Summertime!

Mother Nature has slowly been easing us into Summer this year with lots of rain, cool mornings, and moderately warm daytime temperatures. By this time last year, we had already seen some temps over 100 and this year we haven't even come close to those scorching temps. It's been wonderful!

There hasn't been a lot of stitching done in the last couple of weeks. Between work and some sort of injury to my shoulder, stitching just hasn't been at the top of my list. After a visit to the chiropractor at the beginning of last week, my shoulder is feeling better but still not up to stitching using the floor frame. I'm hoping another visit to the doctor tomorrow for an adjustment will get the shoulder back to normal. At first, I was concerned that the rotator cuff was involved but since there was an immediate improvement after the adjustment, I'm less worried about a more serious problem.

This week I finally finished the gold work on the 9th egg in the From Russia with Love series. These month-long projects are so satisfying! Signing up for this club was one of the best stitching decisions I made last year.

The main feature of this particular egg is the beautiful gold work. The background is stitched in Neon Rays using the basketweave stitch. The gems are turquoise colored. Kit # 10 has already arrived and looks to be another beautiful project.

My shoulder problem brought a halt to any progress on my Tudors Home Study project. I look forward to picking it back up again. Amy has given us some challenges with this piece but that's how we grow as stitchers. I'll show pictures soon of my Catherine of Aragon section.

My posts this summer will be sporadic so don't be surprised if a few weeks go by and you don't hear from me. This time of year I spend so many hours a day on my work computer that when the weekend rolls around I don't have much enthusiasm for picking up my laptop even if it's to blog about my stitching. Thanks for understanding!

Hope your summer is off to a wonderful start! Have a great week ahead!

Welcome, Catherine of Aragon

Catherine of Aragon arrived at my house this week. How often can you say that? Catherine is actually the theme for the second kit in the Tudors Home Study by Amy Bunger. Catherine brought her jeweled necklace for application to the canvas. My first step was to glue the "sapphires" to the canvas.

Once they had dried completely, I began the basketweave area using a burgundy Impressions. We will apply a blackwork design on top of this basketweave area.  The other two areas we'll focus on in this kit are the orange paisley section and the black and gold patterned border. I probably should mention that the photo is upside down but we are also stitching this section of the canvas upside down. Much easier than reaching the length of the canvas to stitch if it were right side up.

As I had hoped, I finished the purple egg with the green gems this week. It's another beautiful egg and I love the richness of the deep purple which is set off by the gold threads and green gems.

Egg #9 which is the pink egg with the turquoise gems is on the stretcher bars and ready to receive some attention today.

I spent an enjoyable hour out on the patio last night after dark. There was a nice breeze and the temperature was perfect. What was most enjoyable was that there were no mosquitoes! I know it won't be long before they drive me inside so I will enjoy the evening hours outside while I still can.

Hope you have a great first week of June ahead!

Remember Me?

I haven't been around the blog much the last couple of weeks but there has been a little bit of stitching going on in the evenings when work hasn't left me mentally and physically drained. The busy season for my work has arrived with a vengeance this year. I was distracted last week by Dan Brown's new book, Inferno. It was an enjoyable and a very fast-paced read - so much so that I got very little stitching done last week. Now that I have read it for the plot, I may go back and read it again for the fascinating in depth descriptions of the sights of Florence and Istanbul.

On the needlepoint front, I finished Laura J. Perin's Bargello Egg. This was a fun project!

The Tudors Home Study project is moving along with only the red silk band to stitch to complete the first kit. Can't wait to see what Amy has in store for us in the second kit.

My eighth egg in the From Russia with Love club is languishing in my stitching bag only because I am stitching dark purple thread on a purple canvas. It's almost as bad as stitching black on black even though it is only basketweave. This is the first time the next egg in the club has arrived with my not having finished the one before it. Maybe I can show you a finished egg next week.

There's lots of good stitching time to be had today in front of the television beginning with the Formula One Monaco Gran Prix this morning followed by the Indy race and NASCAR later in the day. I hope you are having a relaxing Memorial Day weekend. We are having a picture perfect, temperature perfect weekend here in Georgia. Wish I could move the television outside!

Have a wonderful week ahead!

An Egg-citing Week for Finishing

I can't tell you how excited I was this past week to receive my four finished From Russia with Love eggs from The Needle House especially after the week before it seemed that they hadn't even started them.

The eggs are expertly finished! Each one is like a beautifully wrapped package. The fabrics, trims, and ribbons have been carefully selected to coordinate perfectly with each egg.

The side views are as lovely as the front views. I think I will keep these out for awhile as they really are too pretty to put away!

My work this week left me too tired to stitch most evenings but a burst of energy Wednesday evening and some quality stitching time on Saturday helped me make some nice progress on The Tudors.

The red triangular shaped area and the red strip at the top are a six-step stitch pattern. Yesterday I finished Step 5 of the 6 steps. This is the beading step and I always enjoy beading. Not the greatest picture today but the camera and the computer didn't seem to want to cooperate today. It's much prettier than this picture would indicate!

Last week I promised that I would show you one of the canvases I ordered from Amy during the January market. In this group photo on the left is Melissa Shirley's cat canvas. She offers this silhouette in several designs. I chose this one because of the other two Melissa Shirley canvases that I have. Last year I bought the Whimsy canvas along with the threads and stitch guide from Bestitched. Then I saw a companion piece in the Bloom canvas. My thought is that with the stitch guide for Whimsy I have lots of ideas and threads that I can use when it comes to stitching the Bloom and cat canvases. Now, I just need to find time to put Whimsy into the stitching rotation.

It has been a cool, gloomy, rainy week here in Georgia. I'm hoping for warmer weather and sunshine in the upcoming week. I'm heading to Jacksonville for the Mother's Day weekend.  I can't believe I haven't been there since Christmas! Can't wait to see Andrew and Anna!

I'll take this opportunity to wish my stitching friends who are Moms a Happy Mother's Day and hope that you are able to spend it with your family and friends.

I'll be back in a couple of weeks but until then have a great week ahead!

Don't Underestimate the Accessories

I had a wonderful box of canvases and accessories arrive from Amy's Golden Strand this week. The eagerly anticipated Home Study - Royal Pain in the Tudors - canvas, threads, stretcher bars, and stitch guide was the first to be unwrapped. For the Home Study, Amy has chosen this intriguing banner from JP Needlepoint Designs that incorporates textile pattern sections that represent each of Henry VIII's six wives.

We are starting with the Anne of Cleve's section up at the top of the canvas. Amy has designed a fabulous six step stitch pattern for the red triangular area. This week I completed the three rows of plaited ribbon design and most of the first step in the red fabric area. So far, so good!

I think most of you would agree with me that we enjoy our accessories as much as we enjoy the project we're stitching. Is that ever the case with this new Home Study! First of all, Amy included with this first kit a beautiful, large Tudor Rose magnet. It's wonderful to have a large magnetic surface with which to work.

The next two fabulous accessories that arrived is this set is from Merry L. Prints. She has designed a magnet and scissor fob set for each of the six wives. This set is Anne Boleyn.

This set is absolutely beautiful - pearls with black, garnet, and gold beads! Very regal and fit for a queen! The fob is attached to my sleek Italian Ring-Lock scissors. I just ordered another pair because I don't want to ever be without these scissors!

My dear stitching friend, Linda, gave me this incredible wooden laying tool last year. This is the Henry VIII laying tool. The tool comes with such an interesting description of each section of the tool and how it relates to the story of Henry and his wives. The perfect accessory for this project! All of these accessories are available from Amy's Golden Strand in Memphis.

One other Tudor accessory for which I don't have a picture is my iPad with the Netflix series - The Tudors. This series is a fun companion while stitching. It's a great series even if you're not stitching a Tudor themed project.

I ordered a few more fun magnets which also arrived this week.

I just realized that I forgot to take photos of my new Melissa Shirley canvas and my new book that also arrived from Amy's this week. I'll save those to show you next week.

Until the Home Study arrived this week, I was moving along with my stitching on the latest From Russia with Love egg and the Bargello Egg. I love both of these projects!

I look forward to wrapping up both of these in the next week or so. I am determined to have a great display of eggs for the Easter season next year!

I hope you will enjoy following along with me over the next several months as I stitch my new Home Study. With Amy's excellent stitch guides, I'm sure there will be no royal pains involved in stitching these Tudor designs!

Have a great week ahead!

Eggs are the Focus This Week

What a heartbreaking week this has been! So much sorrow for lives that have been lost and for those lives that changed forever in just seconds. It certainly brings perspective to the minor problems and  inconveniences in our own lives. Most of us aren't faced with the sudden death of a loved one or the loss of an arm or a leg or other life threatening injuries as a result of the actions of radical religious fanatics. Let's stop for a moment and offer up prayers for all of those affected by the events of this past week.

I thoroughly enjoyed my Masters golf weekend last week and no one could have asked for a more exciting finish! Laura J. Perin's Bargello Egg was the perfect project for a weekend planned around watching golf on television.

I completed the bottom half of the egg and am ready to move on to the top half. It has been a pleasant change of pace to stitch with perle cotton and not have to worry about plying the threads and laying them with a laying tool.

Egg #8 in the From Russia with Love club arrived this week. This one looks as if it will be another quick stitch. The colors are so rich - a royal purple background, gold work, and emerald green crystals for the flowers.

Another beauty! I have loved everything about this club as I have told you so many times but I was a little taken aback this week when I found out that the egg canvases I sent for finishing to The Needle House in January had not even been started. That was an unpleasant surprise to say the least! I hope the finishing makes them worth the wait.

I'm looking forward to the arrival this week of the first kit from Amy Bunger's new Home Study - Royal Pain in the Tudors. I think a few of the things I ordered from the January market will be in the box as well. My UPS driver and USPS mail carrier have no idea how much I look forward to seeing either one of them this week! I can't wait to show you what arrives this week!

Hope you all have a great week ahead!

Mission Accomplished!

When I left you last week, I was lamenting the fact that there was a gaping hole on the shelf at The Fresh Market where the cheese straws are supposed to be. I was staring at the gaping hole on the shelf again on the Tuesday trip to The Fresh Market when the manager of the store happened to walk by. When I asked about the cheese straws, he shook his head and said that the warehouse was completely sold out and that they would not be getting any more in for another week or so. But, he remembered that there were a few boxes of the White Cheddar Parmesan Cheese Straws on an end cap near the registers and promptly led me right to them. Those were exactly what I wanted!!!

SCORE!

It was my lucky day and now I am all set for a Sunday afternoon of golf on television. I have my peach iced tea and my cheese straws and my needlepoint so I am all set.

I decided that I wanted to stitch something this weekend that would not require a lot of concentration so I started the Bargello Egg by Laura J. Perin.

It's quite a large Easter egg - 7.5" x 9". The stitch guide includes a matching ornament. The colors are lovely and are tied together with the choice of a Watercolors thread appropriately named Easter Egg. Once I established the pattern across the middle, the other sections above and below don't require too much concentration.

I am looking forward to working on this during the afternoon stitching/golf activities.

Yesterday I had high hopes of finishing the Acorn Cracker in the Melissa Shirley Golden Cracker club. And then I got to the part where you add the bugle beads to the inside border around the acorn and the top and bottom border. 

I have nothing against bugle beads but those that came with the kit just seemed too large for the areas in which they were to be used. I didn't like the way they lay on the canvas or the way they stuck out beyond the painted areas of the top and bottom borders ( it would have been a nightmare for a finisher). I scrounged around in the stash and found some beads I could use in the inner border areas that sort of mimic what I would have been doing with the bugle beads but I've got to come up with something for the outer borders. It shouldn't be too hard since those borders are just a 3 thread width. I'm a little frustrated with this club at the moment since I have two kits that are missing beads and this one has beads that are just too big (in my opinion) for the canvas. Stitching time is supposed to be enjoyable and not frustrating so this frustrating project is going away until later in the week.

Time to start stitching! Hope you have a great week ahead!!