March Smalls SAL

March has been a fabulous month for me for stitching smalls. After finishing off the stitching on a rather large design in February I was in the mood for some quicker, smaller finishes. I managed to stitch four small designs and complete the final finishing on two of these in addition to finishing up some stitches from last year.

It seem only fitting to stitch some St. Patrick's Day pillows.

Lizzie Kate St. Patrick Flip-it

The Primitive Hare Shamrock freebie

These two smalls contributed to my bowl of St. Patrick's Day cheer.

After St. Patrick's Day it was time to bring in some spring themed designs. My two finishes were Threadwork Primitives Bloom and Primitive Stitchin' A Tisket A Tasket. These can be seen here on my previous post. I have plans for the finishing on Bloom but the verdict is still out on how I'll finish the other.

The two finishes from last year which I added the final finishing touches to are Printemps and Beehive, both of which were freebie patterns offered by their designers Martine and Esther.

There is another small start which I didn't quite get finished in time.

This is one of three eggs by Country Garden Stitcher which actually are meant to be stitched all together. I have chosen instead to stitch them individually. They are very similar to the Christmas packages which she has designed. Lots of beads, glitter and colour. Mine is stitched on a lovely lavender opalescent fabric using a Dinky Dyes overdyed silk floss.

With luck I'll have the finished product to show on next month's post! 

As the days get sunnier and warmer I have lots more ideas for small finishes to brighten up the house. I started off the year with a list of large designs which I wanted to finish by year's end but this may just be the year of the small!

March Stitch From Stash

Lots of stitching from my stash this month and I'm happy to report that not a penny was spent. Okay, so in Canada we no longer use the penny, but really I didn't spend anything on stash this month!

My main stitch which I really continue to enjoy has been Three Tulips.

Besides this, I continue to put in a few stitches on PPS Love Thy Neighbour.

I've put this aside for now because I think I'm going to swap out some of the colours with other floss from my stash. Being a part of this group has given me more confidence in using floss from my stash rather than ordering more for each piece. I'm getting more confident on my colour choices and schemes for a design.

I also had two finishes from charts in my stash. Both are spring/Easter designs which will add to my spring decor.

A Tisket, A Tasket by Shelly Auen of Primitive Stitchin'

Threadwork Primitives Bloom

It's amazing what lovelies you can find within your stash!

St. Paddy's Day WIPocalypse

A very Happy St. Paddy's Day to one and all! In honour of the occasion you can see that I've changed my header pic to reflect the celebration. For many years I understood that my maiden name (from which my blog name is derived) was of Welsh extraction. However I recently learned that although my relatives were indeed from Wales, the name is of Irish descent. So I proudly wear my green today!

Now on to the WIPocalypse report. Over the past month I've stitched up and finished two smalls for my Smalls SAL. I'll show pics of the two pillows when I report on the last Wednesday of the month. For now I will tell you that they make up part of that St. Patrick's display on my header pic.

After finishing up The Pink Sparrow I pulled out another of Brenda Gervais' designs. I wanted a spring theme and so I got started on Three Tulips.

I'm not using the called for fabric and as a result I've had to change several of the floss colours. I found one of Nina's floss in my stash from a giveaway win and found it was just perfect for the bunny. I'm still deciding on other floss colours as I go. As you can see I've just started stitching the tulip at the top left and I'm working with two different floss at the moment.The planter on which the bunny sits is a pretty large piece of mostly solid stitching. When I get bored with the dark colour I move around and stitch a few leaves or letters.

The floss on the right of the tulip is the called for floss. The one on the left is another of Nina's floss from my stash. I really don't know which one to go with. Can anyone help me out here? Which do you prefer and why? All input would be welcomed.

Surprise, surprise, another Plum Street Sampler design was my second new start - Love Thy Neighbour.

I'm also tweaking floss on this design as I go. At this point I may be froggin out the yellow portions of the design and replacing them with something a little darker. Paulette was kind enough to provide me with the Canadian/UK version of the chart which uses our spelling of the word neighbour.

I was in the mood for a quick stitch on the weekend and finished up this lovely spring piece by Threadwork Primitives called Bloom.

I have some walnut crystals which I may try out on this linen and give it a bit of an antiqued look. I just hope I don't screw it up!

I've already decided on some spring stitching for my April Smalls SAL which I will be kitting up over the next couple of days. My market purchases are slowing arriving and I may include one of those in another new start once spring arrives. If it ever arrives, lol! Until then, happy stitching!

So Much For Spring!

After several spring-like days with warmer temperatures, sun and melting snow, Mother Nature has decided to play a cruel trick with us. A winter storm just started over the past couple of hours and is forecast to dump another 15-25 cm (6"-10") of snow on our region. We are to expect strong northeasterly winds as well making for dangerous driving conditions. I expect my DH will be cancelling his choir practice tonight since the area where they rehearse is right in the heart of the storm.  Look at the pic below and you'll see the beginnings of the fine white snow.

This little fellow dropped by just as the storm began. He's enjoying a feast from all the droppings left by our feathered visitors.

The milder temperatures earlier in the week pulled me outdoors more so I didn't get as much stitching done as I usually do. 
I snapped the following pics on my way home from a friend's one evening. It was such a lovely sunset and I couldn't resist!

 It seems my mojo has hidden itself lately. I just don't feel like doing much of anything. Here's some progress photos from what little stitching I did accomplish lately.

Not  much done on Love Thy Neighbour but a little more effort was put into Three Tulips below. The planter that the bunny sits on is going to take forever! When I tire of the solid stitching I move around and stitch a few leaves or letters.

I also did a little bit of sewing recently. I have already finished off two pillows for my smalls SAL March commitment and will post pictures the last Wednesday of the month. Hint - St. Paddy's Day takes place this month! Besides those two finishes I took a Blackbird Designs finish from last year and made it into a pillow as well. A sprinkling of birds or bunnies does hint at spring's slow arrival.

The few times I did sit down to stitch lately, Clarisse has sat beside me or along the back of the sofa just waiting for an opportunity to play with my floss. Can you see the devil in her eyes?

"Please Mom, look at me! Won't you stop and play?" So one morning I cut off a piece of ribbon, brought it out and proceeded to make her happy. See how she sits and waits for the ribbon to appear between the cushions?

Got it!!

Unfortunatetly I've created a monster! I can't ever sit down now without playing the game. She sits patiently by my side and if I ignore her, not bringing out the ribbon, she cries constantly and paws at my legs. She never seems to tire and wants the game to go on forever. Bob has tried to distract her and get her to play with him but she's having none of it.  I love sitting by the windows in the morning with all the natural light to stitch by but I've resorted to skulking in the basement rec room in my Lazy Boy in an effort to escape her. Ah well, once spring has arrived and we can make it outdoors to the gazebo once more her attention will be diverted to better things. 

I've been meaning to tell you about a local artist that I discovered this past fall. When my sister was here visiting we took in a Fall/Christmas craft show in Ottawa. We discovered a booth with lovely glass mosaic art. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the artist, Cindy Laneville, lived just 10 minutes from me in the next village. I fell in love with many of her works including the wonderful lanterns she makes and old furnishings and windows that she adapts with her art. Recently she posted some pics of birds that she had done on her Facebook page. I contacted her, dropped by for a visit and came home with this small framed piece. I do love birds! 

The snow is intensifying and I'm heading down to the gas fireplace to sit and stitch awhile. I certainly hope this is the last storm of the season!
PS. The owls are still around. I snapped this pic just after sunset on my return home last evening.

She's Done It Again!

Nancy that is, over at Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe. Follow the link to see her latest wonderful sampler chart giveaway. You won't be disappointed! Don't forget to tell her I sent you over.

A Spring Floss Giveaway!

Yes, you heard right! Nancy over at Victorian Motto is having a wonderful spring giveaway. It's sure to lift the lowest of spirits for any stitcher. Just follow the link for a breath of spring!