Stamp With Jen

September TUSAL

Well, as usual I'm a few days late for my TUSAL post, see below that for a current snap of my jar.  After finishing Ann Sandles I was really unsure what I wanted to start next and then I realized that I had started "By My Hand" back in July too during my girl's weekend away with friends.  I picked that up the other weekend to stitch on during our Sampler Guild meeting and was immediately hooked again.  Here is where I am as of today. 

Just the deer and the words left and of course I think I'm going to personalize the words on this one.  Just need to find my graph paper to chart out what I want to use.  This has really gone quickly and I must say that I'm in love with working with silk again. 

I used to be one of the people who just couldn't justify paying more for silk but it's really because I didn't know what I was missing.  I like the overdyed cotton and of course I stitched my Elizabeth Sheffield all in DMC and love how that turned out.  But, the thickness and feel of silk just can't be beat.  And, the difference is obvious in my TUSAL jar.  If you look close you can see the thicker strands of silk on the top of the jar and right below it the thinner, curly layers of overdyed cotton.  Both have their place in my opinion but for a piece that I just want to love to stitch there's nothing like the feel of silk! 

Even though it's September it's still not too late to play along with the TUSAL game.  Just go to this post to sign up and to get started! 

 

Ann Sandles Finish

I was able to finish Ann Sandles last week.  Here she is, next will be to pick out a frame for her.

Things have been busy at work and outside of work so I'm just getting around to posting again.  I can't say that I loved stitching this piece mostly because of the repetitive border.  But, I do like it and it was a perfect piece for me these last few weeks since I could pick it up or put it down rather easily when I had time to stitch here and there. 

I'm now working my way through a pile of pieces that need framing, most of which I have the frames and just need to find the time to lace up.  I got out a couple of them to add my initials when I finished Ann Sandles and you can see that my little helper thought that they looked like a cozy spot to cuddle up on! 

Ann Sandles and a late TUSAL

Wow, I can't believe that it's been so long since I updated my blog!  It sure has been a busy few weeks though!  A few weeks ago I visited my best friend Jen for a long weekend of laughs, camping and whatever we happened to feel like doing!  We even took her camper and went out to the Portland coast for a night.

Here I am at the coast with her pup who seems to think our shoes looked like fun toys!  You can see that it was very windy and we were glad we started into the wind instead of going for a long walk and having to fight the wind the whole way back! 

While traveling I worked on the strawberries in Ann Sandles.  I was able to get the border done (I left the "hats" off the tops of the strawberries) and also the house so all that is left is the A&E section.  I am thinking of making one of the dogs look like Sage since I've already strayed away from it being a true reproduction. 

And, even though I'm super late in doing so I'm still going to post my August TUSAL.  It's not too late to jump into TUSAL 2012, just go to this post in order to sign up and play along! 

I'm afraid that you won't see much change in the level of thread in the jar for next month as I haven't stitched at all since I took this picture a week ago.  Just too busy with other things I guess!

And, not that it's bad that I've been too busy, it's all been fun!  I've completed a few home improvement projects that were on my list, spent time with friends and I have my grandpa here for a visit now.  It sure is nice to have him be able to come out to visit!

The other thing that I've been busy with is Sage.  Not that it will come as a surprise to anyone but we have been super busy and our latest adventure finds us as new members of the Dog Scouts of America.  I'm sure some of you reading this may wonder what the heck that is.  Well, I will admit that I did too when I first heard about it.  I meaning earning badges with your dog?  Well, why not?  I don't have kids to do girl and boy scouts with so why not join an organization that promotes positive training and allows you to get recognition for teaching your dog new things.  Plus it is really fun!!  We've already passed 5 agility badges and last night I heard that we passed her merit badge test to become an official dog scout and add the DSA after her name.  The best part about dog scouts is spending time with other people who are into doing fun things with their dogs!  I'll post more soon about this, either here or over on my dog blog. 

So, that's what I've been up to lately!  I hope to get Ann Sandles done in the next couple weeks so I can start something new! 

 

Finished Smalls

I won't keep you in suspense any longer, here is what was in those wrapped packages. 
Didn't they turn out wonderfully??  My finisher Deb really does an amazing job!!

I also have a little progress on Ann Sandles to show you.
She's a bit wrinkly but has been a fun stitch through the Olympics.  I obvously won't have her finished by the closing ceremony but I've really enjoyed this little sampler so far.  I did make one change, I changed the white thread used for the lettering to GA Straw Bonnet from my stash.  I found that the lambswool just didn't show up very well even on the darker linen so I just swapped it out for something that suited me a bit better.  I am already looking ahead to what's next to stitch.  Both Ann Priest and Lucy Redd are calling to me right now so they're sitting out waiting for me to finish this Ann! 

A New Technique

I don't have a ton to show you today, but I did start to learn a new technique at Wednesday's EGA meeting.  One of our members is very proficient at Temari and she is teaching us how to make them at our August and September meetings.  This month we learned how to make the mari, or the ball itself starting from rice hulls.  I have a bit more wrapping to do on mine but am starting to make progress.  How I will finish this with a dog and two cats who shed is beyond me! 

An interesting piece of information, I've often heard of these referred to a Temari Balls.  But, the word Temari means hand ball so if you say Temari Ball you're really saying "hand ball ball".  Now I'll know better!  It's been a fun technique so far and I can't wait to do the wrapping with bright colors! 

I also received a couple fun packages this week, one of them contained the following three items.
Stay tuned to see what these contain, you can kind of tell through the tissue paper if you look closely!  Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Olympic Stitching

Like many of you, I decided to start a new project for the Olympics.  I wanted to stitch on something patriotic so I chose "One Nation" by ByGone Stitches.  I changed the threads and my local shop had a beautiful piece of 40 ct. R&R 18th Century Blackbird.  The only problem?  The piece would only fit if I stitched it over one.  So, that's what I decided to do! 

One Nation, stitched on 40 ct. 18th Century Blackbird Linen, over one

I just love how the colors look on this linen and the advantage of over one on this size is only needing half a cross!  Yay!  I had a friend over for the opening ceremonies so I cooked a Portabello, Bacon and Spinach risotto and we stitched and I started this.  I had to use the magnifier on my Dazor.  It was dusty, I haven't had to use it in years...  Oh well, it's going to be pretty when I finish it! 

I had hoped to at least get the outline of the stripes done during the games but I'm finding that it's tough to stitch on something this tiny and switch between stitching and watching TV.  So, I've set it aside and my new Olympic stitching project is Ann Sandles!

Ann Sandles, stitched on 36 ct. Lakeside Vintage Meadow Rue

Ah, much better!  And, now that I have a little color in her she's proving to be so much fun to stitch!  I think she'll go pretty quickly (except for the 24 strawberries inthe border).  I don't know that I'll finish her during the games but I'll sure enjoy stitching on her! 

I'm getting ready to do some framing, my frame for Mary Roe should arrive next week and I still need to lace up my Paradise Lost plus I'm sending a few things out for their frames including Mary Ann Blackburn and Grace Bridges.  So, I decided to press everything and it is fun to see all my recent stitching piled up on the bed together.  My Mom has already offered to take some of it off my hands if I have too much!  LOL, nice try Mom!!  (In the picture below, Paradise Lost is upside down, just in case you're wondering why it looks a bit funny here.)

Grace Bridges Finish

Here she is, finished and in all her glory...

Grace Bridges sampler by Stacy Nash, stitched with the Attic conversion to silk on 36 ct. Lakeside Vintage Examplar linen

I absolutely loved stitching this sampler!  Even the house wasn't that bad, it just was a week or so of stitching and stitching and stitching to get all those bricks!

I had a comment about the brick stitch and what it is in my last post.  All I did to get this effect was to stitch little bricks, I started at the top and stitched four stitches over, went down a row and stitched four stitches back.  That way I would end up with a "brick" that is four stitches wide by two tall.  I'd jump over and stitch another brick somewhere else and eventually work my way back.  I offset the rows of bricks by a half brick (two stitches) as well.  I stitched this in little sections and the varigation in the thread makes the bricks look like slightly different colors. It took a little thought but is a nice break from the stripey look and I just love how it turned out! 

A New Start and a Weekend Away

Last weekend several friends and I took a trip up to Breckenridge, CO for a weekend away and to celebrate a birthday.  It's only a couple hour drive from home and was such a fun and relaxing getaway weekend!  With all the stress this spring and summer a girl's weekend was just what the doctor ordered!  And, the weather cooperated with us too!  Instead of being oppressively hot and sunny like it has been at home, it was cool and rainy for part of our weekend which made for perfect stitching weather! 

We drove up Friday afternoon and Theresa and I were the first to arrive.  We sat out on the deck, admired the view and had fun going through each others stash while we waited for the rest of the group to arrive.  Here was our view from the deck.

 
We had such fun stitching out here on the deck and later in the day listening to the thunder rumble it's way in!  I worked a little on Grace Bridges on Friday evening and again Saturday morning.  I'm getting close to a finish on this one!  Here is my current progress.

Grace Bridges, silks on 36 ct. Lakeside Vintage Examplar

Sorry for the wrinkles and the light shining on the left side of the piece.  Oh well!  The next time I show this it should be finished!  Just the window outlining and one more peacock left!  I was really hoping to get this piece done by today so I could start a new piece for the olympics.  But, it won't be done and I'm going to start an Olympic piece anyway!  That means I'll have four pieces going...

During our girls' weekend, some of us decided to start new projects.  I was going to start One Nation which is going to be my Olympic stitching project but I've had an older Barrick Designs chart kitted up and ready to go.  It's called "By My Hand" and I just love it because it has two funky deer on it, it's very cute!

 

By My Hand, silks on 40 ct. Lakeside Vintage Buttercream

I was able to get the border in and start on the inside.  Alas, I've set this aside now to work on Grace Bridges and of course will be starting One Nation for the Olympics.  Maybe I'll sneak some work on Grace to get her finished up, maybe I'll work only on One Nation and maybe this piece and Ann Sandles will get some attention too.  I don't know how those of you with a WIP rotation keep up!  LOL!  I guess you'll just have to tune in and see what gets stitched on!! 

Doing a Happy Dance, the Gold House is Done!

Happy Dance, happy dance, I'm so happy to be done with the gold house!  In reality this took me a little over a week to finish (my blog posts are off a bit this last week) and the bricks were kind of fun to do but I'm so glad that I'm done with the house and can move on to the rest of the sampler!  I hope the rest of it goes quickly, I have some Olympic stitching to get to! 

TUSAL and a Gold House Update

Here's my July TUSAL update.  You can see from the photos that I've been stitching, stitching, stitching away on that gold house with all the gold at the top.  Each month after I take my TUSAL photo I squish the threads down to the bottom and it's fun to take a close look to see where different project are.  For example, I can see where I did the Briar Rose Etui because of all the pinks and greens in that section of the jar.  I wonder if I'll be able to mark my progress through the rest of the year by the layer of gold from this gold house!

If you're interested in playing along in the TUSAL game, you can join at anytime, just click on the TUSAL post and sign yourself up! 

Speaking of gold house, here is an update on Grace Bridges.  You can see that I'm finally nearing the end of the gold house, yay!!
I'm using a "Brick Stitch" as Jean from Attic Needlework called it.  I'm using the variation in the overdyed thread to stitch little bricks.  I thought since this house is so big it might be a nice change from the stripey look that normally comes with overdyed threads.  I've been working my way through the house in sections with the bricks so there's a little less traveling of threads on the back.  I am really enjoying how this is turning out!  I'm playing catch up on my blog but this is about a week's worth of work on the house and a few more days and I hope to have the house done.  I think that the rest of the sampler will then go very quickly!!