Heritage Sampler progress

This one has been calling to me recently and after working only on Silkwood Manor for so long I decided to just stitch what I felt like stitching! I finished the border around the center tree design and started the tree itself. Fun working with the silks!

Those are Katie's pink fingernails holding up the picture. Freshly painted so I had to be really sure they were all dry before I'd let her near this piece! :)

I think for now I'm just going to try to work a little bit on each piece before trying to get back to any sort of really organized rotation. After I've visited with each piece maybe I'll pick another focus piece and try to finish something again. Not sure what I'm going to work on next, but Alhambra Garden and Inspiration are calling the loudest right now - we'll see which wins. :)

Fair Results

Well, Silkwood Manor did not place. When I picked it up after the judging the woman who took my claim check and had to fetch it and bring it to me asked me if the judge commented why she didn't place it. The judge hadn't said anything about it (though she spent a great deal of time pouring over it - at least it seemed to me!) and I said so to the woman. The woman said, "Well, if you want to know what I think, I think it is gorgeous and you did a beautiful job." I thought that was really nice of her to say. Even if she was just being nice, it was encouraging and part of the reason I like going to the fair judging every year. Mixed in with all the crazies that take winning way too seriously, are the gems like this woman. You could tell that she geniuely enjoyed seeing everyone's work, and it was so kind of her to take the time to comment to someone with a non-willing entry.

I did not get "skunked" though - my Enchanted Alphabet, which I figured probably would not place, got a fourth place ribbon in its category. That was a pleasant surprise.

The best part of the day though was that I had a friend there this time! Kelly decided to make the drive over for the day from Monticello and it was really nice to have a friendly face to share the day with. We watched the crazies and admired all the cool stuff people entered this year. The woman who usually has her yearly temper tantrum (okay that is an exagerration but not much) and claims she isn't entering anymore was pretty well behaved this year, but then she placed in almost all her categories, so she didn't have much to complain about this year. She was still fun to watch though, as she was as serious as ever.

I don't know if I mentioned in years past that the judging isn't just needlework items, but all sorts of crafts, we also watched judging for jewelry making, yarn spinning, rug hooking, teddy bear making, pencil drawing, and lots of other stuff that isn't coming to mind right now. It was a fun day, and I'm glad I entered, and will keep entering each year, even when I've had a dry year for finishes (like this year). Now to get some work in on my WIPs so I'll have more to enter next year!!

Silkwood Manor HD

Finished it just in time for the Fair! Not a moment too soon, put the last bead on at 8:30p last night, finished the framing at 10:15p and dropped it at the fair on my way home from work today - Whew!

I'm also entering my Enchanted Alphabet that I finished a few years back. Don't have much finished this year to enter, and Enchanted Alphabet was completed in a year where there were more finishes and wasn't entered in favor of something else that year. I don't expect either entry to win any blue ribbons, but a second or third is possible, depending on the other entries, we'll see.

Most of the fun is the people watching and seeing what everyone else entered. :) I suspect I'll have just as much fun this year as I have in the past even though I haven't entered much myself. Judging is on Friday, so I'll likely post that evening or on Saturday with the results.

I'm back!

So after a few frustrating days of trying to repair the old computer and not getting anywhere with it and then going back and forth with DH over what to get for a new PC - I'm finally back online at home. We ended up with a new hp. We had good luck with the one hp we owned a few years back, so we were pretty happy with our selection. When it came down to going to the store and actually getting it, we were able to make a major purchase without a lot of angst and arguing, which is a big deal for us! :)

Anyway, I've been doing some more stitching on Silkwood Manor and it is coming, but not nearly as quickly as I'd like it too. Here's a pic. I have to have it in the frame by the end of the night July 15th in order to drop at the fair for judging, so it is gonna be real close even with doing the framing myself.

ARGH! Computer issues

Our computer has gone on the fritz and I'm unable to get to my home email. If you need to contact me about anything, please either send me a Yuku message, or comment here to my blog and I will email you from work. I have limited time to check on things from work, but I'll at least try to check my Yuku messages and here for messages until things are up and running again at home.