Wednesday, June 1, 2016

Gone but not forgotten...

Several folks have asked if I've stopped blogging.  The quick answer is NO! I'm just on a delay of sorts.  I have some issues I'm trying to work through right now and it's getting in the way of my stitching and blogging.  Nothing earth shattering or devastating.  I mean it doesn't involve the police, lawyer, hospital or fire department so it can't be too terrible.  Right?!

However, it is seriously cutting into my stitching time and thus this here blog.  I'm trying to make my rounds to your blogs as I have time so I'm still out here just not right here.  LOL!

So don't cry for me Argentina (as the Spinster Stitcher says)...I'll be back soon as I can.  So for now, talk amongst yourselves and if you do something fun tell me about it or blog about it!  And if I do anything worth sharing, I'll pop in here for a quick post too.  Deal?!

You all make me feel way more special than I am with your sweet emails.  I miss you too!


Until I can get my act together,
The Inspired Stitcher

Sunday, March 6, 2016

It's all about the progress...

How did a whole month pass?!  Wow!  I can account for the past two weeks but I have no excuse for the two before that.  Our house has been cursed with the creepin' crud that seems to be going around lately.  DH gave it to me (he's sweet that way dontacha know) and I've had it for two weeks.  Yikes!  Thankfully the cough is gone for the most part and most of the congestion is too.  So I decided since I felt spunkier than I have in a good while, I'd pop in here for a progress update!  Go grab a cuppa.  Here we go!

Progress as of 9-6-15

Progress as of 3/6/16

Excuse the wrinkles.  I took it's glamour shot straight off the q-snaps.  I can't believe the last time you saw this one was last September!  As you can tell, I've worked on it a bit since then and I'm getting really close to the finish on it.  I'm hopeful it will be soon.  I just love all the little animals at the bottom.  There have been a couple peeps who have finished theirs.  I'll have to get a snap of all of them together when I finally get mine done.

~*~*~*~

Progress as of 7/11/15

Progress as of 3/6/16

Okay, I'm almost embarrassed to show this one.  The last time I shared progress was back in July.  Really?!  Oh good golly...can we say slacker?!  Anywho, you can tell I have worked on this one quite a bit since then.  I'm almost to the point of finishing page two!  Next up will be the words in the bottom section.  I love words.  I also love all the little spots in this one too. And the night sky and well...pretty much everything about it.

~*~*~*~

I've also had a couple new starts I haven't shared here yet.  It's funny, I used to be a "one-at-a-time" girl and that went out the window now didn't it.  LOL!

Progress as of 3/6/16

This was my January 1st start.  I'm doing it as a SAL with a certain someone who reads this blog.  Winks!  I haven't worked on it much since the middle of January.  I'm sure my SAL partner already has hers done and is just being polite by not telling me.  I'm really looking forward to doing the finishing on this one.  I think it's going to be interesting.  I'm loving the red fabric! It's 30 ct. Aztec red in case you were wondering.

~*~*~*~

Progress as of 3/6/16

This is my second new start this year.  I picked this one up on Valentine's Day, right before I got sick.  It's charted as the letter "E" but I plan to lob off the top and the middle parts and turn it into an "L."  I'm stitching it on 30ct. Morris Blue with the called for floss.

Our friend Leslie of Under the Sea Fabrics has one someone made for her and it inspired me to do one for myself.  This is my first Nora!  I figured I should stitch one since I'm going to the Mirabilia Minions Retreat for the first time this year.  I'm looking forward to it!

~*~*~*~

So there you are folks, even though I have been absent in this space I really have been stitching.  Between being sick and work still being crazy, I haven't had much time to pop in here to catch you all up.  I do, however, appreciate all the emails checking in on me.  I've tried to make the blog rounds and visit when I could.

Thanks so much for stopping by to visit with me today.  I appreciate each one of you!  I hope your day is good.

Until next time,

The Inspired Stitcher


P.S. Is anyone else sad that tonight is the last episode of Downton?  Can't wait to see what happens!

Monday, January 25, 2016

Finishing and a RAK

This past weekend I actually got some finishing done.  I know, can you even believe it?!  I had to excavate the cutting table first before I could do it.  Let's just say that was a job that was long over due.  There's plenty more work that needs done in my sewing room but I'm all about the baby steps.  It didn't become a disaster in one day and it sure isn't going to get put back together in one day either.  LOL! Anywho, you didn't come here to listen to me rattle on about my slovenly ways.  Let's get to the good stuff, shall we?!

This was my main accomplishment!  I actually finished the bee.  The fabric you see in the background is what I used to back it.  I found this weekend before last at a new to me quilt shop.  It matches the peachy pink floss perfectly.  I'm still on the fence whether I want to put any trim on it.  We'll see...

Design:  Christmas Alphabet
Designer:  Prairie Schooler
Fabric:  28ct. natural
Floss:  DMC as charted
Started:  1/14/16
Finished: 1/15/16
Completed: 1/24/16

As you may recall, I left space on my linen when I stitched the ornaments for the peeps to do one for me.  I decided to get to it weekend before last.  I knew it would stitch up quick and I'm happy to now have one of my own.  I actually feel like I'm ahead for this year...ahem...yeah, always looking on the bright side, I am.  LOL!  This would be my second finish of 2016.  Oh yeah!!!

~*~*~*~

I also had a wonderful RAK (Random Act of Kindness) show up in my mailbox Saturday!  I had a "heads up" from Robin in VA (no blog) it was coming but with snowmaggedon hitting I actually didn't expect to see it till the middle of this week.

Here's Miss Nosey Pants checking it out and giving it kisses.

Here it is without the snout in the picture.  Isn't it just so sweet?!  Thank you so much Robin.  Your kindness really touched me.  I absolutely love it.  It now lives on the mantle where I can see it from my stitching nest.  You made my day!

~*~*~*~

I hope everyone had a good weekend and if you were impacted by the snow storm I hope you are well and safe now.  Winter is here for sure.  Thanks for stopping in for a visit today.


Until next time,

The Inspired Stitcher

Thursday, January 21, 2016

First Finish of the Year!

I'm happy to report I've had a finish already this year.  I'd wanted to stitch this one back in November when I got the substitute floss on the Auburn retreat.  I wouldn't let myself start until I got the peep's ornaments done.  That was my motivation to get those ornaments done!

This was my progress on the first day!

Here it is shortly after midnight one New Year's Eve!

Design: Her Majesty - Pincushion
Designer: Blackbird Designs from the Honeybee Hill chart
Fabric: 32 ct. Hive by Fabric Flair
Floss: WDW & GAST as charted
Started: 12/29/15
Finished: 1/9/16
Completed: TBD

Here she is all done!  I really loved stitching on that Hive fabric.  It was gifted to me by my peep, Linda.  I'm planning to finish it as a mini pillow.

Funny story about the fabric, I had to laugh at myself, when I was putting the first few stitches in the honeycombs on the left side I realized I had the fabric going the wrong direction.  It is printed with the combs going vertically and I stitched it with them going horizontally.

Now I know that's getting picky and probably nobody would notice but me if I didn't say something. I had a really good laugh when I discovered it.  The way I discovered it was that the top and bottom had more fabric than the sides.  It was easy to see that since the design is a rectangle.  Guess I was in a hurry to get started and didn't even notice.  Oh well, I'm not taking it out and it doesn't bother me at all.  It's just a funny thing to note here. 

I found some fabric this past weekend that matches the flowers in the borders.  Now I just need to have a finishing day to complete it.  Maybe this weekend.  We are forecasted to get snowed upon again.  We've been spoiled up to this point.

It's a short and sweet one today.  I hope you are all well and happily stitching on something.  Thanks for taking time out of your day to visit with me.

More next time,

The Inspired Stitcher

Tuesday, January 12, 2016

Hello 2016

Happy New Year everyone!  I hope your holiday was good.  Ours was super relaxing. This post is going to be a recap of my holiday season.  I'm going to group things a little differently this time.  I hope you like it.



Design: Christmas Alphabet Book #64
Designer: Prairie Schooler
Fabric: 28ct. natural
Floss:  Called for DMC
Started: 11/26/15
Finished: 12/28/15
Completed: 12/28/15

First, let's have a look at my last finishes of 2015. These are the ornaments I made for the peeps this year.  I really had fun stitching each one of them.  I was pleasantly surprised when I found the organza ribbon in the stash that matches the rust colored floss.  I backed them with the same small gingham I used for the QCSG ornament seen here.

You might be wondering what's up with the empty square in the first picture.  I had thought I'd stitch one for my tree but ran out of gumption.  I did however kit it up when I was doing the finishing for the others so I have everything I need when I decide to stitch it.

This year we couldn't come up with a date in December for the peep party so we decided to do it on the 2nd which also happens to be the birthday of one of the peeps' too.  It was an extra special get together!  We also decided to do a lunch and everyone brought a part of the meal.  This was our lovely table setting!

Here's a close up of our table favors.  Loved how it looked like a Christmas pudding complete with a cherry!  This was a Pinterest success I'm told.  Too cute!

~*~*~*~

Here's where I'm going to group the gift pics a little differently.  Some of these were my belated birthday gifts and some where Christmas.  When I got them all out to photograph them for the post I noticed there were "themes" so I grouped them that way.  I think we all had some similar ideas this year.  You know you are a tight group when that happens. Here we go, in no particular order!

As you know, I love my Hello Kitty.  This storage box is just so super cute.  I'm going to have to decide what special things will live in it.  Too stinkin' cute!

I'm showing this by itself close up because of the pin on the bow.  It would have gotten lost in a bigger picture.  It's so tiny and cute!  I sure wish blogs had a smell button.  This soap smells amazing!

Next up the edibles category!  Yes, this is not everything.  Some of it got eaten before I ever left the party.  Check out that huge Lindt chocolate frog!  Holy smokes that's a big one.

I just had to show you all a close up of the tea bag in case any of you would want to do this for a friend gift.  I thought the saying was super cute.  I know several of you are tea lovers too.

Next up is what I'm calling containers and bees.  The pouch was handmade and I just love the fabric choice.  Anything with an Eiffel tower on it is right up my alley.  Love the stash jar.  I've already got a plan for that.  Then of course there are bees.  I do love my bees!

I'm calling this group my notions group.  The needle minder and fob came from the same person.  I'm already using them.  Love the pincushion and waxer too.  The mandala bracelet could also be a fob.  Cool!

Then there were charts and a couple kits.  Oh. My. Goodness!  Do my peeps know me well or what?!  The very best part is I don't have any of these.  The strawberry has a fun story behind it.  My peep, Linda bought this when we went on our grand adventure last spring.  She picked it up at Mary Koval's quilt shop.  I was with her when she got it.  Sneaky sneaky!



Last but absolutely not least are the ornaments!  This acorn was tied onto one of my presents.  You know I love my acorns too.


I wish you could hit that smell button on this one as well.  I think it must be coffee dyed or something.  It smells so good!


This one is super cute!  I was asked which sled I wanted stitched for me and I said surprise me.  Oh and what a pleasant surprise it was too.

This one was really popular at the last Tiara stitch-in.  Several people had stitched it for show and tell.  I was really drooling over them and now I'm lucky enough to have one of my very own.  How cool!

~*~*~*~

Well folks, that's a wrap!  I hope you enjoyed seeing the goodies from the party.  I continued my personal tradition of a birthday start and I had a New Year's Day start as well.  I'll save them for another visit.  This post has gotten pretty lengthy.  Thanks for stopping by and I hope your 2016 is off to a great start!


More next time,

The Inspired Stitcher

Friday, December 18, 2015

Catchin' up...

Good heavens, why is it so hard for me to post lately?!  I know part of the reason...life is getting in my way.  I won't bore you because you didn't come here to be bored. LOL! So I thought I'd update you on the holiday prep going on over here at the Inspired Stitcher's place...

 (Why yes, doesn't everyone keep the dog's crate next to the tree?!)

Tree

As you can see this year we are ahead of the game.  We actually have a tree BEFORE the week of Christmas and it's actually decorated!  Score! [Just had to throw a Shelby shot in there too.  She's being bribed to sit still.  It didn't last long...trust me!]

Funny story about the tree, we always support our local Lion's Club by getting our tree on their lot.  The night we got the tree (yes, we pick out trees in the dark sometimes) it looked so perfect on the lot.  Ahem, when we got it home and put it in the living room we discovered it is one short squaty tree.  I'm actually taller than this tree. Now those that know me know I'm a fairly tall drink of water but seriously this tree is a shorty!  Oh well, it's nice and full and it's up before the holiday.  Who am I to complain?  Ha!

Shopping

I spent last Saturday shopping for DH.  I did some online shopping over the Thanksgiving weekend so that was helpful.  [Note to self: do more online shopping next year.]  Interestingly enough, the crowds weren't as rude as year's past or maybe I was just in a better mood since I didn't HAVE to do all my shopping in one trip like last year.  Umm...yeah, not a good idea.  Just sayin'!

As for the fam, well, we are reaching for ideas this year.  I'm sure we'll figure something out and most likely that will be done all in one whack somewhere in the next couple days.  Not my ideal way to do it but hey, you do what you have to do sometimes.

Social Life

OMG!  This time of year is crazy with social things.  Not sayin' that's bad...but I tend to be a bit of a homebody so being out several times a week is quite a thing for me.  LOL!  I know, first world problems. Right?!

Cards

Okay, let's not get too ambitious here.  Martha Stewart doesn't live at my house and I don't have a personal assistant.  Nope, there will be no cards.  It is what it is.

Stitching

Which is what you came here to hear about anyway.  Yes, I've been doing some but I can't show you yet because the stitching I'm doing is for the peeps and I know they all read this here blog.

We won't be getting together until after the New Year this time around.  We couldn't coordinate a date in December this year.  It's just as well.  It gives my sorry self more time to stitch something.  I'll be sure to do a post after the par-tay!

I've also started thinking about my New Year's start and I'm thinking I'll do a Birthday start this year too.  I've got a couple things in mind for both.  I just need to do some stash diving to see what surfaces first.

Time off

I'm also treating myself to two whole weeks off the hamster wheel this year!  Can you hear the hallelujah chorus?!  I can!  So I am hopful that said stash diving will also result in a tidying fest in the junk man's dream of heaven that is my sewing room.  Said tidying fest is most likely going to take a good couple days if not more.  Seriously!  If you all came a knockin' I'd be so embarrased to let you see that room right now.  It's totally out of control!  Yikes!

~*~*~*~

So folks, there you are, a peek into my crazy little world right now.  I'm hopeful that regular blog posting will ensue in the new year.  2015 has kicked my tail!  I appreciate all the emails checking on me and cheering me on.  You all are awesome!  I'm hopeful we can get another visit in before 2016 rolls around...fingers crossed.


Hugs to all!

The Inspired Stitcher

Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Auburn, Indiana Getaway Weekend

Last weekend was my getaway with some of the Russellville girls.  We've decided this is going to be an annual thing.  We've already booked our stay at the Inn at Windmere, for next year!  Paul and Susie always make our stay so enjoyable we really don't want to leave!


We met again this year for lunch on Friday at what used to be known as the Busy Brush Cafe but is now under new ownership and is called The Cranberry Cupboard.  I couldn't resist taking a picture of the tea pot collection.  Almost all of these ended up on our table as several of us had hot tea.  It was a very cold and blustery day...perfect tea weather!

After lunch we browsed around in the attached gift shop.  I found this cool bracelet and couldn't leave without it.  I wore it for the rest of the day.  I often like to find a piece of jewelry to remember a trip.

We also went a couple blocks up to the uptown square and did some antiquing.  I scored this vintage Whitman's tin.  The photo is deceiving.  It's actually about 12" square!  A great size to house a project.  It has some chipped paint but I don't mind.  Thanks to Patti for spotting it for me!  The very best part was I got it for less than $5 and that was with tax!

After our little shopping adventures, we headed out to the B & B to get settled in and stitch until dinner.  This is Patti and I's room.  It's called the "sunrise" room.  Yes, it does face the east.  I just love the style of this bed and bedding.  So girly!

As per usual, I packed way too much crap stuff and really only worked on this all weekend.  From the size of my bag you'd have thought I was going to be stranded on an island for months.  LOL!  Truth be told, I pulled the floss for this as an after thought while I was waiting for Patti to get to my house.  The only one I couldn't find was the darkest blue.  I figured it was just DMC so I could pick it up in the morning on our visit to Stitch n' Frame, who now has an online presence.  Yay!
  
The next morning we were thoroughly spoiled by a huge breakfast cooked by Susie and Paul.  I don't eat that much breakfast in a whole week!  After we rolled away from the table, we grabbed our shopping lists, charts, and headed to Ft. Wayne.  This is the sight that greets you when you walk into Stitch n' Frame!

As you can tell from this picture it goes way back too.  There's lots of goodness to peruse in here!  I had emailed ahead to warn let them know we were coming.  It was busy in the shop without our crew descending upon them.  Good thing they had extra help on hand.  LOL!

Here's a peek at the fabric wall from my seat at the stitching table.  I had already done my damage and was waiting for everyone to finish up.  We rightly enhanced the economy for sure.  It was fun to have show and tell when we got back at the Inn.

Here's a peek at my haul!  I was surprised that they still had quite a few Prairie Schooler charts still in stock.  I had a list of things I was actually looking for and found almost all of them too.  I just love those John James 24 needles, I needed another small project bag and I always pick up one of those LoRan threaders when I see them.  I can't have too many.  The flosses have a funny story I'll share in a minute.  See, I found my DMC too!

Is it me or do these three flosses all look the same to you?!  My peep, Linda, pointed this out to me at the last stitch-in.  So I decided my main mission when I got to the stitch shop was to find substitutes for at least two of them.

Here's what I came up with.  The dye lot they had for Walnut was significantly different than the one I had which is often the case with over-dyes so that was easy.  The next one I couldn't decide between the two so I bought them both.  I'm kinda of leaning toward the Weeks one.  I kept my original floss on the end.

Here's the project these are going to be used for..the big bee.  The middle three colors in the above picture are the ones for the bee's legs so I really wanted something relatively dark compared to the other two browns.  I think I've got a good bunch to work with now.  Who knows when I'll actually start this one.  I'm prepared though!

After our shopping trip we went next door for some lunch at Pizza King.  For my Indiana readers (waves to Vonna) you know this is an institution and so good.  I grew up eating Pizza King and am a bit nostalgic about the place.  There's much more on the menu than just pizza.  We all ended up having sandwiches since we knew pizza was on the menu for our dinner.  Yum!

Here we all are on Sunday morning after yet another tasty breakfast!  As I said before, we thoroughly enjoy ourselves when we visit Windmere.  We really don't want to leave but real life calls us back.  So after the photos were taken, we gave our hugs and said our goodbyes until we see each other again next summer in Russellville.

~*~*~*~

Art by Jean Jullien

I want to pause here and to say that our weekend was good in spite of the tradgedy in Paris Friday night.  Our heartfelt thoughts and prayers go out to all of those impacted by it.  I continue to send positive thoughts to my favorite city on earth.  May healing and peace come to the city of light and love.

~*~*~*~

Thanks for visiting today. I hope you enjoyed coming along with me to Auburn.  Time spent with stitching friends is always the best.  Have a good rest of your week!


Until next time,

The Inspired Stitcher