Busy Doing Everything But Stitching

      I've been keeping myself very busy these days. Much of my day is spent in my gardens tidying up the beds after the long winter rest. I have much weeding to do... so please pardon the dandelions... I'll get to them soon.

I hope my Garden Frog keeps the Stitchin' Frog away this Summer.

I installed a new pine bark path to create a mud-free walking path.

          I recently inherited my paternal grandmother's treadle Singer sewing machine. 

It's been a few years since it's been used and I'm looking forward to seeing if it's still operational. 

      I finished the basic blocks for my Snow Globe quilt and now comes the decision  as to which background fabric to use.

Emma's made her fabric selection.

Owen would rather take a nap and leave the fabric choices up to me.

       
      I did spend some time in my stitching chair... but it wasn't much!

Rachel Howells - The Scarlett House

Sarah Pain - Scarlet Letter

        I was also the winner of a giveaway on Nicola's Scarlet Letter Year

A lovely book on the textiles at Sulgrave Manor and a Victoria and Albert 1840 commemorative thimble.

  Laurie

Beating the Winter Blues

      It's that time of the year! Winter is keeping its icy grip on my little corner of Iowa. I long for Spring and it can't arrive soon enough. I've found the best way to beat the Winter blues is to park my butt in the stitching chair and ignore what's going on outside my windows.

      I certainly have enough projects to choose from and it didn't take long for me to settle in with an old friend. Here's my progress on Sarah Pain. I love those birds and the huge urn.

Sarah Pain - The Scarlet Letter

        In my last stitching blog post I talked about my unhappiness with the Lexington Green blending into my linen on Butternut Tavern. Several of you suggested that I use GAST Mountain Mist as a replacement for the Lexington Green. I couldn't have been happier with the results. I hope you'll agree that the switch was well worth unstitching  those alphabet letters.

Butternut Tavern - Stacy Nash Primitives

      Of course I couldn't ignore the Hex on the Beach quilting project. I basted another row of hexies, Rows 1 and 2 are now sewn together and I've basted and started sewing together Row 3. 

Hex on the Beach - Tula Pink

      I had planned on working longer on the hexie project but my mailperson brought me a much anticipated chart in the mail. Everything got pushed aside and I started on Rachel Howells. There isn't one thing I don't like about this sampler and I have been anxious to stitch her since I saw the antique sampler.

Rachel Howells - The Scarlett House

 I'm stitching my Rachel on 40 ct. Lakeside Vintage Light Examplar with the NPIs as charted. I can't wait to start on those big beautiful birds.

      We did have some upset at Corgi Cottage but I happy to report that Owen has recovered nicely from his neck injury. We'll go see Dr. Amy tomorrow morning for a follow-up visit and I'm sure she'll be as pleased as I am with Owen's improvement. Much to both Owen and Emma's displeasure they will both have to wear harnesses when going out for our walkies. Dr. Amy has warned me to never attach a leash to Owen's collar again as another injury to his neck could lead to permanent damage and neurological problems.  I made the decision that Emma should also wear a harness to prevent any possibility of a neck injury caused by a leash attached to her collar.
      As you can see by their expressions.... neither pup is happy! 

Really??? I have to wear this thing?

As if being in pain for days wasn't bad enough... now I have to wear this???

       On a much happier note... the sun was shining for approximately 45 minutes this afternoon....Emma took advantage of that lovely sunbeam.

I Couldn't Decide and a Giveaway

     I had a hard time deciding what to focus on when it came to my stitching since the beginning of the month. I was all over the place and I'll share with you what I've been working on.

I added almost one line of verse and the butterfly and bird on the berry bough.

Jane Atkinson - The Scarlet Letter

       It wasn't long before I grew bored with Jane A. and decided that what I really wanted to do was start a new sampler that featured a bird. It was a toss up between Sarah Harvey and Sarah Pain and Sarah Pain was the winner.

Sarah Pain - The Scarlet Letter

       Sarah P. is being stitched on a piece of 36 ct. mystery linen with both AVAS and NPI silks.

      Nicola, Stitching by a Cornish Sea Shore, invited me to participate in a relaxed SAL. A bunch of us will be stitching Manifesto by The Scarlet Letter. We are to designate one day a week for Manifesto and post our weekly progress photos on  Nicola's Scarlet Letter Year. Manifesto is a new release by Marsha and it will be a labor of love for us all. The sampler is 600 stitches wide by 381 stitches long. I started my piece this past week and am stitching it on 38 ct. cream Bellazia linen with an assortment of silks.

The Manifesto (photo  from The Scarlet Letter)

My Start.... I have a long way to go!

       I would like to devote my Sunday stitching time to needlework smalls. Yesterday I started Butternut Tavern by Stach Nash Primitives. It's being stitched on 40 ct. Lakeside  Pear with GAST as charted.

      I know my readers are anxious to see the last it's Finally a Finished Finish that will be part of my 100th Blog Post Giveaway. Here it is... a sweet needlecase. The Birds of a Feather was a kit I received from Brenda S., in February 2012, in a giveaway win package. I think it's wonderful that I'll be passing along my giveaway win to another lucky giveaway winner!

      In addition to the sweet needlecase the luck winner will also receive the following gifts:

 

      Yes, there is a box of Emma and Owen's favorite doggie treats... Wet Nose Pumpkin treats. Emma was feeling very sad when she realized that she tore the corner of the packaging of the Olde Colonial Designs tiny Christmas tree kit. She wanted to help me put together the package and bit down a bit too hard on the kit. Thankfully only the packaging and a tiny corner of the paper was damaged. She's hoping the lucky winner has a sweet pup (she really doesn't understand why the winner wouldn't have a pup) that will enjoy the pumpkin treats as much as she does. 
      In addition to the treats, the package will also include a Quality Chick T-shirt from the Decorah Hatchery, a leather embossed lined journal, bunny thread drops, Colonial Designs Christmas Tree and Thread Pallette kits, Ewe & Eye & Friends - Flower Scissor Companion kit with pink scissors and a Pick n'Thread.       
      The Giveaway is open to everyone, no matter where you may live, and the winner will be announced on Friday, February 15th, as part of  the weekly (this moment) post... which will be my 100th post. Leave a comment on this post only if you would like to participate in the Giveaway. You don't have to be a Follower... but it would be nice if you were! Good luck!

Laurie