The Gamut

Hi all! Hope you're all doing well. We won't talk about how I'm feeling! Thanks for the well wishes on the last post though.

So I have progress, FFO's to show, and a few other things. Picture heavy!

You all know that I'm doing the Class Schedule SAL. I'm kind of keeping up with it. Here is before:

And after:

I am not too crazy how the title of the classes are showing up on my fabric. That first class is Transfiguration, when Ron's spell ends up with half goblet and half rat. The word is so light that I'm going to have to think about frogging that and using a darker color for the titles. So many people made changes to what is in the box that I hemmed and hawed on what to stitch. Some people made the goblet/rat pink and brown and other colors. I tend to stitch what the designer has designed. I will outline the cat though. I have February's class to stitch. If I don't keep up with this SAL, it could end up a UFO. I wish I had dyed this fabric a little darker.

Here is my progress on Midnight Ride. Before:

And after:

Sorry if it's blurry. After I ran out of the yellow and waited for it to arrive, I counted down to start the town. I'll keep alternating between all that yellow and black so as not to go bonkers.

Along with the floss for Midnight Ride, I also got the Moonlit Path for Christmas Carol sampler. Of course, the skein was different from what I used before. Aaargh! Frog came to visit. Here is before:

And after:

See the building on the left in the foreground? I had to frog all that grey in the before picture so I could use my new skein. The new skein matches the color up in the cartouches for M and C at the top of the design. I didn't want a multi-colored building! I am now almost to the bottom of the building and still have to add more snowflakes here and there. They will be the death of me! I have put this away for a bit.

So last weekend the FFO bug stopped in and I was able to take care of 3 finishes:

Top picture is Souvenir de France, freebie by BBD, and a Love freebie by can't remember! I made Souvenir de France into a flat ornament and trimmed it with chenille. The back fabric is the same fleur d'lis fabric used on Love. For the Love pillow, I added that Walmart flower to the front and sewed on the metal charm and bell onto the flower. This bottom pic is by LizzieKate and I just did it a pillow and added the fabric and then the ribbon and bell. I have yet to close the bottom. 

Kay wanted to know what I plan on doing with the Souvenir de France finishes. I might try to sell them at a Christmas craft fair later on in the year. Or my cousin who is mildly crafty! and I are looking into renting a small booth at a local craft store for a fee and I thought I could try that. About the only thing I have to buy for these are the mat board. I have all the other materials already so costs are minimal. Here's my next Souvenir for February:

I'll use a black or gray trim for this. I need to get going on it.

As you can tell, I have got myself into a rotation of sorts. I don't do well with rotations but I like what I'm stitching right now. So I'll stitch up the newest Souvenir, add February's spell to the Class Schedule, and keep at Midnight Ride.

I also joined a valentine SAL on FB and will do this Shepherd's Bush that I bought last year:

It's just for one day though. Who knows, I just may continue to stitch on it.

And now we have arrived to a Giveaway! I was organizing my craft room/ bedroom again and ran into these items that I don't want. The usual rules, be a follower thru Bloglovin or Google/Blogger. Open to those overseas. Here's what to do: enter in the comments which ones you are interested in. I will take all your names and pick a name for each item that you would like. One person could win the whole enchilada! Good luck. This will end on the 24th of February, 9pm Arizona time. Here's the goodies:

I have a blackbird button for the first pattern, I will look for it. I don't have the buttons for the second chart and the fabric is 28ct linen at 14 1/2" x 9". Be sure to leave an email if there is no other way to contact you.

Okey dokey, that is it! I decided not to join the latest exchange at dixiesamplar's because I wanted to stitch all the above and get in some SAL's hosted by Stitch Maynia. 

Take care everyone and have a great week! Hope you get to stitch a lot!

Dancing with Jack, a finish, and more

Hi all! Hope the weather has been forgiving for you where you're at. Here in the Southwest it has been an oven. Where I live, at 5120 ft. elevation, we went maybe 5 days at over 100 degrees or over. It went to 103 this past Tuesday. I think yesterday the heat caught up with me at work as I started feeling shaky and lightheaded and clammy. I almost came home but I took it easy and drank more water. At least it hasn't been Phoenix-like where flights were canceled because of the extreme heat. I think I can speak for all Arizonans that our monsoon season can't come soon enough but not the humidity! Can't be happy at all!

So I have a huge, Huge, HUGE finish! Not in size but in the 1 over 1, and the amount of motifs and people in a small space- Jack's Bash!

I just love this! It's not the biggest piece I have ever finished but just the amount of flowers, people, alphabets, it's the busiest I've finished. Once I sat down to tackle the verse, it went fast. I couldn't say how many hours it took but I worked on it 4 evenings in a row for maybe 2 or 3 hours in between laundry, washing dishes, etc. The grass under the couple really took longer than the verse! In the end, it was all worth it, a real piece of art and I'm glad it is finished! 

I also had this small finish, Sweetie Peetie Pumpkin by Twisted Threads..

The color of the fabric is as close as I could get it. I'm either going to attempt a flat-fold on this or just a flat ornament. I have an Autumn fabric that will look real nice with this. 

This brings my finishes for 2017 to 15 with the more important ones being Jack's Bash and Blackwater Hollow by Stacy Nash. Also, my WIP count has gone down, yippee! From 31 in December to 27 as of now. 

I have two new starts and I can blame the recent weather for these!

Ah, Beau Leggy, squatting over that Cholla cactus. I'm using a Tarnish fabric, don't know the maker, in 28 or 32ct. When our monsoon rolls in, our skies will look like that, dark, gray stormy clouds. With the moon and stars out, this cowboy is out roping at night, looks like. I made some changes though. The model has Beau wearing a purple hat. Nope, I changed the hat to brown. He is wearing leather gloves so I left them that color. The rope got a change of color too. I will probably change his boots to another color also. Pretend my needleminder is a coyote!

My other start is this..

I only have the two lines of stitching done above Santa Claus so not worth a picture. I was in the mood for Lizzie Kate and something to put me in a cool mood!

I have finished my piece for the Christmas in July exchange hosted by Kaye of Kitten Stitching. It's so cute if I say so myself. I have found Christmas fabric, an ornament and now just need to track down Christmas candy. I found a website called the Candy Warehouse and they sell Christmas candy. Although it's Winter down under, if I send chocolate, it will become a melty mess just from here to Phoenix! So that's a no go. If you should see this, Leonie, the package will be on its way after July 6th. I can't wait to see what I receive from Nadine!

On my last post, Cricket-bug commented that if you do 1 over 1 more frequently, it will become easier. I believe this because once I got down to the last two lines of verse on Jack, it went fast and wasn't so painful. Barb, are you listening?! Or rather, reading?! Haha. It's like giving birth, lol. You swear you're never getting pregnant again and once that baby comes, you forget what you just went through! Lol.

Stitchinowl/Carolyn said in response to Thirteen Owls by PSS being hard to find that she didn't know that. After that, I thought I would search for it on eBay. I didn't find it but was amazed to see that people are buying charts, PSS specifically, that cost more than 123Stitch or Stitching Bits and Bobs offer, if you're willing to wait for the latter! On FB and Stitch Maynia, there are posts by stitchers who don't know of these ONS's and are doing the Dimensions kits and such that are found at the chain craft stores. On the Plum Street Samplers FB page, sometimes you get stitchers who ask where to get a certain chart. I can't quite remember when I discovered these ONS's myself but it sure opened up a whole new world! I too was buying from eBay. 

If you made it this far, good on you because I'm giving away the little Sweetie Peetie Pumpkin chart. It's in good condition. I will mail in the U.S. and overseas too. Just comment that you would like to have it. Follower or otherwise, open to all. I will draw names on the 4th of July if there is more than 1 person wanting it.

I believe that's it! I will continue to stitch on the Lizzie Kate and Beau. I have some quick stitches in the queue that I would like to do, Halloween and Christmas stuff. I have some FFO'ing I want to do today or tomorrow. As I'm typing this, I'm trying to decide what to get at the grocery store. Multi-tasker here! A plus side to these hot temps is your appetite gets killed off. My soda consumption goes down because the only thing good is ice water. So I can't think of a single thing that sounds appetizing. Hmm.

Here's wishing a wonderful, patriotic 4th of July to those of you in the U.S. We will be watching a parade and fireworks along with the rodeo. A happy stitching day and week to those who aren't in the U.S. Take care!

Turtle Trot October, SAL-itis, yadda yadda

Wow, these last few months are sure going by fast, aren't they?

I worked on one TT WIP, Pumpkins and Sunflowers, Now

Can't get a good picture of this.

Before..

P & S is a fun stitch and not very big.

As for progress on Harvest Delivery, here she is..Now

I like the argyle pumpkins. I want to finish this before Thanksgiving.

And before..

I'm getting ready to stitch the black wagon, a few more flowers, and the wagon tongue. Onto the horse! Looking forward to him/her.

I had to have one last new start for something Halloweeny, so here it is..

Tombstone Angel Pinkeep Drum and Strawberry. Yes, I'm going to attempt to construct this drum! I have a perfect fabric for the top and the wool for the bottom. I'll have to buy the black velvet for the strawberry though. Which then brings me to the question of-If I can stitch this tombstone angel, why can't I get back to stitching on my Early Witches piece?!

This the SAL with the Primitive Hare. Actually, as I was working away on the drum piece up above, I was feeling like I could go back to Witches and really put in an effort to catching up. I think the last part is being released this coming week. After I post this, I think I'll get back to it.

My plan for October is No New Starts for Halloween! I will finish up the all the Halloween type projects I have going, including Wicked..

I just need to frog some stitches at the bottom of the key. 

Lets see if my self-talk works!

Speaking of SAL-itis, I joined yet another group! Kim at Wisdom with Needle & Thread is hosting the Traveling Treasure Chest. She has sent off a package with some of her unwanted stash. She picked the first Pirate who is Teresa from the blog At Willow Tree Pond. Teresa picks two charts she wants, adds two or three from her own stash and sends the whole thing off to the next pirate! All of us who joined have alter egos! I am...

Harriet 'One-Eyed' Goff, the Knave of Mudskipper Harbour, who is also a jolly japester prone to the yo ho ho-ing, especially after a bottle of rum!

Yup, that rum will do that to you!

As mentioned in another post, I joined with a Christmas exchange hosted by Angela P at Hooked on Stitching. I received my recipient info and will begin stitching here soon, probably after I get all my Halloween done. It's not due to be shipped until the end of November.

I'm taking it easy today because Mr. Vertigo is trying to make his presence known. I dreamed I had an episode this morning but I think it really happened! How weird is that! I've been plagued with vertigo for the last 10 years and its a B---H!! Sometimes I can go for a year with constant vertigo but at a small degree where I have to lay down very slowly and get out of bed very slowly but life goes on. And sometimes they're so bad that I can't drive or work. One episode I went to the ER and had an MRI and  an EKG because this one was sooo bad and I could feel my heart beating like it was going to jump out of my chest. Both tests came out clear and positive. I was sent home with Valium to help with the anxiety. Right now I have a huge headache because I'm stressing over this. I've gone an entire year and a half without Mr. Vertigo. Why he's shown up now is beyond me. So no weedwacking for me. I had planned on yard work today but that's not happening now.

Thanks for allowing me to vent about Mr. Vertigo. I hate him! Lol!

Thanks everyone for your comments! I'm also happy to see new followers, either through Blogger or Bloglovin'. A BIG Welcome to you all! My blogging anniversary is coming up in December so a Giveaway might be nice, right?! Take care all!

September Stitch From Stash, finishes, road trip pics, the exchange,etc..

Here we are, end of September. It's just going by too fast! Picture heavy by the way.

Friday night I stitched with the Sew-In and stitched right into Saturday and Sunday. There is no loss of mojo whatsoever but I do most of my stitching on the weekends anyway. During the week, I'm either too wiped out or stressed to pick up a needle. I also managed to finish a couple things too. Without further ado, here's SFS..

Beginning balance was: $52.75 with September's $25 added.

Money spent: $29.60 for two designs from the Primitive Hare, Wicked and Christmas Carol Sampler.

New starts from stash: Harvest Delivery

My Saturday and Sunday stitching. I'm stitching this on 32ct Platinum which I love. It's a nice all purpose fabric. It's a lot of fun.

WIPs or UFOs worked on: Exchange projects which is below, School Days, Vintage Stars, Merry Moose Wishes, LK Scary Sampler.

Balance is now $23.15. I could do better but...!

Here are my two finishes..

Designer is Plum Street Samplers, I think the chart is called My Pretties. I stitched this up a couple years ago as a huge pillow but it just looked terrible. So I cut it down and did this to it. I just noticed that a stitch is real loose, I'll have to fix that. And that PS ornament that is found in a JCS ornament magazine..

I need more Christmas ornaments! 

I just got an email from Joan who blogs at Stitching Squad (didn't get a link) that she received what I sent for the Harvest Exchange 2014. Besides a WTNT chart, floss to stitch it, scissors, needles, linen, wool, etc. I made these for her..

On the left is a door hanger. The design is from an older JCS issue. I also made the two wool leaves that are attached to the wire. I felt that wasn't enough so I stitched up the Scarlett House design and made the crown pin that is attached to the pillow at the upper left. She likes what I sent..woohoo!

As if my life isn't already busy, I up and joined the First Annual Christmas Ornament Exchange hosted by Angela at Hooked on Stitching http://hookedonstitches.blogspot.com/2014/09/first-annual-christmas-ornament-exchange.html

I think she has openings yet so go check it out. You make an ornament and send a card! That's it! 

I took some time off of work last week and my daughter and I drove to Jerome, AZ. for lunch at the Haunted Hamburger. It's named that because of the shenanigans something was doing with tools, noises, and such when the owners were renovating? Jerome is a ghost town that is still alive with about 300 people living there. The whole town is said to be haunted!

Our trip begins not too far from my home.. And into Jerome with its skinny roads

You can see the red rocks of Sedona in the distance. That's where we're going. The next pictures are entering or through Sedona. I love Sedona, it's so pretty there but their summers are pretty warm, in the low 100s most of the time but they also get some snow in the winter. Here we go..

This area has had a couple fires in the last year and you can see how the pines are burnt up, leaving just the tops. It's really greening up though because of the amount of rain we've had.

This would be my dream home!

This is Slide Rock State Park. Oak Creek runs through this portion, making the rock slick and its like a slide.

Lots of views.

See the rock above the white thing on the roof in the center of this pic? It's called Coffeepot Rock. Here's a better picture of it without the buildings..

See how it looks like an old style percolator coffee pot? You have the spout, the round thing on top, and the handle. On the other side of town, heading out toward Interstate 17, is Bell Rock which looks like a huge bell.

Now here's a picture that could answer a trivia question..

The only McDonald's in the entire US that doesn't have the yellow arches! They're turquoise. Zoning laws in Sedona allows only colors that reflect the area of the red rocks. Everywhere you go here, you notice the buildings, light poles, retaining walls are all a sandstone, brown, beige, or this turquoise color. It all looks very nice with the red rocks.

So I believe that's it. Hope you enjoyed the road trip. I'm hoping my iPad doesn't have too much trouble uploading all these pictures. I'm back to stitching on the LK sampler, determined to finish the thing before Halloween. Do I sound disgusted with the sampler? I am because its become a pain in my butt. I could've stitched more on the roof because now the satin stitches may be long in the lawn and I'm close to running out of the WDW Cadet for it. Grrr. I'll keep plugging away. Virpi's book she won is on its way to Finland and I'm crossing fingers it gets there. And Mary will soon be receiving her book too. All my business is done and I'm going to stitch! Take care and thanks for visiting!

Stitch from Stash May

Hello!

Time for SFS!

My beginning balance is $8.13

I spent: $0.00 Yay!

My ending balance: $8.13 + $25.00=$33.13!

New Starts: A Song A Song (finished and shown on previous post), Snowy Night, Ruby Pemberton Sampler Pillow

Here's Snowy Night

By Prairie Schooler in the '08 JCS Christmas ornies magazine. On 32ct fabric with mostly DMC. I substituted 939 DMC, which I didn't have, with GAST Black Crow because of its dark blue variations, all from my stash. This is my 4th ornament, 6 more to get caught up! Like that's going to happen!

And, the Sampler Pillow

This is Beehive Needleworks. On 36ct mystery fabric with the thread there. This is going to be big! I started this after becoming bored with what I had been stitching and thought I needed a new start to get out of my doldrums! It worked somewhat! Also from my stash.

WIPs that I worked on: Fancey Blackett, Hornbook Angel (no longer a WIP, see previous post), A Song A Song, Winter Wind Sampler.     

And wonders of wonders, no temptations this month either. I see charts I would like but I start thinking of the 50+ charts I have now and that kills that off. 

Most of my time has been spent reading the 7th book of my most favorite author and getting ready for number 8 coming out on June 10th. Some of you may know of her, Diana Gabaldon who writes The Outlander series. I reread the whole thing before a new one comes out and it takes a month for me to read one. So I've been reading every chance I get during breaks at work, at night, whenever. I'm almost halfway through the latest with time running out! I even took the 10th off to buy it and spend the day reading it. I'm so excited!

Well, I'm off to blow my nose. I never have allergies but this year, they're kicking my butt. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Ornament SAL October, The Giveaway That Almost Wasn't!, and progress

Helloooo!

Here's my ornament for October






I have misplaced the printed freebie chart. For the life of me, I can't remember who designed this. Maybe some of you know. I stitched it on 32ct ivory linen with WDW Louisiana Hot Sauce and I love that color. I thought it would look great against the ivory linen. Then I used a Kreinik fiber, the shiny colorful stuff, for the dots on the I's. They don't sparkle in the picture though. Don't forget to click on the pictures for better looks. This stitched up in just a couple days.

The Giveaway That Amost Wasn't, hmm. For starters, some of the items never made it to me until almost a whole month. I mention that in my last post, I think! And then two of the packages sat in my post office for a couple days because I made some mistakes on the packaging and the kind of postage I put on them and the clerks didn't notify me of the problem until 2 days later. On a side note: my local post office is trying to single-handedly save the USPS from going down the pipes and therefore, catch everyone on tiny mistakes that mean the difference between 1 cent and 0.50. Whatever floats their boat! Okay, rant over, onward!

I finally sent off everyone their Giveaway winnings and Diana let me know she got hers. Since she doesn't have a blog, I'll show you what I sent and made for her. She picked Halloween



Btw, she's the nicest person! I sent the Book of Days needlework calendar for 2014, the Halloween Silhouette pattern with a skein of silk and the linen that is below the scissors, the Halloween fabrics, the D needleminder, the scary scissors, scary DMC colors, and the Mystifying Mints in that great Ouija board tin, and






This is the Eliza An Pinkeep from the Merry Hallowe'en book of pin keeps by Stacy Nash, made into a flat ornament. I finished it off with the spider charm, the pretty fabric for the backing, and black trim. Diana liked it all. Thanks Diana, for visiting. I'm just glad it made it to her in time for Halloween!

Moral to the story-Give gift certificates! Lol. I really did enjoy making the flat ornaments though; could do without the drama!

I've been stitching and here's a new start



Love this! It called for 40ct but I'm using 36ct flax and the called for threads. I'll make it into a pillow and trim it with a dark brown chenille that I have. I just finished the cookie.

And here's Home by Pineberry Designs



Looking more like a home! I didn't read directions and am using 2 strands of the Toasted Marshmallow when it called for 1 strand. I'm hoping I don't run out of Toasted Marshmallow!

As for Mary's Sampler from PSS, I only stitched two angels. There's more to stitch this time around I've noticed! So no picture of Mary.

That's my story and I'm stickin' to it! Thanks, everyone, for stopping in and leaving a comment. Hope those of you who do Halloween, have a real spooky one, watch some scary movies. To those who don't, have a Happy Autumn Thursday!



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