Wednesday the tornado sirens were going off, and today big, fluffy flakes are falling from the sky! That means it is almost spring in North Georgia! I may dig out Tanya the Sampler Girl's "Snow Day" chart for some afternoon stitching. I actually finished this Mary Beale piece this morning while listening to Mansfield Park on librivox.org.  

 I have been listening to it for several days, so it is no surprise that I chose 'Mr. and Mrs. Abbott and Daughters' by Carriage House Samplings as my reward for a finish. This looks like a perfect addition to any Jane Austen-themed stitching collection.  

 I am really enjoying Mansfield more this time than any other time I have read it. Jerry and I also have been watching an old 'Barchester Towers' mini-series. All my frustration with the two novels The Warden and Barchester Towers is coming back! Jane Austen novels are about the only ones I can read and not get frustrated. The good guys are lovable, and the and guys are too ridiculous to get upset about! I am still working away on 'Pennsylvania Bird.'




This morning I sketched in my initials, and now I need to work on a 2013. Then it will just be "filling in." Buttercup and Hektor are anxious to get out into the snow! I was only tempted out to take a 10-second video, and will be parking myself in my stitching corner with a coffee for the foreseeable future! 

Hello, Stitching Friends! Is it freez-y cold where you are? We have had several winter storm warnings, but only a bit of ice and not a single flake! The winds are cold coming off the mountains, and I have been stitching or playing Settlers of Catan with the family. Hektor has not been happy that he alone must go out into the cold to do his business.

This week I started "A Pennsylvania Bird" by Elizabeth's Garden. I had no idea about this designer until I saw the charts pop up on e$ay while searching for Carriage House Samplings.



I have not quite finished the Mary Beale I was working on - I just really do not want to do that last wing on the angel. Maybe I can force myself to work on it sometime this weekend. After all, the reward for finishing a piece is to start a couple new ones, right? ;)

Glory of the Lord

I still have not fixed the wonkiness on this blog, so please bear with me. I did start a new blog which focuses on preparations for my Sunday School class. Today's post is about making felt and wood saints for Bible story presentations.

I really have not been stitching much since the first week or so of December. I may have finished a few more ornaments, but that was it. Last night I picked up the Mary Beale piece I started before Christmas, and the needle felt odd in my hand!! I am going to do what I can to get "back in shape" with a long afternoon of stitching! LOL

Stitching update

Sorry about the red bar behind each picture. If I delete it, then the pictures from past posts start showing up in random places in the center and the otherwise "dead" right-had column. I have been stitching. I have been trying to post also, but apparently my blog is too out of date to cooperate nicely with blogger. Not quite sure how to go up about fixing it. Today is a nasty rainy day. The girls and Jerry and I are sick. I have eaten nothing but tomato soup for a week. I thought I deserved a new start today. :) I have been wanting to stitch this Mary Beale Christmas design for a long time. Yesterday I actually picked up 'Lo a Rose,' and put a couple of words and motifs in. I love the design, but hate the fabric I chose. I think I am on a 15-year plan with it. I have always wanted to have an Old Testament tree for Advent. We do readings with the girls based on the idea of the 'Jesse Tree,' but it focuses on Jesus' bloodline, and so leaves out many Old Testament stories. I stitched 'Elijah' and 'Joshua' from Mary Beale's Christmas ornament. I am adding names. I also stitched 'Jonah and the Whale' from another Mary Beale ornament series. I like those slightly bigger ones better, but there are not as many of them. I actually spent some time this afternoon cutting out pieces of foam board for the ornament-making. Well, that's one step closer to a sampler tree! I also separated this post into paragraphs, but it did not work...

Merry Christmas, Belle Watling?

I was able to get in quite a bit of stitching this week while I was too sick to do anything else. I finished up three more ornaments for Christmas. We decorate our tree on Christmas Eve, but I was thinking of decorating an Advent Tree this year with Old Testament themes. I have been going through various Mary Beale publications and finding many must-stitch ornaments!
The story of Rahab has always intrigued me, and the above ornament is a highly stylized symbol of that Old Testament episode. It is so highly stylized that it makes me think of Belle Watling's apartments in Gone with the Wind! ;)

I enjoy Mary Beale's color schemes, although I usually hold my breath a bit as the first few garish colors meet on linen.

I have had quite a bit of stitching and tea this week, although not under the best of circumstances. Fortunately I have occasionally felt well enough to go out with the puppy and enjoy some autumn sunlight. Hope you all have relaxing, sunny weekends!

Taking a popsicle break

I have been very sick this week. It is not the flu, but it is pretty crummy nonetheless. And it is requiring a lot of popsicles.

Today I started a Mary Beale ornament, "Mary was espoused to Joseph." I have never been much of a snowman or santa Christmas stitcher. I usually prefer a religious or nature theme. Although I am beginning to like some of the Mary Beale repeated patterns too.

The ornament below was intense! There are a lot of stitches in that little ornament! I love bargello-style designs, and I can never resist Carriage House Samplings. If you remember this ornament from 2005, you know it was charted to say "Dec. 1804." In my sinus infection-induced fog this morning, I thought I would just freehand "Christmas" and see how it fit. I still cannot believe it fit perfectly - and on the first try!

Jerry has run to pick up pizza and calzones since I don't need to do any food prep! Pizza, stitching, "A Touch of Frost," (a mystery series) antibiotics, and then BED!

I have enjoyed looking through all the pictures with your Christmas decorating. I thought I would show you how much I have done this year. Hmmmm...I don't think this picture will win me any awards.... ;)

Birds of paradise

I really have been working away on my rotation! Jerry and I have been watching Lost on Netflix, and I have been stitching while we try to figure out what is going on! This weekend, while the children were at my parents' house, I was sick! So I got in much more stitching than snuggling! Yesterday I started and finished Mary Beal's "Birds of Paradise" from her Advanced Needlework series. It was fun color combination for a gray and snowy day.

What I've been doing instead of blogging...

1. Unpacking the car after Christmas - yes that is where the dog rode. She was quite comfortable. I think.

2. NOT eating bugs - we went to a low country boil for New Year's Eve. My husband starts slavering as soon as he hears the word "crawfish!" aka "mud bugs!"

3. Taking the girls to a "literary birthday party." It was cleverly planned and a lot of fun!

4. Driving past this on the way home from church. This is actually nowhere near our home or our church, but that's the thing about the way my husband drives...

5. Starting a new Mary Beale cross stitch. I think it will look very Jane Austen!

6. Brewing bubbly, sour goodness, aka sourdough.

7. Becoming a godmother ~ again!

Regular blogging will probably resume shortly!

Christmas Cross Stitch Finishes - Almost

I am feeling better this week, and I am recovering from bronchitis. Recovery takes a lot longer when you are taking care of two sick little girls! I pulled my stitching back out in hopes of having some ornaments actually on the tree this year! Unfortunately, the theme this week seems to have been "Missing One Thread From Each Design!" The above design is Sleigh Sampler by Jen Hoffman. I downloaded it at PatternMart. I actually have all the threads, but I just cannot decide on the date and initials.

Next I went on another periodic "Mary Beale Is the Greatest Designer Ever And I Am Going to Stitch Every Chart She Designed" spurt. I love the way she combines colors. The above design is from a Family Christmas chart. I actually found the missing color late, late last night, but stopped short of finishing because I thought my stitches were looking messy.

The next design came from Mary Beale's Pocketbook Needlework 2000. In that booklet, she gives a series of advent ornaments. I have been saying for years (8?) that I am going to stitch them all. Well, I finally made a start. I am missing one pale blue that I hope will come in the mail today. The design is tiny and simple and elegant all at once. I would like to do all the Old Testament stories that are in the Advent series and use them somewhere in the schoolroom year-round. I just wonder if I should leave it as is, or backstitch "Moses" underneath? Any opinions?

The last design is a Carriage House Samplings ornament from Just Cross Stitch. I seem to be missing a few JCS ornament editions. Mom? ;) I finished this last night all except for DMC 3371 which I know I have! I love this design and the color combination is my current favorite! It is really small, but I would love to make a pillow or something with it to keep in the living room year-round.

Well, that's all, but tomorrow is the Christmas Party at the Stacy Nash Primitive Cross Stitch Yahoo Group! I cannot wait!