Ann Sandles and a late TUSAL

Wow, I can't believe that it's been so long since I updated my blog!  It sure has been a busy few weeks though!  A few weeks ago I visited my best friend Jen for a long weekend of laughs, camping and whatever we happened to feel like doing!  We even took her camper and went out to the Portland coast for a night.

Here I am at the coast with her pup who seems to think our shoes looked like fun toys!  You can see that it was very windy and we were glad we started into the wind instead of going for a long walk and having to fight the wind the whole way back! 

While traveling I worked on the strawberries in Ann Sandles.  I was able to get the border done (I left the "hats" off the tops of the strawberries) and also the house so all that is left is the A&E section.  I am thinking of making one of the dogs look like Sage since I've already strayed away from it being a true reproduction. 

And, even though I'm super late in doing so I'm still going to post my August TUSAL.  It's not too late to jump into TUSAL 2012, just go to this post in order to sign up and play along! 

I'm afraid that you won't see much change in the level of thread in the jar for next month as I haven't stitched at all since I took this picture a week ago.  Just too busy with other things I guess!

And, not that it's bad that I've been too busy, it's all been fun!  I've completed a few home improvement projects that were on my list, spent time with friends and I have my grandpa here for a visit now.  It sure is nice to have him be able to come out to visit!

The other thing that I've been busy with is Sage.  Not that it will come as a surprise to anyone but we have been super busy and our latest adventure finds us as new members of the Dog Scouts of America.  I'm sure some of you reading this may wonder what the heck that is.  Well, I will admit that I did too when I first heard about it.  I meaning earning badges with your dog?  Well, why not?  I don't have kids to do girl and boy scouts with so why not join an organization that promotes positive training and allows you to get recognition for teaching your dog new things.  Plus it is really fun!!  We've already passed 5 agility badges and last night I heard that we passed her merit badge test to become an official dog scout and add the DSA after her name.  The best part about dog scouts is spending time with other people who are into doing fun things with their dogs!  I'll post more soon about this, either here or over on my dog blog. 

So, that's what I've been up to lately!  I hope to get Ann Sandles done in the next couple weeks so I can start something new! 

 

Finished Smalls

I won't keep you in suspense any longer, here is what was in those wrapped packages. 
Didn't they turn out wonderfully??  My finisher Deb really does an amazing job!!

I also have a little progress on Ann Sandles to show you.
She's a bit wrinkly but has been a fun stitch through the Olympics.  I obvously won't have her finished by the closing ceremony but I've really enjoyed this little sampler so far.  I did make one change, I changed the white thread used for the lettering to GA Straw Bonnet from my stash.  I found that the lambswool just didn't show up very well even on the darker linen so I just swapped it out for something that suited me a bit better.  I am already looking ahead to what's next to stitch.  Both Ann Priest and Lucy Redd are calling to me right now so they're sitting out waiting for me to finish this Ann! 

A New Technique

I don't have a ton to show you today, but I did start to learn a new technique at Wednesday's EGA meeting.  One of our members is very proficient at Temari and she is teaching us how to make them at our August and September meetings.  This month we learned how to make the mari, or the ball itself starting from rice hulls.  I have a bit more wrapping to do on mine but am starting to make progress.  How I will finish this with a dog and two cats who shed is beyond me! 

An interesting piece of information, I've often heard of these referred to a Temari Balls.  But, the word Temari means hand ball so if you say Temari Ball you're really saying "hand ball ball".  Now I'll know better!  It's been a fun technique so far and I can't wait to do the wrapping with bright colors! 

I also received a couple fun packages this week, one of them contained the following three items.
Stay tuned to see what these contain, you can kind of tell through the tissue paper if you look closely!  Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Olympic Stitching

Like many of you, I decided to start a new project for the Olympics.  I wanted to stitch on something patriotic so I chose "One Nation" by ByGone Stitches.  I changed the threads and my local shop had a beautiful piece of 40 ct. R&R 18th Century Blackbird.  The only problem?  The piece would only fit if I stitched it over one.  So, that's what I decided to do! 

One Nation, stitched on 40 ct. 18th Century Blackbird Linen, over one

I just love how the colors look on this linen and the advantage of over one on this size is only needing half a cross!  Yay!  I had a friend over for the opening ceremonies so I cooked a Portabello, Bacon and Spinach risotto and we stitched and I started this.  I had to use the magnifier on my Dazor.  It was dusty, I haven't had to use it in years...  Oh well, it's going to be pretty when I finish it! 

I had hoped to at least get the outline of the stripes done during the games but I'm finding that it's tough to stitch on something this tiny and switch between stitching and watching TV.  So, I've set it aside and my new Olympic stitching project is Ann Sandles!

Ann Sandles, stitched on 36 ct. Lakeside Vintage Meadow Rue

Ah, much better!  And, now that I have a little color in her she's proving to be so much fun to stitch!  I think she'll go pretty quickly (except for the 24 strawberries inthe border).  I don't know that I'll finish her during the games but I'll sure enjoy stitching on her! 

I'm getting ready to do some framing, my frame for Mary Roe should arrive next week and I still need to lace up my Paradise Lost plus I'm sending a few things out for their frames including Mary Ann Blackburn and Grace Bridges.  So, I decided to press everything and it is fun to see all my recent stitching piled up on the bed together.  My Mom has already offered to take some of it off my hands if I have too much!  LOL, nice try Mom!!  (In the picture below, Paradise Lost is upside down, just in case you're wondering why it looks a bit funny here.)

Grace Bridges Finish

Here she is, finished and in all her glory...

Grace Bridges sampler by Stacy Nash, stitched with the Attic conversion to silk on 36 ct. Lakeside Vintage Examplar linen

I absolutely loved stitching this sampler!  Even the house wasn't that bad, it just was a week or so of stitching and stitching and stitching to get all those bricks!

I had a comment about the brick stitch and what it is in my last post.  All I did to get this effect was to stitch little bricks, I started at the top and stitched four stitches over, went down a row and stitched four stitches back.  That way I would end up with a "brick" that is four stitches wide by two tall.  I'd jump over and stitch another brick somewhere else and eventually work my way back.  I offset the rows of bricks by a half brick (two stitches) as well.  I stitched this in little sections and the varigation in the thread makes the bricks look like slightly different colors. It took a little thought but is a nice break from the stripey look and I just love how it turned out!