Tis the Season Progress

Okay folks.  Here is the latest that I’ve done on This is the Season by Blackbird Designs.  The pic is not great; I had to take it at night, indoors, without a flash to get the colors a little closer to their real appearance.  I just love this piece.  I am thoroughly enjoying it.

I couldn’t resist another start, when I realized just how small it was, and I wanted to have something to swap to that is a lower count… I think I need new eyeballs.  The 40 count slows me down a bit, since most of my stitching time is at night after it’s dark now.  I’ve started Blackbird Design’s “Winter Delivery”.

I’ll be drawing the winner of my giveaway tomorrow… so if you catch this post before then, comment on my giveaway post.  It’s been a crazy week again.  I just don’t know sometimes how I’ll get everything done, and then I remember that when you take care of the important things, the rest take care of themselves.

Have a great week, and be sure to get some creative time in!

 

Jane Austen Rocks!

I have been trying to catch the “Complete Jane Austen” series on Masterpiece this season. It’s been wonderful to watch some of the pieces I haven’t seen before. If you are a Jane Austen fan, and haven’t seen any of Masterpiece on PBS this year, you need to look it up. In honor of my time with Jane, I took a quiz and found that I am most like:

Take the Quiz here!

Of course, I think the draw to Jane Austen’s novels is that we all find a bit of each character in us. But, I think I agree that I am most like the older Miss Dashwood.

I am nearly done with the stitching on the Trilogy’s “Family”, which I’m giving to a friend at work. I’ve found a frame for it and I should be able to have it done this weekend. I am working to list all of my charts and WIPs. I need to shop from my stash! I have so many wonderful things I want to stitch and finish, and just need to make a plan that will help me be more efficient with the stitching time I have. I do have a short list for now, but really want to start a few new things, so I think I’ll create a plan that allows me to add a piece to my group of active projects on a regular basis, as long as I’ve made progress on each of the other projects in the group. I’m not really a “rotation” kind of person. At least as far as scheduling specific days or times. I just stitch on whatever I like at the time, or whatever I need to finish if it’s a gift. I will post more here when I have the specific plan down.

 

Finishes… Harry Potter included!

I picked up the last HP book just after 12:01 am on July 21, along with the CDs of the audio book read by Jim Dale. I listened to the first two chapters in the car as I drove my niece and nephew home. I picked up the book from there for another 1 1/2 hours, then went to bed at 3 am. I finished the book that night at 9 pm. Oh, and I also scrubbed the bathroom, stopped to eat, etc., and vacuumed. But, I did schedule my day so that I could just read… I won’t spoil it. But, oh what a great romp. I wonder how they’ll fit it all into a movie!

And, I’ve got some finishes. Here they are in all their wrinkled glory. They’re really not crooked, but were just on a lumpy chair when I took the pics. JBW’s French Country… can’t remember the exact name of the chart. I used CC’s new silk on this, in fern frond.

This is an oldie, but I have it in my hands again. I gave it to my aunt as a gift, sans the frame, and she’s never framed it. So, I asked for it back, and will be putting it in a custom frame… just need to build it. This is Victoria Sampler’s English Cottage Garden.

This is Ewe and Eye and Friends’ “Love Letters” with the Shepherd’s Bush conversion, and a few changes of my own.

Finally, I got around to starting this one by CHS, and I just loved working on it so much that I stuck with it until it was done. It took me about three days of evening stitching. It’s on 36 count RR creme brulee with the called for NPS silks. It’s been in my stash forever, and I love it even more now that it’s finished. I made a few little mistakes, but was able to adjust for them. I just figure it’s more my own.

Have a great week everyone! Thanks for your comments.

 

A thousand words can paint a picture

I guess since this blog stuff is new to me, I have a lot to say.

I’ve been thinking about my love of reading. I have loved to read ever since, well, ever since I could read. My second-grade teacher, Ms. Fite (yes, that was her name), wrote that I should “not spend my time reading novels in class.” I guess she didn’t like me reading when she was talking. That was when I first read the Little House series.

Even when life gets really busy, I find some time to read for a few minutes here and there. But, what I absolutely love is being so engrossed in a book that I cannot put it down to eat or sleep. Recently, I awaited the arrival of the latest HP installment (that’s Harry Potter for all of you people who have been off-planet for the past several years). It arrived near the end of a very busy Saturday, about 5 pm. I must say I had some real self-control this time around. I didn’t finish it until 12:30 am on Monday morning. At first, I read it in small bites, like you would when you’re trying to make a great piece of cheesecake last longer by eating just around the edges. After a while, you figure, “Oh well, it’s gonna get eaten sometime”. What you’re really saying is “I’m beat. You win. I’ve gotta devour the rest.” You can say “I don’t need the rest of that cheesecake (or insert your own personal weakness here)” all you want. But, you really do need it. It’s that way for me with books. Well, AND cheesecake. I’m particular about my books and my dessert. I don’t just read anything that comes along on the best seller list. I’m selective. (And, I prefer the real cheesecake, not the stuff from a box, but baked, New York style.)

For instance, I love to read books by John Steinbeck. But, they’re not my absolute favorite books. I don’t usually read them more than once. Why, you ask? Because he is so good at painting a picture with words, that all of the suffering and inhumanity he describes is more than I can take. I admit it, it’s more than my little sheltered soul can handle. But, once I’m into the book, really into it, I can’t put it down. If you haven’t read Steinbeck, you should at least read the first chapter of “East of Eden” or “The Grapes of Wrath” or “Of Mice and Men”. Then you can put it down. If you really can.