I'm Back... Unofficially

I'm back, but unofficially, so don't tell anyone. Technically I'm still on vacation through tomorrow. We had the most wonderful time. It was absolutely beautiful. Every road we took was breathtaking. Even more so on a motorcycle. You can see everything. The weather was perfect. Coming in we rode along the famous Ocoee River. One of the sites of the Olympic games when they were in Atlanta,GA. The river is actually in Tennessee. Not so glamorous, it is also the same river the movie Deliverance was filmed. This was at a different place. Beautiful falls. Not sure if this was TN or NC. It was hard to tell when you crossed state lines.

I even got some stitching done. Started and finished this project. Part of my ideal vacation was to sit on the porch of the cabin and just stitch and listen and be peaceful. I sure hated coming back to 90% humidity. I started on LK Spring has Sprung, but didn't get much of that done.

Little House Needleworks "Believe"

More Tigerlily Progress

Here's another progress pic of Tigerlily. So pretty. I like to add my beads as I go so I don't have to skip around so much later. Her skirt is almost done and she needs another leg. This will be last I can work on it for a while. I'm going on vacation next week. YEAH!!! I'm so ready to get outta town. We are riding our motorcycle up the Natchez Trace to Tupelo, MS then cutting across Alabama to North Georgia. We'll be staying at my cousin's cabin in the mountains of Blue Ridge, GA. It's so beautiful up there. The weather should be perfect for riding. Highs in the mid 80s and lows in the 50s and 60s. Much better than the 90s+ here. I can hardly wait. I'll post some pics when I get back. Have a great day!

TigerLily Progress

Just a quick post to show my progress on TigerLily. She so pretty and stitching up so fast. Hey Jen, how is yours coming?

I also finished my first needlebook. It turned out ok despite my lack of sewing skill. Everytime I use the sewing machine, I am reminded how far from a semtress I am. It took 3 or 4 tries to get this thing right. First, I forgot to put the ribbon in. Then I ripped out the wrong side for the ribbon, had to rip the other. Then I stitched all the way around, leaving no hole to turn it. Then I ripped a little out of one side and started turning then realized I put the ribbon in wrong. The loop was on the inside. Sooo, had to rip that side out again and redo the ribbon. I have to make a lot of mistakes before I learn from them. But alas the finished piece looks pretty good. Good enough for me anyway.

Retreat Was Fabulous

We had a wonderful time at the stitching retreat last weekend. Acutally got some stitching done and made noticable progress. Very proud of myself. I worked on several different projects. Finished up a couple of little things that have been hanging around forever. Started a couple of new things and worked on other WIPs.
Theresa from my LNS helped me pick a color for the border of the Red Thread round robin we are doing. Can't really tell from the picture, but it's very verigated. It is Waterlillies Espresso. It is a dream to stitch with. Very pretty and it stitches very fast.

I started a new reindeer. Dancer this time. Didn't get too much done. This day we all decided to do speed stitching. We rotated projects every 30 mins then every hour. 30 min was barely enough time to get the project out and find your floss.

Also worked on my Stoney Creek nativity. Just a little progress here. Really need to get this done. New stuff keeps grabbing my attention.

Then Jen and I decided to start Mirabilia Tigerlily together and do her as a SAL. Check out our progress each week. I don't think this will take very long to finish. I'm not sure if this is a SAL or a stitch-off.

The only things I finished were Bridget's sailboat on our RR and this LizzyKate June block. I plan to make it into a needlebook. Never tried one before, so I'm anxious to get that going.

That about wraps it up for the retreat. We got all kinds of freebies- patterns,floss,fabric... I also got a beautiful needlebook for the pins and needles exchange Friday night. And a whole bag of goodies for the Sat gift exchange. It was a patriotic theme like the gift I gave. It had a Bless this House pattern from Country Cottage Needleworks, the floss and fabric to complete it, and other items. All in all we had a fabulous time stitching and talking.

Loose Ends

I've spent the weekend tying up loose ends on some projects. Friends came over for stitching and a movie yesterday. Had a great time. Finished up a floss ring tag for the gift exchange at the retreat next weekend. I got the idea from Mylene's blog. For my first attempt, it came out ok. The pattern is Love & Country from Sam and Sarah Designs. Theresa from my LNS helped me pick that and a few WDW threads with patriotic themes. To the gift I added a patriotic bandana that would make great backing fabric, the pattern and some buttons.


My beads finally came in and I finished my first reindeer, Blitzen. He turned out great. I got to show him off and let everyone ooh and aah over him. He's very sparkly. The fabric is perfect.

I also finally got the rest of the treasures for the Santa Sleigh Ride put on. Not the easiest thing I've ever done. The treasures with no holes in them, wreath and candy canes, are a little tricky. Then I went ahead and stretched it to get it ready to frame. While I was at it, I stretched the Love Crazy piece too. I have the materials to make frames for both of them. I should get to that this week. I'll post those when I'm done.

So I cleaned up after all the other projects to prepare for retreat. Have to decide what to work on. Got to be prepared to maximize my time and get as much done as possible. Still have to keep up with Jen.
Thanks for all the people who stop by and leave comments. I enjoy that very much. Have a great day.

Another One Lost

My parents came to visit this weekend. We had a wonderful time. We grilled on Saturday and took a long motorcycle ride on Sunday evening. We had to wait for it to cool off. It was 94 all weekend and humidity about 90+%.

I like to show off my stitching to my mom. She likes and appreciates it. A little too much I'd say. Every time I show her one of my ornaments she falls in love and I lose another one. I don't mind though. I always have liked to give my projects away. And I know she will cherish them.

Now I'm really behind on my "ornament a month" project. Those still count, right? She asked why I don't make two of everything. I guess I will.

Getting Ready for Retreat

Only two more weeks until our LNS is hosting a stitching retreat. I'm pretty excited. Three of my stitching friends are going also. They all got to go last year but I had to work. So I'm pumped for this year. I have my exchange gift ready to go. I just need to buy some scissors to go with it.

Part of the Prairie Schooler Summer Breeze pattern

We've done quite a bit of traveling this past month. Nothing real exciting, just three trips to LA to my parents' house about 4 hours away for different things. We've done a lot of motorcycle riding too. It's about time for me to get a bigger bike. Everyone we ride with, my husband included, gets frustrated with me cause it just won't go. And it sounds terrible. But I like it.

I've done some stitching too. I finished Faith by LHN and I intend to do the whole scripture series. I like this one ok, but I don't think I picked a good fabric. It looks kinda washed out. The floss colors are so muted. I haven't decided how to finish them all yet. I'll probably wait till I get them all done and then decide.

Faith by LHN

I also like to crochet. Baby blankets for friends and doilies are about all I do. Have never tried any clothing. Maybe one day. I don't really care for doilies in my house but I do like to make them and think they look pretty. I usually either give them away or sell them on ebay. Ebay is where this one will end up too.

Lastly is a project I finally got to start. I have been anxiously waiting for my fabric to come in to start the Nora Corbett Reindeer. I have all 4 that she has done so far. The handdyed fabric my LNS ordered for me was forever backordered. The longer I waited the more worried I got that it wouldn't be a good color and then I would be stuck with it since it was a special order. So I finally talked myself into cancelling the order and picking a opalecsent white. I like it just fine. I think it makes it look like snow. I have also spent countless hours comparing beads and picking substitutes for all the Mill Hill magnifica beads and treasures. I just couldn't bring myself to pay that kind of money for those stupid beads. So I found delica beads are just perfect substitutes and much cheaper. I changed alot on this deer. I didn't like the color either. And I used a varigated thread for the greens that I already had. This one is stitching up really fast. They are not very detailed. The first pic shows how sparkly the fabric is and the second is fuzzy but is lighter to show the colors better.

Update

My My, It has been a long time. I didn't realize how long. I've been too busy stitching to blog. I didn't feel a post was worthy without a picture to see. I finished several all at one time. So here they are.

Christmas Poinsettia JCS Ornament Issue 2006

This was a very quick one to stitch. I wanted to do an ornament a month, but I am behind. I didn't get one done in March. I was working on my big project. Maybe I can catch up now.

Love Crazy Lizzy Kate

I just thought this one was cute and not Christmas. Christmas patterns are my favorite and I have a ton to do, but I wanted to do something more springy and fun. This is not a pattern I would typically buy, but it just hit me right that day in the shop. It was quick and fun too. I tried to stitch in differnet patterns with the overdyed floss to give some other effects. I thought it turned out pretty neat.

French Country Dog JBW Designs

These were quick and fun too. I did them three times actually. The first one I did with DMC varigated floss in brown, but the fabric I had just wasn't right. So then I got a bright idea. I would do one in brown/gold and one in black to mimic my two dogs. And I scanned the pattern in and flipped it so they faced each other. Then instead of stitching "Dog" underneath, I put their names. Too cute. I had perfect backing fabric for them too already. This was also my first attempt at the flatfold easle. Not too hard, thanks to Vonna's excellent tutorial. Here are my two babies.

Honey and Belle

Now for my most favorite piece. This was my first big Mill Hill design. I've done lots of the button and bead 5x5 kits. But this was much grander. I still have a couple of treasures to add that are on order. I substituted most of the treasures it called for. I didn't like them. But all in all I am very pleased. I can't wait to get it framed. It's even prettier in person. The fabric is an opalescent that gave it just the right amount of sparkle.

Santa Sleigh Ride Mill Hill

Thanks for stopping by. I love to read everyone's comments. Thanks. Have a great day.

Winter Love

"Winter Love" by Sam Sarah Design Studio

JCS Ornamnent Issue 2007

Another quick stitching finish. Although it seems to take me longer to finish things into pinkeeps, ornaments or whatever than to actually stitch the piece. Maybe I should have taken my mothers advice and taken home ec in high school instead of shop. Every time I call to ask her about sewing or a recipe she always reminds me I wouldn't need to ask if I had only taken home ec. Oh well. I think that's what mothers are for :) I think I do ok figuring it out as I go. I like to wing it.

I think this turned out super cute. I changed most all the colors, but kept the same color scheme. I added a beaded tassel that I got on clearance at Hobby Lobby and a little cording I made and it's good to go. I hope to keep with my goal of doing an ornament a month. So far so good, but it is only February. We'll see.

Thanks for stopping by. Have a great day.

Lisha

I've Been Tagged

I love reading everyone's tags. It's interesting to find out unusual things about fellow stitchers and to find out I'm not the only crazy person out there. So here goes mine. Mylene tagged me to name 7 weird or random facts about myself .

First, the Rules:
1 Once you are tagged, link back to the person who tagged you.
2 Post the Rules on your blog.
3 Post 7 weird or random facts about yourself on your blog.
4 Tag 7 people and link them.
5 Comment on their blog to let them know they have been tagged.

Second, 7 weird or random facts about me:

1. I have my own motorcycle that I love to ride.
2. I love to organize and label things. Office Depot is the greatest place on Earth.
3. I have been to Disney World/Land 9 times and would go 9 more. I love Mickey.
4. I love to do home improvement/ do-it-yourself projects. I'm pretty handy with a skil saw.
5. I'm obsessive about my calendar and planning. I'm so worried about forgetting something or double planning.
6. I have never met an ice cream I didn't like.
7. Right now I have 7 pairs of running shoes in my closet. Maybe I should use them more with all that ice cream.

I'm new to this blog thing, so I don't have 7 blogging friends that haven't been tagged yet. So here are the ones I know:

Sharon
Jen