The last Mira RR section - Petal Fairy

I'm officially done with all the obligation stitching I took on in 2009. I really enjoyed stitching all the Mira RRs, but I'm also glad to be done and be able to focus on some other things. :)

Next up, a few more days on Angel of Summer. I've had some progress on her since I lasted posted, but she moves so slow I don't want to bore everyone with a new pic every time I work on her. I will update though after this next time as I think I've finally made enough progress to show. After I get in some good progress on her I've been itching to get back to Stone Roses. :)

Heritage Sampler progress

Not a ton of really visible progress on this one since my last post, but trust me it was a fair number of hours/time consuming. I did the grape viney border next to the over one letters on the right and then I did the eyelet border under the top band and the orange line under that. I think next time it will be unavoidable and I'll have to do some more over one lettering! There is a lot in this piece. I'm happy with how it is coming out though. :)

Mermaids of the Deep Blue

Here is Rachel's RR - I did the section in the bottom center from Mermaids of the Deep Blue. A fun quick stitch. :)

3 Down, 1 to Go

Fountains that is! I really love this design, but those fountains always trip me up. This one actually went pretty smoothly though with no real major visits from the frogs. I finished the fountain on the right this time and began the triangle on the right out from the fountain. I think that when I finish Angel of Summer, this will likely be my next focus. I'd really like to finish it for fair this year, but probably shouldn't be saying that out loud! Don't want to jinx it!

Endless Pink Dress...

Well, not really, but it sort of feels endless. Probably because it is sort of boring and all I can think about stitching right now is my Alhambra Garden. Sooo guess what I'm going to work on next? :)

Last time I posted a progress pic of her, someone asked about the fabric. She is actually on that MCG Textiles fabric (Twilight Blue) so loathed by many. Yes, the fabric weave is uneven, and yes it is very slubby. I really don't mind though and I think she is coming along beautitfully inspite of these imperfections. I knew about the problems with the fabric before I began and chose this fabric anyway because I liked the color and because I had done another piece on it before and was happy with my beautiful, but slightly different (from everyone else's) Fairy Idyll. Gives the piece a uniqueness because the lady is proportioned a little differently, but not so badly as to notice any real issue. It wouldn't work on a geometric piece of course, but I might use MCG Textiles again on another figure like this one.

Inspiration progress

Just plugging along on this one. You can sort of see my approach to how I'm stitching this piece in this picture. I like to stitch some of the vines to "mark out" where things should fall and then fill in the leaves and flowers. Makes for fewer counting mistakes. I didn't get a whole lot done this time, worked on the border some and did the viney part that is missing the leaves/flowers and the planter on the left side.

Angel of Summer progress

Meet my new focus piece. I started it for my mom a few years back and I think it is time to finish her up. This time I worked on the greenery hanging down from her hand to that yellow sash - also finished the sash. That greenery is a real pain! I'm going to stitch some on Rosewood Manor's Inspiration next, but then I'll be back to this. I'm going to alternate it between my other pieces until she is finally finished. :)

I finished the tree! :)

I think I will now just mark where I will start the names and call it quits for now on this one. When I began stitching this piece I had decided to use the dark green you see and a lighter green for the non-dark green lettering. I've decided I really do want to keep the shading as it was designed and therefore I need two shades of lighter green for the lettering. Lucky for me, it just means ordering a third color of Dinky Dyes silk, which is what I am already stitching with: 052, 051, 050 for the curious. 52 is this color you already see, and I needed to order 50, as I had originally planned to just use 51. Anyway, it is going to take a bit for the silk to arive and I am ready to move onto something else for a bit now anyway.

I think I will stitch on my Angel of Summer next as she is the closest to a finish in the WIP pile.

Southwest Mermaid

Here is the latest section for the Mira RR all finished up! :)

I think for my next act I'll try to get a little stitched up on Mother's Tree. I think I can finish the tree this time if I put my mind to it. :)

New Year's Mish Mash 2010

Last year I started Stone Roses on New Year's Day. This year, instead of starting a new project, I decided to get some progress in on her because I really enjoy stitching her. Just. for. me. :)

I spent far too much of my stitching time in 2009 on obligation stitching, so this year my main stitching focus is to stitch what I want on my own projects. The only obligation stitching I'm doing in 2010 is to finish up the Mira RR I'm currently involved in. I don't think of that as too much of a hardship though - I love Miras to begin with, so meeting that obligation is not going to be too tough. :) But that along with the baby blanket I just finished meant that I didn't get in much progress on all my WIPs in 2009. I'm afraid the blanket was my only major happy dance for 2009 and I missed competing in State Fair because I didn' have anything to enter.

So anyway, no new obligations for 2010! I just want to focus on finishing as many of my current WIPs as possible. I may have a new start or two - but only as I finish something else. I spent the first three days of 2010 loving to stitch Stone Roses. I'll spend the next few days finishing another section on the Mira RR and then I want to get some progress in on each of these other WIPs:

Inspiration - Rosewood Manor
Mother's Tree - MLI
Angel of Summer - MLI
Heritage Sampler - Chatelaine
Alhambra Garden - Chatelaine
Stitcher's Heirloom Sampler - Victoria Sampler
Hardanger Table Runner - (don't know designer offhand - too lazy to go look)

The hardest one to work on is going to be the Hardanger Table Runner - I think it is just sort of an "I don't love you anymore" project, yet I've done so much I cannot just not finish it either. *sigh* maybe a little at a time?..

I also want to finish these completed pieces into framed pieces or other items:
Just Nan RR from a few years back - into a stitching book
Band Samler RR from a few years back - into a bellpull
Mirabilia Mermaid RR - into a framed piece

So that's it - I've made my New Year's post - hopefully I can stick to it (mostly)! :)

Finished finished! :)

The back is a plain yellow fleece and the binding is an ordinary satin blanket binding I got at JoAnn's.

I just hope young Teresa understands Aunt Jenny is a much better stitcher than she is a sewer - the satin binding was really hard to keep straight. I think the result is passable, but I'm sure a more experienced seamstress would have done much better. Ah well.

Happy Dance!

All the stitching is done on the afghan! Woo Hoo! And not a moment too soon. My sister had her baby yesterday morning at 4:30am. She had a little girl they named Teresa Lucia. They don't find out the sex or reveal the name of the baby til it is born, so usually I don't get a chance to include any name or anything before finishing the blanket. The timing worked out this time that I was just finishing up when she was born. The text along the side of the center is the baby's name and birthdate. :)

I'm planning on doing the finishing tomorrow as I have off from work. More pictures once I have it all blanketified.

Little Squares done!

Finally! Now just Mother Gooser herself and this afghan will be ready to be finished into a blanket. :)

Shoveling and Stitching

As many of you know, there was a big snow storm in WI Tuesday into Wednesday which resulted in a day home from work and school. I spent the day shoveling the heavy snow the blower couldn't get at the end of the driveway, and then stitching 6 over one letters on Chatelaine's Heritage Sampler. Good thing I have no deadline for finishing this thing - there is a ton of over-one letters! :)

Peter, Peter Pumpkin Eater

I'm afraid to say so, but I think there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Only two more small squares left and they are both rather easy. Then the large center design of Mother Goose herself, which is going to be over-two, so it really isn't that much harder/bigger than the small squares. I'm thinking it will take about as long as two of the small squares. Anyway, getting close now. And no obligation stitching for 2010! (Well except for the Mira RR I'm already stitching for.)

MissyAnn is the awesomest!

Well, that is what Katie said anyway. :) Actually she said, Mrs. {Missy's last name here} is the awesomest, but I don't want to post the name here. :)

A few days back Katie was watching over my shoulder while I read Missy's blog, and insisted I buy the pincushion that Missy just made. She thought it was so pretty. :) I explained that Missy had made it for herself and that it wasn't a store or a sale, but her own pincushion. Katie was very put out, but suggested maybe we could go to Missy's house when she has a yard sale and buy it from her. I thought that was pretty funny and told Missy the story in the comments on her blog.

Missy made her a pincushion and sent it complete with a note telling her how Santa called and asked her to make her one because she had been trying to be such a good girl. Katie was a little suspicious and didn't seem to think Santa could possibly know about the pincushion, but I think I convinced her saying that Santa must have been making his list and checked in on her while we were looking at it on the computer. Little too smart for her own good I think. *sigh*

Anway, THANK YOU so much Missy - you really made my day and Katie's! :)

Little Bo Peep

Only 3 more little squares to go, then the big one in the center. Mother Goose herself goes there.

Also, I'm trying to come up with a creative way to include the year for the baby. I usually put "Baby [last name] 2010" somewhere on the completed afghan where it won't look too out of place. Right now the best I've come up with is the lower right square which will otherwise be empty. It won't look exactly right though cause that square should be empty to keep the every other square stitched pattern I've got going.

If anyone has any bright ideas, please feel free to share. :)

Heirloom Stitching Sampler progress

I took advantage of finally having some down time this weekend and pulled out this from the WIP pile. :) Just couldn't work on the afghan when I was feeling so blissfully lazy I guess. :)

I did the three small bands under the scene and then the over-one letters and the band beneath them this time. Fun to work on but I think I'll put it away now and get back to the afghan - Wendy is due January 10. I think I'm likely shooting for the Baptism at this rate but I still have to keep plugging if I want to make that.

In other news I think DH and I have finally settled on a carpet for the basement. We ended up going with Home Depot even though we thought we wouldn't use them again because they are a big PITA. But their price is almost 2k less than the others so I guess we'll put up with it. I plan to post pics of the basement once the carpet is in - which I'm hoping will be before Christmas.

Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving and a good Black Friday. I skipped going out for the sales this year, but did manage to score a PS3 bundle from Walmart online at 3am when they went on sale. Setting the alarm, turning the computer on 15 min. before the sale, and going back to bed 20 min. later was so much better than actually having to leave the house and fight the crowds. I might never actually leave again to try to shop the Black Friday deals. :)

Finally!

My husband finally figured out why our PC wouldn't load any pictures and got it fixed. So now I can share these with you. In between painting all the trim in the basement I'm still plugging along on the afghan. Here is Sing a Song of Sixpence and a picture of the whole thing. I'm working on Little Bo Peep next. :)

Mira RR - Athena :)

This one has lots of bling, and she was really fun to stitch. Hope you like her Autumn! :)

I'll be back to stiching on the afghan next. I've been spending a lot of time on yardwork, housework, and painting our new finished basement lately, but I'm trying to get in more stitching time! :)