My Most Recent Finished Project - I love the frame!

ROCKHOME
SAMPLER

I have not finished a project in a while -- so this one is kind of special in that it is just nice to finally have something to share, and also have something to put up on my walls. I have so many plans, but life has been so busy this year with all the changes we have made in my yard, and then painting inside and outside the house, dealing with ground squirrels, and rabbits in the yard -- grubs in the lawn.. well, you get the idea. Anyway, it's been hectic to say the least, but a lot of the big jobs are done and I am almost at the end of my list of things to do this year. Once I get the fountain bowl repaired from this Winter's cold that caused it to separate in a few places so that it has a little open spot in the bowl. Well, that should be repaired by early next week and then I can settle down to getting ready for our Family Reunion which happens on October 11th. It's taken a while to get the work done, but I have a brand new barbecue area outside to enjoy, and new wisteria bushes, and new holly bushes in my yard, some old roses removed, and more Virginia creeper added, and lots more crepe myrtle bushes added as well. The house is painted, and a new floor in the kitchen, I've painted outside as well, my porches are done and over the garage door where we have a wooden surround. It's been something else...to way the least getting all this work done, but it's almost complete, and I can enjoy my accomplishments, and also stitch a lot after the Reunion is over. I'm so glad. I've really put in some labor this Summer.

I TOTALLY LOVE THIS FRAME!!

This is my Rockhome Sampler





Have a great day!

Cathy

More Stitching Time on the Horizon -- Yes!!

It's been a busy Summer, but I love getting things done, and seeing my 'dreams' come true as far as the plans i have for my home. WE don't travel hardly at all, so home is our haven. I have been wanting to just finish these plans, and we are very close now. Talk about ecstatic about it! I am definitely doing a happy dance about things coming to an end as far as the work goes. Also, it is os nice to go outside and see the thins that were just a note on paper at one time are actually finished, and we're able to enjoy them.

More Stitching Time is the result though. All this work getting done, and clearing off my list is going ot make more time to stitch for me. I have some sewing I want to do too. I want to make some velveteen tunics to go with some black, brown and green slacks for Winter. Those will be fun projects for me. That's what I call 'recreational sewing'. It's not work. It's fun! It's something I can use in my wardrobe and I'll actually save mone doing the work myself. Sewing is addictive, whether it is a sewing machine, or a needle and silk threads . I love both!

AS for what is on the horizon and what I am stitching. This is what I'm working on at present. This is the Marquior Sampler. The small yellow/green/red versionis what the original looks like. My stitched piece is shown to the left. I have finished the square on the right side and am working on the one just below it. I am only changing out a couple of motifs in this piece because I don't have children, so no baby buggy in this one, and I wasn't too fond of a few other motifs, so they will go out and I wiill find something to replace them with. In the incomplete section you see in the photo above, I have added some grapes, flowers, and a grandfather clock. I want to add my Father's Initials in the block I am working on now with is the lower right corner. I have my Mom's done near the piano with an over one red rose. My Mom's name was Rosalie, so I thought the red rose would be appropriate. I'll get new pics up this coming week.

I am working on a biscournu in autumn colors, and finishing up a needleroll, also in autumn shades that fits into a huswife that I started last year and didn't complete. I'm also working on a set of smalls from Merry Cox, so all those will be posted in their degree of completion in the next week.

These are other pieces I need to finish:


This is a biscournu, or it will be when it is all assembled. I need to make some cording for it, and a tassel or two.


I need to frame this piece by Bent Creek, and I have the frame, just a matter of getting it laced onto a piece of coreboard, and getting it into the frame. This piece is going into my husband's dressing area. I actually have two of these kits, so I will stitch the other one and put it into my laundry room.

And yet another biscournu in process. I will be finishing this one in September or early October I think. Plan to get it assembled and add some pretty multi colored pink and rose tassels on the 4 upper corners (biscournus have 8 corners). I also have to find some prtty fabric for the backing. I'm not using linen for the backing on this particular one. It's the first time I have made a biscournu witih fabric on the back side, so we'll see how it turns out. Hopefully, nice .
Currently I am working on this, and it will take a while to complete it, but I love pink and green together. I'm still undecided about the way the darker pink looks. Not sure it will remain or not, but we'll see. This definitely will be a fun piece, and I'd honestly like to finish this sampler before the end of December. It will require that I focus on it alot, and I am hoping to increase the number of stitching hours I get every week. This btw is called "The Carnation Sampler" by Martina.




This piece to the right is in process also, and wont' take long to finish. I plan to make a pin keep in a heart shape with it. I have never done a pin keep before, so this is a new finishing technique for me to experiment with. I'm looking forward to giving it a try. All this probably during October, because life right now is going to be pretty busy til the end of the month. Did I mention that there is a wedding in between now and our Family Reunion here at my house? Well, that is definitely going to take up some time, so stitching may not be moving all that fast for the rest of this month. Stitching is such a soothing past time for me, it really calms me down, so I like to get at least a little time for stitching every day before bedtime. Thankfully I am not in a rush for these pieces, but I do hope to get these finished in October. More pics will be forthcoming :-).

This is one of my favorites to work on at the moment. First I love red, and I am just totally delighted at hos the tan fabric looks with this color of red. It's a mystery spool so I can't even tell you what color it is, only that I really love it. I'm mixing a little garnet in with this, using Vikki Clayton silks, to make the mystery spool last longer
I'm hoping to get back to this seriously when October Comes along. I won't finish it as the parts won't be all released by the end of the year, but I'd sure like to catch myself up with this piece. It's called the "Many Years Sampler" and is a free design on line by Gudi. She is such a sweet lady to share this with us.

This is another project I am currently working on. I don't have a picture of my own work yet, but will get one posted in October sometime. I love the "Girls" series by Carriage House Samplings. They are going to hang in my laundry room which I recently painted a really 'happy" shade of pale yellow with a hint of lime to it. Very different, and fun. These pieces are going to make that a really enjoyable place to spend time. I enjoy looking at finished needlework as much as I enjoy working on pieces in progress. It certainly will make laundry day a delight. The one I am working on now is called "Elizabeth", and you can see it here....

https://www.stitchingbitsandbobs.com/cgi-bin/Store/showimage.cgi?CarriageHouseSamplings0Elizabeth1000
I'll be posting updates soon...so keep watching....and boy am I looking forward to October and more stitching time!!! YOu can see that I need to get moving on these projects.

til then...
Cathy

Making New Resolutions

I'm not sure how many of you make resolutions at the first of the year, but I always do. This year has been different to say the least. I had surgery for uterine cancer in April, which put everything on hold for a while. But all is well, and I give God the Glory for it! I am well, and back to normal, though normal for me is like fast forward at the moment. I've been working in my yard, and house, doing all sorts of changes. We're at the end of building a barbecue area in our back yard and extended our patio area where it is being built a little more. Not a lot, but it is a little bigger with some added stones that actually 'frame' the cemented area. I've changed some bushes out, and taken out 10 roses in my yard. Some replaced by crepe myrtle in a raspberry color, and the others replaced with wisteria. We've added a trellis for some trumpet vines to grow on, and added a few more Virginia creeper to the back wall in our back yard. I had some issues with my lawn, all kinds of things attacked it from ants to grubs, and I am finally getting that in shape. Also weeds! We have this spurge stuff that grows wild here in New Mexico and it really went a little wild in my lawn for a while but that too is getting under control. One thing at a time. I've been painting now, and will be doing more of that this week, also upholstering my dining room chairs. I have already upholstered two breakfast bar chairs, and I will post a picture of them so you can see the fabric I am using. I'll refinish some baseboards and window sills, and that will be the last of the work here. Our reunion is the end of September, so I have a lot to do before that happens.

My stitching has not taken a back seat completely. I am managing to work ona few things here and there. Yesterday I took in my Rockhome sampler for framing, and to my delight, they will have it done in a week and a half. So that's good news. I've gone back to working on my marquior sampler and will get an updated picture as soon as I finish block 5. I hope to finish the whole thing by the end of October, and get it in to the framer as well. Another goal for me to meet . I do like having goals, it really does help me to set time frames for things, and list all the things I would like to accomplish. Some years I don't quite finish the list, but if you get 48 out of 50, well, I think that's pretty good! Ha! Ha!
Yes, and most years I have at least 50 things on my list.
Just wanted to pop in here and post that my work is coming to an end -- in two weeks i hope to have most of it all crossed off, and all of it by the end of October. I do have some other sewing to do, but that is not critical so it is not taking a high priority at the moment. It consists of some outdoor pillows for my benches and chairs, and 4 Roman shades (two for doors and two for windows in my livingroom). It's nice to get to the last of the list before the end of the year I will say that!!
Since I have a lot of catching up to do with my stitching, the rest of the year, I hope to spend a lot of time stitching and getting things framed. I will be having another reunion at the end of the year after Christmas -- so I only have a few months before we are doing this all over again. The nice thing is that we get to spend time together as family and that to me is so important. And I do get a lot of help with all the food from the women in my family and some of the men too .
Next week I hope to have some pictures to update what I have been working on so you can see where I have spent my time, and I will also post pics of my new barbecue area when we get that lst of it put together.

Have a great week! I hope to get a lot of painting, refinishing of the woodwork in the house and some upholstering done as well....I know, I'm a little into overkill here . Pray for me that I'll finish on time .

Cathy

Can you believe it's already September!?????

My goodness! Time is moving so fast these days, it's hard to imagine that we are so far into the year already. Where did the time go? I'm sure I'm not alone in thinking that the year has zoomed by me and I may have missed a thing or two as a result .

Well, I hope you are having a good time, even if time is moving along so fast it's hard to keep up with life. I have a gazillion things happening in September, and well the end of August too. Three birthdays the end of August, 2 in September, and a bridal shower, a wedding and a baby dedication....well I think this month tops the list for activities in our family...oh and I forgot to mention we are having our Family Reunion the last week in September as well. So I am spinning around trying to get a lot of loose ends tied, and be ready for that when it happens. The Reunion is at our home, so it we're finishing up a build on a barbecue area outside, and adding a trellis for my Trumpet vine that didn't die when we pulled it up and put a shed on top of it . The thing is sprouting out in other places outside our new fence (about 4 plants out there) and then there are some sprouting inside the fenced area, (about 4 more). So instead of attempting to figure out how to kill them, I decided they are pretty enough that I will let them grow and so we are putting up a trellis by our new shed so that they have somewhere to climb. I already have one climbing up the pine tree in the same location...and hopefully it will do alright there. I am a little concerned that the branches might get a little bothersome for the tree, and I would hate to lose it, so we'll see how this goes. The jury is still out whether it will stay or not .

I have been painting, and managed to flood my laundry room last week, so decided since I had to clean behind the machines in there, I might as well do the painting while I was at it . I suppose that's not the first time something like this has happened and put you into a project a lot sooner than you had intended. Anyway, it is finished, and looks very perky -- I chose a very cool pale yellow with a hint of lime in it...a kind of modern color, and looks very cheerful on the walls. Now to stitch a few projects to decorate the walls. I do have a few things up, but my intention is to make that my folk art and seasonal space, and it will be fun filling the walls with my stitching as I get some time to create those pieces.

I did manage to finish a project last week, and have posted on the right side border, you can go check it out there. It's the Eileen Bennett Rockhome Sampler. I chose my own colors for this, and it is actually fairly soft in color with that darker border on it. It is so hard to get computer screens to show things as they really are, and I think it changes depending on what you are photographing. At times it is almost perfect, other times it's not. It may also have something to do with the photographer, which I am not .

Just thought I would pop in and share a few things with you. I may be taking some pictures of the progress on our barbecue and adding them to this post, so you can see them. Might do that tomorrow, we'll see. There is still an "L" portion, the short end to add to the current barbecue space we're created, so we're not done, but we have added the stone pavers around the area where the cement is, and it added so much to the space. I'm doing this also because we are having the reunion and I wanted a new serving area outside as well as a really nice barbecue grill to cook at. It will be here before we know it.....

BTW, I am also painting two bedrooms, and two bathrooms before we have the reunion and I hope stitching a few roman shades, one for a door, two for the narrow windows that flank my fireplace. The last thing on my list is to organize my stash room and clean out the garage. Not sure the garage will get all the attention it needs before the end of the month, but it will soon afterwards. That's the end of the work list for me this year -- whew !! It's been a year, let me tell you! BUt I am loving how things are shaping up. WE've also pulled out 10 rose bushes and added 7 crepe myrtle in a lovely raspberry color. We'll be replacing the roses we pulled out with 2 wisteria, which I hope will eventually grow over the block wall we put up last year. So that ends the work on the yard for this year, and hopefully my list will be very short in 2009.

I will post pics as we get all this finished...so keep looking in .

Cathy

Goign through a bit of Startitis!!

I've had a b it of startitis . Of course this happens to a lot of us stitchers from time to time. It's been fun too!!

The projects I have started are as follows:

The Peripheria Designs Spanish SAmpler -- I have actually done 3 versions of this, as I kept changing fabric and threads, and I am finally at a place where I think I am happy with the end result. I'll post a picture soon so you can see what I am doing, and I will also post the first and second tries on this one, so you can see what I did. It is a struggle for me sometimes to find the right colors to go with the fabric I am using, and at times what looks good when you do a floss toss, doesn't happen when you do the actual stitching.

The second one I started is the Many Years Sampler, and you can see the photo of my beginnings on this one below. It's a gorgeous Sampler, and I am so excited about working on this one.

The third is the SALexandre SAL, which will be working on their pocket (tri fold) next month doing the assembly, which also means I need to concentrate on the stitching the rest of thsi month so I am ready to do the work of assembly when they start on it.

The fourth sampler I bought and started is the Quaker Mystery 2008 from Martina, which I really will enjoy. I am thinking that the colors of gold, lavender and green would be pretty for this piece, but I also am thinking that a totally pastel version, sort of Spring-like would be lovely too. I'm caught between which one to do though...so I am experimenting at the moment.

The fifth sampler I started is the Quaker 5 which is one of the quakers that I believe began las t year, I got a late start with it, but I still want to work on it, so I am putting things together to start that one as well.

I also started a cute 'doily' like piece that has rose patterns on it, and the outline of the cloth, with the sections showing so that it looks like it is crocheted. Very pretty and lacy looking. I plan to make a cute little needle book that folds into itself. I received the loveliest gifts from a friend of mine in Canada and one of the gifts was a little needle book piece that folds into itself. I had seen them before and thought I would love to create one of my own. Well, now I am going to do just that, and see how I do. It is not a difficult chart to stitch, so hopefully I will have it ready to finish up by the end of the month. With all the other things I am working on well, it will be a bit of a challenge to get it done any sooner than the end of June. But I hope to so that I can experiment with the finishing. For me that is just as much fun as the stitching is. I'll also take pictures of the needle book I received so you can see how it is done, and you can maybe try it yourself on your own. I think it is easy enough to do without a pattern, just your own imagination and a bit of experimentation are required.

Another piece I started is an on line group on Yahoo, that is mostly French speaking people, but ther eare a few who speak English. What i have been doing is translating my messages into both English and French, or sometimes in Spanish as there are a couple of gals there who speak Spanish and French -- so it has been interesting communicating on that forum. Anyway, the project is called Sampler Espagnole -- and it is a lovely blackwork sampler, which I am doing in red, and I will dedicate this one to my Father. I am Castilian, as well as Irish, Scottish, Dutch, and a bit of Jewish heritage there as well. I've been wanting to create a memorial sampler for my Dad who passed away just over a year ago, and this sampler is going ot be the piece I dedicate to him. It will be a nice way to work through some of my own feelings of missing him and also a nice reminder of my dear Daddy! I plan also to make one for my Mom, but have not found any Irish samplers. There are Scottish ones, and I may end up having to just do a Scottish sampler style piece for my Mom's memorial sampler. I also have some ideas about doing a rose sampler for my Mom as her name was Rosalie, or Leah (nickname), and I would love to stitch something with roses for her.

In fact, I have a couple of great ones on hand, that are free charts as well. The one is a Maripeles Rose Sampler, which I have downloaded, and I may stitch that one for my Mom as it would be a good one to use for this sort of memorial sampler. It has a lovely rose border and roses in the sampler, plus some wreaths with initials inside, etc. That I have not started as yet, but it is probably going to be one of the next ones I start as I plan to do both samplers for my Mom and Dad this year, no matter what else doesn't get done, those ones will.

I also have a rose sampler from Ellen Maurer Stroh -- which is a free sampler, and it is a lovely border so far, that she's published. It is very elegant, and would be wonderful on a tablecloth edge...which I am very tempted to work in ecru on white or white on ecru linen...I have the linen on hand (Glasgow linen 28 ct) which would be perfect for this. So that may be another start sometime this year. I am waiting for the rest of the sampler to be published, but it surely is a winner!!! If you love roses, you would love this one.

Also there is another sampler I am starting which is called the "Mother's Day" Suzanne Vierlanden Sampler piece from Martina, that was also a free offering to the ladies who are on her yahoo group for Mother's Day. It is not free to anyone, just to those on her yahoo group. Anyway, I decided to start this one as well, and I am thinking it would be lovely in pastel colors. But it would also be great in a combination of greens, and so I am not sure what colors I will choose for this one as yet. It is still in the planning stages.

That is 10 projects~!!! I told you I had that thing called "Startitis"....(ha! ha! ha!)........

I'll post pictures of these as I get them started so you can see my beginnings on each one. I have some WiPs I will be working on as well, like Plymouth Sampler by Brenda Keyes, Carriage House Samplings Elizabeth, Permin Celle by Permin of Copenhagen, my Quaker RR piece, Silk Sampler which is another small Quaker design, and a few smalls that I am making as gifts for friends. I have to get to some of that finishing work on those pieces too, very soon!! So I have a few other pieces to work into my stitching schedule. How that will happen, I honestly have no clue at all! Anybody have some ideas on how to fit this many pieces into your monthly schedule????

Well, I am off now to get a few household chores out of the way, and start working on organizing my stash room, which I have wanted to do for months now! I am finally getting caught up to the place where I can actually get in there and start doing some rearranging, inventorying, and eventually I will buy a few pieces of furniture for that room and a new TV/DVD/VCR unit as well. It is going to be my 'get away' room, my 'prayer and study' room, and my 'office', sort of. I do'nt have much space to work with, so I will have to be VERY creative when I get down to arranging things in that space. Wish me well!!!

Cathy

I Couldn't Help Myself

HI all,
Well, you know how it is if you are a stitcher. There are times you just have to start something new, in spite of the fact that you have a dozen things already in progress. Well, I hit that moment again .. We won't discuss how many times that has happened since I took up stitching more seriously. It would be hilarious, and I am not sure I could tell you anyway.

This past week I pulled out some Hand Dyed Linen from Vikki Clayton, and I grabbed a chart I have been following on line by Peripheria Designs -- it's a Spanish Sampler, done in various rectangular shapes to form the whole sampler. Anyway, I decided it was time to start it. I picked part 2 as it is the major square in the center (almost anyway) of the design, and I figured I could start that and 'guesstimate' the location on my fabric without making too much of a blunder in the guessing part. So I did just that. Actually I have gone back and started basting the other sections so as they are made available I can get them in the right spot. The sampler is approximately 184x 184 stitches so it isn't too big, but big enough for me . Of course, since i just started the piece I only have the first corner portion done, but it is looking nice. I am using a linen that is a sort of platinum color with a hint of 'pink' to it, or maybe a slight mauve. It's very subtle, so you don't really see it, just that it is there.

Just in case you don't know where to find this sampler, it's a free SAL Group, and you can sign up for it if you like. Here is the link.......http://periphaeria.com/community/news.php --

This promises to be a really fun piece to stitch, and I hope to see a lot of inspiring color choices from the other ladies participating. Hope you will join us as well, the more the merrier as they say!

Have a great week and I'll try to get a picture uploaded here for you to see once I get the portion I am stitching finished.

Happy Day!!!

Cathy C

My newest project -- Many Years Sampler

I had been in the hospital recently and when I got out, I was looking for something to stitch that was new, and fun. This "Many Years Sampler" caught my eye. It's a free SAL, and I am enjoying it so much. My only problem is figuring out what colors are in this mystery thread from Vikki Clayton. It is not garnet. I have ordered a spool and garnet is much darker than this one. This has more of a rose tone to it, but when stitched on this fabric it actually looks 'red'. And it's two shades in this spool, a dark red and a bright red, at least that is how it appears on the fabric. To look at the spool, you'd probably call the 'red' color in it raspberry or rose. Hopefully I can find a match to it so I can create my own spool for this. I really do like this color!!

Below is a link of other versions of the same sampler by different stitchers, the colors are lovely and as you can see it just gets better. I am only on part 1 so far, these photos include up to part 4.

http://good-times.webshots.com/slideshow/563277341zTBPxv

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!