Crazy January 2011 Challenge~Days 7,8, and 9

Well it was a busy weekend, so I only got a moderate amount of stitching time. My fabric for AED 1746 came on Friday, so I got started on that Friday night, when I was supposed to be taking down Christmas. :) I took my Christmas decorations down on Saturday instead. Here is what I did, not much at all:

AED 1746 by Scarlet Letter

DMC floss on 35 ct. Tea dyed linen

The reason I didn't get that much done is because I came across this piece in my stash, and I started it! It wasn't even on my list so I totally cheated!

Needlepoint Christmas Light Ornament

by Susan Porta

Various needlepoint threads on canvas

This was super fun and very fast moving. I enjoyed working on it.

  But then on Saturday I was busy most of the day so I didn't really work on anything at all. I think I did a tiny bit on Days of Advent.

 Sunday I went to the Lake Michigan Sampler guild meeting and I took Days of Advent to work on there, so that what I worked on the rest of the weekend. I signed up to take 2 workshops given by Joanne Harvey of The Examplerary in April. One is called Betsy Morgan, which is a little school girl piece by an 8 year old, who later stitched one of the Balsch samplers, and another repro called Elizabeth Taylor-which is gorgeous! There really are no pics online so I can't show you these gorgeous pieces, but later I am going to go through my Examplerary catalog and see if I can find them and then scan a picture. I am excited about these workshops, because I have never taken a class from Joanne Harvey and I have always heard such wonderful things about her.

 So back to the challenge, I think I am going to start a Stacy Nash piece today. I have my regular MMonday night meeting, so I'm not sure how much I will get sone. I am loving this challenge though-it has really got me motivated to stitch!

Crazy January 2011 Challenge~Day 6

 Yesterday my new start was actually a WIP. I pulled out "Days of Advent" by Mary Beale. I haven't worked on this for at least 2 years, maybe more. All I really had done on it is block 1 and a little of block 2. Here is my before picture:

And here is my after picture:

 All I really got done was the rest of the globe and the grapes on the left hand side. I had another meeting last night which lasted 3 hours! Wow that was a long one. By the time I got home I had a splitting headache, so I had to be content with what I had gotten done yesterday afternoon.
 Days of Advent was not originally on my list, but I decided to swap it out with Paradise Lost. I love Paradise Lost, but it is another huge one and I didn't want to start too many really big ones this year. I still have a lot of BAPs in progress, so I wanted to finish some of them first. I really want to finish Days for a Christmas gift for my brother next year. He is one of those "impossible to buy for" types and I know this will just touch his heart. He's the kind of guy who is generous to a fault, but isn't into "things", so its hard to find anything for him. You end up going the practical route, like socks, and then you just feel lame! But he is a catholic priest and one of the few things he does buy is classical religious art. I know he will love this piece.
 And the other big project that is really calling to me is AED 1746 by Scarlet Letter.

I am hoping the fabric for this one will arrive in the mail today, and if it does that will be my start for today. I could really continue happily on Days of Advent, I was really feeling it yesterday while I was working on it. Its so hard to stop and go to a meeting when I would rather cozy up with a good project!! But duty calls!  

Crazy January 2011 Challenge~Day 4 and 5

On Tuesday I was going to work on a WIP, but...I decided to pull out "A.Elizabeth" by The Goode Huswife and start that instead. (I haven't worked on a WIP yet. Hmmm...) I tea dyed a piece of 32ct. antique white linen for this and I'm stitching it with DMC. I love how primitive this piece is, and when it is finished I have the perfect spot for it!

I didn't have much time to stitch because my hubby and I had a wonderful date night planned! We went out to dinner at The Melting Pot, which is a fondue restaurant. If you have never been, you should go-it is so much fun! The food was delicious and for two people it is actually very romantic! Then after dinner we drove into the city to see Wicked! It was wonderful and I loved every single minute of it. We had pretty good orchestra seats and the Cadillac Theatre is beautiful. I was only able to get one picture inside of the dragon over the stage, and I got yelled at for it!

  On Wednesday I started The Miniature Monogram Hornbook by Kelmscott, and I finished it! BUT... I am a complete idiot because for some reason I grabbed 28ct. instead of 32ct., so it doesn't fit on the little hornbook thingie!! Doh! And it turns out I don't have a piece of 32ct, in this color-which is like a mushroom color- and I really like the way the Brethren Blue sampler thread looks on this color, so I just finished it anyway. I will use it somewhere else. So I have a bonus finish, or and anti-finish, I don't know which. LOL! :^)

  And last but not least, I have a sneak peek of my new chart to be released very soon, hopefully in time for the Nashville Market. It is called "I will love you forever". I should be done stitching the model today.

  So today is another busy day. One of our cars(my car) has died an untimely death and that means I get to use the teenagers car AND drive everybody around again. I am not complaining (much), at least we have a third car. But it will be a couple of months before we can replace my car and its going to be a drag!
  Anyhow, today I think I will work on a WIP. Mary Beale's "Days of Advent" that has been neglected for far too long. I would love to finish this one this year.

Crazy January 15 Challenge~Day 3

Well I had a meeting last night at church do I didn't get much done at all. I was going to work on a WIP, but I decided to start Noah's Garden by The Goode Huswife instead. So here is what I got accomplished-its a start anyway!

Today I need to work on dolls and do some model stitching. Tonight my hubby and I are going into Chicago to see Wicked at the Cadillac Palace! Whoo-who! It was a Christmas present from my hubby to me-I was totally suprised! He knows I have wanted to see Wicked forever. What a sweetie! First we are going to dinner at The Melting Pot, which is a fondue restaurant. I am excited to try it, we have never been there before. So, unless I am able to put a few stitches in late this afternoon, OR maybe in the car on the way into the city (which could be an hour or more depending on traffic), I may not have much to show tomorrow. I am thoroughly enjoying this challenge. Even though I may not get everything completed in a year, I feel good about getting things started that have just been languishing in my stash for so long.

Crazy January 15 Challenge~Day 2 and I got something framed!!

First of all here is my start on Noah's Stocking by CHS. I am stitching it on 36 ct pearled barley using a Vickie Clayton HDF conversion. This is something I have had kitted up in my stash for quite some time. I am not sure about the HDF conversion-some of the silks may be too light for my taste. I may end up substituting some NPI as I continue to work on this. I WAS stitching right along at a good clip and then the family decided to watch Horatio Hornblower(which was a Christmas gift-the whole set of 6 movies!! Yippee!), and I got caught up in the action and kept catching myself not stitching at all! For shame! LOL!

And in other exciting news! I finally got around to finishing the framing on This is the Day!! I had the frame made at Joann with a 60% off coupon so it only cost me about 20 dollars. Then I followed the tutorial on framing by Vonna at The Twisted Stitcher and Ta-Daa!! It turned out great! Thank you Vonna for so generously posting your tutorial!

And this morning I hung it in my living room along with a punch needle piece done by Lori Brechlin of Notforgotten Farm. I am so happy! These peices are hung directly across from where I sit in the morning with my coffee and Bible.

I bought this piece from Lori a couple of years ago on ebay. I just adore the way she did the frame! One of my goals for this year is to learn to make and paint my own primitive frames. It is a punch needle heart with the words "Wahre Liebe" in German, which means "true love". I adore this piece. My grandparents were both immigrants from Germany, and my father spoke fluent german. So whenever I look at this piece I think of my Dad, who I miss so much! Its a really special piece to me. And I just love Lori's work-she is so talented.

Today I will be picking up one of my WIPs for the challenge, not sure which one yet. Come back tomorrow to see which one and what progress I have made. Isn't this challenge fun!