First Heritage Sampler WIP pic

I've almost finished the top band of purple flowers and greenery. I'm really happy with my fabric choice - I picked 32ct. Silvery Moon and the colors show up really nicely, not sure that this photo really does that aspect any justice, but at least you can see my progress. I wanted to get a good start on it before just moving it into a regular rotation spot - this is about 6 nights of work.

I'm back to the rotation for now though, so today/tonight I'm stitching on Alhambra Garden. I'm hoping to get to do another of the corners, I think I should be able to at least start on it.

Sweetheart Tree RR Foldable Book

For the Sweetheart Tree RR, I had the particpants each stitch a portion of a foldable book, like the ones the Designing Ladies created for 2006. I used Judy O'Dell's finishing book for directions on sizing the sections and putting it together when I got it back. It took a lot more time and effort to finish than I originally thought it would, but I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. I really like these little books and have two other RR foldable books to assemble when I get around to it. One from a Just Nan RR and one from a Foldable book RR that I used Friendship and stitching as my theme. I need to stitch a section or two for each of those before I can finish them though. I think I'll wait a bit before getting around to it as this one took me almost a week of all my stitching time to finish! I'm sure it'll go a little more quickly next time as I won't be spending all that time studying the directions!

In other stitching news I managed to pick up my yard of 32ct Silvery Moon Belfast from my LNS on Thursday and cut it to the size I need for my Heritage Sampler - Yikes 50in x 23 in. - I actually cut it 23 x 55 since the width was already that size and no use cutting off only 4 in. I'll just give myself a little larger margin. That is one huge piece of fabric. I shudder to think of the size of the frame, but I guess I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. I spent all of last night and most of this morning rinsing silk threads to prevent bleeding should I need to wash this piece, and given how big it is and how long it is likely to take, I'm figuring the chances of needing to wash it are pretty good. BUT I think I will get to put needle to fabric for the first stitches sometime today (still have a little floss rinsing to do for some of the colors that are STILL bleeding - like the Gloriana Pomengrate!) I'm going to spend a few days or maybe a week on it before moving back to the rotation or to a RR piece so I'll likely post a small meager progress pic when I do eventually move onto something else. :)

DH got me roses! :)

With the kids' school activities starting this last week - I've been running everywhere and stressing way out. DH has been watching the new football season and enjoying it, but we have been spatting about how much I'm doing and how much he's watching football.

Last night he came home late from work and brought me these to apologize and let me know he does appreciate me! Woo hoo! I can count on one hand the number of times he has gotten me flowers in the 12+ years we've been married (including when the kids were born!) so this is major for me. I cried when he gave them to me. Maybe, just maybe, he gets it, huh?

Final Sweetheart Tree RR finish

This one is Dani's. This is the last one to do for me for this Round Robin. It was a lot of fun, but I'm glad to have one more thing done and off my stitching plate right now. I just got a call from my LNS that my fabric is in for Heritage Sampler, so I'm itching to dive into that ASAP! :)

Another Mira RR finish

This one is Kaye's Round Robin. I've been meaning for so long to do this piece (Three for Tea) and have always liked the expression this fairy has - something sort of coy about the look on her face that I find charming. I also really like the fabric Kaye chose. It is a 32ct natural opalescent and compliments pretty much all the Mira fairies well - an excellent choice for a Round Robin piece.

Mother's Tree Progress

Just thought I'd post a progress pic for Mother's Tree - it still isn't much, but at least I have the outline of the upper part of the tree done - just endless fill in work to do before moving onto the trunk. I enjoy stitching on it for one night a week though - it's a good piece for stitching during movies since there aren't any color changes and all the difficult counting is already done.

Right now I'm stitching on another Mira section for the Round Robin, so that will probably be the next post. I also got word recently that the last piece for the Sweetheart Tree RR is now on its way to me, so I'll finish that up once I'm done with the Mira RR section before going back to the rotation.

A small finish

Finished this last week already I think - just took me a bit to get it on the scanner! This is Just Nan's "Girls Night Out". the fabric is a bit washed out in this photo, but it isn't too far off. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out and I'm hoping to get around to finishing it into a flatfold before Halloween. Are there any good flatfold instructions online?

The rest of my pieces are coming along okay, getting in a bit of progress on each piece as it comes up in the rotation. I'll have to make an effort to post more pictures - maybe this weekend! I also finished another small project (I took a break from the rotation) but it is for an exchange, so you'll have to wait for pics of that one. :)