Summer Stitching

Greetings Friends,

As summer winds down and school is in full swing, I long for the days of endless stitching and completed projects.  I did a lot of stitching this summer. 

 I have been working on starting a lot of designs, and well, I've started a lot of designs.  ;)

I did manage to finish 3 frame worthy pieces this summer. 

 I picked them up from the framer this afternoon.

I am so please with how they turned out.

 Needleworker

LHN

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 Betsy's House

Plum Street Samplers

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 I Like This Place

Barbara Ana Designs

Thank you for stopping by and for sticking around even though my posts have been few and far between here lately.  I've got a few small pieces I'm working on finishing and I hope to be back to share them soon.

I appreciate your kind comments and love sharing my stitching with you.

Keep on stitchin'

Nan

A Couple of Patriotic Finishes and a Very Bare Tree

 

Greetings Friends,

 

 I hope this finds everyone well and finding time to stitch.  I have been busy finishing the school year but have found some time to stitch and finish a couple of patriotic designs.  I love stitching for the 4th of July.  I found the wire tree pictured below at a lawn and garden show a couple of weeks ago.  I knew it had to come home with me.  It looks a little bare but I have a few more patriotic designs to finish that will hang proudly on the branches.  I also found some cute patriotic ornaments at Hobby Lobby to help fill in the empty spaces.

 

 

 

I've also been keeping up with my Santa's Village.  I love the piece but am a bit tired of stitching houses.  I'm motivated to keep up with it so hopefully I'll be able to stay on track.

I hope your summer is shaping up to be a good one.  In a few weeks I'm off on a shop hop with a dear friend who will be visiting.  We plan to hit several shops around the Chicago area.  Look out, here we come.  I don't have any other plans this summer besides stitching and getting this house in order.

Thank you for stopping by and your sweet comments.  I love hearing from you and thank you for spending a small slice of your day with me.

Keep on stitchin',
Nan

Star Spangled Garden

Greetings Friends,

Thank you for your kind words on my WIPs from the last post.

Your words of encouragements helped me keep the

needles flying to finish Star Spangled Garden.

Star Spangled Garden

Country Cottage Needleworks

Now...to get the rest of my patriotic designs out and decorate for the 4th of July.

Thank you for stopping by to spend a bit of your day with me.

Keep on stitchin'

Nan

I Made it Home in Record Time...

I didn't get a ticket, I didn't speed (much) but I'm pretty sure I made record time getting home with my stitched pieces.

The First Thing I Did...
when I came home with my framed pieces today was actually hang them on the wall. 
I have been waiting on these pieces since September and was so excited to finally have them in my hands that I couldn't wait to get them up so I could admire them every time I walk by. 
The two framed pieces are designs that I stitched this summer.  I started free bird at the OOE retreat and purchased Bless This House on the way to the retreat.  I think these two pieces are part of the reason I haven't had many blog posts this summer/fall.  It took quite a while to stitch them and then off to they went to the framer. 

La-D-Da 

Bless This House

Plum Street Samplers

Free Bird

The frame is actually a very deep red that matches the fibers in the design. 

The camera doesn't quite capture the real beauty.

~Thanksgiving~

Thanksgiving is a favorite of mine.  I love to stitch for Thanksgiving and

I am delighted to have finished Thankful Quaker. 

Bent Creek
Thankful Quaker

Bent Creek

Thankful Quaker

My holiday shelf is starting to fill up.  I've combined Autumn and Thanksgiving. 

One day it will be full for each holiday.  *Crossing fingers and stitching furiously*

I hope the upcoming holidays are joyous for you. 

 It is hard to believe that it is time to stuff the turkey and deck the halls.   

I came across this picture on a friend's facebook page and found it refreshing and hilarious. 

Every year I am amazed at how retailers try to out do each other. 

I notice that a lot of Black Friday sales are starting at midnight Thanksgiving night. 

Will you be joining the millions of people trying to grab the deals?

I'll be back soon with more finishes.  I dedicated most of the Fall to preparing for the Pals Fall Fling.  I have pictures to share of friends and finishes but they are on another camera and I can't find the cord. 

Until then...

Keep on stitchin,

Nan

4th of July Finishes

 Good Morning!

In my last post I promised to show my 4th of July finishes for the year.  Well...I didn't make it back on the 4th.  An impromptu cookout stole my attention that day.  We had a very relaxing day with friends and I hope that everyone had a safe, enjoyable weekend also.   God Bless America!

So.....
Better late than never.  Here are the 4th of July finishes for 2011.

4th of July Bird

Heart in Hand



My dear friend Karen and I did a private exchange.  Look at the beautiful box I received from her. 

She included lots of patriotic stuff in her package. 

Before I could get a picture it seemed to disappear into my working stash.

This is what I stitched for her...

 Old Glory

Chessie & Me

Happy Flag Flag Day

the Trilogy

Patriotic Melons

Stitchy Kitty

This piece gave me fits to finish.  My original plan was to turn it into a wall hanging.  I don't seem to have any bell pull hardware laying around so I tried a few things that didn't work out.  After a few hours of ripping seams and a few naughty words I ended up turning it into a pillow.  Said pillow does not make me happy.  I'm not sure what it is that I don't like about it but I'm pretty sure I will once again start the seam ripping and therefore, the naughty words will probably follow.  Maybe today while I'm out and about I'll pick up some dowel rods to serve as bell pull hardware. 

Last week I was meandering through Hobby Lobby, lost in my world of crafty "what ifs"

when I stumbled upon this shelf.  I have looked for a very long time for a shelf to sit on a bare wall in my kitchen.  When I saw this shelf I knew it had to come home with me.  It will now be my centerpiece for my holiday stitching.  It still has plenty of room for more 4th of July pieces so I'll have to get busy and fill it for next year.

I received a call yesterday that my Lizzie Kate 100 Years is framed and ready for pick up. 

I am anxiously awaiting 9:00 a.m. so I can pick it up.

Thank you for stopping by to share a part of your day.  I love hearing from you and find I renew my enthusiasm for stitching every time I have something to share with you. 

Thanks for keeping me motivated. 

Keep on stitchin' on,

Nan

Happy Flag Flag Day

Howdy friends,

     I love stitching for the 4th of July.  Here's my latest edition to my patriotic collection......

the Trilogy

Happy Flag Flag Day

28 ct. Linen Remnant

Suggested Weeks and GAST fibers

 

Here's the fabric on the back of the cube. 

I really enjoyed stitching this.  Now I'm off to start another 4th of July piece. 

Thank you for stopping by and for your kind words. 

I am now in full stitching/finishing mode because of your encouragement. 

I'll be back soon with some more 4th of July finishes to share.

Keep on stitchin' on,

Nan

4th of July Needlebox

I learned again yesterday how easily I am distracted. I was standing in the checkout line at CVS and looked down and saw Altoids mints. While lurking on different blog sites I had remembered seeing some cute finishes using Altoids tins. So I decided to buy one thinking I would try it this summer. Well..............as it turns out all the way home I was searching the volumes of cross stitch patterns I have stored in my head trying to think of the perfect pattern I could stitch for the top. I ended up buying the mini tin with the intention of making it into a needle box. The pattern would have to be very small to fit and I couldn't think of anything I wanted to stitch for it. I spent the entire afternoon and evening looking through my magazines, patterns and websites for the perfect pattern to stitch and here is what I came up with.

And just so you know...........it is possible to eat a mini tin of Altoids in two bites. :-)

If you are interested in using Altoids tins to finish your cross stitch projects here is a link to a great tutorial from Vonna at The Twisted Stitcher.

Now to refocus my efforts on the Mill Hill kits I had planned for my refrigerator. Any bets on how long until I'm distracted again?

Keep on stitchin' on,

Nan

Stand Up Sam

I am particularly proud of my Stand Up Sam. He is a Mosey 'n Me design that was very quick to stitch. I've never tried a stand up finish before and I am happy with the way he turned out. I am not much of a seamstress so the sewing leaves a little to be desired. I am pretty sure that I am my own worst critic.

My sister gave me a sewing machine for Christmas a few years ago (thanks Debbie) and I have enjoyed learning to sew. I can sew a mean straight line, but throw a curve or corner in there and the seam ripper gets to stretch it's legs. I think I only had to rip seams and start over about 6 times. Perseverance at it's best.

If you are interested in learning how to finish a stand up figurine follow the link below.
http://needlepoint.about.com/od/needlepointknowhow/ss/StandIpFigures.htm
Thanks to Cheryl Fall for the great tutorial.

Now that I've completed my 4th of July project it is time to start pondering my next project. I've got a few Mill Hill pin kits that I think I'll start on. I think I will finish them as refrigerator magnets. They are a "Summery" theme and my refrigerator needs some bling. I'll post pics when I get them finished.

Keep on stitchin' on,
Nan