Sweet Briar Sampler finished...

First a finish.....

"Sweet Briar Sampler"

by The City Stitcher

JCS April 1990 issue

We spent the weekend at my Mom's river house and I got a lot of stitching done. I found this design thumbing through some of my old magazines and started it back in March. I got about halfway through before putting it back in my To Do pile. I kinda forgot about it and picked it back up this weekend to finish. I think it's still kinda cute and am not sure how I will finish it. At least that is another one done.

Second some UFO progress......

SB "Herb Gatherer" (1998)

I hadn't stitched on this in awhile but finally picked this back up this weekend too. There are so many color changes and it's not my favorite thing to stich, but I am going to make myself stitch at least weekly until finished. Eventually it will get done!

Third... I finished my Fair & Square 4th of July square but can't share a pic yet. I still have to do the signature square and hope to mail this weekend!

Thanks for looking and happy stitching

Stitching progress....

UFO progress.....
Friday nights are my UFO stitching night and I was able to get in a few hours on Herb Gatherer. I love the design but just can't seem to get into stitching it, however, I will trudge forward next Friday.


I just have a little left to finish the skirt and can move on to the border. Thanks to the new UFO blog, I hope to finish it this year!

More stitching progress.......

I also wanted to share my progress on BOAF "No Honey". I really love stitching this and hope to finish this week. I don't care to stitch on linen too much, but love this Belfast. The actual fiber colors are also more pastel in real life than in the model, which appear much darker, but I like it.

Thanks for looking and thanks for all your comments...they are the perfect link to your blog and I love visiting other blogs! It's amazing how many ideas and new designs you find! Thanks for all your inspirations! Happy stitches....

New life for my UFO....

Thanks to Caroyln, I found this new UFO blog and just had to join. My first UFO of choice......

Shepherd's Bush "Herb Gatherer"

This is my oldest UFO (well...that I really want to finish), which dates back to the summer of 1998, and will have my undivided attention every Friday night. This was a birthday gift that year from DH and I loved the design. Not quite sure why I never finished it. Actually, I didn't get very far on it before it became a UFO......oh well. Hopefully this new blog will motivate me to finally finish it!

Got a UFO that needs some attention and you need some motivation? Head on over and check it out. There is still some room left if you would like to join!

UFO finish of another sort.....

Warning.....this is not a stitching related UFO finish in any way, but does involve beer so please leave if you are not of the legal drinking age! Yeah....right....

No...this UFO finish involves the "golden liquid"....yes beer! My hubby and I are beer connoisseurs and love trying new styles of beer. I know most people conjure up a different image when someone says they like beer (Budweiser come to mind?) so I use the word "connoisseur". We really appreciate the taste of a well crafted beer and it sounds so sophisticated?!?!!? Anyway....three years ago Andy and I joined the UFO club at the Flying Saucer. If we consumed 200 different...let me stress different beers, we would be honored for eternity in the "Ring of Honor" with a gold plate memorializing our accomplishment. Well...it actually took a little under 3 years, but we accomplished our feat on February 21, 2009. Yes, we both drank 200 different beers! During this time I came to appreciate a variety of different styles of beer with my favorite being stouts and porters. Oh well....I digress....

To mark this momentous occasion, we also were treated to a "Plate Party" so that we could celebrate with our closest friends as our plates were hung on the wall.

Our plates!

We had a blast and enjoyed the rainy afternoon with some great beers, good food and enjoyable company.

We joked whether this was my best accomplishment at this point in my life. Upon reflection, I think my major accomplishments thus far would be ...

First...Of course, marrying my sweetie
Second...finishing my MBA
Third... finishing Barbara & Cheryl's "Rainbow Row" (only took 9 years)
Fourth - Fifty-fifth ... the other cross stitch projects I have finished with pride
Fifty-sixth.....my plate!

My most favorite beer I tried? Without a doubt...Young's Double Chocolate Stout...yes it is made with chocolate. It is rich, creamy, smooth....oh so good! You can even make an ice cream float with it and it is to die for.
My least favorite beer? Leinenkugel's Sunset Wheat. I don't know if it was stale or the tap was bad, but this was absolutely the worst beer. I had to choke it down....but I did.

Oh well..kudos to my hubby and me!

Hubby & me!

Yes...I have already started working on my second plate and have already had 11 of the 200! Oh....can imagine how much stash I could have bought with all of that money?????

Oh well... if you made it this far reading...thanks for visiting....Cheers!

New life for a UFO and Q-snaps.....

The Let's Stitch has been a great Friday night stitching group and I have been able to finish two UFO's. I picked up SB "Herb Gatherer", one of my oldest UFO's, tonight and hope to finish it before spring.

Here is what it look like when I started....

After 5 hours stitching....


I started this summer 1998 and I don't know why I never finished it. I immediately fell in love with it all over again and can't wait to stitch again next week. Actually...it will be really hard not to pick it back up this weekend, but I already have two designs in my rotation so I will have to resist the urge!

I have been struggling for a couple of weeks with La D Da's "Bushel & Peck". I saw this stitched on 18 ct. lambswool over 2 at a not so LNS and feel in love with their model. The design is 110 x 147 stitches so the fabric I am working on is pretty large! It is so "course" it has been very hard to hold and stitch freehand. I tried a large hoop, but found that very hard to hold and I couldn't keep the fabric taut. Well....I think I found my solution tonight. I have Q-snaps that I have never liked using in the past...just too awkward to hold, I don't use a frame, and the fabric would lose it tautness, even with scrap fabric between the snap and fabric. I see that so many stitchers use the Q-snaps ...so what was I doing wrong? I decided to search for some tips last night and saw on Vonna's blog that she used felt between the stitching and the snap. I decided to try it tonight on my SB since that is a big piece of fabric. Oh my....what a difference it made. I couldn't believe how taut the fabric was and it kept the tautness the entire evening. I could have bounced a quarter off of it. I can't wait to try them tomorrow on the La D Da. If it works as well, I do believe my needles will be flying!

Thanks for looking and happy stitches this weekend....

Valentine and UFO finishes.....

I was able to stitch a couple of things for Valentines and just got the finishing done tonight. Better late than never right????

Midnight Summer Designs "Lovebirds" freebie

I love this design and absolutely love the way this turned out if I say so myself! Instead of the pastel colors recommended, I stitched on coffee-dyed fabric with DMC 347. I was going to make it into an ornament, but loved the check fabric so I made a little pillow.

Drawn Thread "Love" freebie

I received this stitched design for my HOE Valentine Exchange and loved the specialty stitches so I decided to stitch it too. I changed the colors to make them both different.

This was a UFO from 2006 and I finally finished Friday night! Thanks to the Let's Stitch SAT each Friday night, this is my third UFO finished!

La D Da "Act Justly"

Oh well.....I think that is enough for today! I did take three things to the framers on Saturday and she said they would ready by Friday! This is the first time I have used this framer and I am anxious to get them back. Thanks for looking and I hope you have many happy stitches....

Happy dance...another UFO is done!

"Old Glory" -- Jeannette Crews

I started this back in 2005 and decided to pick it back up on January 2nd for the Let's Stitch Friday night SAT. I really like the design now that it is done. I thought the fractional stitches in the stars were going to drive me crazy!!! I think I may even have a mat and frame that will fit it. Hopefully this weekend I can get it finished and hung in my hubby's office.

Now....I think my next UFO will be "Act Justly" by La D Da. I only have the flowers left to do and should be able to finish this in one or two Friday night SAT. I think that will be it for this evening...sweet dreams and stitches to you!