Updates of WIPs

I might have made more progress on For This Child by My Big Toe had I not run out of DMC 3808 and having to embark on a trip to various Michael's to find what I needed. For some reason (that no one is willing to admit to) the DMC floss bins at their stores have been pretty neglected lately. I finally found three skeins at my local JoAnn's.

Yesterday my local stitch group spent the day at Madonna's Needleworks in Morgan Hill and I did a little work on Mildred's Garden House by Blackbird Designs. As you can see this one is pretty close to being done too.

This upcoming week all my stitching will be set aside for a new model I'll be stitching for Country Cottage Needleworks and I'm anxious to start it. Have a good week!

Stash Enhancement

I did a little stash enhancement thanks to two gift certificates I got for Christmas. Took a little cruising online but I finally settled on this great series by Bent Creek called The Branch. I believe the last Bent Creek series I did was back in 2007 when I stitched the monthly Snappers so I'm looking forward to doing something new.

My other choice was Winter Wonderland, Loose Feathers #39 by Blackbird Designs and some Bo-Peep Pink 28 ct. lugana. Mary Kathryn was kind enough to include the new freebie from Prairie Schooler which will be a fun little project.

Weekly update

I'm on the road to mending and had my stitches removed from my toe on Friday. Not quite sure I'm ready for shoes yet but it's nice to be free of the "wooden boot."

It felt good to get back to my stitching after such a long break between vacation and surgery. I worked on Mildred's Garden House by Blackbird Designs and have made some good progress. Hopefully this week I can finally start The Family Sampler by Little House Needleworks.

I participated in the Fair & Square Exchange and got these lovely squares from Kathryn D. Thanks so much Kathryn, you obviously know of my love of cows and this Lizzie Kate is one of my favorites.

Stitching update...

I've been working on Mildred's Garden House by Blackbird Designs and I've made quite a bit of progress on it since my last update. It's a fun design to work on and going quicker than I anticipated. I'm currently concentrating on Sailing, Sailing by Little House Needleworks and will post a picture update soon.

Weekly Update

A few weeks back I mentioned I'd gotten back to playing with my paints, stickers and Mod Podge. I've done a few little projects and enjoying my rediscovery of this long lost hobby of mine. The small red box is one I use when I travel to carry my jewelry, as you can see it just yells "me." The second is a frame I painted and decorated as a memento for my husband. It now holds a picture he had taken while visiting the Phoenix Zoo back in April.

Most of my stitching time I spent working on Mildred's Garden House by Blackbird Designs and I'm really making some progress on this one. I am now back to the baby sampler for my grandson Izaiah and hope to do the final finish on my Prairie Schooler exchange piece.

And new to my stash:

Weekly Update

It sure is hard getting back into the swing of things after a 3-day weekend. We decided to drive south and spend the extended weekend in Monterey, CA. The weather, which we thought might be in the lower 60s, was just awesome with three beautiful, sunny, clear days close to the 70s. We took long walks down Cannery Row and the beach and mostly just absorbed the ambience.

I made some progress on my stitching and this is the progress I've made on the sampler for my grandson. It's going along a little quicker than I expected and my goal is to have it completed by the end of June. I'm also committed to two other SALs so I started Mildred's Garden House with the gals in the Blackbird Designs Yahoo group. For the Little House Needleworks SAL I've decided to work on Sailing, Sailing and hope to start that one later this week.

For This Child

by My Big Toe Design

Mildred's Garden House

by Blackbird Designs

Of course no update is complete without the latest photo of my grandson Izaiah.

Trying to catch up...

Wow, it's been a bit more than two weeks since I last posted an update and sure wish I could say it was because I was having fun. I did have a bit of relaxation since my husband and I did spend a week at a resort in Las Vegas. The weather was wonderful and we had fun doing our usual explorations of the various casinos, shopping, sight seeing and taking photographs. We even squeezed in a visit to the Ethel M Factory and I shopped at Stitcher's Paradise. Unfortunately on day 6 of our 12 days off I came down with the flu and spent the last three days of our Vegas visit in bed. It wasn't pleasant flying home on Friday and I immediately went to bed and didn't leave the house till Thursday when I returned to work.

Here's the goodies I bought:

A finish

Last week I showed you my stitched piece, Petites Lettres Rouges by Blackbird Designs. I now what to share with you a few pictures of the finished piece which I plan to mail tomorrow to my mother.

Sampler Pattern Contest

Alma and Barb posted this sampler pattern as a contest on their blog on April 14th.

Blackbird Designs - One stitch at a time

I stitched mine in  honor of my maternal grandmother Antonia. She was a very special woman, who in spite of her limited education, was an amazing seamstress. My grandmother could crochet, do embroidery work, and sew (both my machine and hand). I was the lucky recipient of many beautiful dresses made by her including a gorgeous white empire dress I wore for my 8th grade graduation. I lost my grandmother to pancreatic cancer when she was only 55 years old but she made a strong impact on me.

I chose red, white, and blue (DMC 321, 823, and 3865) in honor of the flag of her birthplace, the island of Puerto Rico. I plan to finish this piece and give it to my mother for Mother's Day.

Melissa P, my partner in the Fair & Square exchange received the squares I stitched for her so I can now share them with you. The design is Spring Rain by Tanya aka The Sampler Girl.

The Sampler Girl

Mid-week Update...

I finished this cute design which was a Valentine freebie from Aury. Stitched with DMC 815 on 14 count Impressions Needlework Fabric in Pink Gingham by DMC. 

You can download the design from Aury's blog at:

Valentine’s day freebie | Acerca del bordado...

I've also kitted two new projects which I hope to get to this year.

Sunflower Inn

by Little House Needleworks

Floss by Crescent Colours, fabric TBD

Mildred's Garden House

by Blackbird Designs

DMC floss on 28 ct. monaco in antique white

Weekend Update

Seems like so much as happened this week considering it started off with a visit to Disneyland in Anaheim, CA on Monday. My husband and I met our daughter and 3 of her friends for breakfast at Goofy's Kitchen in the Disneyland Hotel and the spent the day in the park. We drove home on Tuesday and while we had a great time I was thrilled to leave the Los Angeles traffic behind us. Pictures of our trip are posted to our personal photo blog:

Through Our Lens

My finish of the week is "Beneath the Sunlit Sky" by Blackbird Designs. I played a little with the colors substituting the WDW or GAST with Crescent Colours. It's stitched on 28 count bone lugana.

I received the squares from the Fair & Square Exchange. For some reason my original partner dropped out and Sharon was gracious enough to stitch these lovely squares for me and even included some extra little goodies. Thanks Sharon!

And last but not least I picked up "Ladybugs and Bumblebees" by Country Cottage Needleworks from the framer. Picture is not the best since it's hard to avoid the glare from the glass but you get the idea. It's already hanging on the wall. LOL!

Weekend Update

Happy Sunday all! Hope you remembered to "spring forward." Doesn't seem fair to have one less hour this weekend but guess I won't feel that way in the Fall when I get it back. LOL!

This week I worked on a new model for Little House Needleworks and all I can say is that fans of LHN won't be disappointed. In between that project I got some smaller pieces done to add to my ornament collection. I now have quite a few piled up so I need to make a date with my finisher Bette and let her do her magic.

I Believe

by Helga Mandl

Gingerbread Boy

by Helga Mandl

Yesterday I spent the day with a few gals from my local stitching group at one of our favorite shops and managed to make a little progress on my BBD piece. I also added Prairie Schooler's "Woodland Santas," Book 96 to my collection and some navy blue 25 ct. lugana to stitch them on. I have a friend who did them on the dark fabric and they really turned out so pretty. Stitched over 1 they will make great ornaments.

Beneath the Sunlight Sky

by Blackbird Designs

Update, Part II

This wonderful tree, stitched on 16 count aida in Sage using DMC floss 3865 was a SAL in one of my Yahoo groups and can be found here.

Sapin Monogramme d' Elisa

I also have a new WIP, Beneath the Sunlit Sky (Loose Feathers Pattern #26) by Blackbird Designs. I've substituted some colors of my own and I'm stitching it on 28 count lugana in Bone.