Retreat November 2012

Another stitching retreat in Temecula! Here's a view of the area from the top of the stairs by the dining hall:

And here's just one of the hot-air balloons from Saturday morning:

I didn't have a lot of luck with my stitching over the weekend. I had a hard time deciding what to work on (and even brought along a couple of extra projects!), and then kept making mistakes. This piece is a Dimensions' kit which only rarely sees the light of day. I actually started this piece back in 2005, so it's pretty obvious it doesn't get much lovin'. The first photo shows the status of "A Bird for All Seasons" as of Friday morning:

And here's the progress from this session:

(Ack! Another one popping up sideways!)

I also worked on Margaret's "Spot Sampler." Here's where I left off in June:

And here's where I left off on Sunday:

The motif in the upper left corner is actually farther over to the right than is charted on the original, so I'll have to decide whether to frog it and put it where it belongs or whether I'll juggle the other motifs around.

I had a good time, but seriously missed my BSF-M, who wasn't able to make it this time.

Hannah!

Stitched one strand over one fabric thread on 25-count Lugana Vintage Country Mocha. The primary color is DMC 3012; the other two colors are Anchor 369 (the tan/golden brown) and Anchor 846 (the dark green).

TUSAL 1207 and a Progress Pic

Combined! Yes, I'm late again with the TUSAL, but that's life. This one contains mostly Margaret's Monochrome Madness and some nearly invisible--because of lighting and position--strands from the pictured current project, Hannah Beeby.

I see also that we're about 2/3 of the way through the month and I never posted anything from the monthly stitch class. Well, here's MMM, before class:

...and after class:

For some reason, the upper photo is turned 90° to the right from the correct orientation. I finished the block at the lower right corner of the center motif, started and got about halfway on the one on the far right side in the vertical midpoint, and got the center motif started. It looks a lot closer to "done" than it actually is, as there's a honkin'-big-arse border to go around it, too. With beads.

June Stitching Retreat

I stopped at the Temecula Hobby Lobby (I'm frankly unimpressed, and really prefer not to do business with businesses which aren't open when I'm not working) and The Stamping Post on the way to the retreat center. I chose to work on counted cross stitch pieces all weekend.

I started with the piece I worked on at our first retreat, back in November last year. This first photo shows the progress at the start of this retreat:

Here's how far I got before I moved to something else:

Then I chose to work on Hannah Beeby for a while. Once again, the first photo shows the progress at the start of the session:

And the little bit I did before switching to another piece:

I also did a bit of stitching on another Quaker sampler, but didn't take before and after pics of that one. I also didn't take a "before" picture of Margaret's Spot Sampler before I pulled it out, but I did take an "after" picture before we packed everything up Monday afternoon:

The stitching on this one consisted of adding another leaf motif or two and the two motifs and two letters in the interior.

Is it November yet? I'm ready for another one!!

TUSAL 120619

Three days late, but here it is, mostly Margaret's Monochrome Madness:

Today I'm away to Temecula for a stitching retreat. Eat your hearts out, suckers!

TUSAL 120421

A little more this month, since I tossed poor neglected Beatrix Potter aside for even more neglect and put Hannah Beeby in the floor stand. The golden browns are from Margaret's Monochrome Madness, while the greens are from Hannah.

Progress Pic

Hannah Beeby, as of today:

I just couldn't get motivated to work on Beatrix Potter, and, spurred on by Melissa's and Terri's progress, I decided to put Beatrix away and put some time in on Hannah.

TUSAL March

Another pathetic month. This one contains both Margaret's Monochrome Madness, from the stitch class earlier this month, as well as a few token bits from Beatrix Potter Quaker.

Two Hobbies in One!

I rode down to the Anaheim Convention Center to the Scrapbook Expo and came home with a few stamps. Found a couple of really interesting sets, but didn't realize just what I had until I got home:

Yeah: Teresa Wentzler stamps!!

TUSAL January and February

It's been a slow year for stitching so far.
The first pathetic little pile is January's.

The second pathetic little pile is February's.

Thank You, Terri!!

For the lovely birthday gifts!!!!!!!!

Second Stitch Class of 2012

Hannah Beeby at the start of the day:
Hannah Beeby at the end of the day:
A half medallion started and finished, a smidgen of progress on another medallion.

First Stitch Class of 2012

It's kinda hard to get motivated to stitch on anything when your transportation is in the shop and it's looking spendy. As it turned out, it wasn't as expensive as it could have been, but I'm still facing having to replace my van.

So I didn't devote a lot of time to stitching yesterday, maybe half a dozen or so working lengths scattered over three projects. Here's where they stand as of right now:
Hannah Beeby:
I finished the border of the unfinished medallion on the left. Yes, I know it's upside down; that's the way I'm stitching it right now.

The Black Sampler:
I finished one flower, a couple of leaves, and added a bit of vine in the border and put a bunch of light green in a leaf in the upper segment.

and "My Stitching Treasures":
I finished the house (just had the windows to do), finished the left-hand tree in the block with the house, and stitched the tree trunk and fence on the right side of the house.

Yesterday was also the day for the Card of the Month at my LSS, Stamp Fever in Orange.

Endings and Beginnings

Yesterday, I needed to visit the LNS to take advantage of the punch card I'd filled up earlier in December, since there's a expiration date on the card. She still didn't have the AVAS floss I still need for Jeannette Douglas' "My Stitching Treasures," but I did go ahead and pick up nearly the complete set of Blackbird Designs' "Anniversaries of the Heart." No fabric, since I haven't decided whether to do them as a hay-uge single piece or as individual pieces. And I haven't decided just what anniversaries I'll commemorate.

Beatrix Potter Quaker is still in the floor stand, neglected pretty much all December long. No changes; there she stays until I decide to work on something else.

On the card-crafting front, after receiving a bonus at work I decided to purchase a CuttleBug embossing/die-cutting machine. I got the most basic version; I don't need anything fancier, since most dies and embossing folders will work just fine with this one.

It's also become time to buy a new desktop computer. No decisions yet, but WallyWorld has a HP with 6G of RAM and a 1T hard drive for a nice price. No monitor, because the one I have isn't that old. Mentally tossing coins now, trying to decide whether to go for it now or wait until later, when the taxes are done, especially since I'll have to buy Office.

Slacking!

Large time!!

No cards this time, just a TUSAL catchup. Which, of course, includes a July redux.

TUSAL 2011 July

It's the new moon, again, and time to post the TUSAL (Totally Useless Stitch-A-Long). I spent all of June's monthly stitch class frogging a project. Yes, the whole entire project. There's a long story behind it I've told elsewhere, and maybe I'll tell it again here. Anyway, huge, unfixable counting error, so I'm frogging everything. I also wasn't happy with the overdyeds conversion I'd tried on this attempt at this particular piece, so I'll go back, when I restart, to the original DMC, with just one or two conversions. And on top of the curly little frog bits are the orts from Teresa Wentzler's "Carousel," which has been languishing, until recently, for a couple of years.
And yes, I know: I'm way behind on posting cards! So much for resolutions.

Welcome Home, Endeavour and TUSAL 2011 June

Mostly a gift piece, with a few strands from TW's "The Carousel," which I put back into the floor stand after the gift was finished. "The Carousel" hasn't seen any attention in a couple of years!

TUSAL 2011 May

Here it is: a bit of Hannah Beeby, a couple of ornaments (one for the ornament exchange and another to even off the space on the piece of fabric before cutting the ornaments apart to finish-finish them), and a special project.

TUSAL: The Third Moon

Things have been pretty hectic at work, so not a lot of progress on anything since the last new moon. The projects included are Hannah Beeby, Dazzle, and an ornament.

TUSAL: The Second Moon

From the New Moon in February to the New Moon in March. Mostly at-home stitching, but also a few strands from last month at the LNS.