished pics for you soon too.

Well, have to get on with the stitching or I won't have any new pictures for you
Hope your 2008 is a very productive one.

God bless,
Cathy

Finally Updating my Blog...been a long time comin

As much as I love stitching, this has been a very hectic Spring and Summer. The work that is getting done here of course is wonderful, and I'm glad that it is finally reaching an end, but that has left me very little time to stitch and I am missing my needlework and making progress on my projects so, so much. The Fall is the best time for me stitching wise...I seem to get more time to stitch between September and March. After that the yard work and Spring lists of things to do take over my time.

I did get a few finishes but have not posted them here, so I'm going to update with a few photos and comments. Hope you have had a great Summer, and enjoyed some time with your needlework, a good book, friends and family and just taking time out to plan and think about life. I need to do more of those things now that my work list has gone down to about 3 items. It's wonderful to finally be at this place.
This piece is a Darlene O'Steen sampler, titled Carnation Sampler. I have worked on this over the years, and put it aside and taken it out again. Finally it has been finished and framed. I used some silks I bought from the UK a long time ago. Initially this was a project that was supposed to be submitted in a contest using these fibers and I wasn't able to finish it on time. I'm glad that it is stitched and framed and it now graces the wall in my guest room which is a soft pink shade, though you can't really tell from the picture. Now to finish the other walls in that bedroom .
This is a Cross Eyed Cricket design, from a booklet that has Autumn designs in it. I love their acorn designs, and this is the first one I have ever done. The fabric is really a rich dark red, it's an evenweave in Victorian Red, and I just love this color. The Frame is a very dark chocolate color, and the contrast (I think) is really striking. It is now gracing the wall near my fireplace, which I recently painted a cocoa color (think maled milk). It's nice to finally get some of these older pieces framed and on the walls. I hope to get to many more of them soon. So keep checking my blog for updates, and I will try to get a few more in before December 31st gets here.

Enjoy the Fall weather and find some time to kick back and just relax....
Cathy


Have a great day!

Some deatils about me...

Hi all,
Though I wasn't tagged by anyone, I did read on Anita's board that she was tagged and asked to put some information about herself. So I am going to 'tag myself' ha! ha!---and put down a few details about me. if you read this, consider yourself tagged, and post some info about yourself on your blog and be sure to let me know where that is so I can go look at your information. It really is interesting to read about your interests and favorite things.

Here are 8 Random facts/habits about me:

1. I attended a Business College for two years and have never pursued a degree. At the moment, I am happily unemployed, but that doesn't mean I am not busy , or working .

2. I have lived in Albuquerque and Rio Rancho -- that's all. I love New Mexico, and don't plan to live anywhere else.

3. I started stitching in 1989.

4. My favorite colors are red for clothing, and even decorating -- and in stitching, they'd have to be plum colors, greens, olive and DMC's 500 series, and pinks. But in all honestly, I love all colors, muted ones like browns, beige, black, tan, and one color stitching, mostly red though .

5. I've always had long hair, except for when I was in my 20's. Currently it is up to my shoulders, as I just cut off about 5 or 6 inches of it. This length is much easier to care for.

6. Wore glasses from age 7, but changed to contacts at 15. Wore those til about 4 years ago when I had Lasik surgery, and I would recommend it to anyone. It is marvelous to see without wearing anything corrective.

7. I am about 5'8".

8. Stitching is my favorite hobby. I love hardanger, regular cross stitching, and using special stitches. I've done needlepoint, but it moves along very slowly for me, so I have stuck to cross stitch. My favorite things to stitch are samplers and smalls. I love finishing projects into things...and trying new types of finishing techniques. Had considered designing at one time, but have never done much with it, though i have dozens of patterns I've created. Who knows, maybe someday?

Consider yourself tagged if you have not been before, after you have read mine.....

Two more down the 'finishing line"

It is always fun to complete a project, but I procrastinate generally getting things framed and sometimes worked into their final finished state if they require hand finishing. I managed this week to get two more pieces to the framers, and I am so glad that that they are in process. I have difficulty picking frames and mats though and that is a real learning process for me . Some people just have a knack for picking what works and matching the different parts, but I really struggle with it, and I know that practice like anything else is the answer to learning what works and what doesn't.

I really do love getting these pieces frames, such a sense of accomplishment. The framing costs are always shocking ...even at 50% off they aren't cheap, but I figure that at this point I can work through the costs if I don't finish things too fast .

So my Carnation sampler by Darlene O'Steen is finally at Michael's for framing and so is my very old Lizzie Kate Turkey Time. I bought a nice stained frame in green for Turkey Time and the Carnation sampler has a pale olive green mat that is textured, and a platinum 1 1/4 " Frame, with an interesting dark olive/brown kind of rubbed glaze that is in the crevices, so it makes the carved wood show up better but also reflects the greens in the stitching and the mat. NOw I can hardly wait to see it -- and I hope I did good . it is still hard for me to be sure when I only see one corner completed.. This is the piece I am framing, so you can see the design -- I'll post final pics in a week or so. They generally get my framing back in 10 to 12 days...which is always amazing to me. I posted two pictures because I cut off the top part in one of them, this shows a darker and lighter version -- the actual piece looks in color more like the lighter one. I don't have a photo of the Lizzie Kate Turkey Time, but will post the final framed design when I get the piece back.

In the meantime, I am working on the Workstation which we will be assembling this weekend..so I am really under the wire here .

Hope you have a great day...
Cathy

Recent Finishes --

The main part of the Birthday Buddies package were the Beatrix Potter chart and the silks and other fibers I sent along. The rest were items I made and a pair of scissors which are shown below.

These are pictures of some items I made recently to send as a gift package for a Birthday Buddies group that I am in. There were items sent along with these -- Belle Soie Silk, another strand of silk from Italy, and a set of Flosche fibers in pastel colors, as well as a card of Carrie's Creation's Flosses. The items were piece I made. They are not necessarily a set, as the beaded item is in a differnt color than the rest, but it was fun making them, and I think the recipient enjoyed the package.

Here first is the Pincushion I made with the beaded berry edges -- that beaded stuff is so cool! I had so much fun with it and I plan to get myself some more of this in differnet colors as soon as I find more if it in our stores. I had a great time working iwth it, and I plan to make myself one of these pincushions as well.


Here is the back of the pincushion and the side view so you can see the way the beaded banding is made. Really easy to work with and I love those little berry beads.

Lastly are the fobs I made...the one with the teal colored motif also has her first initial added to the back, and yes, this is a mini biscournu. My first.

The beaded red fob I also made, and has some cloisonne beads on it -- they are so much fun to use and it gives it a sort of oriental look with the red and the cloisonne beads. The scissors were also included.

I am hoping to finally get back to some stitching again this week and finish off the Workstation by Judy O dell. When I get it done, I 'll post pictures as well. I am anxious to do the stitching and get it completed because we do our assembly next week on the 19th and 20th of May. I am really down to the wire here . Not unusual for me, the way my life is with different jobs and responsibilities that seem to interfere with my stitching plans.

Will be back with more pics I hope in another week...

See ya then! Cathy

Changing my plans . Goal 10-20-30-45-60

Well I guess that is what plans are made for -- to be changed . At least in my life they are changed often. I get going in one direction, find something else that works better and go on to do something different.

That is what has happened with my original list for the Goals to stitch 50-60 designs and UFOs that I already have on hand, or works in progress. Anyway, since I am redecorating the house now I have changed a lot of what I will be stitching, so I will have to make some changed to my original list of commitments for the 10-20-30-45-60 plan . I think that is what I had down before. The most wonderful part of this is that I will be creating a new look in my home with every finished design and that is really incentive to get stitching. If I was ever excited about my needlework projects, this certainly has done it for me.

I am also going to be stitching the 4 projects in the Gift of Stitching Magazine that include the 4 seasons and one motif in each design. I may stitch the words Spring, Autumn, Summer and Winter as one word though at the top or bottom of the motif rather than spreading the letters int he corners. I think it will work out nicely doing that with these charts. They are simple enough and doing them in an over-dyed fiber will be a great way to experiment with colors too. I really do love seasonal themes as well, and these are perfect for my kitchen area under the cabinets. So those might be stitched along with the CHS Ladies first and then I will have to decide what is most important to complete after that. I do plan to set up a sort of pecking order for all these projects so I can complete a room at a time.

So the saying about best laid plans does apply here...they are being changed, once again, but I think it is a very positive change as far as completing some of my dreams about decorating my walls and finishing up some old things that will help decorate my home.

I'll be posting pics as I get more of these worked on and update my progress as I work thru the rest of this year on my plans to redecorate my walls now that the other 'redecorating' is nearly complete. It's been fun, and the stitching will just be pure joy! Looks like I will be having to save some money for framing costs too this year -- but that too will be exciting as I will want to frame everything as soon as they're finished so they get onto the walls sooner.

Wish me well :-)
Cathy C

Projects, plans and redecorating ....

Well, life has been anything but dull lately. I am making considerable progress with my redecorating. I have painted my entry , entry closet which kind of stands alone except for one wall that goes to the ceiling in the dining room section. I've painted the desk area off the living room, and the facing wall to our bedroom which has a double door entry. I also have painted the living room and my kitchen, and the dining room -- so I have made a lot of progress lately. I have also added new pots and plants in my entry and dining room, a new reading lamp that matches the other lamps I bought last year for my living room. I now have 4 lamps and the overhead lights as well (which I don't use very often). I've bought and attached new drapery rods for my kitchen. I am going from draperies with pinch pleats in our bay window to cafe curtains with clip rings for hanging the curtains. I can hardly wait to get my new fabric so I can start sewing the curtains!! The kitchen is a lovely maize color, and it has taken some getting used to -- much brighter than the Spanish Lace I had up there before. But I really do like it. I have had challenges trying to get the fabric I wanted for the curtains. Both that I really loved were discontinued. So I had to settle on another pattern which is nice, but not my first choice. I will still continue looking in hopes that I can find something a little more like the first two choices I made. The nice thing is I did get the fabric on sale, which is great, because designer fabrics are not inexpensive.

Right now I am catching up a lot of housework that has sat unattended while I worked on all these other things. I've bought new linens for the bathrooms, a new piece of artwork framed for my bedroom, and some others moved around in the house to give new life to the rooms, but using some of what I already owned. These House and Garden programs do help you figure out some of the strategies if you are not as savvy about decorating as you'd like to be. I didn't get those genes, but my sisters sure did. S o I struggle a little more with decorating than they do. This time though I think I am doing much better, and my DH is pleased, which is a real blessing as he is quite particular about colors and styles. I gave away a very large framed mirror to my niece -- it just didn't do it for o ur living room. A nice piece but just not something that worked in our living room. Set too high to really do much good reflecting images, and it just didn't make sense to have it up where it only let you see the reflection of the fan on the ceiling . Our fire place goes up fairly high, and we have higher walls in our living room than the rest of the house...anyway, it was just not suited for that space. I have a still life of roses which I love anyway that works so much better for that space. In the master bedroom I have invested in new sheets, from a cooper color, or caramel, maybe, to a dark red, which I love!!! Red is my favorite color, and I have some in a nice malted cocoa color, and others in brown, and some in white, and cream, -- well, you get the idea. Those are colors I am using in my bedroom, along with splashes of dark plum, burgundy, and some softer coral/peach in a floral arrangement, with two shades of green , a hunter and sort of olive green, and cream. I also invested in a nice bed set that includes shams and a quilted coverlet -- I don't use the bed skirt because we have a wooden frame that holds up our bed -- sort of a box thing . So bed skirts don't really work on our bed . I purchased a bunch of new towels and towel sheets for the bathrooms, which I am enjoying already. Those bath sheets are heavenly! I have one more area to paint, and a couple to touch up, but I am nearing the end of that bit of work, and it is work!!! My bones and feet can tell you, it definitely is work!! The sewing will be a joy, as I enjoy it so much and I don't often get to sit down with my sewing machine, so I am looking forward to the process of creating new curtains and roman shades for doors and oher windows in the house in the coming week. Each piece adds so much to the whole, and it is really fun working on the different pieces.

My next big investment will be a new red chair and long ottoman so that I can sit in it and have my feet completely stretched out. Almost like a Chaise effect, only using an ottoman. I am using red in the house which to me is just the most wonderful color there is, along with Plum, which I also like a lot. Though I am not using that at the moment except for accents in the house. Eventually I would love to replace my sofa, but for now the rose print on that cream fabric will work with the color scheme I have. The problem with the sofa is it is not very comfortable, but eventually I will find something that works better and that I can move more easily. Sofas with sleepers in them are difficult to move around!! Not great if you have any back issues. Lastly I will paint the laundry room, rearrange a few pictures and plan for a lot of new artwork that I will stitch for my walls in the future. That is one of the best parts of all these changes, I will be planning to stitch pieces specifically for different parts of the house and I have a list going already. This is some of what I will be doing.

From Carriage House Samplings, I plan to stitch:

Folk Art designs for my Laundry Room /Pantry Area-
Carriage House Samplings: Mary Margaret -- Elizabeth -- Suzannah -- Molly -- and Sarah Spurr -- plus "When this you see Remember Me" -- Pennsylvania Redware and Dainty Housewren.

Eventually I will stitch the A to Z designs into one piece and frame it for the center back wall which is what you see first when you walk into the Laundry room. It will make a very nice view as I make my way to do the laundry. Also I will add the La D Da Alphabet and the Briar Rabbit to this collection. It should be a lot of fun planning and stitching these pieces. I can hardly wait!!!

You can see all of these designs at this site: http://wyndhamneedleworks.com/Carriage_House_Samplings/carriage_house.htm[Carraige House Designs]

Designs for my Kitchen -- Carriage House -- Only One Ewe
-- " " -- Spring (which I need to buy the chart for)
-- " " -- Strawberry Blond
-- " " -- Scarlet Berries
-- " " -- Northern Exposure
-- I already have Bounding Bunny, by Bent Creek in the kitchen.
and one still life of an aged picture of fruits in a distressed pale
yellow frame
-- La D Da -- Jasmine's Song and Our Daily Bread and Polly Wolly Doodle
-- La D Da -- My Sunshine

Here is a link to see the La D Da pieces: http://wyndhamneedleworks.com/La-D-Da/la-d-da.htm

I have plans to finish the Celtic Christmas for our bedroom to place over our bed. It will look nice with all the reds in that design on our newly painted walls. I have to find some other designs for the walls, but one of them will be my Edcina Pieters when it is completed. That is a perfect design for our bedroom with the color of linen and the black and brown silk threads used to stitch it. I can hardly wait to finish it. There is wall space enough to add a few more pieces, and one is a companion piece that is a portion of scripture -- I have a verse from Proverbs 31 -- "She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life" stitched, there is another companion piece that commands the husband to lay down his life for his wife -- I don't have the reference, but I want to stitch that and frame it to hang on our wall as well. I already ahve the frame, so the stitching is all that needs to be done.

I also love La D Da -- they are one of my favorite designers along with Blackbird Designs. These are some of the items I want to stitch for our bedroom and my husbands dressing area off the master bedroom.

The Blessing by La D Da -- Master Bedroom
the Marraige Sampler By La D Da -- Master Bedroom
Sweet Dreams - La D Da -- Master Bedroom
Watchful Eye - La D Da -- Dressing area
Now I lay Me - La D Da -- Master Bedroom
Love birds - la D Da -- Dressing Area
My Ways - La D Da -- Dressing Area
Peaceful Ways - la D Da -- Dressing Area
Roses are Red -- La D Da -- Dressing Area
Bushel and a Peck -- La D Da -- Master Bedroom
Mocking Bird -- La D Da --Dressing Area
Tie that Binds -- la D Da -- Master Bedroom

This is quite a bit of stitching and framing, so I will be a busy woman the rest of the year working on my current WIPS and these new projects as well. I am excited about it though, and it is hard to decide where to start . Though I will probably start stitching the CHS Ladies first since I have the materials on hand for those projects. But I also wan to get all the stitching done for the kitchen as I do not have a lot of pieces in that space, and with the new color I am excited to start stitching pieces that have the right colors to compliment the new wall color.

There are other spaces that need more of my stitching, but they will come later. This is more than enough to work on over the next year -- and I am sure it will take me at least that long to get all these done. But what a joy!!!

Hope you enjoyed reading about my plans. I will eventually post the pics of the changes in the house and the new additions to my walls as they are completed.. give me a little mroe time .

Cathy -- have a blessed day!

Okay -- So what about rewards -- this could be fun!

Well, now I need to think about what kind of rewards will accompany all these anticipated 'finishes'. Now this is something I could honestly get into -- ha! ha!

Rewards for a stitcher has to be something to do with stitching -- whether it's new materials for a new project, or materials for an old pattern you love. Or maybe even new stash in the way of charts or a kit.

But my first reward I think will have to be a kit by Indigo Rose. I have been looking at one of her kits for a while now, and that would definitely be something I could get excited about. Also, it will help put a 'fire' underneath me because if I finish these first 10 projects soon, that means I can get the kit too . Nothing wrong with that!

The second reward for 20 -- will have to be some special fabrics to outfit my stash as I have some 'vacancies' in colors and counts that need replenishing. I love higher count fabrics, and the vintage ones are very nice and suit my tastes for samplers as well. So maybe a yard of fabric -- and new fibers to catch up some of my missing slots in Vikki Clayton Silks or Carrie's Threads. I really do like both of them very much. So another $25 or $40 in fibers would definitely be helpful, and an incentive to reach the #20 point.

The next reward will be for 35 -- that's 15 more instead of ten, and will take more time, but I think I can manage a few more charts -- maybe some from The Scarlet Letter and a few that I missed from Market in February -- to the tune of 7 charts, and a few more special fabrics for some Smalls I want to work on -- maybe 3 - Quarter Cuts. These are also good choices for me because you don't necessarily need a lot of fabric for these smaller projects. I really do love stitching smalls, and learning new finishing techniques as well. Great subject to experiment with :-).


The next reward is for 45 -- not a big jump but the projects will take longer to finish I think at this point. So I will aim for a new Shaker Pincushion so I can create the needlework to go on the top of the wooden piece and use it with my stitching. It will be a nice reminder of my 'reward system'. I'd also like to buy some more Duponi silks, so maybe 2 yards of that in my favorite colors. I often buy from denverfabrics.com

The next reward is for 60 -- another jump of 15 projects, and these will take more time to complete because they are more detailed and bigger designs. I'd like to put down a list of items from Designers I like --

With my Needle --
The Quaker pattern Book and Ackworth Friendship;
Threads Of Gold --
Pieces of Old 1798 Quaker Pinball;
Threads Thru Time --
Diamond Sampler; Red Brick House; Robin Sampler; President's Home; Willow House and Six Chimneys;
Samplers and Such --
Samplings 6; Samplings 3 , 4 and 5; Be Just and Fear Not Sampler;
Rosewood Samplers --
Tulip Quilt Sampler.

This will give me a lot of possibilities as far as new projects for 2008 I'm sure.

For rewards 70, 80, 90, 100 and 110 -- this is what I want to put down as possibilities.

1. Catch up all the colors from Vikki Clayton for 3 of these rewards

2. Prairie Schooler --
Rain Rain; Measure of a Year; Summer Breeze; Spring has Come; Christmas Day; Birdsong I and II;
Plum Street Samplers -- Quaker Calendar I and any others that might have been released since February '07;
Patrick Woods -- Beaded Berry Bags. (acquired this one)
Papillion Creations -- Blossom Time;
Ackworth Samplers -- Companion to Beatrix Potter; (acquired this one)

3. For the last 10 --

Little House Needleworks -- Pumpkins, Love and Faithfulness, Julia Flynn, acorns, blueberries, strawberries, pear, music and books, season of plenty, rest, hope, , Elizabeth McGuire, Abigail Winslow, Mary Heaton, Lucy Fairchild,
Little by Little -- Reward of Plenty; Knowledge,
Lilybet Designs - Spots 2
The Workbasket -- Fox Forest;(acquired this one)
Just Nan - Crystal Roses
Historic Stitches -- Sarah Hartley
Sampler Company -- Charlotte and Sophia; Kind Fond Love;(acquired Kind Fond Love)
Fabrics to stitch these items....and that's it. (joined the FOTM with Shakespear's Peddler for Lakeside LInens -- which has been so nice!)

Not a bad haul if I get these all done, and it will give me more projects to work on the following year ('08). It's fun thinking about these possibilities for new stash, and I am honestly looking forward to working on many more projects from my current stash as well. Loads of Blackbird Designs, Ewe and Eye (remember them?), and Goode Huswife....so I will be busy planning new things at some point.

In the meantime, I stitch and stitch and stitch .......

Joining the challenge 10/20/30/40/50 --okay I adjusted the numbers a little -- Ha! Ha!

The rules (as posted at www.hasturtorres.blogspot.com) are:
1. Have fun reducing your stash.
2. There is no time limit- people have different size projects they would like to work on.
3. Thou shall not purchase any new patterns until 10, 25, or 50 projects have been stitched. Pattern size does not matter.
4. This challenge can also apply to knitting, beading, sewing and crocheting patterns.
5. You can make some exemptions - I am not placing limitations on this due to commitments that people might already have. Remember, though, the goal of this challenge is to reduce stash so too many exemptions will sabotage these efforts.
6. Gifts, gift cards, trades, RAKs and patterns bought with gift money are not a violation of this challenge. This also applies to purchasing patterns for gifts that give other people. Woohoo!
7. Freebies count as part of your total and you can acquire them at any point.
8. The offical start date of this challenge was Sept 1, 2006 since I have been posting about it for awhile and want to make sure the everyone's projects have been included.

My own modification will be that if, after completing the stitching on a piece, I actually "finish" it into something, either an object or a framed picture, it will count as 2 finishes. Also, the rewards will come after 10/20/35/45/60/70/80/90/100 --this will create more incentive to stick with this list of goals.

Here is the list of finishes thus far this year ---

1. Autumn Acorn by Cross Eyed Cricket
2-3. Framed Autumn Acorn -- counts as 2
4. Small Biscournu Fob for gift to stitching friend - stitched and finished
5. Beaded Scissors Fob for gift to stitching friend.
6. Pincushion with 'beaded berries' trim and wool felt backing - quaker motif on front with white grossgrain bow -- stitched and finished as gift for stitching friend.
7. Part 1 of the Judy Odell Workstation project.
8. Bless You by Heart in Hand - UFO finished stitching
9.-10. Bless You - framed (counts as 2)
TIME FOR REWARD!!!

The rest of my list of projects to finish are:

11.-12. Framed Carnation Sampler by Darlene O'Steen (counts as 2) - finished
13. Shaker Town
14. Rise and Shine by Bent Creek
15. Part 2 - The Workstatin
16. Part 3 - The Workstation
17. Part 4 - The Workstation
18. Part 5 - The Workstation
19. Part 6 - The Workstation
20. Part 7 - The Workstation
TIME FOR REWARD!!!

21. Part 8 - The Workstation
22. Finishing /Assembly of The Workstation (counts as 2)
23. Silk Sampler
24. Marquoir Sampler
25. And They Sinned
26. Edcina Pieters Sampler
27. The Millennium sampler by Indigo Rose
28. Secret Garden Needle Necessaire - stitching
29. Secret Garden needle necessaire - Finishing (counts as 2)
30. Permin Celle Sampler
31. House and Garden Sampler - House 1
32. House and Garden Sampler - House 2
33. House and Garden Sampler - House 3
34. House and Garden Sampler - Top Border
35. House and Garden Sampler - House 4 - -
*TIME FOR REWARD!!!

36. House and Garden Sampler - House 5
37. House and Garden Sampler - House 6
38. House and Garden Sampler - Left Border
39. House and Garden Sampler - House 7
40. House and Garden Sampler - House 8
41. House and Garden Sampler - House 9
42. House and Garden Sampler - Right Border
43. House and Garden Sampler - House 10
44. House and Garden Sampler - House 11
45. House and Garden Sampler - House 12--
TIME FOR REWARD!!!

46. House and Garden Sampler - Bottom Border
47.-48 Framing of House and Garden Sampler - (Counts as 2)
49. Vierlanden Sampler parts 1-12
50. Vierlanden Sampler parts 13-24
51. Vierlanden Sampler parts 25-36
52. Vierlanden Sampler parts 36-end
53. HOHRH - House 1 thru 3
54. HOHRH - House 4 thru 6
55. HOHRH - House 7 thru 10
56. HOHRH - House 11-12
57.-58. Framing HOHRH - (Counts as 2)
TIME FOR REWARD!!!

61.-62. Framing of Marquior Sampler (Counts as 2)
63.-64. Framing of Silk Sampler (Counts as 2)
65.-68. Framing of And They Sinned (Counts as 4 - it's huge)
69.-70. Framing of Vierlanden Sampler (Counts as 2)--
TIME FOR REWARD!!!

71.-72. Framing of Millennium Sampler (Counts as 2)
73.-74. Framing of Edcina Pieters (Counts as 2)
75. Carriage House Samplings - Mary Margaret
76. Carriage House Samplings - Elizabeth
77. Carriage House Samplings - Suzannah
78. Carriage House Samplings - Molly
79. Carriage House Samplings - Sarah Spurr
80. Pretty in Pink by Indigo Rose (Smalls)--
**TIME FOR REWARD!!!

81. Carriage House Samplings - Strawberry Blonde
82. Carriage House Samplings - Gingham Dog and Calico Cat
83. Carriage House Samplings - Remember Me
84.-88 Carriage House Samplings -- set of 5 - Honor, Faith, Charity, Hope, Love,
89. Carriage House Samplings - Scarlet Berries
90. Cat's Whiskers - Feed My Soul (Smalls)--
*TIME FOR REWARD!!!

91. Chessie & Me - The Journey
92. Chessie & Me - The Gift is Small Pincushion (to be bought sometime this year)
93. Chessie & Me - Bittersweet and Pumpkins Sampler
94. Hillside Samplings - Autumn WIllow
95. Hillside Samplings - Bittersweet Farm
96. Hillside Samplings - A Child's Commandments
97. Fancy Works - Lavender Rose Sewing Case (smalls)
98. Fancy Works - elizabeth R (smalls)
99. La D Da - The Mockingbird
100. Samplers and Such-Quaker Style Friendship Sampler--
*** TIME FOR REWARD!!!

101. Tsunami Sampler
102. Midnight Stitching - A Quaker Floral
103. Tranquility Sampler
104. German Mystery Sampler
105. Quaker RR -- Finish border and missing sections
106. Linda Driskell - Sampler in a year -- Angel at Gate
107. Examplar Dames - Stella Jones 1811 Sampler
108. Gigi's and Carinna's - Six Maines Sampler
109. Marquoir ABC - by Gigi
110. Blackbird Designs - Home of the Brave --

TIME FOR REWARD!!!

111. Carriage House Samplings - Alphabets A - D
112. Carriage House Samplings - Alphabets E - H
113. Carriage House Samplings - Alphabets I - L
114. Carriage House Samplings - Alphabets M- P
115. Carriage House Samplings - Alphabets Q - T
116. Carriage House Samplings - Alphabets U - X
117. Carraige House Samplings - Alphabets Y - Z and outer border work
118. La D Da - Roses are Red Sampler
119. SANQ - Spring 2007 - Ackworth Sampler Frame
120. SANQ - Token of Love design for Frame and 2nd one for Pincushion --
***
TIME FOR REWARD!!!

....to be continued...:-)

This is a long list, but I have done so well so far this year, that I think I will make a nice dent in this list by December 31st, 2007. There are so many other things I want to stitch too, that this list will be hard to stick to in some ways. What I am thinking is that when I get 10 completed, I will allow myself to start one new one that way I can enjoy working on something new as well, while I am working through some of these longstanding WIPs and UFOs. I'm honestly looking forward to a very productive Summer and lots of stitching hours.

Finally a finish --

I know it's hard to believe but I actually finished something . It's taken me a very long time to get this little piece done though I'm not sure why. Actually I am sure, I lost the fiber I was working with and couldn't remember what I used. Well, I had to find a substitute that worked and I finally found something that I could live with and put in the last stitches. You can see that the rust colors are different, but it sort of looks like it was intended, and I love the color of the Victorian Red evenweave I used and will use this color again now that I see how this piece turned out. I love red anyway, so this is right up my alley as far as color goes.

Here is a picture of my finished Cross eyed Cricket - Autumn Acorn.


Since completing this one, I have one other old UFO stitched. It's the Heart in Hand "Bless You" and as soon as I locate the frame that goes with it and get it put together, I'll share a picture here for you to see. I really am excited about getting back into my UFO basket and finishing up some old things that for whatever reason got put aside. I'm enjoying this tremendously. The framing costs are going to go up I'm sure over the next few months as I get more of these little projects finished. It's kind of exciting as there are very few of my UFOs that I don't like. Just seem to be distracted from completing them and now that I am filled with new inspiration to get back to these projects, it has been so much fun! I'm loving it!!!

As for what is next -- I will complete the Eileen Bennett Rockhom Sampler -- I have the Carnation Sampler by Darlene Osteen that needs to be framed, and will take that in this week and maybe the Rockhom as well. Then I will work on a project called "Quaker Four Corners" by The Goode Huswife; another Cross Eyed Cricket from The Country Garden -- it's a window with a flower box that says Welcome on it. I plan to make it into a door knocker, or put it in a small grapevine wreath. I also want to work on another pre-finished pillow with an insert that was sold as a kit, called "True Love" by Olde Colonial Designs. Each of these are small projects but will be used in my home immediately . So I ought to have some updates for you before too long and more pictures to enjoy. Happy Resurrection Sunday everyone!