Happy 1st Day of Summer!

I don't have any progress pics for anything to show :-( Hubby is away with the camera for the week. But I do have a somewhat older finish to show off:
This is Mirabilia's Christmas Elegance, finished on the recommended fabric, with DMC, a little treasure braid and about 4396 beads LOL! I don't even remember when I started this one...but I finished it. It is hanging on the wall of my sewing room, unframed, because if I stick it in the drawer to join its forgotten companions, it won't see the light of day for a loooong time.

And I have been reading:All I can say is WOW! Great book and if you haven't read it yet, run out and buy it. Can't wait to start the next one in the series.

Thank you for reading and commenting on my last blog post. I was shocked and surprised that anyone would bother to read this sadly neglected blog. Your comments are much appreciated!!!

April update

Time for a little updating, well long overdue for a little updating actually. (inserting sheepish grin here)

The spring bug has bitten me and I really haven't wanted to be at my computer any longer than I have to - which has been far too long actually since work has been horribly busy. Leaving me little time for the more important things in life - stitching, quilting, knitting, walking my sweet little puppy, and the lesser ones - cooking, cleaning, laundry.

I received a wonderful package from sweet Melissa who sent along a gorgeous selection of coloured linens! Oh my, how beautiful these pieces are! I have to make sure to stitch just the right design on these to show the amazing colours. And how kind of Melissa to send these tasty linens along to me!! I'm sorry the picture just doesn't do them any justice.
At our stitching retreat (last post) I had a lesson on hand applique from my lovely friend Marg, which I sorely needed. My previous attempt at hand applique made for one very sad looking heart. But after some wonderful tips from her, this is what I have managed to get accomplished~
Uh, just don't look too closely at this please! This block is part of Block #7 for Leanne's House, which has been hanging about waiting for me to assemble for far too long. Of course I think I spent a year trying to get those final 3 blocks send to me after a horrendous experience with an online shop. Here is what the rest of Block #7 will look like, once I get the rest of the embroideries finished. But I haven't stopped stitching completely. I'm still plodding away at Mirabilia's Elizabeth and the Lavender Sky. My recent stitching hasn't been as exciting, since I've been working away at the frame area, which is full of very dull colours, but once done, looks far more interesting. Funny how you can work away at blobs of colour and placing a few random stitches here and there but when you back away from it, it really starts to look like something~
And I have to post a picture of sweet Bella. Hubby took this pic of her, while she was sitting in my chair, waiting for me to get home again. She hasn't grown very much and has stayed quite a small wee dog, but all the better to pick up and snuggle with!

A new start

A new start - that's right, I couldn't resist the lure of this lovely Mirabilia design any longer. For some reason, I kept thinking about it the past couple of months and having an irresistible urge to start this design. Its called Elizabeth and the Lavender Sky and its #10, so a very early design by Nora Corbett. No beads, no Kreinik or specialty fibres, just good old DMC. I'm using a 32 ct antique white linen. You know it feels really good to work on a design like this, its been a while for me since the lure of Prairie Schooler and Little House Needleworks and Blackbird Designs has had me mesmerized.

On Sunday, I hosted our stitching group for our potluck lunch and get-together. There were 5 of us, unfortunately 3 couldn't make it but Marsha's sweet 3 month old future stitcher helped to fill in the gap. The time always flies when we get together, although not a lot of stitching usually gets done, but lots of inspiration fills the room! Sorry, no pictures, I didn't think of it until too late.

And I have been knitting a little more on my sock which has been a long time in taking the shape of a sock! I'm ready to start the toe decrease. And after watching Nancy give us a demo on Sunday with her new spinning wheel, I signed up for Ravelry. So may be there will be a little more knitting in my future!

UFO time

I guess Marj talking about digging out her poor Fairy Idyll out of the depths of UFO'edness, made me remember I had a Mirabilia of my own hidden away somewhere. Yes way up out of sight, on top of my china cabinet. Christmas Elegance actually ended up somewhere high because she is on scroll rods (my first ever piece on scroll rods) since I wanted to save myself from beading despair at the end of stitching and doing the beading along the way. Which is actually why this poor thing became a UFO, I ran out of beads! What a poor miserable excuse really. One of the cheapest things to buy and I just never got around to buying any more?

So here she is, I'm determined this time not to let her languish any more with the dust bunnies on the china cabinet. I still don't have this beads I need, but I also remembered that I need to do a little gridding in the background for all the snowflakes (more beads) that need to be placed, and I found it next to impossible to count fabric threads on this dark fabric.

Can I encourage anyone else to bring out a poor UFO to join mine?