Let's try this again, shall we?

Goodness gracious!  So much has passed since my last post.  I had no intention of taking such a long break, but hey, life happens and you just try to roll with the punches.  So, let's try this again, shall we?

Here are a few of my WIPS:

"All Hearts Come Home" by Mill Hill

"Watergarden" by Chatelaine

(I'm having so much fun stitching this - page 2)

 

This is my finish of page one of the Chatelaine

And of course, there have been some stitchy "aquisitions".  I'll save those for our next visit.  Now, just for a little "extra" fun - here's a picture of our Shelby... all grown up (but still acting like a toddler!)   :)

As always,

Hugs and Grace,

*Sharon

A New Season....

I've taken a LONG step back from blogging for a while.  At first, I thought I would take a month off and then post randomly.  However, the break lasted longer than I predicted..  This is my first update/random post in a LONG time.  Turns out, I enjoyed the quick, rapid- fire ability to post updates on Facebook stitching groups.  But lately, I've also learned that I miss writing down some of my, umm, wacky ramblings on my blog.  This blog has, in ways, been a scrapbook/journal of our family.  That's the part that I miss.  So, while I will probably posting "quick" updates on my stitching shenanigans on Facebook, I'm also going to try to keep up the "stories" behind the scenes on my blog.  It'll be a new adventure, let's see how it goes, shall we?

Right now, I have two different pieces in my rotation. (Totally new for me.  I used to usually have one single focus piece, but I have found that rotating is working well for me.  At least for now.) As always, my "rules are ALWAYS subject to change".  Lol.   Two  pieces are pretty stationary, locked into my millenniam frames on my millenniam floor stand.  I want to have one "grab and go" piece, I'm deciding now which piece in my stash will grab that honor.

Here are some photos of where I am now...

This is "Watergarden" - Chatelaine.  I'm loving stitching with the silks!!!  I''ve never stitched with silks before, but oh my word, I love them SO much now!!!  I'm about 80% finished with page one of nine pages.  This will be mylargest finish ever - assuming that I do finish it in my lifetime.  LOL

                                        This what my "finish line" will hopefully look like!

This is my oldest-ever WIP:

I have no idea why I ever stopped working on this piece.  (Although it might have been all the wedding samplers that needed to be stitched with love for family, friends and other loved ones.)
I love this and have put it into a rotation, along with the chatelaine.

                                     This is what "hopefully" this finish line will look like!

And what blog post could possibly be complete without a picture of my sweet little buddy, Jackson.

I can't believe that my little grandson (I call him my "grand buddy") just turned THREE!!!  When did that happen?  I love this little fellow so much!  He is such a joy and blessing to our family!

I hope everyone is doing well - it's good to be back to sharing my thoughts and photos in my little corner of the blogging world.

As Always - Hugs and Grace,
*Sharon

Merry Christmas!

From our "backyard" to yours, we wish each of you a very, very Merry Christmas!

(I LOVE my little Charlie Brown tree and couldn't resist sharing it with passers-by today!  I know it seems like I've abandoned my little blog corner but it's been messy, beautiful, crazy, lovely, busy around here and there hasn't been much "free" time.  I'll be back on New Year's Day!)

Hugs and Grace,
*Sharon

Stitch from Stash - October 2015

I did "pretty good" this month... As in, I stayed within the SFS $25 monthly "allowance" this month.  I spent $10.45  because I caved in at the HAED sale.   I just couldn't resist purchasing this...

These faces and the cute titles of the "books" proved to be too much for my willpower.  This will be my first start for the new year project.  Looks like this one-Wip-at-a-time girl is going to become a rotating fool.  Looks like I'll be working on a Christmas project, my Chatelaine, and this HAED project all at the same time.  Whew!  I think I'm just going to follow my heart in 2016 and just stitch on whatever project calls to me on any given day...   (I'll also have a couple of small projects to carry with me when I'm on the go). I'm excited!     :)

Hugs and Grace,

*Sharon

Catching Up

Sorry I've kind of been neglecting my blog lately.  Lots of "busy-ness" going on. 

My best friend and I have been friends since I was 3 and she was 5.  That's been a LONG time!  We've text every day and talk on the phone quite often.  We kept saying that we really need to get together for some "real" hugs...and we finally made it happen!  We had a blast (acting more like 13-yr olds instead of grown woman who used our AARP cards to get a hotel discount.)  lol.   We both hope that we can meet again on a regular basis.

I received word from Diane (the give-a-way winner) that she received her little gifts.  Here's a pic of what I sent:

Here's a picture of my current WIP:

I'm having fun with this one.  :)

Coming up soon to stitch is my Chatelaine:  (I'll be starting it on November 5th.) 

I'll try to get some Travel/Disney pics up in the next week.  

Hope you're all well and happy!

Hugs and Grace:
*Shaorn

And another one bites the dust...

This is my long-forgotten UFO, "Delicate Beauties" by Paula Vaughn.  I really do love this piece, it just seems that there have been more "important" stitches that needed to be done first.  (Wedding Samplers, Gifts for friends and the Wolf for our son.  Finally, a couple of weeks ago, I thought it was time to pull out my UFO and make it a WIP...alas, when I started to stitch it, I saw MAJOR, MAJOR, MAJOR (did I mention that there were MAJOR mistakes?)   For the life of me, I couldn't figure out why things weren't lining up or how I could fix them.  I finally tossed it to my hubby and asked him to see if he could see what I was missing.  He found that when the working copy had been made, a few rows had been deleted from each page...therefore, it was disastrous.  He felt so bad because he was the one who had made the copies for me and didn't realize how important it was for lines to "line up" and I just took it for granted that it was right.  My bad...  Bless his heart (and I mean that in the sweetest way, not the other "southern" way).  He feels awful and I am a wee bit sad but hey, today is a new day and I'm sure that there will be MANY other new designs that I will just HAVE to stitch.  And.... some day, I might just decide that I want to give this beautiful Paula Vaughn design another go.

Hugs and Grace,
*Sharon

And we have a finish!

This is a wedding gift for my son and his fiancé.  They won't be married until next summer but it feels great to have this finished!   This was such a fun stitch.  I LOVE the happy colors (and it matches the bride-to-be's chosen colors!).  This makes the second large (large to me anyway) finish in this year.  First, I finished the wolf design and now this wedding design!  Woot!

Next up is going through my stash and setting up a rotation system of some sort.  I'm going to place a real miss-mash of projects in my 2016 basket.  Some large pieces:   (I'm going to be starting a Chatelaine, a Celtic Angel (done in the alternate autumn colors) and also, a HEAD design).  Some medium-size designs:  (Merry Christmas Y'all), and some small, fun Lizzie Kates, Little House,  Country Cottage and some little freebies.  (And any other goodies I might pick up along the way).   I also want to pull out a couple of UFO's and work towards getting them finished.  I'm telling you, it's going to get downright whacky around here!     :)
Again, I'm going to be giving away some stash as I do my major sorting, so stay tuned!

Hugs and Grace,
*Sharon