Leap Year List - August Report

Hey Blog Buddies,

July sped by quickly, despite it being one of the longest months.  It's been too hot here for my liking.  And the last part of July went from drought to deluge.  As a matter of fact, we had such a series of torrential downpours here last Friday that we got seepage in our below-grade family room for the first time in years.  But luckily, we were home when it started, and it was abated by the one-two punch of a shop vac and box fans.  It also helped that the rain stopped a little while after the water started to come in.  It was more of a nuisance than anything.  Lots of others in this area weren't so lucky.  Molly's cushion had to be temporarily relocated "inland" from the wet wall after her bedding was cleaned and dried, but it didn't seem to faze her.

On to the stitching... 

First up is Prairie Schooler's Farmer's Almanac.

Here it is as of last month.

And here it is now.

I constructed a farm house, planted trees,

and did more of the verse, from the bottom up, of course.

I know I can't avoid stitching

the rest of that grass for too much longer, though.

All this over-one stitching is slow going.

Next is another Prairie Schooler design:  

the A from the ABC leaflet.

I had it started last month.

And now it's finished.  Woo hoo!

I originally toyed with the idea of

doing this entire piece over one.

I'm so glad that I didn't!

It's been a joy to stitch so far.

Finally, we have Jennifer Riefenberg's 

The Missing Piece:

Here it is as of last month.

And here it is now--all finished!

Some of the various stitches

were a little tricky to compensate.
The bargello section
had me talking to myself.

I've been spoiled with Kathy Rees' 

Needle Delights Originals designs.

She graphs out all the compensation for you.

But it's nice to know I can do it on my own

if push comes to shove.

And speaking of Needle Delights Originals,
she came out with a new "Log" design
for Halloween (uh-oh).

I just couldn't resist this one.

And, yes, it's all kitted up.

Last month I showed you a little 
design from La D Da that I stitched.
I sent it over to Averyclaire
who crafted this sweet needle roll finish.

The outside.

The inside.

Here it is all rolled up.

So cute!
And I do plan to use it, not just look at it.

Last, but not least, here is
The Lake County Fair Report

Exhibitors' Night was last night
at the Family Arts and Crafts Building.
It's a sturdy two-story brick edifice,
with the second story
being just a balcony around the perimeter.
The building has no air-conditioning,
just a couple of strategically-placed fans.
Did I mention that yesterday the outside
ambient temperature was in the low 90's
with very high humidity?
Each exhibitor gets two passes,
and there are lots of exhibitors.
Many of them do bring a guest.
Think body heat.

Of course, I knew all this going in,
but I went anyway because
it's a rollicking good time.

This photo is from 2013,
with the Fair mascot in the doorway.

The baked goods,
which have already been judged,
are always given away to the attendees
who are willing to stand
in the very long Free Food Line.

But I, and many others, were not food-oriented.
Our main objective is peering into the
display cabinets and over them,
looking at the hanging pieces
that are set up out of harm's way,
squinting at the tags,
looking for our own entries and,
almost as important, our friends' entries.

There is lots of camaraderie,
with people greeting each other,
giving congratulations and just chatting.
Yes, the competitors who I know personally
are truly happy for each other's wins,
even if it might be at their own expense.

This year I had 12 entries,
10 of which won various ribbons,
so I did good, as did most of my friends.
Yes, the blackwork horse got a blue ribbon.
(I was the only exhibitor in that class.)

I do have one photo to show you.

After 25 years of exhibiting at this Fair,
this is my first Best in Show.
I have to say I was a bit giddy last night
and very, very surprised.
I was with Averyclaire (she was my guest)
and we got to scream and jump up and down together.
I truly believe it was her gorgeous finishing
that put this piece over the top.

"Best in Show" is a misnomer anyway,
because there are many Best in Show winners.
What it refers to is your Section,
which in this case is Needlecraft II,
limited to the embroidered pieces,
with the exception of holiday decorations and ornaments.

And, yes, I'm already thinking of 
what I might enter next year.

This post turn out to be a bit longer than planned.
If you're still reading,
thanks for sticking with me.
Have a wonderful weekend.

Leap Year List - May Report

Hey Blog Buddies,

We had a very cold and gloomy end to April, but the sun's out now so May seems promising.  I missed most of that gloom because we were out of town last week; the weather where we were staying was nicer--more on that in another post.  I took four projects with me for stitching in the evening.  Ha, ha, what was I thinking?  I got a little bit of stitching in on the trip (Autumn Logs), but not much.

On to the list...

First up we have the afore-mentioned Autumn Logs 

by Needle Delights Originals

Here's where I was last month.

And this month.  So close--the border stitches up quickly.

Here's Dawn Chorus by Long Dog Samplers, as of last month.

Here's this month's progress.  The end is in sight!

But there's still a lot left to stitch.

We met this fellow last month:

Tanja Berlin's blackwork horse.

I did get the stitching started!

Tanja's model is all black,

but I'm turning my guy into a bay.

Last but not least, I finally started this piece.

That barn took a while to build!

I'm stitching this on 25-count

wedgewood blue lugana, one over one.

That's it from here.

They (Google) rolled out their new

photo site replacing Picasa recently,

and this was my first attempt at using it.

I'm sure it can do many things

of which I'm not aware,

but I must have figured out the basics,

since my photos showed up in this post!

 Thanks, as always, for visiting!

Leap Year List - March Report

Hey Blog Buddies,

Happy March!  Hope you enjoyed the unusually long month of February.  Even though it was a day longer, it still went by too fast.  But that happens when you get older.

I've been doing my version of one-at-a-time stitching; you'll see the same four pieces that were featured here last month, to-wit:

Needle Delights Originals' Autumn Logs.

This is where I left off last month.

Again, three more logs were added,

but it required more stitching because

the logs are getting longer!

Last month's photo of Rosewood Manor's

A Tree by Itself.

I am finally on the home stretch with this one;

the end is in sight!  Wheeee!

Here is last month's version of

Carriage House Samplings'

The Song They Sang.

I have quite a bit of letters

to stitch on this one...

And finally, DebBee's Designs' Angles.

Here's where I was at last month.

Aaand we have a finish!
I suppose I could have finished any one

of the other three projects with less effort,

but I chose this one to finish instead.

I guess I just wanted to be done

with dealing with all the satin threads.

DH is very relieved that the "devil project"

(his term) is done.

Now that it's finished,

it's time for some close-ups.

...the bargello area...

...one of three double fan doubled stitches...

...those serpentine stitches used up a lot of thread...

...this stitch reminds me of the old test pattern 

that TV stations would run overnight in the early years.

(No, kids, TV programming wasn't always

broadcast 24 hours a day.)

But I'm dating myself.

This is my reworked Spratt's Head stitch,
reworked because I used the first length
of Neon Rays right off the card,
and the creases in the ribbon
just won't relax by themselves, as I had hoped.
You can see them in the large photo above.
One must use either a flat iron
or the water treatment to get rid of them.
I chose water, as I don't have a flat iron.
Easy and free.

I should (might) have another finish next month.

We'll see--no promises.

That's it from here.

Hope your weekend was filled with fun

and some stitching, too.

Thanks for visiting!