Paradigm Lost and Great New FOTM Membership

It's Tuesday - wish I didn't have to work so late and had to squeeze in time to stitch. Still working away on that monster motif in the upper right, but almost there now.
I just received my first installment from the new FOTM offered by Enchanted Fabrics. With the closest LNS to me closing now, it made sense to find another way to get a good supply of these pretty fabrics. I believe I found the solution. Lori sent me a fat quarter of one of her new releases, Magic's Kiss. It is belfast linen from her Flair collection. Super pretty! Only $23 for the first month, and then only $20 each month after that - can you beat that??

OK... so now that we are back on Standard Time here in the US, I am trying to figure out what is happening with the evening commute. Since Standard Time started up and we are now driving home in the darkness for the evening commute, it is just amazing how many accidents I am encountering on my way home - something I rarely ever saw driving home in daylight hours during the spring and summer. Not sure why I have never noticed this before, but it sure is obvious this year. Do people lose their ability to drive in the darkness during the evening commute?

New DVD Release Tuesday: Cars and Little Man (not my choice!).

Stitched on today: Paradigm Lost

An Emblem of Love

I worked on An Emblem of Love again tonight, as I now do on Mondays. Almost done with the left side now. It shouldn't take too much longer to finish.

Happy 15th to our niece Nicole :-) We spent time with her on Saturday - wow, she is growing up fast!

Stitched on today: Women of the Mayflower, a gift and An Emblem of Love

Women of the Mayflower Update/Fabrics for Sale

I finally tackled the rest of the ship on this sampler tonight. It really took a while to stitch it using the diagonal satin stitch. It was a little tricky to get into the rhythm and count it correctly to get those little flower-like motifs within the diagonal satin stitch. I have been avoiding it, but decided to do it today. Now the rest of the sampler will be very quick and easy.

I saw in Jenna's blog today that she has received the belated birthday gift that I stitched for her - I wish I had taken a better photo of the fob... it is modeled here with my silly pink bunny scissors by Dinky Dyes - they matched the colors of the fob well :-)

Flower Girls
Just Nan
Liberty Street 28 ct Angel Twinkle Linen
DMC floss, RG Petite Treasure Braid, Mill Hill Treasure, Mill Hill Petite Beads
Stitched 10/26/06 - 11/1/06

More fabrics for sale - please email me or a leave comment here if you want one. Shipping is $1 each in the US. If out of the US, let me know :-)

Country Stitch Kiwi Illusions Mithril 32 ct Lugana, 18" x 27", $17 - sold
Stitches and Spice Ghost Gum 32 ct Belfast, 18" x 27", $15 - sold
Lil' Bean Creations Age Old 32 ct Hand Dyed Linen, 18" x 27", $15 - sold
Wichelt Babbling Brook 28 ct Hand Dyed Jobelan, 18" x 27", $12 - sold
Wichelt African Daisy 28 ct Hand Dyed Jobelan, 18" x 27", $12 - sold
Crossed Wing Collection 28 ct Autumn Oak Linen, 12" x 13.5", $10 - sold
Silkweaver Sunshine Sparkle 28 ct Lugana, 18" x 26", $12 - sold
Wichelt Lambswool 18 ct linen, 18" x 18", $7 - sold

Stitched on today: Worked on a gift, and Women of the Mayflower

First Corner Finished

Tonight I finished the rest of the first corner of Part 11.... now this has to be done three more times... it's getting prettier. The trees will get a whole lot of beads in them when this is finished... the whole garden, actually, will be getting a whole lot of beads!

and....I have joined the Pay It Forward Challenge:

The first five people to respond to this post (via the comments section) will get some form of "art" made by me. It will be a hand crafted item made from sewing, knitting, drawing, or of course stitching. I will try to make the item something special just for you. After you comment, please email me your snail mail address (to carolsutcliffe at comcast dot net). It will likely take me a few months to get them all made up for you... so you will have something to look forward to :-) If you sign up, you then need to post the challenge in your blog, though :-)

Stitched on today: A gift, and Mystery IX

And so it begins...

I started Part 11 of Mystery IX tonight. Now we are adding little tiny trees in the gaps under the hedges from last month. And, each corner pool gets extended a bit more... this is the first half of the first corner for this part. I figure on getting the second half of the first corner stitched tomorrow. That will be little flowers and some green that Martina calls "the meadow." But, this part does not call for the fibers that are still untouched in the kit. Could it be possible that we will need all of those just for Part 12?

Got this song running through my head tonight - LOL!

"The drinkin' bone is connected to the party bone
The party bone's connected to the stayin' out all night long
And she won't think it's funny
And I'll wind up all alone
And the lonely bone's connected to the drinkin' bone"...Tracy Byrd

Stitched on today: Started another gift, and Mystery IX

For Anne...

I had originally planned to start Part 11 of Mystery IX tonight, but I ended up working late to see a young girl I've been treating for a while now, who is really struggling right now. So, instead of dragging M9 out when I was ready to finally stitch, I decided it was time to stop being such a lousy SAL mate for Anne - I dug out Bordeaux Sampler (which was a trick - for a few minutes, I had forgotten where it was!) and got right back into it. Yay, I am glad I did. Other than the tedious one over one on 40 ct for the grape clusters, it is a fun stitch! I have decided that having it as an "at work" stitching project was why this was not working out for me. Right now, Women of the Mayflower is great as my "at work" project, so I am rotating Bordeaux Sampler back in for at home... so maybe this SAL can pick up some steam again? This sampler is soooo delicate, I love it - and it makes me feel so good!

Q. How did you decide on the title of your stitching blog? Was it random, or does it have a special meaning to you or about you?

A. You know, I cannot even remember what my blog's original title was!! Seriously.... no clue! I changed it after a few months to reflect my equally combined interests in stitching and gardening.

I have received several emails asking if I have anymore fabrics to sell.... yes, I do. To respond to some requests, I will post some more over the weekend, so if you are interested, keep an eye out.

Stitched on today: Women of the Mayflower and Bordeaux Sampler

Goals

I decided to work on Houses of Hawk Run Hollow tonight, for the first time in almost a month. I achieved a mini-milestone by finishing House 3 (upper left), and now I am 1/3 finished with HOHRH. Finally, a reasonably sized fraction.

Part 11 came out for Mystery IX today... and finally, I think this part is going to really help to pull the design together. I will probably start on that tomorrow. I can't really guage how long this part is going to take, but it doesn't appear to be as large as Part 10 was.

The new issue of The Gift of Stitching (see sidebar to left) also came out today - another pretty good one. Kirsten is doing a great job with this huge task of putting out a decent online stitching magazine every single month! I love the little wren box top by The Cat's Whiskers.

Goal Review Time -
October Goals:
1. Finish Part 10 of Mystery IX - yes
2. Finish Mermaids of the Deep Blue - yes
3. Work on Paradigm Lost SAL with Jo - yes
4. Work on Houses of Hawk Run Hollow - yes
5. Work on Bordeaux Sampler SAL with Anne - no
6. Work on Blessings Be Thine - yes
7. Work on Emblem of Love SAL with Karen - yes
8. Start Violet and Lace Sampler SAL with Katrina - yes, and finished it
9. Work on Women of the Mayflower SAL - yes
10. Work on Dianne's Neighborhood RR - pick charts - yes, I picked the chart, but no I did not stitch on it yet - mailing date was delayed to January now
11. Work on Mermaid Heaven - no
12. Work on Angel of Love - no
13. Work on Mermaid and the Sea - no
***I did stitch three fobs that were sent and received as gifts this month

November Goals:
1. Finish Part 11 of Mystery IX
2. Work on Paradigm Lost SAL with Jo
3. Work on An Emblem of Love SAL with Karen
4. Work on Houses of Hawk Run Hollow SAL with Becky
5. Stitch some gifts
6. Work on Bordeaux Sampler SAL with Anne
7. Work on Women of the Mayflower
8. Work on Dianne's Neighborhood RR

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

Paradigm Lost

Just another weekly update of Paradigm Lost - still trying to make a dent in that very large motif in the upper right corner....
Daylily: Kwanso - last one for the year, will end with the double version of the common daylily...

Stitched on today: Women of the Mayflower, a gift and Paradigm Lost

Pretty Carnations

It was An Emblem of Love night, and tonight I stitched the pretty pink carnations in the partial medallion on the left edge... plus some smaller motifs as well. I don't think it will take me too many more weeks to finish this. I am hoping to finish by the end of the year.

New DVD Release Tuesday was a day early today with Mission: Impossible III found on the kitchen counter when I got home today :-)
Daylily: Siloam David Kirchhoff - one more day to go with daylilies. It is full-blown autumn here now, so the summer symbols will end.

Stitched on today: An Emblem of Love

Part 10 Finished

There was an angel on my shoulder this weekend. That's the only way I can explain this. I did manage to finish Part 10. It looked doubtful for a while tonight, because my brother called and we have not chatted for several weeks. We had a lot of sports talk to catch up on!! Anyway... here it is.
Daylily: Siloam June Bug

Stitched on today: Mystery IX

Stormy Days Are Good For Something

Stormy days are good for stitching. OK, it wasn't like it was a hurricane today. But it was raining pretty heavily off and on, and it was windy, off and on... it counts as a stormy day. I did manage to get a good amount done on Part 10, so there is the possibility that I can finish this part tomorrow. I didn't quite get the alone time that I had fantasized about to stitch this today. There were morning errands to run. Then later, laundry to do... then grocery shopping this evening. Tomorrow should be much quieter. It does now look to me like this is the outer frame of the garden. But we have not used any of the Pebbles Waterlilies or the two skeins of a pretty periwinkle blue NPI.... hmmmm.... wonder what we do next. I know there is a center design being offered for this. Some stitchers opted to buy some baubles from Martina to put in the center. I bought them when we stitched Mystery VI online, and I did not care for them. I opted instead to stitch the personalization in the center and I love it - hopefully that is what I will be doing with Mystery IX. I didn't even bother to buy the baubles this time... I have the set for Mystery VI (now sold as Indian Summer Reflections) if anyone wants them!

I got an email from Annemarie this morning, alerting me that my birthday package for her finally made it's way across the Atlantic Ocean to her home in the Netherlands - two weeks (or so) this time! I didn't take a photo of her entire birthday package (some of it was for Pelle, actually), but here is what I made for her...(I must give credit to Kiwi Jo - I borrowed this finishing technique, for the most part, from the fob she made for me for my birthday):

A Spot of Tea (portion of design)
Dragon Dreams, freebie found here
Silkweaver 28 ct Moon Dust Opalescent Lugana
DMC floss, Kreinik #4 braid, Mill Hill Petite Beads
Stitched 10/10/06 - 10/13/06

Yes... here I go again - more fabrics to clear out! You see, I joined another Fabric of the Month with another dyer, so I need room in my fabric bins! These are tough ones to let go of, but.... I will! I hope you can see them well enough in the photo - all four are gorgeous!

Upper left: Silkweaver 32 ct Jobelan solo in lovely neutral browns, 18" x 26", $15 -sold
Upper right: Silkweaver 36 ct Edinburgh solo in blues/greens, 16" x 16", $10 -sold
Lower left: Silkweaver 32 ct Rocky Mountain Belfast (disc color), 18" x 18", $12 -sold
Lower right: Sugar Maple Fabrics 28 ct Iris Annabelle (disc color), 18" x 27", $15 -sold

The usual.... $1 shipping per piece in US - let me know if you are out of US for a low shipping fee... PayPal only outside of the US... US stitchers, any form of payment!
Daylily: Leebea Orange Crush

Stitched on today: Mystery IX

Reached a Goal, Linen For Sale, and a RAK

I met my goal for tonight - I finished the last of the small ponds on Mystery IX, Part 10. With a lot of rain and wind forecasted for the weekend, I am holing myself up to work on this until it is finished. I have some very small spring bulbs that we bought to support the cute little girls across the street (one of those school selling for funds deals) that I hope I can plant tomorrow (weather permitting), and on Sunday I will be happy to deal with the trick or treaters... but other than that, I am not dealing with anyone or anything. I need the alone time in a big way.

I worked a lot on a gift this afternoon, and it was a lot of fun! But I cannot finish it yet, because I need a Mill Hill Treasure for it. I went to the LNS today, and I remember looking at the rack of MH Treasures when I first got there, but then I forgot to go back and choose one for the project -duh! Since I don't know when I will be near an LNS again, at least not in time to get this out, I did find what I needed on ebay from a very reliable ebay store that sells needlework supplies. I buy all my Anchor floss from her regularly and she ships fast. So, I got what I needed, plus a couple of skeins of Crescent Colours that I couldn't get while I was out today... so once the treasure comes in, I will be good to do the finishing :-)
I was RAK'd by my good friend, Karen! She is so sweet - what a nice treat! She sent me Just Nan's limited edition Horrified! with Whimzi Frame. Aw :-) I took the picture at this odd angle to show that the frame is attached to the chart.
I have this really, really pretty Silkweaver Solo for sale, if anybody would like it! It is a beautiful blue and purple blend. It is 28 ct Cashel linen and is 18" x 18", the cost is only $10 and shipping in the US is $1.00. If out of the US, still cheap shipping :-) I have a few more to put up, but it is late right now and I only have a photo of this one so far - I will get the others up tomorrow. Email me or leave me a comment here if you want to claim this one! ---sold
Daylily: Siloam Double Rose (with bugs)

Stitched on today: a gift for a friend, and Mystery IX

Good Timing for a Long Weekend

I have Friday (tomorrow) off, and I think this is actually great timing. I can put some extra time in on Mystery IX, and maybe, just maybe finish Part 10 by Sunday. Who knows! I did get most of the big pond in the bottom left finished tonight, although I did not yet stitch the one over one fleur de lis in the center - too late, too tired. I had to stitch much of this tonight with a 13 pound cat (Beau) nestled in my lap. My leg is asleep now!
Daylily: Sammy Russell Red

Stitched on today: Started a gift, and Mystery IX

Bored.

My dear stitching friends, I am just totally bored with Mystery IX... most especially with Part 10. I put a lot of time in on it each time I pick it up (about four hours), yet the progress is so slow. Sometimes I don't mind repetition when I am stitching. And, I know the repeat motifs in Martina's designs are her hallmark. But I am not enjoying it this time, because to be honest, I am not very impressed with the outcome of this mystery. It just isn't coming together yet. Maybe it will? There are two more parts to go after this. But I find the center to be too busy for the rest of the garden, and the yellow in the triangle veggie gardens just sticks out a bit like a sore thumb. I don't quite get Martina's vision on this one yet. Maybe it will be more obvious after Parts 11 and 12. Ah well, thanks for listening.

Q. If you were to come across a sampler chart that caught your eye and
appealed to you, would you or would you not stitch it if it had a
morbid or "creepy" saying on it? If not, why?

A. Yes, indeed I would. I submitted this question to Renee a few months ago when several readers were commenting that they felt the verse on Houses of Hawk Run Hollow is too morbid. I just love it. After all, many of the older samplers were made during a time, or were at least reproduced after a time, when life spans were short. Accepting one's mortality is a healthy thing, after all.

New DVD Release Tuesday was a day late for us this week - fun ones, Nacho Libre and Monster House

Daylily: Purple D'Oro

Stitched on today: Women of the Mayflower and Mystery IX

Paradigm Lost Update

OK, here is this week's Paradigm Lost update. That large motif up in the upper right corner that I am still working on is divided up on at least four different pages on the chart. I felt like a juggler tonight putting the parts together to get this much done. I also finished up the acorns and oak leaves.

Thank you to all who have posted to my Birthday Alarm account (lovely idea Annemarie had!). I plan to use this list to help me to remember when to send cards and gifts to my stitching pals! So, if you haven't signed on, I hope you will!! I would love to keep all my data in one spot (for once).

Do you love the TV Drama Series "24" as much as I do? I saw some previews on TV during the World Series tonight - and they then gave a website - if you have not seen it, here is an extended trailer for next season! Uh-oh, Jack is asked to sacrifice himself? This cannot be good for Jack!! :-) 82 days until it premieres here in the US - yay!

Daylily: Siloam Bo Peep

Stitched on today: Paradigm Lost

An Emblem of Love Update

It's Monday, so I worked on An Emblem of Love again. This sampler continues to move along pretty quickly :-)

I just saw in Jenn's blog that today she received the fabric she bought from me last week.... and in the package I tucked in a little fob that I had made for her. She was so down in recent days, and I wanted to give her a little "therapy fob" to remind her that her friends love her. (I finished it in the evening and it was raining out... so I could not get a good photo).

I Love You
Shepherd's Bush, 1999 freebie
Zweigart 28 ct Natural Quaker Linen
Gentle Arts Sampler Threads, Mill Hill Petite Beads
Stitched 10/18/06 - 10/19/06
Daylily: Radiant Greetings

Stitched on today: Blessings Be Thine and An Emblem of Love

***Note to self: To keep track... in preparation for winter and to deal with recent weight gain (due to sloth), I restarted the induction phase of Atkins today

Not very productive

This certainly was not the productive weekend that I had hoped it would be for Mystery IX. I felt very blah today, still feeling sad about yesterday (thanks for the support everyone - you are so sweet)... Anyhow, I finally did pick up M9 when the World Series game started.... and I did get this far. I had best be better focused with this next week if I am going to finish Part 10 this month. I think Parts 11 and 12 could be large too - this is not filling the fabric as fully as Martina's mystery gardens typically do, and there are a few colors of silk that are yet untouched in the kit.... I better not set high goals for myself next month.
Daylily: Siloam Night Ring

Stitched on today: Mystery IX

Trying To Stay Committed...

... to Mystery IX. I picked it back up again today. At least I got another of the small pools finished. Those are the easier/more enjoyable parts of Part 10... tomorrow I get to do one of those hedges again... can't say those are much fun. I just have to hang on a bit longer.

I still have some great hand dyed fabrics available for sale if anyone is interested - they are listed in yesterday's entry. all are sold now

When I got up to blog, I found my two calico cats enjoying the sofa Mike uses (he is at his computer). Couldn't resist taking their photo - they do love to lie on magazines, newspapers, towels... whatever is comfy.

Gotta admit - having a not so great day. I had a miscommunication with a dear friend, and I don't think she is all that happy with me right now. I hate days like this.
Daylily: Yazoo Jim Terry

Stitched on today: Mystery IX

Hand-Dyed Fabrics For Sale - up to 30% off

OK, I figured I should be working on Mystery IX this weekend... and I will... but my hands are so achy right now, and I think a lot of it is from manuevering the big Q-Snap (and I want the good tension and even stitches that come with using the Q-Snap, so I won't be ditching that). So, I decided to work on something smaller, Women of the Mayflower. That ship is taking some real time to get done using the diagonal satin stitch. It's quite a bit of work with doing the counting and doublechecking to make sure that the pattern within the hull is correct.

I am cleaning out - I have to make room in my hand dyed fabric boxes!! I am selling some, so let me know if you want them before I stick them on ebay!! (All have good color swatches available on their dyers' websites).

Enchanted Fabrics 28 ct Monaco - Stormy Night - 18" x30", $10.00 - sold
Sugar Maple Fabrics 32 ct Lugana - Jelly Bean - 18" x 27", $15.00 - sold
Silkweaver 32 ct Lugana - Karma - 18" x 26", $15.00 - sold
Silkweaver 32 ct Jobelan - Elegance - 18" x 26", $15.00 - sold
Sugar Maple Fabrics 28 ct Cashel Linen - Keenan - 18" x 27", $18.00 - sold
Sugar Maple Fabrics 28 ct Opalescent Lugana - Frangipani - 18" x 27", $18.00 - sold
Sugar Maple Fabrics 28 ct Lugana - Peach Grove (oversize cut for Passione Ricamo's Once Upon A Time) - 25" x25", $20 -sold

As usual, shipping is $1.00 for one piece in the US. I take PayPal and money orders - if you live outside of the US, then PayPal only (and I will still give you a low shipping cost). Let me know if you want any of these! You can either email me (see the About Me... section of my sidebar) or you can just let me know in the comments section here.
Daylily: Siloam Plum Tree

Stitched on today: Women of the Mayflower

Half Way There

I did it - I made it half way around Part 10 tonight, just about ten minutes before bedtime too. So, this entry will be short - gotta work tomorrow!
Daylily: Red Twister

Stitched on today: Finished a gift that I started yesterday and Mystery IX