Hit the ground running...

As I was starting to get concerned about getting started on the next Neighborhood Round Robin (Group 3), and having it finished in time for the first mailing on July 15, I decided to get started tonight. I was able to grid my fabric and stitch quite a lot of my design. After getting this much done tonight, I am no longer worried about meeting the deadline. And, I hope that when stitchers receive my RR, they may feel a sense of relief, as I chose to make my blocks only 60 x 60 stitches. I am using 36 ct Summer Khaki Edinburgh linen, and am stitching part of Geranium House by Country Cottage Needleworks to start it off. I am asking each stitcher to stitch a house of any style they choose, as long as it is the house she would like to live in in my neighborhood :-)
It is also Christmas Ornament SAL weekend, and I stitched this one up today. It is Merry Christmastide by Shepherd's Bush. I plan to finish this off into a small needleroll with a little ribbon on the top to hang on the tree. I will do that as soon as I can find the time.

For those who asked, Mike loves his new iPhone. He found it does have a couple of glitches (all related to photos and transferring them, or some such thing), but apparently nothing major. He has it with him all the time, that is for sure - LOL

I am not sure how I got all of this done today. I did a lot of other things today, yet also got this stitching done... very strange. Hope everyone is having a great weekend!!

Stitched on today: Stitched ornament for Christmas Ornament SAL, and started my Hello Neighbor Round Robin, Group 3

Almost there...

What's a rotation? I seem to have forgotten. Tonight I was clueless as to what to stitch, so I grabbed what was near my chair - Bordeaux Sampler. I am pretty close to finishing it now. I probably should have spent tonight gridding out my RR fabric, though... Oh I know, I should do that on Tuesday (or sooner) since Paradigm Lost is finished... wow, July is going to be a busy month with many commitments. I best get myself organized!!

My silly husband, who absolutely hates to wait in any kind of line for more than a mere moment, actually spent six hours waiting at the Mall today for the release of the Apple iPhone. He was fourth in line and got his within five minutes of the doors opening up tonight. He simply proved to me that he can actually wait for things... now I need to figure out how to use that to get him to be more patient with other things!!

I sent off my Fair and Square blocks today to Margaret Wong - I hope they do not take long to get to Kuala Lumpur! And, I also posted off my Summer Quaker exchange back on Monday (6/25)...

Stitched on today: Started a gift, and Bordeaux Sampler

For Deb...

Deb has let me know that she has received my little belated birthday gift that I sent to her on Monday. Since I primarily spent tonight finishing another gift that I cannot show yet, I will post the photo of Deb's gift instead:
Nature's Alphabet "D" Fob
Elizabeth's Designs
Silkweaver 32 ct Belfast Solo, DMC Floss

The PIF signups I have counted so far are Dawn, Harmien, Jen (ollie), Melissa and Joanne... I need addresses for Melissa and Joanne (please email them to me at carolsutcliffe@comcast.net) - thanks!!! **Oh, that's 5! All set with sign ups - excellent!

Stitched on today: Bordeaux Sampler, and finished a gift

Thank You :-)

Oh my! Thank you for all of the wonderful comments about Paradigm Lost!! I never expected to hear from so many of you!! It is especially nice to have some new commenters in my blog - welcome! It was nice to hear from you :-)
It's Wednesday, so of course, it was time to have some wine in Bordeaux again - OK, that's true - I don't drink wine! This one is winding down really soon now too. I am working on the last band. The little boxers at the bottom are really quite frowny. I wonder if they made a bad batch of wine??

OK, I am doing another PIF! I signed up on Karin's blog a couple of days ago. I haven't heard back from her, but even if her group is full and cannot fit me in, I will still offer a PIF group here in my blog. I still have a small handful of PIF gifts to make from the last round (I did not forget you, ladies), and the new sign ups will be getting their gifts from me sometime within the next 12 months (hopefully less). So, the first five to comment that they want to join will receive a hand made gift from me. All you have to do is put this offer in your blog and make gifts for five people. OK, who wants in??

I have some flowers from my garden to share today. I have been thinking about a garden swap - are any of my US stitching friends interested in trading divisions of perennials this fall? I thought it would be quite neat to make a new flower bed that contains only divisions from my stitching friends. Customs and some US Dept of Agriculture restrictions apply, so only US friends can do this... any thoughts??

Here are some daylilies - the first is Brocaded Gown... I cannot recall the names of the other two... and then there is my favorite white peony... which is really bowing this year with very heavy blooms...

Stitched on today: Finished Fair and Square project, started a gift, and Bordeaux Sampler

Paradigm Lost is Finished

I accepted the challenge put forth in my blog comments and, especially, in an email... and I finished Paradigm Lost tonight. It was pretty quick going once the last good sized motif was finished. I just looked back in my records, and this took almost a year to stitch, and it was stitched only on Tuesdays (except for this week)... It looks like Jo will have her finish very, very soon too :-)

Paradigm Lost
Long Dog Samplers
Silkweaver 40 ct Purely Primitive Newcastle Linen
Hand-Dyed Fibers Silk - Konini
Stitched 7/18/06 - 6/26/07

I heard from Lauren today that the little birthday gift that I sent to her a while back arrived safely. I was getting very worried about this one. Apparently, Lauren was away on a business trip during her birthday...

Sun Mandala Biscornu
Kindred Spirits Designs
28 ct Antique Ivory Jobelan, DMC Color Variations - Summer Breeze

And, Gill has let me know that her little birthday gift has arrived safe and sound too :-) I was looking forward to stitching this one for a while... I love the smyrna cross grapes on this one. The photo on Gill's blog of this fob shows the real color of the fabric - my photo is a bit overexposed, taken close to dusk outside...
Nature's Alphabet "G" Fob
Elizabeth's Designs
Zweigart 32 ct Vintage Country Mocha Belfast Linen, DMC Floss

I took a couple of garden photos today too, but I will hold on to them for another time, as there are enough photos in this post tonight :-)

Thank you, Karen!!! Karen sent me a generous gift certificate as an early birthday gift, and I ordered Just Nan's new Bellemeade - I love this one! It arrived today!!! Yay!!!

Stitched on today: Finished Paradigm Lost, and Fair and Square project

Fair and Square Progress

Today I finally started my Fair and Square block for Margaret Wong. I decided to stitch the smaller friendship chart that is in one of the LHN Dear Diary chartpacks. Margaret lists LHN as one of her favorite designers, and since the theme of Fair and Square is friendship, I thought this would be a good start for her quilt. Now just to decide if I will stitch the border or not... looking at it again now, I think I will :-)

I took some garden photos over the weekend and forgot about them! I will share just a couple, as plenty of blogs are full of garden photos right now... above is Butterscotch Ruffles, one of my daylilies...

And, this is for Becky! One of my rosebushes had a lot of bees on it so I snuck up as close as I could to snap a shot - I couldn't get that close as I had just put on Liz Claiborne's Curve and I didn't want the bees to decide I was a flower too - LOL!! Anyhow, this is for you, Becky!!

I sent off my Summer Quaker Exchange on my way home from work this afternoon - I do hope my recipient enjoys her package :-)

Stitched on today: Bordeaux Sampler, started Fair and Square, Paradigm Lost

A little bit of Paradigm Lost

I know I should have gridded out my fabric for the Hello Neighbor Group Three round robin today... but I just could not do that and watch baseball at the same time. My SAL mate gave me the green light to finish at my own pace on Paradigm Lost since she is busy with so many things going on right now.... so, after much thinking I finally did pick it up and put on a few of the smaller motifs. I didn't go tearing through it though. I showed some restraint. But... that gridding is still looming large for me...

Stitched on today: Stitched a gift, and Paradigm Lost

Another Gift to Share

Thank you all for the sweet comments on the fob I made for Von's birthday... and for the other recent gifts I have stitched. You make me feel so good :-) I am going to spend tonight stitching another gift, so I will share with you the one that Joanie received from me today. Her birthday is tomorrow. I know that Joanie likes samplers, so I went with this little fob, which is a bit of a puzzle.... the front of the fob is J for Joanie, and the back is L for her last name.... well, the J is easy to read, but it is a bit of a trick to decipher the L's on the back :-) I am glad that Joanie likes this:

Red Velvet Building Blocks Fob

Blue Ribbon Designs

32 ct Vintage Country Mocha Belfast Linen, and Gentle Art Sampler Threads ~ Cranberry

Stitched 6/16/07 - 6/17/07

We had a cookout at our house today - some of Mike's family, some of mine, and a friend.... but... neither of us remembered to take photos - again! Sorry!!! This was just meant to be a summer cookout, but many also brought gifts for Mike's birthday - awwww :-)

Oh, if you have not already seen this, Becky has started up a fun new blog called The World's Largest Collection of Smalls. I think this is a great idea - Becky is shooting for a record here - would love to have one place where we can all show photos of the many smalls we like to stitch up. Let's try to get the biggest collection ever on the internet! To join is easy - click on the link I just provided and Becky gives you the instructions at the top of the blog - I hope you join us!!!

OK, I am off now to finish a gift I just started, and to watch the Red Sox game... I did manage to finish the Summer Quaker exchange last night - what a busy month! I hope to get back to my rotation soon :-)

Stitched on today: Stitched a gift - nope, stitched it, but ruined it with a finishing boo boo :-( Will restitch it tomorrow...sigh

Mike's Birthday

Thank you all for the well wishes! I certainly do feel quite a bit better today! I did need the rest. In the meantime, though, I did decide it is time for a physical. With new health insurance now, I am searching for a new primary care doc...

I am going to spend all the time that I can tonight trying to finish up the Summer Quaker Exchange for the SBEBB, which is, of course, secret stitching at the moment... But, I can share this. Von has received the little birthday gift that I stitched up for her:

Nature's Alphabet V Fob
Elizabeth's Designs
32 ct Vintage Country Mocha Belfast Linen
DMC floss
Stitched 6/11/07 - 6/13/07

Today is Mike's 47th Birthday - Happy Birthday Mike!!

OK... I am off to get those stitches into that exchange project now!!!

Stitched on today: Summer Quaker Exchange (finished!!)

On to Part 7...

I'm not feeling too well today - I am really tired and am heading off to bed. I was up really early this morning for a CEU course ("therapy school", as I call it) for my license. I have been feeling off all day. I figure sleep will fix it. I did put a little bit of time in on Bordeaux again tonight, as it was still by my chair... just a little bit, and now I am on to Band 7, the final band...

I didn't make it over to the blogs today - hopefully I can catch up tomorrow :-) Hope you all are well!

Stitched on today: Summer Quaker Exchange, and Bordeaux Sampler

RAK from Kendra!

Oh my gosh! I cannot stop saying that! I just received the most amazing little gift from Kendra today! This is so wonderful - Kendra designed this herself, after what must have been quite a bit of studying of my blog! This adorable little ornament features my cats - quite personalized! I have two blondes, two calicos, a black and a blue/white tuxedo... and she has them all represented with their names! This just blew me away (and yes, I cried)... thank you, Kendra! How sweet of you!!! (All of the kitties look just perfect, but I must say, Kendra really got Anouk right - the markings are exact!).

I really wanted to take a moment to say something so very important. Last night, I posted about Paradigm Lost and my concerns about jumping off schedule and not wanting to stitch on it when my SAL mate was not... I want everyone to know that Jo is a really wonderful person - she is a dear friend, and an outstanding SAL mate. She is only taking a little hiatus from blogging right now, which is what I meant by being "temporarily MIA" - I don't want anyone to think she disappeared on me... sorry to mislead anyone who may have thought that. After reading the well-intended comments of others, I really wanted to jump in here and give a lot of support to Jo. Jo, by the way, did also comment and told me to go right ahead and finish if I want. However, I am not sure I can... my rotation, other SALs, gift and exchange stitching will probably not allow me to work on PL that much this week anyhow. Hi Jo - I miss you!!



And... finally - whew! What a relief!!! I believe, unless my eyes are fooling me, that I have now completed all of the over one stitching on Bordeaux Sampler!!! I do hope I have, because... well, I don't want to do anymore of this torturous over one stitching on 40 ct! Why did I choose 40 ct, you may be wondering? I started this sampler before the chart was "released" - I signed up for this last year when it was a mystery sampler hosted by Vikki Clayton on her site... I had no idea at the time that I started this that it was full of over one stitches - had I known at the time, I may not have stitched this - LOL! No regrets - not now that I have finished them (I hope... there better not be any hiding in part 7, I don't see any, but my eyes could be fooling me!).

Oh.... and Mike now has the newest Gingher limited edition for sale... Maria... they are wonderful! The order of Glory Ginghers will be in within the next day or two... his ebay ID is michaelsutcliffe if you would like to see...

Stitched on today: Summer Quaker Exchange project, and Bordeaux Sampler

Paradigm Lost...

Here is my update of Paradigm Lost for tonight and last Tuesday. I am really close to the end now, and am facing a little bit of a quandry. I would love to sit down and just finish this. But, it is a SAL and the agreement is to stitch on Tuesdays together. My SAL mate has gone temporarily MIA and did not reply to my request for an update. But, I also feel it would be cheating, or at least unfair, to start stitching on another night... so..... well, here is where it stands now. Hopefully my partner will post an update soon - makes the SAL much more fun :-)

Speaking of SALs, I am rethinking doing the St Reatham one. I cannot figure out what fabric and fiber I want to use... and then it dawned on me that there are so many other projects I want to stitch instead... I hope everyone in that group understands, and I will enjoy watching your progresses in your blogs :-)

Stitched on today: Finished a gift, and Paradigm Lost

HOHRH Monday

Today was a quiet and uneventful Monday... I cannot share all that I worked on today, but here is today's update of Houses of Hawk Run Hollow :-)

Thanks to all who have gone over to ebay and bought Ginghers from Mike! He is quite chuffed. He has placed another order for Glory, Cheetah and Julia 4" embroidery scissors from the wholesaler... more to come :-)

Stitched on today: Started a gift, and Houses of Hawk Run Hollow

Spring Ride is Back

The Spring Ride SAL is back on again this weekend :-) I stuck with a scan again, as it is hard to photograph this at night under artificial light. I love working on this one - one strand of floss over two threads - so delicate and the shading is beautiful. I am making good progress now on the first page :-)

It was a quiet weekend here, although I am quite worried about a friend who is going through some tough times right now... hope all will be OK ;-) She is always there for me, so my thoughts are solidly with her right now.

Stitched on today: Finished a gift, started Summer Quaker exchange, and Spring Ride

Gift from Vonna

I went out to the mailbox this morning to gather the mail, and what I found brought me fully to tears. I received a package from Vonna today that was totally unexpected and totally amazed me! Vonna sent me the stunning beaded scissor fob as a friendship gift. I absolutely cried, as I just don't know how to react when I receive surprise gifts. It has never been my lot in life to receive many surprises or to win anything at all. Even as a child, gifts were very few and very far between. I come from a very loving family that is upper middle class, but gifts were given out sparingly. They still are. That has carried on into my adult life, with one huge exception - Mike is a huge gift giver. Aside from him, I never expect anything at all from anyone. When I do stitching exchanges, I don't even think about the fact that after I send off a gift package, one will come to me as well. That still surprises me when they come in. Anyhow, I gathered myself and really want to say thank you to Vonna - you really made my day, and I have been needing something uplifting lately. You are so sweet! Thank you for thinking of me. You are a dear friend. I shall treasure this fob always, and it is already gracing my favorite pair of hardanger scissors.
It was a pleasure to take out And A Forest Grew again tonight :-) I had missed it. That thing that looks like a coat rack or perhaps a lamp post with arms is actually a tree that is not exactly finished yet :-)

For those who are interested, Mike is selling Gingher 4" embroidery scissors again - three styles: Glory, Cheetah and Julia. His ebay link is here.

Also, if anyone is interested in becoming a contributor to the Freebie Gallery blog, please email me at carolsutcliffe@comcast.net. I will need your email address in order to send you an invite through Blogger. Thanks :-)

Stitched on today: Finished a gift, started a gift, and And A Forest Grew

An Extra Day with HOHRH

I had a dilemma tonight.... what to stitch?? 18th C Band Sampler is not on my goal list for this month, so I chose not to work on it... I haven't selected a house yet for Karen's RR.... I didn't feel like gridding my new RR tonight... Jo and I only stitch Paradigm Lost on Tuesdays and I would not want to veer off and go beyond our agreement... Anne and I only stitch Bordeaux on Wednesdays.... well, what to stitch? I decided to put in an extra night on Houses of Hawk Run Hollow... and I am glad that I did. This new block (House 5) has been a fun and easy start so far.

Angus has taken over my old chair!

Stitched on today: Stitched on a gift, and Houses of Hawk Run Hollow

PS - Happy Birthday to Lily and Anouk :-) My little ones are 5 years old today! They are both so tiny they look like they are only 1 or 2 years old.

Dawn is Back!

After a brief, but necessary, hiatus, Dawn is back tonight!!! I really love stitching on this one!

There was a treat in my mailbox when I got home from work tonight :-) I received the Garden Theme Exchange from Judith today. She stitched me one of my favorite designs, which was so sweet of her! And... she sent a gorgeous package of stationery by Marjolein Bastin - another of my favorites! Thanks Judi!!

And, more good news! Karin let me know tonight that my little birthday gift for her has arrived safely :-) Karin loves color, so I really went for it with choosing something with wonderful colors. I am glad that she likes it, and it was such a pleasure to stitch this for her.

9 Carre's Fob

Tournicoton - chart found here

Antique White Cashel Linen, DMC floss

Stitched 6/2/07

I enjoyed your funny comments about Beau and my new chair :-) Beau let me have the chair tonight, no problems!! Some asked if my birthday is soon. No, not all that very soon. It is July 31. I think Mike is just in the birthday mood, and probably dropping me hints, as his birthday is next Friday, June 22 - LOL! No worries, he is getting a much coveted Apple iPhone (OK if he peeks here, since he is already tracking the phone down, which isn't released until June 29 anyhow... MEN!!)

Oh, and Kudos again to the post office! Mike posted Barbara's RR off to Annemarie in The Netherlands on Monday... and she received it today!

Stitched on today: Started a gift, and Dawn, Fairy Spirit of Grace

Silly Grapes

Silly grapes... more like torturous grapes. It took me forever tonight to get them done, but now all of those over one grape clusters in band 6 are finished. Whew!

Mike had a lovely, large (huge), plush recliner delivered for me this morning as an early birthday gift. He wanted me to be able to stitch in greater comfort. It is wonderful - here you can see that Beau has also discovered it (I caught him in typical, undignified cat activity here... sorry Beau!). This chair is like a big plush throne with heat and massage. Nice!

Stitched on today: Finished a gift, and Bordeaux Sampler

An early post tonight....

I never post at 6:30 PM... more like 11:30 PM.... but today will be different. I am tired and just plan to stitch and watch baseball, then off to bed tonight.... I do have something to share now, though. I learned just around bedtime last night that Suzanne received my scissor fob exchange yesterday.... so, here it is:

Stitch and Bee Happy Fob

Stitchy Kitty

28 ct Graziano Cream/Natural Gingham Linen, DMC Floss, Weeks Dye Works Floss

Stitched 5/30/07 - 5/31/07

I received a gift from my DH today :-) He got me a pair of Joann's newest limited edition Gingher 4" embroidery scissors, Maria. They are so sweet :-) He will be selling Ginghers again soon, for those who are interested, but not Marias at this point. These were purchased through savvy combination of a Joann gift card and a 40% coupon - LOL!!

Stitched on today: Paradigm Lost

At the halfway point

I am really happy that tonight I finally made it to the halfway point of Houses of Hawk Run Hollow! I am at the hump, and next Monday, I will go over the hump. OK, technically, I am not exactly at the 50% mark, as I have not done the personalization in the House 1 block yet. Of course, I will be waiting to do that last since I don't know what year it will be, and some years are wider than others... I looked this up the other day. I did start this on January 1, 2005. Wow, 2.5 years to get to this point - it did spend various amounts of time, though, sitting in my WIP bag, untouched. It feels good to be at this point now.

Barbara's round robin is officially in the hands of the USPS now... keep an eye out for it Annemarie :-)

Stitched on today: Started a gift, and Houses of Hawk Run Hollow

Ready for the post!

Earlier today, I managed to finish Barbara's Neighborhood Round Robin. I stitched the right hand side of Hopeful by Carriage House Samplings for her (although, I deleted the words "two sheep farm" from the hill as they did not suit her RR). CHS is Barbara's favorite designer, and she is a New Englander - this design remained me of a New England farm house :-)

And, here is how her RR looks now. Mike will post this to Annemarie tomorrow, and Annemarie will stitch the final block in the bottom center. Barbara put a note in her package letting us know she will use the top two corners to stitch our names. Wow, Barbara, it is almost home now!!

Then, I grabbed a little bit of time before bed to work on 18th Century Band Sampler (aka Long Dog Samplers Mystery Sampler) for a little bit. I was gently reminded today that I had not worked on it for a bit. I thoroughly enjoyed my time with it tonight. The roses are really a nice change to stitch.

I really need to spend some time tomorrow afternoon finally settling on what I plan to stitch for the Summer Quaker Exchange on the SBEBB. I have changed my mind three times already - enough is enough!! LOL

Stitched on today: Finished Barbara's Neighborhood Round Robin, and 18th C. Band Sampler

Almost done...

I am still dedicating my time right now to Barbara's Neighborhood Round Robin, and am doing so for several reasons.... 1) I am really enjoying stitching this for Barbara, 2) the shipping deadline is approaching (6/15/07) and I generally like to ship ahead of deadlines, and 3) I am starting to miss my regular rotation, and would love to get back to it soon :-) So... here is tonight's update. I feel quite a bit satisfied as I made it through those daunting hills tonight! Yay! They took a long time, but they were worth it. Just a tree and a fence left, and I figure I can get that done tomorrow and have Mike post this to Annemarie on Monday :-)

I had forgotten to post a photo of how my round robin is looking as of its last stop with Veronica... pretty, isn't it?? For those who do not know, my theme is houses with gardens... and at least one cat (or dog) in each block....

Stitched on today: Barbara's Neighborhood Round Robin

Another visit with Barbara's RR

I am still plugging away on Barbara's Neighborhood Round Robin. The more I stitch on this, the more I feel pleased with my chart choice. It looks so nice in person, as the colors are amazing and look wonderful on Barbara's linen (I adore this linen!!). The house is getting close to built now... and tonight I got to do my favorite part ~ those window panes that are uneven and mismatched, much luck an old New England farmhouse would be.

Thanks for the well wishes regarding my sleep - I did catch up last night, and slept in for a bit today. Back on track!

Stitched on today: Barbara's Neighborhood Round Robin

The beginning of a house....

Barbara's Neighborhood Round Robin is growing - there is now the beginnings of the house! I didn't get much done tonight, though. Truth be told (sheepish grin)... I stayed up way late the last three nights in a row watching the Red Sox play on the west coast (California) until 1 AM and beyond... and then up bright and early each morning and off to work. I need sleep! I am off now to try to get some good quality sleep (I have tomorrow off) and then shall have time to get much more done over the weekend :-)

Hi Everyone!! I am so far behind in commenting in blogs, but I have actually read almost all of them during wee breaks at work - just wanted you to know I have been there :-)


Stitched on today: Stitched on a gift, and Barbara's Neighborhood Round Robin

Over-One Fun

Not the good kind of fun tonight... I just chose that word because it rhymed. I like over-one stitching, but didn't enjoy it tonight. The grape clusters are really densely stitched, and my drive for perfect stitches really slows me down... aggravated me tonight, actually. But I am OK... the final effect when the sampler is done will be well worth it!

Stitched on today: Started a gift, and Bordeaux Sampler

Scissor Fob Exchange From Andrea

Today I received the most lovely Scissor Fob Exchange from Andrea - this exchange was on the FGBB. Andrea stitch me the prettiest fob using a portion of a Lorri Birmingham needleroll design. (It would just so happen that I spent about 30 minutes on ebay earlier today scouting out Lorri Birmingham needleroll charts - the best ones were all bid on by two different bidders who apparently want everything LB right now, so I will have to wait). Andrea also sent me a chart from my wish list (yay!), some lovely finishing materials and a cute little journal that I can easily see myself using to list items I need at the LNS - it is perfect purse size! Thanks so much Andrea - you really spoiled me!!

Here is tonight's update of Paradigm Lost.....

And, I just found Lily sleeping so hard that she didn't even try to peek at me when I took her photo! This little baby, and her sister Anouk, will be five years old already a week from Friday!! Seems like just yesterday that we brought them home....

Stitched on today: Paradigm Lost

HOHRH Monday

There isn't much to say.... it is Monday, therefore I worked on Houses of Hawk Run Hollow. I am pretty close now to finishing House 1, though :-)

And... great news - my Hello Neighbor Round Robin, Group One has arrived safely at its first destination today :-)

Stitched on today: Finished my first pinkeep, and Houses of Hawk Run Hollow