I went crazy

and didn't finish the bottom border before starting on the houses. After I had to rip out all my stitching from the night before I thought I could have some fun and start on the more fun and colourful part:

before:

after:

I will stick one more night with From Sea to Shining Sea and hope to get more of the border AND the house done.... ;)

This was my 4. finish in 2009

I started it together with my friend Manuela when we spent a few days together during our holidays in Germany in december/january. We both unpacked our kits on janauar 02, 2009. Back in Canada I wasn't to far from finishing it when I took it to stitch on it while watching Lisa's swimming lessons. When I wanted to put in some more stitches at home the next night I realized I lost the silks at the pool.... And when I got there to ask for my threads nobody had seen them. I am pretty sure that the little cardboard heart with some fuzzy silks could look like garbage to someone who has no clue about stitching... But lucky as I am Manuela was about to finish hers and sent me her leftovers very soon and I was able to finish mine without a hassle. Thanks so much Manuela!!!! I just wish you were not so far away....

The Stockings
Shepherds Bush
Started: 2009-01-02
Finished: 2009-02-01
stitched with the silks and on the 32ct country grain provided in the kit
I will add the embellishments when I am going to frame it or finish it otherwise.

Shepherds Bush is always so much fun to stitch and the colours are gorgeous...

I can't show you a picture of yesterdays stitching on From Sea to Shining Sea as I had to rip it all out again :( I miscounted at the end of the last thing I stitched and everything I stitched yesterday was wrong 1 cross wrong in place....

At the Needlecraft Guild meeting

I stitched a little bit more on my fun project. But tonight I will go back to my rotation otherwise the fun with La Vie en Bleu will over way too fast :)


And I will have to start putting a few stitches in my biscornu for the exchange on a daily basis .... or it won't be finished in time.

It seems as if the winter will be over pretty soon. Right now we still have -24Celsius (-11F) with a windchill that makes it feel like -34Celsius (-29F) but the temperatures are supposed to go in to the plus Celsius degrees at the weekend and are expected to remain there....So we will have to say Good bye to the nice white snow.

When I wasn't stitching on

my Biscornu for the Tiny Treasures Exchange I stitched on La Vie en Bleu. Not that I spent A LOT time on the Biscornu....La Vie was too tempting. :) The colours and the specialty stitches are so much fun!


The natural linen is a little bit too dark but I will stick to it now as I don't have the right colour in my Stash anyways...
Thank you so much for all your comments. I love reading them so much!

Tonight is Needlecraft Guild meeting again and I plan on taking La Vie with me instead of Peppermint Twist.

And this is the reason...

...why I HAD TO finish Home is Where You Hang.... on friday. I got my order from Des Filles et une Aiguille in France.

I ordered late Friday night, she assembled it and shipped it out on Saturday and it was here exactly a week later on Friday. That is sooooo fast. And I was surprised to see that she really cuts the threads in the lenghts of your order (she sells Fils Atalie by meter). And how carefully she labeled every colour... I am thrilled to see with how much love she handled my small order. Please excuse my dark friday night pictures...

I did a little floss toss on 40ct Shale by Picture This Plus:

and on 40ct natural Zweigart:

Saturday when I finally had stitching time I decided on the 40ct natural linen and started winding the silks and cottons when suddenly the doorbell rang and friends came visiting with us......
So guess who got up early in the morning today to get started on La Vie en Bleu? LOL

I was busy....

....doing the HAPPY DANCE! :) Friday later in the evening I finished Home is Where You Hang... This is exactly the right size for me. Not that big that I am getting tired of it and put it away and not too small. Unfortunately I am often drawn to the really big projects....
The colours are pretty good on the pictures except of the linen. In real live it is pretty close to Zweigart sand.

Home is Where You Hang Your Needlework
by Homespun Elegance
stitched with the recommended Belle Soie silks
40ct R&R Dark Cappuccino
started: 2009-02-02
finished: 2009-03-06

I am getting there...

...not too long any more and Home is Where You Hang Your Needlework will be done. I think I will go on stitching on it till the end now. I ordered a nice chart and the recommended Fil Atalie last week in an online shop in France. They sent it out the same day and I want to start it as soon as it shows up in my mailbox. So I better finish this soon :)
I took pictures with my camera this morning (of course no daylight) instead of scanning it but the colours are as bad as the ones on the scanner.... Hopefully I will be able to take a nice picture of the finished piece at the weekend with daylight....




My pictures are so bad. I love to see all the beautiful pictures on other blogs but I don't know how to take so nice pics. Perhaps I should take a photographing course....

Just a bit Stash...

....and no stitching to share. I got the new Just Cross Stitch magazin...a little treat for the grocery shopping we had to do :) And when I came home an envelope from ABC Stitch Therapy was waiting for me.
Some time ago they had 36ct Edinburgh in summer khaki and sand on sale and as always with linen I couldn't resist to order it. And to make the order worth delivering I added this Moira Blackburn chart. I have never seen this design before. The good thing about this design: it is a lot smaller than her normal designs so I may be able to finish it. LOL

Peppermint Twist SAL night

Last night was Pepperment Twist SAL night again. I managed to stitch quite a bit last night. I just can't decide to fill in the year in the top box....I never know if I will stick with this till it is finished or if it will go in the box to wait a few years.... :) But I am so looking forward to next monday's SAL night as I will stitch the candycane border on top of this part....just love the yummie red.


I decided on a biscornue design for the Tiny Treasures Exchange Group and hope to find some nice silks in my stash. Now that I have finished Deb's Hello Neighbor RR I can concentrate on that. The mailing deadline is March 31, 2009.

And A Forest Grew ... a tiny bit :)

I don't have to show a lot of progress. I was just too tired yesterday evening. But I put at least some very few stitches in And A Forest Grew and added the little bunny and a little more on the big tree. The tree is somehow more timeconsuming than I thought. It is not really worth showing a picture of that but I decided to keep track of my stitching by blogging .... so I am loading it up.

Debs Hello Neighbor RR is finally finished an can go on its way home. I stitched her house combining a lot of the Proverbs designs by The Workbasket.


Then I added the little "minime" playing with the angels:


and a tombstone for me:


on the Froggy End Cemetary:


which is also a part of Deb's beautiful Neighborhood:

We drove to the Emerson Border yesterday. Left Canada, stopped at the US customs building, got a piece of paper and turned back

We had to stop at the Canadian customs again to finalize our PR paperwork and after about 45 minutes everything was done.

On our way back home we came through Winnipeg. And being in Winnipeg I couldn't just pass Kathryn's Stitching Studio :)
But I was a good girl and bought just a small piece of linen and an Over The Top tin kit "Jingle" by Just Nan. The 40ct they had in stock was limited to one cream and one yellowish one....but they had this nice piece of Lakeside Linen in Navy Bean in stock.....in 48ct. It looks lovely but will I be able to actually stitch on it?????? We will see ...

Who would have thought that I'd really put a few stitches in Take Time to Quilt....not me for sure. :)

I am pretty tired tonight. Somehow it was a hard week. Today after work our department went out for a drinks and now I am kind of happy to be back home.

Tomorrow we will leave home early for a trip to the States border to get the final paperwork for our permanent residence done. Perhaps I will be able to stitch a few stitches in the car....

While listening to the last 2 CD's of Janet Evanovichs Full Speed:
I stitched nearly the whole left side of Home is Where You Hang Your Needlework. It is coming along nicely....but the picture is aweful. Sorry.


If I stick to my plan I will have to stitch on Jeannette Douglas's Take Time to Quilt but right now I am not in a bit stitching mood. We will see....

It seems as if I could finish the bottom border during my next stitching session if I stitch concentrated. :)


This week Derek has to work tuesday through thursday nights from 7pm - 7am. Usually I get a lot of stitching done if he is not here. I just wonder why it makes a difference for my stitching if he is here in the evenings or not.

Anyways, I think I will stitch on Home is Where You Hang.... tonight.
See you soon....

Not too much stitching at the guild meeting....more chatting and laughing ;) Hopefully I will get done more again next week. Or maybe I put some stitches in it at the weekend...we will see...



We got a bit more snow today. I still love the snow. It is so much more nicer to see the snow falling than the rain.....wave to my friends in Germany. LOL

So, what am I going to stitch on tonight? Is it already tuesday????? Than it will be From Sea to Shining Sea.
See you later....

Just a quick post...Lucky me, I am on my way out to attend our needlecraft guild meeting tonight. The last one two weeks ago was cancelled due to the weather situation. I stitched a little bit more on Home is Where....by Homespun Elegance yesterday.


I never took my needlework to work to stitch on it during my lunchbreak. Today I decided to give it a try. We are a usually a crowd of about 10-15 people having lunch together and so I had a lot of explaining to do...but I think they will get used to it pretty soon and for me it is an extra half an hour of stitching time every day after eating my lunch. :)
And as a lot of other non-stitching people some of them thought stitching is just something for ol'ladies....hey, I'm getting there..... LOL

I LOVE weekends :) Isn't it wonderful to spend some qualitiy time with the family, stitching stuff and internet at home? The only problem...it is always pretty expensive :) These tempting online stores are never closed LOL.

I spend some nice time with Home is Where You hang your needlework and I like very much how it turns out.


In real it is bot as dark as on the picture but the scanner doesn't want to make a lighter pic. Maybe the camera does once it will be finished.

On Yuko's wonderful blog I found a link to Dovile. She has a wonderful blog, too and does some awesome stitching....and she enabled me to buy some more STASH. :) Don't miss this one!

Plum Spooky - Janet Evanovich

This was definiatly my favourite "between the numbers" with Stephanie Plum. And with more than 300 pages a full size book. A supernatural mystery with nobody missing...Diesel, Morelli, Ranger and Lula. And Carl the monkey is hilarious..... LOL
I finished the last pages last night and was a bit sad for the book ending so soon.


Do you enjoy the Stephanie Plum series as much as I do?

An update on Deb's Hello Neighbor! RR. It is just a small progress...but at least a progress. I hope to have the house finished next weekend.
Then there are a few other addions to make on Deb's Neighborhood.....a gravestone....and a little person underneath Deb's angel.... You'll see :)

I spent the entire day sleeping in my bed yesterday. And I felt a lot better today.....at least good enough to go to work. :) And I am pretty sure to do at least some stitching tonight. Yayyyy...

This was my 2. finish this year. It took me 3 years from the first stitch to the last.... I don't know exactly why. It was very interesting and actually a lot of fun. The most scary and challenging stitch were the cups of the acorns. I know I didn't do a good job on those. But anyway, they are finished now :)

Catherine Agnes

by Indigo Rose

stitched with Caron Waterlilies

on 32ct. Permin shell

started: 2005-12-21

finished: 2009-01-27

I hope to find a nice frame for Catherine Agnes but I am pretty sure it won't be easy....

After our grocery shopping and supper yesterday we went straight to bed. That means: no pictures to show to today...
Even though I felt pretty bad I went to work this morning but after I finished the most important stuff I left work and went back home and to bed.

I hope to feel better soon....

See you,
Bine

Monday was Peppermint Twist SAL day. We spend another lazy day at home...a lot of stitching time for me :) Nobody felt really well. Isn't that bad on a holiday...



Thank you for the get-well wishes. I think today was the worst day. Hopefully I will be a lot better tomorrow.
Not too much stitching for me tonight but early bedtime...

Oh boy I feel like getting a real nasty cold. I have a headache, dry cough, sore throat and I just feel BAD. I need that right now like hole in my head and the next weekend is four days of work away....

This is how Derek found me sitting in the living room surrounded by my stitching supplies when he got up...Hopefully nobody realizes that I am still wearing my PJ's underneath the knitted jacket.... ;)


Quite recently I got my order from "The Needle & I". A complete kit with all the necessary equipment to start my first canvas needlework. I have to admit that I am a little bit intimidated...that's why I got it out of my cupboard to have a second look at it. Is there somebody stitching the same thing or at least something similar?


OK it was a bad idea to take the picture before noon on the westside window.....

First of all: Thank you girls for commenting on my blog during the last week! Your comments are so very much appreciated. I was surprised that there are still some of you looking for updates on my blog after being absent for such a long time.

Last night I made a very good progress on From Sea to Shining Sea. At least compared to my usual stitching portions. I don't even know why...I was on a roll. LOL


And now I am going to start the day off with some stitching on the sofa :)

Hurray.... I can't tell you how happy I am that we have holdiday tomorrow. It is Louis Riel day here Manitoba tomorrow.

I searched through my WIP box for something to catch my eye and I came up with "And a Forest Grew" The last time I stitched on it......
1 year ago: February 05, 2008!


We spent a lazy sunday at home. Lisa had a long nap snuggled against Dad:



After putting a few stitches in Deb's RR I decided I will stitch a bit more on From Sea to Shining Sea tonight.
See you later...

And today a picture just for Deb :) To let you know what your Neighborhood looks like right now...or at least what my place looks like. For me the hardest part is always to decide what to stitch where if I don't just stitch from one single chart but mix and match from multiple charts.

I don't have a lot of needlepoint silks. The only ones I own are some for Chatelaine's Medieval Town Mandala so I used some Belle Soie silks and I hope that is OK for Deb too.

This scissorskeeper was my first finish of the year. Just a small one but still a finish. I stitched it as an exchange piece for Michelle with the Tiny Treasures Exchange Group.

Beekeeper Freebie

The Drawn Thread

stitched with DMC on 32ct. shell Permin

started 2008-12-25

finished 2009-01-20

incl. finishing as scissorskeeper

Yesterday I stitched for a little bit on Take Time To Quilt Spring. But I was so tired I didn't do too much.



Tonight I won't have a lot time to stitch as well. While my husband waited in the parking lot at my workplace to pick me up the plant manager left heading home. They both met a year ago on a trip to Germany and so he stopped at our car for a bit of talking and gave Derek some Eishockey tickets for tonight. Our plant is a big sponsor of the local team so there are always free tickets available and he had some left over.... :) Time to leave now. See you later :)

Due to my lack of blogging I never showed you my last finish in 2008. It was A Christmas Song by Full Circle Designs offered in the Just Cross Stitch Christmas Ornaments 2008 magazin. I finished it into my first flatfold ever. Thanks so much to Vonna who provided the tutorial. ;) I stitched it for a Christmas exchange with my German Yahoo group. I am pretty sure this will be the first design that I will stitch a second time....for me :)



Yesterday I put a few more stitches in Home is Where You Hang Your Needlework. I started that Febuary 02,2009. Does this mean I started 3 new projects in February?!?!?



stitched on: Home is Where You... and Deb's Hello Neighbor RR