My Crazy Annie's order

I had to place an order today!  :)  I found a 12 Days of Christmas design that I had not ever seen before.  On 32 ct they'll be 5 x 7.  I am currently working on The 12 Days of Christmas in the January 2014 issue of Cross-Stitch and Needlework magazine. I'm working them as individuals.  Maybe to hang around a wreath?? I like that idea. :)

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Have a joyous day.

I signed up for the Fold!

I like getting packages from Shepherd's Bush so I joined the Fold with them.  I decided I don't want the box; I'd rather have Chatelaine's Octopus Treasure Cave.  So I ordered it.  :)

Finished a scarf for me

It was a quick stitch on size 17 needles. The LongSkinny Scarf kit from Morehouse Farm.com.  So pretty and the yarn is a dream to work with.

I finished another scarf kit last week by them. It was on size 5 (ick) needles and was an autumn colorway.

New Shepherd's Bush Fold4

I'm really excited about the new Shepherd's Bush Fold.  This one is available through many shops as well as their shop!  I'm debating whether to buy the purple box.  It seems like it can be bought at any time during the year.  This time I will keep up! LOL

It snowed a bit today.  It started to stick, but melted quickly.  Not even winter yet.

Irritated at Crossed Wing designers

I can't stand them!!!  I can't believe that any designer wouldn't have a master list of all the threads used.  Alphabirds is so irritating.  Save yourself and don't buy it, rent it, or borrow it.

It's Hermit Weekend!

Gosh, time is flying by so fast this month.  I have a new xs to start this weekend.  I have a very tight deadline to complete it.  I also have a scarf to knit as a Xmas present.  Plus four xs ornaments.  (sigh)

Ocean City judging school

I enjoyed the classes yesterday.  I took my box lunch to the atrium and enjoyed watching the ocean while I ate.  Very restful.

I'm reading Without Fail by Lee Child.  Very good as always!  We brought lunch to the hotel and I ate on the balcony.  The weather is unseasonably warm...and I'm loving every warm minute of it. :)

Tomorrow is a partial eclipse of the Sun and if it's clear, we can see it from the coast.  I'm looking forward to it.

Went to Salty Yarns today.  As always they had a lot of great xs.  Some of it is now mine. ;)

Ohio State Marching Band tribute to Michael Jackson

Video is here.
I was in marching band in the early 1970s and this really took me back.  What a fantastic job Ohio State did!  Kudos to the correographers.  And the moonwalk actually brought tears to my eyes.  Well done, Bandies.  Well done!

1993 to 2013!! 20 years and finally done!!!!

Not a BAP. Oh, no.  A teeny, tiny Lizzie Kate, Bug Off, Baby.  (sigh)  Remember  Heatherfield fabric? In 1993, I went to Memphis,TN, for a cross stitch retreat.  It was great fun and we stopped at the LNS: Stitcher's Inc.  They had created a kit using purple Kreinik for the star and glow-in-the-dark for the moon. On black Heatherfield.  BLACK. HEATHERFIELD.  I started it that day and finished it yesterday.

I hate black Heatherfield.  Just sayin'.

Photo to come.

More new stash!

Yesterday I got Shepherd's Bush stash in the mail from The Strawberry Sampler!  All are new releases from market. I'm starting Hocus Pocus first. :)  I also bought the tiny Fright Night and the large Halloween kit Garden Spells.

New stash!!

I purchased the fibers to do Celestial Collaboration: Sun Mother of Life. This is Charland from 2001. I've always liked it and it is time.  I also got Mirabilia's Red from Needlecraft Corner.  I still need the DMC.

I also bought Off My Broom by Angel Stitchin, Shepherd's Bush Spooky Stitches Bag, Midnight Ride by Black bird Designs, and October Comes by Shepherd's Bush.

DMC was 21 cents with coupon at Joann's

Labor Day sale has floss at 4/$1.  Coupon for 15 percent off the total purchase makes them 21 cents each. Yea!!   I bought tons! Floss for  Santa's Magic, Passione Ricamo's mystery SAL, Halloween stuff and a bunch of other things.

Finish!!!

I finished Shepherd Bush's Jingle needle book a few minutes ago.  Wahoo!

Fair food I didn't try

Do I really need to explain why I didn't try this gem??? LOL

 

 

A view of the mid-way.  I was enjoying my annual funnel cake.  I can only eat about 1/3 of it.



Finish!

Last night I finished Starbursts and Stripes!!  It was a lot of fun to do.  One of the few pieces I've finished in the same month as purchasing the supplies and chart! :)

Did I get a blue ribbon?

Either my piece or the one on top of my piece got a blue ribbon. :)  I hope it's me! ;) I will get back to the fair on Saturday.

I need to stop blogging and stitch!  Bye!

Update: Yes, it was mine that got a blue ribbon!!  By the Bay's Spring Cove.  I also got a third place for Prairie Schooler's Bremen Town Musicians and JBWs Heart Alphabet. :)

Entries made to fair today

I entered 3 items in the state fair today.  I keep forgetting to preregister!  LOL It didn't take long to get the tags.  I entered JBWs Alphabet Hearts, Prairie Schooler's Bremen Town Musicians, and herons in a tree by By the Bay.  Wish me luck!!!

On the way I stopped at the LNS.  I needed Petite Treasure Braid in 8 colors.  They had 7 colors.  They also only had one of the three Mill Hill beads I needed.  Not bad!  These are needed for the Passione Ricamo mystery design.  It's a mermaid.  My fabric is winging its way to me from Australia as I type.  I still need to pick up the DMC floss. I'm hoping someone will have a Labor Day sale.

IHSW progress

I've added more stripes to my splashy flag piece : Starbursts and Stripes Forever by Cherry Wood Designs.  I'm off tomorrow to enter the state fair.  I have 3 pieces to bring. Wish me luck! :)

I am planning to work on my xs some more.

 

 

The picture above is the before stitching IHSW began.

 

Below is after the weekend ended.

 

 

 



HAED is having a 50% off sale now

Labor Day sale is through the 23rd of August. I'm making a list, and it's getting long!

The quilt pics I promised....

I liked the one above because I like black, white and red together.  Also because of the detailed quilting.

This fish is by the stork's legs.  The stork is on the right side of the quilt.

I liked this one.  So much detail!

Here's the first place miniature.  Lovely!

This one, below, is my favorite.  Made with Kaffe Fassett fabrics.

I like the colors in this one.

This is a block quilt.  Nice color combinations.

I'm having trouble getting the URL's to copy in photobucket. :(

One of my favorites.  Gotta love carousel horses!

JCS Halloween issue arrived

So many great designs! :) :) :) I like Ghoul Tidings by Plum Street Samplers, The Spell's Store by The Primitive Hare, Milicent Finds a Mask by HeartStrings, and Halloween Candy by SamSarah Designs.  The one I like the most but won't stitch is Drac-in-the-Box by Acorn House Designs.  Above my skill set (not really, but a lot of work).

Maybe tomorrow my stash will come

I have a bunch of Halloween stash on the way.  In anticipation I bought some Halloween fabric yesterday at Joann Fabrics.  I also bought a new magnifying glass by Mighty Bright.  It has a light and it retracts into a case.  It will be useful with the photography judging.

Where is my stash??

I want my cross stitch stash!!  I want it NOW!!!  LOL I was thinking it would all arrive today, but it didn't.  :(

I saw a new Halloween xs design at Stitching Bits and Bobs that I want.  Dang if I can remember its title or the designer. I really like Halloween!

Stash!!

I received a stash order of Cherry Wood Designs' words.  Pin cushion, thread, needle etc.  I don't know if I would want to finish them as flat hangers or frame them.  At least it's a decision I don't have to make today. LOL  I have 5 Drawn Thread kits coming, the new Black Bird in the series, some Pinot Stitch designs for Halloween and two hand-dyed fabrics from Colour Cascade in Australia.  Probably something else, but I forget! LOL

Photo judging day

Today was the first of my four fair judging days.  Although we judged for two buildings - Home Arts and Garden.  Lots of good photos.  The bad ones all needed better focus or smaller pixels.  Best in Show for black and white was outstanding!

IHSW for July

This is my starting point on Starbursts and Stripes Forever by Cherry Lane Designs for this weekend.  The picture is sideways.

 



This is after the weekend!  Now you can see the stripes going the right direction!  I still have quite a bit of white eyelets to add among the blue starbursts, but I'm going to hold off on them and move on the long stripes.



 

Apricot sunset

I'd not seen such an unusual color sunset before.  It was after a heavy rain and it was still dripping out when I went outside to take this picture.  It was lovely!

Quilt Odessey in Hershey - what fun!

It's happening this weekend so if you like to quilt you should go.  I spent the day there yesterday.  The merchant mart had 80 vendors and a competition of beautiful quilts.

IHSW for June + Some Gettysburg pics

Here's a finish from 2010 that I recently stumbled across.  I still need to finish it into a scissor keep.

 

This is Make Do V: French Scissor Keep designed by Shakespeare's Peddler.  Like others have said, I don't know why this photo orients sideways!

 

We took a day trip to Gettysburg, PA the weekend before last.....deliberately ahead of the 150 year activities.  It was getting quite crowded, but there was no one at the penny squish machine!  This one is outside Ghost Tours and I picked up all four designs.

 

 

Outside the Diorama, I took my turn at being Lincoln. :)  I didn't realize that I had bangs, much less that Lincoln did!

 

So my day trip is why I didn't get much stitching done on IHSW weekend. 

 

However, I used the next weekend as my IHSW.  This is what JBW's Alphabet Heart looked like at the beginning of the weekend on my Q-Snaps.  Silly me, I didn't take a photo at the end of the weekend.

 

Here's another before picture I worked on.  This one is Time Flies by Bent Creek (one of my favorite designers).

 

Here's a bad kitty photo.  He's on a piece attached to Q-Snaps that I've misplaced the chart and threads for.  Ah, well.  It'll show up some time.

 

For the first week in July I did my nails in red, white and blue stripes.  I put the white on first over the entire nail then swiped the blue and red stripes over it.  Not bad for a first effort IMHO.



 

 

 



 

Nora Corbett's new mermaid alphabet

I just got the new-stuff email from Hoffman Distributors and I love the new mermaid alphabet by Nora Corbett.  What to do with them when they're done??!?!  A joyous dilemma!  I hope someone is packaging these up.  Maybe plain frames from AC Moore or Hobby Lobby will do nicely.

Gave up on baby afghan :(

I realized an hour ago that I wouldn't be able to finish it on time.  I went to JC Penney's   and found a cute 4-piece Lafayette set.  They are getting rid of their gift bags so that was only $1 (and included coordinating tissue paper).

Now I can find a xs piece to work on for IHSW weekend! :)

It's IHSW weekend

I'm not cross stitching this weekend...I have a baby blanket I'm crocheting and I need to get it done by Tuesday night.  Ack.  At least this morning I began the decreasing.  What's that you say??  A coworker told me it should be bigger so I kept increasing until that skein ran out.  Now I am decreasing for real!

Crocheting a diagonal baby afghan

For years I've used a folklore pattern as I call it (one that's been passed down verbally from crocheter to crocheter) to make quick diagonal baby blankets that start with one simple double crochet shell and increases with each row.  When you reach the halfway point, you start decreasing. 

So.  I started a pretty baby blanket with Red Heart's Gumdrop in orange.  It was increasing splendidly and I was very pleased.  Last night I was ready to start the decrease row on my blanket and......blank.  Nothing.  Nada.   Now that I'm aging (and not really that old AT ALL!!) I find I'm forgetting things like that.  I tried a few things with terrible results.  I considered making a matching triangle and sewing the two together in the center, but vetoed that idea.  I looked up the mom-to-be's registry online for ideas, but I still like the crocheted baby blanket idea.  Finally, I was able to find a close proximity to the pattern I use.  Who knew?!?!?  It wasn't a folklore pattern after all!  We can thank Bernat for this pattern.  It even has a name: Corner to Corner Afghan. 

The site I found this pattern on is here and has many more things crocheted on the diagonal.  I'm going to enjoy checking them out!

Herr's Fire Roasted Sweet Corn potato chips - YUMMY!

A co-worker brought these in to work today.  These are very yummy and I DETEST all flavored potato chips.  Good thing I don't love these because she bought them in Utah and we work in the mid-Atlantic region of the US.  She's also brought in Jolly Time popcorn with a marshmallow topping packet included.  This is also not found here.

Song of the Seasons arrived last night

I had to sort my threads and start the piece immediately! LOL  So far, so good.  I usually wait to start stitching until I have all the parts of a series.  I got burned many years ago when the main theme of the series didn't get released and didn't get released.  FINALLY it got released and you could tell there was no interest on the designer's part in what they did.  I was so disappointed it's affected my stitching behavior UNTIL YESTERDAY!!! :) :) :)  I trust that Little House Needleworks will finish her series of three and release them on time. 

Game of Thrones on HBO

I didn't hardly know what this was about, but I found a listing "on demand" on cable for the series.  It started with Season 2 and has what's been aired of Season 3.  No Season 1. :(  However, the first episode of Season 2 gave a very good summation of the story line to that point.  I am very happily watching this series.  Today I found out that HBO is basing the series on the books in George R R Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire!  I've already put these books on my Christmas Wish List! 

I expected a lot of drama, but not the humor!  It's been delightful!  I can hardly wait for the weekend so I can watch some more of it.  I look forward to being current with the storyline.

Finished a bulky weight yarn Moebius scarf

I used the wrong kind of bulky yarn at first; it wouldn't slide along the needles.  I switched to two strands of Red Heart acrylic held with one strand of Vanna White's yarn.  My colors are bright pink, bright orange and yellow. 

A few pics from the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival

I saw some really nice yarn and things at this years' festival.   First stop was the t-shirt sales booth.

 



 

 

A lamb not wanting to walk any longer.

 

A gourd!

 

More yarn

 

In case you have a favorite sheep for its wool...

A nice felted tote bag

 

My purchase!

 

Origami jewelry

 

a view of the crowd at lunch time

 

Nice crocheted tote bag

 

When your hands are full...

 

A well behaved model

 

knitted flowers

 

A great shawl/scarf and yarn ready to spin

 

Another great shawl

 

My last purchase.  So pretty!

 

Finding the car!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finished!

I finished my Prairie Schooler Bremen Town Musicians yesterday!  I decided to add the year finished in the alphabet/numbers area as there was a huge blank area that just cried out for filling.  I chose the color of the animals so it would stick out from the letters, but not be out of place. 

 

I've started the JBW Alphabet Hearts on the lined fabric.  More on this as I get a chance!

IHSW: My first weekend

I missed the actual weekend by several days.  I used the Memorial Day weekend instead to work on Bremen Town Musicians by Prairie Schooler.  I made a lot of progress.

Here is what it looked like before stitching this weekend:

 

Here's what it looked like at the end of the IHSW weekend.  I'm pleased!

 

 

Didn't make it to the computer all weekend

I was hoping to get my pictures off my camera, onto photobucket and posted here this weekend.  But I was working hard on my Bremen Town Musicians (an oldie by Prairie Schooler).  I've loved this one since it was published, started it twice before this time and let YEARS pass before adding stitches.  I've done more work this year on it than in the previous 10 years combined!  LOL  I'm down to the donkey.  The outlining is done.  Now I can rot my brain while filling it in. :)  Sometimes I don't like to count when doing my counted cross stitch.  ;)

Here's a link I found online of a picture of it.  I plan to frame mine rather than the bellpull idea.

I'm hoping to get my camera software uploaded

I hope to get my camera software uploaded onto the computer.  Then I can take pictures, save them to my Photobucket account and post updates to the blog with photos!!!  Sooo much easier than trying to scan framed items and big things.

I used to have a Yahoo! email account and belonged to a few cross stitch groups.  I can't even remember the last time I was there.  Needless to say, I've had to open a new Yahoo! email account.  I'm currently waiting to see if the Oakhaven group will give me membership.  I like her designs that I've seen on her blog and want to see more!  My fingers are crossed.

Sorbello Stitch for sheep

The Sheep Ornament by Amaryllis Artworks uses a wonderful stitch for the sheep: the sorbello.   The chart (actually a kit) is from 1996.  It always interests me that something that seemed confusing or hard  can become easy merely with the passage of time.

Oh, and yesterday's MSWF was terrific!  It was a perfect day.

Sheep and Wool Festival is coming up soon!!

May 4 and 5, 2013 at the Howard County Fairgrounds!  I already have my t-shirts and tote bag thanks to Sheepman Supply in Frederick.  Only if they have an additional color that I want do I have to stand in that horribly long line!  Last year around 1 pm there was no one in line at all.  I couldn't believe it and I ended up buying some bargain-priced t-shirts from previous years.  I was a very happy camper.

I still have to figure out what patterns I want to bring to try to get yarn for.  Not that I need any more yarn, but need is never a factor, is it? 

I want to start stitching the La-D-Da freebies.  I like her designs and these would make great pillows/pin cushions to put in a basket or hang from a door knob.  Not that I made any progress on the freebie pears this weekend......

Had to buy Berkshire Bee Hives from Rosewood Manor

I just love this piece! The colors are just bright enough without being garish.  But what really sold me was the tiny honeycomb design in the background.  I checked the chart because although I like the honeycomb design, stitching a thousand of them wasn't going to be fun.  I was delighted to find out that the honeycomb is printed on the fabric!!  I immediately ordered some from my LNS.

I also bought Frightful Delight by Mill Hill (Halloween!!!!) and JBW's Alphabet Hearts (ordered the stripe-y fabric for this one while I was there).


Update: Error on beehive chart.  Should be on 32 count, not 28 count.

Started Just Nan's Summer Wings

I started it last Sunday, but haven't had a moment to work on it since then.  I hope to work on it some more this weekend.  I like the spring colors (even though it's a summer piece!). 

I hope it's easy to assemble.  It's that odd shape the series has.

Oreo whisper Super Bowl ad

I have to say that I loved this ad!  So much mayhem over such an itty, bitty issue.  I liked The Rock doing the milk ad.  Goat 4 Sale (Doritos) was not funny to me.  Coke dropped the ball IMHO by not building up more suspense in their race by having a couple of more commercials to move the story along.  Who cared who won?  The Sketchers shoe ad was a hoot; ties the cheetah in a knot and fist bumps the gazelle.  What's not to like? :) 

Ram trucks - God - Oprah!  I'm sure there's a run at the dealers this very moment!!  Clydesdale colt grows up and, no!, doesn't forget the farmer!!!!   Mercedes-Benz deal with the devil ad was a hoot!

Plus FREE SHIPPING when the Ravens won!!!!!!!!!!  My xs order with Stitches N Things will now have free shipping since I picked the Ravens to win when I placed my order before the game started. :) 

Two Kooler Design Studio charts I must have!!

I adore carousel horses and this one looks familiar so I need to check it out before I buy.  I also like the 12 Days of Christmas.  It's a little different than what we usually see and should be a faster stitch.  (I hope!) 

I finished my first eBook yesterday: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.  I'd never read it before because I loathe the movie (especially that rainbow song).  I knew that in the book she has silver slippers not ruby.  I find I really liked the book.  Toto is quite growl-y in the book.  I don't know if I like it enough to read the rest of the series, but who knows!  Time will tell.  Maybe I can find it at the library.  I wanted to read the book before seeing the new Oz movie that's coming out this year in theatres.  I'm thinking the new movie might be closer to the true story.

Finished Spring Cove by By the Bay

I finished this piece.....finally!!  I love herons and this is just chock full of them.  Next stitch night I'm going to see what Terri can come up with for framing for this.  I started the Aunt Emma Snowkins by Sisters & Best Friends because "I have all the threads already kitted."  HA!  I go to stitch the chocolate bunny and no GAST Maple Syrup.  I was so ticked.  Turned out I was missing Pine and Buckeye Scarlet in order to finish the six or so designs I have. 

I ordered them all from Stitches N Things this morning and they are already on their way to me!!!  Now that's my idea of customer service. :)  I may piddle around with this until the threads arrive or I may just move on to a new piece (Soar - has eagles and was a special.  Dang if I can remember the designer today.)

Okay, I've looked it up: With thy Needle & Thread is the designer of the eagles piece.  Web site is www.countrystitchesonline.com.

Photobucket Testing: one, two, three

A picture of Shannon in the cubboard!  Bad Kitty! :)

Found a Shepherd's Bush kit this morning

Of course, I can't recall the name of it, but it's theme is patriotic and it cost $44.00.  It was released in 2001 so I'm guessing I've let it age long enough and it's ready to be stitched.  Ah, ha!  American Sampler is the name of it.  Not that I remembered; I took a moment to look it up. :)

2012 Finished projects

2012 Finished Projects


Year of the Dragon xmas ornie 11/25/12

Glad Tidings xmas ornie 11/25/12

Egg Nog freebie xmas ornie 11/22/12

the other 2 Lizzie Kate extras from the Mystery Sampler 10/12

Lizzie Kate: Scary from Mystery Sampler 10/9/12

Plum something: Home Witch 10/7/12

Souvenir by Blackbird Designs - March 2012

Books finished in 2012

Books finished in 2012


Kill Alex Cross by James Patterson 12/30/12

Sugar Rush by Donna Kaufman 12/25/12

Sweet Stuff by Donna Kaufman 12/20/12

One Shot by Lee Child 12/12/12

Cross Fire by James Patterson 12/8/12

Alex Cross's Trial by James Patterson

DIRT by Stuart Woods 11/25/12

State of Fear by Michael Crichton 11/23/12

61 Days by Lee Child

I, Alex Cross by James Patterson November 2012

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson 10/25/12

Double Cross by James Patterson 10/22/12

Cross by James Patterson 10/19/12

Mary Mary by James Patterson 10/15/12

London Bridges by James Patterson 10/11/12

The Big Bad Wolf by James Patterson 10/9/12

Ten Girls to Watch 10/01/12

See How They Run by James Patterson 9/30/12

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen 9/18/12

Now You See Her by James Patterson 9/11/12

Guilty Wives by James Patterson 9/2/12

New York Dead by Stuart Woods

The Confession by John Grisham

Violets Are Blue by James Patterson

Roses are Red by James Patterson

Jack and Jill by James Patterson

Don't Blink by James Patterson

Postcard Killers by James Patterson and... June 2, 2012

White Horse

Objects of My Affection May 2012

Along Came a Spider by James Patterson

The Quickie by James Patterson

Swimsuit by James Patterson

The Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Books finished in 2011

Books finished in 2011


*Angelina's Bachelors by David O'Reilly Nov 26 2011

*Solstice by David Hewson Nov 22 2011

*The Girl Who Played with Fire by Steig Larsson Nov 5 2011

*The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo by Steig Larsson Oct 2011

*Triangles Oct 2011

*Semi-Sweet by Roisin Meaney Oct 16 2011

*Northwest Angle by William Kent Krueger Sept 2011

*The Devil's Food Cake Murder by Joanne Fluke Sept 2011

*Charlotte Figg takes over Paradise by Joyce Magnin Aug 29 2011

*The Mistress's Revenge by Tamar Cohen Aug 2011

*Healer by Carol Cassella July 31 2011

*Sizzling Sixteen by Janet Evanovich Jul 2011

*Naked Heat by Richard Castle (sic) Jul 13 2011

*Room by Emma Donoghue Jul 15 2011

*Star Island by Carl Hiaasen Jun 27 2011

*The Little Women Letters by Gabrielle Donnelly Jun 17 2011

*Hero at Large by Janet Evanovich Jun 7 2011

*To Fetch a Thief by Spencer Quinn April 5 2011

*Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion April 13 2011

*Christmas Eve at Friday Harbor by Lisa Kleypas Apr 18 2011

*As Husbands Go by Susan Isaacs Apr 17 2011

*Damaged by Alex Kava Mar 17 2011

*Category Five by T.J. MacGregor Mar 15 2011

*The Radleys by Matt Haig Mar 2011 Boring!

*Great Falls and Mather Gorge by Roy Sewall Feb 18 2011

*Goodnight Tweetheart by Teresa Medeiros Feb 2 2011

*Nefertiti by Moran Jan 28 2011

*Alice I Have Been by Melanie Benjamin Jan 21 2011

*A Perfect Evil by Alex Kava Jan 20 2011

*Diamond Ruby by Joseph Wallace Jan 13 2011

*Plum Pudding Murder by Joanne Fluke Jan 9 2011

Stupidest. idea. EVER.

Found out that people are sending emails, etc. telling people they are NOT invited to the wedding.  Wouldn't not getting the invitation accomplish the same thing???  So rude no matter what this site says.