The Peacock's Feather

The Queen Bee Has a House

I'm moving right along with Prairie Schooler's "Where There are Bees" sampler.  It's stitching up quite nicely if I do say so myself!

In real life I steer well clear of bees (though honeybees are sort of cute in a fuzzy way), but she looks sort of regal here, don't you think?

And here is her hive.  I like stitching bee skeps generally.  There is something sort of pleasing about them.

I am working now on the lower border which is a little tedious going, but once it's stitched I think the rest will fill in fairly quickly. 

As for the linen color problems I was having . . . I am getting used to the color for the Lizzie Kate Halloween mystery sampler, but I have decided I need something different for the Prairie Schooler Christmas Sampler.  There is still plenty of time for that one.  I have decided I don't like stitching (at least not a large project) on Jobelan too much.  The color is just so-so.  I might stick with plain reliable Lambswool.  Has anyone stitched the Christmas Sampler?  I came across this over one stitching of the design--isn't it gorgeous?  Any ideas of what linen Véro L. might have used?

In any case I have plenty of things to keep me busy while I think about it all.

Hope everyone is having a great Memorial Day weekend.  I'm off to pick up my needle now...

The Problems of (Linen) Color

Earlier this week I was rummaging about in my stash bins and came across this Prairie Schooler chart that I had kitted up years ago.  It is a design I have long wanted to stitch and so pulled it out, thinking why not?  Better to try and add it to my stitching rotation than just leave it languishing in a bin, right? 

It is another Prairie Schooler design (Chart 63 "Christmas Samplers").  I am going to stitch the middle design, which has a bit of "The Night Before Christmas" worked into the design.  I kitted it up using the suggested line, which is 32 count Bay-Leaf Jobelan.  Of course linen colors never show up in their true colors on charts, do they?  I'm used to using Lambswool when stitching PS, but I don't have any extra on hand so will stick with the Jobelan.  What do you think?  I am not sure that I love it--I like it, but feel a little hesitant.  Maybe I just need to stitch more to get a good feel for what the colors will look like against it?

And a while back I splurged on the Lizzie Kate Mystery Sampler from last year.  I have the charts, linen (again the suggested count and color from the chart) and overdyed floss.  Once again, however, the linen colors look vastly different--from the chart and what I actually have in hand.  I know hand dyed linens (this is 30 count WDW Tin Roof) will vary by lot, but in reality it much more greenish (and in my photo it looks almost like a muddy color--in reality it is tad darker) than what appears to be a silvery sort of blue on the chart.  Once again--what do you think.

I'll keep going with both and suspect the colors will grow on me.  I don't tend to be very adventurous when it comes to changing colors--linen or floss from what is called for on charts.  When the actual linen color turns out to be so different, it always jars me just a little bit.  A problem with only being able to order supplies online and not have a nice LNS to shop at (and see stitched models up close). 

A Bear, a Pot of Tea and the Queen Bee: A Sampler Update

I think Typepad is back up and hopefully there will not be more problems with the commenting function.  They were hacked a week ago and so my blog has not been accessible during the last week at various times.  And often if the pages loaded comments were either not appearing or not functioning--so sorry about this, but I think (knock on wood) things are back to normal.

I have been making steady progress on my Prairie Sampler "Where There Are Bees" project.  I'm very pleased with how it is turning out, and I am finding this a pleasure to stitch.  I spend about half an hour a day or so and it seems to be working up very quickly. 

I'll be gone most of next week as I have a work conference in Texas.  Although I am taking some stitching along on the plane (I have layovers both going and coming), I think I will leave my bee sampler at home.  I have visions of something happening to it, which of course would be really awful.  Instead I will take a couple smaller projects--as yet to be determined.  I have a number of partially stitched projects that are in need of attention. 

I'll let you know what I decide to take (before and after pictures perhaps?).  Until then, have a happy weekend everyone.

Seven More Rows!

Just seven more rows left.  Well, seven more rows and some backstitching.  I'm too embarrassed to say how long I've been working on this.  It has been all but finished except for the white filling in at the bottom, which is tedious going so I have been putting it off.  However, since I am ready to move on to new projects (and have actually already started one or two....but more about those later), I guess it's time to finish poor "February".  The next photo of this you will see, will be a completed sampler!

Finally Finished: Pink Hill Manor

And, voilá.  Did you wonder if I would ever finish this?  I did!  It's been so long since I have picked up a needle and thread and so long since I've even shared any progress at all on any of my projects you have probably forgotten all about it.  So here it is, Blackbird Designs' "Pink Hill Manor" finished and ready for framing.  I made a few minor changes and only had a few motifs to fill in and finish along with the words to stitch over one (I am very slow when it comes to stitching over one linen thread!), which I finally managed to do today.

It's been a cold, grey and very gloomy day so I popped in a movie (have been having an Alfred Hitchcock marathon of sorts) and have been happily stitching away. 

The design was actually charted to read 'Dear Emily' and had more sets of initials, but that didn't really work for me.  I wasn't entirely sure what the significance was, so I decided to personalize it in my own way.  As February is my birth month and the color scheme is pink (a February sort of color it seems), "February" it was.  The letters are all stitched over one linen thread and the rest is over two.  I'm quite pleased with how it turned out and just in time for the end of 2012!

Now, do you remember this project?  Best not to remind you how long it has been "in progress".  Ahem.  I am determined to finish it before the end of the year.  I am ready to switch from Alfred Hitchcock to Inspector Lynley.  I wonder how many seasons it will take before I can finish the last chunk of stitching.

All I have left is to finish filling in this middle section with white and a little backstitching to highlight a few  motifs.  I don't like working with white floss and both filling in and backstitching is really tedious, but that's all that stands between me and having another project all ready for framing. 

As soon as I finish this project I am rewarding myself with choosing a new design to stitch.  I do have other unfinished projects, but the draw of stitching something new is too strong to pass up.  I've had a really abysmal year when it comes to my needlework.  I wonder if I should set myself some sort of goal for next year?  Will have to think about that one.  But it's great getting back to stitching again, even if it has only been for an afternoon (and now into the evening as well).

Progress on the Little Pink House

It's been a while since you've seen this, hasn't it?  I'm almost finished with my "Pink Hill Manor", and I am itching to put in those last stitches so I can move on to something new.

Mostly it is only small motifs and a few over one words and letters that I have to stitch yet.  As always it's a matter of finding a nice chunk of time to sit down with this and get through the last bits yet to stitch.  I've been making slow but steady progress nonetheless.  I've been stitching for a few minutes each day before work and it seems to add up, as here I am so close to the end!

I'm not sure if I ever shared this design here or not.  It's by Lizzie Kate.  I started stitching it a while ago and am almost finished with this one as well.  Just a little backstitching and a few more motifs to finish.  I want to finish this as a pincushion (like this one).

Have I mentioned lately how much I miss stitching?  I can't seem to get the energy to stitch on the weekends these days, and it goes without saying I never seem to have enough time to accomplish all the things I want to when I do have free time (but I know I'm not alone with this problem!).

Of course lack of enough free time doesn't stop me thinking about what I might stitch next (much like looking ahead in my reading).  These samplers are by Prairie Schooler and are from their "Country Seasons" chart.  I think I'd stitch the "Autumn Sampler" if I can pick one soon.

Or maybe something quick like this little sheep from Shepherds Bush called "Queen Bee".  They have a whole series of sheep designs, and I've been trying to stitch them all.  I'm not sure how I'll finish them all--little pillows maybe to fill a basket?  Anyway, I think I'm ready to add a new sheep to my collection.

But, first things first.  I'm not allowing myself a new project until I finish one first! 

Pink Hill Manor Takes Shape

Since I've made steady progress on Pink Hill Manor, I thought it was time for an update!

A little time lapse photography...here it is at the beginning. 

. . . a few stitches and a few weeks later...

It's finally beginning to take shape.  I'm wondering if now I am being optimistic about possibly entering it into the State Fair next month.  It may yet happen, but I might take a look through my bin of "finished" but not Finished projects and see if there is something I might be able to sew up quickly to enter.  We'll see.  I might have to think about this one for a possible entry next year!  The problem is more that it will need to be framed and as I don't do my own framing I might not have enough time to pay someone to frame it.  It doesn't matter really, as the important thing is simply to enjoy stitching, right?!

Pink Hill Progress

Has it really been so long since I checked in here?  Rather, gave a proper update on what I've been working on?  I do check in and read comments, which I am very appreciative of receiving by the way.  I was hoping I could post updates at least twice a week and then a month will flew by so quickly.  But I have been stitching.  I've mostly been working on Blackbird Designs' "Pinkhill Manor" which I am very much enjoying stitching.  I take it to work with me and try and spend at least fifteen minutes or half an hour before I clock in.  Even though it's not a huge chunk of time the stitches really do begin to add up.  Will I be able to finish it before the end of the month (and have it framed) is the question.  I need to check on the deadline for entry into my State Fair in August.  Fingers crossed.  I had such high hopes of finishing several projects and now I think I will be lucky (and happy) to have just one entry. 

There is still a chance that I can stitch the Just Nan biscornu that I mentioned last time, but even a small project of JN seems labor intensive--so many color changes.  But biscornus are just about my favorite thing to stitch and finish, so I might give it a try. 

I've been working on my Mystery Sampler, too, and hopefully will give an update of that soon.  My digital camera is practically dead and I need to invest in a new one, but I've been able scrape by so far with the poor (very old) HP that I've had for years. 

I hope everyone is having a great summer and not wilting too much in the heat.  We finally got a break from the near (or over) 100F days we've been having here in Nebraska, but mid-80s with humidity is still not as nice as I wish it could be.  Summer in the Midwest, though, what can I expect, right?

State Fair Material?

Over the weekend I ordered supplies to stitch this sampler, "Pink Hill Manor", by Blackbird Designs.  I've owned the chart for about a year and am in the mood now to stitch it.  I've also got an ulterior motive as I have decided to enter some of my recent needlework projects into the State Fair.  I've never entered my work into any sort of competition, and haven't a clue whether anything I do would be good enough to win anything, but it sounds like it could be fun and might even provide motivation to me to make better progress on my work.

To that end, I need to decide what I want to enter.  The work has to be something completed within the last three years.  And it has to be something that I think might actually have a chance of catching a judges eye.  Do you remember my "Mystery Sampler"?  It is also a Blackbird Design and I am more than halfway finished with the stitching.  I think the last two sections would go fast if I could just get past this more labor intensive (lots of filling in of stitches) middle part.  Once it is sewn together and framed I think it would be a pretty striking piece.

This biscornu would be easy to finish, and maybe fairly quick to stitch.  The designer is Just Nan and it's called "When Barnabee Met Bella".  Barnabee and Bella at bees and they are recurring 'characters' in a series of needlework designs by Just Nan (I've got a number of them by the way).  This is one of my favorite ways to finish a design, though it might have to go into a "miscellaneous" category.

And there is a sampler category, in which this would fit nicely.  However, it is only perhaps a third of the way finished.  The State Fair is in late August, which means I don't have a lot of time and should really concentrate on just one project (or one project and the little pincushion).  

How to choose?  If you were a judge, which would you be most impressed with?  Has anyone entered needlework into your local state fair?  Any suggestions or advice?

The Work Continues

It's amazing how trying to add just a letter a day will speed progress along.  Which is what I've been trying to do--at a letter or row here and there.  I'm itching to spend some time stitching this weekend--hopefully I can make time for it, as stitching time seems to be hard to come by on weekends lately. 

By the way, are you on Pinterest?  I am.  You can visit me here.  If you tell me your username or give me your link, I'll follow you--have just recently discovered it and find it hugely addicting!