Wednesday 25 March 2015

A Little Luck

With the month of March signifying the arrival of St. Patrick's Day and because we can all use a little luck, I decided to stitch up something with that theme for this month's Smalls SAL. I found just what I was looking for with this sweet little design by Nan Lewis of Threadwork Primitives. 

 
As soon as I saw this I knew I had just the right fabric to complement the design. I added a couple of old buttons and some matching trim from the dollar store to finish it off. I'm pretty happy with the results.

I'm now home recuperating from a knee replacement. I had a bit of a bad day yesterday but when I opened up yesterday's mail it brought a huge smile to my face.


  This sweet little ditty was designed and made especially for me by my dear friend Nan who has been thinking of me during my recuperation. Isn't it gorgeous?!  The fabrics are really lovely.She knows how much I love deer so she made sure there was one in the stitching and adding my initials was also special. It now sits on the table by my stitching chair, holding my scissors and spare floss.
Thank you so much Nan! I love it!!

I've had some new purchases arrive from my order following the Nashville needle market. I loved so many of the new designs and I will be starting on one of these in the very near future. You'll just have to wait to see which one!
 I'm just starting to feel well enough to get back into my stitching since my surgery. I was uncomfortable at first and found it hard to settle down. Now I have several ideas of spring pieces that I want to get started at. I hope to have pictures of some new starts on my next post. Until then, Happy Spring! 
 

Friday 13 March 2015

A Quick Update

It's been absolutely lovely here recently. We've had a couple of milder days with lots of sun and our snow is melting, bit by bit. I know spring is on its way but I always dislike this time of year. The snowbanks are a dirty gray from all the road spray and there are potholes and puddles everywhere. Besides the potholes on the roads, the roads themselves start to heave and dip due to the freeze-thaw cycle. It's impossible to drive certain routes at this time unless you want to do some serious damage to your vehicle. 
On the up side, the days are longer and now the time change has occurred so are the evenings.

Today is a dull, cloudy day but despite that we've had a few visitors to our feeder.
 First came the purple finch and exactly why do they call it purple when it's obviously red?


He was followed by a common redpoll. We don't see as many of these. They are sub-arctic birds and only venture south occasionally. He looks a bit chilly, doesn't he?


We've heard robins singing but haven't actually seen one yet.

I've had some quality stitching and finishing time this week and have a few finishes to show you.


This is Threadwork Primitives Wintertime. As I finished stitching the border I realized a small error. I counted wrong on my deer to the right which resulted in the placement of the upper snowflake being too high by one row. Consequently the border touches it. At this point though I was not about to frog the whole deer and snowflake. It's my own unique version! Interesting though because this type of mistake would have driven me crazy in the past. Am I mellowing? Who knows, lol?

Then I finished up this sweet little pillow for a very dear friend. As soon as I laid eyes on this pattern I knew exactly who it was going to. The last pic is of the fabric I used for the backing. This design is by Annie Beez Folkart.







 I also finished up a cute St. Patrick's Day finish for this months Smalls SAL commitment but you will have to wait until the 25th of the month to see this one.

I've been working on Briar Rabbit over the past two days and I'm making progress. Just a couple of leaves, a couple of letters and the bunny himself and then this will be done.






The lighting here today is just the pits and I can't get a decent photo of my stitching. The fabric I'm stitching on is actually much darker than it appears.

A new start I have on the go is Threadwork Primitives My Work. 


 This one will also be going to a friend as a housewarming gift.

I've picked out a couple more small starts for Easter stitching including He Is Risen by Country Rustic Primitives.  
I also have a couple of ideas for some larger designs but they will have to wait until I get home from the hospital, during my recuperation. Perhaps one of the new market releases?

I probably won't be posting again until the end of the month after I'm home. I'll see how well I'm progressing with my physio, etc.
See you soon!


 
 

Thursday 5 March 2015

March WIPocalypse and Hints of Spring

March's full moon is here and with it comes this weekend's time change, more daylight and birdsong. Yaaay! Spring is drawing ever closer. 
As one season draws to a close and another nears its beginning, I'm working on finishing two designs, one representing each season.

I started Threadwork Primitives Wintertime at the start of the new year. I should have been finished this by now but it kept being pushed to the side to work on other designs. I have just one deer and the border to finish on this one. 


 The second design is a cute bunny sampler from La D Da called Briar Rabbit. I only have one of the bunny's ears stitched so far. I still have parts of the border to finish but I needed a change so I moved on to the letters for a day or so.


I also had two other finishes recently which can be seen here on my previous post. 
Today I'm pulling out some ideas for my March Smalls SAL. I haven't decided if I want to stitch something for St. Patrick's Day or if I want to move right on by to spring and Easter. Probably the latter. 

The Nashville Needlework Market has just finished and there are a bevy of lovely new patterns out there for the taking! I've limited myself to just four when there were probably about a dozen that I would have liked to order. Brenda Gervais of With Thy Needle & Thread has 11 new designs alone! I ordered Brenda's In Season  and Plum Street Samplers Chocolate Harts plus I've asked a friend who is attending a post market release launch at a needlework shop to pick up PSS Black Cherry Tart and Blackbird Designs new book  In Friendship's Way. 
I'm looking forward to starting one of these new designs in the near future!

The sun is out and it's a lovely day here today which has brought out many feathered friends to our yard. Here are just a few.




My knee replacement surgery is scheduled for Mar. 16 so you may or may not see me on here for a bit depending on how well I recover. I'm hoping to get in some quality stitching once I'm home. I'm really looking forward to this coming summer when with a new hip and knee I'll be in far better shape than I have for some time.  I'm planning lots of walks and some boating too.

This weekend is the time change to daylight savings time so don't forget to put your clock ahead before bed on Saturday night! Looking forward to some longer daylight in the evenings.

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