June Small Sal and More

 This is my Finish for the Small Sal hosted by Stitching Lotus.  I am very happy I have posted a small for each month so far this year.  This is Primitive Star and it was published in Cross Stitch and Needlework Magazine. I switched the colors - the letters are Oatmeal and the Star and Border are Turkish Red.

 This is America Finished.  This is a Freebie from my LNS From Nebby Needle From May 2014, this link will get you close.

This is my update on the Red, White and Blue Nutcraker.  

And my last little item to talk about.  Jo from Serendipitious Stitching often shares her Scrap Book page finishes, and I really loved this idea.  I have never scrapbooked before but I had to try this. So I made one.  This is my Hello I finished earlier this year and it is really attached to this scrapbook page.  The colors of the phone are a little washed out - but I just really love this. I have it displayed in a 12 x 12 Shadow Box.

Now I am on a mission to find just the right pages to finish off very many smalls.  Thanks Jo.



June is over - July is bound to be full of Sunshine and Summer Stitching.

My Day of WIP Stitching

What a day I had.  Jo,I had too much fun - also too much frustration.  I really do know why some of these projects are WIPS.... I had originally selected 19 WIPS.  I worked on 14 of them.  I thought I had a great plan and was very organized when I started.  Had a few stumbles along the way.  I am posting pictures only of the work completed.  Most of these before pic are on some page/post in my blog but in 1/2 of stitching - not much stitching difference but lots of insight. Please enjoy the pictures, no need to read all my descriptions - I wrote a lot of this for me - to help me organize my WIPS.
  Trying to keep the pictures small - In Order of how I stitched.  This is tribal wine glass.  Started 2012 maybe 2013.  stitched 3 little parts in the middle of glass - around the heart.

Thoughts After Stitching:  Am starting over with different fabric and different thread different colors would like it to look like a glass of red wine.

My 40 count -- I just continued on the very last EVIL White Stripe.  Again ripping out more than I stitched.  I am determined to finish this little tiny project no matter what!!!!!

Upside down Celtic Beauty (2013 DCC)  I love this - This was another Frog/Stitch project. There was a mistake in the border - I had to fix.  Was happy to finish the gold to the end of the top.  I will finish this one.  It has a lot of beads - I am not a great beader, but for some reason it is really important to me to finish all those I started for that challenge.

Finished the P - T.  Woodland Sampler - 2013 Challenge - Worked on this one earlier this year.  I will finish this.

Touching the Autumn Sky - 2013 Challenge  Before only the red stitches were complete.  This is my first and only ever started Mirabilia.  I love this design - It took me about 15 minutes to figure out where in the design these three little red bunch of stitches were. WHAT I LEARNED:  Always make sure when you put a project down you know where in the chart you need to start.  I knew it was in the center somewhere

 This is Joan Elliot I started this for the 2013 Challenge also - for some reason this picture was not on my original page for this Challenge so I added a picture of this - I love this saying but wish I had not started with the border.  It will be very pretty when finished even if all my kids are married a long time before this  It will not be done by September 3, 2016 the date of DD#3's Wedding - I am looking for a quick but very pretty little something to stitch up for her.
This is when I broke for Lunch with my Sister's who took me out for a wonderful Birthday Lunch.

 Patchwork Egg Basket - CS_N magazine Long ago start - one of the first evenweave projects.  I completed the top purple design - all one color - easy stitching.  Will Finish.

Liberty House - Leisure House - .  Did the red door.  I have been working in 2016 on this I will finish - this is one of those projects where everything is back stitched.  I am not doing the border, or anything besides just the house.








Around the World in 80 Stitches.  I completed nothing.  I have only the outline of the very first heart done.  I hate the fabric I started this on. And I am going to restart this one on a different fabric I think  I really want to finish this because of all the Specialty Stitches.

SamSarah 2013 Challenge start.  I don't like this fabric - but I do love this and love the colors.  Finished the star and a little bit of something else - was missing the correct color and spent too much time trying to locate  will Finish.





Dinner Time

2015 Start - Woneta  Worked on her green hand and the yellow on her skirt.  This I will finish will work on this one again soon.  It is tedious because I am not use to the big blocks of stitching the same color - and back in the day it seems that was all I stitched.  Wow how my stitching has changed over time.  I love this Witch - I love all witches really.

One Hundred Years - Lizzie Kate  Started 2015 Have cropped to show you what I completed in my 1/2 hour.  I really want to finish this for one of my kids.  I think it is a saying that is so important in the way we live our lives.

Stoney Creek Silent Night Cardinals 2013 Challenge.  Worked on earlier this year and for the longest time I had it upside down and couldn't figure out where to add the branches I had planned on stitching.  Finally figured it out.  There are two tiny little patches of brown branches I completed.

This is Lizzie Kate Belle - I started a challenge in 2012 to stitch all these guys one a month on the same fabric.  I got behind and have only a few left to complete.  This will be a shame if I don't finish.  I did more of her - the white a the bottom.








My Final piece of the day:

Yes there are stitches here.  This was my project for the 2015 retreat.  This was a year I took off from blogging - so there are no pictures of this.  There were three projects - the little strawberry - completed, the pincushion completed and the needle book.  The needle book - we had to baste first the outlines of the six pages.  Which was a very long process.  I had not stitched on anything since I finished the original basting.  The next step is to backstitch the actual frame of each page.  I worked on this backstitching - this was my first stitching on this since the retreat and it took me awhile reading the instructions and all.  This will be a beautiful needle book and I will finish this so there will be many more pictures.

If you have made it this far you have made it to the end of the day.  I kept out my most current wips to the last - and did not stitch on my RWB Nutcraker, God Bless America, my two LaDDa projects they are my most recently started and unfinished WIPS.

That is all for this post.  I do hope it will not take me so long a to pick up these projects again.  I have been in the New Start Something Small Enough To Finish mode - so we will see where my 2nd half of 2016 Stitching Joy takes me.  My goals are set 90% of the time with no END DATE.  So we will see.  Once again thank you Jo

Very Small WIPs

Here is a quick little picture of 19 WIPS.   I am joining in a WIP Marathon - tomorrow June 20 - the longest day of the year.  This Marathon is being sponsored by Jo at Serendipitousstitching.  Jo has some of the best ideas, and I couldn't resist joining in this event.

Tomorrow - is My birthday and I spending the day stitching on 19 mostly very old WIPS - 1/2 Hour Max on each -- This is my plan.  I will post better pictures tomorrow as I go.  and will spend a little time blogging about the wip and my stitching.

I will be taking a couple of breaks - Some of these I have not worked on in years, and I do hope doing a tiny bit of stitching on them tomorrow will convince me to finish them.

I am Eastern Standard Time - Central New York.  It promises to be a Hot and Sunny Day.

Keeping this about Stitching

It is a hard day to try to keep this post just about my Stitching and not to go off the deep end and rant and rave about all the things I want to talk about.  It's really hard to continue to believe one way, when all around you, people are doing such terrible things.

In celebration of my country founded on individual freedoms I have a new finish and a new WIP.

Here is Tree USA by Angel Stitching - finally finished.  This has been in my todo pile for years.  

 The Nebby Needle is a Freebie, I got this from my LNS.  This I also hope to finish before the end of the week.   I wonder, as I stitched on this piece, how did we get to where we are today? and where will be tomorrow? and why do some of us have to continue to die to be free, in a country that was suppose to be built on the right to be Free?  And is my definition of Free, different?

Monday June 6

I happened to run across the Anonymous quote and I loved it, so I had to share.  It is just so perfect for me.

"If you don't do a lot of stupid things when  you are young, you won't have funny things to talk about when you are old"  

If this is true, I will be able to keep you laughing for days.

Here is Handson Design Year in Chalk - June.  This is really the best color fabric it is called Hog Wild Blue and it doesn't look much like that in the picture - the Whales are Dolphin, and I also used Turkish Red and Tin Bucket and of course chalk.  I have July, August and January left.  I am not doing February because it is a Valentines Theme - and that is so NOT ME.  I am trying to find a Mardi Gras chart about the same size I can put up instead.

This is update #2 on my Little Flag.  This white is killing me.  I have had to rip out, and you can imagine it is very difficult on this little 40 ct gauze.

For the Month of June (on every stitching day accept the 20th) I will be stitching U.S.A. charts.  This is one I have had for awhile -  My oldest daughter was with me on one of my trips to the LNS and she asked me to get this.

SO just how will my stitching be different on June 20?  Well it's my birthday and I am joining  Jo at Serendipitousstitching in a WIP Stitching day.  She has decided, since it is the longest day of the year to stitch on as many WIP's as she can for as long as can.  The big reason I have joined this, is because I am hoping by stitching on these long ago and almost forgotten pieces, the little time spent on  them again will light a Spark and I will really want to finish them.  That is my hope.  Fingers Crossed.