Turtle Trot August, Idiot stitching, finishes

I've got a finish! By LHN



Whoo hoo! It's so pretty, it's one of my Trot WIPs. This is where the Idiot stitching comes in! Got your attention now? The words 'Pick your own Pumpkin' were supposed to be in Roasted Chestnut-CC, not in Blackbird! I don't know what I was thinking! Sheesh! I wasn't about to tear out the words so I left them. I think they look fine and they match the other areas of Blackbird. Once I stitched in all the flower leaves, I began to see the light at the end of the tunnel and realized I could get this done. Here's more looks at Pumpkin Hollow






I also finished La D Da's Yellow Bird



Instead of the 35ct Parchment called for, I used 36ct Flax Edinburgh linen with Glorianna Birch Brown silk. Instead of the designers initials, I put in this year. No Idiot stitching here, though my first attempt at the year had to be ripped out-too close to the bird. I like things symmetrical, I know-weird!

Here's my newest start Buttons Black by PSS or Plum Street Samplers



Stitched on 36ct LL Autumn Gold. 1 over 2 GAST. I like doing 1 over 2 strictly from an economical standpoint-lots of the over-dyed left over! Idiot stitched the K in Clack wrong which then threw off the ack in Brack. So out came ack and stitched in right but by counting over from Brew is! I left that funky K in Clack, lol! AND then the star at the right has extra stitches to give it a more square look! I just left those in too.

ACK!

I'm guessing there were a lot of distractions while I was stitching; things like TV, 3 football games, and a couple movies like 2012 and the newer Pirates of the Caribbean movie.

I'm pooped and I'm going to see if I can put in a few more stitches in Buttons Black. Thanks for stopping in. Have a great evening!



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TUSAL For August

Here's my Orts



Black threads from my Scary ornament, and the browns from my two newer starts.

I have to tell you all that I found the Season of The Heart kit Saturday morning on eBay for almost $7, $8 total with shipping. I snatched it right up! I'm really excited to get it.

I'll be back on the 13th with pics of my two starts, one of them nearly done. I need to work on a WIP to post for Turtle Trot, so I'm doing that as soon as I get off here. Have a great evening y'all!


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Ornament SAL for July

Happy Thursday!
Thanks everyone for your comments on 'all Hallows eve'!
Here's my ornament




Some of you may recognize this one. It's one of the extra designs that came with the LK Mystery Very Scary Sampler. I used the called for 32ct Lilac fabric and just used DMC black. It's a quick stitch, for me, in just two evenings. I'll make it into a flat ornament.
Well, my finishing mojo went out the window and I haven't worked on a single WIP; shame on me! But I do have two new
starts, one I just barely started called Buttons Black by Plum Street Samplers. And this one




Yellow Bird by La D Da. I'm using the called for silk, but using 36ct flax linen instead of the WDW Parchment called for. I thought it would be bigger. I was thinking of making this a pin pillow but its going to be pretty when done, so I don't know.

Years and years ago when I first started stitching, which I think might've been around 1999 or 2000, I stitched on Aida. I found this kit from Mill Hill of a Christmas tree with all bugle beads, which are tube-like. It was on Aida and I remember my stitches went every which way! Needless to say I tossed it! I then moved onto a large kit, Aida also, that I bought off eBay. I don't remember how much I paid but I did much better on it! Here it is




This WIP! has got to be more than 10 years old! As you can see its not finished. Due to life and whatever else in that time, I rolled it up and put it away. I ended up losing the thread AND the pattern! Surviving two moves, not far, 9 miles, and then back, I still have it. Last week I thought it would be nice to finish the stitching. So onto eBay I went and lo and behold, someone was selling the kit.....for 20.00 bucks + 4.99 shipping.....screeeeeech (applied the brakes)!! I can't justify $25.00 when all I need is the pattern and a few more threads. I don't know if its re-listed. What do you all think? It's very cute, on Aida. This weekend when I have more time, I'm going to search all the ONS's I can think of and see if anyone is selling this kit for cheaper. I have a feeling I won't a find it though. When I was looking through eBay, I looked at over 4000 items in the Kit section, finger was getting tired! Should I buy it or not?

Okay, I found the name of this kit--Season of The Heart by Design Works

Don't forget to click on each picture for clearer view.

I'm going back to stitching on Buttons Black. Thanks ladies! I appreciate you stoppin' in and commenting! I'll leave you a few pictures of a Saturday drive my daughter took me on last week. Take Care!




See the sun? This is looking West.




A nice little Aspen grove amongst the Ponderosa pines.

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July's Turtle Trot and more finishes

Greetings from a damp section of Arizona! It's been drizzling off and on for most of the day. An Arizona Indian tribe, according to their culture, calls this a Female rain because the rain falls softly. A noisy thunderstorm is called a Male rain. I'll let you figure that one out!

Male female, we just need rain here and throughout the West.

Today is the Trot posting day. I've only worked on one WIP during this time



Wow, the picture looked so bright when I took it. Not here! This is Pumpkin Hollow Farms by LHN. Not yet ironed, just took it off the Q bars for a rest. Last time I worked on this, I had half the sign filled in, half of the big pumpkin, and the vine above the big pumpkin were stitched. Filling in the sign was quite a job.

I have some finishes! Carol, it does feel good to get some finishing done!



The designer escapes me but this came off a Freebie. Looks like a Bent Creek maybe? Or a Mosey 'N Me? I stitched this up last year and just barely framed it today. I thought the green in the frame went along with the colors of the design. I love it when framing goes so easily!



Remember Whatever? The colors used matched the colors of the fabric. The back is the same fabric. Then I added that trim in the middle, and then used the bronze chain for a hanger. It also matched the fabric. BTW, this a LizzieKate freebie.



Sometimes I nail a finish and it turns out great. Love how this turned out! DebbieSFL told me this is from Threadwork Primitives. Here's the link-www.threadworkprimitives.blogspot.com/p/freebie-patterns.html-. I can't find a place on this app to insert a link so I'll have to do it this way. Thanks Debbie!

I sweated out this one because I knew if I was careful it would turn out nice. I took some shimmery velvet-like ribbon for the hanger. I hot glued black trim with scrolls around it. Used a store bought black tassel and sewed that metal spider charm onto it. Eeeeee! I just sit in front of it, admiring it and waiting for my head to go back to size, lol! I was going for a sparse Edgar Allan Poe look and I think I got it. Here's the back



Not very Poe is it?! The purple matches the thread color well. See the kitty just barely peeking? That tassel almost looks like the cats' body. I couldn't have planned that even if I tried!

So I'll carry on my love affair with All Hallows' Eve!

Remember to click on each picture for a nice view.

I'm in the middle of finishing the very first Sheep Virtues so I'll have a picture of that soon. I finally emailed the ONS to have them take me off their auto program for the sheep. I haven't touched the other sheep at all. Shame. I think next year I'm going to fly solo, as in not join any SAL's. There are so many things I want to stitch and feel I can't because to me, when I sign up for something, it's an obligation I need to keep. We'll see. First of the year when all these SALs get announced, I'll probably be amongst the first to sign up!

Well that's it, folks. Have a wonderful weekend!



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TUSAL for July

Not much stitching going on here as you can see



I did receive the LHN Mystery Sampler today though. Makes me want to drop everything and stitch it!

I think the heat here is just zapping my energy and my stitching MOJO. But all is not lost; I picked up Pumpkin Hollow Farms by LHN today. I'm going to try to stitch on that only so I'll have a finish for the Turtle Trot post. I've managed to excavate my bedroom/craftroom and found a few other WIPs. Lol! I'll put pictures up of those.

Back to work tomorrow so I've got laundry to do. I'll leave you with a picture of Bubba and the weird way he likes to sleep. That's the tile hearth in front of the fireplace. See his little face? Every summer, you'll find all 4 cats sleeping on the tile, it's cool for them. Thanks for stopping in! I appreciate all of you!








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Arrghh...Some finishing, me hearties.

No, I have not been drinking!

Thank You, ladies, for your words of comfort. The coroners office is releasing the bodies of the firefighters Sunday so there'll be a procession from Phoenix to here; an 80 mile procession. It's actually a 95 mile drive from Prescott to Phoenix. So far, we think they'll be passing by my town. So we will be out at the highway paying our respects.

So now for some more cheerful news....I've actually finished some stuff!



We have Christmas Magic from the 2010 JCS ornament magazine on top of the fabric it'll be sewed to, the pirate toad by Stitchy Kitty, and the freebie The Pickety Witch on top of the pumpkin fabric.



I had this wine-colored velvet and thought it would look great. White ribbon bow and hanger. The velvet was hard to work with as it kept moving while I was sewing, even when pinned. Oh, and the bow and hanger is secured with a mother-of-pearl button.



I shouldn't be showing this just yet because I'm waiting for some seam tape in green that matches Capt. Frog that will be ruched around the pillow. I sewed on some stuff like little hearts (I love Pirates, blame it on Capt. Jack!), mother-of-pearl buttons, and that faux coin. It's red on the back too. Happy to have him finished!



Nothing real fancy here. I wanted to make a door hanger with this. I attached a rusty safety pin with a copper charm, which is real hard to see. Hangs by the black ribbon. I think I'm going to stitch more Halloween ornies in each month. After all, it's already July!

So I still have more finishing to do thanks to the Ornament SAL,lol! And one Sheep Virtue to sew up, the first one. Poor sheep! I'm sure it's lonely!

Guess what I did? I ordered the LHN Mystery Sampler! I was resisting it fine until I saw a sneak peek of the second section-it's got a house! I'm really liking houses right now!

This is my third post using this app. It looks like the pics are just a bit blurry. So I'm trying to ease up on cropping the pictures. If you click on each picture, you'll get a real nice, clear picture.

Well the fireworks have started and my cats are going bonkers! They don't like the noise. It's back to work tomorrow and then my usual 3 day weekend so it's laundry time. Hope you're all having or had a great 4th! Good night, over and out.





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Tears

On Sunday, June 30th, 19 firefighters of the Granite Mountain Hotshot crew out of Prescott, AZ. were killed when an out of control wildfire backed up on them, forcing them to deploy their shelters. The fire had the upper hand.

I have been a wreck since we heard about this Sunday. My emotions are right on the edge and I'm reduced to tears whenever I see a news report, drive by the memorial. I would see them about town doing their business, riding in their white trucks. It feels like we've lost family members. This whole area where I live is just devastated. You go to the grocery store, etc. and the environment is just so heavy. Turns out their headquarters is less than a football field from where I work. The makeshift memorial outside against the fence has grown quite large now. My daughter and I went to see it Monday and left some flowers.

This to me feels like another 9/11, but on a smaller scale. I don't want to downsize the magnitude of 9/11. It's just that I can't wrap my brain around the loss of 19 individuals and I couldn't do that back on 9/11 for all those who died either.

My daughter and I returned home from the big 4th of July rodeo in Prescott tonight where they honored the fallen firefighters. I couldn't sleep so I thought I'd post my thoughts and get them out of my head. You know, writing stuff is just as therapeutic as stitching. I have done a little stitching though.

I'm going to hit the sack now, got to be up in 4 hours. I feel like sleeping now! Take care and hug your loved ones a little tighter.

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