Eagle, gold finch, cardinals and assorted sparrows

I saw these while stitching and watching trains go by at the Harper's Ferry train station. Actually, that should be train singular.  We only saw one.

I did finish stitching on Liberty of SB' s Americana Trifles.  Just need to add the star.

Kelly Miller Circus was in town tonight

It's been a few years since we had been to this circus.  I like it very much and it sold out.  Tigers, zebras, llamas, camels, dogs and goats that do tricks, trapeze, jugglers, elephants, clowns and a man who eats and breathes fire (don't try this at home!).  A good show and a lot of fun.

Missed stitching night and it just dawned on me that I didn't get a reminder email.

Non-sequitur alert: I ordered a new chart plus all the kitted supplies from Shepherd's Bush today (check out their blog).  It's an Americana theme; just in time for the Fourth of July.

Ordered SB Fold box!

Crazy Annie's had the box on sale the other day so I ordered it.  I saw it at the LNS and I was impressed by how well made it is.  My tax refund gift to myself. :)

My Fold package arrived today

Drum roll.................very nice!  It's the kit for the circular box.

Three orders for Nashville goodies placed

Stitches 'n Things, ABC Stitch Therapy and Wasatch Needlework got my orders this time.  Drema at Needlecraft Corner will get an order after I get paid again. LOL. I like the new Shepherd's Bush A Tisket, A Tasket. I really love the mat set.  Way to go Jill!

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.  :)

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.

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.

Finish!!!

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

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. :)

My first Olympics finish: SB Fear Not

Not only did I start and finish the stitching during the Olympics broadcast, I completed it into an ornament as well!!    I've now started the snowman by Amy Bruecken called Sandra Lea.  It's patriotic and I didn't get it started for the 4th of July so now it's on my Olympics stitching list.  I'm stitching it on WDW Straw 30 ct.

Finished SB freebie with button: Flower Power/new purchases

Saw it framed with what has to be a Jill Rensel design in bright pink with two 3-D funky flowers.  In Stitches framed it in a white and then a bright pink frame to match the matting.  It's so cute!  I stitched it in less than a week and took it back to be framed (6 - 8 weeks) when I went to pick up my Woodlawn pieces.  I had bought the same design, kitted at Stitching Post and I plan to make it an ornament for the spring.  Yes, I know it's almost the 4th of July.  Is there a point here??! LOL

I picked up the pattern and fabric for Jane Tindall 1864 by Needlework Press.  It calls for Confederate Gray, but the fabric cutter said she saw it on Lakside Linens' Vintage Tundra so I bought that.  This should be nice.  I just adore the bottom of the piece; the rectangular patches of grass and all the animals.  Not enough time to get it completed AND framed before fair season starts in August.

I also picked up Rachel Ellicott by R&R Reproductions.  Ellicott City is not far from me and I've seen the original hanging in the Sandy Springs Museum (local girl does good).  This is the second copy I've purchased.  Maybe now I'll stitch it. LOL 

From the recent on-line Needlework Show I ordered Caroline Adler 1828 by Cardan Antiques and Needlework.  It's very bright and seem to have a lot of fushia and orange (an underused color combination IMHO).  Once again, this chart has the "typo" of using 40 count fabric. 

Recent finishes and framed pieces

I've been so busy on the computer at work that the last thing I want to do on the weekends is be on the computer. I took the time today to do the last two posts and this one. I'm playing catch-up today. :)

Here are two Shepherd's Bush pieces (or is it really 5??). I finished Easter Parade from a kit. I stitched the four Easter egg kits and got them framed as one. The inner mats complement each egg and one mat on top to tie it all together. If I ever find the first set of eggs I stitched, I'll make them into ornaments for a future Easter tree.

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A friend bought me this chart book of Blackbird's Down by the Sea. I loved this so I started it immediately. I switched the threads to a nice Caron Wildflowers I had on hand.

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Every year I try to do a piece celebrating the 4th of July on the 4th of July. This year, while watching the Coney Island hot dog eating contest on TV, I stitched Pine Mountain's Liberty. The kit came with a little red frame.

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I've had several cats over the years, but by far my favorite was a male tuxedo I named Shannon. He was a rescue (as they all have been), liked to fetch a fuzzy pink catnip ball, knead me, and slept with his head on my elbow. He only lived 4 years, but they were a great 4 years. Time passes. I'm in a craft store looking at the cross stitch kits and there, to my surprise, is a picture of Shannon! The design was on white fabric with half stitched black. There were six or seven cats in the picture, but in the black was Shannon. I always meant to stitch the whole thing, but one day this spring it occurred to me that if I only liked the tuxedo, then stitch only the tuxedo! So here he is:

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In Just CrossStitch October 2010 issue was a design I liked by Lisa Roswell of Primitive Sampler. It's called Halloween Revelry. Due to a boo boo of mine, I stitched it with the wrong side as the top. That didn't leave enough room to do the entire design. I punted and really like with what I did.

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In an issue of SANQ this year was a reproduction sampler by Lucie Beharel in France. I stitched this because I like the color orange and there's a repro category in the fair.

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A couple of new starts

I started Midnight Watch (a Halloween design) by Blackbird Designs on Tuesday and Busy Bee by Shepherd's Bush yesterday. I really want to keep on stitching on either of these so I may modify my "fifteen starts in fifteen days" so that I keep my sanity!! ;)

Besides that, I pulled out about 7 SB things to work on right-this-very-minute. Most of it is small stuff or stuff I'd started once upon a time.

Working like crazy on Lizzie Kate's ABC Halloween

I have the rest of the skeleton and three more rows to go to be done. I'm averaging about a row every 3 days. My plan is to send it to Jill Rensel in Ogden, UT, for mats. I can send it with The Mermaid and the Sea. When they get back I can frame them locally.

I was going through a box in my closet and came across a bunch of boring, old cross stitch charts. However, in amongst them, was a partially stitched SB ornament (wisemen) from one of the annual JCS ornament magazines. I even had the sterling silver charm with it! It is now in my soon-to-be-finished pile.

Next up is a Blackbird Loose Feathers design from a couple of years ago. Although I can't recall the name of it right now, it's the one with the three different fabrics that are sewn together after stitching and then embroidery is done over the seam.

Playing catch-up

I was having problems with computer memory for a while, but now that's resolved and I can post pictures again of my stitching!

This is the Shepherd's Bush "A Christmas Pin Cushion" that I finished in December 2009 and will finish as an ornament:


This was a little kit in the December (?) Cross Stitcher Magazine. Cute as a button!


Although I started this project YEARS ago, I only completed day one and barely started day two. In December I finished days two through five and started day six.






For my birthday my friend gave me two Blackbird stocking kits I'd not seen before. She had attended a retreat in Virginia Beach this past October and picked them up there. The one on the left is To Light the Way. The one on the right is Sea Side Beauty.



I decided to stitch all of these as one of my stitching goals for 2010. I've been doing well since there's a lot of variety to choose from. I'm trying to mix stitching ones I like a lot with ones I don't care for as much. (I'm not telling which are which!!) :)

I started Auld Lang Syne on January 1, 2010, and finished it on January 2nd. It's from the January book.



Next up was New Arrival from the June book. No babies in my house so the stork has no baby either.



Purple is one of my favorite colors so February's Violet (from the February book) was up next.



I wasn't sure I liked this one and was not looking forward to stitching the umbrella, but it's much prettier in person and the umbrella wasn't too bad to stitch.



I'm currently working on Quaker Fragments from the March book. I like the design, but was a little leery about the colors. Again, this works up much prettier than I thought it would.

Bracelet finish

Hooray!! It took 4 hours over 2 days to attach all the charms and dangles to the Shepherd's Bush bracelet. Whew! LOL I put all the charms on except for the last one: cherish. I didn't have enough links to keep them all double-spaced. I can always use it on something else since it's a terrific charm.

This is a wearable companion piece to the SB Cherish Sampler. Each month's motif has a corresponding charm. The dangles pick up common colors for the month.

Cherish Sampler finished

I finished stitching the 2006 exclusive Cherish Sampler from Shepherd's Bush. Just have to put the buttons on! This is my third SB finish in a row! I have an oldie from 1988 upstairs waiting for me. Maybe this is the month!



I don't recall the color of the fabric, but it's a light pink. Cherub? Maybe.


I was feeling like I wanted an outing so I bundled up and went to Savage Mill. It used to be a weaving/cording mill, but it's now full of great gift shops. My favorite shop there (and possibly on the planet) is Artcraft. You never know what you'll find there. I picked up a star Christmas ornament that's actually a 5 piece wooden puzzle. The lady ahead of me in line had a colapsable vase! Who knew?! I also picked up a little something for me and another in a different color as a Christmas present. They were having a special holiday event this weekend and I heard a keyboard performer and saw a magician. I had a nice time.

Shepherd's Bush finish

I plan to make this into a Christmas ornament rather than the necklace it's supposed to be. I can use something else in the necklace hardware.

This was started after dinner yesterday and finished during the 11 o'clock news. I like fast finishes!



Jane

Katrina's RR and Shepherd's Bush finishes

Katrina's RR is from Drawn Thread: The Wildflower Garden and The Sanctuary. The geese I just copied from the area next to mine to make a flock of Canada geese.



This is an early Tina Richards design from the Vanessa-Ann book Sleepytown Days. It's called Balloon Woman and it was fun to do. The fabric is an overdyed blue from Charles Craft that I picked up at A.C. Moore. There's a goose on the chart to the right of the child, but I didn't care for the proportions so I didn't stitch it.