Stitchin' and Stashin'

Does anyone else have trouble finding time to do your blogs? It has been over a week since I last posted stitching progress, but it just seems to take so long to take pictures, etc. Speaking of taking pictures the battery died on my camera with one more photo to take. You will miss seeing my progress on Spring Snapperland. The cottage in Block one is done except for filling in the window and there is a tree to be added, but this block should be done this week for sure.

My Block 4 of VoHRH seems to just drag on forever. It might be because I keep finding other things that I want to stitch on. The big solid house is almost done. Woohoo!! As I continue to struggle with getting each block done on a monthly basis, I have decided that I am no longer going to stress over it and I think it will happen easier than me forcing myself into a specific schedule.

Startisits or Adult Attention Deficit got the better of me a week or so ago. I started something new.

Quaker Samplings 1

by With My Needle

Picture This Plus Orphan

28-ct Cashel

GAST - Raspberry Parfait

Picture This Plus is a color-fast overdyed fabric. They do aida, linen, evenweaves and opalescence fabrics. Orphans happen when something goes wrong in the dyeing process. Either it comes out the wrong color or when they are developing new colors, it is not a duplicateable color. Every so often they sell those pieces as "orphans" on their web site. There is an adoption center listed where you can go to see if they have any orphans available. Usually they are fat quarters. The size will be listed. All the orphans have names. That is another interesting part of the process. This piece I got sometime before Christmas. The last time I checked, they did not expect to have any orphans until in March sometime.

Work on the Heartland Shop Hop Sampler continues. The 3rd of the 6 designs making up the sampler is almost done. Right now we are making some color changes to make it look better on the fabric we are using. This is a real enjoyable stitch. That is why VoHRH has had to languish on the side.

Now to a little stashing. Stitches 'N Things had a Super Bowl sale and I ordered a couple of things. Never had ordered from them before. Have been getting their newsletter for about 1 1/2 years. Was introduced to this shop by a couple of stitchers that I met at Silver Needle's stitch camp. The service from this shop was awesome. Part of my order was out of stock and they had to get it in and I still had my order in about 8-9 days. Here is what I got. Blackbird Designs -- Where My Heart Blooms--Loose Feathers 29. To top things off, my LNS brought back the 30-ct R&R Korty's Special Blend used in the design. Of course I just had to get it before it was gone. LOL. It has been all I could do not to put in a few stitches. Especially after seeing Margie's completed piece. I have kept the startitis at bay for the time being. Not sure how much longer I can hold out.

Also received in that order, are two designs by "Whispered in the Wind", Scherzo(left) and Adagio(right). The greenish blue one is stitched with WDW Blue Spruce and the other one with WDW Stone. Can be stitched in your choice of thread. I have really gone overboard for the monochromatic/Quaker-style designs. They seem to be very peaceful to stitch. Hope I never tire of them, because I have several of them to stitch. No worries about making sure you are using the right color since you are only using one color most of the time.

Remember last fall I was working on a design model for The Sunflower Seed that was going to be released at market. Well, here it is. Hilltop Seasons was a very successful market release. She sold out of it and several other designs. The new designs are not yet up on The Sunflower Seed web site, but we hope that will happen sometime this week. This image came from the Stitches 'N Things weekly newsletter. The border around and between the houses on this piece is awesome.

For those of you that like to stitch tin toppers she has another design that was released as a kit at market and will be available as a pattern only soon. It fits on a rectangular Whitman Sampler tin, with stitching on the top and inside the top and is stitched on 40-ct linen. A picture of this should be up on the web site soon. Not sure of the exact name for the design-- Celtic something. She is still trying to finish filling kit orders from market. We are out of the 40-ct linen and it has been on order for about a month and a half. This design is similar to something that she gave to me for Christmas. The model is stitched in CC Belle Soie silk. Love stitching with this fiber. If you have not done it, you need to give it a try.

My work at the LNS continues with me working most Thursdays. Last Thursday it snowed off and on all day, so I was not swamped with customers, but was kept busy checking in orders received, etc. However, there was some time in the afternoon to getting some stitching done. Last week also had a meeting of my ladies group one day, made 2 cakes for a dinner that was served for a group on Saturday and I went in and helped get things ready for that. Otherwise, it was stitching, reading blogs and e-mail. I love that part the most. With the weather we have been having this winter (snow, cold and yuck), I think I could become a stitching hermit.

Need to do a couple of other things on the computer before I head off to sleep land, so I think I have bored you long enough with my babble. Thanks for visiting and commenting. Later my stitching friends.

Yeah, spellchecker is working!!!!!