I am back after a long absence.

Once again I have been a very bad blogger.  Time passes way to fast.  Much has happened since the last time I post here....We are new grandparents and Abram is growing way to fast... gee he is 9 months old already.. and grandchild #2 is on the way!!  due the end of Feb beginning of March.  Can't wait.. We are so blessed!!

On the stitching front...
I have finished and framed Dutch Beauty

Finished and framed Ann Medd

Finished Abe's Birth sampler... it is also framed and given to him

Other finishes include

Frances Poole

Isabella Fox

Need to take pics and will add them later

Have done a bit of housecleaning when it comes to started projects.... Was getting way to many and it was making me crazy!!!  Ok I admit it was a short trip.  For a one at a time kinda girl to have over 10 more like 20 started projects was more than I can handle so I decided it was time to make some decisions.

First I went through all of them and decided .... is this a project you are interested in finishing.. if the answer was no .. it was unkitted, threads saved and linen salvaged... The yes pile was then gone through again... and the question asked ... are you happy with the way this project is progressing or do you want to change anything?  This time if the answer was Yes I want to change something... it was unkitted to be restarted at a later date...(these were ones I wish I would have chosen to stitch over 1)... So now this list is narrowed down to just a few projects to be completed one at a time in no particular order.

Manifesto - stitching over 1 on 28 ct lugana with DMC

Hannah Carter - stitching over 1 on 28 ct Lugana with DMC

Sarah Elizabeth Brookes - stitching on 40 ct Graziano linen with DMC

His Eye is on the Sparrow - stitching on 40 ct Frosted Cafe from Sassy's Fabbys with DMC ( this will be grandchild #2's Birth Sampler

Charlotte Clayton - stitching on 40ct Meadow Rue with DMC

I am currently working on Manifesto so here is the progress as of Saturday morning

Since saturday I have finished the background down to the bottom (sround that pretty flower) and am now working on the blue background in the area of the birds and trees... Will be working this project from right to left.  found tht it is easier to bunch up the unworked fabric in my hand rather than that which has already been stitched.... I really am enjoying working on Manifesto and hope to share my weekly updates with you.

So that is my plan.. hope I can stick to this and my vow of NO NEW STARTS until these are finished.  we shall see how it goes... I hope to post weekly updates here and mend my ways.  I am hoping this will help to keep me on track and get these projects finished.

thanks for stopping by and Happy Stitching 

KB  

~Karen~

Plan for 2014

Once again it has been forever since I posted here...At the end of the year I looked at what I have stitched in 2013 and was pleasantly surprised...

2013 Finishes

Dutch Beauty

MTT

KS

Mary Moteshed

Matilda Ann Charles

DearAunt

Anna Roennecke

Sweet Adeline

Mary Hart 

Mary Bunce

Works in Progress

Ann Medd

Manifesto

Scarlett Ribbands

Hannah Carter

Hannah Lancaster

all of which have seen some stitching time but not completed

Now what I am about to tell you.... I am sure you will say.. "Good heavens she has lost her mind"... and that may very well be the case  :)  I spent alot of time working on Manifesto this past year.. In fact I am at about the half way point...A friend of mine is working on Hannah Carter and I had this uncontrollable urge to start Hannah.. so I did.. over one on 28 ct Lugana.... and she is beautiful... the over 1 really brings her to life.. soooooooo  I got to thinking and on a whim decided to stitch the sun of Manifesto over 1 on 28 ct just to see what it looked like.... Can you see where this is headed??  OMG it is gorgeous.. really makes the colors pop.. it looks more like a tapestry... OMG I love it!!!!!!  So crazy me... has just jumped off the deep end and restarted Manifesto on 28 ct over 1. Once I saw the results of my stitching over 1 I just knew there was no way I was going to be happy with the 40 ct piece.  And if I am not happy I will not finish...

All of that being said Here is the plan for 2014

My main focus during the week (Monday through Thursday)will be Manifesto (until it is completed)

Fri,Sat, Sun are the days I work on my projects with my stitching buddy Donna

Those projects at this moment in time will be 

Hannah Carter

Hannah Lancaster 

Permin 1830

We will be rotating between all 3.. working on whichever one screams the most for attention.

as one is finished another project will be added in its place.. either another work in progress or a new start

So that is my plan for 2014 and I am sticking to it  :)  knowing me... how long this will last remains to be seen but I am gonna try..

Here are pics of my current progress on Hannah Cater and Manifesto..I am totally having a love affair with stitching over 1

thanks for stopping by and hope everyone has a great stitching year!

KB

Week #7

WOW Another week of Manifesto has come and gone.. where does the time go....here is what she looks like as of Sunday 3/24/2013

the house is nearly built.. the roofers and masons needed some time off because of the crazy spring weather we are having here in Pa.   Woke up to snow this morning.... so Miss Scarlet gave them off until the weather warms a bit... In the meantime the landscaper has arrived and he has planted the trees on the right side of the house.. getting ready for the fence and the brick wall....Mr. Peacock will be keeping an eye on things after he arrives.... That is why he faces away from the house.. he is watching!.....I think we shall name the estate Peacock Manor.... Miss Scarlet (who is outlined but not dressed yet) is the lady of the house.... next to her is Mr. Carson - the butler..and he is doing a fine job of keeping the day to day operations of the household in order..... then we have Miss Daisy the goose whisperer, who just loves being outdoors with her little friends....and Miss Marsha the school marm....Miss Marsha is having a heck of a time to get Miss Daisy to come inside and study her lessons.. Mr CArson, Miss Daisy and Miss Marsha have yet to enter the picture but they are part of the manor family and staff... Miss Scarlet has a great job on her hands getting Peacock Manor built and keeping everyone in line.. she gets frustrated sometimes and Oh those animals in the yard can be so messy... She is constantly reminding everyone, including the workers, to take their shoes off when they enter the house...and she has to calm down all the neighbors when the complain about the noise...However, Miss Scarlet is a strong woman and she will overcome all the obstacles...

So for now we leave you and hope you will return next week to see how Peacock Manor is progressing  and how our friends are doing...

Happy Stitching and have a great week!

Latest Stitching News

Once again where does the time go?  Here is what is up on the stitching front:

Stitching in Dutch Beauty has come to a halt.... OH NO.. why you ask... Well..............
Scarlet Letter released Manifesto and I feel in
love... received my chart and on Feb 1, 2012 the stitching began.... I am so addicted I am unable to put her down....

what you see is the result of 6 weeks of stitching.. And yes she is a monster!!  This has to be the largest solidly stitched piece I have ever done at 600 x 380.  But she is so much fun!!!!

Other stitching new.. I have taught 2 Classes in Hardanger Embroidery at Threads Needlework in East Petersburg, Pa and what a blast.. should have taken some pics.(will do that next time)  the women in the class were great! and it was a pleasure to spend time with them..

these are my girls back from the framers and up on the wall.... starting on the left...
Mary Gibson, Rachel Hyde, Susie Pierce, Jane Atkinson, Gesche Heitman, Annie ( you can partially see)   These girls are all loving there home and are a pleasure to look at everyday..

Until next time
Happy Stitching

WOW a month has passed already

Gee it has been a whole month since I have left the working world and I am loving every minute of it.  It is so great to be stitching when I want.  So with that here is the progress

Ann Medd.... she is on hold... I have frogged the over one that I had done....I just can't bring myself to stitch this whole section over 1... I don't mind small amounts of over 1 on 40 count but this is over the top for me.... so now I am trying to decide .. do it do it all over 2 or do I change the section entirely and if so what do I put there.. so you can see why Ann is on hold.

Dutch Beauty... she is really coming along nicely.  have now started the bottom row.. so I feel like I am on the home stretch.  I am looking forward to a finish  maybe in the next month.

First Day of Retirement

Oh WOW it is still hard to believe that as of yesterday at 4pm.. I am free...no longer tied to the grind of work!!  I don't know how to act... I guess it still does not feel real and probably won't for a few weeks....so what was my first day like??  Slept late!!  got up and had the required few cups of coffee and checked my e-mail and facebook.. and then has a  leisurely day of stitching.  Working on Isabelle Fox today..

Will also work on her tomorrow... then during the week the plan is to stitch on either Dutch Beauty or Ann Medd... I am going to work on Ann as part of Nicola's Scarlett Letter year so she will get preference...I do want to finish Dutch Beauty and also have Victorine waiting in the wings for a finish... so this will be the years of finishes along with the SAL's.....

Looking forward to keeping this blog up to date with my stitching progress as now I really have no excuse not to  :))))

Happy Stitching to all
Karen

Will be joining Nicola's Scarlett Letter Challenge.... This is where I am on Ann Medd.. she will be my project for this challenge.. so I will pick her up again with the new year.  I actually think I may have a bit more finished than the picture shows.. Guess I better get her out and give her a look see..

April 23, 2012

April has brought a new start.. Ann Medd.. was waiting for my stitching buddy to start this one but.....I just had to start..First stitch was taken on Easter Sunday and this is the progress as of 4/22/12

  I am totally enjoying working on her and so far really love the colors.. I have off from work this week so I really hope to get alot finished... Ann is no small project so I will be working on her for quite some time.  this is what she will look like finished.

 

My greatest news this week is my DH is redoing our sunporch for me.. Oh Happy Day... when finished it will be my stitching room.. I am so excited.. I can finally have a place to stitch AND a room to organize all of my stash..new lights have been installed, insulation is in place.. tomorrow the ceiling goes in and then the walls.... will also put in a new floor... can't wait till it is finished..

Time to catch up!!

Oh WOW.. once again I have been such a terrible blogger... didn't realize it has been so long... so lets try and catch up.. since the last time I was here.... I finished Gesche Heitman... she is ready to go to the framers

Have started and finished quite a bit on Victorine Delacroix... she is alot of fun but geez there is a whole lot of over 1 in this piece...but here is my progress to date. actually have a bit more finished than the photo shows.  This is my own conversion using HDF on 40 ct Maritime white

 

 And finally my finish of today... Rachel Hyde 

stitched on 40 ct Peddlers Moon with HDF and again this is my own conversion

Rachel was a fun stitch and would you believe my first finish of 2012.

Now I should be up to date with all the stitching I have done... As soon as  my stitching buddy finishes Rachel,  we will be starting Ann Medd.. I have all my supplies gathered and ready to start.  Will use 40 ct Ricamo and of course HDF.  I am excited to start.  Ann sure will be one giant project but as you can see the bigger the better.. I love large projects

Hope everyone has a happy stitching week

Karen

Geez forgot to say I finished Annie on Aug 31, 2011  She is stitched on Ricamo 40 ct using HDF Perfect REd 6213.... was a fun stitch and happy to see her finished...Now to get a bunch of finished pieces to the framers... I think I have about 10 now that need to be framed...

Not a great  picture but here is my start on Mary Gibson.... started her last night .. she is the one that won out... Ann Sandles colors were just not to my liking... The A&E from Sabine (German Museum piece) just were melting into the fabric and not showing up enough for me.. need to rework the colors of that one... so Mary Gibson is a winner... I love the colors in this one and she is stitching up rather fast...for me a medium sized sampler 293 x 304..plan to have her finished by the end of October...if not sooner...Hope to have lots of stitching time this weekend since it is Labor Day...hope anyone that reads this has a happy and safe holiday weekend!!

Well, her she is .. all finished.. Jane Atkinson!  Stitched on 40 ct cream Ricamo linen with a conversion from Vikki Clayton Hand-dyed fibers.. Actually finished her on Aug 20, 2011... now to get her to the framers.. jane was such fun to stitch that I really am sad to see her finished... Having a hard time deciding what is next.. Was going to do Ann Sandles but found some of the colors to be way to pink and too light for my liking.. then it was an A&E from a museum in Germany.. Sabine was able to get it for us... but again there are colors that are so light they do not show up well when stitched... needs some revamping.. so as of right now I am working on finishing Annie.. a Bristol orphan sampler by Sabine.. until I can pic a "next" project....trouble is soooo many I want to stitch it is hard to make up ones mind..

Here is another update on Jane.. she is moving along rather nicely.. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.. just a few more weeks and she will be finished.

I am really enjoying stitching Jane. Will really miss her when she is finished.  Still haven't decided what will be next.. so much to stitch and so little time.  it is a toss up between Ann Sandles and Victorine Delacroix..then again there are a few others I could threw in the mix..LOL.  Guess I will just wait and see what mood strikes me when Jane is finished.. I will change my mind 10 times till then.

I will finish my PC Administrator classes this week.. Sat is the last class.. finally.. it has been a long summer.. then the test is on Wed. Aug 3.. here is hoping I pass.. Finally my stitching life will be able to get back to normal.

Have a great stitching week and stay cool.. the heat and humidity are coming back again.. UGH!!!  I am so ready for Fall...

Okay not too far behind this time... life has been busy.. with work and finishing up my Personal Care Home Administrator course.. only 4 more classes after tonight then the test..hopefully then my stitching life can return to normal.... in any event here is the lastest progress on Jane Atkinson as of Sunday evening... have finished a bit more since then... the leaves of the tree are finished. working on the snake...hopefully about another 2 weeks or so and I will be done....Well.. it is off to work I go  and then another late night of class... Keep telling myself only 4  more to go  :))))  Have a great stitchy week

Has been a Long Time!!!

Oh WOW.. I am being such a terrible blogger.. it has been almost a year since I updated.  Not an excuse but have to say alot has happened in the last year.  Oct 2010.. I went into the hospital for surgery to repair a very large hernia that developed..my incision from a previous surgery opened up rather extensively.. was in the hospital for a week... came home and wasn't feeling quite right.... so the short version is this... developed pockets of fluid that had to be re-opened.. which left a small hole in my belly....which then became infect and then got necrotic (rotten). Was then put back in the hospital for another surgery to have all the rotten tissue cut away, was septic (the infection was in my blood stream) spent a week in the hospital again... came home for several weeks on IV antibiotics and a wound vac because I now had a huge hole in my belly...at 2 1/2 months after the first surgery I am now back in the hospital for another week.. due to be allergic to the antibiotics I was on... in acute renal failure and to have another surgery to close the wound.... all in all it was a long 3 months.  Needless to say no stitching was done during this time... Way to sick for that.... but all is well now and back to stitching up a storm... since Feb I have stitched

Maria Moll

Jane Rees

And this is last weeks progress on Jane Atkinson.... WOW Jane is such a fun stitch... like coloring... outline the area and fill it in... I just love it and will be sad when she is finished.

So since things are back to normal I do hope to be much better about posting stitching updates on a regular basis... Hope everyone is having a great summer and getting some time to stitch  :)))

Well as you can see .. I have had 3 more finishes since my last post... this has been the summer of stitching little reds.. and Oh what fun it has been...these are so easy and so fast to stitch.. Clara Muller and MW 1903 took all of 2 weeks to complete them both.  And we had a wedding in there too.. DD got married last Saturday Aug 14 and I still got 2 little reds completed...

And this is the happy couple.. we are sooooo happy for the both of them..

Mette is Home

Well, Mette has returned from her travels to Berlin.. she was on the slow boat back... guess she wanted to see the sights and relax a bit after her show... took 2 1/2 weeks for her to get here.. but the important thing is she made the trip safe and sound.  Next stop for Mette will be Vikki's (HDF) Open House next weekend....then she will go to the framers to get all dressed up for the Stitching Jubilee in Lancaster in Oct.

While Mette was away.. I have 2 more finishes... stitched Louise Zeigler  and Ida Anker... pics to follow... both were really fun to stitch and went really fast... then again after Mette anything is is fast stitch...

 both of these girls are stitched on 40 ct Ricamo with HDF... Louise uses a Perfect red combo and Ida is stitched with Metta Red... Next up is the little Bristol Freebie from Sabine... did a few test stitches in Sassy Fabby's Crescent Cream with a mislabeled HDF...it is one of the OMG reds marked 1151 but it may be darker like Diane's Rouge... no matter they look really great together and can;t wait to stitch more... AS soon as my Stitching Buddy (Donna) finishes her Ida .....we will be starting the little bristol

Well Mette is all dressed up and ready for her debut at the Textile show in Berlin.... I hope she has a grand time and is able to fill her dance card... LOL...can;t wait to hear the comments from Sabine!

OH YES!!!! Happy Dancing all over the place!!! Mette has arrived in Berlin and is visiting Sabine!! I am sure they will have a wonderful visit together... I am just happy that she arrived safe and in one piece and didn't get highjacked along the way....All is now right with the world....okay at least with my little stitching world..

Feeling a bit stressed these days.. I mailed my Mette to  Sabine to show in the Textile Show in Berlin... mailed it on Tues and it was to be there on Thurs the 10th... Well... she still isn't there.. it is now Sat the 12th.... got stuck in customs.. however on Friday they (FedEx) tried to deliver and there was no one home.... now I don't know if in Germany they do not leave a notice that a delivery was attempted the way they so here in the US. Sabine did not mention that she received any kind of notice to that effect. AND ... Mette still is not in Sabine's hands... I assume delivery will be attempted again on Monday since they do not do Sat and Sun deliveries.. I so hope that I will wake up to an e-mail on Monday to say that she has arrived safe and sound....