Joyful Summer start...and answers to some questions :)

I need some "frogicide" to rid myself of the ever pestful frogs that keep interrupting my stitching :) I started Joyful Summer late last night, and got the blue flower and the leaf to the left of it stitched only to realize a mistake and had to rip it all out this afternoon when I sat down to stitch again. So, here is my restart :)
I absolutely love the colors in this piece, but it is MUCH more stitching than you would think just looking at the cover model as well as much larger :) :) I will put it away until after tomorrow's SAL with Jamie and pick it back up Monday and try and get it finished before Wednesday's SAL with Jamie :)


Several people have asked about my WIP's and how I manage to accomplish so much on them in such a short time...I am so sorry it has taken me so long to answer...I was lazy about taking pics :)
First of all, I am a very fast stitcher. I have always been. Secondly, I stitch every spare/free minute I have :) Thirdly, I minimize the prep work and get right to the project.

1. All my projects are in separate ziploc bags stored in a tote. With the exception of HoHRH and ATFE as they are on large q-snaps and are bagged together in one of the huge bags from ziploc. I reach in and pull out whatever project I want to work on.



2. I have all my projects kitted. I have them bagged with threads and chart, tucked away in a tote. The fibers are in small floss boxes for ease in finding the color.

3. I leave my q-snaps on my projects so I am not spending time taking those on and off. This is the reason for the WHITE batting you can see around my project. It allows me to leave my q-snaps in place without damaging my fabric or stitches. I only use WHITE as it does not bleed.

There you go...that's my secret :) :) :)That's how I get so much accomplished, by cutting out the need to "find" everything every time I pick up my WIP of choice :)

Thank you all so much for your kind comments and your visits :) I appreciate you stopping by :)
hugs,
BeckySC

Ut-oh...blew the stash diet....

I am suppose to be on a self imposed stash diet as I have so much stash I could not possibly stitch it all in 10 lifetimes...however I am trying :) I went to my LNS today to order the fabric for Flower Power and I just couldn't resist a few things!

I have been drooling over this for a week and will be my weekend stitching project :) CCN's Joyful Summer :) It's ready to go as is my needle :) I will put my WIP's on hold today and tomorrow to stitch this cutie!!! My fabric is not as dark as the pic shows it...

Another one I am really excited about and will start as SOON as the fabric comes in (probably late next week) is Birds of Killingworth by The Stitching Parlor...and this design is a wonderful example of something that really needs a model to be on display as I would NOT have purchased this design otherwise as the pic on the cover is not appealing at all-but fortunately my LNS had this one stitched and I fell in love and will be adding it to my stitching WIP's as soon as I get the fabric!
This an AWESOME sampler!


And the rest of today's stash!
Egg Hunt-the Trilogy
Spring's a buzzin'- Val's Stuff
Celebration Winter-Heart in Hand
The Rain Fell-LHN
Gardener's Pocket-With thy Needle & Thread
Red Heart Sampler-The Stitching Parlor
Embroidery Guild-LHN
Tulip Needle Book-The Stitching Parlor
Numerous CC's and a piece of fabric for Blooming Button from The Stitching Parlor (not shown)


Thank you all so much for the comments on HHS and again for your encouragements on my WIP's :). I appreciate them and your time so very much :)

Have a lovely weekend :)
hugs,
BeckySC

Happy Home SAL day..

Today is Thursday and that means Happy Home SAL :) I had a very busy day today and didn't have a great deal of stitching time-but what time I was able to spend working on this sampler was very enjoyable! I hope the others stitching it are enjoying it and would like to hear about or see how yours is going :) I'm sorry my picture is not better! this is really very lovely IRL!


Thank you all so much for your kind comments on GOP as well as your encouragment about sharing my WIP's :) I appreciate them so very much and look forward to being able to share my progresses with you all :)

Have a wonderful weekend!
hugs,
BeckySC

More Gift of Peace

Today was SAL day with Jamie! Things have not gone very well with me today-Yuku, GIGANTIC headaches/nightmares !!! So it was nice to sit and relax and stitch along with my dear friend Jamie :) Again, I can't say enough about how much I am enjoying this project! I have stitched several other L&L but this one has been the most enjoyable/calming/relaxing one to date! I know some of you must be sick of WIP's...please don't feel obligated to comment on them-it just helps me to stay focused and motivated if I post my progress.


Thank you for the comments on A Time for Everything :) I appreciate them so very much!
Thank you so much for stopping by. I really appreciate all your visits! And some of you-you know who you are-are just the best friends anyone could ever have! Thank you!
hugs,
BeckySC

A Time for everything update

I didn't have a lot of time to devote to ATFE today as we took a day trip and I was only able to stitch on it this evening. I finished the half stitches in the square and started on the backstitching. I adore this piece and the scarecrows are just too cute!


SBEBB members, before you start overwhelming my inbox...BB is down-I haven't been able to get on since I returned home today! Hopefully it will be fixed soon.

Thank you all so much for your visits-I truly appreciate them.
Hugs,
BeckySC

SAL Sunday :)

Today is SAL day on Gift of Peace with Jamie :) I got quite a bit done, but am putting it away now until Wednesday :) I am really enjoying this design and love stitching on it!



Thank you all so much for stopping by :) I appreciate your visits so very much :)
Have a lovely week :)
hugs,
BeckySC

Thank you all so much for the comments on my start on Happy Home Sampler

I appreciate them so much! It should be a fun and fairly quick stitch. AS we are SAL-ing though I will only stitch on it on the designated SAL day :) If the group thinks we need a blog for posting progress and chatting about the Happy Home SAL, please let me know and we'll get one set up for that purpose-I know a few of you don't have personal blogs as time is an issue for you and you don't have the time to keep a blog up- but you don't have to have a personal blog to use the blog that could be set up-you can just sign-in (after you have been accepted as an author) and post to the blog. If that's not an option-you can send me your progress pics and I can share them on my blog for you :) Whatever works best for everyone :)

I worked on HoHRH today :) I would REALLY love to finish this one up this year, but I don't know if it will be possible. I fell out of love with it for awhile...but I am really enjoying it for now and I love working with the silks, the colors...and I love the fabric as well. If I don't get bored with it again I may reach my goal :) The squares just seem to take so long to stitch :)
Progress on house 5 for today :)



Shannon, thank you for leaving a comment :) can you email me (email is in sidebar-look for the little bee)-I wanted to ask you about what fabric you used for Flower Power :) And Gaby-I am not sure you are getting my reply email (I sometimes have email issues and don't receive or my replies don't make it to their destinations)about SAL-ing on Flower Power :)

Also, I have had some questions regarding some of my WIP's...if you will click the link I provide for each WIP, it will take you to a page with all the details :)

Thank you so much for stopping by :) I appreciate your visits :)
I hope you all are having a nice weekend :) Rick started his 2.5 week vacation yesterday-we are just chillin' a bit for a few days so he can recover from what 12 hour swing shifts does to your body :)

BEE safe my friends!
hugs,
BeckySC

Aww, my friends you are the BEST!!

Thank you so much for all the encouragement on the piece I have chosen to stitch for my mom :) I have to make an LNS run before I can start it though as I need a piece of fabric large enough and in the right color :) I hope I will be as dedicated to it as you all seem to think I will be :) I appreciate all your comments and encouragements :) THANK YOU !!

Today was the start of the Happy Home Sampler (if you click the link you can see a close up of what I stitched today. I couldn't post it to the blog as I would have had to resize it to fit and it distorted it) SAL. I was able to devote some good stitching time to this one today and really enjoyed stitching on it. I hope all my SAL partners that were able to start today also enjoyed it :) Looking forward to seeing your progress :)


Thanks so much for stopping by :) I appreciate your visits :)
Have a safe and happy holiday weekend!
hugs,
BeckySC

Gift of Peace and will she or won't she????

Today was SAL day with Jamie :) I so enjoyed working on Gift of Peace today! I don't know what it is about this design as it is one of those famous L&L's with all the color changes, but it is such a relaxing piece to work on.


As I mentioned in an earlier post I was trying to decide on my Mothers Christmas gift...Oh my!! I don't know if she will get it this Christmas as it is HUGE...here is the pattern laid out-WOW!! It's huge...the design is 574 x 340 stitches---on 32ct. that would be 36 5/8 x 21 3/8 (can you imagine 3 feet by almost 2 feet???)Oh my!!! I don't know when she will get it-however she will receive it someday as I am resolved to stitching this for my mother-she will LOVE it!
Flower Power by Crossed Wing Collection
The top 2 rows is the actual design...the bottom row is the hummingbirds and butterflies charted out for you to stitch where they belong in the design!



The Happy Home Sampler SAL has grown-we are happy to have you join us :) I am so ready to make a start tomorrow! I know that Amy, Vonna, Lynda, Jan, Myrna, myself and hopefully dear Jamie are going to SAL...is there anyone else that wants to join us??? Have fun stitchers!

Thank you all for stopping by for a visit :) I appreciate it so very much :)
hugs,
BeckySC

Friends, I am speechless....

I received the MOST AWESOME exchange today from Leena for the Feathered Friends exchange. I am totally in awe of this fantastitc piece! It is honestly the most unique exchange piece I have ever received! She made a birdhouse for me-she even used twigs for the roof! It is SO awesome!! Leena, I can't thank you enough and I will cherish this piece forever. I can't wait to show it off to my family and friends! You are amazing and thank you for making this exchange so special for me :)
She sent some lovely birds, button, fiber and a lovely print as well. :) I will send you an email of thanks as soon as I am done here :)





Thank so much for stopping by :) I appreciate it so much :) I'll be back later tonight with a Gift of Peace update-but I didn't want to take away from this post.

hugs,
BeckySC

A Time for Everything...

That saying could not be more true :) A Time for Everything. I started this as a SAL with Dawn, WAY back when-but again lost interest when I started stitching smalls. I love this piece, as I love all things seasonal and will be happy to *hopefully* finish it in the not so distant future!
Here is the previous progress


and here is today's progress :) Not a lot of progress-I had a very busy day and THEN we had terrible storms this evening with really high winds and lost power for 2 hours!! I can hear damage all over the county with power lines down everywhere as well as many fires VIA Rick's Fire Radio. I hope everyone is OK!
I mostly did the half stitches inside the square. I still have more to do of those next time-and will hopefully be able to move onto the b/s of this season!


OH...I don't plan to start all the projects I shared in my last post. Those are just the ones that are on my stitching list!! I DO plan to start on Marriage Takes Three, but have no definite plan to start the others right away :) I want to finish up some of the WIP's I have going now before adding too many new WIP's. I DO plan to start a Christmas gift for mom within the next few days though.

Our Happy Home Sampler SAL is growing. Lynda, JanR and possibly Jamie will be joining us! I am looking forward to getting started on Thursday! I can't wait to see the groups progress!

Thanks for all the comments and visits-I appreciate you all so very much :)
hugs,
BeckySC

Herb Window Garden....

It's been a long time since this one has seen the light of day :)!!
I love this sampler and I am really glad I pulled it out to work on today. I hope you don't get too bored with my WIP post-I still plan to stitch SMALLS and other projects but I REALLY want to get back to some larger pieces. I am trying to decide what piece I want to start for my mom for Christmas...right now it's between 3 large hummingbird designs. I want to make a decision soon and get that underway as well.

Here's the prior progress..
Herb Window Garden Details

and here's what I accomplished today :)

And what it will look like when finished!


We have a SAL going for Thursday's for the Happy Home Sampler I shared in my last post...Vonna, Amy, Lynda???? and myself so far :) Feel free to join us if you would like. We are going to start this Thursday, but as we are only stitching one day a week (Thursday's) there's time to catch up if you want to start later :) Vonna has hand-dyed her own fabric for this project...it sounds gorgeous, I look forward to seeing it!

I finally had some time to sit down and thumb through my other magazines I got today...I found a couple more MUST stitch for me.
Landscape Sampler by Phyllis Hoffman from the June 2008 Just Cross Stitch

S is for Stitcher Sampler from the June 2008 Cross Country Stitching

And also I want to start this Marriage Sampler Soon for Rick and myself. OOOH, it's just gorgeous and called Marriage Takes Three from Stoney Creek.


Thanks so much for stopping by :) I appreciate you all so very much!
hugs,
BeckySC

My next project.....

OOH, I found my next start today...it's in the latest issue of Cross Stitch and Needlework and is called Happy Home Sampler by Linda Bird. I just love it and can't wait to get started, I think I will kit it up today and maybe get a start on it tomorrow :) Anyone else interested in stitching it???


Thank you all for your comments on GOP :) You are all VERY kind! RobinC, I sent you an email :) Nope, dear Jamie doesn't have a blog...maybe someday?? BUT-if she will share her pic with me, I will gladly post it here on my blog :)

Have a great day...we are counting down the days until May 23rd as Rick starts a 2.5 week vacation! YAY!!

Thanks for stopping by dear friends :)
hugs,
BeckySC

Gift of Peace progress...

I am so ditzy!!! Somehow I got it into my brain that Jamie and I were stitching Gift of Peace when actually we were suppose to be stitching L&L's Spirit of Christmas. WELL...Jamie is stitching Spirit of Christmas and me...well, I am stitching Gift of Peace :) LOL! It's all cool though as they are both L&L pieces and we are SAL-ing and that's what I enjoy most :)
I made GOOD progress on GOP today! I just love stitching on this one and even though there are MANY, MANY color changes (can't touch Oh Christmas Tree and it's color changes though)it has been a relaxing, enjoyable stitch for me today! I look forward to working in it again on Wednesday :) This is going to be an amazing piece when it's finished! I hope you are enjoying your piece, Jamie :) Off to email you now :)


Thank so much my friends for stopping by-I appreciate your visits. Thank you so much for your comments/emails about my friend and my brother-you're just the best friends! What else can I say!!!!
Have a lovely week!
hugs,
BeckySC

A Confession...

I have become so addicted to stitching and finishing SMALLS over the past 2-3 years that I neglect many large projects I want to do and have in the works. I used to enjoy a rotation and completing many large projects but have gotten away from that over the past few years. This morning I was feeling a bit down still-for obvious reasons and didn't feel like going through my stash (SO unusual for me) to find something to stitch! Instead I pulled out my WIP basket and took HoHRH from the depths of it to work on. I only have 4 large WIPs in my basket and I hope to be more dedicated to them in the future. I plan to leave the WIP basket by my stitching chair and pull out a WIP from time to time.
I made some really great progress today on house 5 :)


Tomorrow I am starting a SAL with sweet Jamie. We are going to stitch L&L's Gift of Peace. I have had this one in my stash for YEARS now and I look forward to getting started on it after church tomorrow. I am going to be using 32 chestnut linen with the recommended fibers (282z not pictured)


I am actually feeling a bit better this evening and have even visited a few blogs (hope to get back to normal blog reading soon). I look forward to feeling like my old self again really soon.

Thank you all again for the kindness you all show me :) I have some really awesome online friends :)
Thanks for stopping by-I appreciate your visits :)

I am going back to my stitching chair to work on HoHRH A bit more this evening.
hugs,
BeckySC

SB Needle Roll for Nicki...

Nicki's wish in MAW group was for a SB NR, so I asked to fulfill her wish as I love SB and I love stitching/finishing NR's...I stitched In My Garden Needle Roll for Nicki -this is the 3rd time I have stitched this one-I changed one of the specialty stitches on it (as well as the other two NR I have stitched of this same design) I enjoyed it, Nicki -thanks for letting me grant your wish:) The postasl service kept us waiting on this one as I sent it on the 3rd and it just arrived. I was beginning to really worry!

Designer: Shepherds Bush
Fabric: 32ct. Ant. White
Fibers: DMC & WDW
Date Started:4-25-08
Date Finished: 4-26-08

Today would have been my brothers 43rd birthday! We lost him in an accident 26 years ago at the tender age of 17. He is still missed each and every day!

Thanks for stopping by :) I appreciate your visits and your kindness and support so VERY much :)
hugs,
BeckySC

A Needlework Garden Thread Pallet Case

Here is accessory 2 in the Needlework Garden line from Olde Colonial. This is a thread Pallet Case. I have stitched the basket and several other of the accessories already. This one turned out nicely.

There is a pocket on the back that holds the thread pallet.


A Needlework Garden Thread Pallet Case
Designer: Olde Colonial Designs
Fabric: 32. ct
Fibers: WDW & GAST
Date Started:5-16-08
Date Finished: 5-16-08

Thank you all for your sweet and thoughtful comments on the tin for BeckyK. I appreciate them so much. Thank you too for your understanding and your email that I have received the past few days. I have a dear SWEET, SWEET friend that is dying. She is losing her battle with cancer and it is weighing heavy on my mind and heart and I am really not very chatty. I throw myself into stitching and yard work/housework and other things to stay busy and right now that is what is working best for me. I appreciate your understanding about my absence from your blogs as well as answering emails at this time-I DO miss you all.

hugs and let your friends know what they mean to you!!!!
BeckySC

Feathered Friends exchange for BeckyK

BeckyK received the Feathered Friends exchange from me on the SBEBB. I was happy to have Becky's name and I enjoyed stitching for her :) I used a design that my dear friend Isabelle sent to me and finished it as a tin. I used a wonderful print I picked up just for this exchange :) I hope you like it, Becky :) I forgot to take a pic of the entire package :(



Close up of print used to line inside and outside of tin

ABC a la Ferme
Designer: L'R de rien
Fabric: 32ct. Lambswool
Fibers: DMC
Date Started:1-20-08
Date Finished:1-25-08

Thank you all for your continued visits and comments and most of all your understanding about my not visiting blogs at the moment (many of you know why)-I have had some of the nicest email :) THANK YOU!!! Much love for you all :)

hugs,
BeckySC

Thank you and an apology...

First let me say thank you for your comments and continued visits and your kind emails :) :) I appreciate them so very much. Next let me apologize as I have been spending all my free time stitching and not on the computer-I feel badly when I don't get to visit blogs...especially those that visit me (as a rule of thumb, when my computer time is short or virtually none I always try to visit and comment on those blogs that visit me-as I have over 350 blogs in my reader and I atleast try to drop by those that have visited me-but I haven't even had time for that lately) -I hope you'll forgive me and know I will get back to visiting you all soon. I am staying so busy that I have very little free time in the evenings and I am dedicating that time to my stitching/finishing -not to mention that Yuku is giving me a headache and my heart is heavy over some sad news!!!!!!!! As I told a couple of friends...I will continue to be busy until the weather gets too hot to do much outside. Our garden has started blooming and we have tomatoes as well as squash already-HOWEVER Rick's daddy's chickens have been eating the veggies when they come on-so we are in the process of putting a fence around the garden. We have asked that he keep his chickens at home as they scratch in my flower beds and POOP all over my sidewalk and yard and now eat my veggie garden, but he has not done anything to keep them out of our yard :( ....so we are having to take steps ourselves...this will be the first time ever we have had to put a fence up to protect our garden!!

I stitched and finished Beehive by Helga Mandl. I love how this turned out (I did question the light blue border she charted as it doesn't show up very well in my opinion and almost ripped it out and added a darker border, but left it in the end-it does show up better IRL than in pics)I used the lovely bee print that Wanda sent to me and thanks to CathyB and a lovely AOK she sent me-I had the WDW Beehive to finish this :) Thank you ladies :)



Designer: Helga Mandl
Design Size: 4.5 x 4.93
Fabric: 28ct. Natural
Fibers: DMC & WDW
Date Started:5-13-08
Date Finished:5-14-08

Prayers going out to online and IRL friends/family that needs them. I am thinking of you all-I love you much!!

Thanks so much for stopping by-I appreciate your visits :)
hugs,
BeckySC