Elizabeth J M Mears Finished!

I just put the last stitches in today! I can't believe it's finished! I never thought I'd see this day! :)

These zigzag stitches took a lot longer than I thought they would...

Queenstown Sampler Designs "Elizabeth J M Mears 1833"

Fabric: 40 ct. Vintage Meadow Rue by Lakeside Linens

Threads: Needlepoint Inc. Silk

Started: 1/1/2011 - Finished: 5/5/2012

Not sure what I'm going to work on now. I may get back to Elizabeth Sheffield or start something new! Hope you all have a great weekend!

Elizabeth Mears as of 5/2/12

Elizabeth Mears as of 5/2/12, a photo by Nicole's Needlework on Flickr.

I'm almost finished! I just have to do the zig zag stitches on the top!

Back from Florida!

We had a great time in Florida. It really flew by. Now, I'm just trying to get used to getting up at 6 am every morning again. :)

I worked on Elizabeth Mears a little bit while down there. I finished up the eyelet and rice stitch borders...

40 ct. Vintage Meadow Rue, NPI silks (1 over 2)

I decided to go to the cross stitch shop (Nantz Needlework and Framing) nearest my in-law's last Friday. I walked into the shop and there were a few people in there, but I didn't pay too much attention. I was walking around, looking at patterns, when I hear one of the ladies mention Swan Sampler Guild. I look over and wonder if it's Cari from Simply Fabulous Cari. I know her sister Cathy is in the guild and I know that Cari lives in the area. Sure enough it was her and we recognized each other at almost the exact same time. It was just too funny!! It was so great to finally meet her and two of her friends that were with her. They invited me to lunch with them and then to stitch at Starbucks. It was a wonderful day! I hope to meet up with Cari and her friends again in the summer.

Waiting for me when I got home was the newest Blackbird Loose Feathers. I just love the design "Spring's Song" inside the booklet...

Check out Brenda's beautiful progress!! I'm ready to drop everything and start! :)

Works in Progress

I went up to Amy's for a day of stitching and chatting yesterday. It was so nice to get away! I worked on Christmas Garden while I was there.

40 ct. Vintage Lt. Examplar, CC & GAST (1 over 2)

Earlier in the week I worked on Elizabeth Mears.

I'm now working on the eyelet alphabet row...

40 ct. Vintage Meadow Rue, NPI (1 over 2)

And last, but not least, I got a little bit of stash while at Amys. I couldn't resist getting another fat 1/4 of the pretty dye-lot of Vintage Lt. Examplar that I'm using for Christmas Garden.

I can't wait to stitch this sweet little Adam & Eve design by Little House...

Well, next week is going to be very busy. The kids have field trips, egg hunts and dentist appointments. We are also going to be heading down to Florida on Thursday for spring break. We'll be down there for over a week, so I'll post when I can. I hope you all have a wonderful Easter with your families and friends.

Elizabeth Mears Progress

Here is a little progress on Elizabeth...

Progress as of 3/24/12

I finally finished the castle! After I finished the bottom half, I put the sampler on a scroll frame in order to do the specialty stitches a little easier.

Progress as of 3/26/12

The queen stitch band seemed to take forever. Mainly because I had to rip out parts of it twice and it still isn't quite right (it's up a stitch), but I wasn't going to take out again.

40 ct. Vintage Meadow Rue, NPI silks (1 over 2)

Thank you for all your kind comments about my framed Sarah. I haven't hung it up yet - I have it setting on a small dresser near my stitching spot for now. I can't stop admiring it! :)

Almost there....

I'm almost finished with the castle on Elizabeth Mears. I just have to add a chimney and a few other things on top. I'm sure those things have names, but I'm too tired to think of or search for what they might be. :)

40 ct. Vintage Meadow Rue, NPI silks (1 over 2)

I also got a new pattern in the mail the other day...

It's "Jane Pattison 1806" by Shakespeare's Peddler. I have decided to use the cottons instead of the wools on 40 ct. linen. I think I'm going to go with Lakeside Linens Lentil.

Elizabeth Mears

I decided to get Elizabeth Mears back out yesterday. I really would love to get it finished up sometime this year. The castle is what made me put it away. It's huge! This is where I left off last year...

And this is where I'm at now...

40 ct. Vintage Meadow Rue, NPI silks (1 over 2)

I also worked on Christmas Garden a little bit...

40 ct. Vintage Lt. Examplar, CC and GAST (1 over 2)

I'm almost finished with the border. It really is such a fun sampler to stitch.

Another sampler I've wanted to stitch for a long time is Shakespeare's Peddler's "Spanish Mystery Sampler." I decided to kit it up after seeing Natalia's beautiful finish!

Not sure when I'll get to it, but I love it! Well, I'd better get going - I have a date with the copier at my son's school. :)

Construction Continues

I'm still working on the castle part of Elizabeth Mears (it's going to take awhile - it's huge and solid stitching).




40 ct. Vintage Meadow Rue, NPI Silks.

I also got a small start on the "Soar Sampler." It's so hard to photograph black linen though. I'm going to try again tomorrow when the lighting is better.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Elizabeth Mears Progress

I worked on EM a little bit yesterday. This castle is going to take me forever!!

40 ct. Vintage Meadow Rue, NPI silks (1 over 2)

I was thinking of starting With Thy Needle & Thread's "Soar Sampler." I'm loving all the progress pics on her blog.

I'm planning on using 32 ct. Black Belfast linen with DMC...

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Decisions

I made a tiny bit more progress on Elizabeth...

And today I went to It's a Stitch to get some threads for Hannah Pepper. I just wasn't happy with a couple of the colors I converted. I ended up getting the AVAS for those.

So My final color list is...

AVAS - NPI
4116 - 905
3426 - 156
4146 - 587
2533 - 694
945 - 636 - 504 (last minute change)
2242 - Same
2236 - Same
3441 - 671
2914 - Same

Now, I can finally stop obsessing over Hannah! :)

I also decided on the main fabric for Mrs. Waddelow's basket and Huswif...

It's from the Bonnie Blue Basics line. I hope to get a few more colors to go with it one of these days.

Well, nothing really going on here. Just made dinner (turkey burgers and sweet potato fries) and now I'm going to stitch! Write soon!

ETA: This post was in my drafts, not sure why I never published it! I decided to go ahead and do it today, which is why it's just now showing up after all this time. :)

Stitching

I've been stitching quite a bit on Elizabeth Mears...

40 ct. Vintage Meadow Rue, NPS (1 over 2)

I also decided to start a couple new things. The first being Mrs. Waddelow's Needlework Basket. I finished up the ruler. I mainly wanted to see how the coverage would be using only one strand and I think it will be okay.

32 ct. Vintage Buttercream, Belle Soie "Sister Scarlet" (1 over 2)

The other thing I decided to start is "All Our Troubles" by La-D-Da. I have always loved this design and when I saw Cathy's progress on her blog the other day, I knew I had to stitch it.

40 ct. Examplar, NPS (1 over 2)

Well, it's been a difficult week for Lisa's family and friends. I know I have been up and down a lot. I'm so glad that I have you all and my stitching to bring me comfort and joy. Thank you for all your kind words. They really mean so much!

Therapy

It has been a very sad couple of days. Lisa was an amazing woman. I didn't know her long, but I am so glad I knew her for the amount of time that I did. She was so generous, so creative and so full of life. Words just can't express how much she'll be missed. My stitching has been here to comfort me - it's such great therapy.

I finished the May block (which I personalized for my dad) on Anniversaries of the Heart...

40 ct. Meadow Rue by Lakeside Linens, various cotton threads (1 over 2).

I also got Elizabeth Mears back out ...

40 ct. Vintage Meadow Rue by Lakeside Linens, NPI silks (1 over 2).

The soft colors are very soothing. Write soon...

Elizabeth Mears Start

I've been working on Elizabeth all weekend. I was going to set her aside today to work on Shores, but it didn't happen. I guess I'm enjoying it too much to put it down!

40 ct. Vintage Meadow Rue by Lakeside Linens, NPI silks (1 over 2).

This is going to be a huge sampler! Check out Ellen's latest wip pic. It's just amazing!!

Well, the kids go back to school tomorrow. Time to get back to our routine. No more sleeping in - I'll really miss that! :) Write soon!

Happy New Year!!

I'm home from Florida! I just got home tonight and I'm so happy to be here! I had a great time with my family, but I'm ready to get back to my routine. I have missed my bed and my stitchy spot! :) Speaking of stitching, I thought I'd share my 2010 finishes.

I didn't have as many finishes as I would have liked. I had hoped to at least have Shores and Paradise Lost finished this year, but I went through that big slump in the summer and early fall. Here is my latest progress pic of Shores, which I worked on a little bit earlier this week...

And here's my little Frances Eden progress pic...

Not a whole lot stitched on it since the last pic. I'm seriously thinking of starting another big sampler for New Year's (I know, I've lost it)!

Elizabeth J M Mears 1833. I fell in love with this design after seeing Ellen's wip pic. Well, I hope you all have a very Happy New Year's. I plan to get settled on my couch and ring in the new year with my stitching (maybe even with Elizabeth)! :) Write soon!!