24 Hour Marathon Challenge

I participated in Jen Lee's (@quirksandstitchs) 24 Hour Marathon Challenge this month.  I spent a total of 22 hours stitching over a 48 hour period.  I worked 1-hour per project but didn't stitch on every project.  I only finished one project, Little Sheep Virtues: Patience by Little House Needlework.


I also participated in her June 24 Hour Challenge.  You had to pick projects that title, designer, or theme could be used to spell Twenty Four.  I chose to stitch 144 minutes per project for a total of 24 hours.  I have completed this challenge
T - Tada Penggy by Amy Bruecken
W - Warm Water Wash by Raise the Roof
E - S is for Sheep by Elizabeth's Designs
N - Itchin to be Stitchin by Needle Bling Designs
T - Tiger Lily by Nora Corbett
Y -Happily Every After by The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery (Theme: Year of...)

F - Snow Catchers by Fanci That
O - Curious Owl by Art to Heart
U - Sea Hag by Pickle Barrel Design (Theme: Under water)
R - Rooms with a View by Raspberry Patch

I ended up finishing Tada Penggy, Warm Water Wash, & Curious Owl.

Curious Owl by Art by Heart

Warm Water Wash by Raise the Roof

Tada Penggy by Amy Bruecken

Here are photos of what I have worked on:

Snow Catchers by Fanic That

Tiger Lily by Nora Corbett

Happily Ever After by
The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery

Rooms With A View
by Raspberry Patch

Sea Hag by Pickle Barrel Designs

Itchin to be Stitchin
by Needle Bling Designs

S is for Sheep by Elizabeth's Designs

Thanks for stopping by.  I will be posting again really soon.  I went to a retreat this weekend.  I will show you what I worked on .

Thanks again

Sharon

First of February

I worked on the Mill Hill Bead Owlet - Huey.  I finished him in one day.  Yes, I sat on my behind all day and watched Person of Interest, season 2.  I really like these little kits.  I have one more to complete which is Emma.  She is really cute.

I also worked on Raise the Roof's "Love Laundry".  As I was stitching it I put one x as 2 over 3 instead of 2 over 2.  Which made the pattern off.  You can't really tell that it is off. but I noticed it when I started stitching the laundry basket.  It is one thread up from the shoes but everything else lines up.  I'm not looking for the mistake.  As Theresa says "Work it in".  So I am.

This weekend is a long weekend for me.  I am going to prepare for my stitching retreat next weekend.  I am going to the stitching retreat in Orange Beach, AL with my sisters and friend. (We went last year).  I'm taking all of my WIPs (only 18 of them).  Also, I  going to get the February Man-of-the-month by Amy Bruecken.

My sisters and I have been going to stitching retreats for several years now.  We play this game of changing our project every hour.  It keeps it interesting; keeps you from getting bored or frustrated.  One year we identified 6 different projects that we were going to work on, then each hour we would randomly pick a number that would identify the project of the hour.  It was fun.  Some weekends I do this at my home so that I can make progress on several projects.

Finishes for January

Oops, sorry forgot to post this one.

Whoo hoo.  I have 2 finishes for January.  Well technically only 1 complete finish.  I finished my new start for January, Mill Hill Bead's Owlet - Violet.  I really like stitching on these.  I have completed 4 of the 6.  I will start on Huey next.  I am saving Emma for last (she is so cute).













The other completed project is the stitch-along, Amy Brueken's Man of the Month.  I completed the words in the middle and the January snowman.  I am stitching it as the pattern calls for the fabric and threads.  It is fun to work on and quick to stitch.






I have made progress on Raise the Roof's Loves Laundry.  I have completed the "little black dress" and the black heels.  I don't think I have it completed by Valentine's Day but I am trying.

I now have to pick a new start for February.  Maybe something love

Stitch Mania Week 2, Updates, and Finishes

New Starts:

This week I had 4 new starts.  They were Letters n' Leaves by La Di Da, Blackwork Roses by Carol Algie Higginbotham, Lucky Cats by Whiskerkins, and Stained Glass Window bookmark that I bought in Scotland.

The first is Letters n' Leaves by La Di Da.  It has only 2 colors.  It has double border of black squares.  My sister Jennifer has already completed this one.  I spent an hour on it and completed 1-1/2 sides.  It will be pretty simple.

The second was Lucky Cats by Whiskerkins. I decided to stitch it on Aida.  I have been a linen snob for about 10 years now but with my eyes...So, I had this Aida and thought it would look good on it.  I ran out of the border color for the cats and have to get some more.



The third new start was the stained glass window bookmark.  As you can see, I only spent an hour on it.  It is relatively complicated for such a small thing. 

The last is something I've been wanting to work on for a while, Roses by Carol Algie Higginbotham.I love blackwork.  This pattern has several different patterns on one project.  The last couple of years, I have gotten involved with Zentangles.  This Roses pattern reminds me of Zentangles.  It is beautiful.  I hope that I can complete it as beautifully as the pattern is.





Updates:
Here is the Owlet - Tango.  I have completed more of the cross stitching.  Once I finish the cross stitching, I will then add the beads.  The stitching is over halfway completed.  I hope to complete it by the end of the week.

The second update is Tuffet's Cupboard.  There are 4 patterns, I have completed 1 and am in the middle of the 2nd pattern.  I finished the green mirror looking thing in the red box and the spools of thread in the yellow box.




Finally, I have completed the red block for the Bent Creek's World of Color.  I am starting the "orange" block.  As I stated before, I am doing the border as I work each block.

 

Now for Finishes: 

Mari's Project Bags

I made Vonna's Project Pouches for my stitching group last year for our stitching retreat.  My sister-in-law and mother wanted one also.  My sister-in-law bought her fabric.  I finished two for her, two for my mother, and two for me.  They are relatively easy but I have trouble with making a straight even spaced edge.

My Mother's Project Bags
(I stitched one of each for myself as well)

 The last finish that I have is the "Road to A Friend's House" by Sisters and Best Friends.  I didn't want to put the white squares in the border.  But, my sister Jen said I should.  She was right.  It turned out great.  As I was trying to photograph it for my blog, Pearl decided that she wanted to be involved.  It took 5 attempts to get a picture of the pattern.  I  don't know how I am going to finish it.  We will see.

 

 Thanks for stopping by

Sharon

Pre Spring Break

Well last weekend and this week I have been preparing for my first international trip.  I am going to London and Edinburgh next week during my spring break.  I am very excited and nervous.  I have traveled within the United States by airplane and automobile.  But, this is my first foray across the ocean.  It will also be my first train trip (from London to Edinburgh and back).  I have been gathering all the things that I need.  I plan to pack everything on Thursday.  The only bad thing about this trip is that I have to get up at 4:00 am on Friday to meet the group at 5:15am to travel to the airport.  I don't do well with getting up early.  Other than that, I think I am good.

So what did I work on this weekend and this week.  I stitched a little bit on Tre civette sul comò by Madame Chantilly and Tuffet's Cupboard.  But I didn't complete very much.  I didn't work very long on either one.  Next week I won't be stitching much either because of the trip.

I will post pictures.

Sharon

July, What a busy month!

I have no real excuse for not blogging.  I have been really busy with vacationing in Abbeville, Louisiana with my friend Sharon, Vacation Bible School, and working the lab on Wednesday and Thursday.  I have been trying to clean my house of all the clutter.  But it seems to get worse instead of better.  Well, let me be more specific.  My bedroom and bathroom have been cleared of clutter.  These rooms are comfortable and organized.  There is very little "stuff" sitting on the counters and nothing extra on the floors.  My office is completely empty waiting on getting rid of the desk.  Well, all the stuff from my office is in my kitchen, which looks like a cyclone hit it.  I hope to have everything organized before I go back to work on the 8th of August.  We shall see.

As for last week,  I didn't complete any new projects.  I did, however, finish a few old projects.  I got my sister Jennifer to come over and show me how to make pillows.  I have several small projects that would look good as pillows.  The pillows are actually a little larger than I planned but they are cute.  I finished 4 of the 8 that I have (see below).  A couple of them I finished as ornaments.

Lizzie Kate - Flip It Blocks - January

Rainbow Gallery Freebie - England, Ireland, & Scotland Blackwoork

I don't remember.  I finished it in 2006

Raise the Roof - Wise Old Owl

Next week is "camp" week.  I hope to have a lot of things to post then.  This week is preparing for camp.  I plan on bringing 7 new cross stitches, the Halloween Pudgy Needlepoint that I have had for at  least 10 years, and several amigurumi characters that have been crocheted but not put together.  I am very excited about the trip.

Well I am off to choose what to bring.  Thanks for stopping by

Sharon

July, What a busy month!

I have no real excuse for not blogging.  I have been really busy with vacationing in Abbeville, Louisiana with my friend Sharon, Vacation Bible School, and working the lab on Wednesday and Thursday.  I have been trying to clean my house of all the clutter.  But it seems to get worse instead of better.  Well, let me be more specific.  My bedroom and bathroom have been cleared of clutter.  These rooms are comfortable and organized.  There is very little "stuff" sitting on the counters and nothing extra on the floors.  My office is completely empty waiting on getting rid of the desk.  Well, all the stuff from my office is in my kitchen, which looks like a cyclone hit it.  I hope to have everything organized before I go back to work on the 8th of August.  We shall see.

As for last week,  I didn't complete any new projects.  I did, however, finish a few old projects.  I got my sister Jennifer to come over and show me how to make pillows.  I have several small projects that would look good as pillows.  The pillows are actually a little larger than I planned but they are cute.  I finished 4 of the 8 that I have (see below).  A couple of them I finished as ornaments.

Lizzie Kate - Flip It Blocks - January

Rainbow Gallery Freebie - England, Ireland, & Scotland Blackwoork

I don't remember.  I finished it in 2006

Raise the Roof - Wise Old Owl

Next week is "camp" week.  I hope to have a lot of things to post then.  This week is preparing for camp.  I plan on bringing 7 new cross stitches, the Halloween Pudgy Needlepoint that I have had for at  least 10 years, and several amigurumi characters that have been crocheted but not put together.  I am very excited about the trip.

Well I am off to choose what to bring.  Thanks for stopping by

Sharon

Finishes for Today

Last night I finished two of the patterns that I have been working on this month.  I finished the Quaker Owl and the July installment of Erica Michael's Rainbow Gallery Freebies for 2004.  I used DMC floss for the red and blue then used Rainbow Gallery Hi-light for the red, white, blue, and gold sparkles.  I hope to finish April through July as magnets this weekend.

The Quaker Owl was stitched on linen with Sampler Thread - Picnic Basket.  I want to finish it as a stand up - kind of like a stuffed animal.  I think it is beautiful.  I am very happy with it.  Now I plan on doing the Quaker Bat in Dracula's Cape on Silkweaver's Rock Quarry.





Thanks for stopping by,

Sharon

Quaker Owl

Last week I worked exclusively on my Quaker Owl.  As for the head of the owl, I have stitched that thing 3 times.  The first time I was completely finished with the right part of the head, the eye and ear on that side.  As I was finishing the beak I noticed that it wasn't centered on the circle that is the belly.  Soooo, I ripped it out and stitched it again starting at the beak.  Then when I was almost finished with the right side of the head I realized that it was one row up.  Soooo, I ripped it out and stitched it again.  Correctly this time.  Why did I rip it?  because it is a symmetrical pattern and the mistakes would be obvious.  So now I have only the lower left side of the face and the left wing to finish.  BUT,  I ran out of thread which was a specialty thread.  So, today I will go by Shakespeare's Peddler and pick up some of the floss.  I wanted to finish it this weekend and complete some other projects but that didn't work.  So I hope to finish everything this coming up weekend.

I'm in my last week of classes for summer school.  The Lord has blessed me greatly this summer with two summer classes at two different community colleges - one in June and one in July.  He has also blessed me this fall with two classes at each school - two on MW at one school and two on TR at the other, along with my tutoring job at Sylvan.  I feel very happy and blessed today.

Thanks for stopping by and reading my ramblings.  May your day be wonderful

Sharon

Boo Trio Part Deaux

I loved the pattern so much that I stitched one for myself. I used the same threads (actually had to buy a couple to finish the project) but I used the cloth I bought for the Mirabillia Halloween Fairy. I think it turned out great. I finished it last night. I went to a scrapbook weekend at the Scrapbook Sisters in Hattiesburg and forgot my photos (so I thought). So, I finished the pattern. I used black beads on mine instead of trying and failing to do french knots. My friends say that the eyes are kind of buggy but cute.

Boo Trio

I started this last weekend (5/19). I did the house and realized (as usual) that I added an extra column so I quit. I restarted it again yesterday. Between entertaining my four nephews (1, 3, 8 and 12 years of age) and taking care of regular household chores I just finished it. I bought this project at Shakespeare's Peddler's here in Hattiesburg. The kit contained the pattern and specialty threads. I really like it, especially the owl. For some reason, the last couple of years I have been attracted to stitching owls. I really enjoyed this one because it was a quick and easy stitch.