Winner, exchange goodies, progress

Hi all!

We have a winner for the needles. After doing the folded up paper-in-the-hat routine for two names, I grabbed one of them with Linda's name on it. Linda, you are the winner! I will contact you for your mailing address. Congrats!

Our Easter/Spring exchange run by Teri of the Dixiesamplar has ended and my partner and I have received our goodies. Here is what I sent to Augusta..

Minus the Easter ribbons though! I don't know what it is with these exchanges but I always seem to forget to pack something and those ribbons didn't make the trip (smacking forehead). She liked everything I sent. Here is the chart I used for the cube..

Augusta likes blue so I changed the color of the flowers to blue. It turned out nice.

Here is what I got from Nancy..

As you can see I broke into the chocolate minis already! All of the chocolate was gone in two days! Great exchange. I love everything I received. The LHN chart with the DMC's and that wonderfully framed huge rabbit! The chocolate though arrived melted and they went into the refrigerator right away. The risk of sending chocolate to Arizona in the spring when it's warmer than usual!

I stitched up the latest Frosty Forest block in two days..

The bare area above the fawn is for a button. I finally paid attention to where some of these buttons go. I decided to not let this go into the UFO pile, it's too cute.

After that last block I picked up Vintage Stars..

The latest additions are that big reddish motif with the darker stitching, the half motif on the edge, and the filled up areas in the lighter beige motif next to YZ. Here's the chart showing the other motifs I have yet to stitch..

On some of my earlier posts about this design I mention how the silks arrived in a little bag with no way to identify what was what. The yellowish stitching in the big top motif is nothing like what I used in my version. As a matter of fact, in this baggie there was no yellowish silk like in the model! The two reddish silks are called Brick and Russet. I think the two small identical motifs below the alphabet were supposed to be Brick and the large one I just stitched was supposed to be Russet. I'm pretty sure I got them mixed up! Ugh. When you have silks called Taupe Range, and Dk Mouse, it's anybody's guess what motif gets stitched with what! It's a keeper though and I'll have enough silks to finish it up.

I am putting Vintage away for a bit. I got a headache from it last night and realized I don't have to work on a WIP to finish it, just get some progress made. I'll pick it back up when I get the motivation to do more motifs! 

Jack's Bash by PSS is going on the snaps after I get some housework done today.

Here's that Buttercream Frosting Sampler design that I'm doing for a SAL on April 1st..

Is that cute?! I'm using 36ct Parchment and man, that Parchment fabric looks so much different than what I have bought before. It's super pretty though with the subtle vanilla and pinkish blotches. It's going to be a fun stitch. On 36ct, the design should be 4 1/2" x 6 3/4". At the bottom of this printout it says 2007. That is how long it's been in my stash. That's the beauty of these SALs on Stitch Maynia on FB. There are a lot and joining them has me going through my stash and picking out projects that have been there for months or years. 

One last photo of springtime in the desert of Arizona..

The flowers are called Brittlebrush or bush, along with a wild Burro! No doubt a descendant of burros used during the early days of mining. 

Okay, no more pictures of springtime! Pictures in the summer are like sitting next to a bbq grill and watching the heat waves come off it!

I think this is it! Oh, by the way, my header picture is of my hometown of Prescott. It still gets warm here, hot if you ask me. Last summer the highest temp we reached was 99. That's hot!

Take care, everyone and welcome to the new followers on Bloglovin'. Hope you enjoy it here!

Happy Dancin'!

Does anyone say Happy Dance for finishes anymore? Well, let's bring it back!

But, first, how's everyone doing? Hope those of you back east who got all the snow are dug out. It's acting like its Spring here. Door is open and the sun is shining, just glorious.

I have a couple huge finishes, one a WIP for over 3 years, and a recent start, and an ornament finish. First is Blackwater Hollow by Stacy Nash. I had to go back in my blog to see when I started this and it was 2014 when I put needle to fabric..

Do any of you get so tired of a long-time WIP and just want it done? Well, this is the one for me. As per the chart, I used 30ct Linen or Parchment, 1 over 2. I went into marathon mode to get this done. And you know what? I love it. I sprinkled a coffee/water mix on this to get the blotches. I wasn't too sure about 1 over 2 as it is pretty sparse. I also stitched the horse the wrong color and by the time I noticed she was completely stitched, so I left it. That black amorphous blob on the fence at left is supposed to be a bird as the one charted is huge; it is staying! Below the fence was a black upside down diamond border and the name and a date stitched but I left it all off. Not so much wanting to be done but I thought it looked better without. Whew! This thing is big, 12" high. Today, I stitched in 2017 and tried to put my initials in some of the blank areas near the house but I was just making a mess of it. So here it is in all it's glory and I'm a happy camper!

My next finish is the Spooked Mystery Sampler by LizzieKate..

Woohoo! On my last post I said if I tried I could have it finished that week. Well, I had it done two days after! My favorite block is the last because of the house. I'm not sure what that green thing is in the kettle next to the house. I think it's either a huge toad or a green ghost. It does have eyes! I ironed it and added all the buttons and beads. You can sort of see a bead or two sparkle in the quilt motifs in the first and last block. I love that Ale fabric from PTP. Also, I love the lighter portion in the upper right of the house. It almost looks like fog or like the moon is behind the house and the glow from it shows. Glad it's done. 

My last finish, Merry Christmas by the Little Stitcher...

So cute. The fabric is vintage mocha I believe, dyed on this side but just one color on the other side. 

All these finishes will come in handy for finishing credit at Stitch from Stash because I went to Market day at the Attic and did a little damage there, not bad though. After that, I stopped at Chik fil A!

Hope it's not blurry at your end. Vintage Birds at the top left because I have Vintage Stars that is a WIP, and silks at the bottom for it. Chessie and Me, love the house with the satin stitched roof, Lucky Notes by Shepherds Bush, Sweet Liberty by The Marking Sampler, two pieces of fabric, Freedom Reigns by Silver Creek Samplers, and a kit by Shepherds Bush. I don't have any nice patriotic charts just a few freebies, so was happy to pick those up. 

There's a blog called Quiet and Relaxation and she sells charts, fabric, etc. on Flickr, she has a link on her sidebar. I bought some charts but hit the jackpot when I found this..

An oldie but see that angel there at the bottom? I stitched her way way back and was my first time using beads and braid..

I sold her in eBay for $18.00! Back in those days, everything I stitched I sold on eBay. I have nothing from those days except one old WIP on Aida that I will finish one of these eons. I feel lucky to have found this chart. I think it's copyrighted 1995.

At present, I'm stitching on my 3rd Frosty Forest block. If I don't keep at it, it will turn into a UFO and I can't have that! I have two FB SALs coming up, one for April is called April Fools and you can stitch anything titled April or something funny or crazy. My project is from the old Gift of Stitching electronic magazine. Do any of you remember that? I had a one year subscription and printed off this particular graph called Buttercream Frosting Sampler by Primrose Needleworks. I am crazy about buttercream frosting so that's my entry into this SAL! I'll show a picture the end of this month. The other is a 15 day start SAL and I have everything ready for that. It starts in May.

We are all waiting on our exchange packages to arrive. I finally sent off mine to my partner after adding a few things from Market day. The deadline is next Wednesday. They are fun but can be stressful trying to get things stitched on time.

Also, there is a Halloween mystery SAL starting in April to October from Ships Manor. Here is a link if you are interested- http://www.shipsmanor.com/halloween-mystery-town-sal/  You get a section every month up to October and there are options to receive the fibers and fabric or just the patterns.

You know me and Halloween. I signed up for it, lol!

Now it's time for this little giveaway! I have a package of these needles..

I am a Bohin 28 needle gal. I tried using these but besides being big, 26, I don't know, they didn't feel right. So I'm giving someone a chance to give them a new home. Brand new. Follower or not, just say you would like a chance at them. Giveaway is open until the last Saturday of this month, midnight Arizona time. Good luck everyone!

Thanks for leaving comments ladies. I enjoy reading them. Carol, I might add I saw the Touch of Silk fiberfill in Hobby Lobby when I was just up there today. Maybe you have one there?

Take care!

FFO bug stopped by this weekend...

Hi all! Hope your day is going nicely. It's blustery and gray out. Here a coworker said to me last Thursday "Yeah, it's supposed to be in the 80's in Phoenix this weekend, so it'll be at least 65 here". I saw visions of getting my square garden upturned and ready, doing some other yard work. Umm, no. That wind has some teeth so I stayed in yesterday and spent a good 5, 6 hours FFO'ing with my cassette with 80s and 90s music going in my bookshelf stereo with the two cassette player, a 4 CD player, and radio. This thing is about 20 years old and still works! 

FFO's...On Vonna's Flosstube, she swears by a type of stuffing called Mountain Mist fiberloft. Holy Cow, this stuff is good! I bought a bag at Joanne's, a little higher in cost than the polyfill that I always buy. I fired up the sewing machine and made this..

This is the finish I have always wanted. Btw, this is by the Primitive Hare, a freebie. It feels substantial, does not slip around inside like the other stuff, does not leave little wiry strands coming through my fabric...I love it. I'm almost tempted to take everything I have that is in pillow form and restuff with the fiberloft!

These other FFO's I'm not happy with. This little Santa from a PS card..the last finish of February..

What I need is a rotary cutter with the wavy blade. I used my zigzag scissors on the felt and kept cutting and cutting to get it perfect. That's okay, it'll go up on my tree. At least I'm keeping up with my Christmas ornament plan for one or two a month. 

Remember Ewephoria by Mosey n Me? I should have just made this a pillow. I may give it to Goodwill.

I'm going to give the foam/styrofoam flat ornament finish a rest. I'm getting bored with it. After all, with that new stuffing, I see many pillows in my future!

I have progress on the Spooked sampler by LizzieKate...

I had to frog the white letters and leaf out of that last area and now have them all in correctly. I bet if I tried, I could have this finished up this week. Fingers crossed..

I joined two SALs on FB. One is a Mardi Gras one, stitching a Mardi Gras item or something with purples, yellows, etc. Here is mine, actually finished just an hour ago...

I had to take a picture in the hallway because anywhere else it made the colors a bright pastel. I started it on Fat Tuesday, the 28th. Turned out perfect on the black linen. Some of you said to use the black linen. I was undecided between the black and white linen. Love it! EDITED TO ADD: What a dummy I am! I'm not finished because I didn't stitch in the rest of the big right fleur de lis! 

The other SAL is for the letter M for this entire month. So I hauled this out to see the light!..

I know I can finish this this month and will be my March Christmas ornament also. I probably won't find another M project after this, just get back to WIP stitching. I joined another FB SAL for May and that one is to start 15 in 15 days. I have everything ready for that.

Last weekend my daughter and I headed down to Apache Junction, a town near Phoenix, for the Renaissance Festival that is held every year about this time. Because of all the rain we've had, the wildflowers are in bloom. Here is a picture of the desert down near Phoenix somewhere. I took this picture from FB

California Poppies. They do well here, obviously! Isn't that beautiful? Anyway, basking in the sun at the festival was glorious as we left at 8:30 am here and it was 22 degrees. I had my annual funnel cake and spent too much money as usual!

That's all I got, folks! Next Saturday I'm heading to the Attic Needlework for some Market charts I want (just 3 and maybe the floss/fabric for them), a Shepherds Bush limited edition kit, it is so cute (hopefully Attic bought some extras), and a few little things for my exchange partner. I will not spend a lot like previous years. I have a list and will not stray from that. After that, I can send the exchange box off to the recipient. My trip will blow my Stitch from Stash budget to smithereens but that's okay. There are some ladies who spend up to $200 a month on stitchy stuff!

Take care, and have a great week!