CHS "Her Sampler".....

CHS "Her Sampler"

32 ct. Lakeside Linen Buttercream

w/recommended DMC

started: January 7, 2011

finished: January 30, 2011

I have my first finish in the Crazy Challenge and this is already a favorite of mine.

I just love the colors in the sampler! 

I'm off to do so quick Valentine's stitching but hope to get back to one of my Challenge pieces soon.  Just have to decide which one....

that seems to be the challenge!!!!

Thanks for visiting and all of your comments....happy stitching!

My New Ornament Exchange.....

Can you ever have enough stitched ornaments?  Is that a crazy question?

I wanted to continue my "Me, Myself & I" Ornament Exchange this year but only I was interested in continuing. 

 After sharing my dilemma with my hubby,

he came up with a wonderful idea!

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I will be exchanging with YOU in the

"You & I Ornament Exchange"! 

(Well....not all of you, but at least 12 lucky "you".)

The premise is quite simple....

I will stitch an ornament each month....

one for me and one for you...a lucky follower. 

Rules?   None...

just the following disclaimer. 

I can't guarantee that "you" will like the

ornament exchanged so "you" can reserve

the right to refuse the ornament or

regift the ornament. 

(I do ask that it not be "disposed" of...

if you know what I mean!) 

If "you" prefer not to receive the ornament,

then I will just choose another "you". 

Can it be much simpler than that? 

And the best part about the exchange is....

"you" don't have to do anything!

 So....here January's exchange........

"Noel" motif

from Jardin Prive "Christmas"

32ct beige linen w/DMC(yours)

32ct white linen w/DMC(mine)

Teresa was so nice to share this design after I admired her finish.  I love the finished piece but couldn't resist stitching some of the motifs also provided with the design.  There are several more I want to stitch so don't be surprised when you see more of these! 

And I am happy to share an ornament with.....

Margaret
Days of a Sampler Lover

Well...this has been fun and I can wait to start stitching for next month!  If you want to be my "exchange" partner for next month, just make sure you're a follower!

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I also want to give a big
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
shoutout to my
MOM!
We were fortunate enough to celebrate on Sunday but I do hope she had a great day!  Love you lots....

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Thanks for visiting!  I loved reading all of your comments and hope the nasty flu skips your household!   Hoping you have many happy stitches this week....

Crazy flu challenge.....

This past week was the "crazy flu challenge" where you don't stitch at all for five straight days. 

I rejoined the living on Friday and made up

for my lost stitching time this weekend. 

First... I needed some LK therapy and

stitched this cutie .....

LK "Where's the Party"

30ct WDW Guacamole

I plan to make this into a little pillow and

will use the fabric shown.  I love the WDW

fabric and have some extra that probably

won't last too long! 

I did make some substitutions

(GA Midnight Sky, WDW Hunter) 

for the greens since the called for colors

(WDW Holly, Envy) were a little

harsh for my taste.  I also swapped the

red (GA Buckeye Scarlet) to

better match the backing fabric. 

I still need to add the little gold beads around

the boots but hope to get this one sewn

up this next weekend.

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I then reached into my

"Big O' Bag of Challenge" 

and brought out this beauty to stitch....

 CHS "Her Sampler"

I will say this one looks so much better
stitched...the pic on the design just doesn't
do it justice.  It may also be the Buttercream linen, which is just luscious with this color
palette.   If you have this one languishing in your stash, you need to pull it out and stitch it! 
You won't be disappointed. 

I think I will stick with this one this week since
I can most likely finish it and put a check by
one of my challenge pieces.

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Pork Chop was definitely feeling lonely this week

and decided last night he had been ignored

long enough and would take matters into his own

"paws".  I share with the "look" I got when I asked him to kindly remove himself from in front of the computer screen....

He's still cute even when he's mad...

I'm looking like this too about now as I psych myself up for work tomorrow....ugh! 

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Oh well...thanks for visiting and hope you have had a good stitching weekend! 

Crazy Challenge wrap up....

First, let me say I would have posted earlier but I got caught up watching "Extreme Couponing" on TLC.  Have you seen this?When the lady's grocery bill went from $630 to $2 after coupons, they got my attention.  Will be checking this out tomorrow!  Now back to stitching......

Day 13

Goode Huswife "In the Bee Man's Garden"

35ct WDW Linen

w/DMC

Day 14

With thy Needle "Snow Day"

25ct Lugana over one

w/DMC

Day 15

Drawn Thread "Real Roses"

32ct Belfast antique white

w/NPI silks

This is my "Big Girl" project. I saved it until the last day because all of the specialty stitches were intimidating.  I made it through the satin stitches and spider web stitches so I think I will be okay.

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I have to say I have really enjoyed this challenge so far.  The thing I hate most about a project is starting!  I will usually skip over something just because I don't want to have to gather the supplies, figure out where to start, and then actually put the first stitch in.  Now that I have done that with 15 designs, the rest should be smooth sailing.  I haven't gotten too nervous yet and will not think about the 15 WIP I now have.  I do have to say I am missing my Lizzie Kate and such so I think I will have to throw a quickie in there this week to get my fix!

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Thank you for visiting the past couple of weeks and I have truly enjoyed your comments.  I can't wait to see what everyone else started and plan to take a trip around blogland tomorrow to check them all out! The few I have seen have been so "enabling" and I have seen some beautiful designs that had eluded me somehow.  Will definitely have a wish list by the time I'm through.  

Hope you are having a great weekend, stay warm and...happy stitching!

Crazy Challenge Day 12....

CHS "Frederick"

40ct Lakeside Linen Pearled Barley

w/DMC

Frederika is so lonely....so I know this is one I will definitely finish first!  Can't believe we only have 3 more days....

happy stitching!

Crazy Challenge 9 ~ 10 ~ 11....

Thanks to some snow days, I have had some great "sew" days...

Day 9....
 

BBD "Berry Time"
35 ct WDW Linen
w/Victorian Motto thread

Day 10.....



The Primitive Needle "The Dampy Sod"
40 ct Purely Primitive
w/ WDW, ST and Victorian Motto

Day 11......



BOAF "Bitter Flower Sampler"
28ct. coffee-dyed evenweave
w/WDW and ST



Crazy Challenge update....

Well...work was crazy too this week and I was just too lazy to post pics of my starts each night...... but I did have 4 more starts!

Crazy Day 5...

Goode Huswife "The Bird Tree"

32ct. Belfast linen

w/DMC

Crazy Day 6...

CHS "Americana"

32ct. Lakeside Linen Buttercream

w/DMC

Crazy Day 7...

CHS "Her Sampler"

32ct. Lakeside Linen Buttercream

w/DMC

Crazy Day 8...

BBD "Moon Garden"

30ct R&R 18th Century Rook

w/ ST & WDW

I certainly picked a lot of charts with birds, trees, vines, etc... can't believe I didn't notice it when I chose my designs.  Oh well...I'm off to enjoy some of Mom's Vegetable Soup and then to stitch some more on Moon Garden.  We are supposed to get some wintery weather tomorrow night and it has certainly been cold and windy today.  I think tomorrow will be another good stitchy day too!

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Happy stitching!

Crazy Challenge Day 4....

BBD "Their Song"

32 ct. Lakeside Linen Buttercream

Victorian Motto & WDW

I'm just lovin' this Buttercream .... yummy!

Crazy Challenge Day 3.....

Goode Huswife "The Peacock Sampler"

Lakeside Linen 32 ct. Buttercream

w/DMC

Spent more time frogging than stitching.....darn peacock!

Crazy Challenge Day 2.....

BBD "Autumn Silhouette"

WDW 35 ct. Parchment

w/ Victorian Motto "Autumn"

I hope to display this one in my kitchen with several other red pieces.  Loving the Victorian Motto thread....thanks Faye for introducing this wonderful thread to me!

Happy stitching.....

Oops....

Thought I was through with 2010?  Well...I forgot to post 2 finishes that were gifts for some great stitching friends....

 "Needles & Scissors" freebie

Designer: Sandy in MT

Log Cabin Needleworks

I forgot to take a picture of this one so I had to steal it from Amy's blog.  I just love this design...best part is it's a freebie! (Make sure you get it...it is great to have in your stash!) I know Amy loves Christmas ornaments but thought this would make a cute pincushion for her.  I'm so glad she liked it.

LK "Stitching Friends"

Stitched on 25 ct evenweave over 1

w/ Sampler Threads

I wanted to say thank you to Kim for her year long stitching in the Stitching Friends exchange.  I love LK and hope she will like this little finish.

Crazy Challenge Day 1.....

Goode Huswife "The Tree of Life"

Stitched on 28ct linen w/DMC

I'm off and running with my first start!  Not much progress as we made a trip to Charlotte today but it is started none the less!  I really like this and it is an easy stitch so I know this one will be stitched quickly after the first 15 days have ended.  Not sure what I will pull out the big bag of challenge tomorrow....

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Had a chance to stop at the Stitch & Frame in Rock Hill on our way to Charlotte and ran into fellow blogger Charlene ... it was great seeing another stitching friend.

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A quick review of my 2010 stitching year reveals....

53 finishes

12 exchanges

36 ornaments

It will be interesting to see how well I will do with this Crazy Challenge....will probably have numerous WIPs this time next year too!

Hope your new year is off to a great start and happy stitching!