Oh my...it's been TOO long!

First of all, hello and thank you for noticing that I posted something new and for visiting!!! I can't believe I haven't posted since January 18th! Where have the last 7 months gone??? I guess to kid's activities, work, a couple trips to NC to visit family and a wonderful week in Disney World. All along, I've been stitching when I can but it's ever so little these days and apparently I haven't had much time to update this blog.

However, I check all of yours DAILY!!! So, I decided it was time to post some pictures of a small WIP and 3 finishes...

First up, this little winter skater girl from LHN. I LOVE this design and happily it's stitching up rather quickly for me, given the time I have. I will probably end up making 2 of these - one for our Christmas Tree and one as a gift.
Here is another ornament by LHN. The design is just adorable and I am hoping to finish it like Vonna did for the model with a twig frame. I better get the kids searching for some nice twigs for me!!!

Here's an adorable little flower from a Spring issue of Just Cross Stitch. I believe it was Karen, SC (Thanks Karen!) that finished it in this little flower pot and I just had to copy that idea as well. I've actually made 2 of these - one I gave to my mother in law when we visited her for Easter. I had actually picked up 4 more pots for more of these...but the lack of time and other cute designs has caused me to move on...

This was a medium size finish for me a couple months ago. I started in on Feb. 12th. Now, I just need to finish-finish it. I found some gorgeous floral blue and green ribbon for the trim but need to find some backing material. I have some antique wooden yarn spools with the yarn still on them in a basket that I would love to add this to. Hopefully, one day soon...

So, that's it for now for me. This week starts 4 nights a week of football practice for my son (crazy!), a visit from cousins, a new babysitter for the next 3 weeks for while I'm at work. And, much too quickly I am beginning to sense the end of summer with teacher assignments due out on the 18th (two 3rd graders and a kindergartener!). As always, thank you for all the joy and inspiration you give me from your blogs! Happy hazy days of August!

Meredith

Tuesday Update

A little update on this cold, icy Tuesday... I made up this little hanging pillow for a friend that loves to garden. The stitching took me 2 nights over the weekend and about an hour this morning to finish it into the pillow. I love this design by The Sampler Girl. I am going to stitch this again this week for another friend who loves to garden and just closed on a new home (and big backyard for gardening)!

I've also made a LITTLE progress on my last house in my LHN (you can see where I was in my post below). I have not had a lot of stitching time between a power outage last Tuesday, a snow day for my kids last Wed and no school yesterday.

Also, I've been spending a lot of time organizing/cleaning my house as I was supposed to start a new job today (after 8 years of being a stay-at-home mom)! However, due to the weather, my kids had a 2 hour delay and when I called my new employers to tell them I'd be in at 11 am rather than 9 they told me to just start tomorrow instead. They seem like a great group of people and I'm looking forward to starting tomorrow. I've been very blessed to stay home all these years and now I feel very blessed to have this wonderful part-time (26 hrs a week) opportunity land in my lap in perfect timing.

Thank you for visiting!

Meredith

Making a little progress...

Hello! Happy Sunday! I haven't stitched much since Christmas but the little bit of stitching I've done I've worked on my LHN Little House Neighborhood. I am slowly working my way toward the bottom and then of course, have the whole border to do. I really love this piece and want to focus on it until it's done and hanging above our couch! I have personalized it a little bit so far by stitching a dog rather than the squirrel. I will add another pooch to the other side as well since we have 2 dogs. I just need to figure out the reverse of it...

This is where I am now - the final house. Since Christmas I've finished the bottom of the main section of the house, the two lower roofs and have started the left side to the house.

I am going to work on it some more now. My oldest daughter is at a birthday party all afternoon, my youngest daughter is napping and my husband and son are off cutting out his pinewood derby car for Boy Scouts. Ahhhhh...quiet time, stitching time... Hope to show you some progress later!

Thanks for visiting!

Meredith

Last 2 Finishes of 2010

Welcome! Can't believe it's the last day of 2010!! Just in the nick of time - here is my Finish-finish of Peppermint Latte - it actually made it to the tree in time for Christmas! I used beads of the edging and I really love the little bit of sparkle they gave this little ornament.

I also finished Partride in a Pear Tree and it made it to the tree last night (a little late but still in 2010 :-) This is also a very cute design.

Well, that's it for me for 2010! It's been such a fun year of reading your blogs and trying new things. My "plan" for 2011 is to keep stitching when I can - to finish 2 big projects and keep going on stitching ornaments so that I have a lot more stitched ones for our tree next year. I am starting a part time job (about 25 hours a week) in mid-Jan. so it'll be interesting to see what happens to my stitching time. I don't want to put too many stitching goals on myself because I think it will just stress me out! I would love to finish the Angel of Grace by Mirabella and my Littlehouse Neighborhood by LHN for sure this year though.

I hope you all have a fun New Year's Eve and that 2011 is a year of filled with blessings for everyone! Thanks for visiting!

Meredith

The busier I am, the more (stitching!) I get done...

Well, I think the old adage, "the busier you are the more you get done", is happening to me right now! I finished stitching 2 more small ornaments! This is A Partridge in a Pear Tree by Nancy Boyarsky of Glory Bee. I stitched it on 32 count linen (can't remember the name of it) using the recommended fibers. This was a quick stitch - 2 days total (VERY quick for me, I'm not a very quick stitcher!!) It is so cute!

And, here is Peppermint Latte. Even in the pure daylight my camera is having trouble photographing this cleanly, but you get the idea.

So, I'm hoping to get these finished into little hanging pillow ornaments by Christmas Eve...I don't think I'm going to let myself start anything else this week, as with all of us, I'm sure, there is SO MUCH else I need to be doing!!!

I hope I can post and show you these 2 last ornament finishes in the next couple of days but if I can't...thank you always for visiting and the warmest wishes to you and yours for a very, Merry Christmas!!!

Meredith

1 stitching finish, 1 ornament finish and a winter hanging pinkeep finish!

Good evening! I'm happy to be able to show you a couple of finishes tonight! The first is Red House in Winter by LHN and I'm pretty pleased with the finish. At first I wasn't sure I loved the ribbon I chose for the bow but it is growing on me. I love the ribbon itself, just wasn't sure it was exactly right for this design. I'd tried to find a deep red gingham the other day and couldn't so I'm going with this for now. I'm keeping this one for myself, so I can always change it out later...

Next up is Going Sledding by The Sampler Girl. I stitched this piece last winter so I'm SO happy to finally be able to hang it up for the winter! I had the hardest time finding the little wooden sleighs - I tried the 2 different crafting stores I go to and neither had them available last winter or this year either. So, I ordered these little unfinished ones from a store online and then painted them. I ordered 10 to make it worth the shipping - they were really inexpensive so I definitely see more of this pattern in my future as some winter birthday presents...

I also finished stitching Peppermint Latte by Casey Buonaugurio Designs in the 2010 JCS Ornament Issue. For some reason my camera did not take good pictures of it at all tonight - I think the red fabric and light threads were throwing it off. I'll try again in the daylight tomorrow. So, I still need to finish-finish it. I want to do a bead border on it so I'm hoping I'll have time to run out and pick-up some beads for that. It was a pretty quick stitch and it's really cute!

So, the biggest lesson learned for me this year with my ornaments - FINISH AS I GO!!! I have really missed my actual stitching time these last few weeks as I've finished up these ornaments. Happy to say that my dining room table is almost back to looking like a dining room table again - well, except for the remnants of the army of 30 clothespin reindeer that have also been residing there all week - as the kids and I made them up for girl scouts, teachers and grandparents. This week will be devoted to finishing shopping, wrapping, cleaning china and prepping for Christmas Eve dinner which we are hosting this year. I'd love to stitch one more ornament I have all kitted up but it might need to wait for after Christmas at this point. We'll see... Have a great evening and thanks so much for visiting!!

Meredith

3 MORE Ornaments Finished!

Hello! I finished up 3 more ornaments between yesterday and today. First up, Pear Tree by Little House Needleworks. I loved stitching this and will probably make myself one in January as I am giving this one to my Mom.
Next up in Sugar Plums by Country Cottage Needleworks.

Thirdly, I finished my second Day 1 by Monster Bubbles. I did everything the same except the hanger. The first time I fashioned a wire hanger around the "True Love" charm and the second time I made the hanger from the ribbon I used around the outside of the pinkeep. I really like it both ways. One is for my sister and one is for me...not sure who will get which one yet...

Two more to go - Gone Sledding by The Sampler Girl and Red House in Winger by LHN...maybe this weekend...

Hope you get to stitch some tonight! I'm not sure I will, I hope to be heading to the hospital soon as my sister is giving birth to her 3rd baby today! Can't wait to hear whether I have another niece or nephew!!! I have her 2 older girls here with me now so it's been an exciting day!