Happy New Year!!

Happy New Year stitching friends! Hope your holidays have been filled with fun times with family and  friends! Mine certainly were and I even found a few minutes to stitch here and there.  I have two finishes to show you this week.

The blue egg is my second finish in the From Russia with Love club from The Needle House. I may have said this in my last blog post but it is worth repeating - I am so happy I signed up for this club! Each egg is more elegant than the one before it. I started my third egg on Saturday. This one has beautiful dark green flower crystals and butterfly crystals as well surrounded by Coronet Braid gold work on a red background. Very elegant!  I'll show you that one next week.

My second stitching club finish for the week is the Golden Cracker Snowflake. I am short two of the gold pearls to finish up the border so I'll have to call Fireside Stitchery to send me the missing pearls. This was a quick stitch and a very satisfying one. Looking forward to the next cracker in January!

I received two very generous gift certificates to Amy's for Christmas this year. One was from Andrew and Anna and the other from a very dear stitching friend. They know me well! My stitching friend also sent me this fabulous Harlequin Laying Tool from Rainbow Gallery.

She knows my patriotic line up of canvases to be stitched this year and selected the perfect color combination.  In the patriotic stitching line up this year is the July 4th Parade using Amy's stitch guide, the Patchwork of Peace flag sampler, the Ewe & Eye July 4th canvas, and the Melissa Shirley July 4th little boy. Lots of opportunities to use my lovely new laying tool!

That about wraps up 2012 stitching. So many fun canvases to look forward to stitching in 2013! I think I'll be making a decision in the next day or so as to which larger canvas to ring in the new year with. My New Year's day will be a day for football and starting a new project.

Thanks for stitching along with me this past year! I wish all of you the very best in 2013!

The Year in Orts

  The year in What? Orts - little bits of leftover threads from projects I stitched this year. I realized this week that I couldn't compress the orts in my orts jar any further which must mean that it is time to empty it and prepare for a new year of stitching.

This is my 6" tall clear plastic jar that sits on the table next to my stitching chair. It provides first hand evidence of the various projects I stitched in 2012.

Turn the jar upside down on the cutting board in the kitchen and you have an ort cake. Let's see if we can figure out all of my projects that contributed to the ort jar. Starting at the top in early 2012 and continuing into mid-2012 are the orts from the Melissa Shirley Christmas Banner.

Lots of orts contributed to the jar from this project! But, wait - I see bits and pieces of these projects as well -

 

Wow! I've impressed myself! That's a lot of finished projects this year! One really big one - the Christmas Banner, two medium-large projects - Christmas Parade and Give Thanks, the Sunflower and Berries canvas, and assorted Halloween and Christmas ornaments and the cute July 4th girl. I realize that Spring/Easter is not well-represented but perhaps the From Russia with Love eggs will qualify as an Easter project. I'll have to do better by Easter in future needlepoint projects.

Speaking of the From Russia with Love eggs, I started on the blue egg this week. I am so happy with this club and I am only two projects into it.

Two more projects arrived this week to add to my To Stitch list. Amy sent the Ewe & Eye Fourth of July canvas, stitch guide, and threads - love it! Fireside Stitchery sent the Snowflake Cracker in the Melissa Shirley Golden Cracker stitching club. The Fourth of July canvas will go into the stash for the moment but I plan to start in on the Snowflake Cracker this afternoon. These are two great projects to welcome home in 2012 but to look forward to completing in 2013.

Also on the horizon for 2013 stitching projects is Amy's proposed Home Study - Royal Pain in the Tudors. This Home Study will be a JP Needlepoint Design canvas that shows various textile patterns that represent the six wives of Henry VIII. Sounds like fun to me! I also want to stitch the July 4th Parade and the Melissa Shirley Whimsy canvas - both waiting in the stash closet for some attention. Looks like my dance card is filling up already! Lots of stitching to look forward to in 2013!

I'll take this opportunity to wish all of you a Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays! I hope you find some quiet, peaceful moments to count your many blessings in the midst of all of the hustle and bustle that comes with this time of year. I'll try to post again before the end of the year.

Hope Santa brings you lots of beautiful threads and canvases and sprinkles some magic Santa dust on them to give you enough hours to stitch them all!

Bring on the Bling

Before I say anything about needlepoint this week, I have to thank each of you who left me such kind, comforting thoughts last week. I treasure each of them and can't begin to tell you how much it means to me that you took a few minutes out of your day to reach out to me. My stitching friends are the best!

Back in the fall, I signed up for the From Russia with Love club from the Needle House in Houston, Texas. I had seen their ad in Needlepoint Now and thought it would be a fun series of canvases to stitch. I knew they would be beautiful, but I really didn't expect the bling factor. Wow!

I know the photo doesn't capture the amount of sparkle that pops off this canvas but, believe me, this egg is dazzling. I finished it this week and thoroughly enjoyed it. There is one peach crystal flower missing from my kit so I will have to call and ask to have one sent. I loved stitching the Jessicas and the two fleur de lis designs. The diagrams in the stitch guide were excellent for both. I'm so happy I signed up for this club!

Up next in the club is this gorgeous blue egg with a big aurora borealis teardrop crystal. It is already on the stretcher bars and ready to go for a Sunday afternoon of stitching.

I spent most of yesterday emptying out my needlepoint closet onto the floor in my den so that I could completely re-organize things. I'm pleased to say that this morning the floor in the den is clean and free of bags of projects waiting to be stitched and those holding the remnants of completed projects. I had taken the last ten days or so to organize my threads so the heavy lifting of this project had already been completed. That's a great feeling to have that closet organized - for once!

All that re-organization must mean it's time for another project to arrive! I'm looking for the Ewe & Eye July 4th canvas, stitch guide, and threads to arrive from Amy's in the next week. I'll be sure to share it with you as soon as I can.

I leave you this week with one of my Christmas decorations this year. I decided not to put up a tree this year so instead I filled a silver tray and Waterford bowl on my sideboard with many of my favorite ornaments from over the years. My Christmas Banner is displayed on the mantlepiece as planned but I decided not to photograph it for you since I haven't settled on how to set it off to its best effect. I had planned to use some garland or floral picks around it but I decided that there was too much opportunity with those things to snag a thread or two on the banner no matter how careful I was. I think for this year the mantlepiece is a work in progress - but, at least the main focus, the banner, is complete. Stay tuned...

Hope you have a great week ahead!

In Thanksgiving

I finished stitching "give thanks" last night. This project will forever have a different meaning to me after the events of the last week. My brother passed away very suddenly the day after Thanksgiving. Fortunately, I was able to drive back home on Thanksgiving morning and arrive in time to be able to speak with him before he began to slip away from us. I give thanks for that. Over the next twenty-four hours, friends and family drifted in and out of the ICU waiting room. Family members whom I hadn't seen in many years were there to strengthen and renew family ties while giving comfort and support. I give thanks for that.

I give thanks for a kind Christian doctor who was there with us as we made the difficult decision to discontinue treatment when it was so obvious that there was nothing more that medicines and machines could do for my brother. When the machines that buzzed and beeped and tracked every breath my brother took were removed and the room became very quiet, this doctor put his arms around my sister-in-law and I and said "Pierce is on his way to meet God now". I am thankful that he was able to express his own faith to us in that way. I also give thanks for one of the nurses who was quietly working in the background during this time and softly humming a hymn. I don't know the hymn but it immediately took me back to our childhood and a much loved woman who worked for our family and often went about her work humming hymns. I am most thankful that my brother died quietly and peacefully surrounded by those who loved and cared for him.

I give thanks that we laid my brother to rest next to my mother on such a beautiful, late fall afternoon this past Monday. We were overwhelmed at the number of friends who came to pay their respects. I was so proud of my nephew, Derek, who gave a very heartfelt eulogy for this father. I give thanks for the minister who officiated at the service. He knew my brother for many years and their long friendship was so evident in the scripture he chose to read and the personal remarks he made during the service.

I give thanks that I have a son who never fails to step up and take on responsibility when it is placed upon his shoulders. My father had a habit of always telling Andrew to "look after my little girl" - me - and Andrew took that to heart. My father would be so very proud of him and the fine, honorable man that Andrew has become. I give thanks that I have a son and daughter-in-law who wanted to go to the cemetery on the day before the funeral to clean the cross and markers in our family plot. I know my mother was smiling down from heaven as we worked.

When I chose to begin stitching "give thanks" a few weeks ago, I did so because it seemed like an obvious project for this time of year.  It seems there was a greater plan involved in that choice. It has given me the opportunity to sit here and reflect on this past week and be reminded of the many things and special people for which I am thankful. I give thanks that my son encouraged me to begin blogging about needlepoint because it has allowed me to make so many wonderful friends - most of whom I will probably never meet except through this blog! But we have a shared love of needlework which makes us instant friends. Earlier this week, those of you who knew of my loss were quick to reach out to me. I could feel your hugs and love around me. I give thanks for you!

I am most thankful for my brother, Pierce

February 8, 1957 - November 23, 2012

Give Thanks

I took a break from the blog last week to enjoy a fun weekend with my son and daughter-in-law. Anna and I attended a class at our favorite store, Cudos, to learn a little more about creating holiday tablescapes and decorating mantles for Christmas. We have taken a similar class in the past but it is always fun to watch the professionals work their magic. It was a fun morning followed by an eagerly anticipated afternoon at the movies to see Skyfall, the new James Bond movie. It was excellent and I highly recommend it to you. I may have to make another trip to the theater to see it again - it's that good!

On the needlepoint front, my Give Thanks canvas is coming to a close. I started the beading this week as I wait for an additional thread from Amy to finish up the last stripe.  I love the beads that Amy Bunger chose for this canvas.  They are from Sundance - #462D - and are a fabulous mix of copper, gold, rust, teal, and sometime a flash of purple.

 These &More designs are such gratifying pieces to work on. I have three more in the stash just waiting their turn- Sweet Dreams, Laugh, and Believe. You must visit my stitching friend Linda's blog where you can see her big finish on her &More Friends canvas. The stitch guide she used is by Amy Bunger. Linda's stitching is perfection - check out all of those incredible roses!

My little finish for the week is the Kelly Clark ornament in her Heritage series. This is the March Aquamarine ornament. I have a few more canvases of this series in the stash as well. I've stitched the April, July, and August ornaments and look forward to adding this one to next year's Christmas tree. Kelly's new Heritage series is calling my name and I may have to give in and sign up for the club that A Stitch in Time is offering for these ornaments.

This week I finally received two projects that I had ordered in early October. The Patchwork of Peace book and canvas (unpainted) arrived from In Stitches and the Broom Parking canvas, stitch guide, and threads arrived from Quail Run. Broom Parking may move to the stash. I may go ahead and mount the blank canvas for Patchwork on the stretcher bars and get started on the flag. This will be a long term project that you will see from time to time but not a project that I will work on exclusively.

Well, it's hard to believe that Thanksgiving is this week! I think my &More canvas says it all - Give Thanks. I am thankful for all of you that read the blog each week and leave such kind and encouraging comments here at the blog and on Facebook. Although I only know the majority of you through the blog and not in person, I'm glad we have this shared passion for our needlework. In this busy week of traveling, cooking, and visiting with family and friends, I hope you find a few precious minutes to pick up your needle and thread and add a few stitches to a favorite canvas!

Wishing you the best Thanksgiving ever!

It has been a quiet week on the stitching front. I could basically show you the same photos from last week as there is little progress in the last few days on any of my projects. So, I'll wait until next week to show you the works in progress and maybe have more for you to see.  Hope you will enjoy looking at my "turpunpkin" header photo during the month of November!

A box from Amy's arrived this week which is always a highlight of any week! Inside was this project from Labors of Love -

I have never stitched one of their birds before but I am so looking forward to stitching this eagle! Amy has written another wonderful stitch guide that certainly does justice to this majestic bird. If you have followed the blog over the last year or so you know that I have faithfully watched (via live nest cams) a couple of eagle nests - one in Norfolk, Virginia and one in Decorah, Iowa. Sadly, the "powers that be" in Norfolk decided a few weeks ago that the eagle nest at the Norfolk Botanic Gardens posed a threat to air traffic at the nearby airport and the nest was torn down. The pair of eagles that would have nested there will be "encouraged" to nest elsewhere. What form that "encouragement" takes has yet to be seen but could involve fireworks and paintball guns. It has been a very emotional few weeks for the followers of the Norfolk nest.

With the loss of the Norfolk nest, I knew I could always watch the eagle nest in Decorah, Iowa. The pair of eagles there have been followed via nest cams for quite a few years. This year new cameras were added giving better views of the nest during the day and at night. The male eagle has already been seen bringing in dried cornstalks to the nest. He does this each year and it is something that only he does. Guess he has a thing for dried cornstalks! But, wouldn't you know it, the day after the cameras went live for this season, the eagle pair decided to start building a new nest in another tree! While the new nest is just down the road from the old nest, the folks at Raptor Resource Project (who manage the cameras) have decided not to move the cameras to the new nest and disturb the nest building that is already happening at the new site.

I will really miss watching the eagles this winter and spring! I've got to investigate some other possibilities for camera viewing. If I find anything, I'll let you know. But, until then my only eagle watching will involve my Labors of Love eagle canvas!

When I ordered the eagle canvas, Jill Wilensky at Amy's said, "I can't believe it took you so long to order this canvas!" I have to mention Jill in this post because we found out through Amy's newsletter this week that she has been offered one of those jobs that just drop into your lap and cannot be turned down. I had a chance to speak to her on Friday and could just hear in her voice what a gut-wrenching decision it has been for her to leave Amy's. As hard as it is to say "until the next time" (we agreed not to say goodbye), we can all understand with today's uncertain economy that with one child in college and another soon to be college-bound that sometimes you just have to do what is ultimately best for you and your family. As sad as I feel about Jill leaving, it must certainly pale in comparison to what Jill and Amy must feel. Jill promises to help out on Saturdays when she can and to help with the Home Study projects. So, maybe we will still get to see those handwritten notes from Jill on some of our future orders that always add that special touch. The company that Jill is going to work for is so fortunate to have her and they were wise to choose her. Jill, I will miss you but I wish you much success and happiness in your new journey and I know that our love of needlepoint will always keep us in touch with each other!

Have a great week ahead and don't forget to VOTE!

A Hard Act to Follow

I decided this week that after stitching the Christmas Banner and getting it back from the finisher and then sharing it with all of you last week that none of my current stitching seems to quite measure up to such a grand project.  It has nothing to do with the canvases themselves or the stitch guides - they're great!  I'm not sure what it is. Maybe it's just letting go of a project that was a daily presence for months on end. Do I have project separation issues? Could it be that I need a stitching psychiatrist?

I forgot to include a newly finished Halloween piece in the blog last week. Please meet the Kirk & Hamilton Frog's Breath bottle.

That bottle grew some big frog's feet while away at the finisher! Speaking of the finisher, visit Vikki at her website for information on her finishing. I look forward to adding more bottles to the collection in the future. Thanks go to Amy Bunger for another fun stitch guide!

I'm making steady progress on the & More Give Thanks canvas. Once the diagonal lines are established in each stripe, the hard work is over and the fill-in stitches don't require a lot of focused attention.

This is the March Aquamarine ornament in Kelly Clark's Heritage Series with a stitch guide by Gina Liuzzi. It works up very quickly. I've enjoyed working the diamonds and seeing how pretty plain old DMC cotton floss can be with the right stitches to show it off. 

I ordered this Christmas canvas from The Bristly Thistle and it arrived a few weeks ago. It is (will be) a hinged box design from Julia's Needleworks. At the moment I am just stitching the dark green background in perle cotton but I will be adding beads and other fun threads to the tree and gifts. I think I might give Sparkles a try and use it for the tree garland. Check out Julia's website gallery - particularly the Hinged Box section. She has some cute houses and trees that would be so much fun to stitch.

The first canvas of the From Russia with Love club from The Needle House arrived this week. Beautiful beads, threads, and stitches have been selected for the Emerald Egg ornament. I'm late to the party on this club but, thankfully, the club can be started at any time.

That's it on the stitching front this week. I'm sending out good thoughts and saying my prayers for all of my stitching friends and their families from the mid-Atlantic north into New England as the hurricane approaches. I watch the Weather Channel so much during these weather events that I feel the need to go to the store and buy batteries, water, and bread even though we have brilliant blue skies here in Georgia this morning!

Everyone stay safe and dry in the week ahead!