U, V and Three C's

Happy Friday, Everyone!

Except for the past couple of days, our weather has been either hot & humid or rainy, so I've been busy stitching.  I have a lot to show, considering it's been slightly less than a month since my last post.  (I'm getting better...)

I'll do the letters from the title in order. I showed the unfinished U from the PS Alphabet leaflets last month.  Here is the finish.

You know, I just realized that

I didn't stitch the dog's eye, so it's almost a finish.

Next, my goal was to start and finish the V this month...

...and I did it!

This appears to be a nod to the Aesop's Fable

about the fox and the grapes.

But that's no fox -- they don't have flop ears!

I think it might be a redbone coonhound mix

who dipped the tip of his tail into a bucket of peroxide.

But he's still cute.

Now for the C's:

I got the Chickadee that I showed you last month

finished and framed!

He'll be going to the Fair.

Yes, it's Fair time again -- starts one week from today,

and the needlework exhibits have to be

brought in tomorrow!

Next up is a new (to me) designer.

As many of you know, this is my hometown.

The designer is Tiny Modernist.

I haven't finish finished this yet,

but it will probably become a small pillow

since wall space is at a premium around here.

And finally, my 11th hour finish for the Fair:

Christmas Cardinal by Jemini Designs.

This is from the Just Cross Stitch Christmas Ornament magazine.

His wings are of wool, and the tail is

made of memory thread, in case anyone is wondering.

I've had it kitted up for several years,

and just finished it the day before yesterday.

As far as the WIP pile is concerned,

I plan to start on the W tomorrow;

I've made minuscule progress on

Blue Jeans & Daisies and Poppers,

so won't show them here.

And I have a new small start:

It's time for some Hallowe'en with

Spell of the Moon,

another chart that I've had for quite some time.

My Ho Ho Ho ANG challenge project

is still in the planning stage. 😉

Have a great weekend,

and thanks for stopping by!

Finishes

Well hello there... it's been a while.

I'm afraid I've been spending the bulk of my time

on Instagram lately.

I've really been enjoying it because

there's no political squabbling,

no advertisements,

just photos.

But I'm here today to catch you up

with some recent finishes, so let's get started.

Despite the title of this post,

this is actually not a finish.

Here's where I was at with RipRo last time.

I made what I consider significant progress...

Only two corners to go!

This is Needle Delights Originals' Ripple Rotation II,

in case my nickname is confusing anyone.

I had a teeny start on Bittersweet September last time.

And here it is all finished...

Then I started and finished this little squirrel...

The wool in the background is what I used

for the backing of the pillow.

This is from Summer House Stitche Workes'

2016 Fragments in Time collection.

I finished piecing my lap quilt, and had to wait

almost two months to get it back from the

longarm quilter!

But here it is, all finished as of this afternoon.

The name of the design is Shadow Play

and it's from Plum Tree Quilts.

It was a workshop hosted by my quilt guild.

I used some large pieces of fabric

from my stash on the back.

And finally, I had a letter finish...

which was also a row/leaflet finish...

on the Prairie Schooler alphabet.

The piece as a whole is getting

a bit harder to photograph.

And I'm plugging right along with it,

so here is my start on the M...

I think the mermaid is kind of homely.

I debated giving her some lips,

but thought better of it.

This is Prairie Schooler we're talking about

after all and not Mirabilia!

I don't think I've forgotten anything.

For those of you who are Instagrammers

interested in visiting over there,

I'm @southpaw.stitch.

I'm not technically savvy enough

to put a button on my sidebar!

Hope you're having a delightful October.

Thanks, as always, for visiting!

Auspicious August

Hey Blog Buddies,

Hope everyone's August went well.  
I was beginning to think I wouldn't get a post in this month, 
because I wanted to wait until I had another letter finish.  
But finally...

K is done!

I think the cat looks a bit nervous.

Maybe she's afraid that the birds

are going to start pecking at her ears.

I worked a bit on Rip-Ro, too.

Here's where I was last month.

And here it is now.

I had a good bit done on Forest last month.

And here it is now, all stitched.

I like the way the trees change color

when they overlap.

I made a couple of new starts, too.

I don't know if this will be

finished in time to be seasonally displayed, 

but at least I should have it for next year!

This has been in my stash pile for several years.

It finally called loudly enough for me to notice.

The Lake County Fair was in the middle of the month...

...and I did quite well.

This past weekend, I attended

Needlework Galleria with my friend Joyce.

It was held at the Embassy Suites Hotel

in St. Charles, Missouri.

There were close to 30 vendors,

mostly designers and some needlework shops,

and it took up the entire fourth floor of the hotel.

Since all the rooms were two-room suites,

the vendors set up their shops 

in the living room part of the

suite where they were staying.

I took this photo from the 12th floor where

our suite was, far from the madding crowd.
You can see the banners of some of the vendors
down on the fourth floor railing.

A tiny sample of goods from various shops.

I went a little nuts in the shop with all the fabric...

I got lots of nice 18- and 20-count evenweave,

good for over-one work!
Wait, am I planning on doing a lot of over-one work?!

I signed up for one class, the Round Robin.

Six vendors took turns presenting their small projects.  

Just what I need, six more projects!

But they're small...

Clockwise from top left, The Silver Needle's acorn stand-ups;

JBW's candy cane holder; Romyscreations' Christmas ornie;

J Design's Spooky Tin, Noteworthy Needle's

thimble holder (it's really small); and finally

Needle Bling's sampler pillow.

The Silver Needle is a needlework shop in Tulsa, OK.

They had a fabulous 2-suite shop jam packed 
with the most tantalizing stuff.

If you're ever near Tulsa, pay them a visit!

I have to give a shout out to Cathy from

Inspired Needle (my local LNS)

who puts on this incredible event year after year.

Thanks for all the hard work, Cathy.

It was well worth it.

That's it from here.

Thanks so much for visiting!

A Plethora of Patriotic Pieces

How's your July been going so far?  A little while ago I started thinking about some of the patriotic charts that I've had in my stash for quite some time, and decided it was time that they were stitched.  So here are my Four for the Fourth.

Little House Needleworks' Old Glory.

You've seen this here recently; now it's totally finished.

Blackbird Designs' In Full Glory.

Prairie Schooler's Double Eagle Sampler

from Booklet No. 8, American Primitive.

You would never guess this design is from the 80's,

would you?

Their stuff is timeless.

And here's my little display.

The Liberty Bell is also from Prairie Schooler.

They fill up my rustic box nicely.

I won't need to do any more patriotic ones.

Well, maybe I could squeeze more in next year.

My fourth piece is canvaswork...

Independence Day

from (can you guess?)

Needle Delights Originals.

This will probably be put into a box top.

Along with all these,

I've been busy filling out my

Entry Form for the Lake County Fair.

I'm entering 13 pieces this year,

but might only have 11 or 12,

because one needs tweaking

and another one isn't finished yet.

But I've got a few weeks...

famous last words.

So that's what I'll be doing this month

(along with J).

For my US friends, have a happy and safe Fourth.

Have a groovy July, everyone.

Thanks, as always, for visiting.

March Turtle Trot

It's Turtle Trot time once again and, as expected,

this month's report is much shorter than last month's.

But some progress is better than none, eh?

First up is Summer Logs 

by Needle Delights Originals.

Here's where I was last month:

This is what I accomplished this month:

This is such a fun, relaxing stitch.

If I didn't want to stay in sync 

 with my guild's SAL group,

I believe I'd have this finished by now.

Quit snickering--you never know!

Next we have Dawn Chorus by Long Dog Samplers.

I had made a great start on it last month...

Here's where I'm at now...

Didn't get as much done as I had planned.

But I have an excuse (dontcha love it?).

This was mounted on a too-small scroll frame

which was driving me crazy.

After I had taken it off (it was sewn on)

I realized that the frame this piece really needs

is in use.

So it will have to wait just a little while

for me to finish that other BAP.

I know I could just stitch this in hand,

but it's all pressed and I don't

want to wrinkle it up again.

Next we have Carrots

by Jennifer Riefenberg. 

Here's where I left off:

And here's where I am now:

More bands of "earth" have been stitched.

Last but not least, we have Ink Circles' 99:

Last month I was here:

And this month, here:

At first glance, it may look like all I did

was to finish off Shelf No. 7.

But I stitched Shelf No. 8, too!

And there are only nine shelves!!

This is the piece that needs to get finished

before I can get back to Dawn Chorus.

I'm too superstitious to predict a finish date,

but there is a great big light

at the end of this long tunnel.

Yes, I'm strange; 

we all have our little idiosyncrasies.

To change the subject,

as many of you are aware,

the Nashville Market was held recently.

Last week, averyclaire dragged me

(kicking and screaming, I tell you)

to our LNS to check out the

new Market pieces.

Well, she did have to wait

several nanoseconds 

before I hollered "field trip!"

Wanna see what I got?

 

Top row: LHN Oh Christmas Tree, 

BBD In Full Glory, PSS Lesson One of 

Serial Bowl Collection.

Bottom row: Kathy Barrick's 

Good Intentions and Bird's Eye View.

The Plum Street and Kathy Barrick designs

were all from Market.

This also came home with me:

Wow, it seems to be kitted up!

The fabric is a really pretty light yellow.

There was a gorgeous stitched model in the store,

and it just said "spring" very loudly to me.

I intend to start this the moment I finish 99 

(I do have some restraint),

and that's another incentive

to just get it done.

So those are my stitching plans,

with the exception of

a two-day Kay Stanis workshop

hosted by my ANG chapter this weekend,

and a rather challenging canvaswork class

to be taught at that same

enabling ANG chapter at the end of the month!

Go here to find out what the other

Trotters have been up to this month.

Thanks, Claudette, for hosting this fun SAL!

That's it from here.

Hope you are all having a fabulous March.

Thanks for visiting!

Seven Small Finishes

Hey Blog Buddies,

How's your weekend been going?  I've been dabbling with a blackwork cyber-class that's just gotten underway, but more on that in another post.

I've also been doing some small projects, partly to take a needed break from all of the BAPs that are currently in progress, and partly to make a couple of small things to sell at my quilt guild's boutique coming up in early November--yes, it's just around the corner!

First up, we have BBD's Bird in Hand:

I switched the red floss in the model

for Gloriana's Holiday Blue.

I put my initials on it, so I'm keeping this one.

It was such an easy stitch

(I so appreciate monochrome projects after working on

 my 50-shades-of-gray-and-tan wolves every day)

that I decided to make one for the Boutique...

 

This was stitched with WDW's Merlot.

The colors are less bright in real life.

Next is the little hardanger piece

that Roz (former owner of Nordic Needle)

designed exclusively for retreat attendees this year.

It came with the cute, coordinating metal

heart-shaped box, which makes it more useful.

 I stitched this because I originally intended

to sell it at the Boutique.

But it turned out so nice,

and I can't buy another one because it's a Retreat exclusive,

that I decided to keep it for myself.  (My bad!)

 Here's the fourth strawberry that I've stitched this year.

They're all from Prairie Schooler.

Doesn't look much like a strawberry, does it?

Here is it, all finished up.

Now it looks like a strawberry!

I had three other stitched strawberries

that had been sitting around most of the year,

waiting to be finish-finished.

 After finishing the first one,

...they each got easier...

...and easier to do!

I won't lie, they were very fiddly,

but the cuteness factor makes up for it, I think.

Everyone from Eva at Stitching the Night Away in Illinois 

  to Cathy of Inspired Needle

kept telling me that I could finish these ornies myself,

so thanks for the encouragement, guys!

The "holly" strawberry is going to the Boutique.

Depending on my mood,

I may take another one there to sell, too.

Still hoping to make a few more small things

for the Boutique, so stay tuned.

That's it from here.

Stay stitchy, my friends.

Thanks for visiting!