Tuesday 29 May 2018

May WIPocalypse

May has involved a fair amount of stitching for me but only during the first week of the month and the latter 10 days or so. The rest of the month I've been dealing with vertigo which sidelines me from time to time. 
Last month's question, What is your longest running WIP?, involved my digging into my journal of starts. I knew which piece had been hiding out in the closet but I wasn't sure just when I had started it originally. As it turned out it was A Mon Ami Pierre Paradis Perdu which I started stitching in January of 2012. Now 2012 was the first full year following my retirement and when I look back at my journal I see that I kind of went overboard on stitching that year. Paradis Perdu was indeed lost in all the shuffle and brought out roughly once per year thereafter for some token stitching. However nothing has been added to it since early 2015. 

Once more I dug it out and gave it some love. Will it get finished this year? One only knows!
These are the before pics.




I've concentrated on the alphabet mostly this month and the apple tree. Here's my  progress so far.




I also picked up Awake My Soul and it's very close to completion. All that remains is the border.


May is a month of birthdays here..... my daughter-in-law, me and my son. This past Sunday we joined Chris and Violet in a joint celebration of our birthdays as well as a delayed Mother's Day celebration. Chris and V have just returned from their honeymoon so after a great dinner at Pub Italia in Ottawa we went back to their place to view all the photos from their trip. 


Earlier in the month I paid a visit to the Tulip Festival in Ottawa. I try to make it to this event at least every couple of years. Most of the tulips can be seen at Dow's Lake which is a great location for them.







Tulips are a favourite of mine and I enjoy seeing all the new varieties.








Tomorrow I'm headed to Harrisburg, PA for the 2018 Prim Stitchers Society Retreat. I'm so excited and can hardly wait to see all my friends. Next month I should have lots of pics from the event. Until then, have a great month. Summer has arrived!

Saturday 26 May 2018

May Smalls

There's been an awful lot of stitching and finishing of smalls going on here during the month of May. In fact it's probably the most that I've ever completed during one month. Of course it was all due to my procrastination and another bout of vertigo which set me on the back burner for a couple of weeks. In any case I had 5 gifts to complete either the finishing of or the stitching and finishing of before I leave for the Prim Stitchers Society Retreat next week. One gift is for the optional exchange which takes place at the end of the retreat while the other four are birthday gifts for friends whose birthdays have either recently passed or are up and coming. I'll hold off posting a pic of the retreat gift in case anyone who is attending spots it on here. The other ladies don't generally check out my blog so I think it's safe to post pics of the gifts.

First up is a piece I stitched back in early 2017 by Blackbird Designs called Remember Me. I knew exactly who I wanted to gift it to but only completed the finishing this week.




Next is a sweet little pinkeep from the Summer House Stitcheworks series Fragments in Time. I personalized this one with my initials as well as my friend's.



The third piece is a design by Shakespeare's Peddler called Jenny Bean's Pin Tuffet. I didn't have a small tart tin or base with which to make a tuffet so instead I made a small pinwheel. I improvised and used lace trim instead of ribbon since I didn't have any that worked. I love how it turned out!



The final finish is appropriately called Bee Heart and is a design by E SubRosa. I have never ever completed a heart shaped pillow and this was a challenge for me since I am neither a great finisher or into sewing. It didn't turn out too badly though. It's just a little wonky on one side but I know my friend won't care and will love it.


Next month I'll post a pic of my retreat exchange gift and any new smalls I get to. 
At this time I want to thank each and every one of you who left comments on my recent posts. I really appreciate them and usually try to respond to your comments but this darn vertigo has kept me away from a lot of reading, stitching and keyboarding. The eye movements just aggravate things. There are a number of reasons why we suspect that I've had a recurrence but it takes time and rest to get rid of it. I'm feeling a little better this past week so hopefully it's on its way out. 
Take care and keep those comments coming. I love hearing from you!


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