Time for Summer Reading

My summer reading list has been growing by leaps and bounds the last couple of weeks. Many of my favorite authors have all released new titles this summer. I have already finished several books and have several more being read at the same time.

So far this summer, I have read (and thoroughly enjoyed!):

Summer Rental - Mary Kay Andrews. I love MK's books, especially the ones that come out in the summer. This quick, fun read takes place on the coast of North Carolina as three friends come together for a month long stay at the beach. What's a summer read without a little anguish, a little romance, and a little drama? I wanted to be at the beach everyday I was reading it.

007 - Carte Blanche - Jeffrey Deaver. I love all things 007! Jeffrey Deaver was chosen by Ian Fleming Publications to write this new James Bond novel. He does a very respectable job. It has all the required elements of a Bond thriller. A handsome, suave James Bond, pretty girls with ridiculous names (Felicity Willing (oh please!)), evil and creepy villains, exciting locations, and lots of action. I loved every minute of this read.

Corduroy Mansions - Alexander McCall Smith. I will read anything Alexander McCall Smith writes. I have read all of the Ladies No.1 Detective Agency books and all of the Isabel Dalhousie series, not to mention the 44 Scotland Street series and the Portugese Irregular Verbs series. Corduroy Mansions give us humorous glimpses into the lives of the tenants of Corduroy Mansions in London. We meet a wine merchant and his grown son who won't leave home, a health food store manager, a secretary to a member of Parliament, a student hoping to snag a job at a prestigious auction house, and various friends and relatives of the tenants. Oh yes, and there is Freddie de la Hay, a Pimlico terrier. Freddie plays an important role in this book and becomes the star of the next book in the series, The Dog Who Came in from the Cold (I'm about halfway through this one).

At the moment, these are the other books being read or waiting to be read on the iPad:

Portrait of a Spy - Daniel Silva. I've read all of his Gabriel Allon books. Allon is a spy who is also an art restorer. Silva's novels are my favorite spy thrillers. I'm saving this one for when I have finished reading several that are in process right now.

The Help - Kathryn Stockett. I had put off reading this book for the longest time in fear that it would give a very skewed view of the South during the Civil Rights era of the 1960s. So far, I'm happy with what I have read. This novel examines the relationships between the white women who employ black women as household help in Jackson, Mississippi. The movie version of this book comes out in August.

State of Wonder - Ann Patchett. I loved Ann Patchett's bestseller, Bel Canto, so much many years ago. This novel is set in the deep, dark jungles of the Amazon where a research scientist for a pharmaceutical company tries to uncover the reasons behind the mysterious death of her colleague. It is a beautifully written adventure and I am taking my time as I read this one.

Against All Enemies - Tom Clancy. I have, for the most part, always enjoyed Tom Clancy books. Especially his earlier books. This one seems to harken back to those great Jack Ryan books of the 1990s.   Clancy introduces us to a new hero, Max Moore, an ex-Navy seal. The action starts immediately in the dark off the shore of Pakistan with the transfer of a Taliban prisoner and then immediately jumps to the drug cartels of Mexico and South America. Lots of action in this one and lots of governmental agencies to try and keep track of. I'll be reading this one for a while!

No Rest for the Dead - 20 Mystery and Thriller authors. This is a great collaboration of writers such as Sandra Brown, Jeffrey Deaver, Lisa Scottoline, and Alexander McCall Smith (just to name four of the authors). The mystery centers around the death of a curator at the San Francisco Museum of Fine Arts. Each author writes a chapter. So far, so good. I think I'll enjoy this book.

With all of these books to read, there hasn't been a lot of stitching around here this week. Despite all of these books,  I did get a good bit done on the April Diamond Heritage ornament series. These ornaments stitch up so quickly. And, for the most part, I find that I don't need to use the floor stand. That's always nice! This is my progress so far this week -

Andrew and Anna came for a visit this weekend to help me celebrate my birthday this week. I love to see them arrive and always hate to see them go. Anna and I went shopping at our favorite local store, Cudos. They were having a fabulous Christmas in July sale yesterday. Anna found some incredible deals on some Christmas ornaments and I gave in to the temptation of a Mark Roberts garden lily elf.  Here he is in all his spring and summer glory.

I'm usually not one for the whimsical side of things but I have always loved Mark Roberts elves. I have two wonderful Christmas elves of his and always hate to put them away at the end of the Christmas holidays. I think this elf can remain out from the spring through the summer. The best part is that he was 1/2 price! This was my birthday gift to myself.

Speaking of birthday gifts, Andrew and Anna gave me this fabulous Dooney & Bourke leather bag and the red patent D & B wristlet. I absolutely love this turquoise bag! Andrew picked this out all by himself - didn't he do a great job? I immediately transferred everything out of my old bag and into this one. If I had bought myself a new purse, I would have gone with a "safe" color like brown or black. But, it's so fun to step out of my comfort zone and carry a turquoise bag.

My stitching friend Linda sent me a fun birthday surprise in the mail this week. I didn't get any pictures of it but you can see one of them in the photo of my ornament this week (the green magnet in the upper right). She sent me a set of magnetic paper clips that make a great needle holder. What a fun surprise - thanks, Linda!

I think we have all had a terrible time with the heat this past week. I hope the heat in your area breaks soon. Maybe we'll all get some rain soon to cool things off.

Stay cool and have a great week!

Christmas in July

This morning I took advantage of an unusual break in our July weather to sit outside and stitch a Christmas ornament. Our oppressive temperatures and humidity took a turn for the better this weekend and we have had cooler temperatures than usual. Yesterday we had our first below 90 high temperature since May. This morning I couldn't resist the 69 degrees and dry air that has moved in. I know it won't last as I saw the forecasted temps in the 100s that are in store for us for later in the week.

I am working on the April White Diamond ornament from Kelly Clark's Heritage Ornament series. The stitch guide is by Gina Liuzzi. If you are looking for a quick stitch with maximum impact, these ornaments work up very quickly. I finished the August Peridot ornament earlier in the week. It's quite a pretty ornament.

I spent yesterday morning watching The British Open and stitching on Peony Collage. What an incredible swing in the weather conditions they experienced on Saturday! I suppose it wouldn't be a British Open without driving rain and howling winds. Peony Collage is moving along as you can see.

I hope to finish the box on the upper right during today's final round of the Open. The small boxes within the larger one are filled with two shades of pink "flowers".

I was so thankful this week that my stitching friend, Linda, had successful surgery to repair her rotator cuff. Soon she'll be able to get back to some serious stitching! I had expected to receive an email from her stitching sister, Denise, letting me know that the surgery had gone well. What I didn't expect was to get a call from Linda just a little while after her return home from the surgery earlier in the afternoon. She sounded wonderful and we had a nice long chat about our needlepoint projects.

Thanks to all of you who left such nice comments on the blog and on Facebook about Queen Elizabeth! She is currently still on the stretchers and propped up on the sideboard in the dining room. Everytime I walk past her, her "emerald" earring just twinkles at me. I have some very specific ideas about her framing and feel as though I almost need to interview a framer before turning her over to anyone.

Have a good week everyone!

May I Present The Queen!

Yesterday was all about The Queen. I had been waiting for a day like yesterday to come along so that I could devote myself to finishing Her Majesty. Placing the ribbons on the sleeves was the major piece of the puzzle to be finished. The Gloriana ribbon in Autumn Gold was a beautiful choice by Amy. The shading from light to deep gold is perfect. The ribbon actually has a much deeper shade which I chose not to use. It was as simple as just cutting out the shading that I didn't want.

After finishing the sleeves, the next step was to add the "pearls and amethysts" to her hair comb. She also is wearing a beautiful "emerald" drop earring. Her ruffled collar prevented adding the earring for her other ear. I kept looking back at the color copy I made of the canvas before I started stitching just to check the collar placement. It really is painted as high as it appears with my ruffled ribbon. I'm happy that I added the ruffled ribbon and didn't just stitch the collar. The ribbon adds such dimension and is so "over the top" which is in perfect keeping with the rest of the canvas. The last embellishment I added was the set of false eyelashes - the icing on the cake!

I thoroughly enjoyed working on this canvas! It is a wonderful design by Melissa Shirley and Amy Bunger worked her magic with a fabulous stitch guide. Two very talented ladies for sure! The next step in this journey is to come up with the perfect framing suitable for a Queen. There's nothing subtle about this lady and I think she lives up to her inclusion in Melissa's "Wild Women" series.

I took a little break from the blog last week while I was in Jacksonville for the July 4th holiday weekend.  On my way in to Jacksonville on Friday, I stopped at Fernandina Beach on Amelia Island and visited with Michele at The Bristly Thistle. I was hoping to see the progress she had made on Kelly Clark's Noah's Ark and I was delighted to see that she has almost finished it. She has done a beautiful job with all the stitch and thread choices. It is quite a big project and I didn't realize how many separate canvas pieces make up the ark.  She hasn't photographed it recently for her blog but keep checking back because she may have some exciting news to share about this project.

I took the opportunity while there for a little stash enhancement. A few weeks ago I had ordered from Amy's one of Kelly Clark's Heritage Ornaments - the August Peridot. Michele had several in this series as well so I purchased the April and July ornaments.

This is a lovely series with stitch guides written by Gina Liuzzi of A Stitch in Time. I am working on the August ornament and it works up very quickly. I had better get started on the other two as finishing deadlines for Christmas projects are looming.

While I was in Jacksonville, I had some help with stitching the August ornament. Elvis, Andrew and Anna's youngest cat, was extremely interested in my stitching. That lime green Kreinik braid was just too much of a temptation!

I'll leave you with my recent progress on Laura J. Perin's Peony Collage. I love this project and enjoy the changes in color that come with using the Watercolors thread. I'm looking forward to Laura's cyber class that starts in a couple of weeks.

Hope you all have a great week!

Let There Be Light!

The big excitement at my house this week was having a new back door installed. I love it - especially the extra light! - although it has completely freaked out my Little Girl (my cat). She doesn't seem to understand why she can all of a sudden see out the back door. She doesn't adapt very well to change. Here's the before and after:

 
While the carpenter was here this week, he also rebuilt the fence across the backyard and fixed the garden shed door that the wind blew off the hinges last week. It was a great week for home improvement here!

In stitching news, I received a surprise package via FedEx yesterday. My Evertite stretcher bars for the Melissa Shirley Christmas banner arrived unexpectedly. Have you ever seen 40" Evertites? I certainly haven't, but here they are -

Wow - these are the XXL size! I remember telling Jill at Amy's to go ahead and order them for me but I just didn't expect to see them at my doorstep yesterday. Wish it were time to start the Christmas Banner Home Study, but we still have a few months to go.

While the Evertites were sent from their home out in Oregon, I received another small package from Amy's with the ribbons for the Queen's sleeves, some more Splendor for the "Keep Calm" canvas, and a skein of Watercolors for Peony Collage. Since so much of Peony Collage involves the use of Watercolors, I had not been able to stitch much this week. Last Sunday, while I watched the US Open, I was able to stitch most of the French Ribbon detail since it didn't involve using Watercolors. I fell in love with this little section of the canvas. It's such a pretty, feminine detail.

The photo doesn't do the ribbon detail justice. The pale pink and pale peach sections are so subtle - such a nice color combination.

I'm looking forward to the July 4th weekend in Jacksonville with Andrew and Anna. Last year they were here for the 4th and we went down to the Savannah River to watch the fireworks display for Augusta. This year, I'm looking forward to an evening of fireworks on the beach.

Hope you have fun plans for the July 4th weekend!


                      

Looking Back and Looking Forward

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE BLOG!

Living the Good Life blog began a year ago today on June 19, 2010. As I wrote my first post on the blog, I was in the midst of stitching Bridezilla in the Halloweenie series, I had just met Paula Deen, and Andrew and Anna had only been married two weeks. I have Andrew to thank for encouraging me to start a blog. He knew I would enjoy sharing my enjoyment of stitching with people of a like mind. And I have - more than I ever imagined! The blogisphere has been a very friendly place this last year! I appreciate all of you who have stopped by the blog and followed my progress on various projects. Whether you have commented or not, your presence has been noted and I thank you.  I finished quite a few projects since June of 2010. The Halloweenies Home Study was completed not to mention the Noel Canvas and the Fall Trees. There's a lot to look forward to this year as well - the Creepy Characters from Needle Deeva and Robin King and, in the fall, the Melissa Shirley Christmas banner from Amy Bunger. Hope you will continue to stop by the blog to see what I'm working on next!

If not for the blog's birthday, I might have started out this post with "It was a dark and stormy night...". We have had two nights this week that were dark and stormy. Wednesday night was particularly bad with very damaging winds. Many trees were lost around my neighborhood but, fortunately, I escaped any damage - only nine hours without electricity. Last night was a different story as another storm barreled through the area. I woke up this morning to find one of the heavy wooden double doors on my garden shed hanging by one hinge. One more thing to add to my growing list of jobs for a handyman. Just wish I had a handyman!

On the stitching front this week, I spent an afternoon working on the Queen's ruffled collar. It's a little "over the top" but, then, what isn't on the Queen? Jill emailed from Amy's to let me know that the gold ribbon for the Queen's sleeves had finally arrived so everything is coming together for a big finish for Her Majesty.

I also found time to work on Peony Collage and finished up all of the boxes. 

The only difficult part of this project so far is the counting! Now that the foundations are laid, I look forward to filling in the boxes with interesting patterns. My only problem is that the main thread is back-ordered but I will start a search for it this week to see if I can find it elsewhere.

I had planned to start working on "Keep Calm and Carry On" during April, but here we are inching towards the end of June and I am just now starting it. Back in April, Amy gave me a wonderful stained glass pattern to work as the background. I gave the pattern a try but quickly realized that there was so much compensation involved that it would hardly do it justice. 

So, I switched gears and went in search of another pattern. I found what I was looking for in an old Maggie Lane book. She calls the pattern "Flat Stitch with Diamond Cross Filler". The flat stitch uses Splendor and the diamond cross filler will use Kreinik braid and/or Petite Very Velvet. I'm finding the nice, flat lavender stitches to be very soothing - appropriate for this canvas, don't you think?

Guess who's vacationing in San Francisco? Dev L. Mann and Sarcoph A. Gus. They've gone to see Marlene who will complete their finishing. That just leaves Dr. Acula and W. Herr Wolff and they are anxious for their turn to visit with Marlene. Halloween will be here before we know it. This was evident to me as I walked through Hobby Lobby yesterday and saw the Fall garlands and wreaths hanging in the floral department. At least the Christmas decorations had not been put out - yet!

I'm looking forward to an afternoon of watching the US Open and getting lots of stitching accomplished. Hope you have an enjoyable afternoon planned as well!

I've got to go now - there's a cupcake calling my name! Happy Birthday to my blog!

A Lazy June Weekend Perfect For Stitching

What a laid back weekend this has been! Yesterday was spent watching movies, stitching, napping, stitching, more movies, stitching - you get the idea. With all that stitching time yesterday, you might think that I would post a picture of a finished Queen Elizabeth. But, no, the last little bit of detail still needs to be taken care of on Her Majesty.  She has requested that her photo not be taken again until the stitching is completely finished. What the Queen wants, the Queen gets! I finally finished her left sleeve this week and added the small, pearl-like beads to the middle of the Jessicas that are dotted across the sleeves. It's a small detail but so perfect for her costume. Today I am going to finish her hand and the cuff of the sleeve. The embellishments come next  - her hair comb jewels, the false eyelashes, and the ruffled collar. There really isn't a lot left to complete as I wait for the ribbon (on backorder) to come in. The ribbon will criss-cross the sleeves. She'll be stunning when completely finished!

I have been following Laura J. Perin's blog Two-Handed Stitcher for a while now as she and I share similar interests - needlework and gardening. Laura designs wonderful counted thread pieces. Some of her May postings really caught my eye - her upcoming cyber class called Garden Gate and a new project from her Secret Garden series, Peony Collage.  Laura and I had a very nice chat on the phone last week as I signed up for the cyber class. She kindly pointed me in the direction of some shops that carry her stitch guides so I was able to order a couple of them. Two projects arrived this week and I started one of them yesterday - Peony Collage.

After all the reds and velvets and glitz and glamour of Queen Elizabeth, Peony Collage is a lovely, soothing study in pinks and greens - perfect for a lazy summer afternoon. I haven't done any counted thread needlework in a while but this project will be a nice way to return to it. The other project I purchased by Laura is One Long Sampler, a new design for 2011.

Talk about soothing colors - this project has them! One Long Panel just screams shady summer afternoon to me. If I had a pool, it would scream shady summer afternoon by the pool! The colors are cool greens and turquoise. Our friend, Conni, over at Spinster Stitcher stitched this piece back in January and I have admired it off and on since then. I'm not abandoning my painted canvases - just taking occasional detours along the counted thread canvas highway.

Can't leave you today without sending a round of applause to Amy Bunger on her receiving the TEN Award (Tribute to Excellence in Needlearts) at TNNA this weekend. I can't imagine anyone more deserving of this award! Cudos to Amy!

Hope you have all gotten in as much stitching time as I have this weekend! Have a good week ahead!

A Slight Detour - Crisis Averted

This week I began stitching the left sleeve for Queen Elizabeth. When I originally purchased this canvas and its threads almost three years ago, the thread kit came with one card of Splendor 822 and one card of Petite Very Velvet 632. About half way through the right sleeve I knew that I would need at least one more card of each to finish the left sleeve. I ordered some more of both from Amy's and it arrived in time for me to begin the second sleeve this week. I had a little of each of the original threads left but decided to start fresh with the new threads on the left sleeve. Have you guessed where I'm going with this?

I stitched about six or seven rows with the new threads before I realized that the colors of the two threads were almost an exact match with each other. Ordinarily that isn't a bad thing, is it? However, on the right sleeve there is a contrast between the colors. The Splendor on the right sleeve is definitely a slight shade darker than the Petite Very Velvet which in person gives the sleeve a checkerboard effect.

I decided to take 2 strands of the original Splendor and lay them on top of the new Splendor that had already been stitched to see if I could darken the overall color and I think I have been fairly successful in achieving a similar look between the sleeves. I photographed the Queen before I began overlaying the darker Splendor so that you could see the before and after. Evidently my eye and the camera's eye don't see the same thing. To me, there was a glaring difference between the two sleeves. But when I compared the before and after pictures, the pictures don't show much of a difference. So, the picture in this post is of the Queen after I began adding the darker threads. I think I'll continue stitching the sleeve in the same manner as I have this morning. I suppose the moral of this story is to listen to other stitchers who have said to never stitch to the end of a skein of thread unless you are absolutely sure that the next thread you pick up is from the exact same dye lot.  I'm so glad I had a little of that original thread left to add in to the new thread. Crisis averted!

Well, right about this time of day a year ago, Andrew and Anna were about to become husband and wife. Happy Anniversary to you both! Anna is a wonderful addition to our family!

Hope your stitching is crisis-free this week! I think mine will be!