A Fantastic RAK and 100th Post Giveaway

A few days ago I got an email from Carol from iStitch, with the most wonderful surprise. Michele from Just Another Stitching Blog had RAK'd me with Sew a Brown Bunny, Carol's newest design. I'd had my eye on it since it was released but hadn't gotten around to ordering it yet. It was such a lift for this to happen - Michele is one of the nicest bloggers around and I was just so excited and touched that she'd done something so nice for me. I have already pulled the threads and selected the linen for this project, and will be starting it this week. It's the perfect Easter design. If you want your own copy, why not pop on over to iStitch Charts - you won't regret it! Michele, thank you ever so much!

I finished my March Owl for the Oakhaven Designs SAL. I'm enjoying stitching these little guys!

Here's my progress on The North Wind. All that's left is the white - lots of white. The chart called for Crescent Colours Toasted Marshmallow, but it has subtle browns in it and I thought it would make the snow look kind of dirty. So I'm using CC's Belle Soie in Icing. It's not showing up as well as I'd like - I think my linen should be a bit darker. But it's not, so I guess we're going for a subtle look.I don't recall where I heard about this, but there is a new kind of cotton stranded thread being produced, called Rosace. They are offering three free skeins through their website - you can pick the colors you'd like. The floss is quite nice. To get your free samples, go to http://www.threadrosace.com/ and click on the bar at the very top of the page. I think their free offer ends in a few days, so do this quick if you're interested.

This is my 100th post! Never when I started this blog did I imagine I'd have had enough to say or show to reach this point. Being a part of this stitching community has enriched my life more than I can ever articulate. There is a quotation attributed to the poet W.B. Yeats that I think is very apt - it says, "There are no strangers, just friends who haven't met yet." I think that describes the relationships between stitching bloggers so well.

To celebrate my 100th post, and to give a little back for all that has been given to me (literally and metaphorically), I'm doing a giveaway. I'm still gathering things for it, but one item that's definitely up for grabs is a copy of A Cross Stitch Christmas: Celebrations in Stitches. It's the edition that has the chart for Brightneedle's Lo How a Rose, and I know there are many of us who want to stitch it. So this will be one of my gifts to the winner.

To enter the giveaway, you don't have to be a follower, though I would be thrilled if you wanted to be one. Just leave a comment on this post, with your email address if it isn't in your profile or you don't have a blog. I'll pick a winner and post the name on Tuesday April 12th. Meanwhile I'll be thinking of what else I can throw in. Good luck!

More Owls Have Flown In

I've added the February owls to my SAL fabric - as you can see they are sleeping (partially because I am a dud in the french knot department, so I couldn't keep their eyes open). I 've decided that these are owls in the daytime. I'm enjoying this SAL and am looking forward to March!

Here is my progress on The North Wind. I made one change to the pattern - I added a question mark after the word "then" because the last line of the verse is really a question, not a statement. I guess all my grammar lessons stuck with me because I just couldn't leave it be. The dot is a bad version of a french knot, and it's a little off center, so I really should keep fiddling with it, but for now, it's on to the robin. As I suspected, I ran out of Pea Pod so the border will have to wait until I get some more.

It has come to my attention that this is my 99th post! I can't believe I've made it to this point - never when I started this blog did I think I'd ever have that much to say or show. It's been such fun and I've "met" so many nice people. When I hit 100 posts of course I must celebrate by having a giveaway. So I better get stitching!

February So Far...

Now that I'm recovering from the shock of winning Carol's giveaway, I thought I would post what I'm working on this month. I am doing my very first SAL with the Yahoo group for Oakhaven Designs. I am a sucker for owls, and there will be an owl design for every month. Here is January's owl:

Ever since I learned how to stitch on linen it's what I've always chosen to use, but for some reason this SAL seemed to call out for Aida. So I'm stitching on Jobelan Aida in a hand-dyed shade called Babbling Brook. I love this little owl and am looking forward to the next installment for February.

I did start LHN's The North Wind, which has taken me away from Jenny Bean for awhile. It's such a pretty design. A warning to anyone who wants to stitch it, though - it is very likely you will need two skeins of Crescent Colours Pea Pod, which isn't specified in the instructions. But I'm nearly done with the lettering and this color is called for all around the border, so I'm pretty sure I'm going to run out. So learn from my experience and buy two skeins!

I subscribe to Just CrossStitch, and though I don't often find something I want to stitch from it, I enjoy looking at all the designs. And this month's issue does have something I'd love to take on one day - Winter at Beacon House by Praiseworthy Stitches. It's well worth the cost of the magazine. Speaking of JCS, my November/December issue never arrived. I wrote to customer service requesting that they send me a copy, and instead they sent the 2010 Ornament issue, which I already have. If there is anyone out there who needs one, let me know (my email is in my profile) and I'll be happy to send it to a new home. If more than one person wants it I'll have DS pick a name out of a hat.

I Won a Giveaway! And it's here!

I am so lucky! Carol from Stitching Dreams had a fabulous giveaway on her blog and I won her Winter into Spring gifts, which arrived today. Included were two charts - January Sampler by Waxing Moon and Prairie Schooler's Daffodils (with all the DMC to stitch the latter, all tied up in a pretty ribbon) and the most gorgeous pair of Victorian embroidery scissors - the picture doesn't really show the color, a deep crimson. And she also included five ornament-sized cuts of scrumptious fabrics. This is the first giveaway I've ever won and I'm still flabbergasted that I did. Carol, thank you ever so much - you were so generous and I am just thrilled.

Recent Stitching and the Year in Review

Between the holidays and ogling too many other blogs, I don't have too much to add to this one (but notice it's not stopping me from trying). I only have one finish to show - it took me forever to get the Tulip Belle Soie I needed to pull it off the Q-Snaps. I'm still not happy that the blue isn't that variegated, but it's a pretty piece none-the-less. I'm not quite sure what to do with it - it's a little small for a pillow but too big for an ornament. Hopefully inspiration will strike one of these days.

Singing the Blues
Little House Needleworks
Unknown Cashel linen
Belle Soie threads

Jenny Bean is coming along but I really blew it on the size of the linen. The left and right sides only have about 1 1/2 inches to spare from the border stitches. I hope I will be able to frame it once it's done, which won't be for awhile, because something else has been calling my name:

This is such a quintessential winter project - I think Jenny is going to go on the back burner for awhile. The linen I got isn't quite the same shade as is suggested - it's a little lighter and brighter, but I think it will look okay. It's called Misty Meadows - isn't that a pretty name?

I will start The North Wind sitting under my new/old LUX floor lamp, which I found for peanuts at a rummage sale. What a difference a daylight lamp makes!

As a slow stitcher, I tend to compare my output to that of many others and find it quite minimal, but when I looked at my notebook in which I've started writing down my projects, I was quite surprised to find a respectable number of finishes. Here's my list:

Sew Animalistic - iStitch Designs
Netherfield Park - The Sampler Girl
February Little Hearts Sal by Sylvia
Necessities Sampler - LHN
Pear Tree - LHN
Laura's House in the Woods - The Sampler Girl
Sew Peacock - iStitch Designs
The Snowman and James - DMC
The Secret Garden - JBW Designs
Red Bird Freebie - Gazette 94
Do It Well - Silver Creek Samplers
By the Full Moon - Ink Circles
Wash Day - Carriage House Samplings
Tidings of Joy ornament - Heart in Hand Needleart
French Country Star ornament - JBW Designs
Sew Spooky - iStitch Designs
Country Wall Postbox - Janet Granger
Halloween Hoot and Bat - Oakhaven Designs

Victorian Christmas Motif - Joan Elliott

If I had to pick favorites I'd choose Sew Animalistic and Sew Spooky, Netherfield Park, Wash Day and Do It Well, but I enjoyed them all. I'll have to look back at the end of this year and see if 2011 measures up to 2010. Here's to a happy year of stitching for everyone!

Christmas Stitching

At long last I have a finish to show - it's a pinkeep I made as a Christmas gift for a friend who doesn't read my blog. This friend is an Anglophile and she has a particular thing for British mailboxes. There is even an organization for people who have this interest. So when I saw this chart in a book of projects by Janet Granger, I knew I had to stitch it for her. I boxed it up (no pun intended) and will send it out to her tomorrow.

Country Wall Postbox
Janet Granger
28 count Summer Khaki
DMC

This little guy and his friend were a quick, fun stitch. It is a freebie from Oakhaven Designs found here. And this last picture is why I haven't been posting - Jenny Bean's Christmas Sampler by Shakespeare's Peddler. It's a larger project than I have done before and is slow going. I'm not very happy with the linen I'm using - it is a very loose weave and when I make stitches you can see the holes in the fabric. But I'm plugging away - maybe it will be done by Christmas 2011!

Better Late Than Never!

Halloween 2010 came and went without it being ready, but I finally finished Sew Spooky today (and at least I didn't lose it again)! I had the best time stitching this design, and I really miss it now that it's done. I made a few minor changes - I left off the end of the ghost's "tail" so it would look like the ghost was coming out of the letter "L", and I didn't stitch the witch's hair because DS liked her better without it (we decided she was hiding her hair under her hat). The spiderweb in the upper lefthand corner is hard to see - I used Kreinik #4 braid but I probably should have used two strands instead of one. You really have to click the picture for it to show up. The backing fabric spiderwebs are silver glittery stuff - DS picked it out - isn't it perfect?

Sew Spooky
iStitch by Carol R.

28 count Taupe linen
CC, WDW and DMC

I'm still waiting for some special-ordered linen to start the project I wanted to do next, so I just began Jenny Bean's Christmas Sampler by Shakespeare's Peddler. It's the largest design I will have attempted so far, and I have a feeling it will take me a long time to stitch. I'll post progress pictures, since if I wait for the finish you probably won't hear from me until Easter!