Sunday, August 30, 2009

Quilting, Stitching, and Stashing

I started the quilting on my little table topper. I have decided to do outline quilting, which basically follows the shape of the seams. I think it's coming out ok. I'm trying to take my time and not be so spastic!

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I went to Amy's yesterday and it was a lot of fun as always! We stitched, shopped and ate (Pizza Hut, yum)! I stitched a little bit on my CHS Alphabet.

CHS Alphabet A-F
36 ct. Examplar, GAST (1 over 2).

When I got home I decided to get out my CHS Sampler Stocking and work on it some. I would love to get it finished also.

Carriage House Samplings "Sampler Stocking"
40 ct. Meadow Rue, NPI Silk (1 over 2).

I also got a little bit of stash while at Amy's.

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Prairie Schooler "When Witches go Riding," Blue Ribbon Designs "A Sampling in the Square," and Primitive Traditions "A Cheerful Mind."

I was thinking of stitching "When Witches go Riding" using these Belle Soie...

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Here's my conversion if anyone is interested. I used Shepherd's Bush's model as a guide, but I have no idea what they actually used.

DMC - Belle Soie
420 - Butterscotch
422 - Butterscotch
898 - Kiwi
937 - Collard Greens
3371 - Noir
3826 - Lasagne
3857 - Sister Scarlet

Elegant Eggplant for 898 words.

Well, that's all for now! I've got to get back to laundry, dishes and cleaning to get ready for the coming week. Write soon!

Friday, August 28, 2009

Stitching and Fabric

I got a little more progress on "My Lady's Quaker."

My Lady's Quaker

I also decided to pull out an old UFO. Carriage House Samplings Alphabet.

Carriage House Alphabets

I started this when I was pregnant with Matthew (over three years ago) and decided to get it back out after seeing Siobhan's beautiful framed piece. I would love to get this one finished up!

I also went to my local quilt shop (People, Places and Quilts) today. It's a beautiful shop in historic Summerville. I got some backing and binding fabric for my table topper.

Table topper with fabric

I got the blue for the back and the brown for the binding. I also picked up a few fat quarters while I was there. All the fabric I got is from the Moda Figgy Pudding line.

Moda quilt fabric - Figgy Pudding

Tomorrow I'm going to Amy's to stitch and shop! I can't wait for that!! It's been a long time since I've been away (without kids). I need it!! Write Later!


Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Here it is......

I was like a woman obsessed putting this together last night. My seams are not quite matching up, but I'm not going to beat myself up too much. It was my first time after all! :)



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I think I'm going to go to the quilt shop today to get some backing fabric to match it and try to get it finished up today. I would love to also find a good book on quilting. I really would like to take a beginner's class, but I didn't see any listed in the shop newsletter. Maybe in another month or so they'll have one. Thank you for the encouragement everyone!! :) It's so much fun to learn something new!

I also worked on My Lady's Quaker last night. I got the bottom of her skirt finished. It's looking so cute. I'll take a pic when I have a little more progress. Write soon!

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Am I really going to attempt this???

I love quilts. I have always loved quilts. My grandma makes beautiful quilts. She has given me and the boys several, which I treasure and will treasure always. My mom also made me a HAND-STITCHED quilt. It's also beautiful. Made with all repro fabrics. I have always wanted to learn how to quilt, but have been too nervous (not to mention I don't really need another hobby). Anyway, while in Florida I bought a Moda Layer Cake in the Bistro line of fabrics.

Moda Bistro Layer Cake

I love the quilt Marsha made for her granddaughter, Brea (Paulette's daughter), using the same fabrics. I saw this free design for a table topper on the Fat Quarter Shop website and thought "Hey, maybe I could do that?" So I cut up my fabric into 5" squares and now I may be attempting to sew them together. We'll see how that goes. baby steps here, baby steps....

A future table topper??

Wish me luck (if you don't know already - I consider myself the world's worst sewer!).


Finch Song Finished!!

I got it finished up today! I'm so glad to have it done!! :)

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Finch Song Finished!!

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Shepherd's Bush "Finch Song" Kit
32 ct. French Vanilla Linen
Various Silk Threads
Alternative Lettering Designed by Cynthia C.
Started: 7/20/09 - Finished: 8/25/09

Now I just have to decide what to work on next. I may try to get something else finished, so I can justify starting something new! :) Write soon!

Sunday, August 23, 2009

What I've Been up to

I worked on LHN "Starr of Mine" earlier in the week. But there's so much grass I had to put it away for a bit.

LHN Starr of Mine

I then decided to join Amy's SAL for My Lady's Quaker the other day. At first I was going to use one of these combination's of Belle Soie...

My Lady's Quaker by Jardin Prive

And then I decided to use Cotton Threads to match Monique's version....

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And finally I decided to go with Needlepoint Inc. Silk. I'm very happy with my choice (I used NPI 223, 222, 706, 344, 923 and 903). I'm a little concerned about the light peach for the skin. I wondering if it's a little too light??

My Lady's Quaker

I have also been working on "Finch Song." I would love to get it finished soon!

Finich Song as of 8/23/09

The kids had a great week at school. I had a great week enjoying being at home again! Well, the laundry and dishes are calling me! Write soon!



P.S. I have decided not to start Mary Wigham over after all. I think I'm going to use the silks for a completely different project. :)

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Finally Home!

I'm home, but I've been busy! The kids went back to school yesterday, so I had to start getting them ready right when we got back on Saturday.

First Day of School

I don't really have any stitching to share. We were so busy while up in NY that I crashed every night instead of staying up for a bit to stitch. We had a lot of fun - I took a ton of pictures (most are in my flickr album). We're all so glad to be back though and back into our routine (and back in our beds)!! :)

Hopefully, I will have some stitching to share soon!

Friday, August 07, 2009

Because I have nothing else going on.....

I have decided to start something new and restart something old. I'm in Fredericksburg, Virginia with the kids. We got here about 6 pm. Before leaving I kitted LHN's new design "Starr of Mine" from The Gift of Stitching. I decided to put in a couple stitches tonight....

Starr of Mine start

I mean I literally put a couple of stitches in it (4 1/2 to be exact). I decided to go with one of my favorite linens 32 ct. Vintage Examplar.

The project I have decided to restart is Mary Wigham (I know I restart way too many things - it's definitely a sickness). I saw these silks (scroll down) on Stef's blog and fell in love. And I decided to start from the bottom, which is my favorite place to start. :)

Mary Wigham restart

Well, we have a big day tomorrow, so I guess I should get some sleep. I'm hoping I'll have internet in NY, but I'm not sure yet. So I'll write when I can! :)

Thursday, August 06, 2009

Home for a Day

I got home yesterday from Florida and tomorrow we are leaving again for New York. We're going to stay in Virginia and then I'm going to take the boys for a quick trip to D.C. I told them to pick one thing they really want to do and they picked the National Museum of Natural History. After that we are going to drive on up to Long Island, NY. My MIL is there and we are going to stay with her sister for a week. On Thursday we have reservations to go up to the crown of The Statue of Liberty, so that should be a lot of fun. I'd love to go to SoHo to see all the cool shops, but I'm not sure what we'll have time to do. There's so much I'd like to do! It's been 17 years since I've been to NYC. :)

I did get some stitching done while I was down in Florida. I mostly worked on "Finch Song." Here's my latest progress pic...

Finch Song

Well, I'd better get back to doing laundry and repacking our bags. Write later!