The Peacock's Feather

More of the Same

I hope I am not going to bore everyone to tears with another update photo!  At the moment I am just juggling my few current WIPs.  Here is the progress I have made so far on Just Nan's "Winter in the Square".  I feel like I actually am making progress for once! I am enjoying stitching this, though I have to say the white stitches (they look like snowflakes) within the two borders are a bit slow going.  I have had to really pay attention to where the stitches go and I haven't been able to follow an easy route, so to speak, when adding my stitches.  The middle really doesn't have a lot of motifs, so it is just a matter of getting those borders done. 

I had a sort of weird thing happen--I renewed my subscription to Sampler and Antique Needlework Quarterly, and I was expecting to very soon receive the latest Winter 2006 issue.  For some odd reason they sent the Winter 2005 issue, which I already own (as I have subscribed now for several years)!  It is a bit annoying and I hope they correct this when I finally am able to call them!  I have heard mixed opinions on the current issue, but I still want it!  It is unfortunate that there aren't more needlework magazines along the lines of SANQ!

I am Determined to Stitch Pinwheels!

Yes.  I am determined now to work on My Beekeeper.  I also hope to start Queen Bee soon as well!  I pulled it out of the UFO bin last night and today added another pinwheel on my break at work!  So it may be slow going...but better to add even one pinwheel a day than none at all!  I think it will take me about 10-15 minutes on average for each pinwheel.  What can I say, I am not a fast stitcher.  I have to say the pinwheels do look really lovely on this fabric.  They really do shimmer and catch the light.  Each "leg" of the wheel looks slightly different in shade and tone than the others.  I can't wait until it is all covered in pinwheels!  I am just wondering if it will hurt the satin stitches if I keep my fabric folded?  Any thoughts on this?  If I want to take it to work, I need to fit it in my plastic bag, so it will have to be folded.  I hate to do that, but I have nothing larger at the moment to carry it in.  My goal is to add at least one pinwheel a day, but if possible more (five a day would be wonderful--maybe on the weekends, though).  So now that I have said this, I have to try and do it!!  LOL. 

More Bee Work

I am all signed up for the next Bee class at Elegant Stitch, which is designed by Jackie du Plessis of It's Fine-ally Finished.  I am not sure if I was crazy to to do this since I didn't complete My Beekeeper yet.  But I was afraid that if I didn't take advantage of this class now, I would miss out on getting the companion pieces.  Of course seeing Romy's *gorgeous* finished beekeeper should really be enough impetus for me to get mine out and work on it!  Now the question is whether to go back and work on My Beekeeper and get those pinwheels finished or to just move on and get the pre-stitching for this one finished?  Is anyone else signed up for this?  Since I received my materials yesterday, that was enough to make me not pull out any other new project last night.  Instead I worked on "Winter in the Square".  It is not terribly large, and I really should be able to finish it before starting something new.  I also have pulled out my "Houses of Haw Run Hollows".  Becky mentioned the SAL she is participating in--perhaps I should join them and see what progress I can make.

Here is a little update on "February" by Prairie Schooler.  I really had hoped to complete the stitching on this at least by the end of this weekend.  Really there is not much to stitch, but I just didn't get it done.  There are still a couple of days left this month, and I am sure I will get in a few more stitches.  March is a long month.  February always seems to just fly by!  I need to pull out my linen bin and at least think about what linen to use for March.  I also need to cut my linen for the next exchange I am signed up for and two gifts.  I have two designs chosen, but I am still contemplating what to stitch for a birthday gift I need to have ready by mid-April.  For once I am trying to plan ahead!

Finally...there was another surprise in the mail for me.  I think this is the last gift from my Yahoo group birthday exchange.  This came all the way from Australia from Jackie!  She stitched a lovely heart ornament for me.  I really love heart designs, and maybe I will start a nice collection like KarenV recently showed on her blog! Jackie also sent a lovely chart by Australian designer, The Cat's Whiskers.  It is called Elegant Initials and shows how to make a sewing boxtop and needlecase.  Both are gorgeous.  Many thanks to Jackie!  This was a wonderful birthday--I received so many lovely gifts and happy wishes!  They are most appreciated!

Two More Surprises

 

I received two more birthday surprises in the mail this week.  They both came a couple of days ago, but I have company staying at the moment, so I decided to wait and open them today.  This is from Juli in Canada.  We are in the Yahoo group I have mentioned that is having a birthday exchange.  I have seen this French freebie around and I was just thinking I should really stitch it sometime.  I don't have to now---isn't it lovely?  Her finishing is gorgeous and I want to learn how she made this! She also sent four skeins of overdyed floss and a cool heart rubber stamp (to add to my little collection!).  My husband bought a woooden hanger (the type that expands out with ten knobs to hang things off) that I need to nail to the wall.  I plan on hanging this one as well as the other lovely gifts I received for my birthday. 

Patti also sent me a lovely surprise!  She knits as well as stitches, so she made me a gorgeous purple scarf.  It has blues and greens running through it as well, and it has a lovely silky feel to it!  I personally always wear scarves, so this is really perfect.  I suspect we will still have plenty of cold days left here in Nebraska, so I should be able to use it for a while still!  She also sent me a beaded bookmark made in Maine where she lives.  I had never seen them before, and now I have two!  They are both lovely!  Since I love to read, they will come in handy!  Aside from being practical, I just think they are pretty to display!

Many thanks to Juli and Patti!  Sometimes it is nice to wait and have something to look forward to.  This is a nice way to start the weekend. Last night I only got in a tiny bit of stitching, as I was so tired.  Hopefully today will be better!

What I Should Be Stitching...What I Want to Start Stitching

Today, for the first time in a long time I was able to visit some of the blogs on my blogroll and actually take a little time and read and leave comments.  I didn't get to all of them, but I hope to make my way through the rest over the weekend.  Lately I have only had time to take peeks here and there, and no time to comment.  Of course the danger in this is seeing all the wonderful projects everyone else is working on, or the new stash, or the finishes...and this makes me itchy to start something new (that I might have seen in my blog surfing) or worse add more things to my ever growing stash wish list!  I was also working a little on revising my goal list today--yes, I actually have a typed sheet of paper with lists! 

Two large projects that have been sitting idle for a while now are my Houses of Hawk Run Hollows, and Mystery IX projects.  I have to admit--I am terrible with keeping up on instalments in my stitching!  I have good intentions, just not enough stitching time!  I noticed that Becky has started HoHRH, and is already finished with house #1.  She is one of the speediest stitchers I know!!  This made me think it is really time to pull mine out and add a few stitches at least.  I have always noticed that Katrina has the best stitching rotation and she really seems to stick with it.  I keep thinking this is what I need to help me make some sort of progress on my WIPs.  Don't be deceived that these are the only two projects that are sitting and waiting for me--my UFO list is bigger than some of my other lists!! 

This brings me to what I think I want to start.  This is another long list I have.  Just Nan's Silkwood has been on this list for a long time.  I seem to be in a big JN mood since I started Winter in the Square.  Lately when I have bought something new it has been a JN design.  I was actually glad she didn't come out with another big house sampler this month, since I haven't got this one started, let alone Winterhaven.  Part of the attraction is the little accessory that she includes with her samplers.  This one has a cool little needlecase.  But I am afraid to sart another really large project with the two above already started when I haven't lately been adding any new stitches. 

Alas, there is always Drawn Thread's Toccata #1.  This one was actually what I planned to stitch next when JN's Winter in the Square arrived.  This might be the perfect solution really.  It is on my goal list, and it is not overly large.  The best part about it--I could try and stitch maybe 3-5 motifs a week.  This would be an easy project to pick up and set down again.  Even if I just added a few motifs a week, I could still finish it in a reasonable amount of time.  Well, maybe anyway.  I will definitely be working on my PS hearts and JN project this weekend.  We'll see what else calls my name!

A Little Progress

Here is a wrinkly progress photo of my Just Nan "Winter in the Square" project.  It is really nicer in person than in this photo!  I must get my camera instruction book out and read up on how to take better photos!  I am enjoying stitching this, and I have been working on it a bit each day.  I hope I can stick to it, and get it finished before I get "Spring in the Square" in the mail.  I have been switching between this and my PS February ornament.  Hopefully I will get in some serious stitching time this weekend!  It is nice to see a design appear out of a piece of linen!

New Prairie Schoolers!

If you stop by here occasionally you will know I am a fan of Prairie Schooler.  I was happy to see that she came out with new designs this month, and I broke down (fell way off the wagon...) and ordered all four.  To be honest I think I favor her earlier designs--especially her samplers.  I am glad she is designing samplers once again however, even if they have a different feel to them.   I really  like the little bird ornaments as well.  They would make lovely little fobs, I think.  It is a shame that so many of her charts are out of print, and can be difficult to locate, which is why I tend to order all the new charts even if I don't think I will stitch something anytime soon.  Imagine having a complete set?!  I have one UFO that I would like to finish this year--a Summer Sampler, which I need to take a photo of and post it.  Perhaps that will help get me motivated to work on it (and finish it)!  I will have more new stash coming in the mail soon.  Since my birthday just passed by, I took advantage of discounts a couple of stores gave on birthday orders!  To make it worse (or better?) I was able to order new Market designs, which I am excited about!  After this, though, it is back up on that wagon for me!

A Little Birthday Fob

I made this little fob for Rachel in my Yahoo stitching group for her birthday.  The back side has an "H".  The initials are from the Just Nan chart, "Ornamental Letters".  They also fit perfectly in WhimZi frames, but I didn't have one on hand to use, so I just made it into a little fob.  I thought it turned out nicely, but I think I put the cording on the wrong side.  Is there a correct side for the cording?  After I looked around at other stitcher's work, I noticed it seems like it is generally put on the left hand side.  I hope she didn't mind--I guess at least it is unique!  I am trying to decide what to stitch for a "Spring" exchange, as well as a little exchange another stitcher and I are doing on our own.  I have several charts set aside, but I can't quite decide yet which to stitch.  Any favorite small Spring designs??  The hardest part for me is always trying to choose what to stitch!

February Heart

With just one week left in February, I think I may fall behind in yet another monthly project that I hoped to complete each month.  This is my start on "February" from the Prairie Schooler chart "A Prairie Year".  It has four hearts with a border.  Since it is a nice square-ish design I want to finish it as an eight corner pincushion.  I really think they look so elegant, and they are not at all hard to finish.  If I can complete the stitching on this by the end of the week, I can perhaps do the finishing next weekend and stay on track with one of my goals at least!  I am not so sure how well I will be able to keep up with everything else I planned--I guess that is what happens when your expectations are too high!!

Time for Something New

Since I finally completed a project, I thought it was time (and I am certainly in the mood) for a new project.  I know I should work on a different WIP, and I really need to get back to my Mystery IX project, but my fingers were itching to start this one!  Just Nan is one of my favorite designers, but I really haven't worked on anything by her for some time.  I did stitch one of her little WhimZi designs, but they are so small, I wanted to work on something a bit larger.  Since "Spring in the Square" is now being released I thought I better get going on the Winter design.

Here is my small start.  I put in my first stitches on this yesterday, and I hope to work on it some more today.  One of the big draws for me for these designs is the little embellishment that comes with the design. I thought it was very sweet looking.  I hope to stitch them all and frame them individually but hang them together as a grouping.  The fabric is 28 count Mocha cashel linen, and I really like working on it.  It is a bit on the stiffer side, so my stitches seem to be laying fairly nicely--I have a lot of trouble sometimes with flimsy linen.  I hope this will be fairly quick to stitch...and it won't take me a year to finish like John Foster did!