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Toccata 1

This is my start for 2009! I have it on order at Elegant Stitch and it should be arriving one day this week! I ordered the chart and all of the materials for it,so it will be good to go. I hope to start it on Jan.1st. I am very excited about it, because of all the different stiches. I love working interesting stitches, so it will be fun. I know this is an old piece, but I have always loved it so I decided this is the year I will stitch it.

December Goals and 2009 plans

I am a little late to be posting December goals, as it is already the 8th, but I am going to do it anyway as an attempt to get myself more organized. I am in full stitching mode again and I have several goals in that regard for next year. I also have joined a WIP elimination group on Legacy, so I am going to "fess" up and post that here as well.


December Goals:

1.Marriage of the Minds:do a daily strand
2. Pinkes Sampler:dividing band 2 and 3, rows 2 and 3
3.Mary Tavish(model stitching):focus project, complete 5 hours before working on anything else.
4.Biscornu, design for my guild and send to model stitcher
5.Golden Age sampler: frog out mistakes.

Here is my WIP elimination list for 2009. These are my top 10 WIPS.(yes I have more than 10, but we won't talk about that right now!)

1)Marriage of the Minds, Drawn Thread~I am about 80% of the way finished. Really want to finish this in 2009 for my 25th anniversary. I started it for my 20th!

2)Houses of Hawk Run Hollow, CHS~a little less than 30% done, as I am on the last house in the top row. I would truly love to see a finish on this one as I have been working on it for about 3 years, 2009 will be 4!

3)Golden Age Sampler, Sharon Cohen~I am stuck and need a little help/practice with the detached buttonhole. I hope to get some help with this one at the sampler guild next spring. I truly love this sampler and have been in love with it since 1995!

4)Her Majesty's Glove, Sharon Cohen~50% done and I love this one, I really want to complete it! This is a smaller project, and I feel I can start one of Sharon's sweet bags if I finish this one.

5)The Unicorn Sampler, Scarlet Letter~about 20% complete.

6)And They Sinned, Dames of the Needle~barely begun, but I love this one and I already know where I want to hang it!

7)Days of Advent,Mary Beale~only the first block is done. I am really uninspired to finish this, but feel I must because it cost me a small fortune as I bought all of the silks for it.

8)The Pinkes Sampler Project, Darlene Osteen~about 10% complete. I just started this one and I'm really into it, so it will probably be my first finish.

9)Song of the Sea, Ruth Ann Russell~a very old WIP, about 90% completed, I've GOT to finish this one!

10)Angel of Spring, Lavender and Lace~this is for my mom and really needs to go to the top of the list!

Aside from all of this, I also plan to get at least one doll completed for sale a month. I am focusing right now on the embroidered and colored pencil enhanced, old fashioned girl dolls for the moment. They are the ones I most enjoy making.

A little more"Pinkes"!

Started something new!

Why? I just wanted to try all of the cool stitches on this sampler! This is called The Pinkes Sampler Project, and it is from the book, The Proper Stitch by Darlene OSteen. The very top dividing band is long armed cross stitch and double running stitch. The next row is reversible cross stitch and double running stitch. It is worked on 32Ct. Belfast linen, the color is sand. I converted the called for silk mori threads to DMC.I am going to try to work on it twice a week. I know, I know, the best laid plans!! Click on the picture for a good close-up of the stitches.

Progress on Marriage of the Minds

I got a lot of stitching done on this over the holiday weekend. Here is my progress:

Christmas Ornament by Scandinavian Stitches

From the 2008 ornament issue from Just Cross stitch.

New start

This is a little sneaky peeky on my newest design, tentatively called Mary Tavish. I am using beautiful AVAS silks(my favorite!), on 32 ct. antique white Belfast linen. What do you think so far?

A Biscornu!

I will be designing a biscornu for the members of my local needlework guild, and teaching the finishing technique next spring. So I worked on this biscornu so I could get the whole project straight in my mind. I bought this as a kit from Handcrafts Online. It is stitched with Dinky Dyes silk, the color is called tea tree.

A finish!

And a non-work related finish at that! I started this years ago and then it languished in my WIP drawer for a looonnnggg time. But I got it out a while back and now, look! it is finis!!



The Work of Thy Hands
Hillside Samplings
32ct. Natural Belfast Linen
DMC floss and perle cotton

Colonial Revival at the framers!

The model is stitched and ready to be framed, and then I will be ready to release the chart! What do you think?

My doll collection

That is I should say "our" American Girl doll collection. My 2 girls and I have collected them for about 15 years. There were many Christmases when American Girl was on the top of the list. We still go to the store in Chicago every Christmas to see the windows and the displays. It is really great fun! Chelsea and Isabel decided to get all of the "girls" dressed for Christmas the other day,(click the picture for a close-up) and this picture is the result. A very fun afternoon!

New doll on ebay for 3 days only!

Elizabeth-Mary!


She is on ebay here, for the next 3 days! Don't miss her!!

Halloween and some WIP progress!

Here is my progress on Drawn Thread's, Marriage of the Minds. I started this in 2004 for my 20th wedding anniversary, and now next year will be my 25th! I am determined to finish it!


Here is Isabel in her CUTE! pirate costume that my daughter Chelsea whipped up in about 3 minutes! She is so good at that!

My Birthday!

I had a guild meeting on my birthday, and when I got home my kids surprised me with a cake and a clean house! Wow! I was so thrilled! It was a great day! Look at all those candles! Whew!!

My new logo!

My website is coming along, I have all my new graphics done. Here is the logo!

2 new albums!

I made an album of all of my needlework finishes for 2007 and for 2008! It was fun to look back and see how much I've really done! A lot more than I thought!

Some WIP action

I have had this piece in my wip pile for a long time. It is a needle book and there is a matching pin cushion and scissors fob. It is really beautiful! It is a design by Hillside Samplings called The Work of Thy Hands.

A little more progress

One thing about being sick, it gives you lots of stitchy time! I worked on this last night in between helping Isabel make a diorama for school, study for 2 tests, washing football laundry, making dinner(corn chowder and biscuits!) and baking zucchini nut muffins! Whew! No wonder I'm sick!

Feeling Stitchy!

I had a little bit of time last night to sit and relax, so I picked up Houses of Hawk Run Hollow. I am in a very stitchy mood! I finished my latest model, the one that there is a sneak peek of below. Now I need to frame it and do a photo shoot, and it will be ready to be released! But in between I was able to pick up a piece that
I am working on just for myself!So here is my progress on Hawk Run-I have been working on this for over 3 years!

So much craziness!

I have been SO busy in the last 2 weeks, that now I have gone and gotten myself sick! It is some kind of a virus that is just hanging on-ugh!

We have seen the end of the soccer season-with a tough loss in the first play off round. My son Lucas is a senior and this was his last game ever, as I doubt he will play in college. I have cheered him on in soccer for 13 years, its hard to believe! But he started when he was just 5!

Over the holiday weekend we visited some colleges, Marquette and Bradley University. Lucas wants to go into Bio-medical engineering, and the program at Marquette is really fabulous! But WOW! is it expensive! We won't know if he is accepted until next February, and then we have to start crunching numbers and see if we can afford to get him in somehow, but I really feel this is the program for him. I have found out that getting your child into college is akin to a full time job! Scholarships alone can take up a LOT of time. And then there is the fine art of getting your high school senior to actually apply!!(can you say senior-itis!)And Aidan is just 2 years behind him, so we will be doing it all again in another year. But it is worth every minute! I will be the happiest mom in the world as soon as my 2 guys are happily settled into a good school-I never went to college, so this is a BIG DREAM for me!(ok, I went to local JR college-but its not the same)

The high school football season is also winding down. Last Friday night was our last home game, and it was cold! let me tell you! I think that's partly why I have been sick!


And, my mom and my daughter Chelsea and I spent another day canning applesauce. The first time we only got 6 jars, so we decided to do another batch. This time I went and talked to the local farmers market people and got some really good advice on what type of apples to use and how many. So we did an entire bushel of a mixture of McIntosh and Cliburn apples-wow were they good! They were so easy to mash and I did not even have to add sugar at all! We also grated and froze 22 bags of zuchini! Yum! Tomorrow we are canning a half bushel of pears! There is nothing like having 3 generations in the kitchen working together-we really have fun!


I am still getting my website together-I will be so happy when I have a little cyber home again! I think it is really going to look great and as soon as I can open I will have a pattern sale!

Applesauce!

I spent the day with my mother yesterday making homemade applesauce! Gotta "preserve" those old traditions! Ha! Ha! We had SO much fun!

Next week we are canning pears!

News and Correction!

The mess I make runnin' my little business!

Well the orders are almost ALL FILLED! Yay! But on the downside! :( Mary Kathryn emailed me with a correction to one of my charts! Wow! I try so hard not to make mistakes but the Good Lord is bent on keeping me humble. :)

Correction:
NW~07 American Promenade
The model WAS stitched on 28 count CASHEL linen! As MK rightly pointed out, there is no such thing as 28 ct. Belfast! hehe! Thanks Mary Kathryn, I truly appreciate you taking the time to point this out to me! Sorry folks, hope it hasn't caused too much confusion!

As for the news:
I am now working on opening a new website! Since I closed my old site in July I have really missed it and find that working through s blog is just not as effective. So I am getting a new site ready that will feature all of my patterns. I confess that in the future I will not be selling much finished work. The times are just too hard and I cannot get the return for my time investment. So it will be mostly patterns and charts from here forward. My new slogun:

Annie Beez Folk Art
Patterns and Charts for the Needlearts!

~Annie

The Online Needlework Show was very, very good to me!

I had a great show! Made lots of money and got lots of new orders from shops that I have not dealt with before! So exciting! So now I am busy, busy, busy filling orders and getting them all mailed out along with a freebie chart for the shops to distribute! Want a copy of my freebie chart? Its a folky little sheepie design called Let your Heart Shine. It is similiar to this, just different wording:

Send me a LSASE and I will send you one!

Email for my address to:

anniebeezfolkart28@uahoo.com

And here is my finished American Promenade, back from the framers. It turned out SO spectacular!


And as a special little teaser, here is a sampling of the newest design I am working on! I am about 1/3 done with this one! Loving these colors!

My needlework charts!

The Online Needlework Show is up and running!

There are really some great new designs! Its so fun to browse through all of the selections, I love it! You can see them here! Have fun!

American Promenade~My new design is finished!

It is now at the framers, and then back home for a VERY quick photo shoot and the pattern will be ready! The Online Needlework show starts next week!

X's and Ohs!

I am frantically stitching away on my latest model to get it ready in time for the Online Needlework Show! The show starts Sept.24 and runs through the 29th. Non-buyers will be able to peruse all of the new offerings but will not be able to purchase. Its a great time to see new designs and then run to your LNS (local needlework store) and ask them to order them for you! Of course I am working under the gun to get this design done! You know I took this with me on vacation in August to get a really good head start so this wouldn't happen! Ha! I spent all my time floating around the pool, so now I am paying for it! LOL!
Click here to go to the show page.

New doll I'm working on

This doll has been made from my Elizabeth pattern!

I love hand work!!

Click on photo for a close-up!
This is a tiny little peek at a table topper I have designed, which will be a spring pattern. Yes, I am designing for spring already, while most people are getting ready for fall! But that is how it goes for designers! :)
I have decided to hand quilt this piece, as I just love the way hand quilting looks; and because I love doing handwork, and luckily I am pretty fast at it. These are my essentials for quilting: needles, scissors, thread, and my MP3 player! Also my thimble which I forgot to put in this picture. And I am set to enter my own little musical world where I can happily quilt away for hours! This is very portable and I can be found working anywhere, in the car, at the stadium, during football practices~it works for me!

.Little shabby Annie auction

Here is the link to the little shabby Annie auction! Thanks for taking a closer look!

OK. that last blog background was too dark!

Do you like this one better? I do.
Here is a picture of my next doll, she is almost done and will be on ebay this week. She is very shabby chic! I was inspired by the dress fabric-great big polka-dots in new pastels-powder blue and coral and apple green-love it! There are so many cute new fabrics out lately! I love to shop here and here. I am so inspired by the new modern colors and the nod to vintage-so awesome!

For my cross stitch fans! I am working on a new design-finally! It is called Promenade. Here is a sneak peek. Still no progress on the Winter and Spring designs to go with my Crows and Pumpkins and Sunflower designs, but I'll get there! I have all of the fabric and colors picked out, I just need to sit down at my computer and design! :)

I'm still working here!

I'm so sorry I haven't blogged in so long! I guess I am still getting adjusted to the new school schedule, having sports start up again, and family matters!

I am working on my applique quilt, and really loving it! The colors are very subtle, I don't know if they show up to their best advantage in photos. They really are pretty in real life! I finished my second block. I don't think it was as successful as the first. I should have used a darker color for the stem. I will do this with all the rest of the blocks to keep it consistant, and then this one block with the lighter colors will be my interest block-that place to rest your eyes!

Block # 1

Here is the first block of my applique quilt, it is really big! The block is 20"! This quilt is designed by Blackbird and is called Posies in the Valley. I am having so much fun working on this. It is my take along project as it is very portable. I am still spending a lot of time waiting for my kids at practices, etc.

Eric Akeeno Belcher's Baptism

As soon as we returned from vacation we welcomed our nephew Eric into the family of God! My husband and I were thrilled to be chosen as Godparents. So now I will bore you with pictures of my family. I love this picture because it shows what a melting pot my family is! Starting from the left is my brother Ed, who is a catholic priest. Next is me, see how we look alike! We represent the German heritage of my family! LOL! Next is my husband Gary. He is half Japanese. Next is my sister in law Maria,holding the baby and with little Anthony at her hip; she is from Mexico. Then we have Sean, my husbands youngest brother, and my niece Jessika, who is half mexican and 1/4th Japanese! What a melting pot!

I love this picture! These are my men! Aidan is on the left, then my husband and best friend Gary, and Lucas on the right. Aidan is going to be a sophmore in highschool, he is 6 foot 3! Lucas is my athlete, and one of the sweetest high school seniors you could ever know. He is the one who went to Hawaii.

And here is my whole family, plus my mother and father in law. My oldest daughter Chelsea is the only one who looks 1/4 Japanese. I was so suprized when Lucas was born-he was blonde and blue-eyed! I just assumed all of my children would be dark! Isn't it funny! And if you have read down this far I beg your pardon for boring you, and thanks for hanging in there! hehe!