TUSAL - October

 

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Here we are, TUSAL time again!  It feels like September was a blur.  We had September, right?  I'm pretty sure we did.  I'm hoping the rest of the year doesn't fly by like this.  I have a suspicion it will though. October is off to a roaring start and there's been a lot of stitching going on this past month.

That's a pretty respectable pile o'ORTs there!  Let's take a look at the contributors this time:

"H is for Hart" from the Hornbook Bestiary (Done!)
Boxes in row #3 from the Hornbook Bestiary (Done!)
"K is for Kitten" from the Hornbook Bestiary (In progress)
"Leaves" from the booklet Winter Circles #142 by Cross Eyed Cricket (Done!)
"Autumn" by Lindy Jane Designs (Done!)
"Bee Happy" by Homespun Elegance (Ornamentified!)
"Merry Christmas" freebie by Threadwork Primitives (Needs ornamentified)
"Tin Toppers: ABC Sampler" by Samplers and Such (To be finished)
October installment of the John Foster SAL (In progress)
"Mary's Sampler Mystery SAL" freebie by Plum Street Samplers (In progress)

As you can tell from the list, my needles have been smokin' this past month!  Yeah!  It helped that last weekend I spent three glorious days at a stitching retreat too.  LOL!

I find that when I get mired down in a BAP (Big A$$ Project), this year I've got two of them going,  I don't have as much time for smalls.  What I've learned from this is that I really do like doing smalls.  I actually miss doing them so I'm glad I got to squeeze some in this month.

I need to do a couple more ornaments too.  Christmas will be here before you know it!  I heard you all groan.  Yep, it's true.  Check the calendar!  There's only three weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year.  Yikes!  Get thee to the stash and start those ornaments.  I'm with ya!

Well, enough of my silliness for now.  I hope everyone has a good weekend and gets to spend some time in the Happy Chair doing what we stitchers love to do best!


Until next time,

The Inspired Stitcher

Secret Stitcher

Last Friday as I was packing for the retreat, I heard the mailman pull up to the box.  My Secret Stitcher had sent me a surprise!

Just check out all that fun stuff!  I could tell her theme this month was Back to School.  Love that!

Here's a closer look at the chart.  I really like Hawkins House.  I've got another one of their charts in the stash.  This one has some really nice motifs in it!

This is probably my favorite part of the package...well and the M & M's too!  I loved the zipper pouch.  It's very me.  The owls are really cute too.

There's a funny story about the floss in this picture.  I took my package to the retreat to show the girls.  Christie sat next to me and at one point in the retreat she got a Secret Stitcher package too.  Guess what was in her package?  Yep, these exact three flosses!  She said she thinks our Secret Stitchers must shop together.  I'm thinking she might be right.  LOL!  How funny!

Thank you Secret Stitcher!  You gave me a giggle and didn't even know it.  I love everything you sent me and have really enjoyed receiving your pacakges this year!  I hope you are having a good year too.

Well folks, its a short one today.  Thanks for stopping by today.  It seems to be feast or famine from me post-wise lately.  I'm glad I've had a lot to share this week.  Hope you are having a good week and looking forward to the weekend.

Until next time,

The Inspired Stitcher

Tiara Retreat Weekend - part 2

I'm glad you enjoyed yesterday's post.  I'm back today to share the exchange pieces with you.  There are some really talented stitchers in this group!   This one is going to have you drooling.

 

Here's Marsha at the exchange table.  We put our exchange pieces in brown paper lunch bags so they would all look the same and nobody would know who's was who's.  I really like doing the exchange this way.

 

I'll do my best to remember who made which one and who picked what.  Let's check out all the stitchy goodness.  Go grab a bib! Here we go!

 

 

This one was stitched by my friend, Donna and picked by Christie.  Love the two sides.  There's a lot of work that went into this one!

Christie made this one and Donna picked it.  How funny is that?  They got each others and it was completely random.

Marsha made this one.  I love the alphabet trim around the edge.  She said it was her first time doing this finish.  It's awesome!

Anna Mae got this one.  It's not as little as it appears.  It was actually too big to fit inside the brown paper lunch bag!  The fabric has gold sparkle threads running through it but my camera dosen't show that very well.  Amy made this one.

I don't recall who made this one.  My birthday twin, Dottie picked it.

 

Isn't this one just too cute?  I love the gray fabric!  I think Tiffany or Sue might have gotten it.  I don't recall who made it.

My friend Tiffany made this one.  I don't recall who picked it.  I think Amy might have.

Meem got this one but I don't remember who made it.  I love these stockings.  I've never tried to make one though.

Amanda got this one.  Again, I don't remember who made it.  Marsha, do you remember?

This one was made by Judith and picked by Marsha.  It's a Bent Creek Littles!  I've wanted to stitch this one for a while and seeing it in person makes me want to do it even more now.  Love the tiny frame!

I think Barb picked this one but I missed who made it.  I'm not fond of spiders in general but this is a cute idea.

Again, I wasn't paying attention who made it but I think maybe it was Pat who got this one.

I saved my personal favorite for last.  This is what I got in the exchange! It is from my friend, Pat and was stitched by my friend, Nancy. It's from the Prairie Schooler chart #41 called Still Life. It's worked on 40ct.  It is so awesome! I've always wanted to stitch this one. Thank you both!

Design: "Leaves" from the Winter Circles #142 booklet

Designer: Cross Eyed Cricket

Fabric: 28ct. Summer Khaki

Floss: DMC as charted

Started: 9/7/13

Finished: 9/22/13

Completed: 9/22/13

This is the one I made!   It was hard to give it away. I think it turned out really cute.  The fabric behind the pillow is what I used for its backing.  I didn't know the person who got it but I hope she enjoys it with fond memories of the weekend.

I stopped at this farmer's market on my way home to pick up a jar of my honey's favorite blackberry jam.

As with all good things, they eventually come to an end. It was a perfect fall weekend spent with some of my favorite people! I'm already looking forward to next time.

Many thanks go to Marsha and Amanda for all their planning and hard work.  It was a most enjoyable retreat.  I'm still giggling over our silliness and am inspired to start more fall/christmas stitching. 

 

I hope you all enjoyed seeing all the lovely exchange pieces today.  I can't wait to share the fun Secret Stitcher gift that was in my mailbox Friday before I left.  There's a funny story I have to share with you about it.

 

 

Even more next time,

 

The Inspired Stitcher

Tiara Retreat Weekend - part 1

I spent this past weekend ensconced in the woods of Indiana at the annual Tiara Club's retreat!  It was a much needed stitching getaway.  We basically stitched, ate, and slept a little then repeated.  It was wonderful!

We were greeted with this super cute welcome gift.  Love the fall colors!  I wish you all could smell the wonderful salt scrub, my peep, Marsha made.  Yes, not only is she a talented stitcher she makes awesome soaps too!   Love the little pumpkin waxer and the needle tubes are really going to be handy.  They even came with needles in them!  Cool!

 

We always have a "free to a good home" table.  This year I actually remembered to bring a contribution.  I had a JoAnn's bag stuffed full and I happily got rid of it all!  I can honestly say I only came back home with a few things from the table...that felt good.

 

 

We always have a "show and tell" table too! Just check out the wonderfulness that showed up this year! 

 

 

I thought this one was so cute.  Love that pink fabric!

 

You'll recognize one of the Foster brothers is done now!  It looks great too.  This one belongs to my peep, Christie.  I hope she does a post about it so you all can see more of it.

Speaking of finishes, I had a couple myself over the weekend.  I'm so thrilled I got so much done.  The picture above shows everything I worked on.  Let's take a closer look.

Friday afternoon and evening, I worked on the Hornbook Bestiary.  I got all the third row's squares done and started on "K is for Kitten."  I finished filling in the kitten on Saturday morning.

Then I decided to "ornamentify" my "Bee Happy" heart I showed you in this post.  A little Mouse reminded me of some pretty awesome chenille trim I had received in an exchange this year.  I had tucked this trim away in a "safe" place and promptly lost it.  Don't you hate when you do that?!

I have to say, if you've never worked with this chenille trim, you seriously need to get yourself some and give it a go.  This stuff hides a multitude of sins and it's super easy to work with too.  I can see myself using this stuff more often.  Thanks, Mouse for spoiling me!

Design:  "Merry Christmas" freebie

Designer:  Threadwork Primitives

Fabric: 36ct. opalescent white

Floss:  DMC 115 & 367

Started:  9/28/13

Finished:  9/28/13

Needs to be ornamentified!

Once I finished the heart, I moved onto one of several Christmas ornaments I need to stitch.  This one worked up really quickly and I'm thinking of doing another one.  I'm not sure how I'm going to finish it.  I'm thinking maybe with a beaded edge but then a small pillow would be cute too.  Stay tuned!

Design:  Tin Toppers "ABC Sampler"

Designer:  Samplers and Such

Fabric:  36ct. light sand

Floss:  DMC as charted

Started:  9/28/13

Finished:9/28/13

This was the last thing I stitched on Saturday.  This is one that's been calling me from the basket o'joy for a while now.  It will eventually become a tin topper and fob.  I still need to do the back stitching on the fob and add my name/date to the tin topper.  I love this one!

I'll leave you for today with some comic relief.  This is my peep, Nancy's floss ring.  Yes, it does resemble a rat's nest.  Nancy even said so.  She's such a hoot!  Of course, when I looked at it I saw something else.

I think it makes for a good hair do!  You know like those daisy wreaths the hippies wore in the 60's.

Yep, we were getting a little silly at this point.  You know me, I can't help myself sometimes.  I'm like that dontcha know.  LOL!

~*~*~*~

Well folks, this one is getting lengthy today.  I still need to show you what I made for the exchange and what I received.  I also need to share the other exchange pieces with you.  I'm going to save it for tomorrow.  Stay tuned!  I hope you enjoyed the retreat so far.


More tomorrow,

The Inspired Stitcher

Pumpkins for Cathey

Design: Harvest Pumpkins Floss Tag freebie

Designer:  Daffycat

Started:  9/21/09

Finished:  9/22/09

Completed:  9/19/10

A while back I was contacted by Daffycat asking if I'd participate in "Pumpkins for Cathey."  Here's what she wrote:

"As many of you know, Cathey is battling cancer and your support and participation in this event would be very much appreciated. I want to show Cathey that her blogging community is there for her...by posting a photo of a pumpkin for Cathey on our blogs on her blogoversary, September 27, 2013."

I don't know Cathey, but I'm all for brightening someones day.  Especially when that someone is dealing with the "big C."  From what I've read on her blog, she is one courageous lady with a lot on her plate right now.  So if you feel inclined, pop over to Cathey's and brighten her day with some words of encouragement or just wish her a "Happy Blog-o-versary."

Supporting each other is what this blogging community is all about.  I appreciate each and every one of you and I have a feeling Cathey will too!


Until next time,


The Inspired Stitcher

Autumn...finish!

Last night I got on a finishing roll!  My main reason for the finishing session was to get my Tiara Retreat exchange piece completed.  I'm so pleased with how it turned out.  I figured since the iron was hot and I had the stuff out, I might as well finish a couple other things that needed my attention.

Design: "Autumn"

Designer:  Lindy Jane Designs

Fabric:  28 ct. Linen Banding

Floss:  WDW, GAST, & DMC as charted

Started: 8/31/13

Finished:  9/6/13

Completed:  9/22/13

This is not my exchange piece.  I started this one while riding in the car to West Virginia and finished it when we got back.  It's been waiting for me to complete it.  I put the pair of scissors in the picture for scale.  I finished it as a 7" pillow as described on the chart.  It was fun stitching on banding.

2011 version stitched with DMC only using the same cotton fabric.

 

If this looks familiar, it's because I stitched this one for the Tiara Retreat exchange in 2011.  I loved it so much and it was hard to give away.  I've had it in the back of my mind that someday I'd stitch it again.  Now, I'm not sure which version I like better.

Now I'm really looking forward to the weekend since I have my exchange piece ready.  I still need to figure out what projects I want to take to work on.  I'm sure it won't be too hard.  I always take too much.

I have another finish I want to share but I'll save it for another day.  I can't wait to share the exchange piece too.  That will have to wait until next week.  I don't want to spoil the surprise for it's new owner...whoever that might be!

Thanks for stopping by today.  I hope everyone had a great weekend!


More next time,

The Inspired Stitcher

More Hornbook Progress

This past week I've focused my stitching time on the Hornbook.  I changed my set up and it seems to agree with this project.  I'm still getting used to the new frame but just couldn't quite get comfortable with the positioning of it while stitching.  So I moved my nest to the other side of the couch where my left arm is supported by the arm of the couch giving my right arm more freedom to stick and stab.  I also got some better lighting for that end of the couch too since I have to stitch on this at night during the week.  So here's this week's progress.

Progress as of 9/13/13

Progress as of 9/16/13

I spent all day on Sunday working on the "H is for Hart" block and got most all of it done.  I finished it up on Monday night.  You'll also notice I got the border below the blocks completed too.  It doesn't look like much but there really were a lot of stitches made in that row.

I did get a good start on the next row's blocks and side borders at the guild stitch-in Wednesday night.  I'm hoping to at least get them all stitched in so I can start on "K is for Kitten."  This sampler doesn't have an I, J or X.  I find that interesting.

Just for giggles, since I'm a numbers girl, I figured up roughly how many stitches are in just the blocks alone not counting the angel. Are you ready for this? There are 2,548 stitches in each square counting the black border. Total so far there are 24,725! And to think, I'm not even at the halfway point yet! W-O-W!!

I've also been working on an exchange piece for the Tiara Retreat's exchange next weekend.  I can't wait to be able to show that to you. I'm really looking forward to hanging out with my peeps and stitching up a storm!  Thanks for visiting with me today.

Until next time,

The Inspired Stitcher